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0.839721 | where B stands for the base. Carbanions have a concentration of electron density at the negatively charged carbon, which, in most cases, reacts efficiently with a variety of electrophiles of varying strengths, including carbonyl groups, halogenating reagents (e.g., N-bromosuccinimide and diiodine), and proton donors. A carbanion is one of several reactive intermediates in organic chemistry. In organic synthesis, organolithium reagents and Grignard reagents are commonly regarded as carbanions. This is a convenient approximation, although these species are almost always multinuclear clusters containing polar covalent bonds rather than true carbanions.
Geometry also affects the orbital hybridization of the charge-bearing carbanion. The greater the s-character of the charge-bearing atom, the more stable the anion.
Organometallic reagents like butyllithium (hexameric cluster, [BuLi]6) or methylmagnesium bromide (ether complex, MeMgBr(OEt)2) are often referred to as "carbanions," at least in a retrosynthetic sense. However, they are really clusters or complexes containing a polar covalent bond, though with electron density heavily polarized toward the carbon atom. In fact, true carbanions without stabilizing substituents are not available in the condensed phase, and these species must be studied in the gas phase.
For some time, it was not known whether simple alkyl anions could exist as free species; many theoretical studies predicted that even methanide anion CH3– should be an unbound species (i.e., the electron affinity of CH3• was predicted to be negative). Such a species would decompose immediately by spontaneous ejection of an electron and would therefore be too fleeting to observe directly by mass spectrometry. However, in 1978, methyl anion was unambiguously synthesized by subjecting ketene to electric discharge, and the electron affinity (EA) of CH3• was determined by photoelectron spectroscopy to be +1.8 kcal mol−1. The structure of CH3– was found to be pyramidal with a 1.3 kcal mol−1 inversion barrier, while CH3• was determined to be planar. Most simple primary, secondary and tertiary sp3 carbanions (e.g., CH3CH2–, (CH3)2CH–, and (CH3)3C–) were subsequently determined to be unbound species (EA of CH3CH2•, (CH3)2CH•, (CH3)3C• = −6, –7.4, –3.6 kcal mol−1, respectively) indicating that α substitution is destabilizing. However, relatively modest stabilizing effects can render them bound. For example, cyclopropyl and cubyl anions are bound due to increased s character of the lone pair orbital, while neopentyl and phenethyl anion are also bound, as a result of negative hyperconjugation of the lone pair with the β-substituent (nC → σ*C-C). The same holds true for anions with benzylic and allylic stabilization. Gas-phase carbanions that are sp2 and sp hybridized are much more strongly stabilized and are often prepared directly by gas-phase deprotonation.
Adding n-butyllithium to triphenylmethane (pKa in DMSO of CHPh3 = 30.6) in THF at low temperatures followed by 12-crown-4 results in a red solution and the salt complex [Li(12-crown-4)]+[CPh3]– precipitates at −20 °C. The central C–C bond lengths are 145 pm with the phenyl ring propellered at an average angle of 31.2°. This propeller shape is less pronounced with a tetramethylammonium counterion. A crystal structure for the analogous diphenylmethanide anion ([Li(12-crown-4)]+[CHPh2]–), prepared form diphenylmethane (pKa in DMSO of CH2Ph2 = 32.3), was also obtained. However, the attempted isolation of a complex of the benzyl anion [CH2Ph]– from toluene (pKa in DMSO of CH3Ph ≈ 43) was unsuccessful, due to rapid reaction of the formed anion with the THF solvent. The free benzyl anion has also been generated in the solution phase by pulse radiolysis of dibenzylmercury.
Early in 1904 and 1917, Schlenk prepared two red-colored salts, formulated as [NMe4]+[CPh3]– and [NMe4]+[CH2Ph]–, respectively, by metathesis of the corresponding organosodium reagent with tetramethylammonium chloride. Since tetramethylammonium cations cannot form a chemical bond to the carbanionic center, these species are believed to contain free carbanions. While the structure of the former was verified by X-ray crystallography almost a century later, the instability of the latter has so far precluded structural verification. The reaction of the putative "[NMe4]+[CH2Ph]–" with water was reported to liberate toluene and tetramethylammonium hydroxide and provides indirect evidence for the claimed formulation.
One tool for the detection of carbanions in solution is proton NMR. A spectrum of cyclopentadiene in DMSO shows four vinylic protons at 6.5 ppm and two methylene bridge protons at 3 ppm whereas the cyclopentadienyl anion has a single resonance at 5.50 ppm. The use of 6Li and 7Li NMR has provided structural and reactivity data for a variety of organolithium species.
Any compound containing hydrogen can, in principle, undergo deprotonation to form its conjugate base. A compound is a carbon acid if deprotonation results in loss of a proton from a carbon atom. Compared to compounds typically considered to be acids (e.g., mineral acids like nitric acid, or carboxylic acids like acetic acid), carbon acids are typically many orders of magnitude weaker, although exceptions exist (see below). For example, benzene is not an acid in the classical Arrhenius sense, since its aqueous solutions are neutral. Nevertheless, it is very weak Brønsted acid with an estimated pKa of 49 which may undergo deprotonation in the presence of a superbase like the Lochmann–Schlosser base (n-BuLi:KOt-Bu). As conjugate acid-base pairs, the factors that determine the relative stability of carbanions also determine the ordering of the pKa values of the corresponding carbon acids. Furthermore, pKa values allow the prediction of whether a proton transfer process will be thermodynamically favorable: In order for the deprotonation of an acidic species HA with base B− to be thermodynamically favorable (K > 1), the relationship pKa(BH) > pKa(AH) must hold.
These values below are pKa values determined in DMSO, which has a broader useful range (~0 to ~35) than values determined in water (~0 to ~14) and better reflect the basicity of the carbanions in typical organic solvents. Values below less than 0 or greater than 35 are indirectly estimated; hence, the numerical accuracy of these values is limited. Aqueous pKa values are also commonly encountered in the literature, particularly in the context of biochemistry and enzymology. Moreover, aqueous values are often given in introductory organic chemistry textbooks for pedagogical reasons, although the issue of solvent dependence is often glossed over. In general, pKa values in water and organic solvent diverge significantly when the anion is capable of hydrogen bonding. For instance, in the case of water, the values differ dramatically: pKa in water of water = 14.0, while pKa in DMSO of water = 31.4, reflecting the differing ability of water and DMSO to stabilize hydroxide anion. On the other hand, for cyclopentadiene, the numerical values are comparable: pKaaq(Cp-H) = 15, while pKaDMSO(Cp-H) = 18.
Table 1. Carbon acid acidities by pKa in DMSO. These values may differ significantly from aqueous pKa values.
Note that acetic acid, ammonia, aniline, ethanol, and hydrogen chloride are not carbon acids, but are common acids shown for comparison.
As indicated by the examples above, acidity increases (pKa decreases) when the negative charge is delocalized. This effect occurs when the substituents on the carbanion are unsaturated and/or electronegative. Although carbon acids are generally thought of as acids that are much weaker than "classical" Brønsted acids like acetic acid or phenol, the cumulative (additive) effect of several electron accepting substituents can lead to acids that are as strong or stronger than the inorganic mineral acids. For example, trinitromethane (HC(NO2)3), tricyanomethane (HC(CN)3), pentacyanocyclopentadiene (HC5(CN)5), and fulminic acid (HCNO) are all strong acids with aqueous pKa values that indicate complete or nearly complete proton transfer to water. Triflidic acid, with three strongly electron withdrawing triflyl groups, has an estimated pKa well below –10. On the other end of the scale, hydrocarbons bearing only alkyl groups are thought to have pKa values in the range of 55 to 65. The range of acid dissociation constants for carbon acids thus spans over 70 orders of magnitude.
The acidity of the α-hydrogen in carbonyl compounds crucially these compounds to participate in synthetically important C–C bond-forming reactions including the aldol reaction and Michael addition.
With the molecular geometry for a carbanion described as a trigonal pyramid the question is whether or not carbanions can display chirality, because if the activation barrier for inversion of this geometry is too low any attempt at introducing chirality will end in racemization, similar to the nitrogen inversion. However, solid evidence exists that carbanions can indeed be chiral for example in research carried out with certain organolithium compounds.
The phosphate 1 contains a chiral group with a hydrogen and a deuterium substituent. The stannyl group is replaced by lithium to intermediate 2 which undergoes a phosphate-phosphorane rearrangement to phosphorane 3 which on reaction with acetic acid gives alcohol 4. Once again in the range of −78 °C to 0 °C the chirality is preserved in this reaction sequence.
^ Marynick, Dennis S.; Dixon, David A. (1977). "Electron Affinity of the Methyl Radical: Structures of CH3 and CH3 -". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 74 (2): 410–413. Bibcode:1977PNAS...74..410M. doi:10.1073/pnas.74.2.410. JSTOR 66197. PMC 392297. PMID 16592384.
^ Ellison, G. Barney; Engelking, P. C.; Lineberger, W. C. (April 1978). "An experimental determination of the geometry and electron affinity of methyl radical". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 100 (8): 2556–2558. doi:10.1021/ja00476a054. ISSN 0002-7863.
^ Blanksby, S. J.; Bowie, J. H. (2005). "Carbanions: formation, structure and thermochemistry". The encyclopedia of mass spectrometry. Gross, Michael L., Caprioli, R. M. (1st ed.). Amsterdam: Elsevier. ISBN 9780080438504. OCLC 55939535.
^ Harder, S. (2002). "Schlenk's Early "Free" Carbanions". Chemistry: A European Journal. 8 (14): 3229. doi:10.1002/1521-3765(20020715)8:14<3229::AID-CHEM3229>3.0.CO;2-3.
^ Bockrath, Bradley; Dorfman, Leon M. (2002-05-01). "Submicrosecond formation and observation of reactive carbanions". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 96 (18): 5708–5715. doi:10.1021/ja00825a005.
^ a b Schlenk, W.; Weickel, T.; Herzenstein, A. (1910). "Ueber Triphenylmethyl und Analoga des Triphenylmethyls in der Biphenylreihe. [Zweite Mittheilung über "Triarylmethyle".]". Justus Liebig's Annalen der Chemie. 372: 1–20. doi:10.1002/jlac.19103720102.
^ Schlenk, W.; Holtz, Johanna (1917-01-01). "Über Benzyl-tetramethyl-ammonium". Berichte der Deutschen Chemischen Gesellschaft. 50 (1): 274–275. doi:10.1002/cber.19170500143. ISSN 1099-0682.
^ Harder, Sjoerd (2002-07-15). "Schlenk's Early "Free" Carbanions". Chemistry – A European Journal. 8 (14): 3229–3232. doi:10.1002/1521-3765(20020715)8:143.0.CO;2-3 (inactive 2019-03-29). ISSN 1521-3765.
^ Silverstein, Todd P.; Heller, Stephen T. (2017-04-17). "pKa Values in the Undergraduate Curriculum: What is the Real pKa of Water?". Journal of Chemical Education. 94 (6): 690–695. doi:10.1021/acs.jchemed.6b00623.
^ a b Evans, D. A.; Ripin, D. H. (2005). "Chem 206 pKa Table" (PDF).
^ Bordwell, G. F.; Matthews, Walter S. (2002-05-01). "Equilibrium acidities of carbon acids. III. Carbon acids in the membrane series". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 96 (4): 1216–1217. doi:10.1021/ja00811a041.
^ a b Russell, Jamie; Roques, Nicolas (1998-11-05). "Effective nucleophilic trifluoromethylation with fluoroform and common base". Tetrahedron. 54 (45): 13771–13782. doi:10.1016/S0040-4020(98)00846-1. ISSN 0040-4020.
^ Trummal, Aleksander; Lipping, Lauri; Kaljurand, Ivari; Koppel, Ilmar A.; Leito, Ivo (2016-05-06). "Acidity of Strong Acids in Water and Dimethyl Sulfoxide". The Journal of Physical Chemistry A. 120 (20): 3663–3669. Bibcode:2016JPCA..120.3663T. doi:10.1021/acs.jpca.6b02253. PMID 27115918.
^ The reported pKa in MeCN is –3.7 (J. Org. Chem. 2011, 76, 391). The pKa in DMSO was estimated by the correlation pKaMeCN = 0.98 × pKaDMSO + 11.6 (J. Org. Chem. 2009, 74, 2679).
^ Clarke, R. W. L.; Lapworth, A. (1907). "LXV. An extension of the benzoin synthesis". Journal of the Chemical Society, Transactions. 91: 694–705. doi:10.1039/CT9079100694.
^ Schlenk, W.; Marcus, E. (1914). "Über Metalladditinen an freie organische Radikale. (Über Triarylmethyle. XII.)". Berichte der Deutschen Chemischen Gesellschaft. 47 (2): 1664. doi:10.1002/cber.19140470256.
^ Wallis, E. S.; Adams, F. H. (1933). "The Spatial Configuration of the Valences in Tricovalent Carbon Compounds1". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 55 (9): 3838. doi:10.1021/ja01336a068.
^ Tidwell, T. T. (1997). "The first century of physical organic chemistry: A prologue". Pure and Applied Chemistry. 69 (2): 211–214. doi:10.1351/pac199769020211.
This page was last edited on 29 March 2019, at 04:20 (UTC). |
0.973058 | The 1876 Republican National Convention was a presidential nominating convention held at the Exposition Hall in Cincinnati, Ohio on June 14–16, 1876. President Ulysses S. Grant considered seeking a third term, but with various scandals, a weak economy and Democratic gains in the House of Representatives leading many Republicans to repudiate him, he did not run. The convention resulted in the nomination of Governor Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio for President and Representative William A. Wheeler of New York for Vice President.
The convention was called to order by Republican National Committee chairman Edwin D. Morgan. Theodore M. Pomeroy served as the convention's temporary chairman and Edward McPherson served as permanent president.
The principal candidates at the convention included Senator James G. Blaine of Maine, the former Speaker of the House; Senator Oliver P. Morton of Indiana; Secretary of the Treasury Benjamin H. Bristow of Kentucky; Senator Roscoe Conkling of New York; Governor Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio; and Governor John F. Hartranft of Pennsylvania. James Russell Lowell, well-known poet and a professor at Harvard College, spoke on behalf of Hayes. Three candidates, including Secretary Benjamin Bristow, Postmaster General Marshall Jewell of Connecticut, and Secretary of State Elihu B. Washburne of Illinois were former Cabinet members of President Ulysses S. Grant.
Blaine led after the first ballot, but had only 285 of the 378 delegates required to secure the nomination. Morton, Bristow, and Conkling each had around 100 delegates, while Hayes and Hartranft each had around 60. The second, third, and fourth ballots saw similar results, but Hayes began to surge on the fifth ballot, passing Morton and Conkling to secure third place after Blaine and Bristow. The sixth ballot saw Blaine rise to 308, but, with the other candidates fading, Hayes continued his surge, moving into second place. After the sixth ballot, the Bristow, Conkling, Morton, and Hartranft supporters withdrew their candidates' names from consideration, leaving Hayes as the sole focus of opposition to Blaine. With the other candidates gone, Hayes won a narrow majority on the seventh ballot and secured the nomination.
The Convention then went on to choose a vice presidential nominee. Congressman William A. Wheeler of New York won a majority on the first ballot, defeating Marshall Jewell, Stewart L. Woodford of New York, Joseph R. Hawley of Connecticut, and Frederick T. Frelinghuysen of New Jersey.
The Republican ticket of Hayes and Wheeler went on to lose the popular vote to Democrats Samuel J. Tilden and Thomas A. Hendricks in the election of 1876, but won the electoral vote after a controversy which was resolved by the Compromise of 1877.
^ McFeely, William S. (1981). Grant: A Biography. Norton. pp. 440–441. ISBN 0-393-01372-3.
^ Patrick, Rembert W. (1968). The Reconstruction of the Nation. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 255. ISBN 0-195-01016-7.
^ Heymann, C. David (1980). American Aristocracy: The Lives and Times of James Russell, Amy, and Robert Lowell. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company. p. 136. ISBN 0-396-07608-4.
^ Republican party. National convention. 6th, Cincinnati; Clancy, A. M.; Nelson, William (10 April 1876). "Proceedings of the Republican national convention, held at Cincinnati, Ohio ... June 14, 15, and 16, 1876 ." Concord, N.H., Republic press association. Retrieved 10 April 2018 – via Internet Archive. |
0.912669 | You are the person who loves unique and interesting music and video, but sometimes, your computer can not play some video formats. In this case, Media Player Codec Pack will be the perfect choice for you. It helps you watch almost all videos formats.
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0.575716 | April 10th marks the official day the Beatles broke up back in 1970. Although tensions within the band had been going on for more than a year nothing of an official break up had been announced. Ringo & George had both left the group for a few days as far back as 1968. John was already doing alot of solo work; he had released the singles "Give Peace A Chance" & "Cold Turkey", and performed live in Toronto with Eric Clapton, Klaus Voorman, & Alan White.
In Johns opinion he felt they could have solo projects and come back every couple of years to record an album as the Beatles.
There was alot of drama leading up to that fateful day. Without a manger, and their own Apple Corps. in shambles they needed some one to manage all their money. Paul wanted his father in laws laws firm, The Eastman's & the remaining three Beatles were set on Allen Klein.
The Beatles also wanted Paul to hold off releasing his 1st solo album until the Beatles released "Let It Be", which would be their last, for business reasons. Paul wouldn't hear any of it and even told a neutral Ringo "I'll finish you all off" when he tried to persuade Paul to holding off the release.
The 1st week of April was filled with breakup rumors that were denied by Apple. Paul's people & The Eastman's stated the McCartney solo album would be the end of the band, but John, George & Ringo all kept denying the break up as well.
Ironically the man who seemed to most want to keep the Beatles together back in 1969 was the one who officially quit the band. On April 10th 1970, Paul McCartney released an official statement in advance copies of his 1st solo album "McCartney", and to various news outlets & media. The statement came in the form of a self interview claiming "a break with the Beatles due to personal, musical & business differ ences, but most of all because I have a better time with my family". Paul personally attacked the other Betales & Yoko Ono. Eventually at the end of the year Paul would file a law suit against the three that would keep them in court battles for decades. It wasn't until that point that the three remaining Beatles actually acknowledged the breakup.
At the time Paul's announcement was looked at in bad taste by most people. As for his first solo album it was not received well, the critics pounded him, but it did go to #1. Paul played all the instruments and recording it on a 4 track recorder at his home in Scotland. The quality of the material is a far cry from Paul's work on Abbey Road a few months earlier. Its str ongest piece being "Maybe I'm Amazed".
The Beatles released Let It Be at the end of May 1970 it went to #1 and spend 55 weeks on the charts. Earlier that month Ringo was the 2nd Beatle to release a solo album "Sentimental Journey" which went to #22. Later that year he released "Beaucoups of Blues" which didn't do that well peaking at #65. George released his triple album classic "All Things Must Pass' by Christmas 1970 it went to #1. The single "My Sweet Lord" was the 1st solo Beatles #1 song.
Looking back it seems that the fans had such a despise for Yoko Ono that it hurt sales of Johns 1st solo album "Plastic Ono Band". It only peaked at #6 on the charts and has since become a classic.
Three years later John, George & Ringo would stop their association with Klein as well. If everything had not gotten so ugly, and the finance situation not been so big , maybe they could have recorded together as a band again. One can only imagine if the four Beatles had gone on to their solo careers and personal lives but colaborated together musically. Some of their great solo works could have been combined Beatles efforts. |
0.976436 | We show that in imaginary time quantum metric fluctuations of empty space form a self-consistent de Sitter gravitational instanton that can be thought of as describing tunneling from "nothing" into de Sitter space of real time (no cosmological constant or scalar fields are needed). For the first time, this mechanism is activated to give birth to a flat inflationary Universe. For the second time, it is turned on to complete the cosmological evolution after the energy density of matter drops below the threshold (the energy density of instantons). A cosmological expansion with dark energy takes over after the scale factor exceeds this threshold, which marks the birth of dark energy at a redshift 1 + z ≈ 1.3 and provides a possible solution to the "coincidence problem". The number of gravitons which tunneled into the Universe must be of the order of 10122 to create the observed value of the Hubble constant. This number has nothing to do with vacuum energy, which is a possible solution to the "old cosmological constant problem". The emptying Universe should possibly complete its evolution by tunneling back to "nothing". After that, the entire scenario is repeated, and it can happen endlessly.
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0.891423 | Increase conversion rates of cold sales emails through social proofing!
Social proofing is a psychological phenomenon which influences someone to think that you are great after knowing that other people think you are great. It is informational social influence where people assume or conform to other's actions in an attempt to reflect the correct behavior for a given situation.
This is useful especially when you are communicating to your potential customers for the first time, as when you are cold emailing them.
Social proof is also notable on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The more followers you have, the more trustworthy and reputable you appear to be.
Product reviews and ratings are relevant for American consumers. Statistics says that more than 70% of them look at product's site and its reviews and ratings before deciding to purchase a product.
Several techniques of social proofing can be utilized, including mentioning in your email the patrons of your product, perhaps a famous company which is also your client, a famous investor, or the person you know in common in the mail.
It shows your potential customer that others have also taken the action that your company wanted them to take, whether purchasing or subscribing. Research shows that when a famous customer is mentioned at the bottom of the email, replies in the cold email doubled.
In a study of 10,000 accounts at a German bank, it was shown that customers who came from customer referrals had 16% higher lifetime value than those who came from other acquisition sources. Social media has sparked dozens of different ways to provide this kind of social proof.
Facebook widgets that show other Facebook friends that “like” a brand, Twitter’s display of people you follow that also follow another person, and the various ways that company offer rewards for referring others to the brand are all examples of this. Perhaps you might also want to mention present customers with established positive reputations.
These influencers are seen more positively with association. A shared LinkeIn Connection may also be mentioned. It was found that when you point out a shared connection with someone in common, 25.5% of the people who received the email opted in to have a further conversation about the product compared to the 4 % who received the basic mail.
Testimonials, accompanied with corresponding faces, are one of the most persuasive forms of social proof out there. Compared to statistics, stories and real-life experiences by other people are more trustworthy and persuasive because these examples touch our hearts and mind.
In a recent study, more than 82% of medical clinics reported at least one issue with employee theft or embezzlement... that they were aware of. This free guide to beating embezzlement and employee theft schemes uncovers the hidden tactics behind how these scams work, and how you can find them before they capsize your clinic.
Embezzlement and employee theft are an unfortunate fact in almost every business, and especially in cosmetic medical practices. If you haven't ever had to deal with this you're extremely lucky since it has taken place in every clinic I've been personally involved with and the stories that are told by physicians and business owners are legion.
If you think it can't happen in your business you';re just whistling past the graveyard. It can. It will.This report is designed to give you a fighting chance to identify how your business is at risk, to understand how these schemes work, and what you can do to minimize your risk and take action when you find a problem.
You're about to read the many stories that have been collected from clinics and physicians; from how a physician-employee put an extra account on a credit card terminal to deposit payments into his own checking account to how a NP would inject patients with straight saline and steal the Botox to use in her own side business. Some of the stories are almost beyond belief in their brazenness and the damage that was caused. In almost every case, the employee was a trusted team member.
Employees that are embezzling or stealing from you are enabled by ignorance and naivety. On the following pages you'll begin to remedy those issues.
I wish a report like this wasn't necessary, but it is.
If you don't read it you're a fool.
A very eye-opening and sobering report.
Opened my eyes! The information in this report is invaluable! I hadn't even thought of some of the scams mentioned in these testimonials!
Great! ...after reading others experiences I realize that you just cannot be too careful when it comes to the financial security of your business.
This report will help other centers avoid going through what we had to endure and overcome.
Keeping patients happy makes sense, both to avoid problems and build your reputation and referral base.
Not all patients that state they had a poor experience from another provider are signaling the proverbial red flag. Most of these patients HAVE had an experience of poor treatment outcome.
And to add salt to their wound,the previous treating provider could care less!
We must keep in mind that for most of our patients, coming in for Medical Aesthetic treatments is an exciting and much anticipated experience.
The number one reason patients state they no longer go to their previous provider is, "He was a jerk!" Oddly enough, the number one complaint I hear regarding a female provider is "I had to wait too long." This is not to say there are no female jerks or that patients don’t have to wait too long to see a male provider. These statements are simply the most common that I hear from (from) my patients.
No one is perfect. I don’t care how good you are at fillers, Botox, lasers, and surgery. We’re human, and we have bad days too. Bottom line: If you did achieve a less than desirable outcome, fix it for heaven's sake! With a smile on your face. If you're running more than 15 minutes behind, be prepared to apologize profusely and don't let it happen again. At both our clinics over 50% of our new patients are by referral. The most common reason for these referrals: “They're so nice!” Patients in general have a sense of helplessness when it comes to being treated by a provider. Do not tell a patient what they have to do. This is not life or death nor a dictatorship. Our patients know that we truly love what we do and we care. You don’t have to be all hugs and kisses, but, you'd better have a smile and a few jokes up your sleeve. You must keep in mind that this is the grown up version of a trip to Disneyland. It’s an E ticket ride with a high price tag. This is not an area of medicine of need.
This is completely a "WANT" this treatment situation. We encourage our patients to tell us what they are looking to have done and then offer safe, sane treatment options for them. This gives the patient a greater sense of control, and a decreased sense of possibly being pressured. If they can't afford all of the treatments at one time, what ever you do, never pressure a patient! If they like the one treatment you do and you personally, they’ll be back. And that’s how you keep your patients.
Download the new, free report for Members: Medical Spa Embezzlement & Employee Theft Scams... Reading it could save your clinic.
It's the guide to beating embezzlement and employee theft schemes in your cosmetic practice or medical spa.
Taking cash payments in the treatment room, stealing Botox and fillers to inject their own patients, ordering fraud, trading extra services for large tips, or stealing your client database to sell or use... In a recent study, more than 82% of medical clinics reported experience with employee theft or embezzlement... that they were aware of. This new 40 page guide to beating embezzlement and employee theft schemes uncovers the hidden tactics behind how these scams work, and how you can find them before they capsize your business.
Embezzlement and employee theft are an unfortunate fact in almost every business, and especially in cosmetic medical practices. If you haven’t ever had to deal with this you’re extremely lucky since it has taken place in every clinic I’ve been personally involved with and the stories that are told by physicians and business owners are legion. If you think it can’t happen in your clinic you’re just whistling past the graveyard. It can. Don’t prepare yourself and it will.
This report is designed to give you a fighting chance to identify how your business is at risk, to understand how these schemes work, and what you can do to minimize your risk and take action when you find a problem.
Great report! It should be required reading for all doctors — even for those of us who've been around!
A very eye-opening and sobering report. This is a must read for everyone!
You’re about to read the many stories that have been collected from clinics and physicians; from how a physician-employee put an extra account on a credit card terminal to deposit payments into his own checking account to how a NP would inject patients with straight saline and steal the Botox to use in her own side business... and a host of others... ordering fraud, trading extra services for large tips, or stealing your client database to sell or use, setting up false bank accounts, switching acocunts on the credit card reader... all of these scams are covered through real life accounts from the physicians and clinic owners who experienced them.
Some of the stories are almost beyond belief in their brazenness and the damage that was caused. In almost every case, the employee was a trusted team member. Do yourself, your family, and your business a favor and read this report. No matter what your experience has been, you're going to learn something important.
Unfortunately, employee embezzlement and theft in cosmetic medical clinics is commonplace. We're going to help you with that.
We've posted about theft and embezzlement before. Read: Embezzlement & Employee Theft: It can, and probably will, happen to you.
How common embezzlement schemes are set up and how these criminals cover their tracks.
How thieves steal Botox and injectables to supply their side business.
Credit card and payment scams at the front desk.
Inventory and product theft in the back room.
We're compiling these submissions as well as drawing on our own experiences and contacting embezzlement and loss prevention experts to produce a comprehensive blueprint for protecting your clinic and your business that will give you insight into how these scams work, and how you can prevent them.
If you have any thoughts on this topic or what we should include, please leave them in the comments below.
Some of the best marketing for your medical spa is not 'marketing' at all... it's incredible customer service.
Customer service is probably the easiest way to distance yourself from the competition.
Read the forums and you'll find lots of threads discussing how commoditized the market for Botox or laser hair removal has become, how much to pay your staff, and how Groupon is destroying everyone's margins... but you'll be hard pressed to find discussions about how to deliver service that generates sales.
But delivering great customer service is something that you should think of as driving sales, not lost time and a money-sink.
Our clinic staff operations were designed to provide fantastic customer service to everyone, but to really go above and beyond with selected patients in an effort to wow them, even if it cost us money. In fact, wowing patients had budget set aside from marketing.
The key is make your customer ecstatic about your business by catering to what they need so they’ll tell their friends about it. In fact the more egregious the demand or the more dramatic the effort needed, the more likely that word about your clinic will spread. As anyone in cosmetic medicine can attest, you don't have to wait long for some stressed out patient who's a candidate. In one case a bride called us in tears on a Saturday morning asking if there was any way that she could get her mother and mother-in-law treated with Botox before her wedding on Wednesday morning... and they weren't arriving until 10PM that night. One of our physicians actually met the wedding party at our clinic on Sunday morning in order to make sure that the effects of the Botox had time to take maximum effect before the wedding.
Most clinics or physicians would not have done this, they would have scheduled the treatment for Monday if they could fit them in and lost the opportunity to create fanatically loyal clients.
That Sunday treatment drove an extra $10k in revenue at that clinic that month.
How you deal with your customer service will define your business and your revenues.
The more hoops you have to jump through, the more likely word will spread. Dig out the really extraordinary ways that you can make a splash.
Tell me I'm wrong.. or right. Tell your own customer service story in the comments.
The Medical Spa MD Physician Report Out! Download It Here.
The FREE Medical Spa MD Physician Report is now available. Whew.
We've taken on a herculean task in compiling this report and we're pretty happy with the result.
The Medical Spa MD Physician Report researches and tracks all aspects of what's working in cosmetic medicine (and what's not), not only in the U.S. and Canada but across the world.
These reports are published to give our entire physician and clinician community access to the information, statistics, and inspiration to improve their medical (and business) results.
Do you want to know how other clinics are choosing technology, attracting new patients, marketing to their existing clients and compensating their staff? Would you like to discover what's the most effective uses for that new fractional laser, or what other clinicians think of it? Could you use more info about how successful medical spas are expanding their business, saving money, or deciding on what new treatments to add or get rid of?
Answer yes to any of the above you will love, love, love this new report.
With the power and knowledge of our growing membership, our goal is to bring together all the valuable information, successes and failures; giving you an insider’s point-of-view to improve your business and your bottom line. Which products sell best? Which treatments are most profitable? Which equipment manufacturers are recommended and which are not? Our reports deep-dive into the various areas, such as “Growing your business”, “Advertising and marketing”, and “Staffing and training”.
The reports generally include a survey of cosmetic clinics around the world, an interview or case study, and an area for sponsors or select partners who wish to get in front of our Members and readers with their products and services. To begin, we reached out to not only our member base, but also other prominent doctors in our field. The response was overwhelming. About 80% of our respondents practice in the US, but the other 20% come from all over the world, including South America, Europe, the Middle East and Russia. About 92% are physicians, with the other 8% working as RNs or PAs in cosmetic clinics and medical spas.
Another way to contribute to our Physicians’ Report is to participate in our monthly interview. We choose and office or medical spa each month to get their unique perspective on running their business. The interviews add insight into working medical spas and cosmetic practices, what works, what doesn’t work, successes, failures and anything else you want to share with your peers.
P.S. Please feel free to distribute, email, link to, tweet, post or send this report to anyone who may be interested as long as you do not modify or change the report in any way.
The following is a partial list of the physicians and clinics that contributed to this report and gave us permission to identify and link to them. Sign up to contribute to the next report here.
Does a relaxing waiting room actually generate revenue for your clinic?
Retailers have known for a long time that happy, relaxed customers leave feeling more satisfied, but new research from Columbia Business School concludes that relaxation does more than just make for a satisfied client. It also produces a client who is willing to pay more.
According to the report, "Relaxed consumers think products are worth more than less-relaxed consumers because relaxed individuals tend to think about the value of products at a more abstract level. For example, when bidding for the camera, relaxed participants focused more on what the camera would enable them to do (e.g., collect memories) and how desirable and advantageous it was to own it, whereas the less-relaxed participants focused more on the concrete features of the camera itself (e.g., the number of megapixels it had, the shutter speed)."
All this being said, you may want to make sure that you're creating a relaxing and comfortable enviroment in your clinic even before the treatment.
Here's one example of how you can use video to create a relaxing atmosphere while also sending a powerful marketing message and communicating about your other offerings.
Watch other waiting room videos. |
0.960601 | I sit next to him and ask him how he is feeling. His eyes quickly dart around the room as he continues to repeat a line from a Disney movie he has just seen. I tap his hand in hopes of getting his attention. Finally, he looks up. He now stands across from me and is jumping up and down flapping his arms as he continues to repeat the Disney line. I place my arms on my lower abdomen and instruct him to do the same. He begins to punch and kick the air.
He takes a deep breath and lets out a yawn. His arms are momentarily calm and then he starts punching the air.
He yawns and kicks the air. His movements are becoming slower now. I begin moving my arms up and down with my breath and instruct him to follow me. He is now whispering the Disney line and has his eyes closed. He anticipates my next movement and starts speeding up. I tell him to slow down and follow me. His movements begin to sync up with my own. He is becoming quiet and his body more relaxed. At the end we sit down, cross-legged, on the floor. I instruct him to place his hands on his knees, palms up.
He shuts his eyes tightly and leans his head back. His nostrils flare and his chest rises as his lungs fill with air.
His body slumps down. He is quiet, fully relaxed and calm. He opens his eyes sleepily and then looks at me. |
0.990124 | Georg Jensen's Frequency collection includes stylish stainless steel accessories designed by American designer Kelly Wearstler. Organic shapes, for which Georg Jensen stands, characterise the design of the collection. Kelly Wearstler's collection was inspired by the rough waters of California: Curved ornaments recall the waves of the ocean and make the accessories appear particularly dynamic. The surface of the polished stainless steel also reflects the light like water, setting shiny accents.
The Frequency collection includes washes, bowls and lanterns, which can be combined perfectly with each other.
Kelly wearstler Kelly Wearstler is an American architect and graphic designer who founded her studio of the same name in Los Angeles in 1995. A multi-layered, stimulating sensory experience is at the heart of Wearstler's design. |
0.999699 | Slavery was well established in the "New World" by the Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch, who all sent African slaves to work in both North and South America during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. The English began aggressively trading in what was called "black ivory" during the middle of the seventeenth century, spurred on by the need for laborers in the hot, humid sugar fields on the West Indian islands of Barbados, St. Christopher, the Bermudas, and Jamaica.
By the time Charles Towne was settled in 1670, Englishmen from the West Indies were well acquainted with slavery and the huge profits they could reap from the toil of others. Slavery was therefore considered an essential ingredient in the successful establishment of cash crop plantations in South Carolina.
Like other European nations, England created the Royal African Company to underwrite the slave trade. A string of forts and "slave factories" were established from the Cape Verde Islands to the Bight of Biafra. But the slave trade would likely not have been as "successful" were it not for the "unholy alliance" between the English (and other European nations) and the African kingdoms on whose territories the forts stood. The English slave traders did their best to dupe the native kings, and each native king did his best to obtain the maximum amount of goods in exchange for the slaves he had for sale.
For their cargoes of human flesh, the traders brought iron and copper bars, brass pans and kettles, cowrey shells, old guns, gun powder, cloth, and alcohol. In return, ships might load on anywhere from 200 to over 600 African slaves, stacking them like cord wood and allowing almost no breathing room. The crowding was so severe, the ventilation so bad, and the food so poor during the "Middle Passage" of between five weeks and three months that a loss of around 14 to 20% of their "cargo" was considered the normal price of doing business. This slave trade is thought to have transported at least 10 million, and perhaps as many as 20 million, Africans to the American shore.
The Slaves from the River Gambia are preferr'd to all others with us [here in Carolina] save the Gold Coast.... next to Them the Windward Coast are preferr'd to Angolas.
In other words, slaves from the region of Senegambia and present-day Ghana were preferred. At the other end of the scale were the "Calabar" or Ibo or "Bite" slaves from the Niger Delta, who Carolina planters would purchase only if no others were available. In the middle were those from the Windward Coast and Angola.
Carolina planters developed a vision of the "ideal" slave – tall, healthy, male, between the ages of 14 and 18, "free of blemishes," and as dark as possible. For these ideal slaves Carolina planters in the eighteenth century paid, on average, between 100 and 200 sterling – in today's money that is between $11,630 and $23,200!
negroes, anckle and even mid-leg deep in water which floats an ouzy mud, and exposed all the while to a burning sun which makes the very air they breathe hotter than the human blood; these poor wretches are then in a furness of stinking putrid effluvia: a more horrible employment can hardly be imagined.
In fact, these Carolina rice fields have been described as charnel houses for African-American slaves. Malaria and enteric diseases killed off the low country slaves at rates which are today almost unbelievable. Based on the best plantation accounts it is clear that while about one out of every three slave children on the cotton plantations died before reaching the age of 16, nearly two out of every three African-American children on rice plantations failed to reach their sixteenth birthday and over a third of all slave children died before their first birthday. Rice's macabre record of slave deaths has been traced to two primary factors - one was malaria, the other was the infants' feebleness at birth, probably the result of the mothers' own chronic malaria and their general exhaustion from rice cultivation during pregnancy.
After their horrific "Middle Passage," over 40% of the African slaves reaching the British colonies before the American Revolution passed through South Carolina. Almost all of these slaves entered the Charleston port, being briefly quarantined on Sullivan's Island, before being sold in Charleston's slave markets.
Once in South Carolina what was the lives of these slaves like? How did they live? What did they eat? What did their houses look like? How did they prepare their food? What kinds of possessions did they have? What did their pottery look like? White masters had little or no interest in recording these details for future generations. Slavery was an economic issue and the only details worthy of being consistently recorded were those related to the value of their slaves or the value of their production. The daily lives of these new African-Americans was probably poorly understood and certainly of little importance to the planters. These are all questions that can only be answered through archaeology. |
0.937599 | What are sixth graders expected to learn? Before you develop or choose a 6th grade curriculum for your homeschool, it is important to understand the learning goals for sixth graders. Sixth grade programs offer exciting options for homeschooling families.
This is where many parents will be reminded of how difficult school was in their younger years, and many will find themselves learning with their children just as often as they teach them. A lot of academic and social progress will be made in this year, so be prepared for to have more dynamic, interactive lessons and material that is a bit more sophisticated than the material presented in earlier grades.
You still need to follow your state’s requirements for what sixth graders are expected to learn, but you will likely find yourself supplementing and adjusting your programs to meet the individual personality of your child. In fact, families with multiple children typically find themselves doing things differently with each child as they get into these older grades.
As you prepare for the sixth grade year, you will find that Science becomes more analytical and demanding. It will also become more and more math-based, so it is important that your student has a firm grasp of the math concepts he or she learned in elementary school.
In Literature, sixth grade students will begin reading on a higher level, and will be expected to respond to test questions with short answers and essays rather than just choosing the right option from several multiple choice items.
Advanced vocabulary skills including synonyms, antonyms, homophones, etc.
Sixth graders should be working independently much of the time. They will still need help at times and should be graded and checked for mistakes, but they should be doing their work on their own.
Increasing hands-on activities and experiments is a good idea at this point. As children get older, they are able to do more on their own and will learn more if they are enjoying the process of learning.
Sixth grade is where many students will stop learning to read and start enjoying the process of reading. Reading is used as a tool in other subjects, so there may be less time spent on reading lessons at this point. Students who do not enjoy reading should be encouraged to read at least a half hour each day outside of schoolwork.
Science should be largely experimental at this level. Allow your children to explore questions that they have about the world around them, creating experiments that allow them to find answers.
This is the grade where social interactions may feel more urgent to a child than academics. You may have to work harder to keep them focused and on track.
The average sixth grader is heading towards adolescence, and you should keep this in mind as you look at your 6th grade homeschool curriculum options. A few typical characteristics of normal sixth graders include the following: they are starting to show more self-assertion and curiosity and they are more socially aware. They are physically restless and wiggly and many of them they talk a lot. They have a range and intensity of emotions and tend to be moody and easily frustrated. Many are competitive and want to excel, but at the same time tend towards off-color humor and silliness.
As they make the transition to adolescence, make sure the curriculum you put together is suitable for their needs as they learn to cope with changes, work on interpersonal skills, handle peer groups and peer pressure, develop personal interests and abilities and take on greater personal responsibility for their behavior and decisions.
Most students are excited about their new independence as they start sixth grade. The change to middle school may not be as drastic for homeschool students, but they should still be expected to show greater independence as they do harder work and meet higher expectations. Many students experience social and physical changes at this age that you must keep in mind. You have to reinforce the importance of school while engaging your students’ growing interest outside of just the content you are teaching as part of their classes. This is a great time to explore the interests and abilities that will serve your children well at a later stage.
For top sixth grade students whom you have homeschooled to this point, reaching their academic milestones must continue to be a focus for you. Social and personal issues can generally start to overshadow academic work about this time, so it’s important to keep an eye out for any beginning signs of a downward direction in their grades.
One way to make sure your homeschooled sixth grader reaches the standards set above is to help them build study skills and time management techniques. Even if they succeeded without a lot of effort in elementary school, sixth grade may force them to develop better habits as the curriculum becomes more difficult and more outside forces intrude. It will help them thrive if you develop a mindset in them which encourages their confidence and sense of self.
If your sixth grade homeschooler has been a good student in elementary school, but hasn’t quite gotten to A level work, you can use this transition to middle school as a chance to review earlier skills they have learned. This is important because from this point on, much of their education will be built upon what they have already learned, and that is a valuable skill to possess.
Sixth grade students can still learn information more quickly than they will be able to in later grades, so now is the time for individualized instruction in core subjects like math and reading. This extra time can put your student on a trajectory to As and beyond.
Alpha Omega Switched on Schoolhouse –This is a great time to start transitioning to a computer-based program. With the built-in lesson planner it helps kids become more responsible for working independently and juggling their schedule.
Alpha Omega LifePacs –This mastery learning program is preferred by many 6th graders who love to see the progress of finishing a work text and seeing their progress.
Mystery of History— Sixth grade is a great time for Christian parents to try this program with their kids. It combines Biblical and secular history in a way few other options do.
Apologia Science — One of the most interesting ways to teach science, this gives a great foundation for 6th graders who want to prepare themselves for tough high-school science classes in a few years.
Horizons Math — 6th grade is the last year to use Horizons for math, but we would still suggest it because it is a such great program.
MathUSee — A parent favorite, this program brings math concepts to life with visual representations of problems to help kids understand how math works.
Teaching Textbooks — For the child who is hesitant to do math, this is a great option. We would suggest the package that includes both the CD-Rom AND the worksheets for best results.
The every-other-month Home Education Magazine provides in-depth interviews, articles and stories relating to the challenges and the happiness of homeschooling.
Homeschool Central provides several good resources to those learning at home, especially people who are looking for a group in their area who can help support them.
This nonprofit advocacy association provides legal advice for parents who want to homeschool their children. They offer good information on every state’s particular homeschool guidelines. If you need to know about homeschooling legal issues, you can also look at the “My State” page of their website.
NHERI is a fantastic resource when you need statistics and facts about educating your children at home.
This online magazine focuses on the basics of classical homeschooling, including the Great Books movement, the Socratic Method and poetic knowledge. Plus, it’s free.
Home educator and literature professor Susan Wise Bauer and her mother wrote this detailed guide to homeschooling in the classical tradition.
What 6th grade curriculum do you like most? Share it here.
These 6th grade curriculum resources, milestones and advice should put you well on your way to developing a 6th grade curriculum that will place your child on track for success. The extra time and attention you will be able to spend with him or her will be vital in their educational development. We hope you enjoy these resources!
Thank you for this information. I’m looking for a Homeschool 6th grade Christian Curriculum that is not all online. We just left an online based school after 2 years because my kids were losing interest in learning, and they were staring at the computer screen for 6+hrs per day! Can you recommend anything to me? I was looking at the Switched On School House but it’s all online as well… any thoughts?
In addition to that, you can always choose to supplement your child’s curriculum. Ideas for this include field trips, co-ops with other homeschooling families, public resources like the library and historical societies, and extracurricular activities like sports or clubs. |
0.922535 | The Long March (simplified Chinese: 长征; traditional Chinese: 長征; pinyin: Chángzhēng) was a military retreat undertaken by the Red Army of the Communist Party of China, the forerunner of the People’s Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the Kuomintang (KMT or Chinese Nationalist Party) army. There was not one Long March, but a series of marches, as various Communist armies in the south escaped to the north and west. The most well known is the march from Jiangxi province which began in October 1934. The First Front Army of the Chinese Soviet Republic, led by an inexperienced military commission, was on the brink of annihilation by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek’s troops in their stronghold in Jiangxi province. The Communists, under the eventual command of Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, escaped in a circling retreat to the west and north, which reportedly traversed some 12,500 kilometers (8,000 miles) over 370 days.The route passed through some of the most difficult terrain of western China by traveling west, then north, to Shaanxi.
The Long March began the ascent to power of Mao Zedong, whose leadership during the retreat gained him the support of the members of the party. The bitter struggles of the Long March, which was completed by only one-tenth of the force that left Jiangxi, would come to represent a significant episode in the history of the Communist Party of China, and would seal the personal prestige of Mao and his supporters as the new leaders of the party in the following decades.
Who stole my bicycle ? |
0.999999 | subject line for email: Inkscape Announces 0.43 Release :: http://www.inkscape.org :: Draw Freely.
Connectors: Objects can be connected using auto-routing lines.
Inkboard Collaborative Editing: You can connect to other Inkscape users over a network and edit a shared document.
Pressure and Tilt Sensitivity: The calligraphy tool may now use a tablet pen with pressure and tilt support.
Better Node Editing: You can now drag, bend, and stretch a Bezier curve by any point and not only by a node.
New Extensions: There are now extensions for envelope distortion, whirling, and adding nodes.
SVG Compliance: There is now additional support for the viewBox element improving SVG compatibility.
There is an online book, "A Guide to Inkscape", available at http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/index.php, which has been updated to cover the 0.43 features.
Currently the Inkscape community is working on the next release which will focus on stability and closing bugs. The next release will add an outline viewing mode, a plan towards SVG Tiny compliance, a fill and stroke interface to the bottom toolbar, and more application refinements.
Inkscape is open to all types of contributions by people with all different skill levels from around the world. We need translators, web designers, people to help answer questions, and developers to help us reach our goal of SVG compliance. Visit Inkscape.org and come help us Draw Freely.
Inkscape is an open source drawing tool that uses the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) scalable vector graphics format (SVG). Some supported SVG features include basic shapes, paths, text, markers, clones, alpha blending, transforms, gradients, and grouping. In addition, Inkscape supports Creative Commons' metadata, node-editing, layers, complex path operations, text-on-path, text-in-shape, and SVG XML editing. It also imports several formats like EPS, PostScript, JPEG, PNG, BMP, and TIFF and exports PNG as well as multiple vector-based formats.
Inkscape's main motivation is to provide the Open Source community with a fully W3C compliant XML, SVG, and CSS2 drawing tool. Additional work includes conversion of the codebase from C/Gtk to C++/Gtkmm, emphasizing a lightweight core with powerful features added through an extension mechanism, and the establishment of a friendly, open, community-oriented development process.
This page was last modified on 20 June 2006, at 13:09. |
0.935528 | Born in Laurel, Mississippi, the soprano Leontyne Price came to be regarded as a prima donna assoluta during her exceptionally long operatic career (1952–1985).
Price's parents had been involved in the musical life of Laurel and provided her with piano lessons from the age of four. Soon thereafter she joined her mother in the church choir and, after attending a recital by Marian Anderson in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1936, she resolved on a career in music. At that time African-American women could aspire in music only for roles in education, and it was with that major in mind that Price enrolled at Central State College in Ohio. Before she graduated in 1949, however, her vocal talent was manifest and she was encouraged to enter the Juilliard School of Music, where she studied with Florence Kimball. As Mistress Ford in a school production of Verdi's Falstaff, she attracted the attention of American composer Virgil Thomson, who enlisted her for the role of Cecilia in a 1952 revival of his Four Saints in Three Acts (1934), a work calling for an all-black cast, thus initiating her professional career and terminating her formal study.
Following this production in New York and performances at the Paris International Arts Festival, Price was engaged for the role of Bess in George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, with which she toured in Berlin, Paris, and Vienna into 1954. In November of that year, she made her New York debut at Town Hall. The following February she appeared in the title role of Puccini's Tosca on television, later adding Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and Don Giovanni, and Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites to her NBC telecasts. In 1956 she sang the role of Cleopatra in Handel's Giulio Cesare.
It was in the Poulenc opera as Madame Lidoine that Price made her debut with the San Francisco Opera in 1957, following this with the leading soprano roles with that company in Verdi's Il Trovatore and Puccini's Madama Butterfly and debuts that year at the Arena di Verona, Covent Garden, and the Vienna Staatsoper (Aida ). Her debut with the Lyric Opera of Chicago was as Liù in Puccini's Turandot (1959).
The Metropolitan Opera had only begun adding black singers to its roster in 1955 with Marian Anderson and Robert McFerrin, followed by the debuts of African-American artists Mattiwilda Dobbs (1956), Gloria Davy (1958), and Martina Arroyo (1959). Actually, Price had already appeared in the Metropolitan Opera Jamboree, a fund-raising broadcast from the Manhattan Ritz Theater, April 6, 1953, when she performed "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess, but her formal debut was as Leonora in Verdi's Il Trovatore on January 27, 1961, when she won an unprecedented forty-two-minute ovation, fully justifying her selection as the leading lady to open the next Met season (as Puccini's Minnie in La Fanciulla del West ) and that of the next year (repeating her 1957 Vienna role of Aida, in which she was heard each season for the following five years). During the last six years of the "old Met," she particularly excelled in the Italian repertory (as Liù in Puccini's Turandot, Cio-Cio-San in Puccini's Madama Butterfly, and Elvira in Verdi's Ernani, which she had sung for Herbert von Karajan at the 1962 Salzburg Festival).
The new home of the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center was inaugurated in 1966 with a new opera by Samuel Barber, Antony and Cleopatra, written specifically for Price. When she concluded her career in opera performances on January 3, 1985, with Aida at the Metropolitan Opera, she had proved her interpretive leadership in the Italian repertories of Verdi and Puccini, but she had expanded the previously practiced limits to move far past any stereotypes, excelling in German, Spanish, French, and Slavic works, as well as in spirituals and other American literature. Her principal opera roles, in addition to those mentioned, were the Prima Donna and Ariadne (Ariadne auf Naxos ), Amelia (Un Ballo in Maschera ), Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte ), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni ), Tatiana (Eugene Onegin ), Minnie (La Fanciulla del West ), Leonora (La Forza del Destino ), Manon (Manon Lescaut ), and the title role in Tosca.
Price's recorded legacy is extensive. In addition to many of the operatic roles in which she appeared onstage—Bizet's Carmen, Mozart's Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte, Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Tosca, Verdi's Aida, Un Ballo in Maschera, Ernani, La Forza del Destino, and Il Trovatore —she has recorded Samuel Barber's Hermit Songs and music of Fauré, Poulenc, Wolf, and R. Strauss, as well as Verdi's Requiem and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. She has also recorded excerpts from Porgy and Bess (with her then-husband William Warfield), an album of popular songs with André Previn (Right as Rain ), and Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, a collection of fourteen spirituals. In 1992 RCA reissued on compact disc forty-seven arias by Price under the title Leontyne Price: The Prima Donna Collection, arias that had been recorded from 1965 to 1979.
Blyth, Alan. "Mary Violet Leontyne Price." In The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, vol. 15. London: Grove, 1980, pp. 225–226.
"Leontyne Price." In Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 7th ed., edited by Nicholas Slonimsky, p. 1363. New York: Schirmer, 1992.
Sargeant, Winthrop. Divas. New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1973, pp. 134–167.
"Price, Mary Violet Leontyne." Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History. . Encyclopedia.com. 19 Apr. 2019 <https://www.encyclopedia.com>. |
0.923176 | Drink plenty of water : Experts advise drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day. I say, drink as much as you can, the more the better because each of our bodies is different and so are our lives and activity levels. Just drink plenty of water, whatever level feels right for your body. The reason is water is a natural diuretic and helps the kidneys filter out toxins from the body when there is sufficient enough water or fluid to do so. Fluids are vital and essential to the overall health of all the body's organs. Increasing your water intake will actually improve their functioning. Experts advise drinking only natural pure water in order to limit or decrease your intake of any chemicals which may be in the water and can add to and contribute to the toxin level already in the body. Nonetheless, it is generally agreed across the board that maintaining proper hydration is vital and will result in greater health for the body as well as for the skin. Does your skin look wrinkly and feel dry? Do you feel tired and fatigued? Think it's your old age? Chances are it might not be due to your old age, but rather due to the lack of water in your body.
Mild dehydration symptoms will start to become noticeable after the body has lost 2% of its normal water volume. Some common symptoms of mild dehydration include dry skin, fatigue & weakness, dry mouth, loss of appetite and decreased urination and dark colored urine but generally one of the first signs is that of thirst. Dehydration can occur for any number of reasons including level of activity, climate & temperature, medications and/or illnesses. However on a normal daily basis the body loses between 2-3 liters of water just through breathing, sweating and urinating. And if excessive heat or heavy activity is occurring, the body can lose up to 2 liters in just one hour. So how do you prevent dehydration from occurring? |
0.930706 | Is anyone familiar with the old Italian custom of drinking wine from a coffee mug?
If so, could you please direct me to the history behind that tradition.
A little. I am albanian, and also in the tradition of my country we used to drink the wine in special cups made of earth and ceramics, which was told makes wine tastes better than in glass. This was brought to my country from romans. |
0.938542 | Easter Day celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and is the most important and oldest festival of Christians. Easter Day is also known as Easter Sunday or the Resurrection Day. Being the central feast in the Christian liturgical year, Easter is celebrated with great enthusiasm and joy by Christians of throughout the world. Since on this very day Jesus Christ rose from the dead and ascended into the heaven, Easter marks the transition from death to life and night to day, and prominently known and recognized as the festival of rejuvenation of living and life. Moreover, Easter symbolizes the beginning of new optimistic and promising things, and joys of the spring season.
Easter Day or Easter Sunday is a movable festival, and is not celebrated on the same date every year. Easter Day celebration varies in between March 22 and April 25. Western Churches following the Gregorian calendar, celebrate Easter Sunday on observance of full moon after the vernal equinox on March 21. While the Orthodox Christians who follow the Julian calendar to calculate the Easter date, celebrate this festival generally after one week or two.
According to the history, Easter Day commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ after his crucifixion and death. Easter Day is followed by the Eastertide, a fifty-day long period comprising of Mardi Gras and Lent. Lent is a forty-day period of fasting, prayers, reflection, and penance, and ends with the Easter Sunday. The last week of Lent is the Holy Week, and contains the Good Friday. Lent represents the 40-days Jesus spent in the wilderness wandering, surviving various evil and beguiling temptations by the devil. Good Friday commemorates the day of crucifixion and death of Jesus. The Holy Saturday represents the transition period between the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Mardi Gras is the last feast of food and fun before the start of Lent, and Maundy Thursday marks the last supper of Jesus with his disciples.
Christians of all around the world make comprehensive and elaborate preparations to celebrate Easter Sunday with great fervor, optimism, and joy. Though Easter customs slightly vary across the Christian world, decorating beautiful Easter eggs and gift-giving have been the common motifs everywhere.
There are a number of symbols inherently associated with Easter celebrations such as decorated eggs, chicks, white lilies, rabbits, sunrise service, and new outfits. Easter eggs are believed to represent the bright beginning of optimism and life, while the rabbits (a symbol of fertility) and chicks are considered to represent rebirth of the earth. Also, the white Lily, sometimes also known as the Easter lily, is said to be the symbol of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
However, the concept about Easter Gifts has changed more or less over the years, in all around the world. In the past years, Easter gifts generally used to be candies and chocolates in the form of Easter eggs, bells, fish, and bunnies. But today, most of the people want and prefer to give and take gifts which can be of some use, and therefore, Easter baskets, Easter fresh fruit cakes, and easy Easter crafts have become very popular, for Easter celebrations all around the world. |
0.999991 | I'm far from the first to point this out, but some of us in the education game hold some ill-informed beliefs about the brain and what it should mean to us as teachers. These are known as "neuromyths" and there's even an organization, the International Mind, Brain and Education Society, working to improve how educators use knowledge from neuroscience. A study by Dekker, Lee, Howard-Jones, and Jones (2012) in the Netherlands found that when given 32 statements about the brain, 15 of which were myths, on average teachers believed in about 50% of the myths. I doubt teachers in the United States would fare any better, given what I see about left brain vs. right brain, "learning styles," and "only use 10%" nonsense.
Even though there is more communication than ever on peer-reviewed brain research, a lot of that communication distorts the science and ends up spreading or creating new neuromyths (Howard-Jones, 2014). What does that distortion look like? I present to you two examples, where something I saw on social media referring to the brain ended up linking back to research with claims that looked quite different.
Example One: "Your Brain Grew"
How well people bounce back from mistakes depends on their beliefs about learning and intelligence. For individuals with a growth mind-set, who believe intelligence develops through effort, mistakes are seen as opportunities to learn and improve. For individuals with a fixed mind-set, who believe intelligence is a stable characteristic, mistakes indicate lack of ability. We examined performance-monitoring event-related potentials (ERPs) to probe the neural mechanisms underlying these different reactions to mistakes. Findings revealed that a growth mind-set was associated with enhancement of the error positivity component (Pe), which reflects awareness of and allocation of attention to mistakes. More growth-minded individuals also showed superior accuracy after mistakes compared with individuals endorsing a more fixed mind-set. It is critical to note that Pe amplitude mediated the relationship between mind-set and posterror accuracy. These results suggest that neural mechanisms indexing on-line awareness of and attention to mistakes are intimately involved in growth-minded individuals' ability to rebound from mistakes.
Accurate associative learning is often hindered by confirmation bias and success-chasing, which together can conspire to produce or solidify false beliefs in the decision-maker. We performed functional magnetic resonance imaging in 35 experienced physicians, while they learned to choose between two treatments in a series of virtual patient encounters. We estimated a learning model for each subject based on their observed behavior and this model divided clearly into high performers and low performers. The high performers showed small, but equal learning rates for both successes (positive outcomes) and failures (no response to the drug). In contrast, low performers showed very large and asymmetric learning rates, learning significantly more from successes than failures; a tendency that led to sub-optimal treatment choices. Consistently with these behavioral findings, high performers showed larger, more sustained BOLD responses to failed vs. successful outcomes in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and inferior parietal lobule while low performers displayed the opposite response profile. Furthermore, participants' learning asymmetry correlated with anticipatory activation in the nucleus accumbens at trial onset, well before outcome presentation. Subjects with anticipatory activation in the nucleus accumbens showed more success-chasing during learning. These results suggest that high performers' brains achieve better outcomes by attending to informative failures during training, rather than chasing the reward value of successes. The differential brain activations between high and low performers could potentially be developed into biomarkers to identify efficient learners on novel decision tasks, in medical or other contexts.
Now we're talking about some brain activity, but the results aren't so simple. Take-away? A group of doctors who performed well on a task had brains that appeared to respond better to failure, while low-performing doctors didn't. Also, don't overlook the last bit: This study is less about finding better teaching than it is about identifying biomarkers that indicate who might be more easily taught. That's an important difference — teachers don't get to scan kids in fMRI machines and only teach the best of the lot.
The importance of the hippocampal system for rapid learning and memory is well recognized, but its contributions to a cardinal feature of children's cognitive development—the transition from procedure-based to memory-based problem-solving strategies—are unknown. Here we show that the hippocampal system is pivotal to this strategic transition. Longitudinal functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 7–9-year-old children revealed that the transition from use of counting to memory-based retrieval parallels increased hippocampal and decreased prefrontal-parietal engagement during arithmetic problem solving. Longitudinal improvements in retrieval-strategy use were predicted by increased hippocampal-neocortical functional connectivity. Beyond childhood, retrieval-strategy use continued to improve through adolescence into adulthood and was associated with decreased activation but more stable interproblem representations in the hippocampus. Our findings provide insights into the dynamic role of the hippocampus in the maturation of memory-based problem solving and establish a critical link between hippocampal-neocortical reorganization and children's cognitive development.
As I suspected, the neuroscience really had nothing to do with Common Core or how to teach math. It just found out which part of the brain became more active as children increase their ability to do things from memory. That should sound exciting if you're a neuroscientist, but pretty useless if you're a teacher.
Like a predictable telephone game, you can see how research gets distorted as it morphs its way through news articles, blog posts, and social media posts. You could criticize me for not quite backtracking all the way to the source, as I'm only referring to abstracts and not digging deeply into the research described and cited in the articles themselves. To take that last step, frankly, requires more of a neuroscience background than I possess. I don't expect that of myself, and wouldn't expect a teacher to do that, either. Daniel Willingham wrote about this a few years ago, and acknowledged the role of institutions like schools of education to collectively make sense of such research and make it useful for teachers. There are people like Jo Boaler who are doing this work. I admire her for taking on the challenge of making complex ideas understandable and appealing to a wide audience of educators, and I'm sure every day she thinks hard about what messages she has to craft and how she has to craft them. It's tricky work.
My hope for teachers is this: When you hear claims about the brain and what they mean for your teaching, be skeptical. Avoid the possibility that you'll be fooled by the next big neuromyth. Realize that a lot of neuroscience relies on placing individuals in an fMRI machine and observing their brain activity while they perform a task. Is that cool science? You bet it is. Does this kind of research capture the context and complexity of your classroom? It does not.
Instead, understand and appreciate why education and related fields have theories of learning that don't rely on knowing what the brain does. In general, theories of construcivism don't go into detail about what's happening at the synapse level, nor do they need to. Cognitive theories use schema to theorize what's going on in the head, but no fMRI machines are necessary. Situated and sociocultural theories of learning gain their usefulness not by trying to look inside the learner's head, but rather outward to that learner's environment, the tools they use, the communities they participate in, and how culture and history shape their activity. So teachers, focus on that — focus on the culture of your classroom, how your students participate, and the learning community you support. Focus on how a carefully constructed curriculum, well-enacted, supports a trajectory of student learning. It will get you much further than neuromyths.
Last summer, the NCTM Research Committee asked members to identify grand challenges in mathematics education (written about here and here), and today they've published their findings in the Journal of Research in Mathematics Education. First thing's first: If you're not a JRME subscriber your access to the article is blocked by a paywall. Sadly, this feels like another case of NCTM's reluctance to move past old models of publishing and communication, leaving teachers interested in the grand challenges to feel like second-class NCTM members, begging for a handout from the privileged NCTM research community. I've written about my concerns and suggestions for NCTM's relationship with its members, so here I'll just focus on the key points found in today's report. Ready to be inspired? Slow your roll, turbo. You might want to prepare yourself to be a bit puzzled, if not disappointed.
Mathematics education researchers seek answers to important questions that will ultimately result in the enhancement of mathematics teaching, learning, curriculum, and assessment, working toward “ensuring that all students attain mathematics proficiency and increasing the numbers of students from all racial, ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic groups who attain the highest levels of mathematics achievement” (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics [NCTM], 2014, p. 61). Although mathematics education is a relatively young field, researchers have made significant progress in advancing the discipline. As Ellerton (2014) explained in her JRME editorial, our field is like a growing tree, stable and strong in its roots yet becoming more vast and diverse because of a number of factors.
Next the report talks about the purpose of grand challenges and their development and use in other fields. In some ways, it reminded me of the spread of the standards movement: "Math has standards, we should too!", except now it's "The National Academy of Engineering has grand challenges, math ed should too!" Then the report spends four paragraphs talking about Hilbert's problems and how they influenced the last 100-plus years of research in mathematics. The report shifts back to the present, summarizing grand challenges in other disciplines. Readers at this point are likely getting anxious, sensing that their grand challenge lies just ahead.
Changing perceptions about what it means to do mathematics.
Changing the public’s perception about the role of mathematics in society.
Achieving equity in mathematics education.
Our example is only meant to illustrate how a Grand Challenge could satisfy the criteria listed in the previous section; we are not suggesting that it is necessarily a Grand Challenge we should pursue.
There are then six paragraphs describing the attention and importance given to literacy (the read-and-write text kind) and how we should give the same attention and importance to mathematical literacy. But this isn't the grand challenge. It could be, but it's not. Unless we decide it is. Which we haven't.
The NCTM Research Committee will also convene a diverse group with a wide variety of expertise to review all submitted challenges, write additional challenges, vet them according to the criteria set forth in the invitation, and provide opportunities for the field to comment on them.
That sounds a bit like a hand-picked committee working in conjunction yet parallel to all the work described above. There's little detail, but I think NCTM better be clear about how the work of this committee will be weighed against the suggestions of the broader community. So, are we ready? Psyched? Ready to push that boulder back up the hill? I hope not, because the last section, while probably necessary, is a bit of a downer.
Any time a representative group of people is given an opportunity to identify Grand Challenges for an entire field, there is a moral obligation to consider the associated risks and weigh them against the potential benefits. The risks associated with creating a document that identifies our field’s Grand Challenges could be significant, yet we hope to minimize the risks by acknowledging and addressing them throughout the process.
What are the risks? Some people's research and work will get privileged over others. Funding will get reallocated. Journals will rethink what should and should not be published. The groups we consider to be "stakeholders" in math education could change. In some cases, people's feelings might get hurt; in other cases, careers could be threatened. I know this sounds overly dramatic, but the tenure and promotion game for academic researchers can be a rough one, and the research committee knows that. It still struck me as odd to see this "inside baseball"-type discussion near the end of the report, but it might comfort some and give fair warning to others.
So that's it. NCTM's grand challenge was not, and will not be, the "we asked, you answered" kind of process that some of us might have expected. I guess you could call that the bad news. If you were ready to jump to collective action, you're going to have to wait. But there is good news: If you are looking to give your input, it looks like you'll have multiple opportunities. And now that the task ahead is defined more clearly, we can think not just of possible challenges, but the ways we'll organize ourselves to tackle those challenges. To me, the key to the former will be the latter. |
0.998809 | 1. How to delete a sound?
The following steps are one way to delete unwanted audio from a home movie and then substitute it with a piece of music.
Step 1. load the movie file to the video track of the timeline.
Step 2. copy the video clip (Ctrl+C) and paste (Ctrl+V) it to the first audio track.
Step 3. mute the video clip on the video track.
Step 4. find the audio segment to be deleted (or replaced) using the MarkIn and MarkOut markers.
Step 5. split the marked segment using the "Split (Ctrl+Q)" function.
Step 6. mute (or fade, or sound line edit) the separated audio segment.
Step 7. add your music clip to the 2nd audio track and align it properly. |
0.98748 | The case of 11-month-old baby Charlie Gard is causing comment from the White House to the Vatican. The latest voice to be raised is that of Mariella Enoc, the president of Rome's Bambino Gesù Hospital. She has asked London's Great Ormond Street Hospital if the terminally ill child can be moved to the Vatican-owned hospital on the Janiculum Hill.
Charlie suffers from mitochondrial depletion syndrome, which causes progressive muscle weakness and brain damage. He cannot hear, see, or make a sound. Christian Gard and Connie Yates wanted to take him to specialists in the USA who offered a highly experimental therapy. However, doctors at Great Ormond Street, one of the world’s leading children’s hospitals, concluded that the treatment would not improve Charlie’s quality of life, and a judge ruled that life support treatment could be withdrawn. After fighting the ruling as far as the UK’s Supreme Court, the couple finally turned to the European Court of Human Rights, which refused to intervene.
The leading lawyer representing the parents said that the couple wished “to exhaust all possible options”. No one could possibly blame them for that. Parents trying to cope with the imminent death of a child cannot be asked to act rationally. Which is one reason why in this, as in many other cases, medical professionals and judges are sometimes called on to make the final decision. In this case, they have all concluded that the child’s suffering should not be prolonged when there is no realistic prospect of a cure or any improvement in his condition.
And, if possible, trying not to make political capital out of appalling personal suffering.
Not underestimating at all the pain and the sadness of the family I wonder why a single white english boy with an apparently untreatable disease gets all these efforts and media attention, either for good or not so good purposes.
What a well thought out article. To make political points out of someone else's misery is the worst kind of politics and contributes to the alienation that so many people feel regarding institutional politics and parties. In this moment, when we need government to work, understanding and compassion will go a lot further in gathering votes, then shrill opportunism.
I think that Charlie's parents have the right to be by their son side until the very end, the natural end, not one decided by strangers, doctors or judges, or whoever is interfering with their decision. Charlie is their son, and they are the only ones who can take this decision.
Who knows, maybe they are hoping for a miracle, who knows, they might get one, but in this tragedy, the loss of a child, they are fortunate that people all over the world, are trying to help, and if, unfortunately, Charlie won't make it, at least his parents will have the comfort that they have fought for their child, until the end, the natural end.
May God bless them all. |
0.929075 | Autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis or multiple sclerosis have quite complex pathophysiology.
Can you summarise it in brief?
Which molecules/cells specifically attack the normal tissue?
I am not talking about the macrophages that are gathering to attach as they are not specific to that tissue, they are gathered as a result of other processes.
I want to know more about these processes.
I want to know what molecules either free or on cells, and what cells are specific for the tissue that it is attacked.
So, I am not interested in interleukines and TNFs who are generic molecules that exist in every human and are released in every inflammation. |
0.906397 | The old adage that PC gaming is significantly more expensive than consoles stems from the media coverage and fascination regarding flagship graphics cards. This can lead to the misconception that products designed for a niche, enthusiast audience like the GTX 1080 reflect the cost of graphics hardware to achieve a premium gaming experience. Unfortunately, there is an element of truth in this argument as lower-end offerings struggle once the resolution is increased beyond 1920×1080 and requires fairly modest expectations.
For example, the GTX 960 and its basic 2GB configuration is sorely lacking compared to the R9 390 and it’s always recommended to spend more and find a suitable sweet spot. Sadly, many newcomers to the platform or those with a tight budget in certain markets cannot afford the extra and have to settle for a GPU which disappoints. According to AMD’s internal data research, 84% of gamers purchase a graphics card between the $100-$300 price bracket. Furthermore, the Steam Hardware Survey suggests 95% of users utilise a 1080P monitor or below. Therefore, selecting a very expensive graphics card might not be the most prudent decision.
In the majority of cases, AMD has been the choice for users vying for good frame-rates without taking a large financial hit. During the company’s initial unveil of the RX 480, they managed to astound journalists and hardware aficionados with the product’s stunning $199.99 price point. Unbelievably, this even managed to detract attention from NVIDIA’s Pascal architecture and speculation mounted regarding AMD’s ability to unleash a new price to performance king. While aiming for excellent performance, Polaris provides a number of fascinating benefits including lower power consumption, improved shader efficiency, lossless delta colour compression with support for 2/4/8 :1 ratios and much more.
Technically-speaking, the RX 480 is rather exciting and contains 1 Graphics Command Processor, 4 ACEs, 2 HWs, 36 Compute Units, 4 Geometry Processors, 32 Pixels Output/Clock, 144 Texture Units, 576 32b Load/Store Units and 2MB L2 Cache. Additionally, the standard $199 model sports 4GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit memory bus, while a slightly more expensive version offers 8GB of video memory. On another note, the RX 480 hasn’t got any restrictions when it comes to multi-GPU setups and supports the latest DisplayPort 1.4-HDR and HDMI 2.0b standard. Given the attractive price point and impressive array of new features, could this be the best value graphics card to ever grace the market and provide a superb entry point into VR?
As this is a press sample provided prior to the retail launch, no accessories were included and the package won’t reflect what consumers will see once vendors like XFX unveil their own box designs.
how the hell you got a 89fps Average on your r9 Nano while my r9 Nano hits on Doom 4 at 113fps average at 1080p?
A number of factors can come into play, please remember I’m using a driver provided to the press which may have some inconsistencies. Also, Doom doesn’t have an integrated benchmarking tool which means performance can vary depending which section you benchmark the game. |
0.952745 | Underpinning much of the above applications work is the Bayesian paradigm and associated algorithms for inference about the parameters and structure of complex systems. In the Bayesian approach data is combined with any prior information available in an optimal fashion using probability distributions. We are particularly concerned with the development of new methods appropriate to the applications above. These applications are often sequential in nature (the data arrive one-by-one and a decision/estimate is required with small or no delay), hence we focus considerable attention on sequential learning methods such as Sequential Monte Carlo (particle filtering). Other problems are batch in nature (the data arrive all at once, or we can wait until all of the data have arrived before processing) - in those cases batch algorithms can be used, and we focus attention on stochastic simulation methods such as Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC), including those for model uncertainty problems (reversible jump MCMC, etc.). Novel techniques are developed to help tailor these methods to the applications at hand. |
0.97893 | Talk about a challenge. Delivering a film, the eighth in a series, to a rabid fan-base of a beloved series of books, during a summer filled with alien robots, superheroes and other distractions. Director David Yates does just that in spades with his third Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. A near pitch-perfect film experience with moments of beauty, rapid-fire action and solid acting from a veteran cast, make this film one of the best Hollywood action blockbusters of the year.
While there’s a certain luxury when one tackles the final film in a well-known series, one can assume the audience is up to speed on characters, backstory and to some point even the plot, as it was based on a bestseller. However, its those same issues that can just as easily sink a film if they are not handled with kid gloves. Surely, you would not be able to walk into this Harry Potter film with no previous knowledge and get the same experience, but who’s been living under a rock that long?
Opening with a quick recap of Part 1, the film gets off to a quick start and never looks back. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) are still seeking out Horcruxes, which are items where the dark lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) has hidden parts of his soul. In order to destroy Voldemort these items must be found and destroyed first. The action leads back to an epic battle at Hogwarts where only one can survive, Harry or Voldemort.
This film delivers as promised with a rousing conclusion, and an epic battle that leaves many scarred (and some deceased) but leaves no loose ends. It’s hard to imagine any other literary property having the type of luck this franchise has had since its inception. Featuring carefully timed releases of books and films, and talented filmmakers and actors committing so fully to seeing this magical world realized, this is a true one of a kind series. One can hope that the suits at Warner Brothers and author J.K. Rowling leave well enough alone after this film and let the series stand, ending on such as good note.
Also of interest, the 3D for the film was, in my opinion, the best, most-subtle of recent memory. Adding just a few wisps of dimension in key parts, and generally not being used as a gimmick. I found the added dimensionality perfect, in stark contrast to films like The Green Hornet, or The Green Lantern where it rendered the screen into an odd, giant view-master image with goofy, unneeded depth of field and in-your-face 3D moments. A nice touch also was the custom 3D glasses that were not the usual shape, but ones that mimicked Harry Potters signature specs – bravo!
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is playing at Cinemark Cinemas at El Con Mall, 3601 E. Broadway Boulevard. For showtimes visits Cinemark.com.
This entry was posted in 3-D, Mainstream Film and tagged Daniel Radcliffe, David Yates, Emma Watson, Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, Rupert Grint, Voldemort, Warner Bros.. Bookmark the permalink. |
0.999936 | In my last post I compared the movies Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Both of these movies are among my favorites! Did you know that there is such thing as Wonka brand chocolates and candies?
The Wonka brand is owned by the company Nestlé. Nestlé chocolates include Aero bars, Coffee Crisp (my favorite), Kit Kat, Smarties and more! The Wonka brand sells chocolate and candy all around the world such as the United States, Canada, the U.K, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Africa, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Costa Rica, Panama, and the Middle East. |
0.951504 | Jean Schramme (March 25, 1929, Bruges, Belgium – December 14, 1988, Rondonópolis, Brazil) was a Belgian mercenary and planter. He managed a vast estate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo until 1967.
When the Belgian Congo gained its independence in 1960, the country quickly descended into civil war. Several hundred white people were held hostage, and Belgium sent troops to Congo to free them and to protect its interests. Patrice Lumumba, the first Prime Minister of the Congo, was murdered. The rich province of Katanga, soon followed by the eastern part of Kasai, were trying to gain independence. As they were rich in copper, cobalt and diamonds, they believed that they would be better off without the rest of Congo. A violent clash between pro-secession and pro-unity movements soon broke out.
In 1965, Colonel Mobutu became president and from then on Belgium started protecting his regime against rebellion. Mobutu immediately began to arrest the former government ministers of Congo. In 1971, he changed the name of the country to "Zaire".
On June 30, 1967, president Moise Tshombe's jet aircraft was hijacked to Algiers, before he could return to Congo after his exile in Spain. He was imprisoned in Algeria and two years later he died in suspicious circumstances. For Schramme, this was a sign that he was fighting the wrong enemy and on July 3, 1967 he began to lead an uprising in Katanga against Mobutu.
On the morning of 5 July 1967 10 Commando ANC, Schramme's unit, launched surprise attacks on Stanleyville, Kindu, and Bukavu. Schramme tried to take control of Stanleyville, Congo. By August 10, his troops conquered the border town of Bukavu and had grown considerably in number. Schramme was able to hold Bukavu for seven weeks and managed to defeat all ANC troops who were sent to retake the town. The ANC suffered from a lack of artillery and was frustrated and demotivated over its continuous losses. By accident, some ANC T-28 flying missions even attacked their own troops instead of Schramme's. Extra forces helped the ANC to finally defeat Schramme on October 29, 1967. The surviving rebel troops fled towards Rwanda.
On April 24, 1968, Schramme and all the other European mercenaries returned to Belgium. Almost 20 years later, on April 17, 1986, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for a murder. Schramme was not living in Belgium at the time of the sentence: he died in 1988 in Brazil.
^ Haskin, Jeanne M. (2005). The Tragic State of the Congo: From Decolonization to Dictatorship. New York: Algora Publishing. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-87586-417-4.
This page is based on the Wikipedia article Jean Schramme; it is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-SA). You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the CC-BY-SA. |
0.999998 | Regarding your report " U.Va. race complaint" [here], what we have in essence is a case of flawed numbers and even more flawed foes ; the old saying , " figures can lie and liars figure" , seem applicable . The foes here are some of the same disingenuous anti progressive cabal (Center for Equal Opportunity , National Association of Scholars , Center for Individual Rights , American Civil Rights Institute ) that pays Ward Connerly a million dollars a year to rail against affirmative action , have produced a decline in African-American college students at some campuses and contributed to our nation's racial discord .
As you know, U. Va. and many other major public institutuion go to great lengths to recruit scholarship athletes . Did the 1026 average SAT for admitted black students include black scholarship athletes ? Scholar athletes typically have lower test scores then the general student body .
On most non-HBCU campuses , black scholarship athletes will have a bigger impact on The black student average than is the case for their white athlete counterpart on their respective racial cohort . Typically on such campuses , black student athletes will be a higher percentage of the black student body than is the case for white athletes , hence a disproportionate impact .
Further , As the book "The Shape of the River" by William Bowen, former president of Princeton, and Derek Bok, former president of Harvard reveals , judging college student populations by test scores is flawed as a means of predicting black student success rates during college and in life .
Lastly , higher test scores overall tend to track with parental income, and as such , says more about the ability to receive test coaching and good K-12 education then it does about a student potential . |
0.881311 | Brooklawn highlighted in Camden County. Inset: Location of Camden County highlighted in the State of New Jersey.
Brooklawn is a borough in Camden County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 1,955, reflecting a decline of 399 (-16.9%) from the 2,354 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 549 (+30.4%) from the 1,805 counted in the 1990 Census.
Brooklawn was incorporated as a borough on March 11, 1924, from portions of the now-defunct Centre Township, based on the results of a referendum held on April 5, 1924. The borough was reincorporated on March 23, 1926. The borough's name is derived from its location and setting.
According to the United States Census Bureau, Brooklawn borough had a total area of 0.525 square miles (1.359 km2), including 0.492 square miles (1.274 km2) of land and 0.033 square miles (0.085 km2) of water (6.24%).
The borough borders the municipalities of Bellmawr and Gloucester City in Camden County and also borders Gloucester County.
As of the census of 2010, there were 1,955 people, 759 households, and 516.1 families residing in the borough. The population density was 3,974.6 per square mile (1,534.6/km2). There were 806 housing units at an average density of 1,638.6 per square mile (632.7/km2)*. The racial makeup of the borough was 87.88% (1,718) White, 5.32% (104) Black or African American, 0.10% (2) Native American, 2.20% (43) Asian, 0.00% (0) Pacific Islander, 2.05% (40) from other races, and 2.46% (48) from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.29% (123) of the population.
There were 759 households out of which 30.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.0% were married couples living together, 18.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.0% were non-families. 24.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.08.
In the borough, the population was spread out with 23.4% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 26.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36.9 years. For every 100 females there were 93.8 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and old there were 89.6 males.
The Census Bureau's 2006-2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $58,488 (with a margin of error of +/- $4,776) and the median family income was $62,390 (+/- $8,247). Males had a median income of $44,612 (+/- $6,912) versus $32,092 (+/- $20,049) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $26,154 (+/- $2,724). About 0.0% of families and 2.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 0.0% of those under age 18 and 3.9% of those age 65 or over.
As of the 2000 United States Census there were 2,354 people, 961 households, and 600 families residing in the borough. The population density was 5,003.4 people per square mile (1,933.8/km2). There were 1,025 housing units at an average density of 2,178.6 per square mile (842.0/km2). The racial makeup of the borough was 90.27% White, 4.29% African American, 0.08% Native American, 1.06% Asian, 2.38% from other races, and 1.91% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.72% of the population.
There were 961 households out of which 32.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.8% were married couples living together, 16.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.5% were non-families. 30.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.09.
In the borough the population was spread out with 25.8% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 32.3% from 25 to 44, 19.9% from 45 to 64, and 13.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 89.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.0 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $39,600, and the median income for a family was $47,891. Males had a median income of $36,190 versus $26,591 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $18,295. About 6.1% of families and 7.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.3% of those under age 18 and 4.0% of those age 65 or over.
As of May 2010[update], the borough had a total of 8.19 miles (13.18 km) of roadways, of which 5.78 miles (9.30 km) were maintained by the municipality, 1.13 miles (1.82 km) by Camden County and 1.28 miles (2.06 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.
NJ Transit bus service is available between the borough and Philadelphia on routes 401 (from Salem), 402 (from Pennsville Township), 408 (from Millville), 410 (from Bridgeton), and 412 (from Sewell).
Brooklawn, New Jersey Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia. |
0.954581 | What a great idea this is! Where did you find this?. Please let me know. |
0.999781 | Q 1: John sells 6 ounces chocolate for $2.70, how much does she charge for 10 pounds of chocolate?
Q 2: On a map, 3 inches represent an actual distance of 30 miles. If the distance between the two cities on the map is 15 inches, What is the actual distance between them?
Q 3: 9:15 = 81:225, are they in proportion?
Q 4: 7:5 = 49:30, are they in proportion? |
0.999911 | Verbotomy: Our boss said I had to attend this meeting.
DEFINITION: v. To arrive at a meeting completely unprepared and then work diligently and obviously to distract yourself from the proceedings. n. A person who attends a meeting but does not believe that they are paid enough to actually pay attention.
Sentence: Bob attends meetings as directed. That doesn’t mean he feels the need to contribute anything useful. He is the self-appointed poohpoohbah of the conference. If anybody makes a suggestion he will begrudging look up from his Blackberry long enough to utter something like ”That won’t work” or ”That’s a stupid idea” and go back to ignoring the proceedings.
Sentence: Roger arrived half-dressed and unshaven to the early sales meeting. He wasn't happy to be there so he sat back with the sports page and chose to barticipate for the entire meeting.
Etymology: 1.bar - to exclude. 2.participate - to take part in or share with others.
Sentence: Lars spent the entire meeting paging through the Wall Street Journal and humming absently to himself, to his son's 5th grade teacher's great consternation. "Mr. Beauregard!" she exclaimed, "I can't believe you would be such a contratendant to this parent-teacher conference!"
Etymology: From the Greek, contra, meaning an illegal association with a Middle-Eastern dictatorship; from the Kusumapura, ten, meaning "of brace-wearing age"; and from the Irish, dant, meaning, "shall not," or, literally, "dare not."
Sentence: John attended the morning meeting merely as a spectraitor. He successfully sabotaged establishing the agenda for the day.
Sentence: Lara's selective deafness was not causing as much of a problem in the Dyslexia Association meetings as she would have liked. As a muteinear she had only lent half an ear to proceedings and the minutes she prepared appeared to be written in anagrams. She thought this would show them all the contempt she felt for the meetings. However, as most of the attendees were dyslexic they found her anagramatic minutes actually made easy reading.
Etymology: mute (not speaking as one does in a meeting) + in ear (not listening either) + mutineer (one who rebels) + the whole word looks like the minutes have been sabotaged to make them difficult to read.
Sentence: Tony thought he was worth much more than his salary so when he had to attend a meeting he decided he would dissforum it by attending but paying no attention whatsoever.
Sentence: Since she was the CEO's daughter, the new "Vice President of Positivity" was completely narblivious after finding out she had to fire the entire department.
Sentence: Everyone who arrived at the meeting on time took a poll as to see what Jeff would bring with him to prove he was worthy of his slacktendant title. Two out of the four members who were there thought he would bring a copy of the latest anime or manga magazine he was sharing with Whistler from accounting. One said he would probably write emails and text his girlfriend on his Blackberry, while another said it had been a while since the last time he clipped his fingernails and toenails and plucked his nosehairs. Last Monday he brought the New York Times crossword puzzle and kept shouting out the words when he got them or muttering the clues under his breath.
Sentence: There is always some misfittendee there who is obviously not with the program.
From this place in meeting hell.
As I hallucinate the ending bell.
That I’ve come to accept, but dread.
Within the confines of my weary head.
And only time will surely tell.
My interest level a labored sell.
I awake: Is it a nightmare?
Not all sure where it’s coming from.
Try to focus. What is the topic?
My body sits here limp and numb.
Reacting like a hammered thumb.
But an EEG would read out "dead,"
An indication not all is well.
My angst is what I need to quell.
Remistram and James, your definition and cartoon are a big hit! They not only inspired great verboticisms (not a bad one in the bunch again) but even poetry! Laughter, too! Great job!
Did you write your poem in a meeting hell, arrrteest? It is a wonderfully well done rhyme and adds much to our time here today! I'm so glad you shared it with us.
Write it in meeting hell? Yes, I did! It was a mind numbing, pointless, poorly thought out, going through the motions, no followthrough afterwards, dead in the water, series of meetings/"trainings" that is enherent within large organizations. It was complete with "activators," "capture sheets" and "group participation." Aaaah phoey. You bet. Am I sarred for life? Well let's just say the poem saved me from $$$$ of therapy. If you want to be productive and positive in a meeting, don't sit next to me. LOL!
Great poem arrrteest! I think I was at that meeting.
Wow Arteest! Glad you have writing as an outlet from meeting hell! I really do NOT miss those days!
Sorry, comment in wrong spot (and I used to laugh at people who made this mistake) Comment was meant for Illoiterite. |
0.991472 | How can educators use effectively use big data, and what can be accomplished with it? What are the downsides and challenges of big data, if any?
To start with, what is big data as it applies to education? Big data in education can refer to the use of data to analyze what educational tools do and do not improve learning, which personalized learning approaches work for which types of students, and the most effective settings for testing, to name a few. This information can make it easier for educational administrators to make strong policy decisions and improve the outlook and effectiveness of education.
Many educational institutions are also very concerned with benchmarking their performance in comparison to similar institutions. Schools are in competition with one another for funding, grants, student enrollment, and a wide range of significant resources. Big data can help institutions provide evidence of their success or identify areas for improvement. It can be useful for thesis edit and organize the paper in a way that presents clearly point of view.
There are many challenges of big data, including cost. Not all IT systems are capable of processing, organizing, and presenting large amounts of data in useful ways. Administrators have to determine which software solutions to implement and how much of their budgets can be allocated toward this area. In addition, policymakers must determine whether to make use of a third party company for big data solutions and if yes, are tasked with the challenge of determining which companies can provide valuable information. Many administrators may meet resistance in attempting to use funds for big data, as not everyone may agree with or understand the value.
In addition, a challenge that goes hand in hand with obtaining and analyzing large amounts of information involves privacy and security. Whether implementing new software internally, outsourcing big data solutions and sending large amounts of information to an external third party or simply obtaining information that was not previously tracked, there are privacy and security concerns inherent in each of those actions. Administrators must ensure they are doing their due diligence to properly safeguard the large amounts of personal information at their disposal.
Another of the several big data research challenges in education is the fact that many of the things educators are interested in learning more about are extremely difficult to measure in a clear, quantifiable way. For example, schools might be interested in knowing how well their students are learning to apply critical thinking skills, or how strongly they relate to and feel connected to the campus culture.
Finally, a significant challenge in big data is that the information provided may point to correlations, but does not provide information about causation. For example, big data may indicate that students who were allowed to regularly have class outside are more creative, and policymakers may look at this information and decide to implement outdoor classes. However, the correlation does not necessarily mean that being outside causes creativity. It could be that the students included in this data set were already more creative than the norm, and perhaps that was why they pushed to study outside in the first place. This is a hypothetical example, but if administrators do not keep in mind that the existence of a relationship does not prove cause, they are at risk of wasting resources to implement solutions that prove ineffective.
In conclusion, big data is a relatively new concept that educators are still in the process of learning to use effectively. It may provide extremely useful information that can help improve education, thus improving retention rates, student engagement and success, and a number of other highly important areas, but it is also important to use big data wisely. |
0.999997 | I’m an African-American woman. I am Black, emphasis on the capitalization as I do own my Blackness. My Black identity lies within my spirit. I carry this identity through the texture of my hair and the styles I choose to protect these curly strands with. This identity is also strengthened by the way I use slang, the stride of my walk, and even in the way that I as a Black woman, think.
Despite my lack of knowledge of my ancestral lineage, I am well connected with my Black identity by constantly working towards breaking generational curses. I have faced some backlash from peers for not knowing what tribe I am a descendant of, as well as not pursuing the technological advances to seek out this information.
My Black identity lies within my spirit. I carry this identity through the texture of my hair and the styles I choose to protect these curly strands with. This identity is also strengthened by the way I use slang, the stride of my walk, and even in the way that I as a Black woman think.
I showcase my Black pride by practicing a natural hair regimen. It is a new journey for me but, it has been beyond liberating. I do this by using protective styles like braids, wigs, and overnight styles such as Bantu knots and twist outs.
Being Black to me means protecting my space and my energies from all negativity. In particular, one thing that I’ve learned on this campus as a woman who is Black is to not overextend myself and not to undermine my own experiences as it causes a disruption in my self-healing journey which no one else has control over other than myself.
Being Black to me means always self-reflecting without regret on who or what has gotten me to this place and space that I am in today. This has taught me that I do not need to censor myself in uncomfortable spaces because no one in that space knows what has brought me there. This applies specifically to whiter spaces that I am a member of and want to participate in, without the overwhelming facilitation of teaching my peers about Black experiences if it is too much. |
0.999937 | If you're running an e-commerce site, one of the most frustrating aspects is seeing how many visitors fail to take the final step of becoming a customer. After all the hard work of driving traffic and marketing your products, a majority of people bail just before the vital checkout stage.
Why does this happen so often? One of the main reasons is that the visitor has a niggling objection that prevents them from going through with their purchase.
Here are the eight most common reasons people think twice about completing the checkout process, along with some ideas on how you can address them.
1) "I Need Time to Think"
For anything but the smallest, most impulsive purchases, customers need to overcome a reluctance to take action. The best way to encourage this is to appeal on an emotional level, as this is usually stronger than the rational. Make the customer feel, don't make them think.
2) "I Need to Talk About It"
Many customers will be wary of making a spending decision without consulting their significant other. Provide them with some ammunition for this discussion, by describing how their purchase can't fail to meet with grateful approval.
3) "Can I Get a Better Deal?"
In the e-commerce arena, a competitor is only ever a click away, and you need to convince a shopper that you're offering the best deal around. If possible, provide a price guarantee to overcome this objection. Failing that, show clearly how your offer is uniquely attractive, regardless of any price issues.
4) "I Can't Afford It"
Consider making purchasing more accessible by offering a free credit facility, or show how your product will save the buyer money in the long run.
5) "Is This Product Right for Me?"
If a customer is wavering on the brink of purchasing, offering a free trial or a money-back guarantee can tip them over the edge by reducing the risk involved in buying.
6) "I'm Wary of Spending Online"
7) "I'll Finish Buying Later"
In many cases, even genuine intentions to complete a purchase later will come to nothing through forgetfulness or distraction. Create a sense of urgency by offering an attractive time-limited discount or bonus upgrade, which is only available if they take action right now.
8) "Do I Really, Really Need This?"
People tend toward inertia and may tell themselves that they don't need the product or service that you're offering. As a marketer, it's your job to show just how necessary this purchase is, and what a positive impact it'll make in the buyer's life.
In e-commerce, even a small increase in website conversion can make a huge difference to profitability. Taking a proactive approach to addressing customer objections can make a significant impact on your bottom line, making the most of your traffic and marketing efforts by stopping the customer falling at the final hurdle. |
0.935535 | Can Jordan Spieth answer Rory McIlroy at Colonial?
Adam Scott: The defending champ has fallen out of the top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking, but he still makes our list of the game's top-10 ball-strikers. Scott led the field in proximity to the hole by more than six feet during his win last year. Whether he's converting birdie putts or not, that sort of iron play should provide plenty of points.
Zach Johnson: No one has played Colonial better in recent years than ZJ, who had a remarkable four-year run from 2010-2013 in which he won twice and added a third and a fourth. Johnson benefits from this being one of the shorter courses on tour and his accuracy off the tee makes him extra valuable this week.
Ryan Palmer: While ZJ has played the Crowne Plaza Invitational the best in recent years, there's probably no golfer who has played Colonial more than Ryan Palmer during that time. The Texas native is a member at the Fort Worth club and that familiarity with the course has paid off the past three years with three top-15 finishes, including a pair of T-5s.
Bench: Boo Weekley and Kevin Kisner.
__Yahoo! lineup: Palmer, Spieth, Senden, Weekley. |
0.999999 | " Welcome Back ": ANGLOPHONE CRISIS -CATERPILLAR ATTACK: CELESTIN NDJAMEN "THE ARMY IS COMPLICIT"
ANGLOPHONE CRISIS -CATERPILLAR ATTACK: CELESTIN NDJAMEN "THE ARMY IS COMPLICIT"
The MRC activist spoke on the evening of September 11th during "Eqinoxe soir" on the Equinox television channel.
Speaking of the Anglophone crisis, the former supporter of the SDF has fervently condemned the increased attacks in English-speaking areas.
He also called the students back to the paths of their schools. In addition, questioned about the attack of September 8th, Célestin Ndjamen put the damage on the state and on the Cameroonian army in particular.
For him, Saturday's attack is inexplicable. This is how he said: "the security forces are complicit". In other words, this assault was perpetrated through the Cameroonian soldiers.
It is important to remember that on the night of Saturday 8 to Sunday 9 September, the separatists attacked the Bamenda-Bafoussam road users.
Through this attack, they destroyed five buses of the agency "Love Mezam" and completely defeated the road, paralyzing the traffic. The attack made a death toll of the driver of the transport agency "Mogamo" and several wounded. |
0.998715 | I feel weary, I want to stop the world, I want to stick my head in the sand and pretend it never happened.
But inevitably it doesn't work.
That's the problem with feelings, there's no on/off switch. You can't only have the good stuff and turn the bad stuff off: it's like the quiet pedal on a piano - it quietens everything, so unless you want to dull the shine on your happy, you're best leaving it.
How can you make sense of the unthinkable?
Well you can't. It's impossible. They make no sense, but what you can do is help yourself through the shock and horror you feel. Remember, it's normal to have these feelings.
I am a massive advocate of journaling, and writing at a time like this is an effective way to process your feelings, because it gets those feelings out and on paper and you don't have to hang on to them in your head.
Write about your feelings of sadness and grief, and allow yourself to cry. Write about your feelings of horror and fear. Write about your feelings of compassion and love for the victims.
And - importantly - write about your anger, because at times like this, anger is a normal and natural response. Vent and rant, swear and rage and let it out.
Writing is a great way to express your anger safely. And remember, a facet of anger is passion, so you may feel compelled to do something to help. Use your anger for good - fighting fire with fire only ever made more fire, so don't allow your anger to escalate into aggression or violence, but be a part of something that makes a positive change.
Now is a time to come together with others to talk, give and accept support. At a time when the world seems a scary place, getting together with people you know and care about can be very grounding.
For some people, hard exercise is beneficial as it produces an almost meditative state, and for others something more gentle like yoga or a walk is very soothing.
Touch is a powerful thing, so hug someone. A person, a pet, it doesn't matter, it's all beneficial.
Try meditation, guided imagery or prayer.
Let me finish with a short story: I used to have some chickens - rescue hens, previously used in an intensive egg production farm. These chicken are often naked when you get them, their feathers pecked off by themselves or other chickens as they live in cramped conditions, so if it's winter when you get them they have no way of keeping themselves warm.
You know, there are people that knit little jumpers for these chickens to keep them warm. Yes, they go to the trouble to actually knit for them so they don't get cold. How wonderful is that? That warms my heart.
And I remember that when the world seems cold. |
0.946999 | How do I stop home screen backup on my Redmi Note 5?
1. From the device’s Settings, go to Mi Account > Mi Cloud > Home screen backup.
2. Turn off Automatic backups. |
0.96546 | There is disclosed a programmable analog or mixed analog/digital circuit. More particularly, this invention provides a circuit architecture that is flexible for a programmable electronic hardware device or for an analog circuit whose input and output signals are analog or multi-valued in nature, and primarily continuous in time. There is further disclosed a design for a current-mode integrator and sample-and-hold circuit, based upon Miller effect.
This patent application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/173,414 filed Dec. 23, 1993 now abandoned.
This invention provides a programmable analog or mixed analog/digital circuit. More particularly, this invention provides a circuit architecture that is flexible for a programmable electronic hardware device or for an analog circuit whose input and output signals are analog or multi-valued in nature, and primarily continuous in time. This invention further provides a design for a current-mode integrator and sample-and-hold circuit, based upon Miller effect.
Analog circuits are a necessary component of many modern signal and information processing systems. The "real world" is primarily analog in nature and almost every digital system that interacts with the "real world" must have analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog interfaces. Analog circuits are continuous in time with a continuous signal, whereas circuits such as CNN's (cellular neural networks) operate in a discrete time (d-t) mode. In several applications (e.g., anti-aliasing and smoothing (reconstruction) filters, or pulse-slimming circuits in computer disk memories), analog circuits cannot be replaced by digital circuits either for reasons of speed or for analog's unique ability to work in a continuous-time (c-t) mode. Digital information can be processed in analog form to gain speed (e.g., image processing requiring many multiplications). Moreover, even if a digital solution exists, an analog solution may be smaller, require less power, generate less noise and be more reliable (e.g., a smaller number of elements to go wrong). Analog circuits have been avoided in the art since analog designs are often more difficult than digital and have often had to consider low-level circuit interactions, and since analog system have suffered dependencies, such as on temperature, fabrication run and time. Therefore, there is a need in the art for a novel analog architecture that is flexible and can even accommodate mixed signal (digital and analog) system designs.
In some signal processing applications, analog circuits are preferred over digital circuits for their relative simplicity. In the field of analog c-t circuit design and architecture, full programmability (i.e., one of parameters and structure) has not been achieved commercially. Previous analog programmable circuit designs have favored flexibility (universality) of the architecture (i.e., pattern of connections in a programmable device) rather than performance. There is a wide spectrum of architectures of analog circuits which do not comprise any particular "pattern" or architecture of interconnection schemes. Therefore, programmable devices for analog circuits in the art feature long global signal interconnection schemes. The common characteristic of long global interconnection schemes of current programmable analog circuits is that they achieve greater flexibility of interconnection patterns, sometimes allowing every cell in a programmable device to be connected with every other cell. Such an approach favors flexibility of a programmable device, but jeopardizes high frequency performance. This also causes parasitic problems associated with long signal lines and crosstalk between long analog lines and digital lines on the same chip increasing noise and stability problems in analog and mixed signal (analog and digital) designs. Such problems are most acute in a high-frequency (HF) domain where analog circuits have their most desired applications.
There are many published circuits for multiple-valued logic and continuous or fuzzy logic circuits, there are no programmable devices for multiple-valued, continuous or fuzzy logic circuits. Therefore, there is a need in the art for a field-programmable analog array (FPAA) that can be used for implementation of a wide class of multi-valued logic, fuzzy logic and other continuous logic circuits.
Programmable hardware devices for digital circuits include such devices as programmable logic arrays (PLAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), and field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). "Programmability" in this context means the ability of a hardware device to change its configuration and function in response to some kind of programming information, in order to perform a required task. This programmability is distinct from "software" programmability (such as the programmability of a microprocessor), which directs a sequence of steps to be performed but does not necessarily produce changes in the hardware characteristics of the device. Programmable hardware devices for discrete-time signal processing are limited to relatively low frequencies when used to process analog signals. Such circuits also cannot substitute for continuous-time circuits in applications such as anti-aliasing. Programmable hardware devices for analog, continuous-time signal processing, however, are not commercially available.
Programmability opens up new ways of designing and building circuits for a given domain. For example, as soon as a technical means for realizing digital programmable circuits became available, new techniques of implementing digital circuits emerged. However, techniques for attaining programmability of digital circuits are inappropriate for analog circuits, for at least two reasons. First, to attain flexibility for creating various topologies of digital circuits realized by means of programmable devices, long global signal interconnections are often employed. These long interconnections introduce signal delays and phase errors that are tolerable, although undesired, in digital circuits. Such delays and errors would be fatal to analog circuits. Secondly, digital programmability techniques usually employ some kind of electronic switches. All realizations of such switches of practical interest for integrated circuits (ICs) suffer from considerable parasitics, namely substantial resistance in the "on" state, and parasitic capacitances. The net result of these parasitics is the introduction of phase errors in transmitted signals, an effect similar to that caused by long signal interconnections. Again, whereas these errors are tolerable in digital circuits, they are fatal for analog circuits. The foregoing problems are most severe for the fastest (i.e., HF analog circuits) which are the most desirable ones.
The development of various analog integrated circuits (ICs) has led analog IC design to the point where it is desirable and advantageous to have universal analog and mixed-signal programmable circuits. Multi-valued and fuzzy-logic circuits are often based on the same or similar circuit techniques as analog circuits and analog programmable circuits could be used for their implementation.
Circuits can generally operate in current-mode or in voltage mode. The majority of circuit designs operate in a voltage mode. Advantages of current-mode operations of circuits are speed and immunity or resistance to noise.
Low frequency (e.g., acoustic range) analog programmable circuits can be built easily in MOS subthreshold technology. In this technology processing elements (i.e., cells of the programmable device) can work in subthreshold mode, whereas the switches (for programming the programmable device) can be realized as MOS transistors working in inversion mode. This approach would be suitable for low-frequency applications only. Consequently, even though a field-programmable analog array is theoretically possible, the realization of such a programmable device would have a most limited scope of applications, limited to artificial neural networks (ANN's) and low-frequency signal processing. One advantage of analog c-t processing is speed. Slower applications can be adequately served by digital or switched-capacitor (SC) circuits, where programmability is easier to achieve. Fully programmable SC circuits are commercially available.
The nature of cellular neural networks (CNNs) is different than that of fully programmable circuits. CNNs are massively parallel collections of information processing units called cells, having memory (state information). CNNs are capable of attaining one of many equilibrium states due to a complex pattern of cell interactions through exclusively local interconnections. A CNN is either in one equilibrium state, when state and output information in cells is constant over time, and represents a solution of a certain problem, or is in the process of changing state and output information of its cells in order to attain one of its equilibria. Such a process of changing state and output information of its cells is actually the computation performed by a CNN. It is initiated by providing initial state information and input information.
CNNs are not programmable devices in any sense. CNNs are, instead, special processors dedicated to solving certain information processing problems. Although the computation of a CNN can be performed continuously in time and in signal domain, the state and output information of CNN cells is not meaningful until the CNN reaches an equilibrium. Thus, a CNN is, de facto, a d-t processor, since meaningful output information is available only at time intervals when it remains in an equilibrium. Moreover, since the set of equilibria in a CNN is discrete, the output information of a CNN is also in discrete form.
Field-programmable gate arrays for digital circuits are available from a few sources. However, field-programmable gate arrays for analog circuits are not available. Field-programmable gate arrays for analog circuits have to overcome several problems such as bandwidth, linearity, signal-to-noise ratio, frequency response and the like. One approach has been attempted by Lee and Gulak ("Field-Programmable Analogue Array Based on Mosfet Transconductors" Electronics Lett. 28:28-29, 1992). Lee and Gulak attempted to achieve full programmability by having connections between configurable analog blocks realized using MOSFET transconductors and controlling conductance by varying the gate voltage defined by a multivalued memory system.
In another attempt using a digital system, Furtek (U.S. Pat. No. 4,918,440) describes exclusively digital programmable logic cells and arrays of such cells having an integrated logic and communications structure which emphasizes local communication.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a programmable analog device suitable for high frequency analog operation, a family of general-purpose mixed (analog and digital) signal-processing cells, and a method of creating architectures, i.e., patterns of interconnections of collections of such cells, suitable for a wide class of analog, multi-valued and fuzzy logic, circuit applications.
An integrator is a basic building block for many analog signal processing systems, such as filters (Schaumann et al., "Design of Analog Filters" Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.Y., 1990). The main requirement for an integrator design are low excess phase, high linearity (frequency range and slew rate), high DC gain, and availability of electronic tuning. In one OTA-C (operational transconductance amplifier and capacitor) technique of filter implementation, integrators are realized by loading a transconductor (OTA) with a capacitor. The output signal is taken directly from the capacitor and the circuit has high output impedance, inherited from the OTA. To alleviate the loading effect of other OTAs typically connected to the integrator's output, techniques, such as parasitic absorption (Schaumann et al. infra.) have been developed. Another solution is a voltage-to-voltage, or current-to-voltage integrator, based on the Miller effect. A voltage-output Miller integrator was followed by an OTA ((Haigh, "Continuous-time and Switched Capacitor Monolithic Filters Based on LCR Filter Stimulation using Current and Charge Variables" in Analogue IC Design, the current-mode approach, ed. Toumazou et al., Peter Peregrinus Ltd. 1990) to realize a current-to-current integrator. In this arrangement, the linearity of the integrator depends on the linearity of the OTA. However, there is a need in the art for an integrator with current input and current output, and good linearity and high speed. This invention was also made to address this need.
The full speed potential of analog circuits can be utilized by c-t Field-Programmable Analog Arrays (FPAAs). However, there are two problems that first need to be overcome. The first is to provide an architecture (interconnection scheme) complex enough to be programmable, yet contributing little interference, crosstalk and noise problems that are major problems in analog designs. The present invention overcomes this first problem. The second problem is designing a flexible, universal unit of a FPAA without explicit use of electronic switches in the signal path to attain programmed functionality. Switch parasitics, such as finite on resistance and stray capacitances, lead to frequency performance degradation. The present invention overcomes this second problem as well.
This invention provides a programmable analog or mixed (i.e., analog/digital) circuit, called a FPAA. More particularly, this invention provides a circuit architecture that is flexible for a programmable electronic hardware device or for a predominantly analog circuit whose input and output signals are analog or multi-valued in nature, and primarily continuous in time.
The invention provides a circuit architecture scheme for designing an analog circuit or a mixed analog/digital circuit device comprising an array of analog signal processing cells wherein each cell comprises an analog signal processing portion and a control circuit, wherein the array of cells are connected by a plurality of local signal interconnects. Preferably, the signals carried by the local signal interconnects are in a current-mode.
The invention further provides a programmable analog device comprising an array of programmable analog signal processing cells, wherein each analog signal processing cell comprises an analog signal processing portion and a control circuit, wherein the control circuit controls the operation of the analog signal processing portion and may also take part in auxiliary information processing, wherein the cells in the array are interconnected by one or a plurality of local signal interconnections to form the programmable analog device. A signal interconnection is considered local in that the number of cells connected to the signal interconnection does not change as the number of cells in the programmable analog device varies. For example, if the number of programmable analog signal processing cells is doubled to provide for a larger programmable device, the number of cells connected to then-existing local signal interconnections does not change. Preferably, the programmable analog device further comprises one or a plurality of global signal interconnections for connecting various cells of the array together. A signal interconnection is considered global in that the number of programmable analog signal processing cells connected by a global signal interconnection changes as the number of cells in the array varies.
The invention further provides a method for making the inventive programmable device comprising, (a) deriving a circuit interconnection labeled multi-graph from a schematic diagram of a representative circuit within a class of circuits, (b) adding nodes and edges to the circuit interconnection labeled multi-graph according to a predetermined strategy to create a superset of the circuit interconnection labeled multi-graph, (c) grouping together one or more selected edges and nodes from the graph to form an interconnection labeled multi-graph to impart functionality to the cells within the programmable device, and (d) deriving a floor plan of the programmable device, whereby the total length of signal interconnections in the floor plan is minimized.
The invention further provides a method for mapping a particular circuit onto a programmable device to form a programmed device, comprising (a) providing a programmable device comprising an array of signal processing cells connected by local and global signal interconnections, wherein the array of signal processing cells is described by an interconnection labeled multi-graph defined by a particular number and arrangement of signal interconnections to each cell, (b) deriving a circuit labeled multi-graph of electrical connections from a schematic diagram of the particular circuit, and (c) embedding the circuit labeled multi-graph into the interconnection labeled multi-graph by selectively programming cells or signal interconnections in the device. Preferably, the embedding step may comprise selecting signal interconnections in the programmable device, according to a predetermined strategy to minimize overall length of interconnections within the programmed device (as defined by its floor plan), wherein the predetermined strategy comprises a one-to-one mapping of the circuit labeled multi-graph into the interconnection labeled multi-graph, whereby the total length of interconnections is minimized.
The invention further provides a method for programming an electronic subcircuit, comprising (a) providing a programmable electronic subcircuit comprising a signal path and one or more transistors controlling signal flow through the signal path, wherein each transistor comprises multiple operating points that determine the signal propagation characteristics of the transistor, (b) providing a source of control current or voltage to part of the transistor, with the source being removed from the signal path, and (c) changing the operating point of the transistor by changing the control current or voltage sufficiently to switch the transistor on and off and thereby turn on and off the signal flow through the signal path of the circuit. Preferably, the electronic subcircuit comprises a two-transistor current mirror using bipolar or field-effect transistors. Preferably, the electronic subcircuit further comprises a differential pair of transistors. The analog subcircuit comprises a part of the analog signal processing portion of the cell. The analog subcircuit adds switching capability without introducing additional switching devices into the signal path of the circuit.
There is further provided a programmable current-mode integrator/amplifier having a circuit based on the Miller effect, wherein the current-mode integrator/amplifier is capable of integrating or amplifying a current-mode signal input into a current-mode signal output. The current-mode integrator comprises a current buffer, having an input signal and an output signal, an operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) input stage, having an input signal connected to the output of the current buffer and an output signal, connected to a current amplifier, wherein the current amplifier comprises an additional voltage mode output, and a capacitor or a plurality of capacitors connected to the voltage mode output of the current amplifier and to the input of the OTA, whereby a feedback connection typical of the Miller integrator is created. The current-mode output of the amplifier is proportional to its voltage-mode output signal, which represents the integral of the input current-mode signal. In this feedback arrangement, the OTA works with a very small input voltage swing (provided that the gain in the loop is high) which provides for high linearity of the circuit. The circuit also has a high DC gain (up to 90 dB or more). In one implementation, the current-mode integrator comprises a highly linear, no feedback, current path having a Gilbert amplifier cell and a voltage feedback path with capacitors, realizing integration.
FIGS. 1A-C illustrate exemplary block diagrams of cells and local and global signal interconnections in field-programmable analog and mixed signal array devices. This illustrates a FPAA based upon a regular, square array of current-mode processing cells, interconnected on two levels, local and global. Each cell is connected to its four nearest neighbors by a two-way current-mode signal interconnection and is able to receive four different signals produced by those neighbors, whether all of them or just selected ones. FIG. 1A shows the local signal interconnections of the FPAA, FIG. 1B shows the global signal interconnections of the FPAA, FIG. 1C shows non-planar signal interconnections of the FPAA, and FIG. 1D shows hexagonal signal interconnections of the FPAA. The cell's own output signals are programmably distributed to the same four neighbors (FIG. 1A). The global interconnection pattern is superimposed on the local one, but it is shown separately to avoid clutter (FIG. 1B). Each cell can broadcast its output signals to any of the four global lines to which the cell is connected (possibly to more than one line at a time). The presented schemes of interconnections are planar. To allow realization of non-planar circuits in the FPAA, a non-planar structure of signal interconnections can be used. Such a structure can be easily obtained from any planar structure (such as that shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B) by adding non-planar connections (such as two diagonal connections shown in FIG. 1C).
FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary functional block diagram of a cell within the array, showing an analog signal processing portion and a control circuit. The design of the cell is a result of a compromise between the circuit's power and its simplicity. The illustrated cell processes current-mode differential signals. The analog processing portion provides required operations on signals processed by the cell. The control circuitry determines the operation of analog processing portion: the operations performed by the analog blocks and the parameters of analog blocks based on the feedback received from the analog processing portion and the programming signals.
FIGS. 3A-H show exemplary DC transfer characteristics of the cell which are achieved by combining (summing) the characteristics of two clipping (saturation) blocks. Some of those characteristics are necessary for multi-valued logic (MVL) and fuzzy logic applications such as triangle or trapezoidal ones shown in FIGS. 3B, C.
FIG. 4 shows an elementary building block of the cell based on the Gilbert current amplifier cell. In its simplest form the circuit comprises only transistors Q1 -Q4 and current source IB +. Current sources IA represent the circuits input signals.
FIG. 5 is an exemplary functional block diagram of the control circuit of the cell shown in FIG. 2. The control block directs the operation of the analog processing circuits of the cell and enhances functionality of the cell, enabling nonlinear operations such as a min/max follower, signal-controlled generation of programmed waveforms, signal-to-frequency conversion (VCO), and MVL operations. FIG. 5B shows a current-mode comparator as a part of a current-mode cell of the FPAA. It comprises two differential current-mode inputs IA =IA + -IA - and IB= IB + -IB -, two constant current sources IC, and a current mirror Q5, Q6. It produces a single-ended voltage signal Vout, representing logical value of the condition IA >IB.
FIGS. 6A and B shows a current-mode integrator and sample-and-hold circuit.
FIGS. 7A, B show a programmable current mirror and a programmable differential pair. FIG. 7C shows a differential, current-mode analog demultiplexer with independent tuning of output weights, which contains a multi-output version of the circuit shown in FIG. 7B. FIG. 7D shows its block diagram symbol of the demultiplexer shown in FIG. 7C. The signals are depicted by single lines, even though they are preferably differential. FIG. 7E shows a schematic of a differential, current-mode analog signal multiplexer/summer with independent tuning of input weights. Additional summation (without independent tuning) is realized by connecting a number of signals to each input. FIG. 7F shows the block diagram symbol of the multiplexer/summer shown in FIG. 7E. The signals are depicted by single lines, even though they are differential. FIG. 7G shows a schematic and FIG. 7H explains the operation of a Zener diode D1 (FIG. 7G). The Zener diode is connected in the path of current signal in reverse direction, i.e., when the current I switch is off, the diode does not pass the signal. When the I switch is turned on, the diode enters the breakdown region (FIG. 7H), provided that the reverse voltage forced across the diode by the current source is sufficiently high, and the signal can now pass through the diode. Due to very small incremental resistance of the diode in the breakdown region this makes an almost ideal switch.
FIGS. 8A-E illustrate an example of constructing an FPAA for a matrix product tracking circuit. A circuit representing a class of circuits of interest is selected and its schematic diagram obtained. FIG. 8A shows the result of these steps. Next, a circuit labeled multi-graph for the matrix product tracking circuit is derived, as shown in FIG. 8B. The multi-graph is then generalized to a superset, as shown in FIG. 8C. In the current-mode, summing is performed on signal lines. Global signal interconnections are selected because if the matrices are scaled up, the number of nodes connected to the summing interconnections grows, so does the number of nodes connected to the input signal interconnections. The contents of the individual cells are then determined, as shown in FIG. 8D. Connections between the cells are made according to the graph of FIG. 8C, yielding a floor plan shown in FIG. 8E.
FIG. 9 illustrates an electrical schematic of an eight-order, elliptic band-pass filter realized as an OTA-C (operational transconductance amplifier and capacitor) ladder. This is a voltage-mode circuit, since each OTA takes a voltage signal as input, and although it produces a current signal, this current is always turned into voltage, either by the integrating operation of a capacitor. Each signal created in this circuit is going to be fed to some OTA (which can accept only voltage-mode signals as input) or connected to the output terminals of the circuit, which also require a voltage-mode signal. This circuit, and other voltage-mode circuits, can be realized in an equivalent current-mode form in the structure of the inventive device, if current-mode implementation of the device is preferred. The circuit preferably employs current sources Iswitch in the fashion shown in FIGS. 7B, C, which are not shown to avoid clutter.
FIG. 10 shows a labeled multi-graph of the ladder filter of FIG. 9. It demonstrates that the filter has a topology comprising only local interconnections.
FIG. 11A shows how the elements of the filter of FIG. 9 can be grouped into "cells".
FIG. 11B shows how 11 "cells" of FIG. 11A, interconnected only locally, comprise the entire filter. This figure also demonstrates the topology of the realization of the filter in the inventive FPAA structure. Dashed lines represent inactive cells and signal interconnections. FIG. 11C shows the functionality of the FPAA cell in example 7.
FIG. 12A shows a block diagram of a single cell of an analog rank filter and FIG. 12B shows how it can be mapped into the structure of the inventive FPAA. Two cells of the FPAA are necessary to implement one cell of the rank filter. The left cell in FIG. 12B implements the left-hand part of the rank filter cell, and the right cell the right-hand part. One of ordinary skill in the art can identify functions performed by each cell in FIG. 12B. A required number of such cells can be placed next to each other to realize a rank filter circuit of arbitrary size.
FIG. 13 shows the structure of a matrix product tracking circuit implemented in the structure of the inventive device realized in current-mode. It takes two time-varying matrices A(t)= aij ! and B(t)= bij !, both 3×3, and creates their product C(t)=A(t)·B(t) (a factor of 3 is required to account for the distribution of each input signal to 3 cells; alternatively the gain k (FIG. 2) of each cell could be increased by the same factor). The circuit can be generalized for any rectangular conformable matrices. Each element cij (t) of the product matrix is produced by a "local" group of cells along a diagonal global signal line. However, to distribute the input signals and to collect the results signals, global connections are necessary. Each diagonal output line is used to sum elementary products aij ·bjk, j=1, . . . , n, comprising the product element cik.
FIG. 14 illustrates a circuit solving a system of 3 algebraic equations with 3 unknowns x1 (t), . . . , x3 (t). The global connections in this circuit carry internal feedback signals, although the distance traveled by these signals is small.
FIG. 15 is a continuous-time circuit for solving a linear programming problem: given a set of constraints g(t)=F(t)·x(t)= g1 (t), . . . , gm (t)!'≦0 (the inequality is supposed to hold for every element of the vector; F is a rectangular matrix of constraints coefficients, g is a vector representing individual constraints), minimize the objective function ε(x1, . . . , xn)=ε·x=ε1 x1 + . . . +εn xn, where ε= ε1, . . . , εn !. Application of the method of steepest descent leads to a system of equations x=-μ·ε'-2a·A·diag(g)·U(g), where U(g) denotes the step function, diag(g) denotes a diagonal matrix with elements of vector g on the main diagonal, and μ and a are constants (μ→0, a→∞). This system can be solved by the circuit shown in FIG. 18.
FIGS. 16A and B show the tables for addition and multiplication in Galois field of four elements (GF(22)), respectively. Each of these operations can be realized by the FPAA cells; only two of the cell's inputs are used at a time. Addition can be realized as a ⊕ b=ƒ(a+b) for a≠b (FIGS. 16C and D), and a ⊕ b=0 otherwise. The condition a=b can be detected by the control block of a cell. Instead of function ƒ(x) (FIG. 16D) a smooth function ƒ1 (x) (FIG. 16E) can be used. This function can be realized by adding two characteristics of the clipping blocks shown in FIG. 16F. If the function of the form shown in FIG. 16D is required, it can be realized by providing more clipping blocks in the cell. Multiplication a × b in (GF(22)) (FIG. 16B) can be realized as a × b=((a+b-2) mod 3)+1 for a≠0 and b≠0, and a × b=0 otherwise. Mod 3 operation can be realized, as shown in FIGS. 16G, by adding two characteristics of the clipping blocks shown in FIG. 16H.
FIG. 17A shows a block diagram of a structure realizing an orthogonal expansion of a 4-valued function of input variables X1, X2, . . . , Xm, over GF(22). Each column realizes one orthogonal function over GF(22). Multiplied by a constant from GF(22), this function is added to the other orthogonal functions. All operations are in GF(22). FIG. 17B shows an example of realization of one of the functions ƒi.
FIG. 18A shows a structure for implementations based upon generalized Shannon expansion of MVL functions. Some input variables need to be connected to more than one diagonal line. More general forms of the same kind are possible, based upon other operators than > used for separation, for instance even vs. odd parity, based on matrix orthogonality, which is a generalization of an approach for two-valued functions. FIG. 18B shows functions performed by each cell.
FIG. 19 shows an example of a fuzzy controller. FIG. 19A shows the implementation of a controller with m input variables and n fuzzy inference rules. FIG. 19B shows details of each rule implementation. Fuzzy membership function is implemented as a trapezoidal transfer function of the kind shown in FIG. 3C. Activation values wi are multiplied by centroid values of the fuzzy rules consequents ci, and their areas Ii, yielding two sums computed on two horizontal global lines. The final expression for the defuzzified output variable vk is produced by a two-quadrant divider shown in FIG. 19C.
FIG. 20 shows an electrical schematic of an integrator. Transistors Q1 ÷Q4 form a Gilbert "type A cell", working as the input buffer with current sources IA biasing the input pair Q1, Q2. This circuit is characterized by excellent linearity and high bandwidth (simulated -3 dB bandwidth for unity gain is better than 6 GHz). Transistors Q5 ÷Q8 realize the OTA input stage. The current-mode amplifier, again based on the Gilbert "type A cell" is realized by Q9 ÷Q12. Loaded by current sources IH, it provides high voltage gain. Its output voltage signal is connected to the emitter follower Q13, Q14, providing an output current, Iout, and output voltage connected to the capacitors.
FIG. 21 shows the frequency response of the integrator of FIG. 20.
FIG. 22 shows tuning the gain of the integrator of FIG. 20.
FIG. 23 shows an implementation of a programmable current-mode amplifier/integrator, based on the inventive current-mode Miller integrator design (the block diagram of the amplifier/integrator is shown in FIGS. 6A, B).
FIG. 24 shows the frequency response of the circuit of FIG. 23 in integrating mode and FIG. 25 shows its frequency response in amplifying mode. It is important that programming of the function of the circuit is attained without any switches in the signal path.
FIG. 26 demonstrates an application of a single cell of the inventive device as a digitally-controlled oscillator. The const value is downloaded to the logic control block via the programming signals connection.
FIG. 27 illustrates another variation as a signal-controlled oscillator. It is based on using one of the input signals X1, n . . . , Xn (or a mathematical function thereof, see Table 2) instead of const to be compared against the output of the integrator. In this case, one of the input multiplexer/summers (e.g., 22) is used to derive the desired signal to be used for comparison in place of const.
Analog signal (continuous signal) is a signal that can assume any value in a certain interval. Each value of the signal in such interval conveys useful information. All other types of signals are special cases of an analog signal.
Bipolar device is a bipolar transistor or diode.
Bipolar signal is a signal that can assume positive, as well as negative values; two-directional signal.
Continuous-time (c-t) signal is a signal which conveys useful information in every instance of time.
Current mode signal is an electric signal which is represented by a current in a circuit branch, or a mathematical function of a number of currents (such as a difference of two currents).
Digital signal is a binary (two-valued) signal.
Discrete-time (d-t) signal is a signal that conveys useful information (is defined) only at certain predetermined periods of time or points in time. At all other times the signal values do not necessarily convey useful information (the signal is undefined). Discrete-time signal may be associated with some kind of a clock signal, or a system of clock signals, and the time periods (points in time) when the signal is defined are sometimes referred to as clock ticks in which case it is a synchronous signal. If there is no clock signal, and the time periods when the signal is defined are determined in another way (e.g., as a sequence of events), the signal is called asynchronous.
Discrete signal (multi-valued signal) is a signal which can possibly assume any value from a certain interval, but only a finite number of such values (called levels) convey meaningful information. Depending on the particular purpose of the signal, values of the signal other than the levels are assumed to convey information of one of the neighboring levels, or to convey undefined (illegal) information. Multi-valued signal can have two levels in particular, in which case it is called a binary signal.
1. a process of assigning groups of nodes and edges of a first graph to the groups of nodes and edges of a second graph, such that a number of nodes and edges of the first graph is assigned to a number of nodes and edges of the second graph.
2. a result of such process.
Floor plan is a general diagram showing location of circuit blocks or elements in space (or on a plane).
Global connections. A cells is considered globally connected in that the number of cells connected to a given cell by programmable analog signal connections connected to the cell changes when the number of cells in the structure varies.
Local connections. A cell is considered locally connected in that the number of cells connected to a given cell by programmable analog signal connections connected to the cell does not change as the number of cells in the structure varies.
Labeled multi-graph is a generalization of a graph, having edges incident with two or more nodes, and both edges and nodes having symbols assigned to them (those symbols are called labels).
Line (signal line) is the same as signal interconnection.
Mapping of a labeled multi-graph into another labeled multi-graph: an embedding where for each node and each edge of the first graph there is assigned exactly one edge and node, respectively, in the second graph, and the nodes and edges assigned to each other in the two graphs have matching labels.
Minimum embedding is an embedding of a circuit labeled multi-graph into an interconnection graph which does not lead to using cells as "wires" or "repeaters" i.e., cells programmed to merely transmit information (cells realizing only identity operation).
One-time programmability is one that can be applied only once.
Other Electron Devices mean electron devices having two, three, or more terminals, and displaying (a) linear or (b) nonlinear relationship(s) between electrical quantities such as voltage, current and charge, on those terminals, whereby the linear or nonlinear relationship is required to achieve amplifying, rectifying or similar operation, such as the operation of a transistor or a diode.
Port means a single entry point for the signal (input port), or an output point for the signal (output port). Since signals can be transmitted on a plurality of wires (e.g. pairs of wires), it is more convenient to talk about ports than about wires.
Programmability means an ability of a hardware device to perform a function or a composition of functions according to programming information, originating in the outside of the device. Programmability can be of software kind or of hardware kind. Software programmability does not necessarily involve changes in device's hardware characteristic. Hardware programmability involves such changes. Hardware programmability can be of two kinds: (i) tunability, which normally does not involve changes in the structure (configuration) of the device (structure of the signal path for signals processed by the device), also called parameter programmability, and (ii) structure programmability, involving changes in the structure (configuration) of the device (signal path for signals processed by the device). Finally, full programmability is programmability combining tunability and structure programmability. The term "reconfigurability" is used in literature to denote structure programmability.
Programmable circuit (device) is (1) a circuit (hardware device) exhibiting any kind of hardware programmability, or (2) a circuit (hardware device) exhibiting full programmability.
Repeated programmability is one that can be applied many times.
Voltage mode signal is an electric signal which is represented by a voltage between circuit nodes, or a mathematical function of a number of voltages (such as a difference of two voltages).
The present invention was made as part of an effort in designing analog programmable circuit architecture suitable for high-speed, high performance fully programmable analog operation. The highest performance can be achieved by reducing the length of signal interconnect lines, if possible, using only local signal interconnects. There is a tradeoff between the complexity of connections of a programmable device (and hence its functionality) and performance. Use of only local signal interconnects limits the class of such programmable analog devices to applications such as ladder continuous-time filters and other circuits. The present invention provides an architecture of a fully field-programmable analog array using primarily local signal interconnect architecture to create complex analog designs without compromising high-performance for the sake of functionality. Global interconnections can be incorporated into the inventive architecture and used only when absolutely necessary.
The control circuit, as used herein, includes, for example, a means for exchanging information to and from the control circuit, a means for storing information, a means for processing information, or a means for communicating with an associated analog processing portion of a cell. With such means, the control circuit is programmed to determine the operation of the analog processing portion of the cell. The analog processing portion of a cell, includes, for example, a means for performing one or more mathematical and other functions, including, but not limited to, weighted summing, multiplication, integration, exponentiation, logarithms, trigonometric functions, and the like.
The essential feature of the inventive device is that the length of the local signal interconnections in the array is minimized. Preferably, the cells of the array are arranged to minimize the length of local signal interconnections required to form the programmed device. Additionally, the total length of unprogrammed local and global signal interconnections is preferably minimized (for a given graph of connections between the cells). This architecture will minimize undesired noise effects and other signal distortions such as phase errors in the device.
The present architecture, described and exemplified herein, is suitable for the realization of a wide class of analog circuits. This specific architecture results from the general premise to use local signal interconnections whenever possible, and global signal interconnections only when absolutely necessary. The design of individual cells, and specific details of the architecture, were determined upon consideration of the perceived applications of the device, i.e., fast dynamic systems and fuzzy and multi-valued logic circuits. Although only continuous time examples are provided herein, the inventive device is capable of discrete-time operation as well.
The inventive device, and particularly, the inventive general purpose field-programmable analog array can be used for the implementation of various analog and logic circuits. We have shown that the realizations of MVL functions based upon orthogonal expansions as well as more general ones based on sets of not necessarily orthogonal functions, lead to regular circuit structures which can easily be mapped to the inventive FPAA. Other circuits, such as ladder filters, have the same property. Therefore, the inventive FPAA is an excellent tool for fast prototyping of various circuits and provides a skilled artisan with an opportunity to experiment with hardware realizations of various circuits without the necessity of their physical design and fabrication. The examples provided herein demonstrate the simplicity of realization of a wide class of such circuits, which also enables the implementation of design automation procedures.
FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate structure (floor plan) of a field-programmable mixed (analog/digital) array (FPMA) or field-programmable analog array (FPAA). These arrays are based on a regular array (10) of programmable analog signal processing cells (12), interconnected at two levels: local (FIG. 1A) and global (FIG. 1B). The array shown in FIGS. 1A and B is for illustration only; regular arrays of various patterns may be utilized such as shown in FIG. 1C.
FIG. 1A shows the local signal interconnections (14) for interconnecting cells (12) of the array to form the programmable device. Each local signal interconnection (14) connects a fixed number of cells (12) together. That is, a signal interconnection is local in that the number of cells connected by the signal interconnection does not vary as the number of cells in the array varies. For example, in FIG. 1A, cell (12a) is connected to its four nearest neighboring cells by two-way signal interconnections (14a-d). Cell (12a) is able to receive four different signals produced by these neighboring cells, collectively or selectively, and can distribute its output signal to the same four neighboring cells. If the size of the array (10) were increased by adding additional cells to the array's borders, the number of cells connected by local signal interconnections (14a-d) does not change.
FIG. 1B shows a pattern of global signal interconnections (16) superimposed on the pattern of local signal interconnections (14). Each cell (12) can broadcast its output signal to one or more of four global interconnection lines (16a-d) to which the cell is connected. Unlike local signal interconnections, a signal interconnection (16) is global in that the number of cells connected by the signal interconnection changes as the number of cells in the array (10) varies. For example, if a row of additional cells (12) were added to the upper border of the array, one of those cells would connect to global interconnection (16a).
Typically, a cell will have only one output signal, the same signal being distributed to the local neighbors and to the global lines, although in a general case a cell can produce a plurality of output signals (by outputting signals from various processing blocks of the cell). If a plurality of different output signals is produced, different signals can be sent to different destinations (i.e. local neighbors or global signal lines).
In the preferred current-mode realization of global signal lines, the signals sent to a given global line by different cells are summed on those lines (by virtue of Kirchhoff's Current Law (KCL)). Also, each cell can receive signals from global lines to which it is connected, selectively (from some lines) or collectively (from all lines). The signals from global lines can be received by single or multiple cells, although single cells are preferred. If a signal from a global line is received by more than one cell, it gets divided evenly by those cells, e.g. if n cells receive signal X present on a global line, each cell actually receives signal X/n. Whether one or more cells receive a signal from a global line, is determined in the process of programming the input multiplexer/summers of the receiving cells.
Each cell can broadcast its output signal to any of the four global lines to which the cell is connected (possibly to more than one at a time). If the signals are in a current-mode, they are summed on the global lines, and if more than one cell receives the signal from a given global line, the signal will be divided evenly by the receiving cells. Each cell can then send and receive signals to and from any of its four nearest neighbors and any of the global lines to which it is connected. In the example of FIG. 1, each cell has eight input ports and one output port (or eight output ports with copies of the same output signal).
The input and output signals of cell can be (i) in voltage or current form, (ii) single-ended or fully differential (balanced). The first choice (voltage or current) will lead to four classes of cells: voltage-to-voltage, voltage-to-current, current-to-voltage, and current-to-current. A differential mode input will preferably imply a differential mode output and vice-versa, although one can create cells with, for instance, differential input signals, and a single-ended output signal. At least eight types of cells can be created: the four types listed above for single ended signals, and the same types for fully differential signals.
Selection of the type of signals will be based among other criteria on the required interconnections between cells in the structure of the programmable circuit device. If the output signal of a given cell needs to be distributed to many places in the structure, it is more convenient to have it in voltage form, although current form can be used as well. If, on the other hand, summing of output signals of several cells is desired, current output signals are better. Current mode signals are generally more immune to noise and are usually faster. Therefore, a current-to-current cell design is preferred. The presented architecture and principles can be used for the design of an FPAA with cells using other signal combinations (voltage-to-voltage, etc.).
The Analog Signal Processing Portion. A block diagram of cell is shown in FIG. 2. Preferably, the cell processes current-mode differential signals. The cell has two essential parts: a signal processing portion and an associated control circuit (32). The associated control circuit preferably is included within the body of cell, but can alternatively be located partly or wholly outside the cell body. All of the details of communication (e.g., signals from the processing portion to the control circuit) are not shown in FIG. 2 to avoid clutter but are described together with the control circuit. The signal processing portion may include a number of subcircuits that provide desired signal processing functions, such as a multiplier (24), an integrator (26), clipping circuits (28), and various support circuitry such as analog multiplexer/summers (20, 22) and analog demultiplexers (30). A multiplier, for example, may include a Gilbert multiplier cell combined with a wide band, current-mode amplifier, tunable in a wide range (such as 0-80 dB). The wide tunability range is required primarily by dynamic system type of applications, such as filters, differential equation solvers and others. The multiplier can perform other signal processing functions, such as phase detection and balanced modulation.
The multiplexer/summers selectively pass the input signals, multiplying them by the programmable weights wi and wj, which can be positive, negative or zero, and then summing. Two input sums (one from each multiplexer/summers) are then passed to the multiplier. Therefore, a product of two independently selected sums of input signals is created. If no multiplication is desired, a constant signal (Max,±Max representing the range of the signals processed by the cell) is selected and fed to an input of the multiplier, or Max is selected on the input of one of the multiplexer/summer. Each of the input or output ports can be independently turned off by means of programming the input multiplexer/summer or the output demultiplexer.
An integrator (26) has a programmable pole α, which can be turned down to a value as close to zero as a practical circuit realization allows, in order to realize an "ideal", or "lossless" integration. It can also be programmed to a non-zero value (in the range depending on a particular circuit implementation) to realize "lossy" integration (a single-pole circuit function). Finally, the integration function can be programmably bypassed internally in the integrator, and the circuit realizes amplification function only, with gain programmed in a wide range, such as 0-80 dB. The integrator can be used as a short-term analog memory or a sample-and-hold circuit.
In a preferred embodiment, the analog processing portion comprises two multiplexer/summers, a multiplier, a programmable integrator/amplifier, a number of clipping (saturation) blocks, and an output demultiplexer. Each of the multiplexer/summers produces a weighted sum of the input signals. The weights, which can be positive, negative, or zero, are determined by the control circuit. A constant signal, Max,±Max representing the range of the signals processed by the cell, is connected to one input of each multiplexer/summer. This allows the multiplexer/summers to produce more variety of its output signals (for instance complements of signals to Max). The two sums (from the two multiplexer/summers) are fed to the multiplier block. On each of the inputs of the multiplier block a signal from a multiplexer/summer or a constant value Max can be selected. This allows bypassing the multiplication (when Max is selected on one input of the multiplier). When Max is selected on one input of the multiplier, the corresponding multiplexer/summer can be used for the calculation of weighted sums or complements of signals used by the control block. Each clipping block provides limiting of the output signal of the cell between two independently programmable values a and b, -Max≦a≦0, 0≦b≦Max, as well as programming the zero z of the characteristic and its slope (gain) k.
The control block, preferably, not only sends control signals to the analog processing blocks, but also receives output signals from those blocks. This feedback allows the control block to perform comparisons and other operations on the analog signals processed by the cell in order to produce more variety of control signals and more variety of functions realized by the cell.
The programming signals connected to the control block from the outside of the cell determine the operation of the control block, and via control block--the operation of the entire cell. The clock signal(s) allow(s) discrete-time operation of the cell, if desired.
Through a feedback connection (43), the output signal can be connected to the inputs of the cell, which is required for certain circuits for certain applications. The output demultiplexer produces the desired number of copies of the output signal Y.
FIG. 4 shows a preferred embodiment of the elementary building block of the cell. In its simplest form the circuit contains only transistors Q1 -Q4 and current source Ib +. Current sources IA represent the circuit's input signals. The circuit is fully differential, i.e., both input and output signals are represented by differences of currents in two wires. The sum of currents IA +, which can be expressed as IA (1+X) is the positive "half" of the input signal, and IA -, which can be expressed as IA (1-X), is the negative "half". The input signal is then IA (1+X)-IA (1-X)=2IA X, wherein X is called a modulation index. Likewise, the output signal is the difference I+ out -I- out, expressed as IB (1+Y)-IB (1-Y)=2IB Y. Current gain is determined by the ratio IB /IA and in practice can be tuned over several decades from a fraction of unity to about 10. The circuit has an excellent linearity and a wide bandwidth, limited by the ƒT of the transistors. In a bipolar process used for prototyping, ƒT is of the order of 8 GHz and the simulated unity gain bandwidth of this circuit is over 6 GHz.
FIG. 3A shows the DC transfer characteristic of the circuit of FIG. 4. The slope k in the linear range can be changed by adjusting the gain. The width and height of the linear range are determined by the currents IA and IB respectively. By adding (subtracting) currents on the input and on the output of the circuit (by additional programmed current sources, FIG. 4B) one can change the location of the zero z of the characteristic, as well as the two clipping (saturation) levels a and b.
This circuit has many variations. By including transistors Q5 and Q6, one achieves an ability to invert the signal (negative weight). If another input is connected in place of the tail current sources IB + and IB -, a current-mode Gilbert multiplier is realized. More output (inner) transistor pairs can be added (dashed line) to obtain more independently tuned outputs.
A current-mode comparator is a part of a current-mode cell of the FPAA. The comparator is shown in FIG. 5B. It comprises two differential current-mode inputs IA =IA + -IA - and IB= IB + -IB -, two constant current sources IC, and a current mirror Q5, Q6. It produces a single-ended voltage signal Vout, representing logical value of the Condition IA >IB. It operates as follows: The two input current-mode differential signals IA and IB (in FIG. 5B produced by differential pairs Q1, Q2 and Q3, Q4, such as the ones found at outputs of an analog multiplexer/summer, shown here to demonstrate how the comparator may be connected to analog circuitry of the cell), are connected to constant current sources IC. By virtue of KCL, I1 =IC -IA - -IB +, and I2 =IC -IA + -IB -. If IA >IB, it follows that IC -IA - -IB + >IC -IA + -IB - and consequently, I1 >I2. For sufficiently high β of Q5, I5 ≅I2. The current mirror Q5, Q6 provides I5 ≅I6. Therefore with no load connected to the collector of Q6, Vout will be driven high (near the positive voltage supply VCC), which represents desired output of the comparator. Analogously, it can be demonstrated that when IA <IB, the output Vout will be driven low (near 0). A suitable output buffer can be added by those skilled in the art to provide sufficient drive for logic circuits connect to Vout, without causing undesired loading of the node Vout.
FIG. 7E shows a schematic of an analog multiplexer/summer with independent tuning of input weights, in a differential, current-mode implementation. Additional summation (without independent tuning) can be realized by connecting a number of signals to each input.
A demultiplexer can be realized in a similar fashion by placing more inner (output) pairs of transistors (FIGS.. 7C, D). Circuits from this family can be connected is cascades by adding current sources (sources IC in FIG. 7E). Then the difference between the (constant) current sources IC from such sources and the output signal of one stage can be fed to the next stage. This arrangement is well suited to the IC fabrication process with good quality vertical npn devices and poor quality lateral pnp devices, as it has better frequency response. By cascading several stages based upon the circuit of FIG. 4, a wide-band current amplifier tunable in a wide range (such as 0-80 dB or more) is obtained.
Two (or more) clipping (limiting) blocks (28), shown in FIG. 2, are realized as single amplifier stages of FIG. 4B. With two blocks, one achieves many nonlinear characteristics, some of which are shown in FIGS. 3A-H.
There is further provided a programmable current-mode integrator/amplifier having a circuit based on a Miller effect, wherein the current-mode integrator/amplifier is capable of integrating or amplifying a current-mode signal input into a current-mode signal output (FIG. 6). The current-mode integrator/amplifier comprises an operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) input stage (60), having an input signal and an output signal, connected to a current amplifier (62), wherein the current amplifier comprises an additional voltage mode output, and a capacitor or a plurality of capacitors connected to the voltage mode output (64) of the current amplifier and to the input of the OTA. The current-mode output of the amplifier is proportional to its voltage-mode output signal, which represents the integral of the input current-mode signal. In this feedback arrangement, the OTA works with a small input voltage swing (provided that the gain in the loop is high). Due to the feedback operation, the voltage on the capacitors is only slightly disturbed by any nonlinearities within the loop. Therefore, the linearity of the circuit is primarily determined by the linearity of the relationship between the voltage-mode and the current-mode output signals, which is good if there is proper design of the output stage.
The OTA input stage linearity is not critical. This design inherits all good features of a classical Miller integrator employing a voltage-to-voltage amplifier (an op amp). This design provides an ability to realize a low-frequency pole (ideally, an integrator's pole should be at zero) with a small capacitors value, mostly independent of the impedances of the source of the input signal and the load. This is because the capacitors see an extremely high impedance (typically of the order of tens or even hundreds of GΩ). In the traditional design of a current-to-current integrator, the Miller integrator (or even a capacitor) is followed by an OTA, converting the full range of voltages developing across the capacitor into the output current. In such a design, the linearity of the OTA limits the linearity of the integrator, even though (in the Miller integrator) the voltage on the capacitors is a nearly perfect linear integral of the input signal.
The pole can be moved by changing the operating conditions of the circuit. If a high frequency pole is desired, the output signal can be fed back to an additional input of the OTA to simulate resistors connected to the output.
The inventive circuit has additional advantages over the classical design. For example, the input signal can be fed directly into the current amplifier, making the voltage on the capacitors track the input signal. When desired, the input stage of the current amplifier can be turned off, and the capacitors will hold the last value of the signal, thus realizing the sample-and-hold function. Finally, when no integration or sample-and-hold operation is necessary, the voltage output is turned off and only the current amplifier is used. Then, the circuit works as a tunable amplifier.
Advantages of the exemplified current-mode integrator include (1) better linearity (the only intrinsically nonlinear part is the voltage-to-current stage (OTA input stage), which works with very small voltage swing and in a feedback loop), (2) good frequency response (the circuit is almost entirely current-mode, except for the two pairs of high-impedance points where the capacitors are connected). With C of 0.8 pF, the simulated frequency response shows its wide range of useful frequencies, wherein the phase response is tunable to -90°±0.5°, in the range of about 92 kHz to over 160 MHz. Operation up to about 670 MHz and more (depending on the technology) is possible in simplified design of the circuit shown in FIG. 20.
To maximize ADC and minimize fp one should maximize Rin, k2 and gm and minimize g0 (i.e., maximize both input resistance of the OTA and the voltage gain in the loop. High voltage gain in the loop additionally results in low V1 swing, relaxing the requirements on the OTA linearity.
is a constant in the particular circuit implementation. Therefore, k2 should not be used for tuning of the integrator, as its changes result in changing g0. The gain of the input current buffer, k1, should be used instead. The buffer has low input impedance and it isolates high-impedance input of the core circuit from the signal source, whose impedance is not critical for circuit performance. Additionally, the buffer blocks the common mode input signals. The output of the integrator has high impedance and can be connected to the input of another integrator.
A simplified schematic of a particular implementation is shown in FIG. 20. Transistors Q1 ÷Q4 form a Gilbert "type A cell", working as the input buffer with current sources IA biasing the input pair Q1, Q2. This circuit is characterized by excellent linearity and high bandwidth (simulated unity gain frequency is better than 6 GHz). The buffer blocks common-mode input signals and provides tunability of k1, at least in the range of -20 dB to 20 dB (by means of changing the ratio IA /IB). Current sources IG, are necessary to achieve high impedance at the OTA input and eliminate the common-mode component of the collector currents of Q3 and Q4. Transistors Q5 ÷Q8 realize the OTA input stage. Changing IC and ID allows tuning of gm. The current-mode amplifier, again based on the Gilbert "type A cell" is realized by Q9 ÷Q12. Changing ID /IF allows tuning of k2 over at least 40 dB. Active loads IH provide required voltage gain in the feedback loop. The voltage signal is connected to the emitter follower Q13, Q14, providing also an output current. Lineraity of the emitter resistors RE (Eq. 6, 7) in the follower is critical to the linearity of the integrator.
For proper operation, the circuit contains two common-mode feedback subcircuits, one of which is shown in FIG. 20B. Their function is to assure adequate DC voltages at the two pairs of high-impedance points in the integrator, that is at the collectors of Q3, Q4 and the collectors of Q11, Q12. The circuits sense voltages on the emitters of the respective current gain cells and compare them with constant voltages, Vb1 and Vb2. Any mismatch of the collector currents at the high-impedance points is corrected by adjusting the base-emitter voltages of the respective current mirror transistors, by means of dumping additional current onto their emitter resistors (R1 and R2 in FIG. 20B). The gain of the common-mode feedback circuits can be adjusted by changing the tail currents Ib1 and Ib2.
The foregoing illustrative circuit was tested by computer simulation. With C of 0.8 pF, the circuit phase response of -90±0.5° in the range of 1 MHz to 670 MHz (FIG. 21). The gain was adjusted by changing the tail current IB of the input buffer (FIG. 20). The low-frequency pole was moved down to about 3 Hz by changing the operating conditions of the circuit. With sufficiently high gain in the feedback loop, the circuit had THD of less than 0.052% for an output signal current of over 2.8 mApp (Table 1).
Emitter area mismatches in the current gain cells will lead to nonlinearities which can be eliminated by applying measures described in Gilbert (J. Solid State Circuits SC-3:353-365, 1968). Mismatches of emitter resistors in the current sources can be eliminated by applying correcting currents in a similar manner as in common mode feedback circuits. Proper values of RE resistors are important for high frequency operation of the circuit because of a parasitic pole-zero pair near 500 MHz. However, even considerably higher departures from required values can be corrected by changing current IE. IE can also be used to correct excess phase.
The foregoing illustration of a current-mode integrator illustrates the invention. The illustrated circuit combines good properties of voltage-output Miller integrator with excellent linearity and speed of gain cell. The design is a core of a programmable amplifier-integrator for a FPAA described below. Also voltage output from the integrator is possible if desired.
The Amplifier/Integrator can also work as a sample-and-hold circuit. To attain sample-and-hold operation the entire circuit is activated, as opposed to using only parts of it in the amplifying mode and in the integrating mode (FIG. 23). The parts indicated by dashed line in the figure are all active. In such a case there is a direct path from the input to the output, and the circuit realizes a transfer function a/(sC+b)+d, where a, b, and d are constants. By changing bias currents in the circuit (IE11 through IE33 and IC13 through IC36 in FIG. 22) one can change a, b, and d in the above equation. For the sample mode, when the circuit follows the input signal, it is desired to have a as small, and b and d as large as practically possible. Then the voltage on the capacitors follows the changes in the input signal. When it is desired that the circuit entered the hold mode, IE11, IE12, and IC13 -IC16 (FIG. 22) are turned down to zero. Then the circuit holds the last value of the signal, working as an integrator with no input signal (because the input signal has been disconnected by deactivating bias current sources IE11, IE12, and IC13 -IC16). The held value is available as the output current.
FIG. 26 demonstrates the application of a single cell of the inventive device as a digitally controlled oscillator. The const value is downloaded to the logic control block via the programming signals connection. The multiplexer/summer 52 is programmed to pass const to the comparator 54. The other input of the comparator 54 is connected to the output signal Y via the feedback connection 34. The input multiplexer/summer 20 is programmed by the logic control block to produce a scaled constant value derived from Max. This constant value is fed to the input of the integrator via the multiplier (which has Max connected to its second input, not shown in the figure to avoid clutter). In this arrangement the multiplier passes its input signal to the integrator. Thus the integrator receives a constant signal, which causes it's output signal to ramp up. When the output signal Y of the integrator rises to the level equal to const, the comparator sends a signal to the logic control block. Then the logic control block reverses both the weight of the input multiplexer/summer 20, and the value of const. The first event results in feeding a constant signal of opposite polarity to the input of the integrator. This in turn causes the output signal of the integrator to ramp in opposite direction, i.e. down. When it crosses -const, the above cycle starts over again, which yields a triangle waveform on the output Y. One of the internal signals in the logic control block represents the sign of const. The changes of this signal comprise a square waveform synchronous with the triangle waveform observed on the integrator's output. This square waveform can be communicated to other cells via the connections existing between control blocks in the array.
Alternatively, it can be used to program the weights of the output demultiplexer 30 of the cell (FIG. 22), so that it outputs a constant derived from Max (by turning on only the weight associated with Max), or that constant negated in the second half of the waveform cycle. Numerous variations of the above presented scheme of waveform generation can be easily derived by those skilled in the art. One can manipulate the values of const, -const, the weights of the multiplexers and demultiplexers, the gain k of the intergrator (all that by downloading appropriate programming information to the logic control block), to achieve waveforms with duty cycle other than 50% (sawtooth in particular), or with absolute values of the maximum and minimum levels equal to each other or different, as desired.
Another variation of the presented scheme is based on using one of the input signals X1, . . . , Xn (or a mathematical function thereof, see Table 2) instead of const to be compared against the output of the integrator. In this case one of the input multiplexer/summers (e.g., 22, FIG. 27) would be used to derive the desired signal to be used for comparison in place of const. This value would then be selected by the multiplexer/summer 52 instead of const. The other multiplexer/summer would work as in the scheme described above. This way an oscillator controlled by a(n) (combination of) input signal(s) would be attained (what is known in the art as VCO, voltage-controlled oscillator, even though strictly speaking this would be a current controlled oscillator, since the signal is in current mode in the preferred embodiment of the cell). Again, numerous variations of this modified oscillator scheme could be easily derived by those skilled in the art.
Other schemes of controlled waveform generation are possible. One can connect two cells of the FPAA to implement a circuit with two conjugate poles on the imaginary axis of the complex plane to generate a sinewave. Such circuit would require both cells to be programmed to perform integration. Appropriate scheme of parameter adjustment to achieve a stable waveform of desired frequency and amplitude could be easily derived by those skilled in the art. Another application of the inventive device, related to the controlled oscillators described above, is a phase-locked loop (PLL). PLL typically comprises a VCO, a low-pass filter, and a phase detector. A phase detector can be realized by a single cell of the inventive device, whereby the Gilbert multiplier block would be used as a phase detector (e.g., Alan B. Grebene, Bipolar and MOS Analog Circuit Design, John Wiley, 1984). Other blocks can be realized easily in the structure of the inventive device, and connected appropriately to implement a PLL.
The control block stores programming information (loaded to it via a control signals connection) and sends programming signals to the analog processing blocks of the cell. One way to arrange storage of information is by means of digital memory, such as RAM. Another way is by storing electrical charge on floating gates of MOS devices, such as EEPROM cells. Programming signals sent to the analog processing blocks can be derived by methods known in the implementations of digital-to-analog converters (DACs). Since the control block has access to input and internal signals of the cell as well, it can produce control signals as a function of instantaneous input and internal signals values. This feature of the control block is important for certain operations, such as a minimum (maximum) follower (min, max).
FIG. 5A shows a preferred embodiment of the control block. It contains a logic control circuit, which can be realized as a combinatorial circuit or as a finite state machine such as those known in the art, and may contain logic circuits, registers, RAM cells, EEPROM cells, DACs, and other elements typically used in digital and analog-digital (mixed-mode) circuits known in the art. Further, the control block comprises a number of comparators for comparing signals in desired mode (e.g. current-mode), having analog inputs and digital outputs, and an analog multiplexer/summer, such as the one described above. One input of each comparator is preferably connected to one of the input signals, while the other input is connected to the output of the multiplexer summer. The multiplexer/summer's select input is controlled by the control circuit. The inputs of the multiplexer/summer are connected to the internal signals of the analog processing part of the cell (i.e. the output signals of the analog processing blocks of the cell). Additionally, a constant signal created by the control block is connected to one input of the multiplexer/summer. Thus the control circuit can choose one of the internal signals processed by the cell or its own programmed constant to be compared with any of the input signals X1, X2, . . . , Xn, (or the output signal Y, which is connected to the input of the cell via the feedback connection 34). The outputs of the comparators are connected to the control circuit.
The control circuit programmably operates to compare the analog input signals (or the output signal) against one of the values produced by any of the analog processing blocks or their weighted sum obtained in the multiplexer/summer 52. In one implementation, the comparators each produce two binary signals corresponding to the conditions a≦b and a ≧b, where a and b are input signals to comparators. Two signals of equal value on the output of a comparator indicate equal input signals. A preferred implementation of current-input comparator is shown in FIG. 5B. Ordinary comparators, such as those known in the art, can be used instead. In this way, control circuit produces control signals as a function of certain conditions of instantaneous input and internal signal values (e.g., equality of two or more signals, relationship between a number of signals and zero or another constant).
This feature also realizes minimum and maximum followers (min, max), absolute value (abs), and other operations. To realize min and max operations, the control circuit detects the smallest (largest) signal and selects this signal on the input of cell. This selection is accomplished by comparing the output signal of the selected multiplexer with the input signals. If one or more of the input signals is smaller (larger) than the multiplexer output, the control circuit sends appropriate signals to the multiplexer to adjust its weights until the smallest (largest) signal is selected. When realizing the absolute value function, control circuit changes the sign of input weights if the weighted sum is negative.
Variations of the presented cell can be derived. By changing the arrangement of the blocks comprising the cell, the functions of those blocks, or the physical nature or type of the signals, one can obtain equivalent designs of the cell. In particular, one can design a cell having voltage input signals and current output signals, simply by adding appropriate front-end and back-end circuits such as OTAs. Alternative cell implementations, namely voltage-to-current, voltage-to-voltage and current-to-voltage versions of the cell, can be built. The design decision as to the physical nature of the input and output signals of the cell has an impact on the design of the interconnection network of the programmable circuit device. For instance, voltage output signals can be, in principle, easily distributed to multiple inputs of other cells. Current output signals, on the contrary, work best if they are "sent" to one destination only. Therefore, if one output signal in current form needs to be distributed to several cells' inputs, preferably only one of those cells opens its input port for the current. Alternatively, the output current may be mirrored (copied), for instance by an analog demultiplexer such as the one presented above, and individual copies sent to the several cells' inputs. Also, signals of current form can be freely added in electrical nodes, which is not possible for signals in voltage form.
The topology of the circuit realized in the programmable device (the mapping of the circuit into the structure of the programmable device) is independent of the physical nature of the input and output signals of the cells of the programmable device. It is determined by the flow of signal in the circuit. That is, if a mapping of a given circuit to the resources of the programmable device of a given arrangement of physical natures of signals (e.g., current-to-current) is known, the same mapping can be used for this circuit if it needs to be implemented in a programmable device of a different arrangement of physical natures of signals (e.g., voltage-to current), with the possible exception of the additions performed in current-mode on signal lines by virtue of KCL, which would have to be implemented differently in voltage mode.
Some operations, important for dynamic systems, multi-valued, fuzzy and other logic applications, performed by cell are summarized in Table 2 below. Xi denotes inputs signals and Y denotes an output signal. The symbol k represents a programmed constant (gain). No distinction is made between local and global signals, since the cell processes them in the same manner.
The cell performs summing of input signals selected by the control circuitry, multiplication of two signals (squaring of one signal), or multiplication of two independently derived weighted sums of input signals. Further processing includes lossless or lossy integration, and clipping, max, min, etc. These functions are important for implementation of continuous-time dynamic systems, and multi-valued, fuzzy, and continuous (such as Lukasiewicz) logic circuits.
The inventive architecture of the device is motivated by the desire to enable circuit realizations with minimal signal delays. Examples include an elliptic eighth-order ladder bandpass filter (Tan, "Design and Automatic Tuning of Fully Integrated, Transconductance-Grounded Capacitor Filters" Ph.D. Thesis, Univ. Of Minn. 1988), a rank filter cell (Paul et al., "A Simple Analog Rank Filter", ISCAS, pp. 121-24, 1992), a circuit for tracking the product of two matrices, a circuit for tracking a solution of a system of linear equations, a circuit for tracking a solution of a linear programming problem by the method of steepest descent, and a fuzzy controller (Kosko, "Neural Networks and Fuzzy Systems. A Dynamic Systems Approach to Machine Intelligence", Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1992).
The programmable support circuitry within a cell are preferably designed to minimize parasitics incurred by introducing switching capability. Parasitics, such as additional resistance in the signal path and stray capacitances, would be unavoidable if switching devices of any kind available in IC technologies were used. The net result of these parasitics is the introduction of phase errors and other distortions in transmitted signals, which compromise circuit's performance, such as speed and accuracy. Therefore, the present invention, preferably, does not employ switches, directly in the signal path of the device, but uses circuits which attain switching function without additional switching devices in the signal path. FIGS. 7A-F show a number of preferred embodiments of circuits with switching capability that minimize such parasiticis. FIG. 7A, for example, shows the basic form of a programmable current mirror that includes transistors Q1 and Q2 and emitter degeneration resistors R1 and R2. The circuit 40 within the dashed box is a common current mirror with emitter degeneration. However, by connecting a current source Iswitch to the emitter of Q2, this circuit becomes programmable. When there is no current supplied by the source, the mirror 40 simply copies the input current Iin into the output current out. When the Iswitch current source is turned on and supplies a current large enough to raise voltage on the emitter of Q2 sufficiently to turn Q2 off, the mirror shuts off. By controlling Iswitch one can control how deeply Q2 goes into cutoff. This way desired programmability of the signal path is realized. The programmability is attained without introducing any additional elements in the signal path, such as switches connected in series with other circuit elements. Therefore there is only a negligible degradation of performance of the circuit, caused by output capacitance of the current source. Since this capacitance is in parallel with other parasitic capacitances already present at this node, it does not change the local topology of the circuit, and the undesired effects it causes can be taken care of in the same way as for those capacitances. This is much easier than for series switches, which actually change the local topology of the circuit. The circuit of FIG. 7A then is a programmable one, with repeated programmability of the signal path attained substantially without sacrificing the circuit's performance, such as speed and accuracy.
A programmable analog electronic circuit according to the invention comprises a programmable electronic circuit that includes a signal path and one or more active devices such as transistors controlling signal flow through the signal path. Each active device has multiple operating points that determine the signal propagation characteristics of the device. The circuit also includes a source of control current or control voltage to a part of an active device in the circuit, the source being removed from the signal path. The source changes the operating point of the active device from one point to another by changing the delivered control current or control voltage sufficiently to switch the device on and off and thereby turn on and off the signal flow through the signal path of the circuit.
Another useful embodiment of the programmable support circuitry is shown in FIG. 7B. The circuit comprises a differential pair 42 (in the dashed box)--which in this figure is not a complete circuit but rather a generic building block from which many specific circuits are derived, by adding resistors, transistors, other differential pairs or other devices. The circuit in the dashed box is tunable/programmable by virtue of changing the current Ibias. To shut both Q1 and Q2 off, one needs to turn Ibias down to zero. Then, additional current Iswitch can be provided to drive Q1 and Q2 deeper in cut-off.
FIG. 7C shows a programmable analog demultiplexer circuit 44. The circuit mirrors the differential current-mode input signal on a number of outputs. Each output signal is an amplified, attenuated, or identical copy of the input signal, depending on the values of bias currents Ibias. The bias currents can be tuned independently of each other. Each output can be turned off by turning off the corresponding bias Ibias,i or providing corresponding current Iswitch,i >Ibias,i. The same concept of signal-path programming is used to build multiplexer/summers (FIGS. 7E, F).
FIGS. 7D and F show block-diagram symbols of the analog demultiplexer and multiplexer/summer blocks, respectively. FIG. 7G shows a schematic and FIG. 7H explains the operation of a Zener diode D1 (FIG. 7G). The Zener diode is connected in the path of current signal in reverse direction, i.e., when the current I switch is off, the diode does not pass the signal. When the I switch is turned on, the diode enters the breakdown region (FIG. 7H), provided that the reverse voltage forced across the diode by the current source is sufficiently high, and the signal can now pass through the diode. Due to very small incremental resistance of the diode in the breakdown region this makes an almost ideal switch.
The structures of individual FPAAs may differ depending on the class of analog circuits for which they will be used. A structure is determined in accordance with the following steps of a method. This method may be implemented in a number of ways, but preferably is carried out with a computer to reduce computation time. The present invention provides a method for designing a FPAA, comprising: (1) selecting a representative circuit from a class of circuits of interest (e.g., if the class of circuits is active filters, an example filter of reasonably high order is selected); (2) creating a schematic diagram of the representative circuit (e.g., the filter); (3) deriving a circuit labeled multi-graph from the schematic diagram; (4) adding nodes and edges to produce a superset of the multi-graph; (5) grouping together selected edges and nodes from the superset of the multi-graph to form an interconnection multi-graph of desired cells and determine the functionality of individual cells, (6) realizing a cell in a desired technology; and (7) determining connections between the cells. Such connections are made according to the multi-graph derived in #5 above and the cell contents. Some circuits can be scaled up and down (e.g. for filters, scaling usually means changing the order of the filter). In a matrix product tracking circuit, scaling means changing the sizes of input matrices. If in the process of scaling the circuit up and down the number of edges incident with a single cell (the cell represented by a number of nodes of the superset of the circuit labeled multi-graph) changes, these edges should be realized as global connections. If, on the other hand, in the scaling process the number of such edges does not change, they should be realized as local connections. With the addition of control circuit in one of the ways described above, a field-programmable mixed array device is now complete, constructed for a particular class of circuits.
An example of constructing an FPAA is shown in FIGS. 8A-E for a matrix product tracking circuit. A circuit representing a class of circuits of interest is selected and its schematic diagram obtained. FIG. 8A shows the result of these steps. Next, a circuit labeled multi-graph for the matrix product tracking circuit is derived, as shown in FIG. 8B. The multi-graph is then generalized to a superset, as shown in FIG. 8C. Global signal interconnections are selected because if the matrices are scaled up, the number of connections to the summing nodes grows. If the output matrix has more than one element as a result of scaling up, the same input signals must be distributed to more than one product element, which also leads to global signal interconnections. The contents of the individual cells are then determined, as shown in FIG. 8D. Since current-mode summation can be done directly on a signal line, there is no need to realize Σ nodes as part of cells. A single cell will contain the multiplication operation. The cell is realized as a current-mode one. Connections between the cells are made according to the graph of FIG. 8C, as shown in FIG. 8E. Various programmable devices, created by the method described herein for different classes of circuits, such as filters and matrix multiplication circuits, can be merged after creation to provide a programmable device capable of accommodating circuits of both classes. Such merge operations will typically lead to the extension of functionality of individual cells of the programmable device for the circuit of the first class by the operations necessary to realize the circuits of the second class, and the like extension of the interconnection scheme. For instance, functionality of the cell can be extended by whatever is required to implement circuits, such as filters. If filters are considered, integration and summation would be added to the functions performed by individual cells. FPAA can be customized for the various classes of circuits.
The present invention further provides a method for programming (i.e., mapping a particular circuit onto a programmable device such as an FPAA to form a programmed device) comprising: (1) obtaining a schematic diagram of the desired circuit (FIG. 9); (2) grouping circuit elements of the desired circuit into clusters that can be realized by single cells within the programmable device to form a schematic diagram with clustered elements (e.g., 3a,b,c in FIG. 9); (3) deriving a circuit labeled multi-graph from the schematic diagram with clustered elements (as shown in FIGS. 10, 11A--see Example 1 for details); and (4) embedding the circuit labeled multi-graph into an interconnection labeled multi-graph of the programmable device (shown in FIG. 1A) to form a programmed device (shown in FIG. 11B). In the example illustrating the above process, for instance, OTAs labeled 3a,b,c in FIG. 9 are grouped together and represented by edges 3a,b,c in the graph of FIG. 10, and the capacitor CC4 connected to the OTAs is represented by a node of the graph labeled accordingly. Then the edges 3a,b,c and the node CC4 are all mapped into a single node of the graph of FIG. 1A. Such a node represents a group of OTAs and a capacitor shown in FIG. 11A, and can be realized by a single cell of the programmable device. Eleven such cells can be mapped into the programmable device as in FIG. 11B.
The following examples are intended to illustrate possible applications of a programmable analog device according to the invention. They are not exclusive by any means. Those skilled in the art can readily find many other applications.
This example illustrates a continuous-time ladder filter constructed using the inventive FPAA and having only local signal interconnections. FIG. 9 shows an electrical schematic of an eight-order, elliptic band-pass filter realized as an OTA-C ladder. This is a voltage-mode circuit, since each OTA takes a voltage signal as input, and although it produces a current signal, this current is always turned into voltage, either by the integrating operation of a capacitor (possibly only parasitic input capacitor of (an)other OTA(s)), or by another OTA with a feedback connection, which is equivalent to a resistor. Each signal created in this circuit is going to be fed to some OTA (which can accept only voltage-mode signals as input) or connected to the output terminals of the circuit, which also require a voltage-mode signal. This circuit, and other voltage-mode circuits, can be realized in an equivalent current-mode form in the structure of the presented device, if current-mode implementation of the device is preferred.
At first, the network of the filter does not exhibit much regularity, nor locality of connections. The easiest way to see both is by drawing the graph of connections of the circuit. Each pair of wires carries one differential signal, represented by a single node of the graph (FIG. 10). Each OTA is represented as a directed edge of the graph (FIG. 10). The graph reveals regularity which leads to a realization based on regular, locally-only interconnected structure. One particular way of deriving a regular structure for the circuit is by grouping all edges coming into a given node as a single unit. As an example, consider edges 3a-c (FIG. 10), representing OTA's with the same labels (FIG. 9) (as it is easy to notice, OTA's with outputs connected to the same pair of wires are labeled with the same numbers). OTA's 3a-c can be collected together as in FIG. 11A, forming a cluster with four inputs and one output (as for the realization of the whole filter circuit, nodes 1 and 10 would additionally require a feedback connection in one of the OTA's to realize lossy integration, and all four OTAs are required only in cell 6). Eleven such clusters can be connected locally only to comprise the whole filter, as is shown in FIG. 11B, wherein dashed lines indicate unused parts of the structure.
Instead of voltage-mode cells (OTA and C) current-mode cells of the programmable device may be used. The structure of connections is independent of the mode of signals, therefore, the cells in the programmable device are arranged in the same way as shown in FIG. 11B. Each cell works in an integrating mode, except cell 6, which realized "infinite" (i.e. very high) gain. Cells 1 and 10 realize lossy integrators, all others--lossless. All the signal interconnections are local, within the structure provided by the exemplified device. Since the input and output terminals are on the sides of the rectangular collection of cells in FIG. 11B, no extra global connections are necessary for this circuit, which can simply be placed in a corner of an array.
Most ladder filters of practical importance can be mapped into the structure of the exemplified FPAA in a similar way. Second-order (biquad) filters can be mapped too. Since every transfer function can be realized as a cascade of biquads and one-pole blocks (they can be realized by single cells), which can be then put next to each other in the array, the device provides a way of realizing continuous-time filters (in cascade or ladder topology) by means of local signal interconnections only.
This example illustrates an analog rank filter, a nonlinear circuit that is realized with local signal interconnections only. An analog rank filter is described, for example, in Paul et al., "A Simple Analog Rank Filter" ISCAS, IEEE, pp. 121-24, 1992. FIG. 12A shows a block diagram of a single cell of the exemplified analog rank filter and FIG. 12B shows how it can be mapped into the structure of the presented device. Two cells of the device are necessary to implement one cell of the rank filter. The left cell in FIG. 12B implements the left-hand part of the rank filter cell, and the right cell the right-hand part. One of ordinary skill in the art can identify functions performed by each cell in FIG. 12B. A required number of such cells can be placed next to each other to realize a rank filter circuit.
This example illustrates circuits also having global signal interconnections. FIG. 13 shows the structure of a matrix product tracking circuit. It takes two time-varying matrices A(t)= aij ! and B(t)= bij !, both 3 times 3, and creates their product C(t)=A(t)·B(t) (a factor of 3 is required to account for the distribution of each input signal to 3 cells; alternatively the input weights or gain k of each cell could be increased by the same factor). The circuit can be generalized for any rectangular conformable matrices. Each element cij (t) of the product matrix is produced by a "local" group of cells along a diagonal global signal line. However, to distribute the input signals and to collect the results signals, global connections are necessary. Each diagonal output line is used to sum elementary products aij ·bjk, j=1, . . . , n, comprising the product element cik.
The "globality" of connections results primarily from the need to distribute input signals and collect output signals. Creation of each matrix product is done "locally" (although using global signal lines). Global signal lines are used in this example only at the "terminals" of the circuit, such as for the input and output signals. Global lines are not involved in transmitting internal signals of the circuit.
If one modifies slightly the matrix product tracking circuit of FIG. 13, one can build a circuit tracking the solution of a system of linear equations. The solution x(t) of the system of algebraic equations A(t)·x(t)=b(t) can be found by solving a system x(t)+A(t)·x(t)-b(t)=0 of differential equations provided that the matrix A(t) is always positive stable. In many practical cases, matrix A will be time-invariant, but it is instructive to see the solution of a more general problem, i.e., with a time-varying matrix A(t). FIG. 14 shows a circuit solving a system of 3 equations with 3 unknowns x1 (t), . . . , x3 (t). The global connections in this circuit carry internal feedback signals, although the distance traveled by these signals is small.
A linear programming problem can be stated: given a set of constraints g(t)=F(t)·x(t)= g1 (t), . . . , gm (t)!'≦0 (the inequality is supposed to hold for every element of the vector; F is a rectangular matrix of constraints coefficients, g is a vector representing individual constraints), minimize the objective function ε(x1, . . . , xn)=ε·x=ε1 x1 + . . . +εn xn, where ε= ε1, . . . , εn !. Application of the method of steepest descent leads to a system of equations x=-μ·ε'-2a·A·diag(g)·U(g), where U(g) denotes the step function, diag(g) denotes a diagonal matrix with elements of vector g on the main diagonal, and μ and a are constants (μ→0, a→∞). This system can be solved by the circuit shown in FIG. 15. In the case of linear constraints matrix A will be identical to matrix F, nevertheless a more general circuit not assuming this equality is shown as an illustration of the versatility of the inventive device. A simplified circuit, with only matrix F input, can be easily derived.
This example illustrates Galois field GF(22) operations as part of MVL applications. FIGS. 16A and B shows the tables for addition and multiplication in Galois field 22. Each of these operations can be realized by the cells of FPAA, assuming that only two of the cell's inputs are used at a time. Addition can be realized as a ⊕ b=ƒ(a+b) for a≠b (FIGS. 16C and D), and a ⊕ b=0 otherwise. The condition a=b can be detected by the control block of a cell. This requires programming the weights of one of the input multiplexers/summers to calculate the difference a-b of the input signals, selecting constant 0 for comparison in the control block, and controlling the weights of the other input multiplexer to set them to zero if a=b was detected. Instead of function ƒ(x) (FIG. 16D) a smooth function ƒ1 (x) (FIG. 16E) can be used. This function can be realized by adding two characteristics of the clipping blocks shown in FIG. 16F. If the function of the form shown in FIG. 16D is required, it can be realized by providing more clipping blocks of the cell.
Multiplication a × b in the field (FIG. 16B) can be realized as a × b=((a+b-2) mod 3)+1 for a≠0 and b≠0, and a × b=0 otherwise. The two conditions for a and b can be tested independently by the comparators in the control block, and upon at least one of them being true the input weights of the multiplexer/summer would be turned down to 0. Mod 3 operation can be realized, as shown in FIGS. 16G and H. The control block performs the necessary logic operations. The realizations of GF(22) operations proposed in this example are similar to the ones presented in Zilic et al., "Current-mode CMOS Galois Field Circuits" ISMVL '93, p. 245-250.
This example illustrates an application of the addition and multiplication functions in GF(22) described in example 4 above to combinational functions synthesis method based on orthogonal expansions. FIG. 17A shows a block diagram of a structure realizing a function of input variables X1, X2, . . . , Xm. Each column realizes one base function over GF(22). Multiplied by a constant from GF(22), this function is added to the other base functions. All operations are in GF(22). FIG. 17B shows an example of realization of one of the functions ƒi. Since each cell can realize the identity operation (see Table 2), it is possible to omit certain input variables Xi, X3 in this example. More than one column of cells can be used for the realization of each ƒi if necessary. Also, it may be convenient to make certain input variables available on more than one horizontal global line. An alternative approach, based upon providing literals on horizontal lines, or some functions of single variables which are convenient for the creation of literals, is also possible. In one such approach the powers (i.e., multiple products in GF(22)) are used to create polynomial expansions of MVL functions.
The same structure illustrated in FIG. 17 is used for the implementation of Post logic. Each cell realizes min and max operations (See Table 1) instead of × and ⊕, respectively, and literals of the form shown in FIG. 3D. Each function ƒi is realized as in FIG. 17B, except that the cells realize min, max, or identity operation.
The structure of FIG. 17A can be used for realization of combinational functions with other methods. In such realizations, unlike the ones based upon orthogonal expansions, due to the availability of addition, multiplication (in the conventional sense), and nonlinear operations on signals, some combinational functions have very efficient implementations.
The topology of MVL circuits mapped into the inventive FPAA does not have to be constrained, such as the one shown in FIG. 17. Global vertical and diagonal signal lines can be used, if necessary, to achieve greater flexibility of the circuits' topology. FIG. 18 shows a structure for implementations based upon generalized Shannon expansion of MVL functions. Some input variables need to be connected to more than one diagonal line. More general forms of the same kind are possible, based upon other operators than > used for separation, for instance even vs. odd parity, based on matrix orthogonality, which is a generalization of an approach known for two-valued functions.
The integrator block is used as a memory element, enabling realization of sequential circuits. Since each cell is capable of realizing identity function, and global connections are available, larger, irregular structures, composed of combinational and sequential parts, can be built with the inventive FPAA.
This example illustrates an application of the inventive FPAA for fuzzy logic and continuous logic (such as Lukasiewicz logic) circuits, for example a fuzzy logic controller with correlation-product inference. A structure similar to the one shown is FIG. 17A is shown in FIG. 19A and used to implement a controller with m input variables and n fuzzy inference rules. FIG. 19B shows details of each rule implementation. Fuzzy membership function is implemented as a trapezoidal DC transfer function of the kind shown in FIG. 3C. Activation values wi are multiplied by centroid values of the fuzzy rules consequents ci, and their areas Ii, yielding two sums computed on two horizontal global lines. The final expression for the defuzzified output variable vk is produced by a two-quadrant divider shown in FIG. 19C.
Based on these these designs, other continuous-time matrix manipulation circuits, such as matrix addition, or inversion, and other circuits can be created according to the prior art knowledge in analog computers design. The methodology of realization of various circuits implemented in the programmable circuit device structure can be also a basis of more general circuit synthesis. For instance, if one designs a continuous-time filter (like the band-pass filter described above) in the structure of the device, the mapping of the filter components into the structure of the programmable device, together with the FPAA's floor plan, can be used as a basis for a standard custom design of such a filter, leading to the improved layout of the filter due to the use of local connections only. Other applications of the invention include but are not limited to classical neural networks; cellular neural networks; immunocomputers; Wiener and Kalman filters; state-space and other adaptive filters; differential and integral equation solvers; partial differential equation (PDE) solvers (by finite element method); combinatorial optimization solvers; consistent labeling problem solvers; Ricatti control circuits; reverse tracking robot and other robot control problems; cellular automata; gas Ising problems; and optimal control problems (e.g., Kurman chains).
Having illustrated and described the principles of the invention in a preferred embodiment, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention can be modified in arrangement and detail without departing from such principles. For example, discrete or integrated components of various types may be employed for the various parts of the programmable device, as is known to those of skill in the art. Technologies such as bipolar, MOS, NMOS, PMOS, ECL, and others may be used as desired.
This example illustrates a FPAA structure (ladder filter) with local interconnections (FIG. 11B). Each cell derives a weighted sum of selected signals from four nearest neighbors and optionally performs lossy or lossless integration to produce its own output signal (FIG. 11C). An eighth-order elliptic band-pass ladder filter has been mapped into the FPAA. Dashed lines show unused elements and connections. All cells in the structure are identical, however, in the filter they realize three different functions: ideal integration, lossy integration and amplification, with parameters varying from cell to cell. The illustrated design does not use any switches in the signal path. A straightforward implementation of amplification/integration in OTA-C (operational transconductance amplifier and capacitor) technique (Schaumann et al. infra. and Tan, infra.) leads to a capacitor connected to the OTA's output via electronic switches, degrading the frequency response.
A test circuit, containing an amplifier/integrator core of a cell (FIGS. 24 and 25A, B), was fabricated in a Maxim CPI transistor-array process. To avoid clutter, auxiliary bias and common-mode feedback circuitry was omitted in the figures. The input buffer k1 (FIGS. 6A, B), comprising transistors Q11 -Q16 (FIG. 23) was based on a Gilbert current-mode amplifier. When IE11, IE12 are off, no signal is passed to the cell (an inactive connection in FIG. 11B). When one of the sources is on, the signal is transmitted with optional gain (dependent of the bias) of up to about 10. The buffer also eliminates common-mode signals and separates high impedance gm input from other cells.
In the integrating mode (FIGS. 6A, 23) sources IE12, IC15 and IC16 are off. Outputs of the buffer are connected to a simplified gm cell (Darlington pairs Q25 -Q26, Q27 -Q28) and to the capacitors C. A two-stage current amplifier k2 (Q21 -Q24, Q31 -Q32, Q35 -Q36) follows gm. Q35, Q36 with active loads and emitter follower Q37 Q38 provide voltage output. With IE31 off, differential output current is IC33, IC34 minus collector currents of Q37, Q38 With capacitors C, this is a classic Miller integrator in differential form with an additional current output. The gain can be changed by changing bias of the input buffer.
In amplifying mode (FIGS. 6B, 23), IE11 is off, the gm cell receives no signal, and IE33 is off. Buffer k1 feeds current directly to the amplifier k2 (from Q15, Q16) The gain of this cascade can be turned up to 60 dB by changing the bias. The output current is IC33, IC34 minus collector currents of Q33, Q34.
FIGS. 24 and 25 demonstrate frequency response in integrating and amplifying modes, respectively. Adjustment of IE33 allows fine tuning of a phase response in the vicinity of -90°. Two common-mode feedback circuits (similar to the ones shown in FIG. 20B), assure proper voltage levels at the input of the gm cell, and the collectors of Q35 and Q36. Voltage emitters of Q21 and Q22, proportional to the common-mode voltage at the gm input, is compared to a reference level. Correction signals are sent to the bias sources IE11, IC13, IC14. A similar scheme is used for Q35 and Q36.
Changing voltage gain within the integrator results in shifting the useful range of frequencies along a frequency axis. Table 3 below summarizes main parameters of a single cell of this illustrative circuit.
The full cell should have five independently tuned input buffers: four to communicate with neighbors, and one to implement a one-pole function by feeding the integrator's output back to the input. Therefore, this example implements a fully programmable FPAA with exclusively local signal interconnections. The filter implementation in the FPAA does not suffer any more undesirable signal interactions than the ones unavoidably present in its non-programmable implementations. Ladders or other types of filters, as well as certain circuits modeling systems of differential equations can be mapped to this FPAA.
1. A programmable analog device comprising an array of programmable analog signal processing cells, wherein each analog signal processing cell comprises an analog signal processing portion and a control circuit, wherein the control circuit controls the operation of the analog signal processing portion and may also take part in auxiliary information processing, wherein the array of programmable analog signal processing cells are locally interconnected by one or a plurality of signal interconnections to form the programmable analog device, wherein a cell is considered locally interconnected in that the number of cells connected to a given cell by programmable analog signal connections connected to the cell does not change as the number of cells in the programmable analog device varies, whereby a total length of unprogrammed signal connections has been minimized.
2. The programmable analog device of claim 1, further comprising one or a plurality of signal interconnections for connecting various cells of the array together, wherein said signal interconnections result in some cells becoming globally connected, wherein a cell is considered globally interconnected in that the number of cells connected to a given cell by programmable analog signal connections connected to the cell changes as the number of cells in the array varies, whereby a total length of unprogrammed signal connections has been minimized.
3. The programmable analog device of claim 2 wherein the control circuit comprises a means for exchanging information to and from the control circuit, a means for storing information, or a means for communicating with an associated analog processing portion of a cell.
4. The programmable analog device of claim 3 wherein the control circuit is programmed to determine the operation of the analog processing portion of the cell, and the analog processing portion of a cell comprises a means for performing one or more mathematical and other functions.
5. The programmable analog device of claim 4 wherein the analog processing portion is programmed by changing the operating point (bias) of electron devices in the signal path and not by using switches in the signal path.
6. The programmable analog device of claim 5 wherein the analog processing portion comprises an amplifier/integrator, wherein the amplifier/integrator comprises an operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) input stage, having an input signal and an output signal connected to a current amplifier, wherein the current amplifier comprises an additional voltage mode output, and a capacitor or a plurality of capacitors connected to the voltage mode output of the current amplifier and to the input of the OTA, wherein the current-mode output signal of the amplifier is proportional to its voltage-mode output signal, which represents the integral of the input current-mode signal, wherein the amplifier/integrator further optionally comprises an input current buffer having a current-mode input and two current-mode outputs, whereby one output is connected to the input of the OTA and the other output is connected to the input of the amplifier/integrator.
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0.95777 | Has NASA Found An Alien Civilization?
NASA's Kepler Space Telescope hunts for exoplanets that orbit distant stars but there are speculations that it may also have the ability to detect artificial structures, which could mean a discovery of an alien civilization. It is so advanced and has the ability to construct megastructures that can orbit around and harness energy from a star.
Some experts believe that mysterious objects surrounding a giant star called KIC 8462852 could be an alien megastructure. Kepler has been collecting data on this star for four years and detected an unusual light pattern.
Scientists who studied the star, which is located about 1,480 light years away from Earth, found that it emits light pattern far stranger than those seen on other stars.
Kepler finds exoplanets by sensing the dips in starlight from a host star. In the case of KIC 8462852, the dip drops slowly then rises faster. Its brightness appears to go up and down and then disappears totally, which seems like a random transit.
The light pattern suggests of a mess of objects that circle KIC 8462852 in tight formation and the mess was big enough it can block a substantial amount of starlight.
"KIC 8462852 was observed to undergo irregularly shaped, aperiodic dips in flux down to below the 20% level. The dipping activity can last for between 5 and 80 days," wrote Yale Postdoc and study researcher Tabetha Boyajian and colleagues. "We determine that KIC 8462852 is a main-sequence F3 V/IV star, with a rotation period ~0.88 d, that exhibits no significant IR excess."
The mysterious objects that orbit the star though were neither comets nor remnants from an asteroid impact, researchers said, adding that they have never seen anything like the star.
In a paper submitted for publication to the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society journal on Sept. 11, astronomers also reported that the space telescope is not seeing things and that there was no instrumental error.
Jason Wright, an astronomer from Penn State University, said he thinks that the oddity could indicate an "alien megastructure".
"When [Boyajian] showed me the data, I was fascinated by how crazy it looked," Wright said. "Aliens should always be the very last hypothesis you consider, but this looked like something you would expect an alien civilization to build."
SETI researchers suggested the possibility of detecting distant extraterrestrial civilizations by searching for enormous technological artifacts that orbit stars. Wright said that that the odd starlight pattern is consistent with a swarm of artificial megastructures that may have been designed to harness energy from the giant star. |
0.998033 | This transaction contains 16 inputs with 1 mixins each. We can deduce 16 of the 16 inputs.
This database query took 100.8 milliseconds.
Output 133: This output is included in 7 transaction input(s). |
0.611893 | What is a (i) Helmholtz pair, (ii) a Maxwell pair and (iii) a Golay coil?
A Helmholtz pair is two coaxial loops of current carrying wire placed symmetrically about the origin, such that the ratio of their separation and their radii gives optimal field homogeneity at the origin (ratio = 1). More than two loops / coils are used in creating the main magnetic field, but the principle of adding coils at specific positions is continued to increase homogeneity. The current goes round the same way in both loops. Helmholtz coils are also used in some RF coil designs.
A Maxwell pair is like a Helmholtz but the current goes opposite ways round the loops. This creates a magnetic field that varies with position. The distance between the loops follows a different convention also.
Think "x or y gradient".
Circular loops will do in creating a linearly varying magnetic field in the z-direction, because they may be placed around the magnet bore. The x and y gradients however pose a challenge: how does one place a loop around the magnet in a direction orthogonal to the z-axis? A solution is the Golay coil, which uses a different shape. Conceptually, it's the same as a Maxwell pair in terms of creating the linearly varying magnetic field, but the calculation of that field is more involved. More complicated designs are used these days, based on the Golay coil, e.g. "fingerprint coils". |
0.92446 | How old is Charlie Sheen?
Charlie Sheen was born on 3 September 1965.
Charlie Sheen is 53 years old.
How old is Charlie Sheen in days now?
Charlie Sheen is 53 years 7 months 18 days old.
Total 19,588 days old now.
When is the next birthday of Charlie Sheen?
Charlie Sheen's next birthday is in 4 months 13 days.
What is the zodiac sign of Charlie Sheen?
Zodiac sign of Charlie Sheen is Virgo.
Charlie Sheen (Carlos Irwin Estévez) is a popular American actor, whose amazing performance in "Two and a Half Men" is unforgettable. Charlie was born in 1956 in the family of actors: his father is Martin Sheen, a talented actor, and TV personality. Charlie is one of Martin's 4 children, all of whom became actors. Since his childhood, Charlie was a big fan of baseball and wanted to be a professional player, but his passion for acting has finally dominated. In the early 1970s, he received his first roles in some movies alongside his father, and the first serious role of Charlie was in "Red Dawn", released in 1984. Since then, Sheen combined working in cinema with taking part in TV series. Some most successful movies of his are "Young Guns", "Eight Men Out", "Major League", "All Dogs Go to Heavens", "The Three Musketeers", "Scary Movie" series. During the 2000s, Sheen took part in two TV series, "Spin City" and "Two and a Half Men", which made him very popular and well known around the world. However, due to his improper behavior and family-related problems, he was replaced in the latter series with Ashton Kutcher. Charlie was married a few times and has 5 children. He lives this life to the fullest and hardly knows a measure in anything! |
0.990579 | Facebook's IPO Morality Tale: If The Green Shoes Fit, Wear Them?
Facebook's reversal of fortunes in such a short span of time has played out almost like a modern-day morality tale. The fall-out of the social network post-IPO, after such an enthusiastic build-up was telling. While it lined the pockets of some (namely investment bankers), it deprived the 99 Percenters (or Dumb F*cks as Zuckerberg so adroitly labeled them back in 2004) full-disclosure, resulting in a subsequent short-fall on their FB investment.
In a time when excessive, unregulated profits continue to be eked out on Wall Street, does the Facebook IPO shed additional light on the reverse Robin-Hood business practice of taking from the poor and giving to the rich? It does appear that way if one was to fully understand what went down on May 18th.
Apparently when Morgan Stanley put together the offer, they included one of the few SEC-permitted, risk-free options that allowed them to stabilize the pricing of FB's post-issue. Labeled the "greenshoe" option, this caveat permitted the investment banker to over-allot the number of public shares available. The term comes from the first company to use this draconian practice - Green Shoe Manufacturing (now called Stride Rite Corporation).
Fuzzy math comes into play at this point, since it appears that Morgan Stanley and the other major underwriters sold more shares than they bought (basically what the greenshoe option allows them to do). This is done purposely, because it causes a "short" in the market which will then prompt an upward pressure on the share price.
This however did not take place. Instead as everyone is now aware, FB's stock actually went south. But why?
Well...on May 9th, Zuckerberg (lampooned for his 'fast shuffles' in the past) issued a revised prospectus that noted the negative impact of mobile users on Facebook's advertising revenue projections. With this new intel, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Bank of America "reduced" their FB earnings revenue estimates for the remainder of 2012.
In a Reuters' release posted by Poornim Gupta and Alexel Oreskovic, the revised numbers were relayed to big investors via private phone calls. It was noted that Bank of America held a conference call on May 10 with analyst Justin Post, where the underwriter revealed the lower estimates.
According to Rebecca Greenfield's report in the Atlantic Wire, "After days (months? years?) of hype, Facebook filed amended IPO documents with reduced revenue forecasts buried down on page 57." Without public disclosure, while the big boys received this "unfair advantage" in the words of Raise, Das and Chon, the general public was still over-reaching based on the zeitgeist fever pitch that motivated them to buy, irregardless of the price.
"These people didn't know about the downgrades. And that's how the price got set too high. People on the Buddy Systemoutside wanted it at $42, people in the know wanted it at $32. So we got a compromised $38," noted Greenfield. And no one in the know was willing to share this intel. . . say, on a Facebook status update, perhaps? Nope, the well-healed "buddy system" was in place, and only the rich got richer.
"Ordinary investors were largely cut out of the wealth-creation process, and well-connected investment firms took their place," explains John Cassidy in The New Yorker. "It all sounds suspiciously like an inside job, in which the last ones in, the ordinary investors, are the saps," he adds.
So does walking away in "green shoes" leave Morgan Stanley et al in the clear? Well with an arcane SEC option that's almost 100 years old (first used in 1919), it appears to have given them the "green light" to conduct business in such a fashion. However with FB's stock price continuing to dip (to $US 31.57, at time of this posting), Facebook shareholders are not happy. And to voice their displeasure, they have just filed a class action suit against Facebook and Morgan Stanley.
Filed by the same firm which won $7 billion from Enron bankers, Robbins Geller is taking up the fight for the Facebook users who feel maligned. While Zuckerberg's empire will most likely surface from this battle unscathed, this latest blow once again dampens the perception of Facebook by many of its 900 million followers. Still dissatisfied by FB's heavy-handed approach with privacy infractions of the past, this latest incident might ironically fulfill Zuckerberg's self-fulfilling prophesy - i.e., limited sales from cell phone ads in the future.
Hell, if he was cognizant enough to lower expectations (based on this revenue source, or lack there-of) in his "undisclosed, revised" prospectus just 10 days prior to his IPO, who are we to prove him wrong. Could that (green)shoe finally be on the other foot?
Insiders were 57% of the selling shareholders. That right there reeks of pigs at the trough. If insiders were say... 20% of selling shareholders this would probably never have happened.
There used to be a saying, "you run a public company just as much for the benefit of the widow on Main St with one share as you do the money manager on Wall Street with a million shares."
That didn't happen here. As of the close yesterday, public market investors had lost nearly $1.7 billion to Facebook insiders. That's not the way its supposed to work, folks.
I think there's a new generation coming -those that have used it for last 3-4 yrs are getting bored and looking to find alternatives.
Looking into some other altenatives also. |
0.999896 | If you are thinking about setting up your own group or club to take action, here are four suggestions for finding members and sources of help.
Contact relevant organizations: If you're interested in education, there is likely to be a local or international organization working on the particular issue you're interested in that you could link up with.
Talk to people you know: Family and friends as well as people in your school and community are always a good source! Ask them if they would be willing to support or help you. If at first you find it difficult to get support, do not give up, persistence is crucial to success.
Arrange public talks and discussions: Ask for permission to talk about the issue at school, at your local place of worship, at community gatherings and at sports clubs or other events. The more you talk about your issue the better.
Set up a meeting: A specific meeting about your project can help get things moving. You can have it at someone's home, at school or anywhere else where you can get permission to meet without too much disturbance. Put up posters announcing the meeting. Follow up your posters by speaking to as many people as you can face-to-face. The day before your meeting, remind as many people as you can about it.
It can take time to gather the support you need, but it's an essential ingredient to success so do your best to get people excited about what you're passionate about. |
0.942501 | This involves an amnesia that involves forgetting the entire life of the person.
This involves recalling only a few portions of the past events that took place only within a defined period of time.
This involves a memory loss on specific information, such as an inability to recall memories about a single member of the family only.
This involves a memory loss of past events that begin from a specific period in the past that is continuous to the present time.
This involves a rare disorder concerning memory loss where the person become confused of their identity and often assumes a different identity that may last for a few hours, days, or months.
Dissociative amnesia is often associated with depression, post traumatic disorders, and anxiety disorders. Formerly known as psychogenic amnesia the condition is characterized with an abnormal function in their ability to recall past events without known structural brain damage or even any neurobiological etiology.
Dissociative amnesia is often characterized by memory loss, loss of consciousness and awareness, identity and even perception. This type of mental illness can often result in a disrupted general functioning of a person that may affect their family, work, social life, and relationships with others. |
0.982186 | I carry a lot of scars. I like the way that sounds. I carry a lot of scars. |
0.935158 | Ford credit score requirements for Ford Motor credit generally recommended that you have at least a 650 credit score to apply for Ford credit with any likelihood of approval. Having a credit score lower than this does not necessarily mean that you cannot get a line of credit, but the terms will not be nearly as favorable.
A 620 credit score isn’t going to be enough without a co-signer and typically to get the best interest rate you need around a 760 credit score or better.
Other things aside from your credit score — such as income, payment history and other lines of credit you have open are used to help determine eligibility as well. With a 650 credit score, you will have to make a larger down payment and your interest rate will be higher, but still in a reasonable interest rate range.
Ford credit offers financing and leasing options for both new and certified pre-owned Ford and Lincoln vehicles. Ford’s credit website allows customers to make payments, view account history or print statements with the account manager. Also offered online are a variety of financial tools including a budget calculator, payment estimator and other tips for understanding credit. Credit applications are available online or by phone, and approval is generally available in minutes — customer support is available online or by phone. |
0.999998 | Estimate uncertainty The bootstrap (Efron and Gong) plot is used to estimate the uncertainty of a statistic.
Generate subsamples with replacement To generate a bootstrap uncertainty estimate for a given statistic from a set of data, a subsample of a size less than or equal to the size of the data set is generated from the data, and the statistic is calculated. This subsample is generated with replacement so that any data point can be sampled multiple times or not sampled at all. This process is repeated for many subsamples, typically between 500 and 1000. The computed values for the statistic form an estimate of the sampling distribution of the statistic.
For example, to estimate the uncertainty of the median from a dataset with 50 elements, we generate a subsample of 50 elements and calculate the median. This is repeated at least 500 times so that we have at least 500 values for the median. Although the number of bootstrap samples to use is somewhat arbitrary, 500 subsamples is usually sufficient. To calculate a 90% confidence interval for the median, the sample medians are sorted into ascending order and the value of the 25th median (assuming exactly 500 subsamples were taken) is the lower confidence limit while the value of the 475th median (assuming exactly 500 subsamples were taken) is the upper confidence limit.
This bootstrap plot was generated from 500 uniform random numbers. Bootstrap plots and corresponding histograms were generated for the mean, median, and mid-range. The histograms for the corresponding statistics clearly show that for uniform random numbers the mid-range has the smallest variance and is, therefore, a superior location estimator to the mean or the median.
Vertical axis: Computed value of the desired statistic for a given subsample.
The bootstrap plot is simply the computed value of the statistic versus the subsample number. That is, the bootstrap plot generates the values for the desired statistic. This is usually immediately followed by a histogram or some other distributional plot to show the location and variation of the sampling distribution of the statistic.
What does the sampling distribution for the statistic look like?
What is a 95% confidence interval for the statistic?
Which statistic has a sampling distribution with the smallest variance? That is, which statistic generates the narrowest confidence interval?
Importance The most common uncertainty calculation is generating a confidence interval for the mean. In this case, the uncertainty formula can be derived mathematically. However, there are many situations in which the uncertainty formulas are mathematically intractable. The bootstrap provides a method for calculating the uncertainty in these cases.
Cautuion on use of the bootstrap The bootstrap is not appropriate for all distributions and statistics (Efron and Tibrashani). For example, because of the shape of the uniform distribution, the bootstrap is not appropriate for estimating the distribution of statistics that are heavily dependent on the tails, such as the range.
The jacknife is a technique that is closely related to the bootstrap. The jackknife is beyond the scope of this handbook. See the Efron and Gong article for a discussion of the jackknife.
Case Study The bootstrap plot is demonstrated in the uniform random numbers case study.
Software The bootstrap is becoming more common in general purpose statistical software programs. However, it is still not supported in many of these programs. Both R software and Dataplot support a bootstrap capability. |
0.931696 | how to terminate TD account if i'm not in the US?
It's great to hear from you today, Tzu Chieh, and we appreciate you coming to TD Helps for assistance. When you are no longer within TD Bank's footprint, and need to close your account, there are a couple ways you are able to do so, and they may vary depending on the current balance in your account. To avoid any confusion, we'll be happy to provide you with all your options, and you may then choose the one that is most convenient for you. First, if your account currently has a zero dollar balance, you may connect with a Specialist directly, and we'll be happy to process the account closure for you. You're welcome to first call and speak with a Banking Specialist, 24/7, at 1-888-751-9000, or you may also call collect with operator assistance, from a landline device, by asking the operator to dial (215)-569-0518. If you're unable to call, we understand, and you would also have the option of sending us a secure message directly from your Online Banking. To send a secure message, you will first want to log into your TD Bank online profile by clicking here: https://go.td.com/1eaISlq. Once you've successfully logged in, look for the 'Message Center' on the left hand side and select 'Send a secure message'. If you have downloaded our mobile banking app for your smartphone, you may also use this method to send a secure message. From your Mobile Banking, log in and select 'Send a Secure Message' from the side Menu. We generally respond within 24 hours or less. It's important to note that if you plan on sending us a secure message to close your account, please be sure to include your account number along with your request in your message as this information will be needed for a Specialist to successfully proceed. If your account still has a balance, and you are unable to bring the balance to zero to take advantage of any of the methods mentioned above, you would have the option to close your account by mailing TD Bank a signed, written, and notarized request to the following address: TD Bank, N.A. Your home Store address Your home Store telephone number Your request will need to include all account numbers so that we may issue you a check for the remaining funds in your account(s), as well as your final statement. If you're unfamiliar with your Store address and telephone number, you may take a look at the link here: https://go.td.com/2i69WrB to find your Store location, or you may also contact us at any of the methods mentioned above, and we'll be happy to provide you with this information. We're sorry to see you go, Tzu Chieh, but we hope this information was helpful. Take care, and enjoy the start to your weekend. |
0.962354 | Continued growth of this species in urban habitats could potentially increase contact with humans .
Anopheles plumbeus is distributed throughout Europe, the Caucasus, the Middle East, Iran and Iraq and in North Africa . This mosquito has been found in nearly all European countries, including Scandinavia and Italy, and also in the western Himalayas .
Anopheles plumbeus distribution: Albania, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France (including Corsica), Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy (including Sardinia and Sicily), Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and United Kingdom .
This mosquito species has begun to utilise artificial breeding sites which have helped it to expand into more suburban and urban areas in Europe.
Adult females of Anopheles plumbeus can be distinguished from Anopheles claviger by their smaller size, darker colouration, long-haired antennae and more densely scaled wings [2,4].
Larvae of Anopheles plumbeus are easily distinguishable from other species in Europe by examining the frontal setae which are single and reduced in size .
Eggs are not laid on the water surface but on the sides of potential breeding habitats, just above the waterline, so the number of generations produced each year often depends upon hydrological conditions. Overwintering takes place in the egg or larval stages, which can survive long periods of water-freezing. Adults of Anopheles plumbeus in Europe are found from late spring until the end of September .
This species has a longevity of up to two months .
This species is known to be a particularly aggressive biter, feeding at any time of the day on different mammalian hosts, including humans and on birds and reptiles .
Larvae of Anopheles plumbeus can be found in water-filled tree-holes with a high salt concentration and deficiency of oxygen . Larvae have been found in water at rot-holes on beech, birch, horse chestnut, elm, oak, sycamore, hornbeam and silver fir trees, from 0.5 to 6.0 metres above the ground . Larvae can also be found in artificial containers, such as tyres, rainwater casks and cemetery vases . In Spain, Anopheles plumbeus is well distributed, having been found for the first time in the country in 1909 in Madrid . It has been found breeding in tree holes (e.g. white and black poplar trees) and artificial containers . A recent survey revealed the presence of this species in water in a plastic bag near several tree-hole breeding sites .
More recently, the species has adapted its breeding habits to utilise artificial breeding sites such as catch basins or septic tanks . In north-eastern France, large numbers of larvae have been found in pits collecting rainwater and liquid manure . Larvae have also recently (2010) been collected from artificial containers in urban areas in Albania (E. Velo, personal communication). This species has also been associated with abandoned manure tanks and un-cleaned stables with broken roofing where water has collected .
Adults are generally associated with rural habitats such as forests (due to the species being a tree-hole breeder), but it is becoming increasingly common in urban areas including urban parks . The adaptation of Anopheles plumbeus to human-created habitats, particularly abandoned and un-cleaned pig housing where mosquitoes breed in manure pools, has contributed significantly to increases in serious nuisance biting in Belgium . Research in Switzerland and Liechtenstein showed that most specimens were collected in urban/suburban areas . In Belgium, Anopheles plumbeus is present in urban, rural, natural and importation-risk habitats; harbours, airports, and importation company premises .
Adult female Anopheles plumbeus are persistent biters, being most active during the crepuscular period but also reported as massive biting nuisance during the day . Some populations have shown a strong anthropophilic preference .
In some settings in central Europe, this species has become a major nuisance biter in areas where unused septic tanks support mass breeding . Pits collecting liquid manure or rainwater in urban areas are also known to support large numbers of larvae and have been associated with persistent nuisance biting .
Larvae can survive long periods when the water surface is frozen but some mortality is seen if the entire water column becomes frozen .
It remains unknown whether the change in breeding habits implies ecotypic differentiation from natural populations across Europe .
Anopheles plumbeus has been implicated in malaria transmission in forests at Caucasian resorts , was suspected of being responsible for two locally acquired cases in London , two cases reported in Germany and also for cases among forest workers in the Slavonian mountains of north-east Croatia (E, Merdić, personal communication).
Anopheles plumbeus is considered to be an efficient carrier of malaria (Eurasian strains of Plasmodium vivax and tropical strains of Plasmodium falciparum ) but is thought to be of minor importance in transmission due to its ecology . In Spain it has never been found involved in malaria transmission or arbovirus transmission .
A recent study demonstrated laboratory infection of Anopheles plumbeus females (from Switzerland) with a tropical strain of Plasmodium falciparum, showing an overall infectivity of 94% (45 out of 48 individuals) in one experiment , suggesting that this species could play a significant role in local transmission of imported malaria. Experimental data have shown that British Anopheles plumbeus are susceptible to infection with Plasmodium falciparum, at least to the oocyst stage, but malaria outbreaks in Britain are thought to be very unlikely .
The laboratory transmission of West Nile Virus by Anopheles plumbeus has been reported . Because of its ornithophagic and anthropophagic behaviour, Anopheles plumbeus is considered to be a potential bridge vector for the transmission of West Nile Virus from birds to humans . Based on the mosquito’s habitat range, it is not predicted to be associated with West Nile Virus transmission in Italy .
Various countries have set up nationwide surveillance schemes to establish baseline species distribution and detect changes in distribution/introductions of new species. Such schemes have included targeted surveillance for this species (e.g. Italy, Spain). The information is currently shared with VBORNET partners and collaborators via the network.
CO2-baited mosquito magnet traps are thought to be the most effective method of collecting adult mosquitoes . Larval dipping is common for the collection of immature stages from aquatic breeding habitats .
Control measures have been used to reduce biting nuisance in urban areas where the species has been associated with breeding in large pits. Such measures include: removing the liquid from the pits or applying a biological larvicide based on Bacillus sphaericus .
The German mosquito control agency (KABS) monitors this species and applies tablets of Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis to treat cesspools and water containers. Several million tablets are used annually, greatly reducing mosquito numbers in urban areas .
1. Bueno-Marí R, Jiménez-Peydró R. Anopheles plumbeus Stephens, 1828: a neglected malaria vector in Europe. Malar Rep. 2011;1:e2.
2. Becker N, Petric D, Zgomba M, Boase C, Madon M, Dahl C, et al. Mosquitoes and their control. Second Edition. Berlin: Springer Verlag; 2010.
3. Blacklock B, Carter HF. Observations on Anopheles (Coelodiazesis) plumbeus, Stephens, with special reference to its breeding-places, occurrence in the Liverpool district, and possible connection with the spread of malaria. Ann Trop Med Parasitol. 1920;13(4):421-54.
4. Schaffner F, Angel G, Geoffroy B, Hervy JP, Rhaiem AJB. The mosquitoes of Europe (CDRom). Montpellier, France: IRD Edition and EID Méditerranée; 2001.
5. Schaffner F, Thiery I, Kaufmann C, Zettor A, Lengeler C, Mathis A, et al. Anopheles plumbeus (Diptera: Culicidae) in Europe: a mere nuisance mosquito or potential malaria vector? Malar J. 2012;11:393.
6. Senevet G, Andarelli L. Les Anopheles de l’Afrique du Nord et du Bassin Mediterranéen. Paris 1956.
7. Bueno-Mari R, Jimenez-Peydro R. Study of the malariogenic potential in Eastern Spain. Trop Biomed. 2012 Mar;29(1):39-50.
8. Dekoninck W, Hendrickx F, Van Bortel W, Versteirt V, Coosemans M, Damiens D, et al. Human-induced expanded distribution of Anopheles plumbeus, experimental vector of West Nile virus and a potential vector of human malaria in Belgium. J Med Entomol. 2011 Jul;48(4):924-8.
9. Toma L, Cipriani M, Goffredo M, Romi R, Lelli R. First report on entomological field activities for the surveillance of West Nile disease in Italy. Vet Ital. 2008 Jul-Sep;44(3):483-97.
10. Versteirt V, Boyer S, Damiens D, De Clercq EM, Dekoninck W, Ducheyne E, et al. Nationwide inventory of mosquito biodiversity (Diptera: Culicidae) in Belgium, Europe. Bull Entomol Res. 2013 Apr;103(2):193-203.
11. Snow K. Distribution of Anopheles mosquitoes in the British Isles. J Eu Mosq Control Assoc. 1998;1:9-13.
12. Kruger A, Rech A, Su XZ, Tannich E. Two cases of autochthonous Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Germany with evidence for local transmission by indigenous Anopheles plumbeus. Trop Med Int Health. 2001 Dec;6(12):983-5.
13. Blazquez J. [Susceptibility to malaria in Spain]. Rev Sanid Hig Publica (Madr). 1982 Jul-Aug;56(7-8):683-91.
14. Aranda C, Sanchez-Seco MP, Caceres F, Escosa R, Galvez JC, Masia M, et al. Detection and monitoring of mosquito flaviviruses in Spain between 2001 and 2005. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2009 Apr;9(2):171-8.
15. Marchant P, Eling W, van Gemert GJ, Leake CJ, Curtis CF. Could British mosquitoes transmit falciparum malaria? Parasitol Today. 1998 Sep;14(9):344-5.
16. Medlock JM, Snow KR, Leach S. Potential transmission of West Nile virus in the British Isles: an ecological review of candidate mosquito bridge vectors. Med Vet Entomol. 2005 Mar;19(1):2-21.
17. Mughini-Gras L, Mulatti P, Severini F, Boccolini D, Romi R, Bongiorno G, et al. Ecological niche modelling of potential West Nile virus vector mosquito species and their geographical association with equine epizootics in Italy. EcoHealth. 2013 Oct 12.
18. Becker N. Influence of climate change on mosquito development and mosquito-borne diseases in Europe. Parasitol Res. 2008 Dec;103 Suppl 1:S19-28. |
0.982343 | Many optimal foraging models for diving animals examine strategies that maximize time spent in the foraging zone, assuming that prey acquisition increases linearly with search time. Other models have considered the effect of patch quality and predict a net energetic benefit if dives where no prey is encountered early in the dive are abandoned. For deep divers, however, the energetic benefit of giving up is reduced owing to the elevated energy costs associated with descending to physiologically hostile depths, so patch residence time should be invariant. Others consider an asymptotic gain function where the decision to leave a patch is driven by patch-depletion effects - the marginal value theorem. As predator behaviour is increasingly being used as an index of marine resource density and distribution, it is important to understand the nature of this gain function.
We investigated the dive behaviour of the world's deepest-diving seal, the southern elephant seal Mirounga leonina, in response to patch quality. Testing these models has largely been limited to controlled experiments on captive animals. By integrating in situ measurements of the seal's relative lipid content obtained from drift rate data (a measure of foraging success) with area-restricted search behaviour identified from first-passage time analysis, we identified regions of high- and low-quality patches.
Dive durations and bottom times were not invariant and did not increase in regions of high quality; rather, both were longer when patches were of relatively low quality. This is consistent with the predictions of the marginal value theorem and provides support for a nonlinear relationship between search time and prey acquisition.
We also found higher descent and ascent rates in high-quality patches suggesting that seals minimized travel time to the foraging patch when quality was high; however, this was not achieved by increasing speed or dive angle. Relative body lipid content was an important predictor of dive behaviour.
Seals did not schedule their diving to maximize time spent in the foraging zone in higher-quality patches, challenging the widely held view that maximizing time in the foraging zone translates to greater foraging success. |
0.973112 | "Strengthening our inner state so that we are able to resist and even transform the most difficult and negative conditions is the purpose of Buddhist practice. Based on his reading of the Lotus Sutra, the sixth-century Chinese Buddhist T'ien-t'ai developed a system that classifies human experience into ten states or 'worlds.'"
The prime concern of Buddhism is our life-state, the joy or suffering we experience at each moment. This is always seen as an interaction between external conditions and inner tendencies; the same conditions (the same workplace, for example) that will be experienced by one person as unremitting misery may be a source of exhilarating challenge and satisfaction to another. Strengthening our inner state so that we are able to resist and even transform the most difficult and negative conditions is the purpose of Buddhist practice.
Based on his reading of the Lotus Sutra, the sixth-century Chinese Buddhist T'ien-t'ai developed a system that classifies human experience into ten states or "worlds." This Ten Worlds teaching was adopted and elaborated by Nichiren, who stressed the inner, subjective nature of these worlds: "As to the question of where exactly Hell and the Buddha exist, one sutra reads that Hell exists underground and another sutra says that the Buddha is in the west. However, closer examination reveals that both exist in our five-foot body."
What are these ten worlds, then? Ordered from the least to the most desirable, they are: Hell--a condition of despair in which one is completely overwhelmed by suffering; Hunger--a state dominated by deluded desire that can never be satisfied; Animality--an instinctual state of fearing the strong and bullying the weak; Anger--a state characterized by an unrestrained competitive urge to surpass and dominate others and often a pretence of being good and wise. These four states are referred to as the Four Evil Paths because of the destructive negativity that marks them.
Continuing, Humanity is a tranquil state marked by the ability to reason and make calm judgments. While fundamental to our identity as humans, this state can also represent a fragile balance that yields to one of the lower states when confronted with negative conditions. Rapture is a state of joy typically experienced when desire is fulfilled or suffering escaped. The worlds thus far are sometimes grouped together as the Six Lower Worlds. These are all basically reactions to changing external conditions in which we experience a lack of real freedom and autonomy.
What Buddhism refers to as the Four Noble States represent the effort to live with integrity, inner freedom and compassion. The world of Learning describes a condition of aspiration to enlightenment. Realization indicates the ability to perceive unaided the true nature of phenomena. Together, these are sometimes referred to as the Two Vehicles, as people manifesting these states are partially enlightened and free from some deluded desires. But these worlds can be very self-absorbed, and in many Buddhist texts we find the Buddha admonishing the people of the Two Vehicles for their selfishness and complacency.
The world of Bodhisattva is a state of compassion in which we overcome the restraints of egotism and work tirelessly for the welfare of others. Mahayana Buddhism in particular emphasizes the Bodhisattva as an ideal of human behavior. Buddhahood is a state of completeness and perfect freedom, in which one is able to savor a sense of unity with the fundamental life-force of the cosmos. For a person in the state of Buddhahood, everything--including the inevitable trials of illness, aging and death--can be experienced as an opportunity for joy and fulfillment. The inner life-state of Buddhahood makes itself visible through altruistic commitment and actions enacted in the world of Bodhisattva.
This brings us to a key aspect of Nichiren's understanding of the Ten Worlds: Each world contains within it the other nine. As he expresses it: "Even a heartless villain loves his wife and children. He too has a portion of the Bodhisattva world within him." Thus, the potential for enlightened wisdom and action represented by the world of Buddhahood continues to exist even within a person whose life is dominated by the lower life-states of Hell, Hunger or Animality.
The reverse is also true. The life-state of Buddhahood is not separate or discontinuous from the other nine worlds. Rather, the wisdom, vitality and courage of Buddhahood can infuse and transform the manner in which a tendency toward, for example, Anger, functions in a person's life. When Anger is directed by the compassion of the worlds of Buddhahood and Bodhisattva, it can be a vital force in challenging injustice and transforming human society.
The purpose of Buddhist practice--for Nichiren Buddhists the recitation of the phrase Nam-myoho-renge-kyo--is to bring forth the life-state of Buddhahood which can illuminate our lives and enable us to forge lasting value from our eternal journey through all the Ten Worlds. |
0.99956 | In this story a cat named Splat was going on a field trip to the zoo. He wanted to see the penguins. His friend is a mouse named Seymour. Splat remembered that Mrs. Wimpy Dimple said that he couldn't come because mice scare elephants. Splat went to school and left Seymour feeling disappointed at home. Seymour made a paper airplane to sneak to the zoo. But, he flew right into the elephants and scared them. It made trouble. The class had to leave and Splat didn't see the penguins. Seymour didn't want Splat to be sad, so he sneaked the penguins on the bus. Read this book to find out what happened.
I think this book is interesting because they go on a school trip. I think it's great because I like the animals in it. I think this book is funny. I like this book because it is colorful.
This book is good for 6-8 year old children to read. The mouse, Seymour, is a funny character that they will like. In the story all characters faces are funny. This would be a silly book to read if you want to laugh. |
0.999979 | What is step aerobics? Why was it designed? Well step aerobics is a form of aerobics done using a raised platform called a step. It was designed as a low-impact, higher intensity alternative to floor aerobic workouts. As fitness improves with consistent, regular aerobic workouts, the body adapts to that level of intensity. This makes it necessary for you to work harder for maintaining your target training heart rate during an aerobic workout. Also taking your floor aerobic dance patterns onto a step is loads of fun, plus it is an easy way of getting more aerobic intensity in the same amount of time. The intensity of a step workout depends on the combination of interdependent variables that you do. It could be step height, propulsion or power moves, arm moves, choreography, and length of workout and music tempo.
Basic step aerobics - learning more about it!
A positive thing about stepping is that you can adjust the intensity factors easily during a workout for ensure your safety. This can be done by hitting the pause button while you lower or raise the step height. While doing basic steps you can include some or none of the power moves at your discretion. These include arm movements. In basic step aerobics, one must stick to the base moves or add the turns and pivots. You can follow the moves on the floor if you are tired.
Another crucial variable for basic steppers is the music tempo. In this, the bpm (beats per minute), determines how fast you must move your feet and lift and lower the body weight to keep up with the workout. It determines the safety of a workout for your level of fitness. However is unfortunate that most step videos do not indicate the bpm on the cover and until one plays the video, one has no idea if it's too fast for them. Thus step workouts are a fun way of adding variety and intensity to an aerobic program. Like any type of exercise it has certain risks not so much at the basic level, but they tend to increase at a higher level. |
0.99998 | How Do Fish Survive When a Pond Freezes?
Fish that live in a pond are able to survive the winter when the pond freezes because of how they are able to adapt to the drastic changes. When a pond freezes, it never freezes solid. Even when the temperatures drop to well below zero, only so much ice will form on a pond, leaving water beneath it that is about 34 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit in temperature. While people cannot survive in such cold conditions for more than minutes because their body temperature would fall rapidly, fish are able to live in water this cold since they are what is known as ectothermic. This means that fish do not control the temperatures of their body; it will be very close to the temperature of the surrounding water. The common term used to describe this is that fish are "cold-blooded."
The metabolic rate of a fish swimming beneath a layer of thick ice in a pond drops well below what it would be in the summer months. As the water grows colder the core temperature of the fish drops as well. Fish slow down in their activity and are not as quick as they are when the water is much warmer. The energy the fish needs to survive is far less in the cold, which is a good thing since there is not the abundance of food available to a fish in the winter under the ice that there is in the summer. Some species that would be found in a typical pond such as catfish, carp, and bass will store as much fat in their body as possible, eating heavily in the summer and autumn so that they have enough reserves to survive the winter. Catfish and eels have been known to bury themselves in the mud at the bottom of a pond and await the return of spring.
Some species of fish will still actively feed on whatever they can find. Perch, crappies, bluegills, trout and pickerel have been able to evolve so that they can raise the temperatures of their body even in cold water, but to maintain this feat they have to eat. Luckily they still do not have to eat as much as they do in the summer, because the amount of baitfish such as minnows has dwindled due to their being eaten at a great rate throughout the summer and fall. Larger fish will eat smaller fish and be able to successfully capture what baitfish are left in the pond, but the smaller species depend on other sources of food. Crappies, pumpkinseeds, perch and bluegills will feast on the immature larvae of the huge variety of aquatic insects that inhabit a pond. These are found in the mud and muck on the bottom. Tiny zooplanktons are also consumed in the winter as they remain active in the cold pond also. When the weather warms up, the tops of weeds that may be trapped in the ice are pulled on as the water makes its way back through the ice and causes it to rise and float. This can pull the weeds out of the mud at their roots and stir up aquatic insects which wind up being easy pickings for hungry fish.
What Is an Eagle's Natural Habitat? |
0.999919 | which band would it be? and why?
it can't be your favorite band. |
0.999998 | Write a review on Metabolic Diet TestoBoost!
TestoBoost is by far the most powerful natural testosterone booster on the market today. Version 3 is the second reformulation of the original TestoBoost, which came out in February of 2000. Each version has been improved by taking into account new research, my own clinical work, and feedback from those who used it.
The original formula laid down the base for what I wanted to achieve for TestoBoost and that was to naturally increase testosterone levels in both men and women. The pathways that I targeted included stimulating all the relevant areas of the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis (HPTA) through several independent mechanisms, and to decrease any potential side effects from increases in estrogen and dihydrotestosterone. Subsequent versions of TestoBoost, while keeping the base intact, added several ingredients that I felt would further increase testosterone levels, and further decrease any potential side effects.
The basis of the formula in TestoBoost, and in all the MD+ formulations, is to involve all possible pathways that lead to the desired effects, and to use multiple ingredients that work together to produce superior results. In the case of TestoBoost the desired effect was an increase in basal and elevated testosterone levels in the body, and a salutary effect on overall health.
All of this can be accomplished by using ingredients that are known or suspected to boost testicular steroidogenesis.
Increasing luteinizing hormone (LH) production.
Increasing the effect of LH.
Physical energy I couldn't asked for more from this product--It has given me more energy naturally, and it has also turned back the clock in the bedroom by like 10 years, f'n sweet! |
0.970251 | "VMWare Tools: Unmanaged" is shown on the VI Client summary.
I am building a Virtual Appliance using VMWare Studio 2.0, with Ubuntu 8.04-1 as the guest OS. This appliance will be certified "VMWare Ready" .. Hopefully..
The problem is , the VMWare Tools are being reported as "Unmanaged" in the VI client summary. Does anyone know if this is acceptable? What are the downsides to it being "Unmanaged"? The VMWare Tools that were installed were the defaults for that particular guest-os, which are the open-vmware-tools.
1. Re: "VMWare Tools: Unmanaged" is shown on the VI Client summary.
"Umanaged" basically means that VI Client is not going to manage vmware tools (i.e. it won't try to update the tools on the appliance).
The ISV(the author) of the appliance is in charge of the vmware tools version on the appliance. You can release updates for tools using the update service provided by VMware Studio.
PS: The user of the appliance can also download the latest tools from here and update the VM/appliance.
2. Re: "VMWare Tools: Unmanaged" is shown on the VI Client summary.
> I am building a Virtual Appliance using VMware Studio 2.0, with Ubuntu 8.04-1 as the guest OS. This appliance will be certified "VMware Ready" .. Hopefully..
> The problem is, the VMware Tools are being reported as "Unmanaged" in the VI client summary. Does anyone know if this is acceptable? What are the downsides to it being "Unmanaged"? The VMWare Tools that were installed were the defaults for that particular guest-os, which are the open-vmware-tools.
"Unmanaged" is a valid state for VMware Tools, and indicates that some mechanism other than the classic VMware Tools "interactive/scriptable" installer engine is responsible for keeping the tools components "up to date".
This is what I would expect to see for the majority of newer virtual appliances being submitted for evaluation/validation through the VMware Ready Virtual Appliances Program.
The salient bit is at the end of TC 2570 VMware Tools -- General.
The core set of Guest OS side functionality components known as "VMware Tools" MUST be present, enabled, and operating properly. Information further defining this requirement is covered in test cases 2571 through 2579. The precise VMware Tools ABI version and build number to be used are not prescribed.
This magic Tools ABI value means that the "Tools" installed originate from the Open VM Tools branch or another branch of "Tools" which is not considered a managed "VMware Tools" release and are exempt from VMware Update Manager (VUM) checks with respect to whether or not the "Tools" are "current".
This is entirely different than VUM determining that a particular in-guest package is out of date, based on an update manifest supplied to VUM from the VA maintainer.
Passively report VMware Tools as "Unmanaged"
Reporting yourself as "unmanaged" in the context of VMware Tools does not affect your ability to VMotion (host-to-host VM migration while running).
3. Re: "VMWare Tools: Unmanaged" is shown on the VI Client summary.
Wow! Thank you so much! The detail in your answer is very, very helpful.. I'm trying my best to make sure the submission for the appliance passes the certification. Could I contact you for any other questions in regards to the VMWare Ready certification?
I'm struggling to find a contact to answer some basic questions on the exam, and I'm doing my best to follow the matrix to the T.
4. Re: "VMWare Tools: Unmanaged" is shown on the VI Client summary.
5. Re: "VMWare Tools: Unmanaged" is shown on the VI Client summary.
According to KB 1032763, if the tools are unmanaged, we can no longer upgrade the virtual hardware of the guest and the only fix is to uninstall the OSP and re-install the Tools that come with the host.
Is there any other way around this? Although almost all of our Linux guests are hardware version 4, I expect the same problem the same limitation when the next hardware version comes out.
What's a customer supposed to do? Give up the ability to upgrade the virtual hardware to make it easier for the Linux admins to upgrade the tools?
6. Re: "VMWare Tools: Unmanaged" is shown on the VI Client summary. |
0.99839 | I’ve been having a lot of fun lately with Google maps, Google’s Directions API and HTML5’s geolocation feature. Together, these tools allow you to get your website visitor’s location and draw directions from their place to yours, all without leaving your website. Cool, huh?
As with anything on the web, there are a couple of caveats.
When using HTML5 geolocation, the browser asks the website visitor whether they are willing to share their location via a pop-up box. Obviously, this can become annoying, so use geolocation sparingly on your site.
Because website visitors can refuse to give their location, it’s a good idea to provide a form where those visitors can enter their address to get directions.
Geolocation can give inaccurate results, particularly on desktop computers. It’s important to remember that geolocation is an estimate of your location. Your browser uses wireless access points, local network information and your IP address to figure out where you are. Typically, HTML5 geolocation works best on mobile devices. Since it’s likely that your customers will be looking for directions when they’re out on the road with their phones, you may want to use the HTML5 geolocation feature only on mobile optimized versions of your website. In any case, as noted above, it’s a good idea to provide a form where they can enter their address manually.
You can customize to fit your business requirements. If, for example, you have multiple locations, you could set up your locations page to find the location closest to your site visitor, and then give them directions to that location. Or you could let them choose the location, and then provide the directions. |
0.999473 | Given the comics' precedent that there is no significant "upper limit" to the level of the Hulk's strength, which can reach so-called "Cosmic Levels" under the right circumstances, it's basically impossible that anything the Hulk does in the films could be considered to be "too strong for the character", for similar reasons[*].
Where the movies tend to fail is in over-simplifying or misunderstanding the Hulk's many weaknesses.
Were the Hulk movies accurate in portraying Hulk's strength? |
0.940931 | What dates were the Talmuds and Midrashes written?
Can we prove what dates in history these texts were written?
Also, do we know exactly when the various Rabbis of these texts lived? What are those dates? Are there disputes about this?
Further, which historical records and artifacts are used to corroborate these dates? Are there any good books written on the topic?
There can be various practical applications for Jewish law if we know exactly when these texts were written. For example, if the Yerushalmi was written around the same time as the Bavli, then we may be able to rule like it against the Bavli, because Klal Yisrael didn't have a chance to disprove the Yerushalmi and make a final ruling whether the Bavli is the final word in halacha.
There are some general understandings on these things. The Yerushalmi is believed to be completed by Rabbi Yochanan, Reish Lakish, and their peers around the year 350; the Bavli, by Ravina and Rav Ashi (and one generation past them), around the year 500. We generally follow the Bavli as it had the time to consider the Yerushalmi, then supersede it.
There is very little room for doubt as for when the Bavli was compiled and written. It was obviously before the Geonim. We have multiple early Rishonim with no geographic connection, all referring to the Talmud and Geonim. We have the Geonim referencing the Talmud before them.
We have Rav Ashi mentioning the king Izgor or Yezdejerd (Izdegerdes)(p.185) which is about the year 400 so we know it is after that and it is pretty obviously before Mohammad.
But mainly, we have a chain that goes back. It is not something we have out of no place. We know exactly when the Rambam, Rashi, Rabbenu Tam, Rav Hai Gaon were. They were as aware of those before them.
As for the Yerushalmi, there wasn't much Torah in Eretz Yisroel by the end of the Talmudic period. The very early Rishonim tell us that it was compiled much earlier than the Bavli. Compiled doesn't mean written, though.
Regardless, we are students of the Babylonian Yeshivos and Geonim. It was the Geonim of Bavel who sent responsa all around. And it was from Bavel com where the original teachers and disseminators of Torah originated.
Very often, probably most often, history and direct chains are a more reliable source of knowledge than spoons and toys we dig up.
Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged history talmud-gemara midrash text proof-of-torah .
Qumran - Proof or Genizah for Errors?
Were there any Tanaim in Bavel?
When were these fasts observed? |
0.98721 | Rome (CNN)–A boat carrying as many as 500 people capsized and caught fire off the Italian island of Lampedusa, the nation's coast guard told CNN on Thursday.
The official death toll stands at 93 but that did not include an estimated 20 newly discovered bodies that remain in the water, the coast guard said.
Lampedusa, not far from Sicily and the closest Italian island to Africa, has become a destination for tens of thousands of refugees seeking to enter European Union countries. Deadly shipwrecks en route are common.
Editor's Note: CNN Belief Blog Co-editor Eric Marrapodi was in Lampedusa last week, reporting on Muslim migration into the European Union.
The "Ghost" burger at Kuma's Corner in Chicago features a "Communion wafer garnish."
Is the 'Communion burger' in poor taste?
A Chicago restaurant is pushing the boundaries of bad taste with its October Burger of the Month.
Kuma's Corner, a heavy-metal themed joint with an "Eat beef; bang your head" ethos, says its new burger is an homage to Ghost, a Swedish band that performs satanic songs in Catholic clerical garb.
"The Ghost" burger features a "Communion wafer garnish," a white, unleavened disc bearing the imprint of a cross and a crown. |
0.783661 | Monk's House is an 16th-century weatherboarded cottage in the village of Rodmell, three miles (4.8km) south of Lewes, East Sussex, England. The writer Virginia Woolf and her husband, the political activist, journalist and editor Leonard Woolf, bought the house in 1919, and received there many visitors connected to the Bloomsbury Group, including T. S. Eliot, E. M. Forster, Roger Fry and Lytton Strachey.
Virginia's sister, the artist Vanessa Bell, lived at nearby Charleston Farmhouse in Firle from 1916, and though contrasting in style, both houses became important outposts of the Bloomsbury Group. The National Trust now operates the building as a writer's house museum.
During the Woolfs' early years at Rodmell, Monk's House was of modest dimensions with three-quarters of an acre of garden including an orchard and a number of outbuildings. Conditions were primitive and over the years the Woolfs made many alterations and additions, including: improvements to the kitchen; the installation of a hot water range and bathroom with water closet; and a two-storey extension in 1929. In 1928 they bought an adjoining field to preserve the beautiful views from the garden towards Mount Caburn.
The Woolfs spent more and more time in Rodmell, eventually living there full-time from 1940 when their flat in Mecklenburgh Square, Bloomsbury, London, was damaged during an air raid. The solitude of village life allowed Virginia respite from the tumult of London, and it was in the small wooden lodge at the bottom of the garden that many of her novels took shape. Jacob's Room, published in 1922, Mrs Dalloway (1925), To The Lighthouse (1927), Orlando (1928), The Waves (1931), The Years (1937) and Between The Acts (1941), as well as other works, were also written there. Her final novel, Between the Acts, published posthumously in July 1941, is steeped in references to Rodmell and the traditions and values of its villagers.
Virginia documented her life at the house in photographs. Preserved in the Monk's House Albums, these include portraits and group pictures of many who visited the house.
In March 1941, Virginia committed suicide by drowning herself in the nearby River Ouse. Leonard continued to live at Monk's House until his death in 1969, and played an active role in village life. Both he and Virginia had been members of the Socialist Party, and he became a manager of the village school in Rodmell in the 1930s. He was also treasurer and president of the Rodmell and District Horticultural Society.
Upon Leonard's death the house was bequeathed to his close friend, the artist Trekkie Parsons, née Ritchie, who sold it to the University of Sussex in 1972. It was eventually turned over to the National Trust in 1980, and is open to the public. The ground floor, including sitting room, dining room, kitchen and Virginia's bedroom, is on display and Virginia's writing lodge can be found at the bottom of the garden with views across to Mount Caburn.
^ a b c "Monks House". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
^ The Diary of Virginia Woolf, ed. Anne Olivier Bell and Andrew McNeillie, 5 vols, Hogarth Press, 1977–84; The Letters of Virginia Woolf, ed. Nigel Nicolson and Joanne Trautmann, 6 vols, Hogarth Press, 1975–80.
^ Cooper, Robert M. (1998). The Literary Guide & Companion to Southern England. Ohio University Press. p. 122, 123.
^ Between the Acts, Hogarth Press, 1941.
^ Maggie Humm, Snapshots of Bloomsbury: The Private Lives of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell, Tate Publishing, 2006.
^ a b LW Papers, University of Sussex Library Manuscript Collections.
Caroline Zoob (1 November 2013). Virginia Woolf's Garden: The Story of the Garden at Monk's House. Jacqui Small. ISBN 978-1-909342-13-2.
Nuala Hancock (27 June 2012). Charleston and Monk's House: The Intimate House Museums of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell: The Intimate House Museums of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-4674-6.
Richard Shone (October 2006). Virginia Woolf and Monk's House. National Trust. ISBN 978-1-84359-205-1.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Monk's House. |
0.754444 | [WORLDKINGS] Top 100 famous Artworks in the World – P68. The painting "The persistence of Memory", by artist Salvador Dalí, Spain.
(Worldkings.org) - The Persistence of Memory (Catalan: La persistència de la memòria) is a 1931 painting by artist Salvador Dalí, and one of his most recognizable works. First shown at the Julien Levy Gallery in 1932, since 1934 the painting has been in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City, which received it from an anonymous donor. It is widely recognized and frequently referenced in popular culture, and sometimes referred to by more descriptive (though incorrect) titles, such as "Melting Clocks", "The Soft Watches" or "The Melting Watches".
The well-known surrealist piece introduced the image of the soft melting pocket watch. It epitomizes Dalí's theory of "softness" and "hardness", which was central to his thinking at the time. As Dawn Adès wrote, "The soft watches are an unconscious symbol of the relativity of space and time, a Surrealist meditation on the collapse of our notions of a fixed cosmic order". This interpretation suggests that Dalí was incorporating an understanding of the world introduced by Albert Einstein's theory of special relativity. Asked by Ilya Prigogine whether this was in fact the case, Dalí replied that the soft watches were not inspired by the theory of relativity, but by the surrealist perception of a Camembert melting in the sun.
It is possible to recognize a human figure in the middle of the composition, in the strange "monster" (with a lot of texture near its face, and lots of contrast and tone in the picture) that Dalí used in several contemporary pieces to represent himself – the abstract form becoming something of a self-portrait, reappearing frequently in his work. The figure can be read as a "fading" creature, one that often appears in dreams where the dreamer cannot pinpoint the creature's exact form and composition. One can observe that the creature has one closed eye with several eyelashes, suggesting that the creature is also in a dream state. The iconography may refer to a dream that Dalí himself had experienced, and the clocks may symbolize the passing of time as one experiences it in sleep or the persistence of time in the eyes of the dreamer.
The orange clock at the bottom left of the painting is covered in ants. Dalí often used ants in his paintings as a symbol of decay. Another insect that is present in the painting is a fly, which sits on the watch that is next to the orange watch. The fly appears to be casting a human shadow as the sun hits it. The Persistence of Memory employs "the exactitude of realist painting techniques"to depict imagery more likely to be found in dreams than in waking consciousness.
The craggy rocks to the right represent a tip of Cap de Creus peninsula in north-eastern Catalonia. Many of Dalí's paintings were inspired by the landscapes of his life in Catalonia. The strange and foreboding shadow in the foreground of this painting is a reference to Mount Pani.
(Worldkings) Top 100 famous products of ASEAN - (P32) Ichitan - leading bottled tea producer in Southeast Asia famous with Ichitan green tea product. |
0.967534 | Headphone 'burn-in': Fact or fantasy?
A lot of audiophiles believe headphones sound better after a few weeks of use than they do when they're brand-new.
Most of my audiophile friends believe that headphones (and speakers and electronics) sound better after the first 100 hours of use than they do when they're brand-new. When I'm doing high-end product reviews I leave the "burn-in, break-in" question up to the manufacturer. If the company's reps claim their product won't sound its best until it has a solid month of use, I'll request a unit with enough hours on it that I can start working on the review right away. If the manufacturer scoffs at the very idea of burn-in, I start my serious listening immediately.
Audiophiles don't agree on exactly how long headphone break-in should take, and opinions range from 10 hours to many hundreds of hours. AKG's K 701 full-size headphones are "notorious" for sounding lifeless straight out of the box. The word on the audiophile street is they need 300 hours of break-in.
I believe headphones' sound "matures" over time, and I recently had the chance to compare a brand-new set of Etymotic ER-4PT in-ear headphones with my 10-year-old ER-4Ps. I felt the older set was "slightly more 'relaxed' and more laid-back in its tonal balance." The two models have identical specifications, and yet they sounded different. So beyond the burn-in question, maybe headphones "wear" over time?
I called upon a local (Brooklyn, N.Y.) headphone manufacturer, Grado Labs' John Grado, to weigh in about burn-in, and he said, "All mechanical things need break-in." He did not recommend leaving headphones playing continuously for a few days to hasten the process. He recommends using new headphones as you normally would, and after 50 hours or so the sound will be all it can be.
I imagine some of you must be wondering if anyone has ever tested and measured the effects of headphone burn-in, and luckily enough Inner Fidelity's Tyll Hertsens has done just that. Better yet, he measured a brand-new AKG 701 (specifically, it was the Quincy Jones Q701), and that's the model that so many audiophiles cite as notorious for its need for burn-in. So Hertsens measured them, starting after they had 5 minutes of use; then 25 minutes; 1 hour; 2 hours; 5 hours; 10 hours; 20 hours; 40 hours; 65 hours; and finally at the 90-hour mark.
I'll cut to the chase: Hertsens definitely found small changes in the AKG headphones' measured frequency response, and you can see evidence of that in the many graphs in his article. Even so, when I talked with Hertsens after the article was published he still had major reservations about the burn-in question. He thinks that some aspects of burn-in can be attributed to owners getting used to the sound of their new headphones, and that makes sense to me. Measurements are, as always, open to interpretation. Hertsens measures headphones in his reviews, and I had a million questions about how he does that. There's a lot more to learn about Inner Fidelity's mission, and I'll cover that in greater detail in another post soon.
Discuss: Headphone 'burn-in': Fact or fantasy? |
0.929809 | What is one thing you would do to fix college sports?
How to Fix College Sports The source of the present problems can be traced to 1984 when the U.S. Supreme Court, in the landmark decision NCAA v. Oklahoma, stripped the NCAA of its monopoly power over broadcasting rights to college athletics events. Justice White, in his dissent against the decision, supported the NCAA’s right to monopoly power. White argued that the NCAA monopoly “fosters the goal of amateurism by spreading revenues among various schools and reducing the financial incentives toward professionalism.” Justice White wisely understood that the NCAA’s loss of monopoly broadcast power would lead to an escalating competition for money among schools. White feared that no single institution could confidently enforce its own standards, since it could not trust its competitors to do the same.
The result: Coaches and athletics administrators are constantly pressured to spend more; to recruit successfully so they can win; to win so they can fill stadiums and go on television and to the playoffs; to make more money so that new, state-of-the-art arenas can be built, salaries can be raised and so on.
In 1991 when I was in Congress, I introduced legislation to restore the NCAA broadcasting monopoly in return for a college president-controlled NCAA and revenue distribution that was not dependent on win-loss records but on a school’s diversity of programs, including Title IX compliance and the academic performance of its student-athletes. Schools that did not want to be part of this collective NCAA (similar to the NFL) would lose the non-profit status of their athletic departments. My bill would have provided a living stipend for student athletes and would have insured a five-year term for their scholarships.
I believe that if Congress restored this “benevolent monopoly” status to the NCAA that the juggernaut of commercialism would be dramatically weakened. |
0.999794 | Xenophobia is the irrational fear of strangers and foreigners. In order for a person to exhibit xenophobic behavior, he must genuinely believe the target is a real threat. For this reason, xenophobia and racism are two very separate concepts. Xenophobia can be aimed towards entire population groups within a society as well as individuals. Immigrants and recent settlers are equally targeted. Cultural differences are perceived as dangerous. Hostility, anger and violet reactions are common symptoms of xenophobia. Other symptoms include anxiety,sweating, increased heart rate, increased rate of breathing and avoidance of public or social situations. Xenophobia can keep apart loved ones and business associates and have a major impact on the quality of life. Serious consequences such as political campaigns for linguistic purification, isolationism and genocide can occur if the phobia goes unchecked. Causes of xenophobia may include a traumatic experience sometimes in life that provoked a panic attack near a stranger or foreigner. This behavioral response then became encoded in the body as a natural reaction to the stimulus. Although this phobia is believed to be learned, it can be unlearned through cognitive behavioral therapy coupled with anxiety medication. It is best to try proven treatments before wandering into the forever growing pool of unproven ones. As always, therapy forces the patient to confront his fears and reassess the rationality pathways in his brain. It is imperative to embark on this treatment with an open mind. Although medications can speed up the process, they include serious side effects and are never a permanent solution. |
0.939607 | James Benedict Ossory Fitzpatrick (1881-1964), an English author, teacher, journalist, and editor, worked for the London Daily Mail and wrote for various journals. His pro-Irish and anti-British views led to the publication of two histories of Ireland. His other works included historical studies, articles, book reviews, short stories, and plays. Collection consists of correspondence, writings, literary journals, notes, diary, photographs, printed matter, and estate papers. Correspondence, 1912-1963, is with colleagues, publishers and U.S. government officials concerning publication of his books. Typescripts of his writings include biography of Anne Boleyn, literary memoir, travel articles, book reviews, short stories, and other published and unpublished works. Also, literary journals written during the 1930s, notes for articles, 1901 diary, photographs of Fitzpatrick and his family and friends, printed reviews of his books, promotional materials, and papers relating to the estate of Cecilia Harrigan.
James Benedict Ossory Fitzpatrick was born in Cumberland, England, in 1881, and died in New York City in 1964. He was educated at Ushaw College, England, and at the Universities of Durham, London, and Bonn, and spent his youth traveling on the continent where he learned the principal languages of Europe. After his return to England he worked as a foreign editor of the London Daily Mail and wrote for the Illustrated London News and other journals. It appears that at this time he developed strong pro-Irish and anti-British views which led to the publication in the 1920s of two histories of Ireland to which he ascribed great importance, Ireland and the Making of England and, Ireland and the Foundations of Europe, both of which dealt with the theme of Irish involvement and influence in the early middle ages. In 1931 he had two books published, a controversial biography, Frail Anne Boleyn and a study of Jesuit missionaries in French Canada, Donjon of Demons. He also wrote numerous articles, book reviews, short stories, and plays.
The papers reflect Fitzpatrick's work as author, historian, and biographer; but little material relates to his years as editor, teacher, and free-lance journalist. The correspondence covers the period 1912-1963. The bulk is for the years 1920-1943, 1956-1963 and is with publishers concerning the publication of his books, and later the possible republication of his Irish histories and the biography of Anne Boleyn. The papers include typescripts of Frail Anne Boleyn, Donjon of Demons, a memoir, A Literatus in Wonderland and other writings. There are also literary journals written during the 1930s, notes for articles, a diary kept in Germany and Spain in late 1901, photographs of Fitzpatrick, his wife, relatives, and friends, printed reviews of his books, promotional material, and correspondence and papers relating to the estate of Cecilia Harrigan. |
0.998505 | By the wood of Beth-cerem,"
and transfer the scene to the pools of Solomon, S. of Bethlehem (EB, under the word). But this is surely very violent. One of the pools of Heshbon still survives, measuring 191 ft. X 139 ft., and is 10 ft. deep. The walls however have been rent by earthquakes, and now no longer retain the water. |
0.998736 | Help me write my essay for free, my proposal seeks to ensure that healthcare facilities adhere to the minimum nurse-to-patient ratio and for hospitals to maintain records of the real rate for every shift in each unit. Further, the bill requires the Medicare system to make adjustments in payments to permit hospitals to fund for expenses incurred in employing more nurses to comply with the expected ratio (Library of Congress, 2018).
Help me write my essay for free as it is crucial since it emphasizes the duty of nurses to their patients and enforces their rights to act in a professional capacity in making informed decisions while keeping the interests of their patients in mind. Additionally, it safeguards nurses who may refuse or object to participating in activities that they deem inappropriate or that endanger the life of their patients. Finally, the proposal is essential because it promotes the welfare and education of nurses by suggesting grant and scholarship programs to enable nursing students to progress in their academic and training. Thus the amendments enhance the quality of care given to patients (Dahlkemper, 2017).
Help me write my essay for free to advocate for the legislation, I plan on contacting Clarke Yvette Diane, a New York representative in the Congress. As a childcare specialist and a member of the health sub-committee, this bill is of interest to her. Also, she is listed as a cosponsor of the proposal. Hence she is likely to need feedback from nurses to motivate her to advocate further for the bill. |
0.999997 | How popular is the Spanish language?
We all know that English is one of the most important languages in the world. In Latin America it’s essential to speak it fluently if you want to get a job in international or big companies. In Mexico, for example, there are many schools specialized in English teaching and some of them are only focused in English for business.
However, it is also known that after English, Spanish is the second language most studied around the world and the third one among the most popular on the Internet. Latin America is integrated by 21 countries which speak Spanish as a native language (Mexico has the largest population of Spanish speakers) and even in the United States, the number of people who speak the language has increased in the last few years. In addition, the Latin American culture has expanded its influence in many fields such as literature, film industry and music.
Furthermore, Spanish teaching and learning material demand has duplicated and job opportunities are increasing due to the fact that you will be able to communicate with more than 450 millions of people that speak the language.
– Number of Spanish speaking countries.
– They consider that Spanish is the best language to express their feelings.
– The sound of the language.
Spanish is a wonderful and easy language to learn. You will always have the chance to travel and practice your Spanish with native speakers in many countries. If you are not learning, what are you waiting for?!
– Many cities in USA (like New York, LA and Miami), have a wide percentage of people that speak Spanish and therefore many airports have English/Spanish announcement boards.
– On the border between USA and Mexico, people speak a weird mixture of Spanish and English called Spanglish.
– Spanish is one of the six official languages of the United Nations.
– Spanish spoken by people in Spain is different from the one spoken in Latin America. Some of the main differences are: accent, S and Z letter sound, prepositions and many other words.
– In India, it is very common to find merchants that speak Spanish due to the big number of tourists from Spain.
– The Royal Spanish Academy was founded to ensure that modifications applied to the language do not affect the bonds among Spanish speaking nations. |
0.999999 | Sen. Al Franken is being accused by a seventh woman who alleges he tried to forcibly kiss her in 2006 in the studio of his radio show, Politico reports.
Why it matters: Although these instances all allegedly happened before Franken joined the senate, the mounting allegations against him add to the growing problem of high-profile men abusing their power and sexually harassing women. And he joins the numerous sitting lawmakers and candidates who are facing similar allegations.
Context: Franken told Politico “this allegation is categorically not true," but fellow Democrat Rep. John Conyers resigned just yesterday after facing similar allegations of sexual misconduct.
The details: The woman was in her 20s when the incident allegedly happened, and she is a former Democratic congressional aide. She told Politico she was trying to leave the radio studio when she turned around to find Franken right behind her. “He was between me and the door and he was coming at me to kiss me. It was very quick and I think my brain had to work really hard to be like 'Wait, what is happening?' But I knew whatever was happening was not right and I ducked," she told Politico. “I was really startled by it and I just sort of booked it towards the door and he said, 'It's my right as an entertainer.'" |
0.933515 | This article is about Diddy Kong's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For other uses, see Diddy Kong.
Diddy Kong (ディディーコング, Diddy Kong), commonly known as just Diddy, is a character for Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He is unique, distinct among the cast for his charm and gaiety. Unlike in most Donkey Kong games and Mario spin-offs, where Diddy Kong has a cartoonish voice, Brawl has him using a high-pitched chimpanzee-like voice. He is also the first playable character to be introduced from the Donkey Kong universe since the original game.
He currently ranks 4th on the tier list (the highest-ranked of any Mario character including sub-series characters). This is mainly because of his ability to throw Banana Peels that give him great control of the ground and great setup and damage-racking potential (by attacking opponents that have slipped on them), as well as providing good defense, making them one of the best projectiles in the game, giving him a very strong control of the ground. Additionally, he has quick attack speed, good mobility, a solid down aerial meteor smash, good grab range, and powerful throws, which aid in his ability to control the stage. However, his primary recovery move, Rocketbarrel Boost, travels in a predictable fashion, is easily edgehogged, and can be stopped by stage lips. Additionally, his few KO moves, while fast and reliable when fresh, stale quickly and are largely dependent on his Banana Peels for a setup. Diddy Kong has excellent matchups, having only three slightly unfavorable, and has very strong tournament results.
Diddy Kong is a quick, middleweight character. He is capable of wall clinging and crawling. Many of his attacks have good speed and have decent power to back them. His KO power is low due to his few KO moves and a general weakness in his smashes, which stale very quickly if he uses them too much for racking damage, which forces a reliance on meteor smashes for early KOs.
Diddy also has two projectiles: his Peanut Popgun and Banana Peels. Peanut Popgun, while not particularly strong, is a decent mid-range move for racking up easy damage. In comparison, his Banana Peels, which have the property of tripping opponents, form a much more integral part of his metagame, as they combo well into his other moves, and allow him to setup KOs. The glide toss option provided by the Banana Peels is invaluable, as it allows Diddy to rapidly approach and retreat. If an opponent is tripped by a thrown Banana Peel, Diddy can follow up with another glide tossed Banana to continue the combo, and end with a down or forward smash for a KO. In conjunction with his quick dash attack, large grab range, and powerful throws, Bananas provide Diddy with excellent ground options and stage control. Banana Peels can also help him escape certain chaingrabs, such as King Dedede's, and certain grab releases. However, as Banana Peels are items, they can be used against Diddy even by opponents without reflectors.
Diddy's other special moves Monkey Flip and Rocketbarrel Boost contributes to his above average recovery. Besides being a useful move to rack up damage, Monkey Flip can be used as a meteor smash if Diddy uses its grab option in midair (it can also be used as a sacrificial KO, but this is not useful because the meteor smash is much more reliable and safer); it also can be used to gain horizontal distance in tandem with Rocketbarrel Boost to make up for Diddy's poor air speed. Diddy will not be able to use Rocketbarrel Boost if he uses Monkey Flip's attack option in midair, but he will retain his midair jump. The former move provides great vertical distance if sufficiently charged, but it leaves Diddy vulnerable while charging, and he needs to charge to move left or right at all. Potential edgeguarders will still have to watch out for the meteor hitbox on the bottom of Rocketbarrel Boost, as well as the rocketbarrels themselves, which function as powerful explosive projectiles if the attack is interrupted after releasing the charge. Diddy's barrel jump can also improve his recovery, acting like a second midair jump while Rocketbarrel Boost can still be used.
Diddy possesses a decent aerial game. His forward aerial has above average knockback and surprising range, making it a viable KO move and useful for edgeguarding, though it has the most landing lag out of all of his aerials. His back aerial, up aerial, and neutral aerial are all relatively fast, with the former being another decent option for edgeguarding and a very quick way to grab bananas in midair, though the latter is rarely used in competitive play. His down aerial is a solid meteor smash (similar to Wolf's down aerial) with some startup lag.
In summary, Diddy Kong is a fast, medium-weight character with agile moves that combo well from his versatile Banana Peels. His KO power is poor, forcing a reliance on racking up a very large amount damage in order to KO, and he generally relies on his bananas to set up KOs. On counterpick stages, his Banana Peels are not as useful as on neutral stages, making it more difficult for a Diddy player to win a set if they do not win the first match.
For a more detailed information regarding Diddy Kong's moveset and attack hitboxes, see this page.
3% Diddy Kong slaps forward twice, turns around to quickly kick the foe, and proceeds to repeatedly whip them with his tail. The first hit can set-up a grab if jab-cancelled or even a buffered down smash.
11% (fists), 9% (arms), 8% (body) Diddy Kong leans to the side and thrusts both of his arms forward in a double punch. This attack can be angled upwards or downwards. When angled up, it can KO at 161% from the center of Final Destination.
7% Diddy Kong swats in the air above him with a slap. This move can be used to juggle at low percents and can KO at 159%.
7% Diddy Kong, claps forward while crouching. Extremely useful for racking up damage at low percentages.
3% (hit 1), 2% (hit 2), 4% (hit 3) Diddy Kong performs a cartwheel from Donkey Kong Country. The first hit of the move spikes opponents, making it easier to land all three hits.
5% (hit 1), 13% (hit 2) Diddy Kong spins and punches forward, followed by a second punch. The first hit deals no knockback, which makes it easier to land the second hit. The second hit deals shield damage. KOs at 122% when uncharged and 79% when fully charged.
5% (hits 1-2), 6% (hit 3) Diddy Kong hops a little and does a sort of cartwheel, hitting three times with extremely low knockback (weakest up smash in the game in terms of knockback). Fills in combos, can rack up damage easily.
16% (front), 12% (back) Diddy Kong performs a sweeping kick. It has less knockback than his forward smash, but it's still his most reliable smash attack. KOs at 126% when uncharged and 85% when fully charged.
6% Diddy Kong does an aerial cartwheel similar to his dash attack. Can KO at around 170% if used near the upper blast line.
14% (clean), 11% (late) Diddy Kong kicks both feet forward while spinning, similar to Mario and Luigi's old forward aerial in Super Smash Bros.. KOs Mario at 142% from the center of Final Destination.
9% Diddy Kong thrusts his leg backward and spins it behind him. Good knockback, though it won't gain KO power until past 170%.
11% Diddy Kong does an overhead flip kick. Fairly fast with decent knockback, and it can KO at 162%.
12% Diddy Kong swings both arms downward in a double axe-handle punch. A strong meteor smash.
— Diddy Kong grabs his opponent with both of his hands.
2% Diddy Kong headbutts his target, angled from the side of his body.
11% Diddy Kong tosses his opponent forwards. The throw is based on Diddy Kong's barrel toss animation from "Donkey Kong Country".
10% Diddy Kong tosses his opponent backward, very similar to his f-throw in that it is useful for getting opponents offstage.
4% (hit 1), 5% (throw) Diddy Kong throws his opponent up and handstand kicks them.
9% Diddy Kong performs a leapfrog-like manoeuvre and throws the opponent underneath him. Has fair backwards knockback. Has little utility and almost no follow-ups available.
6% Diddy Kong gets up and slaps both sides.
6% Diddy Kong gets up and kicks both sides.
5% Diddy Kong gets up and kicks both sides.
8% (tail base), 6% (tail tip) Diddy Kong quickly gets up and does a spinning tail slap.
10% Diddy Kong slowly gets up and sticks his left foot out.
Peanut Popgun 3-18% Diddy Kong pulls out his peanut popgun and fires a peanut. Can be charged, but if charged for too long the popgun will explode, and will stun Diddy Kong for a second.
Monkey Flip 14% (kick hip), 12% (kick knee), 10% (kick foot), 5% (grab attack hit 1), 5% (grab attack hit 2), 5% (jump attack hit 1), 5% (jump attack hit 2), 2% (release) Diddy Kong performs a sideways hop that has the potential to launch Diddy onto an opponent's face if timed correctly. Can perform a flying kick with another button press. Can also be used to gain some extra recovery distance.
Rocketbarrel Boost 10% (launch clean), 8% (launch late), 1-3% (rocketbarrels), 18% (rocketbarrels explosion) Diddy Kong charges his rocketbarrels from Donkey Kong 64 in a powerful attack. Can potentially fly very far and very fast, but hitting a surface will make Diddy Kong lose his rocketbarrels and will fall helplessly. Diddy Kong will take 5% damage for hitting a surface.
Banana Peel 4-6% (banana) Diddy Kong tosses a Banana Peel into the air to have it fall onto the ground. Opponents who touch the peel will slip and trip. Up to two banana peels can be thrown at a time.
Rocketbarrel Barrage 8% (peanuts), 15% (peanuts explosion), 18% (contact), 20% (ending explosion) Diddy Kong flies around on his rocketbarrels, shooting peanuts everywhere. Puts Diddy Kong into a helpless state when ended in the air.
Breaks out of a DK Barrel and claps his hands above him.
Up taunt: Throws his hat into the air, which lands on his head. This is a reference to his from Donkey Kong Country, after he defeats a boss or wins in a Bonus Level.
Side taunt: Does a playful fighter's stance and cackles threateningly showing his teeth.
Down taunt: Claps his hands four times, changing feet as he does so.
Scratches his rump and shakes his fur.
Taps the ground and makes a short giggle.
A peaceful flourish originating from Donkey Kong Country that played whenever a Kong defeated a boss or completed a Bonus Level.
Up: Spins with his Rocket Barrels, then faces the screen, dancing with his hands on his head and chin.
Left: Shoots the air with his Peanut Popguns, rolls towards the camera, and shoots at the camera.
Right: Does a small dance, then holds still in a breakdance-like pose, clapping his feet together.
Diddy Kong has very strong matchups against the entire cast. According to the SmashBoards Matchup Chart, he has the seventh higest unweighted and weighted rank. He is soft countered by three characters, has 6 even matchups, soft counters 15 characters, counters 9, and hard counters 2. Diddy's bananas let him dominate the neutral game, and allow him to rack up damage very quickly (because the bananas do 4% damage every time they are thrown and set up into many very damaging moves). His banana peels shut down ground based characters that lack the tools to fight the bananas, such as Pikachu and King Dedede. He has has powerful aerials that give him some air prowess and he is able to beat characters like Lucario this way. Diddy Kong has trouble from opposing campers, like Snake and Falco, as their grenades and lasers respectively shut down his neutral game.
ADHD - One of the most nationally dominant players since Brawl's inception, famed as one of Mew2King and ZeRo's most difficult opponents.
cyve - The best Diddy main and one of the best players in Europe.
Felix - Although he rarely traveled, he became known for his 3rd place finish at MLG Raleigh 2010.
Gnes - A nationally dominant player in his prime, won the largest-ever Brawl prize check and the largest in the entire Smash series at the time at MLG Dallas 2010 ($12,500).
Luigi player - A top Diddy player in Europe.
Nagahari - One of the best Diddy players in Japan.
NinjaLink - Famed for being the first player to defeat Mew2King in a tournament set.
Suinoko - One of the best Diddy players in Japan.
Zinoto - A top Midwestern Diddy player with a 5th place finish at SKTAR 2, famed for his usage of banana infinites.
Diddy Kong was initially a high tier character, ranked 11th on the first tier list (September 2008). However, Diddy Kong players such as NinjaLink and ADHD showed how powerful his Banana Peels were, utilizing them to create damage-racking combos, defense, and stage control, bringing Diddy Kong into the top tiers, with him rising to 7th on the second tier list (January 2009), 5th on the third (June 2009), then 3rd on the fourth and fifth lists before surpassing long-time #2 character Snake by the sixth tier list (July 2011). Though Olimar and the Ice Climbers have since surpassed him, he still remains at 4th place on the eighth (current) tier list, as of April 2013.
When Donkey Kong has three Bullet Bills fired at him by the vehicle escaping with his banana hoard, Diddy Kong leaps from behind Donkey Kong and unleashes his Peanut Popguns onto the Bullet Bills, destroying them. He then joins Donkey Kong in pursuit of their stolen bananas. At one point, after getting their bananas, they encounter Bowser, who aims the Dark Cannon at the two. Donkey Kong, realizing what is about to happen, then Giant Punches Diddy Kong, sending him flying away and star KO'd (but he didn't turn into a trophy as Mario and Luigi did). Donkey Kong is shot instead and captured.
Then, Diddy Kong comes out of a forest into The Lake. When he gets to the lake where a crashed Arwing is seen, Rayquaza comes out of the water and grabs Diddy Kong. Then Fox jumps out of the Arwing which is now on fire due to an attack from Rayquaza. Fox uses his Fox Illusion and Reflector to send Rayquaza back into the lake and save Diddy Kong. Fox then makes a hand signal for Diddy to come with him to fight Rayquaza until it faints. After Rayquaza's defeat, Fox begins to leave, but Diddy drags him along to help rescue DK. They battle a Shadow bug clone of Bowser, but upon defeating it, the real Bowser attacks them and Fox flees, dragging Diddy to safety.
Diddy Kong in The Subspace Emissary.
Later, Fox and Diddy get ambushed by Bowser again, who fires a shot at both of them from his Dark Cannon. Diddy is hit and cloned by Shadow bugs, while Fox dodges the shot. Falco arrives just in time and destroys the Dark Cannon, but Bowser gets away in his Koopa Clown Car while the Shadow bug Diddy grows several times its normal size. Fox revives Diddy, who is shocked at what has happened. Diddy Kong and the two Star Fox pilots then fight the Giant Shadow bug Diddy Kong Clone. After the fight, Diddy drags Falco along with him and Fox as they continue through the jungle. Eventually they see Donkey Kong's trophy on a ship in chains. Diddy is mad at this as he, Fox and Falco board the Great Fox.
After, Diddy Kong is ejected out of Falco's Arwing and shoots peanuts at the Primids on the skiff that has DK's trophy on it. He lands on the skiff while Captain Falcon and Olimar jump to the aid of the little chimp. They revive Donkey, then the Kongs and Captains fight a horde of Primids on the little platform. After they have defeated them, Diddy and Donkey Kong do a little dance as Captain Falcon and Olimar watch. As Falco gives a thumbs-up to Diddy, Diddy waves "thank-you". The four then head into the Subspace Bomb Factory. Diddy, Olimar, Donkey Kong, and Captain Falcon then attempt to infiltrate the Bomb Factory where they fight their way through various armies of Primids, R.O.B. units, and other enemies, they reach where all the bombs are and where the Ancient Minister is standing in melancholy and coincidentally meeting Samus & Pikachu there, where they earlier entered the Bomb Factory another way.
After meeting up with Samus and Pikachu, Diddy Kong tries to stop the R.O.B. Squad members who are setting off Subspace Bombs. He shrieks at R.O.B. to do something, but R.O.B. just slumps in sadness. Captain Falcon calls his Falcon Flyer to escape the doomed factory. They all pile into the ship while Meta Ridley appears. Diddy can be chosen to fight this boss. After Meta Ridley is defeated, Diddy helps the heroes as the continue their journey into Subspace.
At the entrance to Subspace all the characters (except Wario, King Dedede, Bowser, Luigi, Ness, Ganondorf, Sonic and, to a lesser extent, Wolf, Toon Link and Jigglypuff) are all preparing to invade the subspace. After Ganondorf and Master Hand are defeated by Tabuu, Diddy and the rest of the heroes catch a glimpse of the evil power among them. In a single blow Tabuu defeats all of the characters and turned them into trophies. He is later revived by Kirby, Ness, King Dedede and Luigi and joins them to defeat Tabuu, with help from Sonic. After Tabuu's defeat, the World Of Trophies returns to its original place (except for The Isle Of The Ancients, the huge Subspace explosion combined by the huge number of Subspace Bombs has taken it beyond repair).
These stickers can either only be used by Diddy, or by a select few who include him.
Event 7: Diddy Kong Panic: The player controls Donkey Kong and must defeat 15 tiny Diddy Kongs on Mario Circuit.
Event 9: The Monster Beneath the Earth: Ike must defeat two Diddy Kongs before the reaching the underground section of Castle Siege. Failing to do so makes the player also face a giant Donkey Kong.
Event 20: All-Star Battle x1: Diddy Kong is one of the eight opponents fought in this event along with Wario, Meta Knight, Pit, Zero Suit Samus, Olimar, Lucas, and the Pokémon Trainer.
Event 22: Monkeys Unite: The player controls Diddy Kong, who is aided by a giant Donkey Kong, and must defeat Sheik and Lucario on Rumble Falls.
Co-Op Event 4: The DK Tag Calamity: Both Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong are tiny and must defeat one Donkey Kong and four Diddy Kongs on Mario Circuit.
Diddy Kong's main and Final Smash trophies can be obtained by clearing Classic Mode and All-Star mode respectively with Diddy Kong.
Donkey Kong's little buddy. He's famous for his quickness and his long tail. He usually plays second banana to DK, but he teamed up with his girlfriend, Dixie, to rescue DK when he got captured. He's spent some time playing music and competing in races, and he's also an expert at using barrels.
Diddy Kong's Final Smash. Equipping his rocketbarrels and dual peanut popguns, Diddy can fly around attacking opponents in rapid-fire fashion. He can tilt the barrel jets left or right to control his flight and shoot peanuts straight down, too. This is a technique that tests one's ability to control both movement and attack direction.
Diddy Kong, Captain Falcon, Ike, King Dedede and Olimar are the only characters who use a Final Smash in the Subspace Emissary (when he attacks the skiff carrying Donkey Kong's trophy after ejecting from Falco's Arwing).
He is one of the few characters (the others being Pokémon Trainer, Ice Climbers and Jigglypuff) to have a "Defeated/No Contest" pose different from the traditional hand clapping. Instead, in a reference to his defeated pose from Donkey Kong Country, he removes his cap and shakes his head while scratching the back of his scalp. However, he has a "Defeated/No Contest" pose that has him clap for the winner in the next game.
In the Subspace Emissary, the Giant False Diddy Kong uses his third costume (which resembles Dixie Kong), unlike the other false characters which have their neutral colors.
In the Subspace Emissary, the peanut shells fired from the Peanut Popgun do not release edible peanuts upon breaking open unless the player shoots the peanuts at jet bursts of flame.
Diddy Kong's voice borrows some sound clips from Ukiki in Super Mario 64.
Diddy Kong, Samus, Fox, Pikachu and Lucas are the only characters in the Subspace Emissary to fight more than two bosses (excluding boss recreations in The Great Maze). Diddy Kong can be chosen to fight Rayquaza at The Lake, Meta Ridley at The Subspace Bomb Factory (Part II), and Tabuu in the final battle at Tabuu's Residence.
Diddy Kong's inclusion marks the Donkey Kong universe the first sub-universe to introduce another playable character.
Diddy Kong's page at Smash Bros DOJO!!
This page was last edited on April 21, 2019, at 15:18. |
0.999788 | When I talk to Jehovah’s Witnesses, I have a plan. This keeps us from getting sidetracked during the course of our conversation. However, I wasn’t always this tactical. I used to easily get pulled off topic. As a result, I would leave the conversation feeling frustrated.
For example, I remember one energetic discussion I had with two friendly Jehovah’s Witnesses on the nature of the atonement. At one point during the conversation, I said, “Jesus died on the cross for our sins.” This seemingly benign declaration launched our discussion in a completely different direction. Unfortunately, it was a direction I wasn’t prepared for.
It came as a surprise to me that Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t believe Jesus died on a cross. I knew Christians and Jehovah’s Witnesses have fundamentally different views on why Jesus died on the cross. But, as I soon found out, we have fundamentally different views on whether Jesus died on a cross.
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe Jesus was crucified on a stake, not a cross. Moreover, they believe that the cross is a pagan symbol that Christians have adopted because of the influence of satanic forces.
There are a number of problems with the view that Jesus died on a stake. Rather than provide a comprehensive case, let me give you five talking points for the next time a Jehovah’s Witness tells you Jesus died on a stake.
First, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, which claims to be God’s prophet on earth today, used to teach that Jesus died on a cross. In fact, up until October 1, 1931, The Watch Tower magazine (now called The Watchtower) included a cross and crown on the cover. This was part of their official logo for 40 years.
Moreover, in 1921, The Watch Tower published a book by Joseph Rutherford—the second president of The Watch Tower—titled The Harp of God. Repeatedly, Rutherford affirms that Jesus died on a cross. For example, he writes, “The ransom price was provided at the cross. The cross of Christ is the great pivotal truth of the divine arrangement, from which radiates the hopes of men” (141, emphasis added).
It is imperative that you point this out to your Jehovah’s Witness friends. This is not meant to humiliate them. Many have no idea how The Watchtower has changed this doctrine—and others—over time.
Here’s the crucial question you need to ask: If The Watchtower is a true prophet of God—who speaks for Jehovah—how could they get this wrong?
If they are willing to admit that The Watchtower was wrong, then ask if they could be wrong about other doctrines, like the deity of Christ. Minimally, this should cause them to doubt their alleged prophet.
Ultimately, all Christian doctrines need to be tested by the revelation given in Scripture. This leads to the remaining four points.
Second, the Greek word stauros—translated “torture stake” by the 2013 edition of the New World Translation—is used to refer to a number of wooden structures used for execution. These structures include a variety of shapes, like a cross, x-shape, plus-shape, and a simple pole. Therefore, the word itself isn’t enough to tell us if it was a cross or something else. We need the context for that. So, we need to look for clues in the text to help decide if it was a cross or a stake.
Third, the apostle John describes nails being used. This is a significant point easily missed if you’re not paying attention.
So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe” (John 20:25).
This passage indicates there was one nail for each hand. This fits the description of being nailed to a cross, not a stake. After all, only one nail was needed when crucifying a person on a stake. Unwittingly, The Watchtower concedes this point. In the 2014 revised edition of What Does the Bible Really Teach? they include an illustration of Jesus on a stake showing only one nail through both hands. Ironically, this depiction is contrary to what the Bible really teaches.
Fourth, Jesus describes how Peter would be crucified and refers to his arms being outstretched.
Most scholars believe Jesus is using this expression (“you will stretch out your hands”) to refer to crucifixion on a cross. Of course, this expression makes little sense if Jesus is referring to crucifixion on a stake.
Fifth, the charge against Jesus was placed over his head (Matt. 27:37). Again, this makes little sense if Jesus was crucified on a stake. After all, if Jesus was on a stake, then the sign would be placed over His hands, not His head. But crucifixion on a cross could have a sign over Jesus’ head.
None of these pieces of evidence alone will likely convince a Jehovah’s Witness, but taken together they provide clear support that Jesus died on a cross.
In the end, this isn’t a hill I want to die on with my Jehovah’s Witness friends. Even if I successfully persuaded them that Jesus died on a cross, they would still be lost. That’s why my primary goal will always be to bring it back to the identity of Jesus. Why He was crucified is far more important than how He was crucified. |
0.992805 | What are the greatest movies of all time? These are the list of best movies of all time. The list includes a wide range of films, from art house European cinema to top action films and blockbusters to established, highly-regarded classics of the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Don Vito Corleone, head of a mafia family, decides to hand over his empire to his youngest son Michael. However, his decision unintentionally puts the lives of his loved ones in grave danger.
Andy Dufresne, a successful banker, is arrested for the murders of his wife and her lover and is sentenced to life imprisonment at the Shawshank prison. He becomes the most unconventional prisoner.
After Gordon, Dent and Batman begin an assault on Gotham’s organised crime, the mobs hire the Joker, a psychopathic criminal mastermind, who wants to bring all the heroes down to his level.
During the Normandy invasion of World War II, Captain John Miller is assigned the task of searching for Private James Ryan, whose three brothers have already been killed in the war.
William Wallace, a Scottish rebel, sets out to battle an English tyrant who killed his wife a day after their marriage.
The tales of two Los Angeles mobsters, a gangster’s wife, a boxer, two small-time criminals and a mysterious briefcase intertwine.
Michael, Vito Corleone’s son, attempts to expand his family’s crime empire. While he strikes a business deal with gangster Hyman Roth, he is unaware of the dangers he has gotten himself into.
Thomas, a computer programmer, is led to fighting an underground war against powerful computers who now rule the world with a system called ‘The Matrix’.
A terminator is set on a mission to kill Sarah’s son, John Connor. However, a cyborg, who once was after the life of Sarah, has been assigned to protect him.
Tony Montana and his close friend Manny, build a strong drug empire in Miami. However as his power begins to grow, so does his ego and his enemies, and his own paranoia begins to plague his empire. |
0.948071 | Erasmus Darwin (12 December 1731 – 18 April 1802) trained as a physician and wrote extensively on the subjects of medicine and botany. In addition, he was known to compose poetry. He lived in Lichfield and Derby, England. He was one of the founder members of the Lunar Society, a discussion group of pioneering industrialists and natural philosophers. He was a member of the Darwin — Wedgwood family, most famously including his grandson, Charles Darwin.
Darwin was born at Elston Hall, Nottinghamshire near Newark-on-Trent, the youngest of four sons of Robert Darwin of Elston (1682-1754), a lawyer, and his wife Elizabeth Hill (1702-1797). His brothers were William Alvey Darwin (1726-1783), Robert Waring Darwin (1724-1816) and John Darwin, rector of Elston.
He was educated at Chesterfield School then later at St John's College, Cambridge. He obtained his degree at Edinburgh Medical School. He settled in 1756 as a physician at Nottingham, but meeting with little success he moved in the following year to Lichfield. He practised medicine in Lichfield in Staffordshire for twenty years; George III invited him to be Royal Physician but he declined.
Darwin married twice and had 14 children, including 2 illegitimate daughters by a mistress, and at least one further illegitimate daughter is suspected.
Elizabeth Darwin (1763), survived 4 months.
William Alvey Darwin (1767), survived 19 days.
Susanna and Mary Jr later established a school. In 1782 Mary Sr married Joseph Day (1745–1811), a Birmingham merchant and moved away.
Meanwhile, Lucy, daughter of Lucy Swift was born in 1771, and was christened a daughter of William and Lucy Swift, but she may have been Erasmus Darwin's daughter . Lucy jr married John Hardcastle in Derby in 1792 and their daughter Mary married Francis Boott, the physician.
Henry Darwin (1789-1790), died in infancy.
Darwin died suddenly on the 18 April 1802, weeks after having moved to Breadsall Priory just north of Derby. He is buried in All Saints Church, Breadsall.
Erasmus Darwin is commemorated on one of the Moonstones; a series of monuments in Birmingham.
Would it be too bold to imagine that, in the great length of time since the earth began to exist, perhaps millions of ages before the commencement of the history of mankind would it be too bold to imagine that all warm-blooded animals have arisen from one living filament, which the great First Cause endued with animality, with the power of acquiring new parts, attended with new propensities, directed by irritations, sensations, volitions and associations, and thus possessing the faculty of continuing to improve by its own inherent activity, and of delivering down these improvements by generation to its posterity, world without end!
Erasmus Darwin was familiar with the earlier evolutionary thinking of James Burnett, Lord Monboddo and cited him in his 1803 work Temple of Nature.
Another of his grandsons was Francis Galton (see family tree below).
In addition to the Lunar Society, Erasmus Darwin belonged to the influential Derby Philosophical Society, as did his brother-in-law Samuel Fox (see family tree below). He experimented with the use of air and gases to alleviate infections and cancers in patients. A Pneumatic Institution was established at Clifton in 1799 for clinically testing these ideas. He conducted research into the formation of clouds, on which he published in 1788. He also inspired Robert Weldon's Somerset Coal Canal caisson lock.
Darwin's experiments in galvanism were an important source of inspiration for Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein. His poetry was admired by Coleridge and Wordsworth. It often made reference to his interests in science; for example botany and steam engines. His most famous work of poetry was The Botanic Garden.
Darwin was the inventor of several devices, though he did not patent any. He believed this would damage his reputation as a doctor, and encouraged his friends to patent their own modifications of his designs.
A horizontal windmill, which he designed for Josiah Wedgwood (who would be Charles Darwin's other grandfather, see family tree below).
A carriage that would not tip over (1766).
A speaking machine (at Clifton in 1799).
A canal lift for barges.
A variety of weather monitoring machines.
In notes dating 1779, a sketch of a simple liquid-fuel rocket engine or ramjet can be found, with hydrogen and oxygen tanks connected by plumbing and pumps to an elongated combustion chamber and expansion nozzle, a concept not to be seen again until one century later.
For if we may compare infinities, it would seem to require a greater infinity of power to cause the causes of effects, than to cause the effects themselves. This idea is analogous to the improving excellence observable in every part of the creation; such as in the progressive increase of the solid or habitable parts of the earth from water; and in the progressive increase of the wisdom and happiness of its inhabitants; and is consonant to the idea of our present situation being a state of probation, which by our exertion we may improve, and are consequently responsible for our actions. |
0.550778 | What is takshila?When it was formed?
Taksha (the shortened moniker for TakshaShila) University was named afters Cut-Rock City in ancient northern India, the site of the ancient world supposed first international university (c 550 CE). It is described as the wealthiest city in India. The designation symbolizes the abiding ideals of solid and deep-rooted respect for teachers unfettered freedom of thought learning of different streams of knowledge excellence in education andextraordinary discipline that prevailed at the ancient University. |
0.98707 | Nosocomial infection is one of the most common complications within health care facilities. Certain studies have reported outbreaks resulting from contaminated hospital environments. Although the identification of bacteria in the environment can readily be achieved using culturing methods, these methods detect live bacteria. Sequencing of the 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) gene is recognized to be effective for bacterial identification. In this study, we surveyed wards where drug-resistant bacteria had been isolated and compared conventional culture methods with 16S rRNA gene sequencing methods.
Samples were collected using sterile swabs from two wards (northern and southern) at Gunma University Hospital contaminated by Acinetobacter sp.. We extracted DNA directly from the swabs. Following extraction, the DNA was amplified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The PCR products were cloned using the plasmid vector. The plasmid DNA were sequenced, and identification were performed using database. 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses were compared conventional culture methods.
In the northern ward, Acinetobacter sp. was detected from only two of 14 samples using the culture method. In contrast, 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis detected Acinetobacter sp. from seven of 14 samples. Drug-resistant Acinetobacter sp. was isolated from bathrooms of the southern ward and was detected from four of seven samples using the culture method in comparison with six of seven samples by 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis.
Molecular biological analysis showed a higher sensitivity to detect specific bacteria and detected a greater number of species than the culture method. Our results suggest that 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis is useful to identify range of contamination which were not found in conventional culture method. When a nosocomial outbreak cannot be adequately controlled, molecular biological analysis may serve as a useful tool for environmental surveys in hospitals.
Health care facilities provide an environment conducive to exposure and transmission of bacteria. Nosocomial infections represent one of the most common complications within health care facilities. At least 5–10% of patients admitted to acute care hospitals acquire an infection during hospitalization . Drug-resistant bacteria cause nosocomial infection in patients who have received several courses of antibiotics and those with immune deficiency associated with malignancies or transplants . Some studies have reported outbreaks resulting from the contaminated hospital environment [3, 4]. Although culture methods readily identify environmental bacteria, they only detect live bacteria. Previous research showing that <1% of bacterial species within a given environment are culturable suggests that true diversity is overlooked by studies relying only on culturing [5, 6]. The gene target most commonly used for bacterial identification is the 16S rRNA gene, which is an approximately 1500-bp gene encoding a portion of the 30S ribosomal subunit . 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis is not only widely used as a taxonomic tool but also recognized as an effective reference method for bacterial identification . Samples for 16S rRNA sequence analysis have been expanded from the bacteria in environments such as the oceans and soils to clinical settings. [9–12]. Studies of microbial diversity in child care facilities using culture-independent methods have suggested that knowledge of microbial diversity facilitates better understanding of public health risks in these environments . Therefore, to obtain accurate information regarding contaminated environments within health care facilities, comprehensive reevaluation of microorganisms using culture-independent methods is required.
The number of patients testing positive for Acinetobacter sp. has increased, suggesting that outbreaks of Acinetobacter sp. infections have occurred. We surveyed the wards where Acinetobacter sp. were isolated using culture and culture-independent methods. We aimed to compare these methods and obtain useful information on infection control.
Samples were collected from environments contaminated by Acinetobacter sp. at Gunma University Hospital (northern and southern wards). Sampling places were determined from the clinical course of the patients who isolated Acinetobacter sp. in consideration of estimated route of infection and range of contamination. As a result, we surveyed the patient’s rooms of the northern ward and the bathroom of the southern ward. Environmental samples were collected twice using sterile swabs. One of the sterile swabs were applied to Sheep blood agar (Eiken Chemical Co., Tochigi, JP) and chocolate agar plates (Becton, Dickinson and Company, Franklin Lakes, NJ), which were incubated of aerobic and anaerobic conditions (5% carbon dioxide gas) 48 h at 35 °C. The following day, grown bacterial colonies were identified using kits as necessary. Other of sterile swabs were then soaked in sterile DNase-free 1.5 mL microcentrifuge tubes containing 200 μL lysis buffer (25 mM Tris–HCl p H 8, 2.5 mM ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), and 1.2% Triton X-100). The swaps were applied to various environmental surfaces in each ward.
We used a protocol for preparing lysates to lyse gram-positive bacterial cells using the Invitrogen PureLink Genomic DNA Kit (InvitrogenTM, Carlsbad, CA).
Following centrifugation of the samples at 10,000 × g for 2 min, the supernatant was discarded and 180 μL lysis buffer containing fresh lysozyme was added to obtain a final lysozyme concentration of 20 mg/mL.
The reaction mixtures tubes were incubated at 37 °C using a heat block for 30 min. Subsequently, 20 μL Proteinase K (PureLink Genomic DNA Kit, InvitrogenTM, Carlsbad, CA) and 200 μL PureLink Genomic Lysis/Binding Buffer (PureLink Genomic DNA Kit, InvitrogenTM, Carlsbad, CA) were added to the tubes and mixed well by brief vortexing. The tubes were incubated at 55 °C using a heat block for 30 min. A volume of 200 μL 100% ethyl alcohol (EtOH) was then added to the tubes and mixed well by vortexing for 5 s to yield the homogenous solutions.
All reaction mixtures tubes were subjected to a purification procedure using the Invitrogen PureLink Genomic DNA Kit according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Purified genomic DNA was eluted in 50 μL PureLink Genomic Elution Buffer (10 mM Tris–HCl pH 9.0, 0.1 mM EDTA). Following extraction, the purified genomic DNA was confirmed using a NanoDrop ND-1000 spectrophotometer (NanoDrop Technologies, Wilmington, DE) at 260 nm.
16S rRNA genes were amplified from purified genomic DNA using the universal primer 8 F(5’-AGAGTTTGATCCTGGCTCAG-3’) and 805R (5’-GACTACCAGGGTATCTAATCC-3’). The primers react with highly conserved regions of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene to provide PCR products of approximately 800 bp. The PCR products from amplification have been shown to be particularly useful for database analysis and identification of bacterial sequences .
A Takara Taq Hot-Start kit (Takara Bio Inc., Shiga, JP) was used for amplifications. PCR reactions were performed in a total volume of 50 μL, consisting of 0.25 μL Takara Taq DNA polymerase Hot-Start (5 units/μL), 5 μL 10 × PCR buffer with MgCl2, 4 μL deoxynucleotide (dNTP) mixture (2.5 mM each), 1.5 μL each of primer (20 μM), 5 μL of sample DNA as a template, and sterilized distilled water.
Cycling conditions included a initial denaturation at 95 °C for 5 min, followed by 28 cycles of 30 s 95 °C denaturation, 30 s annealing at 55 °C, and 1.5 min elongation at 72 °C, followed by a final extension of 10 min at 72 °C. Afterwards, we confirmed bands of the PCR products that corresponded to the 800 bp using 1.5% agarose gel.
PCR products were subjected to a purification procedure using the QlAquick PCR Purification Kit (QIAGEN, Valencia, CA) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Purified PCR products were eluted in 50 μL sterilized distilled water. Following extraction, the purified PCR products were quantified using a NanoDrop ND-1000 Spectrophotometer (NanoDrop Technologies, Wilmington, DE).
The purified PCR products were cloned using the TOPO TA Cloning Kit for Sequencing (InvitrogenTM, Carlsbad, CA) according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Cloning reactions were performed in a total volume of 6 μL, consisting of 0.5 to 4 μL purified PCR products, 1 μL salt solution (1.2 M NaCl, 0.06 M MgCl2), 1 μL TOPO vector (10 ng/μL plasmid DNA), and sterilized distilled water. The cloning reaction mixture tubes were mixed gently and incubated for 10 min at room temperature, following which they were placed on ice. Transformation using Takara Escherichia coli DH5 α competent cells (Takara Bio Inc., Shiga, JP) was performed according to the One Shot® chemical transformation protocol of the TOPO TA Cloning Kit for sequencing. The transforming reaction mixture tubes were then incubated on ice for 5 min. Next, the cells were heat shocked for 30 s at 42 °C without shaking, and the tubes were immediately transferred to ice. A volume of 250 μL S.O.C. medium (2% tryptone, 0.5% yeast extract, 10 mM NaCl, 2.5 mM KCl, 10 mM MgSO4, 10 mM MgCl2, and 20 mM glucose) was then added. The tubes were tightly capped and shaken at 200 rpm horizontally at 37 °C for 1 h. The suspensions of competent transformed E. coli were then spread at volumes of 10 and 50 μL on the prewarmed agar plates containing ampicillin (InvitrogenTM, Carlsbad, CA) and were incubated overnight at 37 °C. By the following day, colonies had grown from the agar plates, and 15 colonies were randomly selected and cultured overnight at 37 °C in Falcon 2059 tubes (Becton, Dickinson and Company, Franklin Lakes, NJ) in 1 mL of lysogeny broth (LB) medium (Fisher Biotech, Fair Lawn, NJ) containing 100 μg/mL ampicillin.
LB medium cultured overnight was collected into sterile DNase-free 1.5 mL microcentrifuge tubes. The tubes were then centrifuged at 12,000 × g for 2 min, with the pellets used for further analysis and the supernatant discarded. The plasmid DNA in the pellets was isolated using the PureLink Quick Plasmid DNA Miniprep Kit (InvitrogenTM, Carlsbad, CA) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Purified plasmid DNA was eluted in 75 μL sterilized distilled water.
The primer T3 (5’-ATTAACCCTCACTAAAGGGA-3’) was used for sequencing. Sequencing of purified plasmid DNA was completed using the Applied Biosystems 3730xl DNA sequencer. Identifications were performed using the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST), with a similarity cut-off of 99%.
Acinetobacter sp. was detected from only two of 14 samples using the culture method. In contrast, using 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, Acinetobacter sp. was detected from seven of 14 samples. Thus, positive results were obtained for five samples by only the 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis.
Table 1 shows the results of the environmental survey of the northern ward comparing the 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and the culture method.
Acinetobacter sp. was not detected using the culture method in the nurses’ station; however, 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis provided positive results for three samples: the personal computer, faucet, and outlet samples. In patients’ rooms, Acinetobacter sp. was detected from only two samples using the culture method. These two samples were obtained from intubation tubes. In contrast, using 16 s rRNA gene sequence analysis, four samples containing the different samples from the culture method were identified as positive: the intubation tubes, the aspirator, and railings of a bed. Several samples showed different results between the 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and the culture method. The various bacteria identified by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis but not the culture method were collected from dry environmental surfaces. Six samples presented anaerobes by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. While 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis could not detect Aspergillus, these fungi were detected by the culture method.
Drug-resistant Acinetobacter sp. were detected from four of seven samples using the culture method. These four samples were collected from the faucet, bath chair, handrail, and the drain outlet of the bathroom. In contrast, 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis detected Acinetobacter sp. from six of seven samples. These six samples were collected from the faucets, bath chair, the bathtub drain, the handrail, and the drain outlet of the bathroom. In particular, two samples were detected only by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis.
Table 2 shows the results of the environmental survey of the bathroom of the southern ward comparing the 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and the culture method. Several samples showed different results between the 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and the culture method. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis detected uncultured bacteria from the shower head of the bathroom. Fungal strains were not detected using the 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, but were detected by the culture method.
The spectrum of organisms causing nosocomial infections is under continual flux. From the 1970s through to 2000, the spectrum of nosocomial pathogens shifted from Gram-negative to Gram-positive organisms, and Candida spp. emerged as a major problem . More recently, multidrug-resistant Gram-negative rods have become increasingly prevalent in many hospitals . Acinetobacter sp. is rapidly emerging as a pathogen in health care settings, where it results in infections that include bacteremia, pneumonia, meningitis, urinary tract infection, and wound infection . Acinetobacter sp. is able to survive for long periods on dry surfaces, and this ability to tolerate desiccation may contribute to its persistence in hospitals . Treatment options are severely limited, and carbapenems are the agents of choice for treating most drug-resistant infections . Unfortunately however, carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter isolates are increasingly reported worldwide . Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter infections have an extremely high crude mortality rate and occur most frequently in severely ill patients .
In the present study, 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed higher sensitivity to detect specific bacteria than the usual culture method. In addition, some bacteria strains that were not detected using the culture method were detected in the environmental samples.
In the case of an outbreak, environmental surveillance in a hospital is usually performed using the culture method [3, 4, 19, 20]. The culture method requires an appropriate culture media and culture condition that accept target bacteria. In addition, some bacteria require an extended time for isolation; thus, a delay may be experienced in obtaining the preliminary results. In the present study, the culture method was not able to detect five of the seven samples that the 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis identified as positive. This is because the samples did not obtain viable bacteria. On the other hand, 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis has been used to identify novel and emerging pathogens and to define complex microbial communities . This analysis is especially valuable for detecting bacteria that are slow growing, biochemically inert or variable, and fastidious. In addition, 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis has enhanced our understanding of previously unrecognized, often opportunistic pathogens . According to recent studies, this molecular biology analytical method has been used in the search of pathogens of infectious diseases, reporting a higher rate of detection than the usual culture method [9, 23]. Indeed, 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis provides a comprehensive assessment of microbial diversity compared with culturing alone, and is an excellent complement to the culturing approaches. In the present study, anaerobic bacteria were detected in six samples. The inconsistencies between the 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and the culture method observed in the present study suggest that the culture method alone may not fully express precise bacterial information in the contaminated environment of a hospital. To our knowledge, this is the first report that 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis is applicable to infection control by detection of contaminated area undetectable by usual culture method. This analysis might become a useful tool for environmental surveys in hospitals in cases of nosocomial outbreaks.
There are several limitations associated with the present study. First, closely related species might be difficult to distinguish using 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, and the identification of bacteria to a species level might be inaccurate. Second, the antimicrobial susceptibility of bacteria is not obtained by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. Third, fungal strains could not be detected using 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. Finally, the number of clones analyzed in the present study was 15 per library, which might be insufficient to detect very small fractions of the library.
Because 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis is more sensitive to detect in environmental samples, it is possible to identify range of contamination which were not found in conventional culture method. This analysis might become a useful tool for environmental surveys in hospitals in cases of nosocomial outbreaks.
This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 21591291.
AM carried out the molecular genetic studies, participated in the sequence alignment and drafted the manuscript. YT participated in the sequence alignment, and participated in the design of the study and helped to draft the manuscript. MM participated in its design and coordination and helped to draft the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. |
0.966906 | You are considered overweight. You should finds ways to lower your weight, through diet and exercise. You are at increased risk for a variety of illnesses at your present weight. You should lose weight by changing your diet and exercising more.
With a BMI of 27.7, you are overweight.
Being overweight isn't a cosmetic problem. This condition greatly raises your risk for other health problems.
The usual treatments for overweight individuals are diet and physical exercise.
If you are considered to be overweight, losing as little as 10 percent of your body weight may lower your risk for several diseases, including heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
The key to success is to achieve an energy balance between calories consumed on one hand, and calories used on the other hand.
It's natural for anyone trying to lose weight to want to lose it very quickly. But evidence shows that people who lose weight gradually and steadily are more successful at keeping weight off.
Healthy weight loss isn't just about a "diet" or "program". It's about an ongoing lifestyle that includes long-term changes in daily eating and exercise habits.
And to increase calories used, people can boost their levels of physical activity - to at least 30 minutes of regular, moderate-intensity activity on most days.
Federal guidelines on physical activity recommend that you get at least 150 minutes a week of moderate aerobic activity (like biking or brisk walking).
To lose weight, or to maintain weight loss, you may need to be active for up to 300 minutes per week.
You also need to do activities to strengthen muscles (like push-ups or sit-ups) at least twice a week. |
0.999977 | 1776 - U.S. Declares Independence.
The first major American opposition to British policy came in 1765 after Parliament passed the Stamp Act, a taxation measure to raise revenues for a standing British army in America. Under the banner of "no taxation without representation," colonists convened the Stamp Act Congress in October 1765 to vocalize their opposition to the tax. With its enactment in November, most colonists called for a boycott of British goods, and some organized attacks on the customhouses and homes of tax collectors. After months of protest in the colonies, Parliament voted to repeal the Stamp Act in March 1766.
Most colonists continued to quietly accept British rule until Parliament's enactment of the Tea Act in 1773, a bill designed to save the faltering East India Company by greatly lowering its tea tax and granting it a monopoly on the American tea trade. The low tax allowed the East India Company to undercut even tea smuggled into America by Dutch traders, and many colonists viewed the act as another example of taxation tyranny. In response, militant Patriots in Massachusetts organized the "Boston Tea Party," which saw British tea valued at some 18,000 pounds dumped into Boston Harbor.
Initially, both the Americans and the British saw the conflict as a kind of civil war within the British Empire: To King George III it was a colonial rebellion, and to the Americans it was a struggle for their rights as British citizens. However, Parliament remained unwilling to negotiate with the American rebels and instead purchased German mercenaries to help the British army crush the rebellion. In response to Britain's continued opposition to reform, the Continental Congress began to pass measures abolishing British authority in the colonies.
The Declaration of Independence was largely the work of Virginian Thomas Jefferson. In justifying American independence, Jefferson drew generously from the political philosophy of John Locke, an advocate of natural rights, and from the work of other English theorists. The first section features the famous lines, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." The second part presents a long list of grievances that provided the rationale for rebellion.
1812 - John Jasper was Born.
1826 - Thomas Jefferson and John Adams Died.
How interesting that this should be on the same day. Pray for our present leaders today.
1826 - Stephen Foster was Born.
Some of our grandest old songs have come from the pen of this man.
1827 - Slavery was Abolished in the United States.
Pray for our black brethren today.
1828 - The First United States Railroad Passenger Service.
On this date the first United States Railroad passenger service was begun. It was horse-drawn.
1872 - The Birthday of Calvin Coolidge.
1904 - The First Pacific Cable was Opened.
President Theodore Roosevelt sent a message around the world. It came back to him in twelve minutes. Think of this miracle and thank God for this step of progress.
Of course, this is also Independence Day. The 4th of July has long been a great day in the life of our nation. Of course, it is a holiday. Many of us will want to have picnics; many will go on outings; many will see friends and loved ones for the first time in weeks, months, or maybe years; however, do not let this day pass without thanking God for our independence. Pray that God will keep us this way as long as there is an America or until Jesus comes. |
0.98568 | Alexander, born on the Island about 1815, is generally listed with the family of Alexander McDougall and Nancy McLean. However, no documents have been found to support this. One of the few mentions of a son Alexander in that family was that he was under 21 years of age in 1863, as noted in an agreement signed that year by the children of Alexander McDougald and Ann McLean. Alexander Jr. was living with his mother in 1863, when this Alexander was already married with a family.
Alexander could very easily fit with the family of John and Ann McDougall, so I have "parked" him here for now, until better information can be found.
I was unable to find a marriage record for Hannah Ellis and Alexander McDougall in PEI Marriages, although the date was probably around 1840. The marriage was noted in the History of the Ellis Family, and their names were on baptismal, marriage and death records for their children.
The Alex McDougall in the 1861 PEI census in Lot 12 next to Charles McDougald, was Charles' father.
There was another entry in this census, in Lot 12, for a McDougald, first name garbled, that had 10 people in the household. Ancestry transcribed the name as Alexander Vangold, but the National Library and Archives transcription said Alexander McDougal, a better match with the name on the image. The ages fit with this family, 3 boys and their father, one girl under 5, and 4 girls under 15. They were Bible Christians. One member of the family had been born the previous year (Mary Ann), and one had married (Ann to Horatio Nelson Robinson). This McDougald was 22 years into his lease, which supports a date of marriage around 1840.
Of the children generally attributed to this couple, Sarah, Eliza, Jane Campbell, John Archibald, Mary Anne, and James Ellis were in the PEI Baptismal Index. The names of William's parents were on his death record, Susannah's on her marriage and death record. Sarah's marriage record in Port Hill C of E said she was married at the home of her father, Alexander McDougall, on the Western Road in Lot 13.
Their first two children were possibly named after Hannah's parents, William and Nancy/Ann. Would Alexander's parents then, be Sarah and Alexander? Or John and Ann?
Hannah remarried in 1875, which means that Alex had died before that date. He could be the Alexander McDougald who died in 1867 in Mount Pleasant, Lot 13, who was described in the book Booze by Clinton Morrison as "Worthy Chief Templar, Hope Temple, IOGT" and whose obituary was quoted, describing him as "a man of great moral rectitude and sterling virtue." This Alex died at age 51, leaving a wife and 10 children, and lived in Lot 12, which fits with this Alexander's age, location, size of family, and religion - the Bible Christians and Methodists were strong supporters of the temperance movement. |
0.99979 | Canada: Borrow to Invest in RRSP?
I've a credit line that charges a 2% fee to borrow money and no interest charges for 8 months. I've used this facility before for high value purchases and have not occurred any hidden fees / payments (since I repay it all before end of interest-free term).
Does it make sense to borrow money from this facility to invest in my RRSP account?
That RRSP account is a self-directed RSP and I usually end up going long on ETF / mutual funds.
If It does make sense, What are the factors I should consider to make this a sound investment?
I also do have enough contribution room in my RRSP and probably will look at taking out approximately $5000.
Borrow $5,000 (with a $100 fee) and contribute $5,000 in one lump sum to your RRSP. Repay the loan at $637.50 over the next eight months (assuming the fee is added to the loan amount and not paid up-front).
Total contribution to RRSP: $5,000.
Total cost to you: $5,100.
Over the course of eight months, contribute $625/month to your RRSP.
Total cost to you: $5,000.
At first glance, at the end of eight months you will be in the same position regarding the RRSP (savings increased by $5,000) but the first scenario will have cost an extra $100 to get there.
However, assuming your investments in the RRSP are rising in value over the eight months in question, then in the first case you would have had all the $5,000 benefiting from the rise in value from day one. In the second case, because you are paying monthly – and only hit $5,000 in the last month – the gains you make will be roughly equivalent to having only had $2,500 invested from day one.
If your investments were to grow at 8% per year, then – by my rough calculations – the first scenario should net a gain of around $266, whereas the second would gain $133. This would be an overall benefit of $133, slightly beating the $100 extra it cost to take out the loan.
Conversely, if your investments were to fall over those eight months, you would be slightly better off with monthly contributions (the $625 in the final months will buy more "units" because their price has fallen and – assuming values rise in the future – you will be better off).
So: you have to decide what are the chances of the stock market rising over the eight months concerned? Does the (modest, in most cases) potential extra gain outweigh the risk that "something happens" and you have difficulty in repaying the loan and possibly incurring interest charges? What are the chances that your investment will lose value, and make the lump-sum option worse?
Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged investing canada rrsp borrowing or ask your own question.
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0.998942 | find the coins in Fortnite's prominent creative islands This is one of those challenges of Fortnite Extra Time.
To get the necessary amount will help you progress in the challenges of extra time to unlock the match pass of season 8.
These coins do not appear in the Battle Royale mode of the game as traditional challenges, but are in creative mode. Specifically, you need to emphasize the creative islands, promote cards through the game itself, and find the coins inside.
Download the creative first. It is in the main menu of the game, or selected as a mode in the playlist option of Battle Royale.
Then, you'll be shown in a landscape surrounded by stones. Look at the stones on the other, each with the text & # 39; Selected & # 39; on top. These are the outstanding creative islands you are looking for.
Once in the card, start searching for those coins. They are wielding golden objects (in Mario plan) that you take over.
If you do it right it will add to your overall result.
Since each card is different, we can't lead you through every place, but start playing and it should be clear.
You must find a total of 15. They need to be unique coins, you can't play a card and pick the same one you've found before, and as in a card only ten appear at the same time, you need to play multiple games.
If you find it difficult to find it, we recommend returning to the list of creative islands highlighted during the extra time challenge, as we suggest new ones will appear.
You have a week to find them all, don't worry if you don't get them all in one game!
This entry was posted in Consoles, Eurogamer, Technology, Uncategorized, Video Games and tagged coins, creative, Fortnite, islands, outstanding. Bookmark the permalink. |
0.999972 | Why did science flourish in the West, and only the West? The biblical worldview provided the presuppositions that allowed science to flourish while it was stillborn in other places such as Greece and China. Evolutionists deny this biblical foundation for science by accusing Christianity of superstitions that held science back. Jonathan deftly busts the myth of the 'Dark Ages'—a time marked by many scientific advances. He also busts the myths of Galileo, belief in a flat earth, and more.
Dr. Jonathan Sarfati is a research scientist and speaker with Creation Ministries International (creation.com). He was born in Ararat, Australia in 1964. He moved to New Zealand as a child and later studied science at Victoria University of Wellington. He obtained a B.Sc. (Hons.) in Chemistry with two physics papers substituted (nuclear and condensed matter physics). His Ph.D. in Chemistry was awarded for a thesis entitled 'A Spectroscopic Study of some Chalcogenide Ring and Cage Molecules'.
He has co-authored papers in mainstream scientific journals on high temperature superconductors and selenium-containing ring and cage-shaped molecules. He also had a co-authored paper on high-temperature superconductors published in Nature when he was 22. |
0.993268 | For the satirical undertones card your film must include satire, which is the use of irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose the faults of a person or group. Often satire is applied to society in general, and social commentary is one of its most common uses. A film does not need to have a deeper social meaning to be satirical, however. It simply needs to aim to mock its subject, usually by taking it too seriously or too far.
A good example of satire is The Truman Show, in which the main character's entire world is a television show, with him as the unwitting star. The plot revolves around Truman's discovery that his world is crafted for him by other people, his identification of the few genuine relationships in his life, and his eventual (spoilers) escape from the show into the real world. The movie satirizes a number of things about American culture, including the power of the media and our seemingly unquenchable thirst to know the intimate details of others' personal lives. In the film, the producer of the TV show (Christof) literally takes on the role of God in Truman's life. In the outside world, some people leave Truman's show running 24 hours/day in order not to miss a moment.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is seen by some as a satirical look at government interference in education, which the story definitely takes to the extreme. It suggests that involving the government too much is a surefire way to make sure kids' schooling is dominated by political agendas, not useful learning that will help them in real life. I disagree with the view of this film as satire, because the main characters in the film take an open stand against this philosophy. The theme is certainly discussed, but it is done in a straightforward manner, not the backhanded slap in the face that satire generally relies on. |
0.935888 | ADHD is also known as attention deficit disorder (ADD) and hyperkinetic disorder. It is a fairly common condition that mainly affects a child's behaviour. There may also be problems with the child's intellectual, social and psychological development as a result of the behaviour.
What are the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)?
Children with ADHD show persistent restlessness, impulsiveness and/or inattention. These features are seen in more than one setting - for example, at school and at home. They are also seen in more than one activity - for example, in schoolwork and in relationships. They occur at a level greater than expected for their age and cause significant disruption to the child's daily life.
Run around in inappropriate situations.
Have trouble waiting their turn in games, in conversations and also in queues.
Have trouble concentrating and paying attention.
Make careless mistakes and not listen to, or follow through on, instructions.
Be forgetful in daily activities and lose essential items such as school books or toys.
Combined subtype. If a child has this subtype, they have features of both of the other subtypes.
Children with ADHD are also more likely than average to have other problems such as anxiety and depression, conduct disorders and co-ordination difficulties. Some children with ADHD also have reading difficulties and dyslexia.
Note: many children, especially those under the age of 5, are inattentive and restless. This does not necessarily mean that they have ADHD. |
0.966247 | Isabgol is a great tool that can help you achieve your weight loss goals. It makes you feel full for a longer time and curbs cravings. Apart from that, it is also known as a great colon cleanser. It helps clean out all the waste products inside the stomach, making your digestion more effective and keeps you healthy. Moreover, according to Ayurveda, it also helps clear out the ama (toxic waste products often lining the walls of the stomach) which also helps keep other digestive disorders at bay. |
0.999644 | Hello, and welcome to the President's Office at our university. I hope you enjoy your time in our office; the view is fantastic, and that antique clock in the corner may be of dubious origin, but it is very old, yes. Whatever business you may have in our office, I sincerely hope to resolve it quickly and efficiently, thus making your day a little easier and brighter. As the president's friendly receptionist, I am here to serve you.
There is one small note, however. Many of you - perhaps as much as 70% of you - come into this office to drop off letters for various people. Now, it is completely understandable to me that you would ask where you can do this. And, although the phrase "You can put it in that box on the desk" does not seem terribly confusing to me - there is, after all, a box on the desk, and it is the only box on the desk, and there is a large sign on the box on the desk that reads INCOMING MAIL - I bear you no ill will when you do not understand what I am telling you at first. I cannot necessarily explain this, but I cannot necessarily explain many of the things that happen in my own head, so I will not presume to judge you for the momentary lapses your own brains may suffer.
However, the following is an example of the sort of conversation I do *not* wish to have with you.
DELIVERYPERSON: Hi, am I supposed to be here?
KYLIE: I... well, are you dropping those letters off?
DELIVERYPERSON: Yes. Do they go here?
KYLIE: I'm not sure, can you show me who they're addressed to?
KYLIE: Oh, yes, that's fine. You can leave them here.
KYLIE: In ::points:: that box on the desk.
KYLIE: In ::still pointing:: that box on my desk.
KYLIE: In that box on my desk right there.
KYLIE: Sir? Over here, on my desk.
KYLIE: Sir. In the box. On my desk. The box on my desk. Right there. The box.
KYLIE: ::gets up, walks around desk, places hand in the box:: This box. Right here.
DELIVERYPERSON: ::bursts out laughing:: Oh! The box! On your desk!
KYLIE: Yes! The box on my desk!
DELIVERYPERSON: I was walking out of the office!
DELIVERYPERSON: There's a box on your desk!
Just for future reference, when I say "You can put that in the box on my desk", it means that you can put that in the box on my desk. I am sure this will clear up any misunderstandings that might arise in the future and that we can have many long and happy years of incident-free letter droppage.
yep, your funny's back. :) this sure had me giggling.
And then I found out about O'Connor retiring and oh, God, I'm terrified, lietya. So terrified.
At least you didn't say "you can just stick those in my box." Because really, that brings up issues that make Kylie scared!
Now, imagine today were a national holiday, such as the 4th of July is there. Also, imagine that rather than working in the President's Office, you are working at a national tourist attraction. Got it? Okay. Now consider the fact that admission is free.
Imagine that those letter-deliverers are instead brightly-attired one-day-a-year patriots, constantly wanting to know what is going on, and where, and how, and why. And you have to answer each question five times because your answer, seemingly intelligible to you, is apparently gibberish to everyone else. Add to that the fact that your phone is ringing constantly with the same kinds of people making the same inquiries. |
0.999845 | You are given two strings s and t with respective lengths m and n. Tell if s is a subsequence of t, that is, if there is a subset of m positions of t, 0 ≤ j0 < … < jm−1 < n, such that s[i] = t[ji] for all 0 ≤ i < m. Additionally, tell if there is just one such subset of positions.
Input consists of several cases, each with s and t. You can assume 1 ≤ | s | ≤ | t | ≤ 105, and that the words are made up of only digits and lowercase and uppercase letters.
For every case, tell if there are zero solutions, just one solution, or multiple solutions. |
0.997173 | Who were the presidents during this period?
-William McKinley is from Niles, Ohio, US. He was a republican and charged with no scandals. He was part of the Spanish American War. He also signed the Gold Standard Act.
-Theodore Roosevelt is from Oyster Bay, NY. He is a republican and was not charged with any scandals. He signed the Hay Pauncefote Treaty and was part of the major economic downfall.
-William Howard Taft is from Cincinnati Ohio. He was a republican and was charged with some scandals. He passed the Mann Elkins Act of 1910 and he always focused on Domestic issues.
What were the Top ten highlights?
-May 17, 1900; L. Frank Baum writes the Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
-December 17, 1903; Wright Brothers fly the first airplane in Kitty Hawk, NC.
-March 14,1903; Roosevelt dedicated the first Wildlife Refuge.
-October 27, 1904; NY gets the first Subway Line.
-December 13, 1904; Ice cream cones are introduced.
-April 18, 1906; Earthquake destroys most of San Francisco.
-February 3, 1907; Immigration reaches the highest.
-October 1, 1908; Henry Ford introduces the Model T.
-February 28, 1909; Matthew Henson becomes the first man to reach the North Pole.
-August 10, 1909; Coffee is a favorite American beverage.
Model T is sweet as tea!
The Model T is important to the decade because this was me of the first cars invented. It was invented by Henry Ford in 1908.
Romeo and Juliet hits cinemas today!
Actors/Actresses- Emilio Cossira who played Romeo is the only one available.
The song Take Me Out to the Ballgame hits number one today!
Writer- Albert Von Tilzer and Jack Norworth. |
0.984514 | Do you have an interest in researching and keeping up with the newest technologies and trends? Focus on innovation and new technology. Work on newer platforms and technologies, like Micro services, SOLID principles, Docker, Kafka, Mongo DB, RESTful, json, Azure, Machine Learning, AI, Python, etc.
Exposure to state of the art technology, they are constantly looking for ways to implement technologies like blockchain, automation and AI and so forth, into their systems. They aim to be the best, and you can help drive that passion and vision forward.
· Experience working on large existing projects.
· Solid experience in Microsoft SQL server (2008, 2012).
· Working in a production environment together with medium size team on the same code base with frequent releases.
If you are good developer with a real passion for making a difference, you are what they need. |
0.978127 | Can going plant-based cure cancer?
Could a poor diet increase our risk of developing cancer?
Yes; even cancers not directly diet related, such as lung cancer and skin cancer are affected by dietary practices and exposure to phytonutrients. For example, studies show those eating more green vegetables have a lower risk of lung cancer and skin cancer. |
0.940108 | Swami Dayananda Saraswati (स्वामी दयानन्द सरस्वती) (1824 - 1883) was an important Hindu religious scholar born in Gujarat, India. He is best known as the founder of the Arya Samaj "Society of Nobles," a great Hindu reform movement, founded in 1875. He was a sanyasi (one who has renounced all worldly possessions and relations) from his boyhood. He was an original scholar, who believed in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Dayananda advocated the doctrine of karma, skepticism in dogma, and emphasized the ideals of brahmacharya (celibacy and devotion to God). The Theosophical Society and the Arya Samaj were united for a certain time under the name Theosophical Society of the Arya Samaj.
Dayananda was an important Hindu reformist whose views did much to promote gender-equality, democracy, education, as well as a new confidence in India's cultural past and future capabilities. In some respects, he qualifies as an architect of modern India as am emerging scientific and technological power. Aspects of his views impacted negatively on inter-religious relations, however, and contributed to extreme forms of Hindu nationalism which denies non-Hindus their complete civil rights. Yet, in his own day, when he spoke of the superiority of Hindu culture and religion, he was doing so in defense of what Europeans in India had insulted and denigrated. A consequence of assuming racial, cultural, or religious superiority over others is that they retaliate, and reverse what is said about them. The Arya Samaj is now a worldwide movement.
Born in Kathiawi, Gujerat, Dayananda's parents were wealthy members of the priestly class, the Brahmins (or Brahmans). Although raised as an observant Hindu, in his late teens Dayananda turned to a detailed study of the Vedas, convinced that some contemporary practices, such as the veneration of images (murtis) was a corruption of pure, original Hinduism. His inquiries were prompted by a family visit to a temple for overnight worship, when he stayed up waiting for God to appear to accept the offerings made to image of the God Shiva. While everyone else slept, Dayananda saw mice eating the offerings kept for the God. Utterly surprised, he wondered how a God, who cannot even protect his own "offerings," would protect humanity. He later argued with his father that they should not worship such a helpless God. He then started pondering the meaning of life and death, and asking questions that worried his parents.
In 1845, he declared that he was starting a quest for enlightenment, or for liberation (moksha), left home and started to denounce image-veneration. His parents had decided to marry him off in his early teens (common in nineteenth century India), so instead Dayananda chose to become a wandering monk. He learned Panini's Grammar to understand Sanskrit texts. After wandering in search of guidance for over two decades, he found Swami Virjananda (1779-1868) near Mathura who became his guru. The guru told him to throw away all his books in the river and focus only on the Vedas. Dayananda stayed under Swami Virjananda's tutelage for two and a half years. After finishing his education, Virjananda asked him to spread the concepts of the Vedas in society as his gurudakshina ("tuition-dues"), predicting that he would revive Hinduism.
Dayananda set about this difficult task with dedication, despite attempts on his life. He traveled the country challenging religious scholars and priests of the day to discussions and won repeatedly on the strength of his arguments. He believed that Hinduism had been corrupted by divergence from the founding principles of the Vedas and misled by the priesthood for the priests' self-aggrandizement. Hindu priests discouraged common folk from reading Vedic scriptures and encouraged rituals (such as bathing in the Ganges and feeding of priests on anniversaries) which Dayananda pronounced as superstitions or self-serving.
In 1869, Dayananda set up his first Vedic School, dedicated to teaching Vedic values to the fifty students who registered during the first year. Two other schools followed by 1873. In 1875, he founded the Arya Samaj in 1875, which spearheaded what later became known as a nationalist movement within Hinduism. The term "fundamentalist" has also been used with reference to this strand of the Hindu religion.
The Arya Samaj unequivocally condemns idol-veneration, animal sacrifices, ancestor worship, pilgrimages, priestcraft, offerings made in temples, the caste system, untouchability, child marriages, and discrimination against women on the grounds that all these lacked Vedic sanction. The Arya Samaj discourages dogma and symbolism and encourages skepticism in beliefs that run contrary to common sense and logic. To many people, the Arya Samaj aims to be a "universal church" based on the authority of the Vedas. Dayananda taught that the Vedas are rational and contain universal principles. Fellow reformer Vivekananda also stressed the universal nature of the principles contained in Hindu thought, but for him the Ultimate was trans-personal, while Dayananda believed in a personal deity.
Among Swami Dayananda's immense contributions is his championing of the equal rights of women—such as their right to education and reading of Indian scriptures—and his translation of the Vedas from Sanskrit to Hindi so that the common person may be able to read the Vedas. The Arya Samaj is rare in Hinduism in its acceptance of women as leaders in prayer meetings and preaching. Dayananda promoted the idea of marriage by choice, strongly supported education, pride in India's past, in her culture as well as in her future capabilities. Indeed, he taught that Hinduism is the most rational religion and that the ancient Vedas are the source not only of spiritual truth but also of scientific knowledge. This stimulated a new interest in India's history and ancient disciples of medicine and science. Dayananda saw Indian civilization as superior, which some later developed into a type of nationalism that looked on non-Hindus as disloyal.
For several years (1879-1881), Dayananda was courted by the Theosophist, Helena Blavatsky, and Henry Steel Olcott, who were interested in a merger which was temporarily in place. However, their idea of the Ultimate Reality as impersonal did not find favor with Dayananda, for whom God is a person, and the organizations parted.
Far from borrowing concepts from other religions, as Raja Ram Mohan Roy had done, Swami Dayananda was quite critical of Islam and Christianity as may be seen in his book, Satyartha Prakash. He was against what he considered to be the corruption of the pure faith in his own country. Unlike many other reform movements within Hinduism, the Arya Samaj's appeal was addressed not only to the educated few in India, but to the world as a whole, as evidenced in the sixth of ten principle of the Arya Samaj.
Arya Samaj, like a number of other modern Hindu movements, allows and encourages converts to Hinduism, since Dayananda held Hinduism to be based on "universal and all-embracing principles" and therefore to be "true." "I hold that the four Vedas," he wrote, "the repository of Knowledge and Religious Truths- are the Word of God …They are absolutely free from error and are an authority unto themselves." In contrast, the Gospels are silly, and "no educated man" could believe in their content, which contradicted nature and reason.
However, given the hostility expressed by many Christian missionaries and colonial officials in India towards the Hindu religion, which they often held in open contempt, what Dayananda did was to reverse their attitude and give such people a taste of their own medicine.
He was the among the first great Indian stalwarts who popularized the concept of Swaraj—right to self-determination vested in an individual, when India was ruled by the British. His philosophy inspired nationalists in the mutiny of 1857 (a fact that is less known), as well as champions such as Lala Lajpat Rai and Bhagat Singh. Dayananda's Vedic message was to emphasize respect and reverence for other human beings, supported by the Vedic notion of the divine nature of the individual—divine because the body was the temple where the human essence(soul or "Atma") could possibly interface with the creator ("ParamAtma"). In the 10 principles of the Arya Samaj, he enshrined the idea that "All actions should be performed with the prime objective of benefiting mankind" as opposed to following dogmatic rituals or revering idols and symbols. In his own life, he interpreted Moksha to be a lower calling (due to its benefit to one individual) than the calling to emancipate others. The Arya Samaj is itself democratically organized. Local societies send delegates to regional societies, which in turn send them to the all India Samaj.
Dayananda's ideas cost him his life. He was poisoned in 1883, while a guest of the Maharaja of Jodhpur. On his deathbed, he forgave his poisoner, the Maharaja's cook, and actually gave him money to flee the king's anger.
The Arya Samaj remains a vigorous movement in India, where it has links with several other organizations including some political parties. Dayananda and the Arya Samaj provide the ideological underpinnings of the Hindutva movement of the twentieth century. Ruthven regards his "elevation of the Vedas to the sum of human knowledge, along with his myth of the Aryavartic kings" as religious fundamentalism, but considers its consequences as nationalistic, since "Hindutva secularizes Hinduism by sacralizing the nation." Dayananda's back-to-the-Vedas message influenced many thinkers. The Hindutva concept considers that only Hindus can properly be considered India. Organizatuions such as the RSS (the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) and the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party]] were influenced by the Arya Samaj.
Dayananda also influenced Sri Aurobindo, who decided to look for hidden psychological meanings in the Vedas. Dayananda's legacy may have had a negative influence in encouraging Hindu nationalism that denies the full rights of non-Hindus. On the other hand, he was a strong democrat and an advocate of women's rights. His championship of Indian culture, and his confidence in India's future ability to contribute to science, did much to stimulate India's post-colonial development as a leading nation in the area of technology especially.
Dayananda Saraswati wrote more than 60 works in all, including a 14 volume explanation of the six Vedangas, an incomplete commentary on the Ashtadhyayi (Panini's grammar), several small tracts on ethics and morality, Vedic rituals and sacraments and on criticism of rival doctrines (such as Advaita Vedanta). The Paropakarini Sabha located in the Indian city of Ajmer was founded by the Swami himself to publish his works and Vedic texts.
Satyartha Prakash/Light of Truth. Translated to English, published in 1908; New Delhi: Sarvadeshik Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, 1975.
An Introduction to the Commentary on the Vedas. Ed. B. Ghasi Ram, Meerut, 1925; New Delhi : Meharchand lachhmandas Publications, 1981.
Glorious Thoughts of Swami Dayananda. Ed. Sen, N.B. New Delhi: New Book Society of India.
Autobiography. Ed. Kripal Chandra Yadav, New Delhi: Manohar, 1978.
↑ New Zealand Arya Samaj, Ten Principles of the Arya Samaj. Retrieved September 13, 2007.
Sarasvati, Dayananda. Autobiography of Swami Dayanand Saraswati. New Delhi: Manohar Book Service, 1976.
Satyarth Prakash - THE "LIGHT OF TRUTH" by Swami Dayanand Online book.
This page was last modified on 9 November 2017, at 16:01. |
0.999939 | Grape Creek and Stout's have partnered to bring you Stout's Trattoria at Grape Creek Vineyards! Delectable entrees, creative appetizers, fresh salads and stone-baked pizzas.
I will start off with what was good at Stout's, and that was the food. The food was really good. There were really just a few things that this restaurant needs to do to be consider the great restaurant it wants to be: 1) Not be afraid to bring new silverware when clearing plates from the first course of the meal. Having your silverware tossed back on the table with "Keep your utensils" just doesn't instill "High Class Restaurant." 2) Stop pushing the membership so much. We get it. We're even members. The constant reminders (e.g. separate column for the price of items for member verses non-members) is off putting. 3) Having to pay two bills when you leave, food and wine. I realize you are separate entities, but there has got to be a way to provide one bill to the table.
The setting at Stout's Trattoria is lovely, if you happen to snag a window seat. If not, you might as well be at a chain restaurant. The dining room is simply one large open room and as a result the noise level is deafening - the staff knows this and simply state, "Well, everyone here is drinking, go figure!" The food is adequate and prepared nicely, but the menu is limited. The one dessert that was offered included peanut butter, so if you aren't a fan, you're out of luck. The potential is there to make this a really nice destination restaurant, but they aren't there yet.
Really enjoyed it. Looked out on beautiful vineyard. Very friendly staff, and the food and wine were wonderful!
A couple years ago we dined at Trattoria. It was a much classier dining experience. It seems Trattoria has become just another higher priced restaurant. We were disappointed in the ambiance. The food was okay, but did not reflect the cost of the meal. The service was great. The wait-staff was great. Just not sure we will be returning.
Good food, good wine, nice atmosphere. Sommelier was very helpful.
Always a nice place to have lunch and wine with friends!
Food was very good. We had the crab cake benedict and the tenderbelly Benedict. Both were good. Service was ok.
Excellent food and service. Very knowledgeable staff regarding wine selection. Be sure and join the wine club. Excellent wine and a 15% discount.
I was so glad to have been able to visit here. It was beautiful and I can’t wait to go back. I will definitely share and recommend my experience with my friends and family.
Nice place! We sat outside and dined for dinner. Pizza was delicious! Only thing we didn’t like was that they didn’t have a bar.
The girls loved the food and restaurant. Was surprised they didn’t do something for a birthday like a dessert but it was a great evening.
Delicious, with a gorgeous view, nice wine, and a friendly staff.
As always, the food and service were on point.
Great place for a bite when wining out in hill country! Tried the Rendevous pizza and it was awesome! Love the wine selection and the service is outstanding!
We had a great time. The pizza was really fresh and very tasty! The wait staff was very friendly, attentive and courteous.
Aways a great dining experience. Wine is awesome!
Ate here twice during our recent trip to Fredericksburg and never miss it on our visits there. Food and service are great and we love our Grape Creek wines.
Excellent restaurant, great service. Ivan was our host and helped us to accommodate all of our needs. We will certainly be going back.
We had a wonderful experience at Stout’s Trattoria. We were visiting Fredericksburg for the weekend and became members of Grape Creek the day before so we had a discount on brunch. It was incredible food and the staff was fantastic as well. Will definitely be visiting them again!
It was a delightful day with wonderful food. We all enjoyed the visit very much.
Our waiter Lucas made our experience so much better!
Always a great place to grab a bite in the hill country ! Wine selection is all of Grapecreek wines!
We brought friends who had never been to Grape Creek or Stout's and everyone enjoyed their meal and the venue. I only gave this a "loud" rating because there was a large table celebrating a birthday right next to us and they were screaming and although it was joyful screaming, it was indeed loud. Our waiter acknowledged it and apologized, although we had not complained. Their wines are quite good. I had the filet which came out undercooked but they made it right within a few minutes and it was quite good. My husband had a salad with shrimp and it was delicious. Our friends split a pizza and enjoyed it. I highly recommend Stout's.
Was only thing on open table so we tried it. The wine was great and so was spinach artichoke bacon dip, but bread was hard. We split a pepperoni pizza and it was more spicy than we like and was quite greasy especially for the price.
It was a great evening with quality service. The staff was amazing and helped my guest pick out wine and delicious items from the menu. Ivan came out and greeted us and had a chat with our guest. We came in for the pizza however were pleasantly surprised by the salads and desserts. The atmosphere is stunning overlooking the vineyard. Great job. We will be back again!
Our food server was ok. However, our wine server WAS EXCELLENT. Straleta (I may have misspelled her name) was a wonderful wine host. Friendly, knowledgeable and all with a twinkle in her eye! We will definitely ask for her again. Her recommendations as to the wine we chose were "dead on". We felt like she truly enjoyed her job! Wonderful food and wonderful wine server.
We went to Stout's Sunday for their brunch after church. It was a lovely afternoon, relaxed, and the food and wine were both excellent. We had the crab cakes Benedict which were delicious, and also the avocado toast which was perfect. The fried potatoes were nice and crispy on the outside and moist and perfectly cooked on the inside. We both had a glass of their Cuvee Blanc and it was perfect with the meal. After brunch, we took out wine outside and enjoyed the wonderful guitar player and the beautiful Sunday afternoon!
This place is absolutely amazing. I told our waitress that the food was so good, I almost cried. Service, food, and wine knowledge was impeccable.
The pizza is great! Definitely recommend with a glass of wine!
We had a wonderful dinner at this place. Ashley was an excellent waitress and Morgan was great as our wine steward. The pairing she suggested was perfect. The food was wonderful.
Fabulous! We had pizza and salad and the portions and flavor were amazing! Highly recommend! Definitely use open table to secure a reservation cause this place was poppin!
There was a limited Brunch menu for Sunday. Three of the five items on the specials menu were no longer available which was frustrating. What we did end up with tasted very good but wasn’t the first choice.
Awesome food and ambience! Loved it!! Service was great too! Highly recommend. We went for Sunday Brunch and had the most awesome pizza!! |
0.970314 | I’ve been hearing from more and more people who have purchased small businesses on an installment basis from a previous owner and are now struggling to make the payments because of the downturn in the economy. What should you know and do if you are in this situation?
First, it makes sense to try to renegotiate. This is always tough, and the person who sold you the business may be intractable, but you should definitely try it. The unique circumstances of the deal will dictate the bargaining power of each party.
The chief threat you have is to shut down and declare personal bankruptcy. Your personal guarantee of the business loan will be discharged by the court, and the previous business owner will be left with the option of reclaiming a dying business that he or she wanted out of anyway. Note: it is very, very important to preserve business assets if you default, especially if the seller retained a lien on the assets of the business. Selling equipment subject to a lien out the back door and pocketing the cash will create serious problems for you in or out of bankruptcy.
Of course, bankruptcy as a threat and option will depend on your overall situation. If you have significant assets or pledged personal assets as collateral as part of the business purchase, bankruptcy may not be advisable. However, special bankruptcy rules make it easier to qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy for individuals who have primarily business debts, even if they have higher income, but not all business owners driven in bankruptcy due to business debt will be in this situation.
There are many complicated issues involved in winding down a business subject to a loan. It is best to see a lawyer as soon as possible if you are facing this situation. |
0.956693 | the night before Halloween. It is related to the "Mischief night" practiced in other parts of the United States and the world, but is chiefly associated with the serious vandalism and arson seen in Detroit, Michigan from the 70's to the 90's, finally prompting the "Angel's Night" community response.
Halloween is an annual holiday observed on October 31, primarily in the United States, Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. It has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holiday All Saints' Day, but is today largely a secular celebration.
Common Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, wearing costumes and attending costume parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns, ghost tours, bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions, committing pranks, telling ghost stories or other frightening tales, and watching horror films.
the auspices of the Japanese Biscuit Association, and other parts of East Asia.
The Celtic harvest and New Year festival Samhain was celebrated on 1st of November. Celts usually lived in Ireland, United Kingdom and northern areas of France. This festival marked the end of pleasant summers and the beginning of bitter cold. These people believed in evil spirits and witchcraft and thought that they get loose on earth and roam about on the night before the 1st November, in search of preys and victims. So, on the night of 31st October, they painted their faces and wore terrible costumes to frighten away these ghosts and witches, so that they would not harm them and their cattle and crops. The inexplicability of certain natural occurrences was what gave rise to most of their fears.
Traditionally, during the time of the Samhain festival, the Celtic peasants used to take stock of their supplies and slaughter livestock for winters. The ancient Celts held the belief that on the said night, which is now observed as Halloween, the boundary between the living and the dead was dissolved and the dead souls became dangerous for the living, by causing them sickness and damaging their crops. Hence, the Celts arranged for bonfires and slaughtered livestock, throwing their bones into the raging inferno, to do away with the evil spirits. In Scotland, the young impersonated the dead with masks, veiled or blackened faces and dressed in white.
Initially, Celts used to place a skeleton on their windows on the night before Samhain, to represent the departed soul. They also used the head of a vegetable to frighten off evil, as they believed head to be the most powerful part of the entire body, possessing the spirit as well as knowledge. By 43 AD, Romans took hold of the Celtic territory.
When brought together, the social interaction between the two societies and the cultural and traditional influence of the each society over the other resulted in the amalgamation of Samhain, the harvest festival mentioned above, and two Roman festivals - one to please Pomona, Goddess of fruits and trees and other Feralia, to commemorate the passing of the dead.
It is the festival associated with Pomona Goddess that gave rise to the custom of 'bobbing' apples on Halloween. Though, Christians tried to celebrate 1st November as the peaceful and serene All Saints' Day, but soon the festivities of Samhain caught favor among the Christian youths and Halloween became the day of big bonfires, grand parades, costumes, trick-or-treating, Jack-o'lanterns and carved pumpkin décor. The two main colors that have been traditionally associated with Halloween are orange and black, which continue to be used today as well. As for the Halloween costumes, they are usually those of monsters, ghosts, witches and devils, depicting traditional horror. |
0.995479 | I just learned something new. Did you know that Mexican Coke - the kind made with cane sugar instead of fructose, which comes in old-fashioned heavy glass bottles, usually found in Mexican grocers and taco shops - is distributed to those grocers and taco shops by regular American Coca Cola bottlers? I'm not sure who does the importation, but it sounds like Coca Cola is likely handling that, as well. |
0.999997 | Write a letter to the SHO of your area pointing out the rising menace of eve teasing in your area.
Note : SHO means Station house officer. SHO is the officer in charge of a police station in India and Pakistan. The SHO holds the rank of Inspector or Sub-inspector. In India, the law permits a station house officer to conduct the investigation of crimes.
Subject : Complaint against rising menace of eve teasing.
Dear Sir/ Ma'am As a resident of Karol Bagh, I have serious concerns in regard to the rising cases of eve-teasing in our area. With every passing day, the situation is turning from bad to worst. The hooligans have made the lives of females of our area miserable. They pass lewd comments and obscene remarks to the passersby. The situation is turning so grave that elderly women also fear going outside their house alone. The women are treated as objects and commented on their appearance, clothing, professions etc. Parents fear sending their daughters alone even during the day.
It is a request to kindly look into the matter. I would suggest that serious action be taken against these hooligans. They need to be taught a lesson for their actions. Police patrolling should be regular both during the day and night.
Hoping for an immediate action at the earliest. |
0.916373 | Production lead time for this product is 8 days. This product has a minimum order quantity of 36. This product must be ordered in quantity increments of 36.
3" wide x 6" tall - 16 oz.
3" wide x 8" tall - 16 oz.
3" wide x 3.5" tall - 10.5 oz.
3.5" wide x 4" tall - 13 oz. |
0.888218 | My left hip hurts a lot and I am unable to walk more than a few yards without feeling a sharp and throbbing pain right where the ball and socket joint is.
I cannot stand for more than five minutes and my left foot and calf go to sleep.
I have muscle twitches too.
You don't say whether or not this has been investigated.
There are many potential explanations and you do need a proper diagnosis in order to get the correct treatment.
As a minimum you need some X-rays and blood tests.
Have you had any of these? Have you been given a diagnosis?
If not, that's your first step. The most likely explanation is some degree of arthritis in your hip joint, but at 40 your symptoms are unusually severe so I do think it needs to be investigated.
Once you have a diagnosis you may be offered pills to take and/or surgery.
Your other possible course of action would be to try one of the manipulative therapies, such as osteopathy, as a treatment. |
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