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One U.S. acre is equal to 0.405 hectares. For U.S. audiences, Footprint results are often presented in global acres (ga), rather than global hectares (gha). See global hectare, local hectare.
See land type.
The amount of biocapacity set aside to maintain representative ecosystem types and viable populations of species. How much needs to be set aside depends on biodiversity management practices and the desired outcome.
There were ~ 12 billion hectares of biologically productive land and water on Earth in 2013. Dividing by the number of people alive in that year (7 billion) gives 1.72 global hectares per person. This area also needs to accommodate the wild species that compete for the same biological material and spaces as humans.
The capacity of ecosystems to regenerate what people demand from those surfaces. Life, including human life, competes for space. The biocapacity of a particular surface represents its ability to renew what people demand. Biocapacity is therefore the ecosystems' capacity to produce biological materials used by people and to absorb waste material generated by humans, under current management schemes and extraction technologies. Biocapacity can change from year to year due to climate, management, and also what portions are considered useful inputs to the human economy. In the National Footprint Accounts, the biocapacity of an area is calculated by multiplying the actual physical area by the yield factor and the appropriate equivalence factor. Biocapacity is usually expressed in global hectares.
The land and water (both marine and inland waters) area that supports significant photosynthetic activity and the accumulation of biomass used by humans. Non-productive areas as well as marginal areas with patchy vegetation are not included. Biomass that is not of use to humans is also not included. The total biologically productive area on land and water in 2013 was approximately 12 billion hectares.
The carbon Footprint measures CO2 emissions associated with fossil fuel use. In Ecological Footprint accounts, these amounts are converted into biologically productive areas necessary for absorbing this CO2. The carbon Footprint is added to the Ecological Footprint because it is a competing use of bioproductive space, since increasing CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere is considered to represent a build-up of ecological debt. Some carbon Footprint assessments express results in tonnes released per year, without translating this amount into area needed to sequester it.
Use of goods or of services. The term consumption has two different meanings, depending on context. As commonly used in regard to the Footprint, it refers to the use of goods or services. A consumed good or service embodies all the resources, including energy, necessary to provide it to the consumer. In full life-cycle accounting, everything used along the production chain is taken into account, including any losses along the way. For example, consumed food includes not only the plant or animal matter people eat or waste in the household, but also that lost during processing or harvest, as well as all the energy used to grow, harvest, process and transport the food.
As used in Input-Output analysis, consumption has a strict technical meaning. Two types of consumption are distinguished: intermediate and final. According to (economic) System of National Accounts terminology, intermediate consumption refers to the use of goods and services by a business in providing goods and services to other businesses. Final consumption refers to non-productive use of goods and services by households, the government, the capital sector, and foreign entities.
Ecological Footprint analyses can allocate total Footprint among consumption components, typically Food, Shelter, Mobility, Goods, and Services—often with further resolution into sub-components. Consistent categorization across studies allows for comparison of the Footprint of individual consumption components across regions, and the relative contribution of each category to the region's overall Footprint. To avoid double counting, it is important to make sure that consumables are allocated to only one component or sub-component. For example, a refrigerator might be included in either the food, goods, or shelter component, but only in one.
See the Ecological Footprint of consumption.
Starting with data from the National Footprint Accounts, a Consumption Land Use Matrix allocates the six major Footprint land uses (shown in column headings) allocated to the five basic consumption components (row headings). For additional resolution, each consumption component can be disaggregated further. These matrices are often used as a starting point for sub-national (e.g. state, county, city) Footprint assessments. In this case, national data for each cell is scaled up or down depending on the unique consumption patterns in that sub-national region compared to the national average.
Consumption Land Use Matrix
Built-up Land
Carbon Footprint
Grazing Land
Forest Land
Fishing Ground
A generic term for factors which are used to translate a material flow expressed within one measurement system into another one. For example, a combination of two conversion factors—"yield factors" and "equivalence factors"—translates hectares into global hectares. The extraction rate conversion factor translates a secondary product into primary product equivalents.
See Footprint Intensity Table.
The product resulting from the processing of a primary product. For example wood pulp, a secondary product, is a derived product of roundwood. Similarly, paper is a derived product of wood pulp.
In order not to exaggerate human demand on nature, Footprint Accounting avoids double counting, or counting the same Footprint area more than once. Double counting errors may arise in several ways. For example, when adding the Ecological Footprints in a production chain (e.g., wheat farm, flour mill, and bakery), the study must count the cropland for growing wheat only once to avoid double counting. Similar, but smaller, errors can arise in analyzing a production chain because the end product is used in produce the raw materials used to make the end product (e.g. steel is used in trucks and earthmoving equipment used to mine the iron or that is made into the steel). Finally, when land serves two purposes (e.g. a farmer harvests a crop of winter wheat and then plants corn to harvest in the fall), it is important not to count the land area twice. Instead, the yield factor is adjusted to reflect the higher bioproductivity of the double-cropped land.
The sum of annual ecological deficits. Humanity's Footprint first exceeded global biocapacity in the mid-1980s, and has done so every year since. By 2011 this annual overshoot had accrued into an ecological debt that exceeded 11 years of the Earth's total productivity.
The difference between the biocapacity and Ecological Footprint of a region or country. An ecological deficit occurs when the Footprint of a population exceeds the biocapacity of the area available to that population. Conversely, an ecological reserve exists when the biocapacity of a region exceeds its population's Footprint. If there is a regional or national ecological deficit, it means that the region is importing biocapacity through trade or liquidating regional ecological assets, or emitting wastes into a global commons such as the atmosphere. In contrast to the national scale, the global ecological deficit cannot be compensated for through trade, and is therefore equal to overshoot by definition.
A measure of how much area of biologically productive land and water an individual, population or activity requires to produce all the resources it consumes and to absorb the waste it generates, using prevailing technology and resource management practices. The Ecological Footprint is usually measured in global hectares. Because trade is global, an individual or country's Footprint includes land or sea from all over the world. Without further specification, Ecological Footprint generally refers to the Ecological Footprint of consumption. Ecological Footprint is often referred to in short form as Footprint. "Ecological Footprint" and "Footprint" are proper nouns and thus should always be capitalized.
The most commonly reported type of Ecological Footprint, it is defined as the area used to support a defined population's consumption. The consumption Footprint (in gha) includes the area needed to produce the materials consumed and the area needed to absorb the carbon dioxide emissions. The consumption Footprint of a nation is calculated in the National Footprint Accounts as a nation's primary production Footprint plus the Footprint of imports minus the Footprint of exports, and is thus, strictly speaking, a Footprint of apparent consumption. The national average of per capita Consumption Footprint is equal to a country's Consumption Footprint divided by its population.
The Footprint embodied in domestically produced products which are exported and consumed in another country.
The Footprint embodied in domestically consumed products which are imported from other countries.
In contrast to the consumption Footprint, a nation's productive Footprint is the sum of the Footprints for all of the resources harvested and all of the waste generated within the defined geographical region. This includes all the area within a country necessary for supporting the actual harvest of primary products (cropland, pasture land, forestland and fishing grounds), the country's built-up area (roads, factories, cities), and the area needed to absorb all fossil fuel carbon emissions generated within the country. In other words, the forest Footprint represents the area necessary to regenerate all the timber harvested (hence, depending on harvest rates, this area can be bigger or smaller than the forest area that exists within the country). Or, for example, if a country grows cotton for export, the ecological resources required are not included in that country's consumption Footprint; rather, they are included in the consumption Footprint of the country that imports the t-shirts. However, these ecological resources are included in the exporting country's primary production Footprint.
Specified criteria governing methods, data sources and reporting to be used in Footprint studies. Standards are established by the Global Footprint Network Standards Committee, composed of scientists and Footprint practitioners from around the world. Standards serve to produce transparent, reliable and mutually comparable results in studies done throughout the Footprint Community. Where Standards are not appropriate, Footprint Guidelines should be consulted. For more information, consult www.footprintstandards.org.
See ecological deficit / reserve.
Embodied energy is the energy used during a product's entire life cycle in order to manufacture, transport, use and dispose of the product. Footprint studies often use embodied energy when tracking trade of goods.
A productivity-based scaling factor that converts a specific land type (such as cropland or forest) into a universal unit of biologically productive area, a global hectare. For land types (e.g., cropland) with productivity higher than the average productivity of all biologically productive land and water area on Earth, the equivalence factor is greater than 1. Thus, to convert an average hectare of cropland to global hectares, it is multiplied by the cropland equivalence factor of 2.51. Grazing lands, which have lower productivity than cropland, have an equivalence factor of 0.46 (see also yield factor). In a given year, equivalence factors are the same for all countries.
The number of global hectares required to produce a given quantity of resource or absorb a given quantity of waste, usually expressed as global hectares per tonne. The National Footprint Accounts calculate a primary Footprint Intensity Table for each country, which includes the global hectares of primary land use type needed to produce or absorb a tonne of product (i.e., global hectares of cropland per tonne of wheat, global hectares of forest per tonne carbon dioxide).
A collection of the primary and secondary product Footprint intensities from the National Footprint Accounts. Footprint intensity is usually measured in gha per tonne of product or waste (CO2). The Footprint Intensity Table is maintained by Global Footprint Network, supported by the Network's National Accounts Committee.
Human activities or services that result in no increase or a net reduction in humanity's Ecological Footprint . For example, the activity of insulating an existing house has a Footprint for production and installation of the insulation materials. This insulation in turn reduces the energy needed for cooling and heating this existing house. If the Footprint reduction from this energy cutback is equal to or greater than the original Footprint of insulating the house, the latter becomes a Footprint neutral or negative activity. On the other hand, making a new house highly energy efficient does not by itself make the house Footprint neutral, unless at the same time it causes reduction in other existing Footprints. This Footprint reduction has to be larger than the Footprint of building and occupying the new house.
Global hectares are the accounting unit for the Ecological Footprint and biocapacity accounts. These productivity weighted biologically productive hectares allow researchers to report both the biocapacity of the earth or a region and the demand on biocapacity (the Ecological Footprint). A global hectare is a biologically productive hectare with world average biological productivity for a given year. Global hectares are needed because different land types have different productivities. A global hectare of, for example, cropland, would occupy a smaller physical area than the much less biologically productive pasture land, as more pasture would be needed to provide the same biocapacity as one hectare of cropland. Because world productivity varies slightly from year to year, the value of a global hectare may change slightly from year to year.
Suggested criteria governing methods, data sources and reporting for use when Footprint Standards are not appropriate or not yet developed.
1/100th of a square kilometre, 10,000 square meters, or 2.471 acres. A hectare is approximately the size of a soccer field. See also global hectare and local hectare.
A scaling factor that accounts for changes in the world-average yield of the same land use type over time.
Input-Output (IO, also I-O) analysis is a mathematical tool widely used in economics to analyze the flows of goods and services between sectors in an economy, using data from IO tables. IO analysis assumes that everything produced by one industry is consumed either by other industries or by final consumers, and that these consumption flows can be tracked. If the relevant data are available, IO analyses can be used to track both physical and financial flows. Combined economic-environment models use IO analysis to trace the direct and indirect environmental impacts of industrial activities along production chains, or to assign these impacts to final demand categories. In Footprint studies, IO analysis can be used to apportion Footprints among production activities, or among categories of final demand, as well as in developing Consumption Land Use Matrices.
IO tables contain the data that are used in IO analysis. They provide a comprehensive picture of the flows of goods and services in an economy for a given year. In its general form an economic IO table shows uses—the purchases made by each sector of the economy in order to produce their own output, including purchases of imported commodities; and supplies—goods and services produced for intermediate and final domestic consumption, and exports. IO tables often serve as the basis for the economic National Accounts produced by national statistical offices. They are also used to generate annual accounts of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The Earth's approximately 12 billion hectares of biologically productive land and water areas are categorized into five types: cropland, grazing land, forest land, fishing ground, and built-up land. Forest land serves two distinct and competing uses: Forest products and CO2 sequestration.
A quantitative approach that assesses a product's impact on the environment throughout its life. LCA attempts to quantify what comes in and what goes out of a product from "cradle to grave," including the energy and material associated with materials extraction, product manufacture and assembly, distribution, use and disposal and the environmental emissions that result. LCA applications are governed by the ISO 14040 series of standards (http://www.iso.org).
A productivity weighted area used to report both the biocapacity of a local region, and the demand on biocapacity (the Ecological Footprint). The local hectare is normalized to the area-weighted average productivity of the specified region's biologically productive land and water. Hence, similar to currency conversions, Ecological Footprint calculations expressed in global hectares can be converted into local hectares in any given year (e.g., Danish hectares, Indonesian hectares) and vice versa. The amount of Danish hectares equals the amount of bioproductive hectares in Denmark—each Danish hectare would represent an equal share of Denmark's total biocapacity.
The central data set that calculates the Footprint and biocapacity of the world and more than 200 nations from 1961 to the present (generally with a three year lag due to data availability). The ongoing development, maintenance and upgrades of the National Footprint Accounts are coordinated by Global Footprint Network and its 80 plus partners. Explore the most recent data on the Ecological Footprint Explorer open data platform (data.footprintnetwork.org).
Natural capital can be defined as all of the raw materials and natural cycles on Earth. Footprint analysis considers one key component, life supporting natural capital, or ecological capital for short. This capital is defined as the stock of living ecological assets that yield goods and services on a continuous basis. Main functions include resource production (such as fish, timber or cereals), waste assimilation (such as CO2 absorption or sewage decomposition) and life support services (such as UV protection, biodiversity, water cleansing or climate stability).
Global overshoot occurs when humanity's demand on nature exceeds the biosphere's supply, or regenerative capacity. Such overshoot leads to a depletion of Earth's life supporting natural capital and a buildup of waste. At the global level, ecological deficit and overshoot are the same, since there is no net-import of resources to the planet. Local overshoot occurs when a local ecosystem is exploited more rapidly than it can renew itself.
Every individual and country's Ecological Footprint has a corresponding Planet Equivalent, or the number of Earths it would take to support humanity's Footprint if everyone lived like that individual or average citizen of a given country. It is the ratio of an individual's (or country's per capita) Footprint to the per capita biological capacity available on Earth (1.72 gha in 2011). In 2011, the world average Ecological Footprint of 2.7 gha equals 1.54 Planet Equivalents.
In Footprint studies, a primary product is the least-processed form of a biological material that humans harvest for use. There is a difference between the raw product, which is all the biomass produced in a given area, and the primary product, which is the biological material humans will harvest and use. For example, a fallen tree is a raw product that, when stripped of its leaves and bark, results in the primary product of roundwood. Primary products are then processed to produce secondary products like wood pulp and paper. Other examples of primary products are potatoes, cereals, cotton, and types of forage. Examples of secondary products are kWh of electricity, bread, clothes, beef, and appliances. Note that primary products and primary production Footprint are Footprint specific terms. They are not related to, and should not be confused with the ecological concepts of primary production, gross primary productivity (GPP) and net primary productivity (NPP).
see Ecological Footprint of production (EFP).
The amount of biological material useful to humans that is generated in a given area. In agriculture, productivity is called yield.
All products derived from primary products or other secondary products through a processing sequence applied to a primary product.
One metric ton equals 1000 kg, or 2205 lbs. All figures in the National Footprint Accounts are reported in metric tons.
The amount of regenerated primary product, usually reported in tons per year, that humans are able to extract per area unit of biologically productive land or water.
A factor that accounts for differences between countries in productivity of a given land type. Each country and each year has yield factors for cropland, grazing land, forest, and fisheries. For example, in 2008, German cropland was 2.21 times more productive than world average cropland. (The German cropland yield factor of 2.21, multiplied by the cropland equivalence factor of 2.51 converts German cropland hectares into global hectares: one hectare of cropland is equal to 5.6 gha.
Note that primary product and primary production Footprint are Footprint specific terms. They are not related to, and should not be confused with the ecological concepts of primary production, gross primary productivity (GPP) and net primary productivity (NPP).


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As the self-styled king of niche markets, recent years have seen Audi's model range and sales figures soar. It's no coincidence; the German firm has discovered a winning formula in the way it can identify potential in new model sectors. And far from reaching saturation point, growth remains a regular discussion topic with the company executives.
A case in point is the firm's A5 line-up. Initially sold as a two-door coupe, the range has expanded to include a convertible, high performance models and a four-door fastback. Audi already has a compact saloon with the A4, but it's a testament to the firm's ability to target its models at specific customer profiles that the two cars happily coexist in the Audi universe.
And with sales having broken through the million barrier in 2010, the company is clearly doing something right. It keeps doing it too, with regular model updates. This time it's the turn of the A5 range, with a refresh programme spanning cosmetic, interior and mechanical improvements.
In the case of the A5 Coupe, the main focus has been the engine range. Lower fuel consumption and emissions ratings do much to keep the car competitive in a world where economy and CO2 are often the driving factors come purchase time.
A redesigned entry-level 1.8 TFSI petrol motor now boasts 170 horsepower (up by 10), the potential to achieve 49.6mpg and emit only 134g/km CO2. As such, in a perfect example of downsizing it effectively replaces the A5's 180 horsepower 2.0-litre petrol motor.
There have also been changes in the diesel line-up, with Audi's familiar 2.7-litre unit now replaced by a 204 horsepower 3.0-litre motor promising 57.6mpg and just 129g/km CO2. Completing the changes is a reworked 177 horsepower 2.0-litre diesel with headline-grabbing 122g/km CO2 and 60.1mph figures.
Even the flagship S5 hasn't escaped, with its V8 petrol motor now swapped for a more frugal but no less capable forced induction 3.0-litre V6. Fuel economy jumps almost ten points to 34.9mpg while it's also a fraction quicker to 62mph too.
Audi's newfound green zeal isn't at the expense of driver enjoyment, though. Keen drivers can still enjoy Audi's switchable suspension, throttle and steering modes. Incidentally, the car's steering is now electromechanical and not hydraulic – a further step to reducing fuel consumption.
Out on the road and the A5 Coupe displays a level of refinement and competence that's hard to match elsewhere in the market. In newly uprated 2.0 TDI guise, the car proves quick enough on the straight bits to make overtaking safe and packs enough low down torque to make light work of the urban crawl. Overall, it's easy to see this car as a frugal urban tool during the week and a brisk grant tourer at the weekends.
Even if you don't touch the car's 'drive select' system, its steering and engine behaviour is entirely predictable. There are more driver-focused cars out there but the A5 delivers a rounded and more mature experience with little hint of any compromise.
Move up to a car with Audi's quattro all-wheel rive system and the subtle improvement in stability and the ease at which the car can change direction is noticeable. Based on the technology underpinning the flagship RS5, it's now more responsive to changes in road conditions, while an optional rear sport differential can be fine tuned by those drivers seeking an even more thrilling experience.
Although always a stylish car inside and out, Audi's refresh programme for the A5 Coupe has also included a few visual enhancements. Subtle tweaks to bumpers, bonnet and light clusters should help differentiate new from old, while inside the cabin there are changes to the design of the steering wheel, gear level, column stalks plus, minor controls plus a new selection of trim and upholstery options.
Whether you're after a modestly powerful A5 Coupe or a fuel-sipping, tax-friendly company car, as is always the case with Audi there's no shortage of choice. And, now more than ever, purchasing something like an A5 is as guilt-free as it gets. With its new range of low consumption and emitting engines both your heart and your head can rest easy knowing that you made the right choice for all the right reasons.
Model: Audi A5 2.0 TDI SE Coupe, from £30,545 on the road.
Engine: 2.0-litre turbo diesel unit developing 177bhp.
Transmission: 6-speed manual transmission as standard, driving the front wheels. Performance: Maximum speed 143mph, 0-62mph 8.2 seconds.
Economy: 60.1mpg.
CO2 Rating: 122g/km.
By Iain Dooley

subset: commoncrawl


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The art of troubleshooting relies heavily on the science of identifying and managing variables. Find out how to develop the skill to spot problems with screen tension, moir
By Rick Davis
Variables found in the garment-printing process have produced many a gray hair for apparel decorators ever since the first time a screen was lowered onto a T-shirt. Printers spend countless hours in their careers attempting to identify variables and deal with their effects. Variables plague both manual and automatic press setups.
Successful garment screen printing requires the skill to troubleshoot the process quickly and determine what changes take place during printing. Developing that ability is one big challenge new printers face.
Press operators are also under pressure to meet certain production requirements and, in some cases, are paid based on that productivity. This makes the need to troubleshoot and resume production promptly even more critical.
The ability to troubleshoot the printing process effectively is an acquired skill, but one that needs to be developed early in your production staff. Here we'll consider troubleshooting at the press and review tips for resolving a few of the potentially major issues that are likely to turn up as a result.
The complexity of finding and fixing issues
In order to properly troubleshoot the on-press printing process, you must first have a good knowledge of the potential variables—the shifts or changes that can take place during production. At least 50 known variables affect the garment-printing process, and nearly every one of those variables can affect the quality of the print during production.
One of the greatest reasons that troubleshooting the garment-printing process is so complex is largely due to the fact that we have no standards by which to live. With the exception of the recommendations made by product suppliers and technical publications, the printer is own his own to perfect the process and learn what works.
The first step in troubleshooting on-press issues is to develop the ability to determine that something has changed since the start of the production run. This is best accomplished by keeping the approved strike-off at the unload position of the press and at the end of the dryer. You'll readily detect an issue once a variation appears between the strike-off and the prints you're removing from the press.
Troubleshooting screen tension
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Story highlights
- Edwarda O'Bara fell into a diabetic coma at age 16 during Christmas break
- She was believed to have lived longer than anyone in a comatose state
- For decades, her mother kept her promise to never leave Edwarda
- When mom died, sister Colleen took over until Edwarda's death at age 59
Colleen O'Bara bathed her older sister, Edwarda, and fixed her hair. She fed her through a feeding tube like she'd done countless times. It was going to be a good day, the day before Thanksgiving.
With her morning routine complete, Colleen planned to fetch a cup of coffee. She bent down and kissed her big sister, told her she'd be right back.
"She gave me the biggest smile she has ever given me in her life," Colleen recalls. "Her face was aglow. There was a sparkle in her eyes."
But just then, Edwarda closed her eyes.
For 42 years, her family held vigil. They awaited the day Edwarda would awake, the miracle that never came.
At the age of 59, Edwarda died, believed by medical experts to have lived longer than anyone in a comatose state.
Her father, Joe, died six years after she fell into her diabetic coma, the strain of working three jobs to pay her medical bills too much. Her mother, Kathryn, had promised to never leave her side; she died in 2008 after caring for Edwarda for 38 years.
Former President Bill Clinton, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, singer Neil Diamond and other celebrities visited the home over the years. Renowned self-help author Wayne Dyer penned a book, "A Promise Is A Promise," about Kathryn's unconditional love.
Thousands of people -- from Japan to Australia, from Italy to Canada -- took the pilgrimage to the O'Bara home, inspired by the devotion of her mother. They were drawn too because they believed Edwarda had miracle healing powers: A woman with an inoperable brain tumor was cancer-free months after she touched Edwarda. Two girls with cystic fibrosis were apparently healed in the months after visiting her room. Even skeptics said they felt a strange aura when they walked into the North Miami home.
Kathryn claimed Mother Mary appeared in visions. Mom wrote Pope John Paul II. He responded with letters of his own.
On the walls of Edwarda's room, Mom pinned inspirational quotes: "Where there is great love, there are great miracles."
The Hemlock Society phoned often, pleading with the mother to let her daughter die. The day after Christmas in 1981, someone called to say he was going to put Edwarda out of her misery. A few hours later, three bullets were fired into the home. No one was hurt.
Edwarda was just 16 when she fell into her comatose state. Her favorite song then was "Bobby's Girl," because she had a crush on a boy named Bobby.
In the decades that followed, Bobby would visit the home, but she even outlived him.
It seemed Edwarda touched everyone she came into contact with, even the doctor who saved her life. He struggled with the ethics of what he'd done.
He wondered: Would it have been better if I'd let her die?
A promise kept
Edwarda and Colleen were inseparable, born just 18 months apart. Edwarda was the studious, obedient, loving child. Colleen was the mischievous tomboy.
"She kept me in check," Colleen recalls. "I had a short fuse on my temper when we were younger. My sister was just calm. She put up with me unbelievably."
Family photos show the bonds of sisterhood at an early age: as ballerinas, on Santa's lap, playing with the family's German shepherd. Birthdays, Thanksgiving and Christmas were a bundle of fun, a time to celebrate as family.
"All I ever wanted in life was to have two girls. God was very good and granted me my wish," Kathryn O'Bara told Dyer in his book.
Kathryn McCloskey and Joe O'Bara married in 1948, a promising young couple eager to start a family. She was the daughter of the mayor of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. He was the Navy's middleweight boxing champion during World War II and went on to star on the University of Pittsburgh's football team.
The family eventually settled in South Florida. Joe became a physical education teacher at a Catholic elementary school. Kathryn -- Kaye to family -- taught math at a high school.
Kathryn's niece, Pam Burdgick, remembers her aunt and uncle as pillars of the family. She went to college in the mid-1960s in South Florida and would stay with the O'Baras on weekends. "Kaye was the personification of unconditional love. That was for all of us, not just Edwarda."
Edwarda, then 12, would watch her put makeup on. "She was a sweet, loving child."
Like so many girls, Edwarda and Colleen loved horses. At a nearby ranch, the sisters' friendship grew. "Colleen had horses, and Edwarda had a pony because she was always the cautious one," says Burdgick.
Edwarda did the hard work around the stables, allowing her younger sister a lot more time to ride the horses. "My sister would clean the stalls, brush the horses, let me have all the fun, and she would do all the work."
"That's what she wanted to do for me. She's the most giving sister that anybody could possibly have had," Colleen recalls. "She was my best friend in the whole wide world."
Edwarda was diagnosed with diabetes in late 1969. She was prescribed an oral insulin medication -- a medicine that is no longer given to adolescents due to harmful side effects.
Her diabetes didn't hinder her studies. A junior in high school, she got straight A's. Edwarda had been accepted to the University of Notre Dame, at a time when the school was mostly male. She hoped to become a pediatrician.
The family looked forward to Christmas that year. But during the break, Edwarda fell ill with the flu.
"She was sick and throwing up and stuff," Colleen says.
If Edwarda had been given insulin shots, her bad bout with the flu likely would have been just that, nothing more. But every time she vomited, she was throwing up her medicine -- and sugar was building up in her system.
By the time anyone realized what was happening, her health had deteriorated.
Joe O'Bara had just returned from a fishing outing when he went into his daughter's room. The skin on her legs had sugar lumps under them, like Charley horses. They were all over.
"My sister was screaming. I remember it like it was yesterday," Colleen says. "My dad started rubbing her legs to try to get the sugar to flow in her legs. He picked her up, and we just rushed her to the hospital."
It was January 3, 1970, when Edwarda arrived at North Miami General Hospital around 2 a.m. -- Joe and Kaye's 22nd wedding anniversary.
Dr. Louis Chaykin, who was on call that night to treat another patient, remembers seeing Edwarda and her mother in the emergency room. Daughter and mother were holding hands.
"I remember the words the daughter told the mother when she was lying in the emergency room: 'Don't ever leave me,'" the doctor says. "And the mother said she never would."
Soon, her lungs collapsed. Her kidneys failed. Her heart faltered, causing a lack of oxygen to the brain.
Chaykin was 35 then. A nurse suggested Edwarda's mother ask him to care for her daughter. He was an endocrinologist with specialized skills.
"When I saw her, she was almost near death. It was a Sunday. We worked on her for hours," he says. "We got her into intensive care, and we were able to reverse a lot of the metabolic abnormalities, but the damage that was done to the brain appeared to be permanent.
"She was in a comatose state. She would respond to pain, but that was it."
Colleen, then 15, continued her life at school, thinking her sister would eventually be OK. "I didn't realize how bad it really was," she recalls. "You see, my sister wasn't on any machines or anything. She just didn't wake up and speak."
For five months, Edwarda was treated at the hospital. The family refused to put her in a nursing home. Medicaid would have paid for those expenses, but mom had made a promise. And so they brought Edwarda home.
"To my parents, if you promised somebody something," Colleen says, "you never broke a promise."
The parents' bedroom in the family's humble bungalow was transformed into a round-the-clock care center, with Kathryn serving as chief nurse. She set up a folding chair next to Edwarda's bed. It was eventually replaced with a brown velvet recliner. Every two hours, she fed her daughter baby formula through her feeding tube. She had more than a dozen alarm clocks. They went off at midnight, 2, 4, 6 in the morning. Angel figurines and family photos adorned the room.
Mom gave insulin shots, turned her daughter so bedsores wouldn't grow, changed her diaper. Mom's back grew hunched from slouching over. She got arthritis. Sleep came in 75-minute power naps.
Chaykin pledged to treat Edwarda for free. He set up an IV for fluids and the feeding tube through her stomach.
"It's not a big deal," says Chaykin, 77. "Recognizing the cost of just maintaining Edwarda, it was a non-starter. I wouldn't accept any money."
Kathryn called the doctor her angel.
Yet, as he watched the family grapple with Edwarda's condition and her father die under the weight of it all, the doctor worried that he might've done the wrong thing by saving her.
"I felt that it was very futile," Chaykin says. "That was early on."
His views, though, changed with time. "I became so impressed by the dedication and the love that this mother had. As I grew older, I thought that, perhaps, God had a better reason for me allowing Edwarda to survive, albeit in a comatose state."
He remembers watching hundreds, if not thousands, of people visit Edwarda's bedside because they believed "there were certain miracles that would happen if they came and visited Edwarda and touched her."
"There were different things that happened that I could not explain as a doctor," he says.
He wondered: Was it coincidence or something more?
'A mystery of faith'
No one remembers exactly when the first of the perceived miracles happened. Most everyone from those early days has died. But whatever the cause -- a mother's devotion, visions of Mother Mary -- word spread, and people ranging from sick children to missionaries on healing trips flocked to the home.
Joi Mejia brought both of her young daughters, around 6 and 8 years old, to the home. They suffered from cystic fibrosis.
"I was willing to do anything and try anything," she says.
Kathryn O'Bara had been Mejia's kindergarten teacher. She had heard of Edwarda's healing powers and felt the urge to visit -- the start of a friendship that lasted until Kathryn died.
"The feeling of peace and love in the room was so profound," she says.
In the months that followed, doctors told Mejia her daughters no longer suffered from cystic fibrosis, something the mother chalks up to the miracle of Edwarda. Touched by what happened, Mejia helped Kathryn tend to Edwarda for years.
"There were many miracles that came," Mejia says. "We don't always get a perfect package, but we always get a perfect soul."
A woman from South America once visited. Chaykin said she'd been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, traveled to Massachusetts for a second opinion and stopped at the O'Baras' while flying back home. She prayed at Edwarda's bedside.
"About six or nine months later, a truck pulled up with new furniture for the whole downstairs with a note saying, 'I just got back from my doctor, and the tumor I had is gone,'" Chaykin says.
"Those things happened all the time."
Adds Mejia, "That was the freaky part. People came from everywhere. Why would it draw them? ... It's a mystery of faith."
A devout Catholic, Kathryn told people that caring for her daughter was a blessing from God.
Yet she could also muster a joke about its physical toll. "If I could turn myself in and get some new parts, I'd be all right," she once told the Miami News.
The family fell into mountains of debt. Joe began painting homes and fixing motor boat engines for extra cash to supplement his teaching income. But the pain -- both financial and emotional -- was too much for the Navy tough guy, who died in 1976.
"No question that it contributed to the father's death," says Chaykin.
Colleen gave up her dream of college to help her family pay their debts.
Already shattered by her sister's condition, Colleen's pain deepened with the death of her father.
She wondered: What type of cruel God would torture a family so?
The power of two words
Mom never lost faith.
She rarely left her daughter's side, let alone the house. On Mother's Day in 1982, Kathryn had a heart attack as she watched Edwarda sleep. She was hospitalized for 10 days, the first time she'd been away from Edwarda overnight in 12 years of caring for her.
Among those who covered the story was Miami Herald columnist Charles Whited. He first met the family in the years after she fell into the coma. He'd write a column around the holidays of a mother who refused to give up on her daughter.
"I've seen her, over these years, alternately buoyed by hope and crushed by despair, with even her faith tested as she awaits the miracle that never comes: Edwarda's awakening," Whited wrote in 1982.
Kathryn would call him often. Sometimes, she'd send letters. Her return address always carried the message: "Hope never dies."
"One of these days Edwarda is just not going to be able to fight off another infection," she said in one of her letters. "But even then, I will be richer for having cared for her and experienced all the love that people have shown her."
The next year Whited penned a different column. In August of 1983, Edwarda's mother said she'd heard her daughter utter one word: "Hey." She was in the kitchen with friends at the time. They rushed into the room.
"You'll never know the sensations that went over me. It was Edwarda's voice. We all ran in. She was smiling, as if she had done something terrific," Kathryn told him.
The next night, Edwarda said "hey" again. Kathryn wept at her bedside for an hour.
Whited asked, what if Edwarda never said anything again.
"I'm so elated that nothing can knock me down now," she told him. "Edwarda spoke. She really spoke."
Edwarda would never speak again. She would outlive the columnist. By 21 years.
The years came and went. Mom remained steadfast, always hoping, always praying. Edwarda had been reading the James Michener novel "Hawaii" when she fell ill during that Christmas in 1969. Mom read it to her more than 10 times over the years.
"It was never a sad place," recalls niece Pam Burdgick. "She always considered it a privilege. She loved having people come and visit. ... You left with a kind of sense of priorities, of how important family is."
While pilgrims made their way to visit Edwarda in South Florida, across the state a very different saga was playing out: that of Terri Schiavo, whose persistent vegetative state became a political, legal and family feud with her husband wanting to let her die and her parents wanting to let her live.
Schiavo, 41, died in 2005 after 15 years in a coma after a judge sided with her husband.
Kathryn paid attention to that battle but didn't cast judgment. She told people that families must deal with such tragedies in their own way -- and hers was united behind Edwarda.
Stephen Mayer, a professor of neurology and neurological surgery at Columbia University, has treated many comatose patients over the years. He says new research suggests that patients in persistent vegetative states may perceive what's around them in a way that doctors didn't previously understand.
"The best evidence of that are people who don't follow commands and appear to be vegetative, but after several years they wake up and start following commands," says Mayer.
Mayer, who did not treat Edwarda, says it's possible "she was perceiving what was going on around her to some extent over those 40 years, but not really able to communicate to us in a way that we can believe. And maybe the daily contact, the voices, the touches with her loved ones gave her reason to live."
"One thing I've learned over the years as somebody who treats people in a coma and tries to save them," he says, "is there's something very important about human contact with the people that bring meaning to your life, your loved ones."
Kathryn believed that to the fullest.
"God has given me the strength to care for Edwarda by sending angels in many forms -- friends, families, strangers who became friends, and many others," she told Wayne Dyer. "God has given me the gift of staying cheerful and being able to help others."
In March 2008, at the age of 80, Kaythryn was found dead on the floor in her daughter's room. She'd cared for Edwarda for nearly four decades. Mom had kept her promise.
Kathryn had worried what would happen if she died first. She wasn't sure whether Colleen could handle the stress of caring for Edwarda. "She can't understand why God did this," Kathryn once said of her younger daughter.
Mom had wondered: Could Colleen stand up to the task?
'A hole in my heart'
Colleen tried to live as normal a life as possible. Yet she couldn't shake her devastation.
Her sister -- her best friend -- lay in a coma. Her father was taken from her when she was 21. Dad had become her confidant. "I always had my dad to fall back on when my mom was tied up with my sister," she says.
It would be too much to bear for most anyone, let alone a young woman trying to find meaning.
She married in 1974, with the reception held in Edwarda's room. She gave birth to a son, Richard, in 1976, just eight days after her father died. Colleen's marriage lasted only six years.
The divorce was yet another bad blow. She and her son moved in with her mother, and her boy became a fixture alongside Edwarda.
"My marriage fell apart and I didn't feel like I belonged anywhere," she says. "That's when I ventured into drugs. I was just trying to belong somewhere."
Her troubles spiraled further. She was arrested on an array of drug offenses in the early 1990s. She was sentenced to nine months in prison at the Broward Correctional Institutional.
Being locked up, she had an epiphany: If something happened to her mother while she was behind bars, Edwarda would have no one to care for her -- all because of her selfishness.
"I went to prison and turned my life around," she says. "I knew where I belonged."
She took a job as a horse trainer, not too far from the family home. Many days she wished she could put Edwarda in her car and take her to the stables.
When their mother died, Colleen immediately quit her job. She suffered from multiple sclerosis but quickly figured out a way to manage her sister's needs.
"My mom worried I wouldn't be able to do it," she says. "But when you love somebody, you can do it. That's what you do for family."
And so she tended to her sister, day and night, for five years until that morning this past November.
"When I was down in the dumps, she would give me a big smile and it would just make everything seem like it was OK," Colleen says. "I talked to her just like I would talk to you."
She still rises before the sun, expecting to feed her sister. Then, her loss sinks in.
"I knew I loved my sister, but until she was no longer physically here I didn't realize how much I would ache," she says. "I feel a hole in my stomach, a hole in my heart."
In a quiet ceremony on November 28, Edwarda was buried next to her mother and father. Colleen was never sure what to make of her mother's visions of Mother Mary. Colleen had never seen the visions herself.
When she returned to the empty home after the funeral, Colleen walked into Edwarda's room.
There on the screen, she says, was an image of Mother Mary. "Not sitting on my TV, but on my actual TV screen."
It lasted for six seconds, then disappeared.


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Musician working out of NG1 UK, looking to add some music to projects here More info on me and my projects at: newnowmusic.blogspot.com Contact me at : newnowmusic AT yahoo.co.uk Or give my previous tracks a listen here: last.fm/music/New+Now
Only registered members can share their thoughts. So come on! Join the community today (totally free - or sign in with your social account on the right) and join in the conversation.
Just a quick mock-up of the Portal: Awakening OST artwork, enjoy


text:
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text:
Cautionary Tales: Making and Breaking Community in the Oil Sands Region
I consider data from Cree and Métis history, ethnology, and mythology to focus on three transformative modes (integration, disintegration, and media- tion) in relation to concepts of community. I develop an allegorical fantasy of oily monsters, tricksters, and their appetites arising from liquid commodities, in opposition to more integrative ritual practices that have historically underpinned community in the oil sands region of northern Alberta. Specifically, I suggest that (petro)-capitalism can be compared to the monstrous Windigo (not a trick- ster) with respect to its uncontrolled appetites and growth, and also that various proposed technical remediations resemble the vain adventures of the hubristic, foolish, and acquisitive Amerindian Trickster.
oil sands; Aboriginal peoples; community; myth; ritual; petro-cap- italism
Full Text:PDF
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.29173/cjs19892


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Source Code Walkthrough
Okay, there is a lot of source code. This subject is complicated and I didn't want to give just a couple of snippets of sample code and half-baked libraries. I put a lot of effort in organizing the code in a reusable form. I divided the code to multiple libraries and directories according to their function and their dependencies on other libraries. There is one core library, two game-specific libraries, the game itself (the executable), and four different plugins (three dynamic libraries and one static library). In addition, there are two third-party libraries -- APR and boost. Finally there are the build system(s) for the various platforms.
Directory Structure
There are three top-level directories: include, lib, and projects. include and lib contain the external libraries and projects include the code I wrote. Inside include and lib are subdirectories for darwin86, linux32, and win32, that contain the platform-specific header files (in include) and static libraries. Actually, the only real library is APR because I use only header files from Boost that don't require building and they are identical on all platforms. So Boost resides directly under include and not in platform specific subdirectory.
Source Code
All the source code is in subdirectories under "projects":
- plugin_framework. This is the core library that contains the portability layer (DynamicLibrary, Directory and Path), the plugin API definitions (plugin.h) and all the support and helper objects. You will need this library for your plugin-based systems. You may wish to put the OS portability classes in a separate library or replace them with your OS abstraction layer. I put them in the same library to make it self contained (see caveat below in the external libraries section).
- utils. This is a silly little library that contains two functions: calcDistance and findClosest. The reason it is a library is because it is used by the Hero which is part of the main executable and by some of the plugin objects, so it needs to be linked to multiple binaries. You can safely ignore it.
- object_model. This is where all the game-specific dual C/C++ objects reside, along with ActorFactory, the object model wrappers and the ActorBaseTemplate classes used by the hybrid plugins. If you want to use this plugin framework for your own projects, then this library gives you a blueprint of all the stuff you need to implement. It is important to note that you can pick and choose. If you don't care about C compatibility because you build the main system and all the plugins, then you can just get rid of all the C stuff. If on the other hand you care about C but you don't want to provide nice hybrid C/C++ API to plugin developers, you can just ignore the ActorBaseTemplate and the object model wrappers. Read the article again (especially Parts 3 and 4) with the code nearby and you will know what to do.
The plugin libraries are straightforward. c_plugin is the C plugin (MellowMonster), cpp_plugin is the direct C++ plugin (KillerBunny and StationarySatan), static_plugin is the statically linked plugin (FidgetyPhantom) and wrapper_plugin is the hybrid C/C++ plugin (GnarlyGolem and PsychicPiranea. In most situations, wrapper_plugin is the right choice. It is easy to write plugins if you invest in writing the base template and object model wrappers. The plugin related overhead is practically zero.
- great_game. This is the game itself. It contains the Hero and BattleManager and of course the main() function. It gives you a good feel for how to bootstrap the whole process and what is involved in integrating the PluginManager with an application.
This article series covers the code well and explains the reasons for design decisions and trade offs. I tried to maintain a clean and consistent style. The plugin_framework and the object_model libraries, which are the heart of the system, are pretty close to industrial-strength level (maybe with a little more error handling and documentation). The rest of the code demonstrates the entire system in action. The only part that I didn't demonstrate convincingly is the invokeService() call. All the mechanisms are in place though. I invoke my author privileges and assign it as the dread exercise to the reader to implement a couple of services in the DummyInvokeService() function in great_game.cpp
External Libraries
The game and the framework use two external libraries: APR and boost. The Apache Portable Runtime (APR) is a C library. I use its portable basic types (all the apr_xxx_t thingies) and some (very little) of its OS abstraction capabilities. I implemented most of the portable OS layer (DynamicLibrary, Directory, and Path) directly as alternative implementations on top native Windows and POSIX APIs. Boost is used mostly for its shared_ptr and scoped_ptr templates. This is very small ROI (return on investment) for burdening oneself with external dependencies, especially in the context of a cross-platform portable system. This is true. I considered removing all the dependencies and implement what little I needed from APR directly, have my own portable basic types header, and grab a smart pointer template instead of dragging Boost. I decided to leave them in to show that this is indeed a serious system that can cater to different needs and integrate with external libraries. I paid a price for it as you will hear soon enough.
Building the Sample Game and Its Plugins
I put a lot of effort into this part because going cross-platform can increase the complexity of a system by an order of magnitude. If you don't use proper tools and processes you can spend a lot of time chasing platform-specific issues.
- Windows. I provide a Visual Studio 2005 solution file in the root directory. This is preferred development environment for 99.99% of Windows developers. Visual Studio Express is free for all, so there is no cost. Some people think that cross-platform development means a single build system. I'm not one of them. I had my share of bad experiences with cygwin and MinGW. It's nice when it works and it's terrible when it doesn't. It is definitely a chore to keep multiple build systems in sync. Maybe in a future article I'll explore this issue further.
- Mac OS X. On the Mac (and Kubuntu) I used NetBeans 6.0. I can't tell you how impressed I am. It is an amazing C++ development environment. It comes this close ("putting two fingers very close to each other") to Visual Studio. It totally blows Eclipse CDT (C/C++ development tools). The only annoying part (that Visual Studio gets right) is that when you set project properties like preprocessor symbols, compiler flags, etc., you must do it separately for each project even if you have 20 or 200 projects that need the same settings. The other part where NetBeans is a little weak is the debugger. It uses GDB, which is not a stellar C++ debugger (did you ever managed to probe into an std::map in gdb?). The best part about NetBeans 6.0 (and earlier versions too) is that it uses Makefiles as its underlying build system. That means that you can deploy your source code to anyone (as I'm doing here) and they'll be able to do: "./configure; make" and run your application. I still encourage you to get NetBeans 6.0 if you don't develop exclusively on Windows.
- Linux (Kubuntu 7.10). Punch line: Eventually, I got it working. The story starts with me assuming I can just take my nice NetBeans project from the Mac and it works with a minor tweak or two. Think again. Kubuntu 7.10 comes with NetBeans 5.5.1 installed. I was happy and just tried to browse to my project. Nope. It turns out that only the Java environment is installed. Okay, I tried to update, but the C++ pack wasn't available. Okay, moving on. I tried to download the sources from NetBeans.org and build it, but I was informed that JDK1.6 update 3 is required. I tried to apt-get it and Kubuntu asks me for the installation CD. Now, I'm running in a VM that I installed from an .iso image. I deleted the 4+ GBytes .iso image because I didn't think I'll need it (why can't I update from the web?). I didn't want to download 4+ gigs, so I gave up on NetBeans and I opted to use KDevelop. It is the native KDE development environment, C++ is its strong suite and I knew that it uses automake/autoconf as its underlying build system. I had about 10 projects, but I wanted to check it out and see how easy it is to crank top-notch automake-based solution with multiple sub-projects. Well, I failed. I don't remember all the details, but I failed. I remember that it took a few minutes to locate the Automake manager (a vertical tab on the right-side of the IDE, when all the important tabs are on the left, you can move it to left when you find it). I decided to fall back to command line. It is Linux after all. People can get by without a flashy GUI IDE. I took my NetBeans-generated Makefile-based projects and started configuring and building. I had to "sed s/GNU-MacOSX/GNU-Linux-x86/g -i" a couple of times and a few more serious tweaks like replacing the linker flags (it turns out on the Mac its totally different) and I got pretty far. All the projects compiled and all the plugins linked successfully. Only, the great_game itself wouldn't link due to APR failures (couldn't find pthreads mostly). It didn't make sense pthreads is installed of course. I tried to apt-get just to see if there are some dev libraries missing. Nada. My pre-built APR library (actually two libraries) was built on a different linux distro. I download the APR source and tried to build from source. It built just fine, but I still got the same link errors.
I got really upset and grudgingly bit the bullet. I re-downloaded the Kubuntu-7.10 huge .iso image and mounted it. Things went downhill from here. I installed the JDK 1.6 update 3 through apt-get, and got and installed NetBeans 6.0 C++ pack from NetBeans.org. It created an icon on the desktop and I launched NetBeans. It loaded the Mac project files just fine and I had to make a couple of minor modifications and one more serious one. It turns out I had to add pthreads explicitly to the project, where on the Mac it just worked. So much for a unified build system. Finally all was well, after a few mistrials (I built the plugins into the wrong directory), I got everything working.
The Mac and Linux builds share the same Makefile in each project directory. This shared Makefile includes other files from a sub-directory called nbproject. Some of these files are different for the Mac and Linux. I wanted to ship build systems for both so I created two subdirectories under each project called nbproject.mac and nbproject.linux . This means that if you try to open these projects on the Mac or Linux with NetBeans, you will fail. You need to rename the appropriate sud-directory (based on your platform) to nbproject. This is annoying when you have eight different projects, so I created a little shell script called build.sh in the root directory. You should run it with either 'mac' or 'linux' and it copies the nbproject.mac or nbproject.linux to nbproject in each project and even runs make. You need to do it just once and then you will be able to open the projects in NetBeans.
Building External Libraries
The good news are that you don't have to. I provide pre-built static libraries for APR for all the platforms and the subset of Boost I use is just header files so no need to build it.
There is a little story here too. Cross-platform development is a difficult undertaking, so companies usually start with one platform and when they grow up and mature and the codebase stabilizes, they port to other platforms. Numenta (the company I work for) had a different idea. They decided to go cross-platform from the get-go, but only do Mac and Linux. This is probably the only company EVER to do that. When we launched our research platform, the most common complaint was the absence of a Windows version. I just completed the second phase of the NuPIC plugin framework. This is the ancestor of the plugin framework and all the idioms I present here. I quickly volunteered to take on the Windows port. I was the only developer with significant Windows expertise (all the other guys are UNIX gurus), but mostly I wanted to be able to debug in Visual Studio and forget about gdb. Our codebase was pretty much high-level standard C++. There were quiet a few direct system calls and many UNIX path issues, but nothing too terrible. All was going well, until I got to Boost. At this time we used a few Boost libraries that require building: boost::file_system, boost::regex and boost::serialization. I labored for days, scouring the web and trying strange combination of symbols, but I couldn't build these libraries under VC++ 2005. Eventually I had to write an OS abstraction layer on top of Win32 and POSIX APIs to replace these Boost libraries. The Directory and Path classes of the plugin framework are some of the fruits of this effort.


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A mobile enterprise is one where people can work from anywhere, anytime. There is a host of reasons businesses are finding it hard to "go mobile." First of all, mobile at work means a lot more than having access to a smartphone or tablet. A true mobile enterprise is one where people are completely productive, anytime, anywhere … in the office and on the go. Secondly, it's not about mobile devices — it is about business, technology, and people. And that means having a business strategy, a technology strategy, as well as a people/worker strategy to achieve business results. Ignore any one of these key elements at your peril. David Lavenda, vice president of product strategy at harmon.ie, offers 10 tips you need to heed to become a mobile enterprise.
Related Topics : In Their Own Words: The Four Dark Horses for the Third Major Mobile OS Speak, HTC, Mobile Search, 3G, Location-Based Services
Wearables are revolutionizing the workplace, with innovations that create a safer work environment or enhance the way professionals are able to go about their job. ... More >>
Here are the top 10 strategic technology trends that will impact most organizations in 2017. Strategic technology trends are defined as those with substantial disruptive potential or those reaching the tipping point over the next five years. ... More >>
Digital innovation is by far the biggest influencer, changing the way we do just about everything, from shopping to communication to running a business. ... More >>


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Listen to Adam Lambert Cover Rihanna's 'Stay'
As if we needed reminding that Adam Lambert was awesome. The 'Trespassing' singer covered Rihanna's 'Stay' and absolutely shamed anyone who will sing that song for the rest of time... including RiRi herself. Oh, and did we mention his version is only 37 seconds?
Glambert posted the clip of his rendition of the song while watching the Grammys and he was really impressed with Ri's collaborator, Mikky Ekko. He tweeted, "Discovering @mikkyekko thru this RiRi track is f----n great! His records are gorgeous."
Now, Adam, what do we have to do to get the whole clip posted?


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To ensure that science fair projects are done well, they should be started no later than the beginning of the school year. The student should make a planning timetable so that there will be sufficient time to carry out all the steps in the process. Below is a suggested timetable and plan of action to help give direction.
|Select a problem/begin research. Read publications, textbooks, and reference books. Consult teachers and other scientists who might help you.
|Continue research. Design experiments and method of investigation. Discuss with others.
|Collect material needed. Set up necessary equipment to do experiments. Outline research paper.
|Begin experiments. Complete experiments. Be sure to set aside time for observing and recording each day. When making observations and recording results, organize data in orderly tables and charts.
|Interpret results and data, draw conclusions, consider applications. Consult with teachers or other scientists. Construct models, illustrations, and/or displays. Finish research paper. Prepare for oral presentation of the project report. Remember, some of the most useful information can come from talking to other people who are interested in your topic.
I. Research Paper
A report of the research should be presented in a formal research paper. A suggested format follows:
A. Title
B. Abstract–a brief condensation of the entire report, in one page or less
C. Statement of the problem
D. Experimental methods
E. Results–this may include tables and graphs
F. Conclusions
G. References–use correct bibliographic form in repeating references. One quick means of determining correct form is to look at an article in a scientific publication, such as Scientific American, Science, The Science Teacher, Journal of Chemical Education, or American Biology Teacher. Note the bibliographic form used in references at the end of an article in a recent issue of one of these journals.
II. Suggestions
A. Do the Work Yourself
This is your project! One purpose of the science fair is to encourage you to do experiments. Do most of the work yourself; develop the idea on your own. Ask a question and then design an experiment to try to answer it.
You are encouraged to get advice from others, and you may need them to help with construction of an apparatus, but the project should be basically your project.
B. Start Early
It always takes longer than you think to do a good science project. You may have delays getting materials, constructing the apparatus, writing the report or making the display. Your proposed project may not work as you feel it should, and you may wish to start another one.
C. Work Regularly
Do not put it off until you have time; make time! Set aside a regular time to work even if only for a short time. Keep a written record at every stage of the project.
III. Exhibit Size
Displays will be restricted to a space 122 cm wide (side to side), 76 cm deep (front to back), 198 cm in height (from tabletop), or 274 cm in height (floor to top).
IV. Oral Presentation
Students should be at their exhibit during judging at the State Fair. Judges will have some questions about your project.
A. Questions commonly asked by judges
- "Tell me about your project."
- "What did you find out?"
- "Why did you do your project this way?"
- "What does that word mean?"
- "Why do you think your results turned out as they did?"
- "If going to study this more, what would you do next?"
B. Suggestions
- Be able to explain your project in 1/2 to 1 minute.
- Talk clearly and simply. Act interested and enthusiastic.
- Dress neatly and attractively.
- Practice your talk before others. Get others to ask you questions; learn answers to questions that you do not know.


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Graduate Student Orientation is designed to alleviate some of the common issues that new graduate students face on campus. If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact us!
The answer is a resounding YES! As a Carlow community we have selected programs that we feel are invaluable for you as a graduate student.
If for some reason you are unable to attend the program please let the Office of Campus Life know as soon as possible. That way, we can provide you with any information missed. Please call 412.578.6293.
Orientation is a journey that begins with enrollment and extends well into and beyond a student's first semester. It helps facilitate the transition to a university and prepares students for the educational opportunities and begins the integration into Carlow's intellectual, cultural and social communities. Students will meet with representatives throughout campus to:
First Year Mentors are trained student staff members whose job is to help you adjust to life at Carlow University. There are several dedicated student Orientation Staff members that will serve as hosts and share their experiences and strategies for success.
Yes, your children are more than welcome to attend this orientation program with you. However, all of the programs are for you, the student, only. Because of this, we happily provide a childcare service for you. This service is for children ages 4–12. Please let us know that your children will be coming by filling out the registration form found here.
Parking is free for all students the day of orientation. After this date however, a valid Carlow University parking permit must be displayed visibly in each vehicle parked on campus. All persons of the Carlow Campus community, desiring to purchase a permit must first complete a registration form.If you desire parking for the term, please visit Carlow parking on the web to register and pay for a permit.
The City of Pittsburgh has an extensive network of buses that run throughout the city. Many of these options will bring you into the well-served Oakland area. For a full listing of transportation options please visit the Pittsburgh Port Authority website or plan your trip through Google Transit.
Please go to the Technology Resources page for detailed instructions.
Everyone at Carlow University is here to help you, however if you find yourself in need of some assistance there are two main sources for help. You can always ask the Dispatcher at the front desk of Frances Warde Hall. But more importantly please direct your questions to the First Year Mentors. These students know everything there is to know about orientation and can answer all of your questions.
View the complete Academic Calendar here.Please log into WebAdvisor for your classes' official start dates. (E.g., you may be a Day Student, but you may have a Saturday class.)
The Carlow Card is your student identification card. It is your access card to the campus. This includes the fitness centers, libraries, computer labs, in fact it's the only way to gain access to any building on campus. You will be given this card at your Orientation program so please be prepared to take your picture when you arrive.


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18% female attendees shows Davos' gender gap
Opening Sequence
Tight-lipped Hicks angers House Democrats
House holds hearing on slavery reparations
U.S. says tanker mine fragments point to Iran
Evidence suggests MBS liable for Khashoggi: U.N.
China's Xi is on his way to Pyongyang
The Fed gets ready for possible rate cuts
After Boeing shock, Airbus fights back
Polar bear wanders into Russian city
World in Pictures
Closing Sequence


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Panoramic Hubble Picture Surveys Star Birth, Proto-Planetary Systems in the Great Orion Nebula
This spectacular color panorama of the center of the Orion Nebula is one of the largest pictures ever assembled from individual images taken with the Hubble telescope.
The seemingly infinite tapestry of rich detail revealed by Hubble shows a churning, turbulent star factory set within a maelstrom of flowing, luminescent gas. Though this 2.5-light-year-wide view is a small portion of the entire nebula, it includes a star cluster and almost all of the light from the bright glowing clouds of gas that make up the nebula.
Astronomers are releasing today one of the largest pictures ever taken of the heavens with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope - a spectacular color panorama of the center of the Orion nebula, a star forming region located 1,500 light- years away in the constellation of Orion the Hunter.
Also being released today are five new close-up images of dust disks that may be embryonic solar systems around newborn stars in Orion. They may be similar to the disk our own solar system probably formed out of 4.5 billion years ago.
This seamless mosaic was assembled from 15 separate Hubble views of the vast nebula. Hubble resolves details of starbirth as small as four billion miles across - roughly half the diameter of our solar system. Though the Orion panorama sweeps a big piece of celestial real estate 2.5 light-years across, the nebula is so far away that Hubble's mosaic covers an area of sky only about five percent of the area covered by the full Moon.
The image was taken by C. Robert O'Dell of Rice University, Houston, Texas, who used the Hubble Space Telescope between January 1994 and March 1995 to survey the nebula. Hubble observing time was devoted to making this panorama because the nebula is a vast laboratory for studying the processes which gave birth to our own Sun.
Using computer image processing, O'Dell and graduate student Shui Kwan Wong spent several weeks precisely combining 45 Hubble visible-light snapshots (taken at different colors of light to yield a natural, "full color" panorama) to create 15 fields which were then aligned and overlapped to create the final mosaic.
Scattered among the 500 stars in this sweeping photo mosaic, are several newly identified disks of dust encircling stars. Mark J. McCaughrean of the Max-Planck-Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, in collaboration with O'Dell, identified these dark disks silhouetted against the bright background of the Orion nebula.
Though the first direct visual evidence for circumstellar dust disks in Orion was uncovered by Hubble in 1992, the latest images show, unequivocally, that these are truly disks tilted at different angles to Earth. One striking image - resembling an interstellar Frisbee – shows a disk tilted edge-on, hiding the young star at its center. (A detailed study of the disk images by McCaughrean and O'Dell will appear in the March 1996 issue of the Astronomical Journal.)
In addition, the survey yeilds 153 disks that are glowing due to a torrent of ultraviolet radiation from the nebula's central stars. The existence of so many young stars with protoplanetary disks mathematically increases the likelihood of other planetary systems, said the researchers. "It means the building blocks are there; however, it doesn't mean that planets will certainly form," O'Dell said. As a young star evolves either its disk material "is drawn into planets or it dissipates with time." Current theory suggests that planetary systems form around stars about one million years after they ignite. "That's just about the age we're seeing here," O'Dell noted.
A description of O'Dell's earlier Orion nebula findings appears in the December 1995 issue of the National Geographic Magazine, along with a poster-size image of the Orion nebula.
NASA, C.R. O'Dell and S.K. Wong (Rice University)
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Harvester Roadmap
Development Roadmap
You will find the PKP Harvester2 development roadmap for 2009 below. Please note that these dates are not fixed.
Milestone 2.3 (Q1 2009)
Version 2.3 represents a major rewrite of several aspects of the Harvester 2.x line, particularly metadata storage and indexing. Improvements in metadata storage allow the Harvester to operate as an OAI Data Provider as well as an OAI Harvester, allowing it to work in a multi-tiered environment with the potential for conversion between metadata formats. Indexing is now supported via plugins, including support for SOLR/Lucene in addition to the traditional MySQL inverted-index. User accounts are now supported, allowing for the possibility of user-submitted archives that can thereafter be managed to a limited extent by the submitter. Robustness of error handling during harvesting and indexing has also been improved, with new code to detect and correct UTF-8 errors. All of this has been accomplished via the PKP Web Application Platform, which will underpin future releases of the Harvester as well as other well-known PKP applications such as Open Journal Systems (OJS) and Open Conference Systems (OCS).
You can view bug reports by type:


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System integration survey results show increase in spending for next year
The system integration business is looking up, according to a new Control Engineering original research study, with most survey respondents (87%) likely to be involved in system integration projects in the coming year, and spending on system integration projects was expected to increase next year. Three main groups of Control Engineering subscribers are system integrators (SIs), end users, and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Even those who don't consider themselves system integrators or system integration firms often do system integration and/or hire system integrators to design, assemble, simulate or test, start up, optimize, maintain, and retire their increasingly interconnected control systems.
Respondents valued half of all system integration projects this year at more than $50,000; 27% were more than $250,000; and 16% were over $750,000. And almost all agreed that the work system integrators do is effective. See advice from respondents below.
Advice from survey respondents: Communicate more clearly
Based on your experience, the survey asked, what could system integrators do to work better with clients? Analysis of 76 write-in responses shows that communications and technology related areas are the most in need of improvement. Categorized groupings and percentages follow, along with a sampling of advice in each area.
28% of comments had to do with communication, documentation, relationship, and courtesy:
- Always need better and more complete communication. All past problems encountered could have been prevented with better and more frequent communication.
- Those doing system integration need better scoping definitions, better and timely communication, avoidance of the "last second" stress, candid but factual "change order" and "scope creep" conversations, to avoid creating proprietary programming, always annotate PLC code, avoid the "nickel, dime, arm, then leg" approach when inevitable delays come in time and material (T&M) projects.
- Develop a relationship to understand how that plant works.
- Stay in contact so that design input opportunities can be discussed in the early stage.
24% Experience and technology details:
- Design systems with maintaining them in mind instead of using the latest gadget to meet the spec.
- Become immersed in the customer's day-day life, understand the existing process, and find ineffective systems before designing new ones.
- Have successful experience portfolio to show.
- Keep up to date on the latest advances in technology.
19% Lifecycle, project management, flexibility, and standards:
- Do a follow-up on what was installed after it has been in use for a time. Look at the problems that developed.
- Ensure strong skills in project management, accurate tracking (cost and schedule), expertise and effectiveness with startup procedures.
- Work hand-in-hand with clients and be flexible to understand their requirements.
13% Schedule and scope:
- Be flexible with project scope and demands. Not every project is a repeat of a previous project.
- Meet project schedule.
- Do their own scheduling and project milestones.
- More time up front defining scope, cost, schedule.
- Spend time to understand the customer concerns and future plans.
9% Price:
- Finish the work before running out of contract money.
- Charge less.
- Ongoing support after installation is difficult to quote but is required.
7% Education:
- Simple design is best. Train the client in operations and maintenance.
- Customer training/awareness.
- Do more marketing.
The 2013 Control Engineering System Integration report provides analysis and data points on who does system integration, projects for next year, integrated devices, skills needed for system integration, when system integrators join projects, effectiveness, project costs, change in spending, integrator selection, and preferred sources for system integration services, among other topics.
Access the full 2013 Control Engineering System Integration report.
– Mark T. Hoske, content manager, CFE Media, Control Engineering, email@example.com.
Online extra
System Integrator Giants – The 100 firms on the System Integrator Giants list represent the largest system integrators, from among the companies listed in the Control Engineering Automation Integrator Guide. In the survey, system integrator revenue is defined as automation integration services minus the cost of all off-the-shelf products: hardware, software, and equipment. The System Integrators who responded to this survey provided information about engineering specialties, industries served, products integrated, associations/affiliations, and challenges from their industry.
Control Engineering Automation Integrator Guide
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The number of shoplifting cases in the city of Spartanburg rose 40 percent from 2011 to 2012, but Spartanburg police say that doesn't necessarily mean there are more people stealing from local stores.
The number of shoplifting cases in the city of Spartanburg rose 40 percent from 2011 to 2012, but Spartanburg police say that doesn't necessarily mean there are more people stealing from local stores.
Spartanburg Public Safety Capt. Art Littlejohn said there were 897 calls in 2012 where a shoplifter was in custody or there was larceny in progress, up from 639 similar calls in 2011.
In 2010, there were 614 shoplifting calls.
Although Littlejohn said more people could be stealing merchandise, the increase is likely due to a number of factors including stores using modern technology to deter and apprehend thieves.
"We are finding that stores are using better surveillance and that helps on the front end so loss prevention officers detect shoplifters in real-time, but also on our end when we prosecute these cases," Littlejohn said. "Also, stores that have had items stolen in the past are investing in loss prevention officers that can help apprehend suspects."
Littlejohn said Spartanburg Public Safety has one officer dedicated to shoplifting cases and he interviews shoplifting suspects.
"A lot of people think that more people are shoplifting because the economy is bad, but what we learn from the suspects is it's a business," Littlejohn said. "The shoplifter will get a list of what their 'consumers' want and then they'll go out and steal and bring these items back and get paid a certain amount. It's like a shoplifting ring."
It takes an officer an average of two hours, from the time he's dispatched until the case is cleared, to work one shoplifting case, according to the Spartanburg Public Safety Department.
In 2012, Wal-Mart in Dorman Centre accounted for 38 percent of the city's shoplifting cases and 13 percent were from Wal-Mart on East Main Street, according to city statistics.
Wal-Mart spokeswoman Kayla Whaling said she couldn't discuss what the chain does specifically to deter shoplifting, but Wal-Mart has asset protection (or loss prevention) associates that target shoplifters. In addition, surveillance video cameras are in Wal-Mart stores and parking lots, she said.
"We have a number of measures to deter criminal activity, but we also rely heavily on expertise of local police and we have a great partnership with Spartanburg city police," she said.
Sears at WestGate Mall had 79, or 8 percent, of shoplifting cases and Food Lion on Garner Road had 28, or 3 percent of cases. Spencers at WestGate Mall had 22, or 2 percent, of cases.
In 2012, property valued at $157,963 was taken from city stores and $81,986 was recovered, Littlejohn said.
To help curtail shoplifters, Littlejohn said the city will begin posting the mugshots of those charged with shoplifting on the city's Facebook page.
"This will help generate an interest in our social networking sites, where we also have safety tips and other information for special events, and we hope it will serve as a deterrent to shoplifting," he said.


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Purchasing a Hedgehog
September 21, 2011 by Jasmine
Filed under All Posts, Small Pets
Tweet Pet Ownership: Purchasing a Hedgehog They look cute on the cartoon and quite harmless. We are speaking of hedgehogs. They are not your traditional pet so make sure that you do some research before you buy one as a pet. Hedgehogs are becoming more popular as pets these days. They are small animals that […]


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CHAIKOVSKI, Russia (Jan. 5) – Olympian Taylor Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, CO) skied another impressive race Sunday, earning the fastest time of the day for the second day in a row and finishing sixth in the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup in Chaikovski. Fletcher started the 10k cross country portion 2:15 back and took the fastest time by a 26-second margin, while Austria's Wilhelm Denifl took the victory. Next, the men head to Chaux Neuve, France Jan. 11-12 for a pair of nordic combined World Cup events.
QUOTESTaylor FletcherThese results are great for my mental level. I know that I can compete with the best again. I look forward to more chances and better jumps as well.
Russian snow is very difficult. Sochi was very wet and slow and Chaikovski was cold and slow. I think slow conditions are great for me.
RESULTSOfficial Results
USSA Network


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An 80-year-old successful and active businessman came to see me because of mild memory problems, and was afraid he had early Alzheimer's disease. Before he stepped into my office he'd already been considering major life-altering questions such as "Do I now need to quit the lifelong work that I love?," "how soon will I be disabled and demented?," and "how will my family take care of me if I have Alzheimer's?"
People like my patient are said to have "mild cognitive impairment," or MCI. About 50 percent of people with MCI have Alzheimer's disease and will progressively get worse, ultimately dying from the disease. But 50 percent of people with MCI don't have Alzheimer's, and some may get better with proper assessment and care. So accurate diagnosis is critical to prognosis, treatment and planning for people with MCI.
Imagine if I could do a test that would tell me whether he actually had Alzheimer's disease in his brain! Up until 2012, the only way to do this was to wait for the autopsy, or do a brain biopsy -- not very practical solutions.
However, in 2012, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a diagnostic brain imaging test called Amyvid™ for the detection of amyloid in the brain, the hallmark of Alzheimer's. It enables doctors to much more accurately diagnose Alzheimer's without the need for a brain biopsy or autopsy. Most experts believe the test has significant clinical value.
Without it, a misdiagnosis of Alzheimer's is possible, perhaps up to 30 percent of the time, and especially in people with MCI. If positive, the test has important prognostic value (like many other FDA approved tests) and helps physicians counsel people with MCI while they're still able to prepare for challenges that lie ahead, and identify appropriate and FDA-approved treatments for their symptoms once they progress to dementia (usually within 3-5 years). If negative, doctors can seek other, potentially reversible causes of the MCI and recommend measures to manage risk factors that may improve cognition.
Fortunately, my patient could afford the Amyvid scan, which is not currently approved for payment by Medicare or insurance. His scan was negative, so prognosis was probably much better! He and his family were extremely grateful for the news. The patient continued his work, remained engaged in life, and his condition actually improved with the lifestyle and medical recommendations that I made.
But for most people, Amyvid is simply too expensive.
Unlike the FDA, which approved Amyvid as "safe and effective" in identifying beta-amyloid in the brain, the characteristic sign of Alzheimer's disease, Medicare approves payment for tests like Amyvid. In considering payment, Medicare seeks to determine the "value" of the test to individuals and society. Unlike FDA, Medicare is not asking the question, "is Amyvid safe, and does Amyvid do what it is reported to do, that is identify amyloid in the brain?" In contrast, Medicare is asking, "does the Amyvid scan change health care outcomes?" And while Medicare cannot decide to approve or disapprove payment for a test solely on the basis of the cost, in considering the "value" of a test, they can consider whether it is "cost-effective" from a societal perspective. No doubt Medicare is concerned that many people over the age of 55 with memory issues will want the test, and that appropriate use of the test (such as in people with MCI) will be difficult to control in clinical practice.
So, Medicare has not approved payment for the test in clinical practice. This means most people won't have access to it. Most experts, including those testifying to Medicare, responded that when used appropriately according to the guidelines suggested by experts for use in individual patients, Amyvid clearly has benefit for certain patients in accurate diagnosis, prognosis, and clinical care (such as the appropriate use of Alzheimer's medications), and that a negative test can have considerable value as well (as it was for my patient and his family).
Medicare has proposed to only approve payment in research studies through a mechanism called "coverage with evidence development" or CED. This means that Amyvid will need to tested in large, lengthy and expensive research studies to prove its "clinical value." No doubt this will take years and millions of dollars, the studies will be difficult to conduct and demonstrate effects on populations of patients, and ultimately if the value of the test is not shown, payment will be denied. In the meantime, the vast majority of people will not be able to get the test.
The potential for actual use of new diagnostic tests in improving the quality of healthcare, and reducing overall costs is important. The question, the problem, is when should these data be obtained? Prior to FDA regulatory approval? Prior to Medicare approval for payment? Or after approval, so that individual patients can have access while the societal cost-effectiveness of the test is being studied (which can take many years)?
The case of Amyvid also has repercussions for the drug discovery and development process. With no treatments available to prevent or slow Alzheimer's, the only way to halt the epidemic is to invest in new research for new drugs and diagnostics. This requires 12-15 years of research and billions of dollars. The high research and development costs create tremendous risk and the reality is that most drug research programs fail.
From a research and development perspective, there is little incentive for researchers, investors, or a pharmaceutical company, to spend billions of dollars on the risk of development of a new therapy or test that may never be paid for, even if approved by the FDA. The possibility of great risk in payment, after decades of research and billions of dollars, will clearly hinder innovation in the development of new drugs and diagnostic tests.
These conflicts in perspectives between Medicare, healthcare providers, patients, industry and researchers that develop tests like Amyvid is a harbinger of our new world under healthcare reform, and will increase dramatically in the coming years. And as the largest payer in the United States, the insurance industry generally follows Medicare policy for the elderly, so the implications are for everyone.
We have to find a way to make the criteria and the process for approving payment more effective, efficient, and collaborative, while effectively balancing the needs of individual patients and society. Current quality of care and future research on the development of new diagnostic tests and drugs depend on it.
This can be done by approving tests for payment so patients and physicians have access under specific conditions with clear guidelines, in conjunction with procedures for monitoring the appropriate, approved utilization of the test or drug. For patients with dementia, this is already being done with a test like Amyvid called FDG-PET to distinguish those with fronto-temporal dementia from people with Alzheimer's disease.
We urge Medicare to work collaboratively with patients, doctors, and the research industry to make decisions that are beneficial to both individuals and society, as we transition from the individual driven, fee-for-service system to what is essentially managed care and population-based health under healthcare reform.
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