The Carbon Free Power ProjectBy the end of this decade, the first NuScale small modular reactor (SMR) power plant will begin operation in the United States in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Foundational to the Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP), an initiative spearheaded by the public power consortium Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS), the NuScale plant will advance the goals of the CFPP to provide safe, reliable, and cost competitive clean energy to communities across the Intermountain West. The first NuScale Power Module™ will begin generating power in 2029, with the remaining modules coming online for full plant operation by 2030.
UAMPS formally launched the CFPP in 2015. In August of that year, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded $16.6 million in cost-shared funding to NuScale for the preparation of a combined license application (COLA) with UAMPS. In February 2016, the DOE issued a Site Use Permit to UAMPS for the CFPP, which permitted UAMPS to identify and characterize potential locations for licensing and constructing a NuScale plant within the 890-square mile Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in Idaho Falls. The preferred INL site was selected in July 2019. In October 2020, the DOE approved a $1.355 billion multi-year cost-share award to UAMPS to fund the development and construction of the CFPP.
In January 2021, UAMPS and NuScale executed agreements to help manage and de-risk the development of the CFPP. Pursuant to the initial orders from UAMPS, Fluor Corporation and NuScale (as a subcontractor to Fluor) are to develop higher maturity cost estimates and initial project planning work for the licensing, manufacturing, and construction of the CFPP. These agreements are an important step in a deployment plan that is expected to result in the order of NuScale Power Modules™ by UAMPS in 2022.
Activity began in 2020 at the UAMPS CFPP site to support site characterization activities necessary for licensing and construction. These include erection of meteorology towers and the deployment of associated equipment housing, and establishing inclement weather and meeting trailers, parking, and deep bore drilling to support seismic assessment and construction planning. The NuScale plant will also support the water efficiency needs of the UAMPS region by using air instead of water for cooling, cutting water use by more than 90 percent. Read the blog post titled, “A Nuclear Solution for Climate, Energy and Water” by the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) that describes dry cooling and the water savings that NuScale power plants offer.
The Idaho Policy Institute at Boise State University conducted an economic analysis estimating the increased output (sales), employment, employee compensation, tax revenues, and gross regional product of the NuScale power plant in Idaho. A few of the economic benefits that the plant will provide include:
- An estimated 1,600 jobs created over the construction period of the plant.
- Through indirect and induced effects, plant operations will add a total of 667 jobs in the region each year over the estimated 40–to 60-year lifetime of the facility.
- Plant operations are estimated to increase labor income in the region by nearly $48 million, increase economic output in the region by an estimated $81.15 million, add $2.97 million to local and state tax revenues annually, and add $10.86 million to federal tax revenues annually.
In addition to the jobs generated, the supply chain implications are vast: cables, piping, steel, and all the necessary components—representative of million-dollar business opportunities for local and regional manufacturers. The UAMPS CFPP will act as a catalyst for subsequent SMR plant deployments across the U.S., and NuScale is ready to meet the clean energy needs of other states across the country seeking a reliable, safe, and carbon-free power solution that also supports local and regional jobs and economic development.


This article reviews the role of education in promoting economic growth, with a particular focus on the role of educational quality. It concludes that there is strong evidence that the cognitive skills of the population – rather than mere school attainment – are powerfully related to long-run economic growth. The relationship between skills and growth proves extremely robust in empirical applications. The effect of skills is complementary to the quality of economic institutions. Growth simulations reveal that the long-run rewards to educational quality are large but also require patience.
. [reprinted in Eva Baker, Barry McGaw and Penelope Peterson (ed.), International Encyclopedia of Education (Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2010), pp. 245-252].


What good is a UART? Why is it the second thing I get set up? (The first being the ubiquitous blinking light.)Read More
This week Andrei explains how to get a UART working using Cube. How to get printf working. And introduces the newlib standard library.
This is Andrei's final blog post of 2016, and it'll be useful for your Christmas break project where you learn about ARM processors using CubeMX and ST's Discovery board.Read More
Last time I explained the basics of what a microcontroller timer is and gave an overview of how timers are configured.
This time I’ll walk you through how to configure an MSP430 timer. We’ll use it to blink a light! (By now you’ve probably realized that most embedded system demos involve blinking a light. I’m pretty sure the singularity will look a lot like a rave.)Read More
This week, Andrei introduces the UART. A useful data communications peripheral with a long history.
Follow along as Andrei gives the low down on bits and bauds, hardware handshakes, and inverting buffers.Read More
This week, Andrei discusses how our button can be used to generate an interrupt. Other examples include engine management computers. What things should you look out for when using interrupts.
Don't miss the photo at the bottom of the post for a useful hack.Read More
This time, Andrei looks into switches, their bouncy nature, Schmitt triggers, hardware, and software debounce techniques. Join us for a look into the resistors and capacitors leading to port PA0. See oscilloscope traces in black AND white! All of this and more in this embedded.fm blog post!Read More
This week Andrei is writing about buttons. First a bunch of the background stuff that goes along with buttons, how the positrons scoot around and finally make it to the processor. Then he takes a look at the HAL code used to read the button position.
How hard can it be? Well sit down and get comfortable, this won't hurt a bit (we'll leave the hurting bit for next time, Bwa ha haaaaa).Read More


The article referenced to three scientists: Tim Janssen, Chin Wu, and Daniel Solli. While Solli "studies the optical version of rogue waves" which is unlikely to have true bearing on freaque waves, Janssen and Wu are young active practitioners on wave studies, both are capable of making significant contributions to the freaque wave studies as they clearly recognized the key problem toward a solution: observations. Wu indicated "We need to identify places where [rogue waves] are more likely to occur!" And "Janssen agrees with the need for more direct observations of ocean behavior. 'We can make a theoretical prediction," he says. "But then we have to go out and see if nature agrees.'" So far that's no more than a pipe dream.
But the most interesting part of the article is actually the beginning of the article:
A near-vertical wall of water in what had been an otherwise placid sea shocked all on board the ocean liner Teutonic—including the crew—on that Sunday in February, more than a century ago.That was an over-a-century old freaque wave story, no one had ever allude about it before. As people tended to regard it as tidal wave (aka tsunami), Fist Officer Barlett was accurately called it a "giant sea" at the time. That Ocean Liner was undoubtedly encountered a freaque wave 108 years ago. The author is to be congratulated for uncovering this historical encounter.
"It was about 9 o'clock, and [First Officer Bartlett], as he walked the bridge, had not the slightest premonition of the impending danger. The wave came over the bow from nobody seems to know where, and broke in all its fury," reported The New York Times on March 1, 1901: "Many of the passengers were inclined to believe that the wave was the result of volcanic phenomena, or a tidal wave. These opinions were the exception, however, for had the sea been of the tidal order Bartlett would have seen it coming." The volcano theory was just as unlikely: "Absurd, absurd," one of the Teutonic's officers told the Times. "It was a giant sea, and there is no doubt of that."
The cheering part of the story is of course this:
Only two passengers were seriously hurt in the Teutonic incident—one suffered a broken jaw and the other a severed foot.That may be the reason this encounter did not become a major news but it is a somewhat joyous freaque wave story to tell nevertheless -- doesn't matter when or where it happened.
By the way here's a picture of Teutonic I found from here:


Hosni Mubarak Biography, Life, Interesting Facts
Birth Place :
Hosni Mubarak is an Egyptian politician who is best known for his lengthy presidency, which ended when the Arab Spring ousted him in 2011.
Early Life Before Politics
Hosni Mubarak was born on 4 May 1928 in Kafr El-Meselha, Egypt. Mubarak’s father was a government official who worked for the Egyptian Department of Justice. Mubarak studied in the Egyptian Military Academy and was awarded a Military Sciences degree upon graduation in 1949. After his graduation, Mubarak joined the Egyptian air force. He became a commissioned pilot the following year.
Mubarak worked as an instructor for the academy and following the Suez Crisis and increased Soviet support for Egypt he trained in the Soviet Union. He taught at the Frunze Military Academy in Moscow. He returned to Egypt to become commander of the Air Force Academy and was part of the build-up in the Egyptian military before the Yom Kippur War.
Egyptian Air Force success around the Suez Canal made Hosni Mubarak a hero. He rose to Commander of the Air Force and Deputy Minister for Defence. Following the Yom Kippur War, Mubarak was given the title Air Chief Marshal. The Egyptian military recovered much of its tarnished reputation in the Yom Kippur War, and this was primarily attributed to the Air Force, and Mubarak claimed the lion’s share of the praise.
Hosni Mubarak was appointed Vice President in 1975 by Anwar Sadat. He took charge of building support for the Israeli-Egyptian peace agreement amongst the other countries in the Middle East. Mubarak was able to gain support from many of the Gulf States and other African Muslim countries. Although supportive of early negotiations between Israel and Egypt, Mubarak ultimately opposed the Camp David Accords.
Mubarak had immense power during his time as Vice President and often ruled in Sadat’s absence. Sadat was assassinated by an anti-peace faction in the Egyptian military in 1981. Mubarak, who was wounded during Sadat’s assassination, succeeded him and became President of Egypt. Mubarak used his presidency to restore Egypt’s reputation in the Arab world; it had been shattered following the Camp David Accords.
In 1989, Egypt was readmitted to the Arab League under Hosni Mubarak. Mubarak had sent aid to Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War but was one of the first to join the American coalition in the Gulf War. The Gulf War proved highly successful for Mubarak and Egypt. The country’s prestige was increased, and over twenty billion dollars of foreign debt was forgiven. Mubarak refused to visit Israel during his time as president, although Egypt continued to have the most cordial relations with Israel of any Arab country.
Egypt’s warm relations with Israel and Mubarak’s suppression of radical Islam made him the target of numerous assassination plots. One attack in 1995 led to Mubarak having 20,000 suspected Islamists detained. Mubarak was against the Iraq War of 2003 but maintained good relations with the U.S in the hopes of achieving a Palestinian State in Israel. Mubarak set Egypt up as the leading broker between the Palestinian and Israeli camps. Following the outbreak of hostilities in 2008 it was Egypt that brokered peace between Hamas and Israel.
Hosni Mubarak faced widespread dissension against his perceived weakness against Israel. There were also widespread allegations of corruption against the Mubarak regime. Egypt continually fell into the bottom half of world transparency charts. Mubarak faced no opposition candidates in his first four presidential elections, 1981, 1987, 1993, 1999. In 2005, Egypt held contested elections, but some opposition leaders were arrested in the run-up to the election which Mubarak won amidst allegations of rigging.
Hosni Mubarak became embroiled in some scandals involving his wealth. Several Western media sources claimed that Mubarak and his family had an estimated wealth in the billions. These were linked to military contracts, and in February 2011 the Swiss government began freezing accounts linked to Mubarak.
Also in 2011, protest against his rule began to spread. Mubarak declared he would not contest the 2011 election. Protests continued until on 10 February 2011 it was announced that Mubarak had resigned. It was the first time that Egypt had a living ex-president. The caretaker government declared it had no opposition to Mubarak being tried on corruption charges.
Hosni Mubarak was placed under house arrest, and his health was reported to be deteriorating. Mubarak was put on trial for premeditated murder in May 2011. He also faced charges of corruption and misrule. He was found guilty of mismanagement and fined thirty-three million dollars. Mubarak pleaded not guilty to murder charges. His ill health meant he was held in a military hospital during the trial.
Mubarak was found guilty in 2012 of the lesser charge of failing to prevent murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment. The ruling was overturned, and Mubarak was released after a retrial in 2013. In 2014 he faced further trials for embezzlement and was found guilty and sentenced to three years imprisonment. This was again put to a retrial, but was upheld in 2015 and Mubarak was fined sixteen million dollars. On 2 March 2017, Mubarak was acquitted for the third time of the murder of protesters in 2011.
Hosni Mubarak married his wife Suzanne in 1959. The pair has two sons together, Alaa and Gamal. Mubarak’s sons were tried and found guilty of embezzlement along with their father during the trials following the Arab Spring in 2011. They served four-year sentences. Alaa was one of the prominent names listed with offshore accounts in the Panama Papers.
In 2010, Hosni Mubarak underwent surgery for stomach cancer in Germany. Reports and rumors mounted about his health following his resignation. It was reported he suffered a heart attack in 2011. Mubarak spent most of his imprisonment in the Cairo military hospital. Even when his sentence was completed Mubarak remained as he was too ill to leave. In 2014 it was reported that Mubarak suffered a broken leg following a fall in hospital.


WEEK 01 Boundaries
|Kindergarten||Movement||Boundaries show us where it is safe to play. In sport, boundaries tell us where to play the game. During this lesson you will introduce the concept of boundaries. This basic concept will be the basis for all your movement lessons, establishing where it is safe to move and play.||12 -18 Cones or boundary markers, 24 vinyl spots or place markers, Music, Music player/speaker, Boundary Station Cards, PPT slides, Projector (onto wall)/TV|
|SHAPE Elementary School GLOs:
The students will:
PROCEDURE WITH TRANSITIONS, MODIFICATIONS AND ACCOMMODATIONS
Teaching Tips, Assessments & Differentiation Strategies
|Entrance Routine||1< min||Set up your activity space with the cones and spots as boundaries.|
|Transition||1 < min||Have the class sit inside a specific area; if possible, a circle or square already marked on the ground. The children should be seated as a group, inside the space (as opposed to sitting around the perimeter of the space or in a long line.) If you are working outside the children should be facing away from the sun when they look at you|
|Part 1 Warm Up Review||5‐10 min||This is the first week with your students. The focus is on Boundaries. Introduce the safety rule; BE SAFE, and then start exploring the boundaries.
Teach the safety rule: Play Safe. Explain that it is important to play and move safely so you don’t hurt yourself or anyone else. Safe traveling means you look where you are moving to, keeping, your hands and body to yourself, and lookout for each other . It means looking for spaces to move to where no one else is! Today you will help the children experience safe traveling inside the boundaries, traveling without touching anyone else, and traveling to spaces away from others to be where no one else is. Today’s lesson teaches the children one way to be safe—staying inside the boundaries.
To the Children:
“These pieces of equipment (cones and vinyl spots) form/make the boundaries for our movement class. A boundary marks and shows us where it is safe to work and play. Are you are ready to move inside our boundaries? Let’s try.”
“When I say go, move safely with me to the boundary over here. (Choose the closest boundary line to begin with.) The boundary line is the limit, when you get to it, stop, even if I don’t say stop. Ready? Go.”
Walk around the inside of the boundaries with the children, showing them the cones and spots. Ask them to name the colors of the cones and spots and the name of the equipment. Every now and then, point out children to look at their feet, when they are inside the boundary; show the children the relationship of their feet to the boundary. Talk about inside and outside the boundary, consistently staying inside the boundaries. Repeat until you have gone all the way around the boundaries. Be sure to point out that the boundaries each have a specific color. This will help you direct the students to a variety of boundaries in the next part of the lesson.
Ask the children to move safely to the boundary that you point to and describe by its color, across the activity area. Remind them that the boundary is the limit and when they get there, they are to stop without crossing it. “Ready? Go!” (Move with the children)
Use the children that stop inside the boundary as examples to show others what to do. Establish that whenever the children are inside the boundaries, it is the safe place to play.
Do this for every boundary, traveling to each of the six different colored boundaries. Repeat this as many times as needed to ensure the children understand what it means to be inside the boundaries. They will have fun. Keep the focus on safety reminding the children to travel safely, look where they are going and to stay in the boundaries.
Where else can you identify boundaries: on a playing field,
on a game board, on the sidewalk and street, sitting at a table with others?
Prepare to introduce any equipment that is new to the children, and teach or review this vocabulary: boundary, cone, spot and Safe. Always show an item as you talk about it.
Review the activities moving with the children as you show and tell them what they are to do. Even when it seems like what you are doing is very easy, remember it’s often all new for the children. As you use all the activities during the week or over several weeks, you will reinforce and solidify the concept of boundaries, which is important for all movement activities.Teaching Tip
The safety rules need to be experienced to be learned. Reinforce movement that is safe, in the moment, by pointing out children moving and playing safe to the rest of the class.
Two examples are:
Children traveling and stopping inside the boundaries.
Children traveling to open spaces.
Place a Boundary card on each cone during the lesson to aid your visual learners.
Holding up a color spot and naming the color is a good way to reinforce learning colors in the classroom. Collect things around the room that are the same color as a spot and place them on the spot.
Use the boundary identification time to teach or reinforce color by asking the children to name the color as you lift up the cone or spot. Listen for their answers to identify children who may need more directed practice.
|Transition||1 < min||Children can stay in the spot they finished in at the end of the last activity.|
|Part 2 New Skill||10‐20 min||Follow the Leader –
Traveling through the room space, inside the boundaries, moving from boundary to boundary criss cross and zigzag around inside the boundaries.
|Transition||1 < min||Continue from where the students finished part 2|
|Part 3 Practice||5‐15 min||After you have led them around the boundaries for 1 rotation of the song, choose a child to lead as you continue playing. When you stop to pick another leader, announce to the class who the leader is and tell them that you all will follow them to the different boundaries. You don’t need to officially stop the activity. Keep the music playing and just pick a child to be the leader. You can help them by suggesting a color boundary to move to if they cannot think of one. Ask the leader to take you to a new boundary. When you get there, ask another child to be the next leader to take you to another boundary. Keep choosing new leader until everyone has had a go. The children will have traveled to all the boundaries and you will be able to assess each individual’s general understanding of the boundaries, leading and following. Complement the children that switch to the new leader quickly to create that expectation for the whole group. This will be your chance to observe the children more closely and address individual needs.||Teaching Tip
As much as possible, encourage the leaders to move across the room from boundary to boundary, as opposed to a circle around the perimeter of the boundaries.Differentiation Strategy
After stopping the children a couple times to change leaders, when you are sure they understand when it’s time to follow a new leader, you can choose new leaders without stopping the movement. Just announce who the new leader is and tell the children to begin following the new leader.
|Transition||1 < min||Have the children gather near you and the video source.|
|Part 4 Cool Down||5 min||Review what you covered today, the equipment and the boundaries, follow the leader.
Stretch the legs with three stretches. Begin teaching the children how to stretch properly and that we stretch because exercise actually causes our muscles to shrink! We stretch them to keep them flexible so they aren’t sore. You can even teach your children the names of the muscles as you stretch
|Additional Part 3 Activities
If you teach your children more than once per week, you can use these activities to give your students more opportunities to reinforce the concept and be successful movers. Because this will be a review lesson I refer to it as a “Part 3” lesson. Review the concepts previously taught in part one, or do a fitness activity. After your students are warmed up, begin the part 3 activity to reinforce the concept of Boundaries and practice moving safely within the boundaries.
a. This time in cleaning up the area, have the children place the beanbags and balls on spots that are the same color as the beanbags and balls. Demonstrate how a red beanbag goes on a red spot, etc. After cleaning up the garbage, have the children mess up the area and play again. Remind the children to stay inside the boundaries even when they are putting the beanbags or balls on the spots.
b. Make it even more fun, don’t wait until the area is all cleaned up before you say, “mess-up” again. Keep alternating, without stopping, the calls of mess up and clean up. Change the amount of time for each activity to keep them listening while they work.
c. Tell the children this time you are going to call out a number and they will pick up that number of beanbags or balls at a time. Have a student demonstrate with two; grab two items and take them to the boundary spots. Remind them to put the items on spots of the same color. After they have placed all the item(s) on the spots, the children are to stop (freeze) and look at you. Have the children mess up the area using a different number of items. Continue choosing different quantities to use as the children gather garbage to clean or mess up inside the boundaries. Assessment Strategy Use this as a visual assessments for one-to-one correspondence in counting objects
d. Rainbow/Tornado Talk to the children about Tornados, Hurricanes, or really strong storms. Talk about how they create a big mess and sometimes after a big storm things are thrown all over. Explain that when you mess up the gym during mess-up/Clean-up that it is like a tornado came into the gym. Talk about rainbows and that they come out after a storm and everything looks fresh and clean! That is how the gym looks after we “Clean-up”!
Establish and use a number of different ways to divide the class into pairs or small groups. Consider height, age, closest in proximity, hair color or length, clothing colors, equipment colors, etc.


Hubbell & Goodwin (2013) found that:
"Research shows that we gain not only confidence but also satisfaction
when we achieve goals. When get a correct answer, make an accurate pre-
diction, or experience success, our brains are flooded with dopamine, the
so-called reward molecule that long-distance runner and writer Christopher
Bergland (2011) describes as “the ‘ding, ding, ding’ jackpot feeling you get
when you accomplish a goal” (para. 3). Simply stated, success becomes
addictive. We seek new opportunities to overcome challenges and hit the
dopamine jackpot." (Page 19)
As for setting long-term goals in my classroom, I like to begin by thinking about where I will be ending with each unit. For example, at the beginning of the unit that I am teaching for this course I administered a pre-test to my 3rd grade class about division and multiplication. I then marked the test and gave the students a self-evaluation rubric for them to score themselves with. They scored their key competencies in 1 of 4 different evaluative columns and then used that rubric to set long term goals for where they want to be at the end of the unit. That rubric will be given to them after they take their summative, or post-test, assessment. They will be able to see how they have progressed with their long term goals. Rubrics are incredibly important in fostering student ownership of the curriculum and long term goal setting (Wang, 2017).
The personal learning goals that are set for each and every lesson in my 3rd grade classroom are constantly on the whiteboard, either hand written or projected. As one can see from the above picture, one of the scaffolding lessons that I am teaching for the students to be able to realize their long-term goals as per the self-evaluation rubric, has two very clear and understandable learning objectives. The students always know what success looks like, they also know what the learning goals for each lesson are and how to achieve them.
Hubbell, E. R., & Goodwin, B. (2013). The 12 Touchstones of Good Teaching: A Checklist for Staying Focused Every Day. ASCD.
Wang, W. (2017). Using rubrics in student self-assessment: student perceptions in the English as a foreign language writing context. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 42(8), 1280–1292. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2016.1261993
Benjamin Snitker. A master's candidate at Colorado State University-Global Campus.


We're solving real life maths challenges and inspiring young mathematicians
Mathematics is sometimes invisible to us in our everyday lives, but it plays an essential part in so many areas of society, from architecture to weather forecasting.
In the School of Mathematics at UEA, our researchers are firmly committed to using their expertise to tackle real societal challenges. In particular, they are encouraged and supported to develop relationships with industrial partners.
Our researchers are regular participants at collaborative study groups, including the European Study Groups with Industry and the Mathematics in Medicine Study Groups. These provide fruitful opportunities for industry and academic researchers to work alongside mathematicians and use maths to address real life problems.
We also work hard to embrace a wider remit of raising awareness of the importance of maths in today's society and to all our futures and, to that end, we have worked with MP's to deliver briefings on modern mathematics.
We are also working with schools and with the general public to inspire people to explore mathematics further and to appreciate its usefulness and relevance.
Here are just some of the ways in which maths at UEA has had an impact:
Our work with MPs has led to improved mutual understanding
Abstract mathematics underpins much of our modern technology and our researchers have been working with UK politicians to make sure this branch of science is properly recognised and invested in.
A work shadowing project between one of our researchers and a Member of Parliament led to the opportunity for four members of the school to present a number of maths topics to the House of Lords. These included the use of statistics in managerial decisions and how mathematics can influence road planning and predicting travel times. We also addressed the future funding of pure mathematics research.
Our efforts to influence governmental policy continue and we feel we have succeeded in having an impact on science policy, and have also achieved an improved understanding of what the world outside science might expect from our work.
We use mathematics to solve practical challenges
Mathematics can be an indispensable tool for solving large-scale practical problems. Researchers at UEA frequently work with industrial partners to help them address particular issues.
We worked with a UK-based company, Structure Flex, that designs water bags used to carry out safety tests on cranes. The company was designing a new 100 tonne bag and wanted to calculate the stresses that would be exerted on the fabric of the bag and its supports when it was filled with water. Our researchers calculated the longitudinal stresses on the bag caused by the supporting slings, and the horizontal stresses caused by the water itself.
The company was then able to feed this information into the design process, enabling it to make some crucial changes that would result in a water bag that can withstand the pressure of 100 tonnes of water.
Our work can have an impact on aircraft safety
The effect that ice can have on aircraft safety is well known: if ice builds up on an aeroplane's wings, for example, it can affect lift and control and lead to accidents. Existing trusted models used to predict ice formation on aircraft have not managed to take in to account the behaviour of the water droplets and how the splashing of the droplet hitting the aircraft affects how the ice is formed.
The School of Mathematics has been working with aircraft icing specialists AeroTex UK. The company develops icing prediction codes and helps to design and certify ice protection systems. Our researchers have helped AeroTex UK to better understand the physics of large droplet impacts and splashing and how that might affect ice formation, particularly on the wings of aeroplanes.
AeroTex has been able to use these insights to inform its icing prediction software, ultimately leading to improved aircraft safety.
Mathematics can help tame the sea!
We've used some sophisticated modelling techniques to predict the behaviour of harbour waves. This work has enabled us to help coastal engineers design and repair sea walls and has been applied to a number of industrial projects.
Our work with industrial partners has also enabled companies to improve their safety and risk estimates. A project with the consulting engineers Charles Scott and Partners, for example, led to an improved design of particular structures that needed to be able to withstand wave impacts.
Our researchers were part of an EPSRC-funded project looking at particular problems in the design and building of sea walls and harbours. This has led to a productive partnership with the leading coastal engineering consultants, HR Wallingford Ltd, through which we have been able to ensure that other aspects of our work on wave impact have a route to commercial exploitation.


What is alopecia caused by?
What causes alopecia areata? Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease. This means that your immune system mistakenly attacks a part of your body. When you have alopecia areata, cells in your immune system surround and attack your hair follicles (the part of your body that makes hair).
Is alopecia a Greek word?
The word “alopecia” comes from the Greek “alopex” for “fox.”
Is alopecia serious?
Alopecia areata isn’t usually a serious medical condition, but it can cause a lot of anxiety and sadness. Support groups are out there to help you deal with the psychological effects of the condition. If you lose all your hair, it could grow back.
What are the three most common types of alopecia?
Most people know alopecia to be a form of hair loss. However, what they don’t always know is that there are three main types of the condition – alopecia areata, alopecia totalis and alopecia universalis.
What does alopecia mean in Greek?
Alopecia is a condition that causes hair loss and baldness. … Extreme forms of alopecia can result in loss of body hair as well. The Greek root of the word is alōpekia, literally “fox mange,” from alōpēx, “fox.”
Can alopecia go away on its own?
Alopecia areata (AA) causes hair loss in small, round patches that may go away on their own, or may last for many years. Nearly 2% of the U.S. population (about four million people) will develop AA in their lifetime.
Does stress cause alopecia?
A variety of factors are thought to cause alopecia areata (al-o-PEE-she-uh ar-e-A-tuh), possibly including severe stress. With alopecia areata, the body’s immune system attacks the hair follicles — causing hair loss.


Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
Rust and smut fungi of Hawai'i: an annotated host index on angiosperms and ferns
|Title:||Rust and smut fungi of Hawai'i: an annotated host index on angiosperms and ferns|
|Authors:||Gardner, Donald E.|
|LC Subject Headings:||Angiosperms -- Diseases and pests -- Hawaii.|
Ferns -- Diseases and pests -- Hawaii.
Rust fungi -- Host plants -- Hawaii.
Smut fungi -- Host plants -- Hawaii.
|Issue Date:||Mar 1996|
|Publisher:||Cooperative National Park Resources Studies Unit, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Botany|
|Citation:||Gardner DE. 1996. Rust and smut fungi of Hawai'i: an annotated host index on angiosperms and ferns. Honolulu (HI): Cooperative National Park Resources Studies Unit, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Botany. PCSU Technical Report, 100.|
|Series/Report no.:||Technical Report|
|Abstract:||Rust and smut fungi are well-defined groups of plant pathogens. These groups generally are considered to be closely allied with one another and therefore are frequently discussed together. Both groups of fungi are known to cause major crop diseases and are well known throughout the world from the standpoint of their economic significance. These fungi occur on hosts of a variety of plant families in Hawai'i, most introduced from elsewhere, probably arriving with their hosts rather than separately via wind-borne spores. However, some species occur as apparent endemic or indigenous forms on hosts native to the Islands. Members of the grass family (Poaceae) are the most frequent hosts of both the rusts and the smuts. The rust fungi typically infect vegetative plant parts, that is, leaves and stems, where they produce abnormal growths such as witches'-brooms, galls, or raised, sporulating pustules. Because of the virulence and host specificity characteristic of the rusts in general, these fungi have received particular attention in weed biocontrol studies. The smut fungi, with some exceptions, infect reproductive parts, often destroying normal fruit and seeds and replacing these structures with masses of fungal spores. Occurrence of smut infections on economic grain crops can cause complete loss of the crop by destroying the grain kernels, while leaving the vegetative parts of the plant intact. Such severe economic losses associated with rusts and smuts are quite rare in Hawai'i, however. Endemic rusts provide interesting examples of the unusual development well known among other categories of organisms that have evolved in isolated insular systems.|
|Description:||Reports were scanned in black and white at a resolution of 600 dots per inch and were converted to text using Adobe Paper Capture Plug-in.|
|Sponsor:||National Park Service Cooperative Agreements 1445 CA 09 94 1006 Subag. 2 & 3 NPS CA 9016 2 9004|
|Appears in Collections:||Hawaii's Ferns and Fern Allies (Lycophytes) Collection|
The PCSU and HPI-CESU Technical Reports 1974 - current
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I have been enjoying the program on ABC called “Redesign my Brain” . If you are not familiar with it, each week Todd Sampson ( Gruen Transfer) uses different brain training exercises to help rewire his brain. Last week fascinated me because he was looking at creativity and “Can we change our mindsets so that they are less fixed?” In my subject of Design Technology, I am constantly trying to work with students on creating designs that not only display the skill set we have been learning but also stretch them in the creativity realm.
With this program in mind , I stepped out of my comfort zone and ran two different lessons with two different classes using some of the tests in the program. Yesterday I ran the mousetrap brief, whereby the students had to create a mousetrap powered car using materials provided. Pairs were chosen randomly and they were given no clues and 60 minutes to construct their design.
I found that the students worked well for the first 15 mins but when they couldn’t make what their brains wanted them to, they became distracted. They struggled to move their thinking outside of the initial design and to compensate a range of behaviours were displayed. Materials were destroyed, some students zoned out and did other things, others sat and read a book , complaints happened like – “I don’t get this” or “this is stupid”. Those who struggled tendered to disturb those who were focussed and when the countdown to the time finishing began some students destroyed their creations rather than show them to the others as “failures”. I showed a snippet of the show at the end to summarise the lesson. I then put two scenarios to them – say I had videoed the session and sent it home to their parents, how would that have changed their work ethic? and secondly, if the last 60 mins. work was now the only grade for the semester, how would that change the way they worked? In both instances they said they would have been more focussed and work harder for a result. I then was able to talk about what drives their learning and how self motivation , self-discipline should be at the core of them as a learner.
Today I changed tack a little. I still randomly chosen the pairs but I used the program as a teaching tool. I would give them a challenge – lets say – “how many uses for a water bottle can you think of?” One of the pair scribed as the other said their answers. We the counted the answers and the one with the highest number got a chocolate.I would then show them a clip from the program and Todd’s answers. Each time they were given the opportunity to reflect on the test and their results. I then did the mousetrap brief but they didn’t produce it, they just drew it. The kids loved this lesson , they were switched on and when we went back to designing their workshop projects they began to look more creatively at the problem.
What did I learn?
1) sometimes what you think is going to happen doesn’t and as a teacher I need to be prepared for that. With the first group I wasn’t expecting to have a conversation about self-discipline but I did and I found that to be a real good outcome.
2) I need to be more aware of developing kids minds. Not having a fixed mindset as a teacher is the first step in allowing the kids to do the same.
3) Doing new things is okay – you aren’t going to break anyone. I achieved more in terms of learning ( mine and the kids) in the past two days than if they had stayed with the normal program.
4) some kids don’t get it , but they will. We all are different and that’s okay.
5) sometimes there is a gap between what I can draw and what skills I have to make it. The first group were increasingly frustrated by the trickiness of making the car – and eventually some gave up. The second group didnt have this constraint and could freely design, not knowing or caring if they could make it or not. How do I help bridge the skills gap or do I need to ?
6) do we short change our students. They are interested in knowing how they think – why don’t we spend more time helping them understand?


The following instructional materials consist of a series of stand alone lessons aimed at middle school students
including their lesson plans, handouts, and technology links. Within the table, the icons indicate additional and related materials included
with each lesson plan. Teachers can pick and choose from the lessons to create a customized mini-unit of instruction that uses earthquake
engineering design to integrate science, mathematics, and technology. The tables on the right show the emphases and support materials for each lesson.


Dental implants are tooth root replacements. These implants provide a firm foundation to the existing tooth structure. These implants have many advantages namely improves speech, more comfort etc. Dental implants have relatively high success rates if they are of good quality.
Dental implant procedures are mostly done under local anesthesia. Placing dental implants is commonly performed through a 3 staged process. In the first process, the implant flush is surgically buried with the bone, underneath the gum. Such a process shall facilitate in a more proper healing process. However, the implant has to be exposed surgically after the healing process. The surgeon then checks whether the implant have been successfully integrated or not. He then connects a sort of post that penetrated into the mouth through the gum. The process is referred to as abutment. Different forms of abutment exist in market. For preparing for the final restorative stage, the dentist uses a cuff through which the dentist accesses the implant. The abutment can be placed at the same time of placing the implant. The method is advantageous over the fact that there is no need of a second surgery. However, healing time should be sufficient in this process also. During the healing time, the abutments must be protected from chewing forces.
This surgery can also be performed in a single stage. In this surgery, a one-piece implant is placed so that its metal collar protrudes through the gum. After the healing, the abutment can be properly connected to the implant. The crown can then be fabricated to replace the missing tooth. The success rates of both these surgeries are almost the same.


By Sarah Moore on June 21, 2017
Developing upstream solutions to social problems is more effective than scrambling to apply reactive remedies downstream. Whether you call it prevention or “nippin’ it in the bud,” looking upstream leads to more lasting impact for more people. That’s why changemakers in community health view policy, systems, and environmental change strategies as the most promising approaches to ensuring health and well-being for all.
Unfortunately, most of the American public embraces a long-enduring concept that makes these strategies harder to implement: individualism.
In a functioning democracy, the public drives decisions made by “gatekeepers” who have the power to rewrite policies; alter, create, or dismantle systems; and reshape natural, built, and social environments. In messaging briefs from the FrameWorks Institute, a leader in multi-disciplinary communications research, the organization highlights how the public’s individualistic reference frames can stall advocacy and communications efforts around a broad range of issues that affect health.
This recurring theme of individualism looks remarkably similar across a spectrum of health-impacting social issues. And to re-frame individualistic messages, we first need to know what they sound like. Consider these examples:
Although healthy aging is influenced by a range of social policies and environmental structures that affect entire communities, like income and tax policy, housing, street design, transportation patterns, and access to healthcare, the public believes that health and financial security in older age are the result of individuals’ choices and preparation.
Early childhood experiences help lay the foundation for good health later in life, and those experiences are shaped by complex social and cultural interactions. However, most narratives focus on parental responsibility, crime prevention, and safety. This emphasis on individuals increases the focus on parents’ mistakes and de-emphasizes communities’ influence on how children interact with the world.
High-quality education not only leads to better jobs, higher incomes, and longer, healthier lives, but educational settings also directly affect the health of children and young adults through policies that influence diet, exercise, discipline, and mental and physical health. The public, however, sees education in terms of three types of individuals: students, parents, and teachers. FrameWorks explains that this view “crowd[s] out their ability to consider the equally important roles that school boards, taxpayers, superintendents, principals and other policymakers play in creating, maintaining and reforming education.”
Although the public acknowledges that natural, built, and social environments affect our health in profound ways, environmental health is often conflated with healthcare. This causes people to focus on individual doctors’ and patients’ responsibility to reverse poor health outcomes that may be the result of the condition of our environments. This reduces appreciation and support for the work of organizations which ensure that our air, water, food, and buildings are free of contaminants that impact the health of entire communities.
The dominant narrative in America is that economic success and failure are tied to personal choice and determination. When thinking this way, people assume that the playing field is already level and that being poor is the result of bad choices. This view reduces public support to address economic policies, legal systems, institutional racism, and other factors that contribute to economic inequality and health disparities.
Diet is a leading contributor to chronic disease across the country, but the public still views this as an issue of personal choice rather than a public health problem. By viewing healthy food as a luxury consumer item rather than a human right, attempts to improve the food system are challenged by claims that the problem is a free market issue with no role for government or policy solutions.
Experts understand that access to nature is a boon to public health because it increases opportunities to be physically active, improves air quality, and can reduce stress, among other benefits. However, the public thinks about health outcomes primarily at the individual level. This means that people may not see a benefit to supporting parks for others in their community if that park is not close to them personally.
Even when it comes to race, the majority of Americans still do not see racism as a systemic or structural problem, but rather as something that lies within individual people. That view obstructs the implementation of effective reforms to address inequity.
People view the world through a multitude of frames, of which individualism is only one. The key to reframing messages is to tap in to alternative ways of thinking that are also widely held, and placing emphasis there.
While the “right” messaging frames will shift depending on our audience and the problem we’re trying to solve, it’s clear that focusing on individual behavior change—both in our messages and as a goal—is ineffective in the long run. It’s time to reframe our thinking. Our nation’s health depends on it.
For additional reading, FrameWorks Institute resources are linked for each issue area listed above. The resources outline research methods, key findings, and guidance for more effective messaging.


SOUTH HADLEY – Deep in the archives of Mount Holyoke College, Thanksgiving in the 1800s comes to life in the letters and diaries of young women who were students at the college some 160 years ago.
Thanksgiving back then was an even bigger celebration than Christmas, says Patricia J. Albright, archives librarian Mount Holyoke.
And, the accounts of the holiday as once observed in this college town are as fresh and lively as if they had been written yesterday.
Albright studied them as part of her research for “Table for 10: The Art, History and Science of Food,” a series of exhibits and programs currently in museums and colleges across the Pioneer Valley.
The food and decorations for Thanksgiving in the mid-1800s may sound familiar, but imagine them multiplied to the nth degree – in an age with no electricity, no refrigeration and no central heating.
And, in the 1800s, Mount Holyoke College invited all of South Hadley to its Thanksgiving celebrations.
“The amount of labor involved was immense,” said Albright, “and the preparations started the week before.”
A student named Lucy Fletcher described in her journal how girls were “stoning raisins,” making cranberry sauce, beating eggs for cakes, and making pies and puddings for Thanksgiving.
In those days, Albright explained, the cooking and other domestic tasks were done by the students themselves. Founder Mary Lyon, whose mission was to make higher education accessible to middle-class girls, found that such a system kept the tuition affordable.
Fletcher’s 1843 account also includes a charming description of how the formidable Lyon threw herself into “superintending” the Thanksgiving effort, “hurrying, running, hastening, and flying about, seeming hardly to know what she was about.”
The following year, Katharine Van Vechten wrote to her mother that that she feasted on a Thanksgiving dinner of roasted turkeys and chickens, cranberry sauce, squash, stewed apples, a “delightful squash pie flavored with lemon,” and tapioca pudding.
“None of us complained of hunger,” the young woman joked to her mom.
Another student, Melissa Usher, described in 1852 the extravagant decorations that were made for the Thanksgiving holiday. They included not only evergreen wreaths, bouquets of paper flowers, candles and lanterns, but a miniature landscape the size of a table, complete with a cottage surrounded by moss and a brook made from a “looking glass.”
Even the teachers’ desks were festooned with evergreens, Usher wrote.
After the big dinner, some of the girls would dress up for an evening of piano music and refreshments.
“The old scholars practiced calisthenics, accompanied by singing, and it was very amusing to see them,” Rhoda Perkins wrote to her aunt in 1842.
So did Mount Holyoke’s most famous student of that era have Thanksgiving dinner in South Hadley?
No, says Albright.
Since Emily Dickinson had family living close by in Amherst, she would have been one of the students who went home for the holiday.


While a 24-hour virus can cause symptoms of nausea, stomachaches, and a fever; pancreatitis can offer these similar signs as well. Acute and chronic pancreatitis is generally a condition that affects adults; however, children can develop the illness as well, although it is less frequent.
Causes Of Pancreatitis In Children
Pancreatitis occurs when the pancreas becomes inflamed. While the main factors for this condition in adults includes gallstones and excessive alcohol consumption, the reason it occurs in children is only known half of the time. Acute pancreatitis, pancreas inflammation that is short-lived and comes on quickly, can develop in children due to a viral infection, medications, or trauma; meanwhile, chronic pancreatitis, which is ongoing pancreas inflammation, might occur in kids due to congenital abnormalities within their body’s pancreatic duct or genetic defects. While it is uncommon, two genetic defects linked to the condition in children include: trypsin and cystic fibrosis.
Signs & Symptoms In Children
Should your child complain of constant upper stomach pains – often to the left in the middle, and at times a consistent pain in the back – this could provide a signal that your kiddo is dealing with much more than just a stomachache or the flu. Pancreatitis can be very painful for kids, and this intense discomfort will be accompanied by vomiting and/or nausea. It’s important to note that diarrhea is not a symptom of pancreatitis.
Diagnosis & Treatment
The harsh reality is this illness can be very challenging to diagnose; however, blood tests can be conducted and offer an insight as to whether or not your child has pancreatitis. An ultrasound is sometimes used as well, and depending on the circumstances, a CT scan or MRI could be offered to make the determination.
Once diagnosed, a doctor may refer you to a pediatric gastroenterologist to help with treatment options. If your child is dealing with acute pancreatitis, pain management strategies will be sought, as well as the rest of the pancreas to correct fluid loss via avoiding an oral diet. Once your child’s nausea and pain gets better, a feeding tube might be used, or oral nutrition might be re-introduced. If pancreatitis flare ups become more frequent, a low-fat diet may be suggested to decrease recurrence.
Cleveland Clinic reported that if attacks occur more frequently, the pain just may be too unbearable for your child to deal with. As such, intense therapies including pancreas removal and injection of a pediatric patient’s own insulin-making cells will be taken from their pancreas and placed to their liver to help.
The key to diagnosis and treatment is being tuned into your child’s symptoms, as early on as possible.


College is an important process for students because it determines their future career; most students take their studies seriously, while others engage in numerous activities that might affect their studies. College can be challenging for students who work part-time to cater for their expenses. Keeping up with college life can be difficult because of these numerous engagements, and lack the motivation to study and complete important tasks might affect students’ performance.
When students feel overwhelmed, they procrastinate important tasks until a point that requires them to act or face severe consequences. Usually, at some point students feel frustrated and end up ignoring unpleasant tasks which are important, and engaging in less stressful activities that are easy and enjoyable; this is commonly termed as procrastination. Procrastination is a problem we all face at one point in our lives, at times we struggle to complete certain tasks and end up postponing it until we cannot avoid doing it.
At times, we find ourselves reading the same book over and over again, yet we have loads of work to complete. Procrastination is caused by several reasons; some students fear to make mistakes and would prefer postponing the task than doing the wrong thing. To overcome this habit, below are 5 Tips from Essay Zoo team, that you can adopt to stop procrastinating important tasks and focus on your studies.
To complete bigger projects or assignments that at times can be challenging requires setting specific times and deadlines .You can handle bigger tasks by breaking down the assignments into small bits before focusing on each section of the assignment. When you set specific targets, you can achieve more than you expect. For example, if you have to come up with a 5,000-word essay within one week, you don’t have to panic. The best approach is to separate the work into small chunks and set specific times to complete each part every day until the last day of the week.
Completing each section before going to the next part will minimize the anxiety of seeing the task to be huge. When you divide the tasks into smaller part, it will be easier to manage and also help you utilize the little time you have wisely. Setting deadlines both on short-term or long-term basis will create a sense of urgency on the task. When you manage to meet the set deadline, you will feel motivated to complete the other parts of the assignment.
If you want to be more organized within the week, develop a specific strategy of allocating specific time for different activities. For example, allocate one-third of your time on school assignments, with the other one third on tasks that motivates you to study and the remaining other one third should be for resting. This is an important rule that helps you set specific limits enabling you to spend time wisely.
Work when you are most productive
Most people assume that waking up early in the morning is the best time to be productive; there are other times during the day that you can still be productive. You can start working during the day and finishing a portion of your work later in the evening. Instead of falling asleep the whole day having worked late at night, or having woken up very early in the morning, it’s better you sleep for more hours in order to stay active for a long time during the day. It’s upon you to identify the best time when you can work effectively, whether it’s in the morning or late in the afternoon through evening. The most important factor is to utilize your time wisely and avoid procrastination.
Avoid stressing yourself by worrying too much about what you have not achieved, instead try to be realistic, even if you have allot of work ahead of you, the fact that you the managed to complete a small section you should reward yourself. You are capable of doing much more than you can imagine so long as you find the right motivation to push you, especially when you feel discouraged. One of the motivation strategies is to look at the end product instead of complaining about the huge task ahead.
When studying has some water and healthy snacks like peanuts or fruits to keep you going. Set specific goals to be achieved in your study sessions, and after meeting your goals, reward yourself by engaging in various activities like playing games, talking to friends or listen to your favorite music.
Many people fail to find the right motivation to help them study; some prefer listening to music while studying or studying with friends. All these can be destructive, even if it will be fun hanging around people you like. When it comes to studying, you need undivided attention. The most important tip that can help you avoid procrastination, is to remove all the distractions and focusing on the task ahead. Gadgets like cell phones and computers might distract your attention, its advisable to keep your phone on silent mode and keep them somewhere out of your view so that you cannot be tempted to use them in the middle of your study sessions.
Getting adequate rest after studies have been undervalued, but is a crucial part of learning, however, students believe that when they stay up late cramming for exams they are likely to get better scores. Resting especially at night is important for all the body functions. Our memories and learning processes are consolidated when we rest at night. Therefore, sleep does not only strengthen our memories, sleep enables us to prioritize memories, breaking them into sections and organizing them based on their emotional importance.
Essentially, the more we learn, the more we need to rest to succeed in school. Although everyone procrastinates at some point, some make it a habit that eventually affects their learning process. Procrastination can easily be eliminated when you follow the above tips to help stay active throughout your studies.


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President's Council on Sustainable Freedom
By Henry Lamb
Perhaps the best thing that George W. Bush can do for the country, and for his presidency, is to take a leaf from Bill Clinton's playbook, and issue an executive order to create the President's Council on Sustainable Freedom.
Bill Clinton created a President's Council on Sustainable Development, which operated from 1993 to 1999. Its influence continues to permeate virtually every agency of government at every level. The purpose of Clinton's Council was to analyze existing legislation and regulations to find ways to implement the recommendations contained in the U.N.'s Agenda 21.
The purpose of George Bush's Council on Sustainable Freedom should be to analyze existing legislation and regulations to find ways to implement the principles of freedom set forth in the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence.
Clinton appointed Cabinet Secretaries, chief executives from environmental organizations, and a handful of executives of industry (but only friendly executives, such as Ken Lay from ENRON). George Bush should appoint Cabinet Secretaries, chief executives from property rights and resource use organizations, elected officials from state and local government, and ordinary business people.
Clinton's Council was financed by donations from huge foundations, supplemented by staff from the various agencies. Bush's Council should welcome private donations, supplemented by staff from the various agencies. Clinton's Council operated for seven years; Bush's Council should sunset after five years.
Environmental organizations and Democrats would howl and scream, claiming that the project is unnecessary, and caters to right-wing extremists. Bush should ignore the noise, just as Bill Clinton ignored the protests from property rights and resource use advocates in 1993.
No one can deny that America's freedoms have been systematically eroded by government, in recent years. Since the first purpose of government is to protect America's freedom, it is a perfectly legitimate function of government to analyze, and to correct the laws and regulations that are eroding those freedoms.
Many of the laws and regulations that have been enacted were designed to benefit society, in one way or another, with little or no thought about the possible negative impact on fundamental freedom guaranteed to every American by the Constitution. The Endangered Species Act, for example, was designed to benefit society by protecting the Bald Eagle, and a few other species thought to be on the brink of extinction.
Over the years, however, this law, and its attendant regulations, has elevated the status of nearly 2000 species of weeds and bugs, above the right of a land owner to plant a crop. Laws written to confiscate the assets of criminals, are now being used to confiscate property of un-convicted suspects, and sold to finance law enforcement agencies.
Congress has been unable, or unwilling, to stop the proliferation of these laws and regulations, and there is little evidence of sensitivity to the growing problem, except by a handful of legislators.
Much, if not most, of the problem arises from the rules promulgated to implement the laws adopted by Congress. At a meeting of the President's Council on Sustainable Development, the Secretary of Commerce reported the he could implement 67 of the Agenda 21 recommendations by changing the rules of existing legislation.
An honest analysis, aided by independent individuals who are affected by the rules and regulations, would likely reveal that the principles of freedom could be advanced by changes in the rules of implementation. Honest analysis, and an effective response, cannot occur without strong leadership. Bill Clinton provided that leadership for those whose goal was to advance Agenda 21 in American policy. George Bush can provide the leadership, and the opportunity, for those who wish to advance the principles of freedom.
Unless some dramatic action is taken to preserve and apply the principles of freedom in public policy, freedom cannot be sustained. Individual freedom is the defining characteristic of America, and the power that made the nation great. Without that freedom, America will continue to drift toward the socialist goals of Agenda 21, and to the ultimate goal of a world governed by the consensus of international socialists who believe that government, not God, is the grantor of human rights and freedoms.
George Bush would do well to create a President's Council on Sustainable Freedom, and thereby declare his commitment to advancing the principles of freedom at home, as well as around the world.
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Jewish Communities of Romania: Charts of Survivors of Transnistria and German Concentration Camps
This folder contains two sets of charts. One set was created in Radăuți in December of 1945 and contains the names of individuals returned from the U.S.S.R. (ie. Transnistria) who received assistance from the Red Cross with the help of the Joint. The charts include names, birth place and date, gender, occupation, frontier entry point, and items received (garments) and the recipient's signature. The other set of documents is from Șimleul-Silvaniei, also dated 1945, and records names of those who returned from German concentration camps. Charts include names, name of the mother, place and date of birth, occupation, camp from which they returned, last place of residence prior to deportation, marriage status, and other comments (often tattoo number). These charts were created by the Jewish community of Șimleul-Silvaniei (technically here called Democratic Jewish Group - Gruparea Democratică a Evreilor).
Red Cross; Șimleul Silvaniei Jewish Democratic Group


The Birch tree, belonging to the genus Betula, is renowned for its graceful habit, distinctive bark, and airy foliage.
Habit: Generally, birch trees have a slender, upright or pendulous habit with a crown that can be pyramidal to oval-shaped. The paper-thin layers of bark that often peel away in scrolls are one of the tree’s defining characteristics.
Hardiness: Birch trees generally thrive in USDA hardiness zones 2 to 9, depending on the species. They prefer colder climates and may struggle in areas with hot, dry summers.
Foliage: The foliage of birch trees consists of simple, alternate leaves that are often triangular or egg-shaped, with serrated margins. The leaves are usually a vibrant green, turning golden-yellow in the fall.
Flowers and Bloom Time: Birches are monoecious, meaning they produce both male and female flowers on the same tree. These flowers are called catkins and typically bloom in late winter to early spring. The male catkins are long and droop down, while the female catkins are shorter and stand upright.
Uses: Birch trees offer stunning landscape appeal with their slender, graceful habit and iconic bark. They make excellent focal points and are ideal for woodland or naturalistic settings. Beyond their aesthetic appeal, birch trees are commercially important for timber and the sap is often used to make birch syrup. The wood is light but strong, and it’s often used for furniture, plywood, and pulpwood. Birch is also used in traditional medicine and the flexible bark can be used for crafting.
Benefits: Birch trees are excellent for soil stabilization and provide food and habitat for various wildlife, including birds and small mammals. They also serve as host plants for several species of butterflies, enriching the local biodiversity. Birch leaves create a light, dappled shade, allowing understory plants to thrive.
The birch is more than just a pretty tree; it’s a hardy species with various uses and benefits that make it an excellent choice for any garden or larger landscape.


Luis’ son Ramiro had recently found himself in trouble and a contract was put out on him (S.O.S. meaning smash on sight).
Answers 1Add Yours
After spending a few months in a psychiatric hospital, Ramiro was put in an educational/ employment plan. Luis implemented a hands on approach, in order to make sure Ramiro's teenage years gave him a sense of empowerment, but just as importantly.... an education. He wanted him to have "complete literacy: The ability to participate competently and confidently in any level of society one chooses."


BRITISH DRILL RIFLES
The British modified several models of the SMLE as well as the Pattern 14 to make drill rifles. There were different approaches to these conversions but the illustrations shown below are typical. All of these rifles are marked with a prominent DP (drill practice) somewhere on the rifle. It is uncertain how many of these drill rifles were produced but a considerable number have surfaced in this country.
The U.K. NRA Historic Arms Resource Center has an outstanding web site that has information on Drill and Training rifles as well as a broad range of related items. I highly recommend this site. http://www.rifleman.org.uk.
British Home Guard
In 1939, Winston Churchill called for 500,000 men over 40 to form a Home Guard to defend against an expected invasion by the German army. There was a great response and it soon became apparent that some formal organizational structure would be needed. In May of 1940, the Home Guard was renamed the Local Defense Volunteers and placed under government control. By July of 1940, the organization had 1.5 million volunteers. The members “stood down” in late 1944 when the threat of invasion was over.
They performed a variety of duties relating to coastal defense, aircraft spotters, and air raid wardens. Initially, they were unarmed and drilled with broom sticks, personal shotguns, or wooden rifles. These wooden rifles were locally produced and had no standard pattern and few refinements. The official British arm of that period was the SMLE. The wooden drill rifles would have been generally patterned after this rifle or the earlier Pattern 14 Enfield. There are earlier examples of wooden drill rifles that were used by the British Army at the start of WWI and some of these may well have been resurrected for use by the Home Guard. These drill rifles can be viewed on the Imperial War Museum web site under “catalogue number” 11580 and 11581.
The photograph is of a group of Home Guard members drilling. This was photo was probably taken early in 1940. It should be noted that they are wearing Home Guard arm bands and carrying wooden drill rifles similar to the Pattern 14 Enfield. Eventually they were issued simple uniforms and armed with obsolete military rifles.
The drill rifle shown is a replica of the rifles that they are carrying.
This photograph is from a post card. It is of a Young Soldier unit of the Hampshire Regiment of the British Army during WWI. It is interesting to note that they are all carrying some form of dummy training rifles which appear to be made entirely of wood. The guns are very light in color and if they had any blued metal parts they would have shown as dark areas in the photograph. It is impossible to determine much detail from this small photo but the shape does not appear to be similar to the any of the military arms the British used during this time period. The photo clearly shows that all of the guns are identical, which would indicate that they had been produced in some quantity.
From the paper, Non-Firing Drill and Training Rifles, by By Malcolm MacPherson
The next installment: The US Portable Building Corporation


Humans have been wearing clothes for millennia. Every piece of clothing for the history of mankind has been worn, washed, and ultimately thrown away. Some may get reused by others for a while, but until today, all clothing has eventually become trash.
When they say “recycling”, this is a recycling process like paper and steel, with old cotton clothing broken down back into fiber, respun into thread, rewoven into fabric, dyed, cut, sewed, and for jeans, riveted.
“This first prototype represents a major advancement in apparel innovation. We have the potential to reduce by 98 percent the water that would otherwise be needed to grow virgin cotton while giving multiple lives to each garment,” said Paul Dillinger, head of global product innovation at Levi Strauss & Co. “Although early days, this technology holds great promise and is an exciting advancement as we explore the use of regenerated cotton to help significantly reduce our overall impact on the planet.”
“LS&Co. was the perfect first partner for us to demonstrate our technology and capability as they are an iconic American company with a product that’s recognized around the world,” says Evrnu CEO Stacy Flynn. “Our aspiration is to build a pair of Levi’s jeans that are just as beautiful and strong as the original and we’re making great progress toward that goal.”
Here at Fledge, we talk a lot about companies that truly change the world. We are incredibly proud to call Evrnu one of our fledglings. One of many examples of companies that are doing good, by doing business.
UPDATE: Days after this big news, Evrnu was awarded as a global changemaker by Fabric of Change. The follow short video includes Evrnu and two other breakthrough innovators:


2015 World Hypertension Day – Have your BP measured and eat less salt
Every year since 2005, May 17th is celebrated as World Hypertension Day to raise public awareness about high blood pressure around the world. This year, the theme is ‘Know your Numbers'.
Hypertension is a leading risk factor associated with life threatening diseases such as stroke, heart attack and kidney disease. In China, 270 million people suffer from hypertension, or high blood pressure, with excessive salt consumption being directly linked to these numbers. Many people are unaware of this health problem.
To enhance people’s awareness of how high blood pressure can affect your health, The George Institute for Global Health at Peking University Health Science Center, hosted an event at the lobby of its office building to help people who worked in the same building increase their awareness of hypertension by measuring their blood pressure. Event volunteers also distributed a low-sodium salt substitute in a special-designed amount-controlled container to call for a less salty diet.
“World Hypertension Day is a great opportunity for people to become aware of their own blood pressure but also to highlight the issue of elevated blood pressure to their colleagues, friends or families,” said Dr. Maoyi Tian, Senior Research Fellow at The Institute.
“I’m very happy to attend this event and learn that my blood pressure is at a normal level,” said a lady who participated in the World Hypertension Day event.
“I know that salty food may cause hypertension, but sometimes it’s hard to know how much salt you actually eat. I really like this salt substitute container, each time you press it, you’ll get an accurate 1 gram of low sodium salt. I think it will definitely help reduce salt intake in my diet and I’ll also persuade my parents to eat less salt.”
Professor Bruce Neal, Senior Director of the Food Policy Division at The George Institute for Global Health, said that it was great to see so many people come to have their blood pressure measured.
“It’s great, but what we really want is not for people just have their blood pressure measured but actually make some changes.
“For people working in the office, they can think a little bit more carefully about what they eat and perhaps choose less salty food. If they are overweight, perhaps something with fewer calories; and if you can walk up stairs, that’s a good way to get your blood pressure down and stay a little bit healthier,” Professor Neal said.
Ms. Ruth Song, Finance Manager at The Institute, was one of the organizers of the event. She expressed her gratitude to all the staff who participated and contributed to the event.
“Celebrating this international event with all George Institute and George Clinical colleagues is a great and happy thing to do. We’ll throw more events in the future to promote our expertise in the field of public health to raise awareness around important public health issues.”


The more you practice using these strategies, the better you will become at quickly finding significance in the documents. Your AP history textbook may also have documents with questions that you can use to practice. All of the history exams share a DBQ rubric, so the guidelines are identical.
Okay, so maybe that is a little dramatic. Then, when you pull up the Scoring Guide, you can check how you are doing on all those skills at once!
Are you only two thirds of the way through your essay when 40 minutes have passed? Check your answers against the sample response at Dbq apush essay end to see how yours compares! You are advised to spend 15 minutes planning and 40 minutes writing your answer.
Most of your highly intensive, critical thinking type stuff should already have happened and now it is just all about putting those thoughts into words. You can get an additional point here for doing further analysis on 4 of the documents. What do I mean? Either create an outline of key points or time yourself for 55 minutes 15 to prep and 40 to write to get test day practice.
You might talk to a guidance counselor about your anxiety. After, work on any skills that still need to be honed. Read through the prompt and documents and then identify what historical connections you could make for your synthesis point.
Flip around in there! You might also try thinking about how you would arrange those observations in an argument, or even try writing a practice outline!
Remember, an outline is just a guide for your essay—it is fine to switch things around as you are writing. Use the prompt and documents below to practice writing a DBQ. Especially with these 6 easy steps! But be ready to write pretty fast. One point of 1 for synthesis.
June 14, This will also help prime you for test day, when you will be having to combine all of the rubric skills in a timed environment. On test day, keep yourself on track time-wise! Download it for free now: Before they write the essay, however, New York students have to answer short answer questions about the documents.
Lots of people have this.
See these AP World History study tips from one of our experts. Then when you can do it in 20 and 50, move back to 18 minutes and 45 for writing, then to 15 and Exam Resources.
AP United States History Course and Exam Description (PDF) (Opens in new window) AP US History Modules from Gilder Lehrman Center AP US History Modules from Gilder Lehrman Center (Opens in new window) AP U.S. History Practice Exam (PDF) (Opens in new window). Free-Response Questions. Below are free-response questions from AP U.S.
History Exams administered before the course and exam were initially redesigned in AP’s high school United States History course is a rigorous, college-level class that provides an opportunity to gain skills colleges recognize.
Sign in Help. AP Students write an essay in which you attribute each quotation to. The ‘50s and ‘60s: Decades of Prosperity and Protest (DBQ) The s were characterized as a prosperous and conformist decade for many reasons. The first and most widespread of these reasons was the development of the suburbs.
DBQ Essay Outline Guide Use the following outline to plan and write your essays, in response to a Document Based Question (DBQ). The format is. APUSH DBQ sample is from - College Board.Download


Ernesto Pesce is a visual artist, primarily drawing, painting, printmaking, and working with objects. He has lived in Buenos Aires his entire life.
Once cosmopolitan and a cultural melting pot, called the Europe of Latin America, Ernesto's homeland changed by the mid-20th century. The military’s “Liberating Revolution” overthrew Juan Peron’s government in 1955 when Ernesto was a child. The government was conservative, restricting political and cultural activities. By the mid-1960s when Ernesto was a student, he produced art that reflected his resistance to the dictatorship. But he was careful and not outspoken about his ideas, painting symbols to hide their true meanings.
Eventually, the dictatorship weakened and the exiled Peron, beloved by many in Argentina, returned with his new wife Isabel in 1973. Democratic elections were held that year with Peron recapturing his presidential office. Peron’s term was marked by extreme and violent conflict between Peronist factions: worker unions and Montoneros on the left and conservatives on the right. Calls to repress the leftists, death squads targeted radicals. Meanwhile, the Guevarist ERP, opposed the Peronist right wing and engaged in guerilla tactics against the Army and Ford Motor Corporation. A year after Peron’s third term, he died on July 1, 1974. Isabel Peron succeeded him for three years until the military junta took over and a new reign of terror swept Argentina in 1976. The new dictatorship set out to restore the country and rid it from all insurgent elements. Anyone thought to oppose the government risked their lives.
By this time, Ernesto was a professional artist and not willing to risk his life by representing any resistance against the junta. Instead of painting about the events unfolding during this "Dirty War", Ernesto turned to reflections about his Italian grandparents who immigrated to Argentina in 1900. They were artists who painted murals of churches in the Piedmont area in Italy. When they immigrated to Argentina they could no longer continue their art. As a tribute to his grandparents and their sacrifice, which allowed him to be an artist, he produced a series called Immigrants that told the story of the massive immigration in the 19th century Argentina.
The dictatorship that terrorized Argentina for several years, fell in 1983. Argentina returned to democratic society. No longer were its people turning a blind eye to atrocities or living in fear. It became what it once was several decades earlier, a melting pot where people of different races and religions lived together. In 1988, Ernesto married a young artist, the sculptor Mariana Shapiro. Their marriage was a bond of art and a blending of cultures. Mariana’s grandparents were Jewish, immigrating from Russia. At an early age, Mariana was a recognized artist and received many prestigious awards for her work. One of the many important works she produced was in 1995, a monument for the victims of the AMIA bombing in the Jewish cemetery in La Tablada. In designing the monument, Mariana was inspired by the one surviving building from that tragedy, the AMIA library. For her, its survival meant that ideas, religious beliefs, acts of solidarity, and love for fellow human beings cannot be destroyed by a bomb or by death.
For 20 years Mariana and Ernesto lived in a neighborhood of peace among friends. In 2005, Mariana and Ernesto woke up to find on the door of their house graffiti that read “Here lives a Jew, we do not want in the neighborhood.” They never experienced an act of anti-Semitism. Mariana responded quickly, taking a photograph with her standing next to the graffiti. She made sure that everyone knew about this act of hatred. In return she received an outpouring of support and expressions of outrage. The authorities called her, the press published stories, and friends sent her emails. From all of this material, she created an art book, which she titled The Monster in My Neighborhood that was part of a group exhibition called "Books of the Artists". Two copies of the book exist today. An art collector owns one copy and the other is on loan with a friend of Mariana’s who is an official of the AMIA. Mariana spoke out without fear.
Mariana died in 2006 at the age of 46.
Ernesto's art has exhibited in Argentina, Venezuela, Peru, Chile, Mexico, Spain, France, Italy, South, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and the United States. Ernesto’s recent works includes “Some Roads Leads to Strength” series (2007), which represents the idea that we can find the strength to live fully if we follow certain paths; “The Great Wall of China” series (2009) inspired by Jorge Luis Borges’ "The Wall and the Books”; “You Cannot Conceal Your Sowing” series/”You Cannot Conceal Your Tree Cutting” series (2009), using geometry and Google Earth’s imagery to convey the reality that we are being watched through satellites in our intimacy.
His recent “Soul Portraits (2011) symbolizes the wish his son Lautaro told him in 2006 after Mariana died. “The soul of my mother, Mariana was in the center star of the ‘Tres Marias’, in Orion’s Belt. Ernesto found a way to make the wish in an image.
Ernesto believes that our project is important because we should never tolerate any attack, no matter how small the persecution and discrimination against any person because of race, ethnicity or religion. At any time, anywhere.
In 2005, on the front door of our house there appeared this inscription , “Here lives a Jew, we don’t want her in our neighborhood.” We lived 20 years in that place, we always had a great relationship with our neighbors. Something very strange for us to experience. Mariana quickly had a photo made of her standing next to this graffiti on the door and made a complaint to the police about the anti-Semitism. She also sent an email and the photograph to her friends. Eventually, they heard from a thousand people from everywhere around the world, seeking solidarity. The police reacted quickly. They put custodians on the door, to guard the door. The government authorities called right away, always with the message that any discriminatory act or anti-Semitic act would be reacted to right away, would be denounced.
And there was another aspect on the artistic side of things, an invitation to Mariana to participate in an exhibition “Books of the Artists”. Artists would create books where they would draw something, write something. So Mariana figured for this exhibition that she would print all of the emails they had received, including the photo of her standing next to the graffiti on the house’s front door. So she converted a regrettable act as an artist into an artistic work.
Mariana created there (at the Tablada, the Jewish Cemetery) something very artistic about a very lamentable act that was related in this case to the library that AMIA had maintained. The sculpture has a plaque with Jewish letters, Jewish words on it—quotes. They are connected, but they are moving towards the heavens. So her message was that something essential cannot be destroyed.


Linear position sensors gain acceptance
Smaller diameters, new materials
While linear position sensors were once considered too long for applications with limited space, new winding techniques and computer-based winding machines allow the linear position sensor body to be reduced while maintaining or increasing stroke length. With the improved stroke-to-length ratio (now up to 80%), the LVDT linear position sensor becomes a viable position measurement device for machine tool positioning, hydraulic cylinder positioning, and valve position sensing.
Smaller, contactless linear position sensors also feature a lightweight low mass core that is ideal (see figure 2) for process control applications having high-dynamic response requirements, such as plastic injection molding machines, automatic inspection equipment, and different robotic applications requiring displacement feedback to ensure proper machinery operation.
LVDTs are also configurable in a variety of mechanical and electrical designs to meet the measurement and environmental requirements of various process control applications. New corrosion-resistant/high-temperature materials such as Monel or Inconel enable the LVDT linear position sensor to operate in more hostile environments, including those with high and low temperature extremes, radiation exposure, or vacuum pressure conditions. For applications where sensors must withstand exposure to flammable or corrosive vapors and liquids, or operate in pressurized fluid, its case and coil assembly can be hermetically sealed using a variety of welding processes.
For example, in power generation applications (see figure 3), linear position sensors designed for high temperature and mild radiation resistance can perform in power plants to provide feedback on the position of nuclear steam and gas turbine control valves for increased plant efficiency and reduced operating costs.
In a typical power plant, steam turbines contain a number of control valves-a reheat stop value, an interceptor valve, a governor valve, and a throttle valve. Typically, plants have very precise control schemes for valve position to increase operating efficiency and save fuel. Operating within the harsh environment of a power or steam plant, linear position sensors can determine if valves are fully opened or closed to within a thousandth of an inch, providing output to remote electronics that can be monitored by operators if something is not working properly. The combination of LVDTs with modern computerized turbine control systems saves power companies millions of dollars per year.
Sensors also play an important role in the predictive maintenance of gas turbines as part of process control systems used to monitor shell expansion and bearing vibration. When installed on turbine shells, hermetically sealed LVDT position sensors measure shell expansion, providing linear output that operators can utilize to determine proper thermal growth of a turbine shell during start-up, operation, and shutdown.
LVDTs designed to withstand shocks and heavy pounding are used in the press and dye industry for the mechanical control of machine operations as improper operation can lead to broken dyes that result in downed machines, while the ambiguous force of presses can lead to misshapen and out-of-spec parts. Spring-loaded LVDT position sensors are installed on presses so that the plunger of the sensor is compressed as the punch press comes in contact with the metal being shaped. The output of the LVDT is fed back into the machine's control system, providing feedback on how far a press has moved and when to stop.
For more than six decades, LVDT linear position sensors have served as part of measurement and control systems, providing essential information without which many process control systems couldn't function. From its limited use as a laboratory tool more than three decades ago, the LVDT linear position sensor has evolved into a highly reliable and cost-effective linear feedback device, making it the preferred technology for critical and reliable linear displacement measurements in an array of industrial process control applications.
Eileen Otto of Macro Sensors can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org.


In a previous post, I explained how to visualize what part of your code is covered by your tests.
This post explores two questions that are perhaps more important: why and what code coverage to measure.
Why We Measure Code Coverage
What does it mean for a statement to be covered by tests? Well, it means that the statement was executed while the tests ran, nothing more, nothing less.
We can’t automatically assume that the statement is tested, since the bare fact that a statement was executed doesn’t imply that the effects of that execution were verified by the tests.
If you practice Test-First Programming, then the tests are written before the code. A new statement is added to the code only to make a failing test pass. So with Test-First Programming, you know that each executed statement is also a tested statement.
If you don’t write your tests first, then all bets are off. Since Test-First Programming isn’t as popular as I think it should be, let’s assume for the remainder of this post that you’re not practicing it.
Then what good does it do us to know that a statement is executed?
Well, if the next statement is also executed, then we know that the first statement didn’t throw an exception.
That doesn’t help us much either, however. Most statements should not throw an exception, but some statements clearly should. So in general, we still don’t get a lot of value out of knowing that a statement is executed.
The true value of measuring code coverage is therefore not in the statements that are covered, but in the statements that are not covered! Any statement that is not executed while running the tests is surely not tested.
Uncovered code indicates that we’re missing tests.
What Code Coverage We Should Measure
Our next job is to figure out what tests are missing, so we can add them. How can we do that?
Since we’re measuring code coverage, we know the target of the missing tests, namely the statements that were not executed.
If some of those statements are in a single class, and you have unit tests for that class, it’s easy to see that those unit tests are incomplete.
Unit tests can definitely benefit from measuring code coverage.
What about acceptance tests? Some code can easily be related to a single feature, so in those cases we could add an acceptance test.
In general, however, the relationship between a single line of code and a feature is weak. Just think of all the code we re-use between features. So we shouldn’t expect to always be able to tell by looking at the code what acceptance test we’re missing.
It makes sense to measure code coverage for unit tests, but not so much for acceptance tests.
Code Coverage on Acceptance Tests Can Reveal Dead Code
One thing we can do by measuring code coverage on acceptance tests, is find dead code.
Dead code is code that is not executed, except perhaps by unit tests. It lives on in the code base like a zombie.
Dead code takes up space, but that’s not usually a big problem.
Some dead code can be detected by other means, like by your IDE. So all in all, it seems that we’re not gaining much by measuring code coverage for acceptance tests.
Code Coverage on Acceptance Tests May Be Dangerous
OK, so we don’t gain much by measuring coverage on acceptance tests. But no harm, no foul, right?
Well, that remains to be seen.
Some organizations impose targets for code coverage. Mindlessly following a rule is not a good idea, but, alas, such is often the way of big organizations. Anyway, an imposed number of, say, 75% line coverage may be achievable by executing only the acceptance tests.
So developers may have an incentive to focus their tests exclusively on acceptance tests.
This is not as it should be according to the Test Pyramid.
Acceptance tests are slower, and, especially when working through a GUI, may also be more brittle than unit tests.
Therefore, they usually don’t go much further than testing the happy path. While it’s great to know that all the units integrate well, the happy path is not where most bugs hide.
Some edge and error cases are very hard to write as automated acceptance tests. For instance, how do you test what happens when the network connection drops out?
These types of failures are much easier explored by unit tests, since you can use mock objects there.
The path of least resistance in your development process should lead developers to do the right thing. The right thing is to have most of the tests in the form of unit tests.
If you enforce a certain amount of code coverage, be sure to measure that coverage on unit tests only.


Information is one of the key aspects of life that has become ubiquitous.
This information is being presented to both users and computers.
When it comes to computers, information needs to be structured well and the meta structure of the data needs to be known in advance.
When dealing with complex entities such as computer networks, one has to handle a lot of data: both configurational and operational. Hence the need to conceptualize the storage of data in a structured way. Data models have come about to address this problem.
When large sets of data gets stored in a structured and well-understood way, it becomes easy to access and manipulate such data. One can even conceive of algorithms and programs to deal with such data.
If the devices on the network are able to be provisioned and monitored using such structured and modeled data, one can conceive of having algorithms for managing the network.
With the YANG language, we can model the data for an application in a YANG module. For example, we can model the data for the BGP protocol in a YANG module.
A YANG module comes with its own revision history and has rules for backward compatibility.
However, it is also interesting to have a way to model sets of YANG models. This can be useful in determining which set of models are supported in an implementation. This is where the YANG library becomes very useful. This allows a way of tracking which set of YANG modules are supported on a particular server.
One of the interesting aspects of YANG is the kind of tooling it enables. Because of it’s structured tree-like nature, it naturally renders itself to have corresponding API (corresponding to each model). These API can either be generic path-based (similar to XPath) or specific to each data model (as it is in YDK).
This API can then be used in various tools which may be used to configure and monitor devices which support the corresponding models. Also applications which deal with processing the modeled data can make use of such API.
Storing and retrieving data is one of the most important requirements for most softwares. To do so in an organized and consistent way, there are multiple approaches. However, all these approaches call for having a organized way of storing and retrieving data. In other words, the data has to conform to certain data models.
The YANG data modeling language has several attractive features:
- It is relatively easy to read and understand
- It is relatively easy to extend
- It enables expressing syntactical and semantic constraints
- It enables programmability, for example, by enabling code generation
- It can be easily transformed into data instances expressed as JSON or XML
One of the reasons why modeled data is a powerful advancement is that it makes processing of such data easier. It allows for programmability and automation. When much of the networking data is CLI-based, the operational and configuration data from network devices is mostly hand-crafted. As a result, there has to be a lot of screen-scraping and manual testing to process such data. With the advent of modeled data, which could be modeled using a language like YANG, it can be easily processed by automated programs.