Diversity Dynamics using Fossil Sampling Data
Functions to describe sampling and diversity dynamics of fossil occurrence datasets (e.g. from the Paleobiology Database). The package includes methods to calculate range- and occurrence-based metrics of taxonomic richness, extinction and origination rates, along with traditional sampling measures. A powerful subsampling tool is also included that implements frequently used sampling standardization methods in a multiple bin-framework. The plotting of time series and the occurrence data can be simplified by the functions incorporated in the package, as well other calculations, such as environmental affinities and extinction selectivity testing. Details can be found in: Kocsis, A.T.; Reddin, C.J.; Alroy, J. and Kiessling, W. (2019) <10.1101>.10.1101>
Change log of the R package 'divDyn'
[0.7.1 (build 670)] - 2019.02.18
- A lot of people reported problems with the direction of time in the divDyn() function. A startup message is added as a reminder of the arbitrary decision I had to make when designing the function.
- The affinity() function is extended with the 'na.rm' argument. Setting this argument to TRUE will remove all NAs found in relevant columns of the data table. Otherwise the function will halt if these are found.
- The "binom" method of the affinity() function is now generalized to more than two entry types. Binomial tests are run for that type that has the highest odds ratio of occurrences when contrasted to the reference dataset ('dat' or 'reldat').
- The 'bycoll' argument is now added to the affinity() function. This allows the calculation of affinities based on the collection rather than occurrence counts.
- Some code was added to the tsplot() function to correctly plot the labels of the time scale boxes when the boundaries of the plot do not coincide with those of the boxes. The plotting of the labels of these partially drawn boxes can be switched on and off with the added 'rtlab' and 'ltlab' arguments.
- Package suggested citation now directs to the paper in Methods in Ecology and Evolution.
- The default of the 'coll' argument in the affinity() function is now set to NULL.
- The main divDyn() function produced warnings ('In cbind(bin = aubi$z, dCountsAndMetrics)'') when the automatic binning was used ('breaks 'argument) and when the provided interval had younger parts than the occurrence data. The results are the same, the warnings are no longer produced.
- Problems with the 'reldat' argument of the affinity() function
[0.7.0 (build 642)] - 2019.01.08
- the georange() function for geographic range estimation from a set of coordinates (suggesting the vegan and the icosa packages)
- the tabinate() function for iterating procedures on taxon/time slice subsets of the data
- the internals of the binning procedure of divDyn()
- updated ddPhanero vignette
- To make the contents of the 'stages' object consistent with its name, the former geochronological entries are replaced with their chronostratigraphic counterparts. The columns per, period and periodCol were replaced with 'sys', 'system' and 'systemCol', table entries with 'Early' and 'Late' qualifiers were replaced with 'Lower' and 'Upper', respectively. The vignettes are adjusted to work with these changes.
[0.6.3] - 2018.12.12
- The modeltab() function
- the fill() utility function
- proper NEWS file
- the 'ages' argument to the divDyn() function
- the 'misspell', 'subgenera' and 'stems' are added to the spCleanse() function, which was renamed to cleansp()
- warnings to some functions that signs the presence of "" empty quotes taxa
- instead of zeros, the divDyn() function now outputs NAs where counting patterns are not applicable
- bin processing in divDyn() had potential issues with negative integer bin numbers
- The inf argument of divDyn(), that an unncessary complication
[0.6.2] - 2018.10.22
- The collapse() and seqduplicated() utility functions.
- The 'zerodur' argumnet to the fadlad() function
- Hexadecimal colour values to the 'stages' table.
- The 'boxes.col' argumnet is added to the tsplot() function to plot these colours.
- The 'labels' argument to the the tsplot() function, that allows the user not to plot the labels within the boxes.
- The stage identification 'Thanetian' was changed to 'Selandian-Thanetian in the 'stages' object to better reflect what the interval really is. It also had a typo in the 'per' column, at the Ordovician/Silurian boundary. The abbreviation of the Bartonian stage was changed to 'Brt' as 'Bar' was already assigned to the Barremian, causing plotting errors.
- Bug in the 'noNAStart' argument of the binstat() function, causing inappropriate function return
- tsplot() now allows y-axis reversal, e.g. ylim=c(4,-1)
- fix of bug in subsample() that resulted in an error message when the first randomly chosen species had higher adjusted frequency than the quorum
[0.6.1] - 2018.10.01
- the singletons() function to quickly return single-occurrence, single-reference, single-interval and similar taxa
- citation file
- typo correction in the 'stages' table: 'Ordiovician' entries in the 'period' column were corrected to 'Ordovician'
- minor changes in help files.
[0.6.0] - 2018.09.17
- the indices() function to calculate some basic diversity indices within the package. Please feel encouraged to use the rest from the 'vegan' package.
- the binstat() and sumstat() functions. Binstat calculates bin-specific indices and sampling metrics, sumstat() calculates those relevant for the entire occurrence database. Most functionality of the deprecated sampstat() function is in binstat.
- forgotten proper cleanup of dynamic libraries upon package unload
- material in the sampstat() function was reorganized to two separate functions, see above
- the deprecated crDD() function and the old plotTS() functions were deleted from the package
[0.5.2] - 2018.09.02
- x argument for sampstat() to calculate maximum quotas with OxW subsampling.
- the "none" subsampling type to subsample(). This argument will skip the subsampling part, but reruns the applied function in the trials, nevertheless.
- the map() function was renamed to categorize() to better reflect its intended use
[0.5.1] - 2018.08.31
- example bin identifier changes (from 'slc' to 'stg')
- the subsample(), subtrialCR(), subtrialOXW(), subtrialSQS() functions now automatically omit rows that have NA entries in the 'bin' variables.
- the 'stages' object now contains dates from Ogg et al. 2016
- bin durations were added to both the 'stages' and 'bins' objects
- the 'stratkeys' and 'keys' objects were updated to version 0.9.2
[0.5.0-1] - 2018.08.29
- stratigraphic assignment objects (in 'keys') now have a -1 entries for empty strings
[0.5.0] - 2018.08.20
- bug fix that made R crash randomly
- subsampling trial functions (subtrialCR(), subtrialOXW(), subtrialSQS()) and cleaned help files for 'subsample()'
- multiple bin entry support for 'ranges()'
- proper Description in description file
- the functions 'plotTS()' and 'fadLad()' were renamed to 'tsplot()' and 'fadlad()' for easier typing.
- 'stratkeys' and the corresponding 'keys' updated to v0.9.1
- the 'sampstat()' function no longer outputs empty variables when the argument columns are set to NULL
- the 'exact' method implementation for SQS as it was slow and and incorrect. The 'inexact' method was confirmed with the iNEXT package.
[0.4.2] - 2018.07.24
- the ranges() function to plot occurrence data and stratigraphic ranges over time (see examples)
- fadLad(): function defenses
- fadLad(): two bin columns are now allowed as input (for age uncertainty estimation)
- fadLad(): the ages argument for inverting the time axis
- fixes to conform to the CRAN requirements
- plotTS() now allows "no-boxes" plotting, and multiple layers of boxes
[0.4.1] - 2018.07.07
- function defenses
- fixes to conform to the CRAN requirements
- default settings for the sampstat() and subsample() functions to increase flexibility and user-friendliness
- the intact argument of subsample() was separated to the rem and keep arguments, to enable negative time-slice identifiers.
[0.4.0] - 2018.06.29
- the first vignette is now included
- bug fix for the parts() function. Due to the overplotting of polygons, the RGBA colours were not appropriately visualized
- bug fix to the omit() function's binref method.
- the "total" method for the sampstat() function
- documentation to the built in datasets
- the map() function to resolve information downloaded from the PaleoDB
- 'keys' to the stratigraphic and environmental resolution, based on the FossilWorks dynamic timescale ?keys
- the 10 million year timescale of the Paleobiology Database, ?bin
- The sampstat() function now outputs a data.frame, instead of a matrix.
- the 'method' argument of subsample() was renamed to 'type' to avoid problems with argument distribution with the frequent 'method' argument name
- The previously added bayesian method from the affinity() function. The method had problems and is under investigation.
[0.3.1] - 2018.06.04
- method argument for the affinity() function, allows implementation of a simple majority rule (method="majority") or the Bayesian approach of Simpson and Harnik (2009, method="bayesian")
- the affinity() function was also completely reprogrammed
[0.3.0] - 2018.06.01
- continuous time entry is now possible for the divDyn() function. (does not yet work with subsampling!!!!)
- the breaks argument to the divDyn() function
- the examples and defaults match the current download from the Paleobiology Database
- the previous 'scleractinia' example dataset was renamed to 'corals' for the sake of simplicity
[0.2.12] - 2018.05.17
- na.rm argument for the shades() function to omit gaps in plotting of the time series
- bug fix for the shades() function, single rows bounded by rows of NAs (gaps) from above and below do not crash the function anymore
[0.2.11] - 2018.05.17
- bug fix for the plotTS() function, enables log scaling of y axis with plot.args=list(log="y")
- the parts() function for efficient plotting of proportion/count data over time
[0.2.10] - 2018.05.13
- proportional extinction and origination rates to the divDyn() function
- the omit() function for culling occurrence datasets (kind of slow yet)
- argumentation of the divDyn function was extended to accomodate the omission of occurrences within the function (optional)
[0.2.9] - 2018.05.09
- the 'cr' method of the subsample() function was rewritten in C++ and with Rcpp classes for faster performance
- fixed bug in the subsample() function, when custom functions produce vector output
[0.2.8] - 2018.05.01
- multiple versions of the shareholder quorum subsampling (SQS) routine to subsample()
- the sampstat() function, that outputs basic sampling stats for the time slices
- useFailed argument to subsample(). Changes output depending on whether the subsampling quota/quorum is reached.
- bug fix for the CR method in subsampling
- argument distribution in the subsample() function, FUN argument simplified to a single function
- the subsampling routines will be remodularized so that their argument becomes the dataset, rather than the individual columns. This will allow the support for custom subsampling functions.
[0.2.7] - 2018.02.01
- bug (due to output changes in fadLad) and speed fixes for the affinity() function. The interface also changed, it now outputs a single vector instead of a data.frame.
- bug fix in the ratesplit() function argument distribution. The "combine" version works properly now.
[0.2.6] - 2018.01.26
- John Alroy's (2015) second-for-third extinction/origination proportions/rates to the divDyn() function
[0.2.5] - 2018.01.22
- survivors() function to calculate survivorship probabilities
- the 'subseries()' function was renamed to 'subsample()' for easier application
- the 'fadLad()' function was redrafted for speed
[0.2.4] - 2018.01.15
- the the "oxw" method for the subseries() function. This implements occurrence-weighted by list subsampling.
[0.2.3] - 2018.01.08
- the subseries() function to execute certain functions with subsampling applied.
[0.2.2] - 2017.12.18
- the shades() function for plotting distributions of values arranged in a time series
[0.2.1] - 2017.12.12
- the ratesplit() function for selectivity tests
- period abbreviations for the 'stages' object
- plotTS() function default changes
[0.2.0] - 2017.12.11
- added Rccp import
- divDyn() updated to v2, ca. 150x faster
- installation changes
[0.1.6] - 2017-12-04
- the plotTS() time scale plotting function
- examples were updated
[0.1.5] - 2017-11-27
- the streaklog() and whichmaxstreak() functions
[0.1.4] - 2017-11-22
[0.1.3] - 2017-11-21
- output variable names in the divDyn() function
- the first version of the crDD() function is added.
Pre-open versions were not registered.


Ancient DNA studies have always refreshed our understanding of the human past that cannot be tracked by modern DNA alone. Until recently, ancient mitochondrial genomic studies in East Asia were still very limited. Here, we retrieved the whole mitochondrial genome of an 8,400-year-old individual from Inner Mongolia, China. Phylogenetic analyses show that the individual belongs to a previously undescribed clade under haplogroup C5d that most probably originated in northern Asia and may have a very low frequency in extant populations that have not yet been sampled. We further characterized the demographic history of mitochondrial haplogroups C5 and C5d and found that C5 experienced a sharp increase in population size starting around 4,000 years before present, the time when intensive millet farming was developed by populations who are associated with the Lower Xiajiadian culture and was widely adopted in northern China. We caution that people related to haplogroup C5 may have added this farming technology to their original way of life and that the various forms of subsistence may have provided abundant food sources and further contributed to the increase in population size.
Wu, Xiyan; Ning, Chao; Bao, Qingchuan; Gao, Shizhu; Zhang, Fan; Wu, Sihao; Li, Tianjiao; Fan, Linyuan; Li, Tao; Yang, Xuan; Cai, Dawei; and Cui, Yinqiu
"Mitochondrial Genome of an 8,400-Year-Old Individual from Northern China Reveals a Novel Subclade under C5d,"
1, Article 3.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol91/iss1/3


Unique Index Design Guidelines
A unique index guarantees that the index key contains no duplicate values and therefore every row in the table is in some way unique. Specifying a unique index makes sense only when uniqueness is a characteristic of the data itself. For example, if you want to make sure that the values in the NationalIDNumber column in the HumanResources.Employee table are unique, when the primary key is EmployeeID, create a UNIQUE constraint on the NationalIDNumber
With multicolumn unique indexes, the index guarantees that each combination of values in the index key is unique. For example, if a unique index is created on a combination of LastName, FirstName, and MiddleName columns, no two rows in the table could have the same combination of values for these columns.
Both clustered and nonclustered indexes can be unique. Provided that the data in the column is unique, you can create both a unique clustered index and multiple unique nonclustered indexes on the same table.
The benefits of unique indexes include the following:
Data integrity of the defined columns is ensured.
Additional information helpful to the query optimizer is provided.
Creating a PRIMARY KEY or UNIQUE constraint automatically creates a unique index on the specified columns. There are no significant differences between creating a UNIQUE constraint and creating a unique index independent of a constraint. Data validation occurs in the same manner and the query optimizer does not differentiate between a unique index created by a constraint or manually created. However, you should create a UNIQUE or PRIMARY KEY constraint on the column when data integrity is the objective. By doing this the objective of the index will be clear.
A unique index, UNIQUE constraint, or PRIMARY KEY constraint cannot be created if duplicate key values exist in the data.
If the data is unique and you want uniqueness enforced, creating a unique index instead of a nonunique index on the same combination of columns provides additional information for the query optimizer that can produce more efficient execution plans. Creating a unique index (preferably by creating a UNIQUE constraint) is recommended in this case.
A unique nonclustered index can contain included nonkey columns. For more information, see Index with Included Columns.
There are several index options that can be specified when you create a unique index. You should give special consideration to following options:
For more information, see Setting Index Options.


DNA testing is far less subjective than eyewitness descriptions and police lineups. The results of other forensic methods like handwriting analysis and the matching of fingerprints, bite marks, bullets, and hair are usually expressed in a "match/no match" format that doesn't address how common such a match might be. According to a Department of Justice study, non-DNA forensic tests aided the prosecution in roughly two-thirds of 28 wrongful convictions that were later overturned based on DNA evidence. Mistakes in eyewitness identification figured into almost all the cases.
Reports on DNA matches, by contrast, include scientifically rigorous probabilities of the likelihood of finding the same DNA profile in a random, unrelated individual. The chances are typically far less than 1 in 10 billion for a full DNA profile from a single individual. It is that degree of improbability that forms the basis for the common perception that DNA testing is foolproof. These probabilities do not incorporate the possibility of laboratory error, however. Sometimes evidence contains a small amount of DNA, degraded DNA, or a mixture of DNA that's difficult to analyze.
Errors can occur in these cases because test results are ambiguous, and analysts often know in advance what the police expect them to find. "It's kind of like you know what you're looking for, and if it looks like it's there, you kind of convince yourself it's there," says Robert Shaler, former director of forensic biology at the Office of Chief Medical Examiner of New York City and current director of the forensic science program at Pennsylvania State University. Shaler points to a case in which a forensic scientist analyzing a difficult DNA sample reported that the chances of a random match similar to the one made to the defendant were 1 in 500. By Shaler's calculation, the chances were more like 1 in 6. "I think there was a huge amount of pressure on the lab to come up with an interpretation that was favorable to the prosecution," he says.
Scientific rigor withers in such an environment. "Some of the CSI mentality—the notion of being very involved with the police—that mentality is at war with doing really rigorous work," Thompson says. "The [laboratory workers] don't want to be blind; they want to be in there with the detectives figuring out who the bad guy is. The major problem in the field of forensic science is the difference between the scientific imperative and the law enforcement imperative. What's required to do good science and what's required to do good law enforcement come into conflict."
Paul Ferrara counters that his scientists at the Virginia Department of Forensic Science need to know what evidence to focus on in order to do their jobs efficiently when faced with a mountain of evidence. But he admits to the link with law enforcement. "Forensic science laboratories work for law enforcement agencies to solve crimes," he says. "You can't separate the two."
According to Shaler, "the secret to this is education—the people in charge of DNA labs need another round of education that these problems exist, and they have to learn how to deal with them."
Despite the issues complicating forensic DNA testing, advocates like Ferrara are already calling for an expanded role for DNA in crime fighting by law enforcement agencies. "I think taking samples upon arrest and using DNA the same way we use fingerprints is the future," he says. "I say, why do we treat DNA differently than we do fingerprints? And my critics will say, because DNA contains"—Ferrara leans forward conspiratorially—"all of our secrets. All of our personal information." He walks to his desk and pats a plastic DNA model. "It does," he adds. "Potentially. But not here in Virginia."
Ferrara opens a computer file containing a mock-up of his Virginia driver's license. At the bottom is an extra line that includes the shorthand names of the 13 "CODIS loci," the locations on a person's genes that are read to make a DNA profile. At each of these spots, scientists analyze "short tandem repeats," which are portions of DNA where a small sequence of the DNA base pairs—A, T, C, and G—repeat. These genetic stutters are denoted by a pair of numbers because they're inherited from both parents. No two individuals should have the same 13 pairs.
Ferrara taps the computer screen with his pen. "When I'm giving a talk, I say: 'Here, there's my DNA profile. Copy it down, do what you want with it.'" His point is that the numbers contain no information about him—not his predisposition for genetic illnesses, his intelligence, or even his eye color. Ferrara flashes his Social Security number on the screen. "This is more dangerous," he says. "This you can try to steal my identity with. You can't fake somebody's DNA."
You can't fake DNA—at least not yet—but Ferrara knows of a case where someone tried, unsuccessfully, to plant it. Thompson knows of several such cases. Criminals are getting more sophisticated about tampering with evidence. A criminal might, for example, pick up a used condom from lover's lane and use it to spread the DNA of an innocent man at a rape scene. "If he's in the database, there's a hit that could falsely incriminate him," Thompson says.
Ferrara acknowledges that investigators must weigh cold hits along with other facts in a crime. "DNA databanks are investigative tools," he says. "A match made doesn't mean a person committed a crime."
More often in cold cases the problem is no match at all. That has led crime fighters to begin expanding the ways they use DNA. In and near Charlottesville, identical DNA profiles turned up at several scenes of sexual assault. The police had had the DNA since 1997, but checking CODIS produced no suspects. Based on the little eyewitness information they could collect, Charlottesville police in 2003 started approaching dark-skinned men with a request for what some call get-lucky swabs—swipings from the inner cheeks of nonsuspects to collect cells for DNA analysis. The swabs were voluntary, but men would be subject to suspicion if they refused.
The idea of DNA sweeps or "dragnets" originated in Europe, and police departments have employed the technique more than a dozen times in the United States, typically stirring controversy. In Charlottesville, African Americans protested the policy and accused the police of racial profiling. At least one man sued a police detective for harassment. Critics questioned why the police were so sure the rapist was black. "And that got us thinking about what more DNA can tell us," says Charlottesville police captain Chip Harding.
Harding had the crime scene evidence sent to DNAPrint Genomics, a company in Sarasota, Florida, that offers a test for what its inventors at one time called "racial inference" or "race proportions" and now refer to as "BioGeographical Ancestry makeup." The test grew out of the company's efforts to tailor medical therapies to segments of the population. In their research they amassed a number of DNA markers that they believed could establish ancestry, which they developed into a test first marketed to genealogy buffs. Now they say it can also shed some light on appearance.
In September 2004, DNAPrint sent results to Harding that said the Virginia serial rapist's DNA was 85 percent sub-Saharan African, 12 percent European, and 3 percent Native American. Harding received a CD containing several photographs of people with similar proportional mixes of DNA. Thus far, the Charlottesville crimes remain unsolved. DNAPrint's senior scientist Matthew Thomas rejects the charge that the company's test, known as DNAWitness, is itself a form of racial profiling. "DNAWitness will hold up to scientific scrutiny whereas personal feelings and biases won't," he says.
The company has handled about 100 criminal and victim identification cases. "The technology can aid pretty much any case where you don't have a suspect but you have a biological sample," Thomas says. DNAPrint has received a $50,000 subcontract to provide raw data to a National Institute of Justice grantee.
The rapid expansion in the categories of people who must submit DNA for testing is challenging the capacity of the nation's DNA laboratories. Already there is a backlog of samples from the most serious crimes. A 2003 study found that it takes, on average, about six months to process DNA evidence from no-suspect rape cases in the United States. British police, by contrast, get answers in only two to five days. Meanwhile, in a test project at the Bode Technology Group in Springfield, Virginia, the FBI is exploring the use of robots to speed up testing.
Tania Simoncelli of the American Civil Liberties Union worries that the larger the database, the greater the possibility of spurious matches, which could lead to more errors. "You're going to get a higher percentage of hits that have nothing to do with the crime."
By contrast, Sarah Hovis, the former University of Virginia student who was raped, wishes that CODIS would expand even further. "I think [with] every child born, DNA should be taken," she says. When the lab came up with a cold hit in the Hovis case, her rapist was already in jail for an unrelated driving offense. Now he is serving a 90-year sentence for rape, forcible sodomy, and four other felony counts. "The fact that I got to face him in the courtroom was so therapeutic, and I feel in the end I beat him," Hovis says. "I'm also acutely aware of the fact that we had nothing apart from his DNA."


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Any type of welding requires advanced eye protection to prevent corneal damage from the ultraviolet light of the weld. Welders must wear a protective welding helmet that covers the face to protect from sparks and flying material; this helmet includes a special darkened eye shield to prevent the cornea from being damaged. This condition is called arc eye and can be extremely uncomfortable. The eye protection of the welder's helmet can also prevent retinal damage.
Every welding helmet includes a lens shade, or the eyepiece through which the welder looks at his weld. It is a heavily darkened and polarized lens that only lets in a certain amount of light. The lens is so dark, it is extremely difficult to see anything through it aside from the welding light itself. Therefore, the auto-darkening welding helmet has become popular in recent years.
The auto-darkening welding helmet does exactly what its name implies: its lens automatically darkens when the light from the weld begins to flash. Otherwise, the lens lightens so the welder can see objects in front of him. Without the auto-darkening feature, the lens shade would be almost completely black, making it impossible to see the project in front of him without raising his helmet.
The auto-darkening welding helmet uses a light sensor to indicate when the lens shade should be darkened. This sensor is mounted to the front of the mask and prevents such conditions as arc flash, or the unexpected exposure of the eye to the welding arc. There are two types of auto-darkening welding helmet: solar powered and battery powered. Each one does the same thing and is of comparable quality to the other, but the solar powered mask has a few advantages.
First, because the solar powered auto-darkening welding helmet does not have an on-off switch, there is no risk of accidentally leaving the mask turned off, thereby exposing your eyes to the welding arc. Luckily, all models of auto-darkening welding helmet protect the eyes from damaging UV light even if the lens shade is not at its darkest, but your eye will be exposed to uncomfortably bright light if the shade is not darkened. Further, the solar powered auto-darkening welding helmet does not require battery changes, nor does it necessitate you monitor battery life to ensure the lens shade will darken when you need it to.
Both masks require regular inspection to ensure no cracks in the lens shade will expose your eye to UV light. Be sure to check your helmet for damage regularly. While less expensive masks are available as a replacement for a damaged mask, they are not auto-darkening and can make your project more cumbersome and difficult.
One of our editors will review your suggestion and make changes if warranted. Note that depending on the number of suggestions we receive, this can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Thank you for helping to improve wiseGEEK!


Clay brick’s are renowned for their thermal attributes that provide warmth in winter and cooler conditions in summer, thus ensuring that energy is not squandered on artificial heating and cooling mechanisms.
Thermal transmittance refers to the material’s ability to transmit or resist heat energy, while capacity refers to the amount of heat the building material will store. Clay bricks have excellent ratings in both, making them a superior choice for building in areas with high day-time and low night-time temperatures. Air humidity is also regulated, creating an ideal climate that is close to the preferred human comfort zone in both the coolest and hottest months.
While architects are attracted by their flexibility and ageless visual appeal, they also maximise on the energy efficiencies of clay brick, which have an ability to trap solar heat in during the day and then slowly release it through the building at night.
In many countries, wall thermal resistance (R-value) is directly correlated with energy efficiency. This is because buildings in Europe and North America use most of their energy in keeping homes warm at night and through bitterly cold winters.
Here in South Africa, R-values are only one measurement to consider because most of the year our objective is to cool our homes rather than heat them. South African buildings require walling materials that have a high thermal mass to achieve both optimum warmth in winter as well as cooling in summer.
R-Value is a theoretical figure that measures a material's resistance to conductive heat transfer, but it does not factor in the time taken for heat to traverse a layer of high mass. To account for both factors we need to measure the thermal diffusivity or CR-value. (Thermal Mass).
Buildings should be built to last and as such the life cycle value of a building derived from long term durability, low maintenance and energy savings should be the key determining factor to be taken into account. Clay bricks fulfil all these requirements in ensuring solid quality constructions, and offer the most efficient and cost-effective solutions in the long-term.


punched card n.obs.
[techspeak] (alt. `punch card') The signature medium of computing's Stone Age, now obsolescent outside of some IBM shops. The punched card actually predated computers considerably, originating in 1801 as a control device for mechanical looms. The version patented by Hollerith and used with mechanical tabulating machines in the 1890 U.S. Census was a piece of cardboard about 90 mm by 215 mm. There is a widespread myth that it was designed to fit in the currency trays used for that era's larger dollar bills, but recent investigations have falsified this.
IBM (which originated as a tabulating-machine manufacturer) married the punched card to computers, encoding binary information as patterns of small rectangular holes; one character per column, 80 columns per card. Other coding schemes, sizes of card, and hole shapes were tried at various times.
The 80-column width of most character terminals is a legacy of the IBM punched card; so is the size of the quick-reference cards distributed with many varieties of computers even today. See chad, chad box, eighty-column mind, green card, dusty deck, lace card, card walloper.


John Maynard Keynes (June 5, 1883 in Cambridge - April 21, 1946) was an English economist, whose radical ideas had a major impact on economic and political thought. He is particularly remembered for advocating interventionist government policy, by which the government would use fiscal and monetary measures to aim to mitigate the adverse effects of economics recessions and booms. His ideas have been further developed by the school of Keynesian economics.
His father, John Neville Keynes, was an economist. Keynes graduated in mathematics from Cambridge University, and afterwards increasingly turned his attention to economics. An advisor to the British government during World War 1, he first came to public prominence with the publication of The Economic Consequences of the Peace, published after the end of the war in 1919. This argued that the reparations which Germany was forced to pay to the victors in the war were too large and would lead to the ruin of the German economy. These predictions were arguably borne out when the German economy collapsed in the Hyperinflation of 1923, with only a small amount of reparations ever being paid.
Keynes also published his Treatise on Probability in 1920, a notable contribution to the philosophical and mathematical underpinnings of probability theory.
His seminal book, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money was first published in 1936. In this book Keynes put forward a theory based upon the notion of aggregate demand[?] to explain variations in the overall level of economic activity, such as were observed in the great depression. The book advocated activist economic policy by government to stimulate demand in times of unemployment, for example by spending on public works. The book is often viewed as the foundation of modern macroeconomics.
During the World War 2, Keynes argued in How to pay for the war that the war effort should be largely financed by higher taxation, rather than deficit spending, in order to avoid Inflation.
Following the war, Keynes argued in favour of a radical system for the management of currencies, involving a central bank for the world and a common unit of currency, the "Bancor".
Keynes was a prominent member of the Bloomsbury group.


A dental implant is versatile and can replace single teeth, multiple teeth, an arch of teeth, or secure dentures
If you’ve never been a dental implant patient before, the concept and process can be confusing and foreign as implants are not what most people think of as day-to-day dentistry. However, implants quickly became the gold standard for tooth replacement after being introduced to dentistry in the early 1980s due to how versatile and predictable they are. Dental implants are made of titanium, one of the most bio-compatible materials on the market, which means even if you have a metal allergy you are still likely to be an excellent candidate for implants. The implant is designed to function as the root of a tooth, meaning it is placed entirely in the jaw bone, as a tooth root is. The top portion of the implant can be a single tooth, a part of a bridge helping to replace multiple teeth, or a component designed to improve a denture or partial denture.
Dental implants are now the gold standard in tooth replacement, and for a variety of good reasons:
1. No detriment to neighboring teeth: Traditionally, if missing a tooth the dentist would make a bridge. To fabricate a bridge, the neighboring tooth on either side of the space needs to be ground down to allow for a 3-unit bridge (3 crowns fused together that rest on the two teeth) to fit. If those teeth did not need crowns, then they have had a major portion of healthy tooth removed unnecessarily. Bridges set those teeth up for difficulties in the future, such as need for a root canal, cavities in hard to fix areas (you can’t floss between the teeth when fused together), and fracture (we’re asking two teeth to do the work of three, and the supporting teeth have been whittled down).
2. Can look and function like natural teeth: Individual implants mimic a natural tooth better than any other option in dentistry. And unlike bridges, partials, or dentures, the strength of implant biting is often stronger than a natural tooth.
3. Designed to be a long-term fix: Although bridges have been successfully used in dentistry for hundreds of years, they generally shorten the lifespan of the teeth that support them and often need to be replaced multiple times over the years. Implants as we know them were introduced in the early 1980s, which means that our current research is only about 35 years old at this point. Over the last three decades implants have changed some and improved greatly to be very predictable restorations. Because they are attached to a human body, nothing can be guaranteed, but we anticipate implants that are well maintained by the patient to last many decades and hopefully for life.
4. Prevent bone loss and tooth movement: Without stimulation, our bone atrophies and shrinks away. When a tooth is removed, the bone that used to support that tooth will resorb over time creating defects or dents, changes in face shape, and collapse of the cheeks and lips to make the patient appear older than they are.
5. When implants are placed, the forces from chewing are transmitted through the restoration (crown, bridge, or implant-denture) into the bone. These forces stimulate the bone so that it maintains density and volume to support the implant, just as the bone surrounding natural teeth does. Also, our teeth prefer to have partners: if a tooth is removed, the opposing tooth will often grow out of the bone because there is no contact. Teeth will also tip or move forward into areas where teeth are missing which can alter and disrupt proper biting.
6. Versatility: The most common image of a dental implant is one supporting a single crown, but they can be used in a variety of indications. Implants placed in multiples are able to support bridges to maximize the number of teeth replaced with a smaller number of implants. When a patient has lost bone, four or more implants can be placed to support up to a full arch prosthesis that replaces teeth and the bone that used to support them. Partial and complete denture patients benefit greatly from implants, as “snaps” can be placed on top of the implants instead of crowns and bridges. These snaps help the denture fasten in place and provide a major improvement in stability, comfort, chewing forces, and phonetics. A set of complete dentures can only provide about 25% of the chewing forces that a mouth of healthy teeth can. By adding in just two implants at the lower canine positions, the patient improves to about 60% of their previous chewing ability. With every additional implant those forces increase, and the dentures can be designed to be smaller and less cumbersome which also improves taste, comfort, and esthetics.
7. Can be changed or updated: The top portion of the implant can be changed or updated throughout the patient’s life. If an implant was first placed to replace a single missing tooth, it can be swapped out to help support a bridge if nearby teeth are later extracted. If many or all of a patient’s teeth end up being removed, the crown or bridge can be changed to a snap to help support a partial or complete denture. This ability to modify an implant helps the patient to continue to benefit from the implant as they age and indications change.
8. “The entire process under one roof” In many offices, if you need an implant you will be required to travel to outside offices for special x-rays, additional evaluations, the actual implant placement surgery, and multiple post-operative check-ups before you’re able to receive your restoration. Here at Highlands Ranch Family Dental, we understand that our patients greatly prefer not having to go through that ordeal, and we’ve designed our practice so that we can provide every step of the implant process in our office.
Dr. Lunn is our implant surgeon who will walk you through every step of the way during your consultation.
YOUR DENTAL IMPLANT WILL BE PLACED PERFECTLY WITH 3-D PRINTING
3D printing technology is a relatively new innovation in the dental industry. However, it’s quickly gained an immense following and risen quickly in popularity. Today, more and more dental clinics in the United States use 3D printing technology in their work. 3D printing provides dentists, like Dr. Lunn with numerous competitive advantages and allows them to do their work quicker and more effectively.
3D PRINTED MODELS ARE THE MAGIC DENTAL TOOL
As it has been mentioned above, 3D printing technology is widely used in the dental industry these days. There is no doubt the benefits of 3D printed models in dentist’s work is immeasurable. It is worth noting that 3D printing has a wide range of orthodontic applications. Thus, 3D printing plays a major role in oral scanning. The innovative technology allows dental care professionals to produce bridges, dental crowns as well as stone models quickly and accurately.
3D PRINTING TECHNOLOGY HELPS DENTISTS AUTOMATE THEIR WORK
Using 3D printing technology helps dental care professionals save on time significantly, therefore, increasing the efficiency of the dentist’s work dramatically. Cases and other important patient information can be successfully stored digitally on a computer. So, a fully digital process allows a dentist to get instant access to all of the necessary patient’s data. Another big advantage of 3D printing technology is that it allows dentists to make their work almost painless. As a result, patient’s discomfort is minimized. Obviously, using 3D printing technology helps dental care professionals achieve customer satisfaction.


S: Filbert the Frog
BC: Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this story.
FC: Filbert the Frog | By Matt and Mitchel
1: We would like to dedicate this book to Sophia Dearth
2: One day there was a Frog named Filbert. It was a pretty day until it started to rain. Filbert had to get home or else he would drown. The only way to get back home was for Filbert to jump across lily pads. He was an old frog so it was difficult for him to jump across. He thought that "no one should be alone in their old age." (48). especially since "it was difficult in the dark." (52).
3: Better get started "he thought as he looked down into the dark water." (58). The frog began to jump across the lily pads, but the lily pads began to be further and further away.
4: Eventually, the distance the frog had to jump was to great for the frog to manage. | Fortunately, Phillis the Fish showed up to help scoot the lily pads closer to Filbert the Frog. Thanks to Phillis, Filbert the Frog could begin jumping home again.
5: Filbert came once again to a lily pad that he could not jump across, but Phillis could not help him because she had mysteriously vanished. | Thankfully, Feronica the Fly showed up to fly Filbert the Frog to the next lily pad. Strangely, Feronica soon disappeared as well, but Filbert still had a lily pad to cross that was too far away for him to jump.
6: Since the lily pad was so far away, Filbert had to swim across. While he was swimming Snappy the snake came to eat Filbert.
7: The frog made it to a lily pad where he was safe, and he was only one swim away from his house, but Snappy the Snake came and blocked his way! Snappy told Filbert that he had scared off Phillis and Feronica and that he would eat him if he tried to swim to his home! Because of this, Filbert was stuck on the lily pad as it continued to rain! | Then Filbert came up with the idea that he could jump on the snakes head then jump off that to his house, so he did....
8: ..... and he made it home where he was safe from the evil Snappy and the rain storm!
9: -=Mitchel Myers=- -Born in Austin, Texas -Lives in Austin, Texas -Goes to Hill Country Middle School -Has brown hair -Has brown eyes -Has a brother -Likes movies | -=Matthew Andreo=- -Born in Houston, Texas -Lives in Austin, Texas -Goes to Hill Country Middle School -Has brown hair -Has brown eyes -Has a brother -Likes movies


Queen of Sheba Marvels
1Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon because of the Name of Adonai, she came to test him with hard questions.
2So she came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels carrying spices and gold in great abundance, and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she spoke with him of all that was on her heart.
3Solomon answered all her questions nothing was hidden from the king that he did not explain to her.
4So when the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, the palace that he had built,
5the food at his table, the seating of his courtiers, the attendance of his servants and their attire, his cupbearers, and his burnt offering which he offered in the House of Adonai, she was left breathless.
6Then she said to the king: “It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your deeds and of your wisdom.
7But I didn’t believe the reports until I came and my eyes saw it. Indeed, not even the half was told to me. You’re way past the report of wisdom and prosperity that I’d heard!
8Blessed are your people, blessed are your courtiers who are standing continually before you, listening to your wisdom.
9Blessed be Adonai your God, who delighted in you to set you on the throne of Israel. It is because of Adonai’s everlasting love for Israel that He made you king, to do justice and righteousness.”
10Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again did such abundance of spices come as what the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
11Also Hiram’s ships that brought gold from Ophir brought from Ophir a great quantity of sandalwood and precious stones.
12The king made from the sandalwood a railing for the House of Adonai and for the royal palace, and also lyres and harps for the singers. Never again did such quantity of sandalwood come in, nor have they been seen to this day.
13So King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire—whatever she asked for—besides what King Solomon gave her out of his royal bounty. Then she and her servants left and returned to her own land.
14Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold,
15besides what was from the merchants from the traffic of the traders, and from all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the region.
16King Solomon made 200 full body shields of beaten gold—600 shekels of gold on each shield—
17and 300 small shields of beaten gold—three minas of gold on each shield. The king put them in the Forest House of Lebanon.
18Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with refined gold.
19There were six steps to the throne, and the throne had a back with a rounded top, and there were armrests on each side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the arms.
20Twelve lions were standing there on the six steps—six on each side—nothing like it had ever been made in any other kingdom.
21All of King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the Forest House of Lebanon were of pure gold. (None was of silver—that did not count for anything in the days of Solomon.)
22For the king had a Tarshish fleet at sea with Hiram’s fleet; once every three years the Tarshish fleet came, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks.
23So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in wealth as well as in wisdom.
24All the earth sought an audience with Solomon, to listen to his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.
25They brought, each man his gift—vessels of silver and gold, robes, weapons, spices, horses and mules—so much year by year.
26Solomon accumulated chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, and he stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.
27Also the king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees in the foothills.
28Solomon’s horses were brought from Egypt and from Keveh. The king’s merchants would buy them from Keveh at a price
29They imported a chariot from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver, and a horse for 150; and in turn they were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.


Whether for convenience, quality of interaction, or just to stay abreast with current trends, teachers are slowly becoming inseparable from EdTech.
However, there are concerns over whether EdTech is a distraction or an opportunity for teachers and students to unlock their true capacity. In this article, we will discuss the benefits of EdTech looking at both teachers and students.
What is EdTech?
First of all, EdTech is a common term for education technology. While education has remained largely the same for decades, technology appears to be changing the face of both teaching and learning.
The technological invasion taking place in classrooms involves the integration of smart devices such as personal computers, tablets and smartphones. These have become the new normal. Simply, EdTech is any technology that helps support education. It has been described as study and ethical practice which improves teachers and students’ experiences.
In summary, EdTech can be described as having the following features:
- Teaching using technology
- The sole aim is to enhance both teaching and learning
- Technology is considered a catalyst to boost education
- A primary objective is to promote efficiency and effectiveness in teaching
- Aims at revolutionising both teaching and learning
What are the Benefits of EdTech?
The benefits of EdTech are divided between teachers and students. While education technology focuses on improving teacher instruction, it also seeks to revamp students’ learning experiences.
Modern technology has led to the profusion of new content, centricity of data as well as audience fragmentation and convergence of content and platform layers. Like any other industry, the field of education is looking at a raft of opportunities which should be manipulated with haste.
Here is a list of the benefits of EdTech for both teachers and students:
EdTech Benefits for Teachers
- Automated grading
Teachers no longer have to spend hours looking through piles of sheets of paper for grading. They can now enjoy their weekends spending time with family and friends. EdTech tools have made their work easy through automated grading and measuring student progress.
- Easy access to student data
Through measuring a student’s progress, EdTech allows teachers access to student data. The teacher will know a student’s classroom attendance, academic progress, reasons for missing school, etc. This data is useful for an overall assessment of a student’s performance.
- Effective classroom management
Teachers are able to keep track of students while keeping their parents and caregivers informed. There are specific EdTech tools that are designed to allow such kind of capabilities.
Teaching with EdTech can be fun. It allows teachers the possibility of using simulations which can be intriguing. Educational games and apps make teaching and learning fun.
- Saves time
For teachers, they no longer have to bear the burden of creating lesson plans and grading papers. With EdTech, they can find lesson plans, apps, and programs they can use to grade students’ assignments which saves time.
EdTech Benefits for Students
- Personalises the education experience
Students learn at their own pace. They have control over their learning experience. Digital media gives students various opportunities such as individualized research, video creation, and website creation. Through such media, students learn freely and at a speed that they are comfortable with.
- Makes learning fun
EdTech has provisions for educational apps, games, and programs that can make learning fun. Computer simulation exposes students to real-life situations prompting them to show their ability to solve problems through critical thinking. Such experiences make learning enjoyable which keeps students engaged.
- Instant access to knowledge
Since EdTech is powered by the internet, students are privileged to have instant access to any information that they need. Whenever they are given an assignment or for personal educational purposes, they can access whatever information they want freely and with ease. EdTech reinforces students’ capacity to do research.
- Promotes collaboration among peers
Whether at home or in the classroom, students can interact with each other freely. EdTech allows for effortless communication especially when students are working on projects together. There is timely feedback alongside opportunities to make media, brainstorm, or simply to hang out.
EdTech in Practice: EduTech ND
The practical application of EdTech is gaining momentum every year. For example, the state of North Dakota publicly funds the EduTech ND Program. The aim of the program is to enhance educational opportunities for all students. A wide range of online learning solutions, collaborating tools, and Edusocial initiatives benefit K12 students across the state. The EduTech program encompasses the following services:
- Office 365 – A collaborative package for remote learning.
- Edusocial – is a full-fledged blogging and podcast platform that allows North Dacota K12 students to access social networks safely.
- INSTEP – prepares both students and teachers to integrate and use technology in educational settings.
Worries and potential negative effects of EdTech
As much as there are benefits for EdTech, there should be an appreciation for the various worries and potential negative effects of this technology. As EdTech takes the world by storm, there is little concern regarding student data privacy protections.
The Facebook scandal is a good example of how third parties can have access to student data once allowed to integrate their services with educational platforms. Apart from privacy concerns, EdTech tools might promote cheating and inauthenticity among students.
EdTech is a revolutionary phenomenon that looks to change the quality of both teaching and learning. For both teachers and students, teaching and learning have become fun, enjoyable, seamless, convenient, collaborative, among other benefits.
Despite the various worries and potential negative effects of EdTech, these can be bypassed by simply using the same technology to mitigate their impact. Although challenges cannot be avoided, EdTech tools should be integrated in schools for their various benefits.


Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, , at sacred-texts.com
The introductory verses Ecc 1:1-3 serve to describe the writer, and to state the subject of his book.
Preacher - literally, Convener. No one English word represents the Hebrew קהלת qôheleth adequately. Though capable, according to Hebrew usage, of being applied to men in office, it is strictly a feminine participle, and describes a person in the act of calling together an assembly of people as if with the intention of addressing them. The word thus understood refers us to the action of Wisdom personified Pro 1:20; Pro 8:8. In Proverbs and here, Solomon seems to support two characters, speaking sometimes in the third person as Wisdom instructing the assembled people, at other times in the first person. So our Lord speaks of Himself (compare Luk 11:49 with Mat 23:34) as Wisdom, and as desiring Luk 13:34 to gather the people together for instruction; It is unfortunate that the word "Preacher" does not bring this personification before English minds, but a different idea.
Vanity - This word הבל hebel, or, when used as a proper name, in Gen 4:2, "Abel", occurs no less than 37 times in Ecclesiastes, and has been called the key of the book. Primarily it means "breath," "light wind;" and denotes what:
(1) passes away more or less quickly and completely;
(2) leaves either no result or no adequate result behind, and therefore
(3) fails to satisfy the mind of man, which naturally craves for something permanent and progressive: it is also applied to:
(4) idols, as contrasted with the Living, Eternal, and Almighty God, and, thus, in the Hebrew mind, it is connected with sin.
In this book it is applied to all works on earth, to pleasure, grandeur, wisdom, the life of man, childhood, youth, and length of days, the oblivion of the grave, wandering and unsatisfied desires, unenjoyed possessions, and anomalies in the moral government of the world.
Solomon speaks of the world-wide existence of "vanity," not with bitterness or scorn, but as a fact, which forced itself on him as he advanced in knowledge of men and things, and which he regards with sorrow and perplexity. From such feelings he finds refuge by contrasting this with another fact, which he holds with equal firmness, namely, that the whole universe is made and is governed by a God of justice, goodness, and power. The place of vanity in the order of Divine Providence - unknown to Solomon, unless the answer be indicated in Ecc 7:29 - is explained to us by Paul, Rom. 8, where its origin is traced to the subjugation and corruption of creation by sin as a consequence of the fall of man; and its extinction is declared to be reserved until after the Resurrection in the glory and liberty of the children of God.
Vanity of vanities - A well-known Hebrew idiom signifying vanity in the highest degree. Compare the phrase, "holy of holies."
All - Solomon includes both the courses of nature and the works of man Ecc 1:4-11. Compare Rom 8:22.
What profit ... - The question often repeated is the great practical inquiry of the book; it receives its final answer in Ecc 12:13-14. When this question was asked, the Lord had not yet spoken Mat 11:28. The word "profit" (or pre-eminence) is opposed to "vanity."
Hath a man - Rather, hath man.
Vanity is shown in mankind, the elements, and all that moves on earth; the same course is repeated again and again without any permanent result or real progress; and events and people alike are forgotten.
Abideth - The apparent permanence of the earth increases by contrast the transitory condition of its inhabitants.
Ever - The word does not here absolutely signify "eternity" (compare Ecc 3:11 note), but a certainly short period (compare Exo 21:6): here it might be paraphrased "as long as this world, this present order of things, lasts."
Hasteth ... - literally, at his place panting (in his eagerness) riseth he there.
More literally, Going toward the south and veering toward the north, veering, veering goes the wind; and to its veerings the wind returns.
The place - i. e., The spring or river-head. It would seem that the ancient Hebrews regarded the clouds as the immediate feeders of the springs (Pro 8:28, and Psa 104:10, Psa 104:13). Gen 2:6 indicates some acquaintance with the process and result of evaporation.
All things ... utter it - This clause, as here translated, refers to the immensity of labor. Others translate it, "all words are full of labor; they make weary the hearers," or "are feeble or insufficient" to tell the whole; and are referred to the impossibility of adequately describing labor.
Hath been ... is done - i. e., Hath happened in the course of nature ... is done by man.
Things - Rather, men.
Solomon relates his personal experience Eccl. 2; the result of which was "no profit," and a conviction that all, even God's gifts of earthly good to good men, in this life are subject to vanity. His trial of God's first gift, wisdom, is recounted in Ecc 1:12-18.
Was - This tense does not imply that Solomon had ceased to be king when the word was written. See the introduction to Ecclesiastes. He begins with the time of his accession to the throne, when the gifts of wisdom and riches were especially promised to him Kg1 3:12-13.
Wisdom - As including both the powers of observation and judgment, and the knowledge acquired thereby (Kg1 3:28; Kg1 4:29; Kg1 10:8, ...). It increases by exercise. Here is noted its application to people and their actions.
Travail - In the sense of toil; the word is here applied to all human occupations.
God - God is named as אלהים 'elohı̂ym thirty-nine times in this book; a name common to the true God and to false gods, and used by believers and by idolators: but the name Yahweh, by which He is known especially to the people who are in covenant with Him, is never once used.
Perhaps the chief reason for this is that the evil which is the object of inquiry in this book is not at all unique to the chosen people. All creation Rom. 8 groans under it. The Preacher does not write of (or, to) the Hebrew race exclusively. There is no express and obvious reference to their national expectations, the events of their national history, or even to the divine oracles which were deposited with them. Hence, it was natural for the wisest and largest-hearted man of his race to take a wider range of observation than any other Hebrew writer before or after him. It became the sovereign of many peoples whose religions diverged more or less remotely from the true religion, to address himself to a more extensive sphere than that which was occupied by the twelve tribes, and to adapt his language accordingly. See the Ecc 5:1 note.
Vexation of spirit - A phrase which occurs 7 times, and may be otherwise translated, "feeding on wind." Modern Hebrew grammarians assert that the word rendered "vexation" must be derived from a root signifying "to feed," "follow," "strive after." This being admitted, it remains to choose between two translations:
(1) "striving after wind," or "windy effort;" adopted by the Septuagint and the majority of modern interpreters; or
(2) feeding on wind. Compare Hos 12:1 : and similar phrases in Pro 15:14; Isa 44:20; Psa 37:3.
He saw clearly both the disorder and incompleteness of human actions (compare the marginal reference), and also man's impotence to rectify them.
I am come ... - Rather, I have accumulated (literally "enlarged and added") wisdom more than etc.
They that have been ... - The reference is probably to the line of Canaanite kings who lived in Jerusalem before David took it, such as Melchizedek Gen 14:18, Adonizedek Jos 10:1, and Araunah Sa2 24:23; or, it may be, to Solomon's contemporaries of his own country Kg1 4:31 and of other countries who visited him Kg1 4:34; Kg1 10:24. for "in" Jerusalem render over.
To know madness and folly - A knowledge of folly would help him to discern wisdom, and to exercise that chief function of practical wisdom - to avoid folly.
We become more sensible of our ignorance and impotence, and therefore sorrowful, in proportion as we discover more of the constitution of nature and the scheme of Providence in the government of the world; every discovery serving to convince us that more remains concealed of which we had no suspicion before.


Bard College Student and Professor Coauthor New Neuroscience Paper in Prestigious Journal eLife
Every moment of our lives we use different senses, such as vision, hearing, or touch, to build a fuller, more useful picture of the world around us. But how does the brain make sense of these flows of information? What happens in our neurons (brain cells) when they try to combine signals coming from, say, our eyes with those coming from our ears? To learn more about this question, a joint team of scientists from Brown University and Bard College chose the simplest possible behavior that would rely on two senses at once: a startle response to a soft sudden sound combined with a weak flash of light. They also chose one of the tiniest and simplest animals that can be startled by a combination of sound and light: the tadpole of the African Clawed frog. They used a flash of light so dim and a sound so quiet that neither of them alone would make the tadpole change the way it swam; yet when combined together, these two stimuli startled the tadpole, making it change its swimming direction in response. These behavioral experiments, independently run in the lab of Aizenman at Brown and by McQuillan at Bard, showed that multisensory stimuli in tadpoles lead to stronger behavioral responses only when the stimuli are weak. Until now, it was not known why and how this response, called the “inverse effectiveness of multisensory integration,” appears in the brain.
The team of scientists suspected that the integration of weak stimuli might be due to the activation of a specific information processing system in the brain: one that relies on signaling proteins called NMDA receptors. The Brown University group, led by study lead author Torrey Truszkowski, connected to individual cells in the tadpole brain and recorded their activity. They found that blocking NMDA receptors with a toxin was the only thing that disrupted the “inverse effectiveness of multisensory integration” in individual cells. At Bard, McQuillan found that adding a small amount of this same toxin to tadpole water made “inverse effectiveness” disappear from tadpole behavior. The tadpoles were no longer able to combine information from soft sounds and dim lights to form a stronger response. This study demonstrates for the first time, in any animal, that NMDA receptors in the brain have been shown to combine information from different senses.
Molly McQuillan is an alumna of Bard High School Early College Manhattan. For her senior project, McQuillan built a state-of-the-art experimental setup to study tadpole behavior, which includes a high-resolution LED projector, modified computer speakers, and a self-made infrared HD camera. It is this unique setup that made her contribution to the cutting edge research in multisensory integration possible. McQuillan is passionate about neuroscience and plans to continue her academic career in this field.
This research was sponsored by grants and scholarships from The National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, the American Physiological Society, Brown University, and Bard Summer Research Institute (BSRI).
This event was last updated on 04-03-2017


Where to get carbon dating done
Before i begin to illustrate the basics of carbon dating (otherwise referred to as radiocarbon dating), it is prudent to explain how carbon-14, the carbon compound that serves as a testing material for dating carbonaceous, fossilized matter. Carbon-14 dating most everyone has heard but a very clever modern copy (poole) but how is this done what are the ides behind carbon dating atoms of given . American chemical society: but in order to prove the idea libby would have to understand the earth’s carbon system radiocarbon dating would be most successful . Why don't we know the age of the new ancient human radioactive isotopes of potassium within those layers—which is the same principle as carbon-dating, .
Carbon dating to determine the age of fossil remains in this section we will explore the use of carbon dating to determine the age of fossil remains. Carbon dating and the bible if the dates we get back from carbon dating analysis aren’t right, what should we make of them theoretically, . Is carbon dating a reliable method for determining the age of things are there any potential problems with using carbon dating to date the age of the earth.
Radiometric dating is used to estimate the age of rocks and other objects based on the fixed decay also known as carbon-14 dating or simply carbon dating, . How carbon-14 is made - carbon-14 atoms are created when cosmic rays from the sun collide with atoms in the atmosphere how carbon-14 dating works. Whenever the worldview of evolution is questioned, the topic of carbon dating always comes up here is how carbon dating works and the assumptions it is based. Fastest results will be from beta labs in fl they are also the only iso accredited lab their are also many university labs around the world that do that their prices are $595 results delivered electronically in a week 20mg (ie 2% of a gram) s.
Many people are under the false impression that carbon dating proves that dinosaurs and other extinct animals lived millions of years ago what many do not realize is that carbon dating is not used to date dinosaurs. Carbon dating human bones and teeth is one of the services provided by miami-based ams lab beta analytic c14 results are reported in 14 business days depending on bone quality. Reddit gives you the best of the internet in one place get a constantly updating feed of breaking news, fun stories, pics, memes, and videos just for you passionate about something niche. Discussion on the inaccuracies found using the carbon-14 dating method, and the various other radioactive dating methods plus evidence for a much younger earth using scientific measurements. A close look at list of young-earth arguments from kent hovind ('dr dino') and other claims: carbon-14 dating.
Unaware of the many fallacious assumptions used in the dating process, many people believe carbon-14 dating disproves the biblical timeline. You usually can't do carbon-14 dating on a fossil radiocarbon (c-14) is only found in organic tissuemost fossils do not have much, if any, . It is key to point out that the usefulness of the method of dating carbon in iron-based materials relies on the source of the carbon found in the materials (see .
Where to get carbon dating done
There are numerous companies on the internet that will do carbon dating (and/or various other related dating methods) upon request and payment of a fee, including: radiocarboncomc14datingcomradiocarbonorgfor simple radiocarbon dating of common household objects, costs start above $200 per sample, and vary based on turnaround time, material . As you learned in the previous page, carbon dating uses the half-life of carbon-14 to find the approximate age of certain objects that are 40,000 years old or younger. Radiocarbon dating lab beta analytic provides fast high-quality ams dating results in 3-14 business days the lab also provides stable isotope analysis. How does radiocarbon dating work all plants and animals on earth are made principally of carbon during the period of a plant's life, the plant is taking in carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, which is how the plant makes energy and grows.
- They do it by comparing the ratio of an unstable isotope, carbon-14, 10 methods scientists use to travis was dating producer rob fried “how did i get .
- Radiocarbon dating is used to work out the age of things that died up to 50,000 years ago skip to navigation | skip to content search: a date with carbon.
1 physics (chapter 2): carbon dating: (how) does it work the cassiopeia project is an effort to make high quality s. Radiocarbon dating uses carbon isotopes radiocarbon dating relies on the carbon isotopes carbon most radiocarbon dating today is done using an accelerator mass . Radiocarbon dating of the shroud of turin jump to carbon-dating would be the only test performed original and control samples, .


|welfare by increasing per capita investments in human capital in the form of education and health. In most of sub-Saharan Africa there has been an enormous expansion of public outlays for education. There is still a formidable challenge, however, to improve the quality of educational institutions at all levels.|
Much less has been done toward ensuring that rural areas have access to interlinked health and family planning activities. It is especially important in this instance to be concerned with a proper sequencing of the activities that receive priority. There are cogent reasons for assigning priority initially to activities such as immunization programs, oral rehydration therapy, and nutrition and hygiene education, all concentrated on infants and small children under five and their mothers. Those groups are especially vulnerable and the preventive and promotive technologies available are exceptionally cost-effective. Efforts to integrate different types of activities confront serious administrative problems, but the potential advantages appear to outweigh the drawbacks of linking health and family planning activities. There is a great deal of evidence which suggests that improving the prospects that infants and small children will survive to adulthood, together with parental awareness of those improved prospects, is probably the most important single determinant of the success of efforts to promote family planning. All of the other development priorities will be for naught unless the countries of sub-Saharan Africa begin to make substantial progress in slowing their population growth rates of 3 and even 4 percent.
In conclusion, if policy makers can reach a consensus on these six strategic priorities, then they can achieve structural transformation in an accelerated time period. They can also avoid, as Lele (this volume) has noted, the uncertainties resulting from cyclical shifts in priorities from food security issues to macroeconomic issues of "getting prices right," and back again to food security issues. They can help achieve that balance between governmental resources and responsibilities that is so crucial to growth of output, expansion of employment opportunities, and rural development.


A Progressive Education
The King Alfred School began its life as a rational and radical school. Today, still believing in many of the concepts of the progressive movement, the school searches out the best in educational ideas and practices to adopt – and adapt – what is most suitable to our pupils.
The King Alfred School was founded in 1898 by a group of parents who believed in the then radical idea that boys and girls should be educated together in a secular environment that encouraged learning for its own sake. It wanted to provide an education that focused on what was best for the whole child, on the development of character and individuality. Its objective was to "help train up its scholars in the way of the good life, to help to fit them for effective work in the world, for effective sympathy and for effective joy." (John Russell, Head 1901-20).
The King Alfred School continues to stand out from the prevailing educational environment as a school that achieves academic success without excessive pressure and social success through the development of relationships and responsibility rather than external discipline. Co-education, mixed ability, all ages and non-denomination are some essential and enduring characteristics. Informality is typified by the use of first names, the absence of uniform and as few rules as can be managed within a community. Above all, it is a school that is genuinely loved by students, parents and staff alike.


Posted by R. Berg on June 19, 2001
In Reply to: Phrase "all but" posted by Sauerkraut on June 19, 2001
: I've seen this used in the sense of just shy of perfection - as in she was all but radiant in her new gown. I can't find any reference for the origin, however, nor the reason for the odd construction.
: Thanks for any help.
The Oxford English Dictionary lists this phrase under one sense of "all" (see below) and defines it as "Everything short of. Hence (adverbially) Almost, very nearly, well nigh." One of the OED's examples: "These were all but unknown to Greeks and Romans" . The earliest quotation given for "all but" is from 1598.
For the sense of "all" under which "all but" appears, the definition is "Everything." The OED's examples for this sense of "all" include "All is not lost," "That was all," and ". . . and all that."
"But" appears here in its meaning of "except," and so "She was all but radiant" is not very different from "All the puppies but one had black ears."


‘Antony and Cleopatra’ by William Shakespeare is a tragic play which centres around the renowned love affair of the eponymous characters and its political and personal repercussions. In Act One, Shakespeare uses both the distinction of time and place to portray the duality of Antony. The conflict within the protagonist is that between love and duty, fuelled by two separate internal forces: reason and emotion. It is this clash of Roman virtue and Egyptian vice that forms the core of the play. Inner conflict though it may be, as a prominent Roman general and statesman, it is in no way private; Antony’s personal pursuits are laid bare across kingdoms for others to judge, both primary and secondary characters playing a pivotal role in illuminating both sides to his character through their reflections and opinions.
Once the paragon of Roman virtue, Mark Antony was an indispensable soldier to Julius Caesar, proving his military competence in campaigns in Gaul and Germany. The protagonist the audience meets in Act One is not this man. It is no longer Rome and heroism which dominate his thought and character, but the Egyptian lover at his side, the messengers from Octavius posing an occasional reminder of the empire he seems to have left behind.
This new attitude is most strikingly expressed in the following words in the first scene, where he makes clear to Cleopatra that her love is now his primary concern:
“Let Rome in Tiber melt, and the wide arch
Of the ranged empire fall!”
Here, Antony’s indifference to the plight of Rome verges on treasonous, with the devastatingly attractive figure of Cleopatra casting a shadow over the needs of an empire and its people. The real sense of abandonment, of desertion in these lines serves to emphasise the depth and strength of Antony’s feeling; at this point in the Act, he is lost in and blinded by emotion, unfit for the responsibility of the statesman. A line is drawn between his past and former self, between the war hero and the lover.
In Act One, Shakespeare uses Roman characters as the primary mouthpiece for this form of distinction, with their reminiscence of the Antony of heroic battles gone-by portraying a different character to the one we initially see with Cleopatra in the Egyptian court.
In the opening scene of the play, the audience is informed of this significant change in Antony’s approach and priorities by Philo, a Roman soldier:
“His captain’s heart
Which in the scuffles of great fights hath burst
The buckles on his breast, reneges all temper”
Here, the audience finds itself in Antony’s present, looking back upon the legacy of a once heroic, acclaimed soldier. In these words, Shakespeare defines the two sides to Antony’s character in a sequential manner, marking a stark contrast between the man he was, and the man he is shown to be in Act 1. The use of past followed by present tense in these lines depicts the Roman perspective: Antony’s chronological decline.
The Romans seem to characterize ‘Antony’ as the man they used to witness, purely in terms of the ‘Roman’ qualities of honour, bravery and responsibility , with Philo remarking that ‘he is not Antony’ when he is Cleopatra’s lover in the Egyptian court.
No clearer is this chronological differentiation than in two speeches by Octavius in Act 1 Scene 4.
In the first speech, Octavius expresses his displeasure at Antony’s distance and neglect of Rome. He complains how Lepidus and himself ‘…do bear/So great weight in his lightness’, chastising Antony’s pursuit of pleasure and lust in the wake of threats to the Second Triumvirate by Pompey. In the latter speech, Octavius contrasts this character with the Antony he once admired; a man who was willing to ‘drink/The stale of horses’ to achieve victory for his empire.
Within Act One, Shakespeare uses the distinction of time to provide the audience with two sketches – of the side that was seen, and of the side which is seen now. Yet, the playwright presents duality rather than permanent, irreversible change. Where he uses chronology as a framework to illustrate the protagonist’s two sides, he does not indicate that Antony’s persona as soldier and statesman has completely given way to a new persona as lover and hedonist; instead, he presents a change in balance, in priority between the two. This ‘previous’ side to Antony is not lost – it is merely dormant: eclipsed by emotion.
This is indicated by the snippets of statesman we witness throughout the Act, when reason attempts to break through the ‘strong Egyptian fetters’ of his intoxicating infatuation. This is particularly apparent in his decision to leave Egypt for Rome at the end of Scene 2, having read of the death of his wife. He recognizes the effect of his fantastic, damaging affair with Cleopatra in the following words:
“Ten thousand harms, more than the ills I know,
My idleness doth hatch.”
These lines indicate that Antony is very much aware of the hold Cleopatra has over him, and the detrimental impact of this upon his role as Roman leader. He recognizes his own ‘idleness’ and this recognition renders him uneasy; he is not yet willing to relinquish all control to the Egyptian Queen and submit to a life of pure hedonism, bereft of all Roman responsibility.
The second prominent technique employed by Shakespeare in Act 1 to distinguish between and portray the two sides of Antony is setting. Antony’s head is rooted in Rome, but his heart lies in Alexandria. These two settings act not only as poles, pulling Antony from East to West and back again, but as portraits of his duality. Egypt not only fulfils his emotive, hedonistic side but represents it, while Rome embodies the rational attributes of Antony the statesman, the soldier.
In line with this distinction, Cleopatra describes how ‘A Roman thought hath struck’ Antony in Act 1 Scene 2, referring to him showing the qualities favoured by Rome and its leaders: reason and responsibility. These are qualities which contrast starkly with the surroundings in which Cleopatra speaks, with her servant having just expressed her desire ‘to be married to three kings in a forenoon and widow them all’.
Shakespeare’s tendency to use prose rather than verse in the Egyptian scenes is also indicative of a certain elasticity between the court’s characters. Conversely, the scene set in Rome maintains a rigid decasyllabic pattern; where dialogue in the East is often light and trivial, that in the West remains purposeful and solemn.
Of course, where populations can be affected by their geographical surroundings, civilisations – such as the great ancient Rome and Egypt – are human constructs, defined and shaped by the people who constitute them. As a result, it is not in the geographical settings themselves that Antony’s traits are actualized, but in the people who inhabit them. Geography is simply a device used to divide two groups of characters.
This is most evident in the characters who, in particular, embody and epitomize their respective civilisations: Cleopatra and Octavius.
It is through Octavius’ disparaging comments regarding Cleopatra and her lifestyle that Shakespeare reveals the importance of Antony’s duality – it is not purely difference, but disregard which creates such a striking antithesis. The outward tension between the two symbolic characters in turn reflects and explains Antony’s inner conflict; there is not just duality, but conflict at the heart of Antony’s character and the play as a whole. The two sides of Antony, as actualized in the characters of Rome and Egypt, inherently conflict and juxtapose each other; the dotage of a man who likes to ‘…wander through the streets and note/The qualities of the people’ can simply not befit a Roman general, for whom stoicism is both a virtue and a necessity.
To conclude, in Act One of ‘Antony and Cleopatra’, Shakespeare uses two prominent devices to bring out the duality of the protagonist, Antony: time and place. Shakespeare uses chronology to separate and distinguish between the man devoted to a woman and the man devoted to an empire: Antony’s behaviour and speech in Act One depict his hedonism and pursuit of pleasure, and the historical snapshots provided by Roman characters capture the war hero of years gone-by. These two conflicting set of qualities are also embodied by the characters of Egypt and Rome, two locations whose differences extend far beyond geographical distance. However, where Shakespeare uses the two cultures to present duality in Antony, the audience’s perspective is fourfold. ‘Antony and Cleopatra’, as every play, is comprised of dialogue: we learn things through what people say. As a result, we do not view two dispassionate sketches, but the empires’ views of themselves and of one another. It is left to the audience to piece together their own accurate picture of these two civilisations.


Even wee ones need a break from the city bustle.
Psychologists have found time and again that a walk in a city park is much better for the tired brain than a walk down typical city streets. (Even a quick window view of some greenery can do a body good.) The leading explanation is called “attention restoration theory”: whereas our mental faculties get fatigued by the busy streets and tall buildings and crowded corners of urban life, they get refreshed by the undemanding nature of … nature.
Most of the work on attention restoration theory has focused on adults or hyperactive children. But new research from Anne Schutte and Julia Torquati of the University of Nebraska and Heidi Beattie of Troy University extends the restorative power of urban trees to very young kids (under 8) whose attention capacities are healthy but still developing. They conclude in Environment and Behavior (sans citations):
These results suggest that despite their less well-developed attentional system, even young children can benefit from time in nature.
The research trio recruited two groups of children for the study (excluding those with diagnosed attention deficits): preschoolers (ages 4 and 5) and school aged (ages 7 and 8). In line with previous attention restoration studies, the youngsters came into the lab then had their brains drained of some energy with a jigsaw puzzle. Half the kids then took a (chaperoned!) 20-minute walk through a typical urban environment (left), and half took a nature-filled stroll (right):
After the walk they kids returned to the lab and took a series of several tests designed to measure various aspects of their executive functioning. (A week later the children came back for the same series of tests but took the walk they hadn’t done before.) The idea was simple: if urban nature refreshed the mind, the kids who did the park walk should score higher than those who didn’t.
The researchers did find some evidence that trees can restore attention in young, healthy, developing brains. In one task, the children saw a target pop up on a computer screen (such as a spaceship), then saw a distraction pop up (a yellow dot), then had to move the cursor to the spot where the target had been—a test of attention, memory, and spatial awareness in one. The reaction times of kids who’d taken the nature walk was significantly faster than those who’d made the city stroll. The spatial accuracy of the cursor was also significantly greater in preschoolers who’d done the nature walk; the results weren’t statistically significant for school-aged kids, but tended in the same direction.
In other tests, however, nature didn’t have a measurable effect. There were no differences in performance, regardless of the type of walk, on an inhibition task that required kids to press a spacebar when they saw a fish on the screen but avoid pressing it when they saw a shark. Another combined memory and attention task came back inconclusive—though this final test occurred about 30 minutes after the walk, and the effects might have worn off.
Aside from the mixed findings, the research had some shortcomings. Only 16 or 17 kids of each age (4, 5, 7, and 8) participated—a relatively small sample that invites the need for study replication. Additionally, the researchers didn’t make a true before-and-after analysis of individual executive functioning because they didn’t take baseline (i.e. pre-walk) measures of brain game performance.
But the results still offer some initial support that urban parks enhance a child’s brain. Here’s the practical upshot from the research trio:
[T]hese findings along with those from other studies have important implications for educators and policy-makers as they make decisions about green space in child playgrounds, amount of time for recess, and even the planting of trees and the provision of green space in urban neighborhoods. The lack of exposure of children to natural environments may have many consequences for their health and well-being, especially if they suffer from developmental disorders such as ADHD.


From the time the Environmental Protection Agency proposed that ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) be run in all on-highway diesel vehicles to when it was fully implemented in late 2006, there has been much debate about this new fuel's effect on older diesel engines. Specifically, the fear that ULSD has a lower lubricity and cetane rating, which could affect pre-2007 diesel engines and fuel systems.
One major oil company has assured us that the proper lubrication formulas are now added and mixed before the fuel we use ever makes it to the pump. Still, many aren't convinced this is the case, as a lot of folks in the pickup segment, and especially those in the trucking industry, noticed a decrease in fuel economy once ULSD became our nation's primary diesel fuel.
The Importance Of Cetane
Diesel engines will operate fine on any cetane rating between 40 to 55, but the higher the number, the shorter the ignition delay is, and the more complete and efficient the combustion cycle becomes. In our research we found that cetane numbers in ULSD fluctuate between 40 to 45. And coinciding with what we've seen, with inconsistencies in cetane ratings at the pump, many diesel owners experience fluctuating fuel mileage.
During the refinement of ULSD, fuel is flooded with hydrogen to remove sulfur, but in the process also removes much of the fuel's lubrication properties, as well as cetane content. This leads to many things, but we're focusing on the fact that cetane numbers aren't consistent. This means each time you fill up at your local station, the quality of fuel is different. Knowing this, we contacted FPPF about using its 8+ Cetane Improver.
The Importance Of Lubricity
Another reason ULSD has been blamed for premature fuel system and engine wear is due to its low sulfur content. At 15 ppm (out of 1 million parts, just 15 can be sulfur), ULSD contains only a fraction of the sulfur concentration found in the previously used low-sulfur diesel (LSD), which was roughly 500 ppm. And since sulfur acts as a lubrication agent in diesel fuel, ultra-low sulfur content in ULSD is thought to be one of the main suspects in causing fuel-related problems in pre-2007 diesels, which were designed to run primarily on LSD.
According to Exxon Mobil, ULSD's refining process can reduce the energy content of the fuel. They say a reduction is minimal, but nevertheless, energy loss occurs. Knowing this, we contacted Opti-Lube about its XPD fuel additive, which is designed to increase diesel fuel's lubricity as well as its cetane rating.
Our Test And Its Parameters
Between ULSD's lower cetane rating and lubricating abilities and the fact that diesel prices in Southern California peaked as high as $5.39 a gallon in the summer of 2008, the idea of testing several fuel additives came to us rather easily. After all, everyone at that time wanted some help in the mileage department, so we set out to bring readers a basic, real-world diesel additive test. The experiment kicked off with us running straight diesel fuel for some baseline fuel economy numbers, followed by a lubricity-only additive (Opti-Lube's XPD), and finally, FPPF's 8+ Cetane Improver.
Did Solely Increasing Fuel Lubricity Increase Mileage?
To find out if the above question was true, we decided to run a two-stroke oil pre-mix as an additive in our test vehicle (unconventional at best, and with no cetane improvement). And after 2,000 miles of testing the product, the answer was yes. Our overall mileage increased 1 mpg in combined highway and city driving. Now, is it worth running this as an additive to gain a measly mile per gallon? You be the judge. But for less than $10, we got a 7 percent improvement in fuel economy and enough oil for 10 tanks worth of testing.
At the time of our test, Opti-Lube's XPD formula was rumored to be one of the best diesel additives on the market. Along with providing lubricity-enhancing ingredients, XPD also claimed to increase each tank's cetane number by three to five points when mixed properly. In addition, Opti-Lube stated that its product contained injector cleaning agents, could improve not only fuel economy but water separation in fuel, and help cold weather performance as well.
FPPF 8+ Cetane Improver
Another highly regarded fuel additive is FPPF's 8+ Cetane Improver. And by running a 256:1 mixture, it claimed each tank's cetane number could be increased by 8 points. This meant that by filling up with 40 cetane or 45 cetane fuel at the pump we would still be able to make our fuel as energy-dense as possible. Along with increasing cetane rating, FPPF's additive was also capable of reducing smoke and engine noise, and providing quicker start-ups.
Please check out our results, which should dispel any rumors that all fuel additives are a gimmick, or a myth. At least in our '97 Power Stroke's case, the myth has been proved, rather than busted-the fuel additives we tested did increase fuel economy.
Year/Make/Model: 1997 Ford F-350 4x4 Crew Cab
Engine: 7.3L Power Stroke
Transmission: E4OD Automatic
Axle Ratio: 4.10
Tire Size: 285/75R16
Modifications: Upgraded fuel injectors from Full Force Diesel, TS Performance six-position chip with daily driver setting from Bean's Diesel Performance, free-flowing K&N air intake and MBRP 4-inch exhaust, and upgraded transmission from North American Diesel Performance
• Each additive was mixed at the manufacturers' recommended ratio and poured in the empty tank first, before filling up with fuel. (Opti-Lube XPD = 256:1, FPPF = 256:1, the two-stroke, which had no recommendation, was run in a 200:1 mixture).
• The same three filling stations were used throughout testing, and the truck was topped off at the same level each time.
• Real-world driving scenarios: stop-and-go city traffic, interstate commuting (65 to 70 mph, cruise control), and minimal off-road use. Note: Hauling and towing instances were purposely excluded from the test results.
• Eleven thousand miles were driven during testing: first with no product, then with two-stroke oil, Opti-Lube, and FPPF.
• Weather did not play as big a role as one might think. With one of the mildest climates in the country, Southern California allowed us to conduct the test in a virtually uncorrupted manner (no freezing temperatures or extreme heat conditions were faced).
• Heat and air conditioning were rarely needed (no unnecessary drag was placed on the engine).
• Regular maintenance was performed on the truck. And because we were dealing with HEUI, we made sure our oil was changed every 4,000 miles for the cleanest oil possible actuating our injectors (we ran Shell's Rotella T Heavy-Duty 15W-40 engine oil). We also inspected and then replaced the fuel filter before switching to the next additive (no fueling or performance modifications were made to the truck once the testing began).
Highway Average 14.6 mpg
City Average 13.7 mpg
Overall Average 14.1 mpg
Best Highway (one tank) 16.3 mpg
Best City (one tank) 14.9 mpg
Highway Average 15.6 mpg
City Average 14.6 mpg
Best Highway (one tank) 17.4 mpg
Best City (one tank) 15.7 mpg
Highway Average 16.1 mpg
City Average 14.4 mpg
FPPF 8+ CETANE IMPROVER
Best Highway (one tank) 17.3 mpg
Best City (one tank) 15.0 mpg
Highway Average 16.1 mpg
City Average 14.9 mpg
Exxon Mobil Corporation
3225 Gallows Road
117 W. Tupper Street
6001 Bollinger Canyon Road
Opti-Lube Severe Service Lubricants
1331 E. Elm Street


American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Use "unmannered" in a sentence
"It is an expression of delight in the prolonged contemplation of a vile thing, and delight in that is an "unmannered," or "immoral" quality."
"Though everyone in the cast is as good as it's possible to be, Ms. Coon is the sorceress-in-chief, giving a performance whose quiet warmth and unmannered simplicity leave no doubt of why Henry fell for Annie."
""Another Year" is a joy, albeit one suffused with melancholy - a visually rich, musical, unmannered slice of life that magnifies experience rather than miniaturizing it."