Thursday, December 25, 2008

Written languages

In a sense, written language should be distinguished from natural language. Until recently in the developed world, it was common for many people to be fluent in spoken or signed languages and yet remain illiterate; this is still the case in poor countries today. Furthermore, natural language acquisition during childhood is largely spontaneous, while literacy must usually be intentionally acquired.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Benign tumor

A benign tumor is a tumor that lacks all three of the malignant properties of a cancer. Thus, by definition, a benign tumor does not grow in an unlimited, aggressive manner, does not invade surrounding tissues, and does not metastasize. Common examples of benign tumors include moles and uterine fibroids.

The term "benign" implies a mild and nonprogressive disease, and indeed, many kinds of benign tumor are harmless to the health. However, some neoplasms which are defined as 'benign tumors' because they lack the invasive properties of a cancer, may still produce negative health effects. Examples of this include tumors which produce a "mass effect" (compression of vital organs such as blood vessels), or "functional" tumors of endocrine tissues, which may overproduce certain hormones (examples include thyroid adenomas, adrenocortical adenomas, and pituitary adenomas).

Benign tumors typically are encapsulated, which inhibits their ability to behave in a malignant manner. Nonetheless, many types of benign tumors have the potential to become malignant and some types, such as teratoma, are notorious for this.

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Rice


Rice is a cereal foodstuff which forms an important part of the diet of many people worldwide and as such it is a staple food for many.

Domesticated rice comprises two species of food crops in the Oryza genus of the Poaceae ("true grass") family: Asian rice, Oryza sativa is native to tropical and subtropical southern Asia; African rice, Oryza glaberrima, is native to West Africa.

The name wild rice is usually used for species of the different but related genus Zizania, both wild and domesticated, although the term may be used for primitive or uncultivated varieties of Oryza.

Rice is grown as a monocarpic annual plant, although in tropical areas it can survive as a perennial and can produce a ratoon crop and survive for up to 20 years.Rice can grow to 1–1.8 m tall, occasionally more depending on the variety and soil fertility. The grass has long, slender leaves 50–100 cm long and 2–2.5 cm broad. The small wind-pollinated flowers are produced in a branched arching to pendulous inflorescence 30–50 cm long. The edible seed is a grain (caryopsis) 5–12 mm long and 2–3 mm thick.

Rice is a staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in tropical Latin America, and East, South and Southeast Asia, making it the second-most consumed cereal grain. A traditional food plant in Africa, Rice has the potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural development and support sustainable landcare. Rice provides more than one fifth of the calories consumed worldwide by humans.In early 2008, some governments and retailers began rationing supplies of the grain due to fears of a global rice shortage.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Marine and Coastal Environment

Oceans and seas cover 70 per cent of the Earth's surface. They are a major and distinct source of natural resources, offering us food from fisheries and aquaculture, and opportunities to exploit both renewable energy sources such as wind, wave and tidal power and existing supplies of minerals and fossil fuels. At the same time, the marine environment contains a unique and diverse range of species and habitats, with half of the UK's biodiversity found in our surrounding waters.

The marine and coastal waters around Scotland are vitally important to the sustainable future of the country. Our coasts and seas provide food from fisheries, energy and mineral resources, routes and harbours for shipping, tourism and recreational opportunities and sites of cultural and historical interest, which meet many of our economic and social needs particularly in remote rural areas. At the same time, they contain distinctive and important habitats and support a diverse range of species which we need to protect, conserve and enhance. The Scottish Government, therefore, is committed to ensuring the sustainable use of our coasts and seas and the resources that they contain.

Our aim is to secure a vision of clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse marine and coastal environments, managed to meet the long term needs of nature and people. Good progress has been made in approaching this vision by tackling the problems facing our oceans and seas, but we must do more nationally and internationally to tackle the threats that remain.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Blood plasma

Blood plasma is the liquid component of blood, in which the blood cells are suspended. It makes up about 55% of total blood volume. It is composed of mostly water (90% by volume), and contains dissolved proteins, glucose, clotting factors, mineral ions, hormones and carbon dioxide (plasma being the main medium for excretory product transportation). Blood plasma is prepared simply by spinning a tube of fresh blood in a centrifuge until the blood cells fall to the bottom of the tube. The blood plasma is then poured or drawn off. Blood serum is blood plasma without fibrinogen or the other clotting factors.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Inner planet Mercury

Mercury (0.4 AU) is the closest planet to the Sun and the smallest planet (0.055 Earth masses). Mercury has no natural satellites, and its only known geological features besides impact craters are lobed ridges or rupes, probably produced by a period of contraction early in its history. Mercury's almost negligible atmosphere consists of atoms blasted off its surface by the solar wind. Its relatively large iron core and thin mantle have not yet been adequately explained. Hypotheses include that its outer layers were stripped off by a giant impact, and that it was prevented from fully accreting by the young Sun's energy.

Monday, November 03, 2008

OpenGL 2.0

OpenGL 2.0 was conceived by 3Dlabs to address concerns that OpenGL was stagnating and lacked a strong direction. 3Dlabs proposed a number of major additions to the standard. Most of these were, at the time, rejected by the ARB or otherwise never came to fruition in the form that 3Dlabs proposed. However, their proposal for a C-style shading language was eventually completed, resulting in the current formulation of GLSL (the OpenGL Shading Language, also slang). Like the assembly-like shading languages that it was replacing, it allowed the programmer to replace the fixed-function vertex and fragment pipe with shaders, though this time written in a C-like language.

The design of GLSL was notable for making relatively few concessions to the limitations of the hardware then available; this hearkened back to the earlier tradition of OpenGL setting an ambitious, forward-looking target for 3D accelerators rather than merely tracking the state of currently available hardware. The final OpenGL 2.0 specification includes support for GLSL.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Acquired brain injury

A neurological condition, Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) is damage to the brain acquired after birth. It usually affects cognitive, physical, emotional, social or independent functioning and can result from traumatic brain injury (i.e. accidents, falls, assaults, etc.) and nontraumatic brain injury (i.e. stroke, brain tumours, infection, poisoning, hypoxia, ischemia or substance abuse). Most definitions of ABI exclude neurodegenerative disorders. Acquired brain injury is not to be confused with intellectual disability. People with a brain injury may have difficulty controlling, coordinating and communicating their thoughts and actions but they usually retain their intellectual abilities. Brain injury has dramatically varied effects and no two people can expect the same outcome or resulting difficulties. The brain controls every part of human life: physically, intellectually, behaviorally, socially and emotionally. When the brain is damaged, some other part of a person's life will also be adversely affected. Even a mild injury can sometimes result in a serious disability that will interfere with a person’s daily functioning and personal activities for the rest of their life. While the outcome of the injury depends largely on the nature and severity of the injury itself, appropriate treatment will play a vital role in determining the level of recovery.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Random wire antenna

A random-length wire antenna is a type of radio frequency antenna typically chosen more for convenience than any particular design criteria. This antenna sometimes is called the zig-zag antenna, as it may be strung back and forth between trees just to get enough wire into the air. For example, an antenna for 3mhz might be 20m - 40m long.

Usually, it is a long (at least one quarter wavelength) wire with one end connected to the radio and the other in free space, arranged in any way most convenient for the space available. Folding (to fit in space available) will reduce effectiveness and make theoretical analysis extremely difficult. (The added length helps more than the folding typically hurts.) If used for transmitting, a random wire antenna usually will also require an antenna tuner, as it might have a random impedance that varies nonlinearly with frequency.

Typically this antenna is constructed from a number 12 or 14 AWG (1.6 to 2.0 mm diameter) wire of nearly any length. Such an antenna can be used for transmitting on practically any frequency with a properly tuned matching network.Although random wire antennas can be made from nearly any length of wire, one-quarter wavelength works best, and one half wavelength will work poorly with most tuners.

The antenna is fed directly from output of the matching network or a tuned circuit, without a feed line. Since the antenna is located very close to the transmitter, RF feedback can be an issue. RF feedback can be minimized by selecting a wire length that causes the low feed-point impedance at a current loop to occur at the transmitter. Alternately, a remote tuner can be fed with feedline, and the tuner located on the antenna.

The ground for a random wire antenna may be chosen by experimentation. Grounds could be returned to the transmitter, a nearby cold water pipe or a wire that's approximately one-quarter wavelength long.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Transaction types

A number of transaction types may be performed, including the following:

  • Sale: where the cardholder pays for goods or service
  • Refund: where a merchant refunds an earlier payment made by a cardholder
  • Withdrawal: the cardholder withdraws funds from their account, e.g. from an ATM. The term Cash Advance may also be used, typically when the funds are advanced by a merchant rather than at an ATM
  • Deposit: where a cardholder deposits funds to their own account (typically at an ATM)
  • Cashback: where a cardholder withdraws funds from their own account at the same time as making a purchase
  • Inter-account transfer: transferring funds between linked accounts belonging to the same cardholder
  • Payment: transferring funds to a third party account
  • Enquiry: a transaction without financial impact, for instance balance enquiry, available funds enquiry, linked accounts enquiry, or request for a statement of recent transactions on the account
  • E top-up: where a cardholder can use a device (typically POS or ATM) to add funds (top-up) their pre-pay mobile phone
  • Mini-statement: where a cardholder uses a device (typically an ATM) to obtain details of recent transactions on their account
  • Administrative: this covers a variety of non-financial transactions including PIN change

Monday, September 29, 2008

Bluetooth 1.1

  • Ratified as IEEE Standard 802.15.1-2002.
  • Many errors found in the 1.0B specifications were fixed.
  • Added support for non-encrypted channels.
  • Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI).

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Lorenz

In the 1930s German radio engineers developed a new system, called the "Ultrakurzwellen-Landefunkfeuer" (LFF), or simply "Leitstrahl" (guiding beam) but referred to outside Germany as Lorenz, the name of the company manufacturing the equipments. In Lorenz two signals were broadcast on the same frequencies from highly directional antennas with beams a few degrees wide. One was pointed slightly to the left of the other, with a small angle in the middle where they overlapped. The signals were chosen as dots and dashes, timed so that when the aircraft was in the small area in the middle the sound was continuous. Planes would fly into the beams by listening to the signal to identify which side of middle they were on, and then corrected until they were in the center.

Originally developed as a night and bad-weather landing system, in the late 1930s they also started developing long-range versions for night bombing. In this case a second set of signals were broadcast at right angles to the first, and indicated the point at which to drop the bombs. The system was highly accurate and a battle of the beams broke out when United Kingdom intelligence services attempted, and then succeeded, in rendering the system useless.

In the post-war era similar systems were widely deployed, notably in the United States where a system of long range "airways" was created spanning the country with stations about 200 miles (320km) apart. The signals were chosen as the A and N letters from morse code, dot-dash and dash-dot respectively. However, new developments soon rendered these systems obsolete.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Definition of sense

There is no firm agreement among neurologists as to the number of senses because of differing definitions of what constitutes a sense. One definition states that an exteroceptive sense is a faculty by which outside stimuli are perceived.The traditional five senses are sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste: a classification attributed to Aristotle.Humans also have at least six additional senses (a total of eleven including interoceptive senses) that include: nociception (pain), equilibrioception (balance), proprioception & kinesthesia (joint motion and acceleration), sense of time, thermoception (temperature differences), and in some a weak magnetoception (direction)

One commonly recognized catagorisation for human senses is as follows: chemoreception; photoreception; mechanoreception; and thermoception. Indeed, all human senses fit into one of these four categories.

Monday, September 08, 2008

Palaeobiogeography

Paleobiogeography goes one step further to include paleogeographic data and considerations of plate tectonics. Using molecular analyses and corroborated by fossils, it has been possible to demonstrate that perching birds evolved first in the region of Australia or the adjacent Antarctic (which at that time lay somewhat further north and had a temperate climate). From there, they spread to the other Gondwanan continents and Southeast Asia - the part of Laurasia then closest to their origin of dispersal - in the late Paleogene, before achieving a global distribution in the early Neogene . Not knowing the fact that at the time of dispersal, the Indian Ocean was much narrower than it is today, and that South America was closer to the Antarctic, one would be hard pressed to explain the presence of many "ancient" lineages of perching birds in Africa, as well as the mainly South American distribution of the suboscines.

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Generalized anxiety disorder

Generalized anxiety disorder is a common chronic disorder that affects twice as many women as men and can lead to considerable impairment (Brawman-Mintzer & Lydiard, 1996, 1997). As the name implies, generalized anxiety disorder is characterized by long-lasting anxiety that is not focused on any particular object or situation. In other words it is unspecific or free-floating. People with this disorder feel afraid of something but are unable to articulate the specific fear. They fret constantly and have a hard time controlling their worries. Because of persistent muscle tension and autonomic fear reactions, they may develop headaches, heart palpitations, dizziness, insomnia and chest pain. These physical symptoms, combined with the intense, long-term anxiety, make it difficult to cope with normal daily activities.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Interrupts

Interrupts are central to operating systems as they allow the operating system to deal with the unexpected activities of running programs and the world outside the computer.

Interrupt-based programming is one of the most basic forms of time-sharing, being directly supported by most CPUs. Interrupts provide a computer with a way of automatically running specific code in response to events. Even very basic computers support hardware interrupts, and allow the programmer to specify code which may be run when that event takes place.
When an interrupt is received, the computer's hardware automatically suspends whatever program is currently running by pushing the current state on a stack, and its registers and program counter are also saved. This is analogous to placing a bookmark in a book when someone is interrupted by a phone call. This task requires no operating system as such, but only that the interrupt be configured at an earlier time.

In modern operating systems, interrupts are handled by the operating system's kernel. Interrupts may come from either the computer's hardware, or from the running program. When a hardware device triggers an interrupt, the operating system's kernel decides how to deal with this event, generally by running some processing code, or ignoring it. The processing of hardware interrupts is a task that is usually delegated to software called device drivers, which may be either part of the operating system's kernel, part of another program, or both. Device drivers may then relay information to a running program by various means.

A program may also trigger an interrupt to the operating system, which are very similar in function. If a program wishes to access hardware for example, it may interrupt the operating system's kernel, which causes control to be passed back to the kernel. The kernel may then process the request which may contain instructions to be passed onto hardware, or to a device driver. When a program wishes to allocate more memory, launch or communicate with another program, or signal that it no longer needs the CPU, it does so through interrupts.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Ecophysiology of plants

Plant ecophysiology is an experimental science that seeks to describe the physiological mechanisms underlying ecological observations. In other words, ecophysiologists, or physiological ecologists, address ecological questions about the controls over the growth, reproduction, survival, abundance, and geographical distribution of plants, as these processes are affected by interactions between plants with their physical, chemical, and biotic environment. These ecophysiological patterns and mechanisms can help us understand the functional significance of specific plant traits and their evolutionary heritage. The questions addressed by ecophysiologists are derived from a higher level of integration, i.e. from “ecology” in its broadest sense, including questions originating from agriculture, horticulture, forestry, and environmental sciences. However, the ecophysiological explanations often require mechanistic understanding at a lower level of integration (physiology, biochemistry, biophysics, molecular biology). It is, therefore, quintessential for an ecophysiologist to have an appreciation of both ecological questions and biophysical, biochemical, and molecular methods and processes. In addition, many societal issues, often pertaining to agriculture, environmental change, or nature conservation, benefit from an ecophysiological perspective. A modern ecophysiologist thus requires a good understanding of both the molecular aspects of plant processes and the functioning of the intact plant in its environmental context.

In many cases, animals are able to escape unfavourable and changing environmental factors such as heat, cold, drought, or floods, while generally plants are unable to move away and therefor must endure the adverse conditions or perish. Some plants have an impressive array of genes which aid in adapting to changing conditions. It is hypothesized that this large number of genes can be partly explained by plant species' need to adapt to a wider range of conditions.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

JPEG file format

In computing, JPEG (pronounced JAY-peg) is a commonly used method of compression for photographic images. The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image quality. JPEG typically achieves 10 to 1 compression with little perceivable loss in image quality.

In addition to being a compression method, JPEG is often considered to be a file format. JPEG/Exif is the most common image format used by digital cameras and other photographic image capture devices; along with JPEG/JFIF, it is the most common format for storing and transmitting photographic images on the World Wide Web. These format variations are often not distinguished, and are simply called JPEG.

The compression method is usually lossy compression, meaning that some visual quality is lost in the process and cannot be restored. There are variations on the standard baseline JPEG that are lossless, however these are not yet widely supported.

Monday, August 04, 2008

Movement of proteins

Each type of protein is usually sent to a particular part of the cell. An important part of cell biology is the investigation of molecular mechanisms by which proteins are moved to different places inside cells or secreted from cells.

Most proteins are synthesized by ribosomes in the cytoplasm. This process is also known as protein biosynthesis or simply protein translation. Some proteins, such as those to be incorporated in membranes (known as membrane proteins), are transported into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) during synthesis. This process can be followed by transportation and processing in the Golgi apparatus. From the Golgi, membrane proteins can move to the plasma membrane, to other subcellular compartments, or they can be secreted from the cell. The ER and Golgi can be thought of as the "membrane protein synthesis compartment" and the "membrane protein processing compartment", respectively. There is a semi-constant flux of proteins through these compartments. ER and Golgi-resident proteins associate with other proteins but remain in their respective compartments. Other proteins "flow" through the ER and Golgi to the plasma membrane. Motor proteins transport membrane protein-containing vesicles along cytoskeletal tracks to distant parts of cells such as axon terminals.

Some proteins that are made in the cytoplasm contain structural features that target them for transport into mitochondria or the nucleus. Some mitochondrial proteins are made inside mitochondria and are coded for by mitochondrial DNA. In plants, chloroplasts also make some cell proteins.

Extracellular and cell surface proteins destined to be degraded can move back into intracellular compartments upon being incorporated into endocytosed vesicles. Some of these vesicles fuse with lysosomes where the proteins are broken down to their individual amino acids. The degradation of some membrane proteins begins while still at the cell surface when they are cleaved by secretases. Proteins that function in the cytoplasm are often degraded by proteasomes.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Theoretical implications technology

The process of technological evolution culminates with the ability to achieve all the material values technologically possible and desirable by mental effort.

An economic implication of the above idea is that intellectual labour, will become increasingly more important relative to physical labour. Contracts and agreements around information will become increasingly more common at the marketplace. Expansion and creation of new kinds of institutes that works with information such as for example universities, book stores, patent-trading companies, etc. is considered an indication that a civilization is in technological evolution.

Interestingly, this highlights the importance underlining the debate over intellectual property in conjunction with decentralized distribution systems such as todays internet. Where the price of information distribution is going towards zero with ever more efficient tools to distribute information is being invented. Growing amounts of information being distributed to an increasingly larger customer base as times goes by. With growing disintermediation in said markets and growing concerns over the protection of intellectual property rights it is not clear what form markets for information will take with the evolution of the information age.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Syllabaries

A syllabary is a set of written symbols that represent (or approximate) syllables. A glyph in a syllabary typically represents a consonant followed by a vowel, or just a vowel alone, though in some scripts more complex syllables (such as consonant-vowel-consonant, or consonant-consonant-vowel) may have dedicated glyphs. Phonetically related syllables are not so indicated in the script. For instance, the syllable "ka" may look nothing like the syllable "ki", nor will syllables with the same vowels be similar.

Syllabaries are best suited to languages with relatively simple syllable structure, such as Japanese. Other languages that use syllabic writing include the Linear B script for Mycenaean Greek; Cherokee; Ndjuka, an English-based creole language of Surinam; and the Vai script of Liberia. Most logographic systems have a strong syllabic component. Ethiopic, though technically an alphabet, has fused consonants and vowels together to the point that it's learned as if it were a syllabary.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Selective breeding

Selective breeding in domesticated animals is the process of a breeder developing a cultivated breed over time, and selecting qualities within individuals of the breed that will be best to pass on to the next generation. The term is synonymous with "Artificial selection". Breeding techniques such as inbreeding, linebreeding and outcrossing are utilized by breeders in the maintenance and improvement of their chosen breeds.

Charles Darwin discussed how selective breeding had been successful in producing change over time in his book, Origin of Species. The first chapter of the book discusses selective breeding and domestication of such animals as pigeons, dogs and cattle. Selective breeding was used by Darwin as a springboard to introduce the theory of natural selection, and to support it.

Sunday, July 06, 2008

Nuclear fusion

In physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fusion is the process by which multiple atomic particles join together to form a heavier nucleus. It is accompanied by the release or absorption of energy. Iron and nickel nuclei have the largest binding energies per nucleon of all nuclei. The fusion of two nuclei lighter than iron generally releases energy while the fusion of nuclei heavier than iron absorbs energy; vice-versa for the reverse process, nuclear fission.

Nuclear fusion occurs naturally in stars. Artificial fusion in human enterprises has also been achieved, although not yet completely controlled. Building upon the nuclear transmutation experiments of Ernest Rutherford done a few years earlier, fusion of light nuclei (hydrogen isotopes) was first observed by Mark Oliphant in 1932, and the steps of the main cycle of nuclear fusion in stars were subsequently worked out by Hans Bethe throughout the remainder of that decade. Research into fusion for military purposes began in the early 1940s, as part of the Manhattan Project, but was not successful until 1952. Research into controlled fusion for civilian purposes began in the 1950s, and continues to this day.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Body plan

A body plan, or bauplan, is essentially the blueprint for the way the body of an organism is laid out. An organism's symmetry, its number of body segments and number of limbs are all aspects of its body plan. One of the key issues of developmental biology is the evolution of body plans as different as those of a starfish, a fern, or a mammal, from a common biological heritage, and in particular how radical changes in body plans have occurred over geological time. The body plan is a key feature of an organism's morphology, and since the discovery of DNA developmental biologists have been able to learn a lot about how genes control the development of structural features through a cascade of processes in which key genes produce morphogens, chemicals that diffuse through the body to produce a gradient that acts as a position indicator for cells, turning on other genes, some of which in turn produce other morphogens. A key discovery was the existence of groups of homeobox genes which are responsible for laying down the basic body plan in organisms. The homeobox genes are remarkably conserved between species as diverse as the fruitfly and man, the basic segmented pattern of the worm or fruitfly being the origin of the segmented spine in man. The field of evolutionary developmental biology, which studies the genetics of morphology in detail is now a rapidly expanding one [1], with many of the developmental genetic cascades, particularly in the fruitfly drosophila, now catalogued in considerable detail .Body plan is the basis for phylum, and there are 35 different basic animal body plans, corresponding to different phyla.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Eukaryotic cells

Eukaryotic cells consist of cell membrane, organelles which represent the functional components for storage, excretion, digestion and nucleus (centre of the cell), it contains all the vital information needed by the cell or the whole organism to function, grow and reproduce.

Eukaryotic cells are found in humans, plants and animals, also algae, and protozoa. Eukaryotic cells have both a cellular membrane and a nuclear membrane. Eukaryotic genome is more complex than that of prokaryotes and distributed among multiple chromosomes.

  • Mitosis: The division of the parent nucleus into two daughter nuclei, separating the duplicated genome into two sets, each identical to the parent cell's genome.
  • Cytokinesis: The pinching and division of the cell membrane and cytoplasm, separating the recently divided nuclei, the organelles, and other cellular components.
  • Meiosis: The division of the nucleus in sex cells that reduces the diploid number of chromosomes to a haploid number in order to facilitate sexual reproduction.
Examples of cell division in multicellular eukariotic organisms include repair, growth, and development. An injury or wound is healed when the cells exposed by the injury divide at an excellerated rate until they come into contact with other cells. After this the cells return to a more typical division rate. Cell division causes an organism to grow as long as the rate of cell division exceeds normal cell death. As cells divide and become more numerous they are located in more diverse physical and chemical environments. These variations in local conditions influence the cells to alter gene expression causing the cells to differentiate and become more specialized allowing an organism to develop

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Agere Systems

Agere Systems Inc. was an integrated circuit components company based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania, in the United States. Effective April 2, 2007, it was merged into LSI Corporation.

Agere was incorporated on August 1, 2000 as a subsidiary of Lucent Technologies and then spun-off on June 1, 2002. The name Agere was that of a Texas-based electronics company that Lucent had acquired in 2000, although the pronunciations of the company names are different. The Texas company was pronounced with three syllables and a hard "g": A-gear-uh. The company name was pronounced with two syllables and a hard "g": A-gear.

The company also maintained an India office in Whitefield, India, located in the city of Bangalore, which is involved in ASIC design and software development.
The company also maintained an Israel office located in Raanana. This office was based on Modem-Art a developer of advanced processor technology for 3G/UMTS mobile devices which Agere has acquired in 2005.

The China offices of Agere were located at Shanghai and Shenzhen

Sunday, June 08, 2008

Trance genres

Trance music is broken into a large number of genres. Chronologically, the major genres are Classic trance, Acid trance, Progressive trance, and Uplifting Trance.Uplifting Trance is also known as "Anthem trance", "Epic trance", "Stadium trance" or "Euphoric trance".Closely related to Uplifting Trance is Euro-trance, which has become a general term for a wide variety of highly commercialized European dance music. Several subgenres are crossovers with other major genres of electronic music. For instance, tech trance is a mixture of trance and techno, and Ambient trance is a mixture of ambient and trance. Balearic beat, which is associated with the laid back vacation lifestyle of Ibiza, Spain, is often called "Ibiza trance". Similarly, Dream trance is sometimes called "Dream House", and is a subgenre of relaxing trance pioneered by Robert Miles in the mid 90s.

Another important distinction is between European trance and Goa trance which originated in Goa, India around the same time trance was evolving in Europe. Goa trance was influential in the formation of Psychedelic Trance, which features spazzy, spontaneous samples and other psychedelic elements. Trance is also very popular in Israel, with psychedelic trance producers such as Infected Mushroom and Yahel Sherman achieving world wide fame. The Israeli subgenre called Nitzhonot is a mixture of psychedelic and uplifting trance.

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Phase (matter)

In addition to the specific chemical properties that distinguish different chemical classifications chemicals can exist in several phases. For the most part, thechemical classifications are independent of these bulk phase classifications;however, some more exotic phases are incompatible with certain chemical properties.A phase is a set of states of a chemical system that have similar bulk structuralproperties, over a range of conditions, such as pressure or temperature. Physicalproperties, such as density and refractive index tend to fall within values characteristic of the phase. The phase of matter is defined by the phase transition,which is when energy put into or taken out of the system goes into rearranging the structure of the system, instead of changing the bulk conditions.

Sometimes the distinction between phases can be continuous instead of having a discrete boundary, in this case the matter is considered to be in a supercritical state. When three states meet based on the conditions, it is known as a triple point and since this is invariant, it is a convenient way to define a set of conditions.

The most familiar examples of phases are solids, liquids, and gases. Many substances exhibit multiple solid phases. For example, there are three phases of solid iron (alpha, gamma, and delta) that vary based on temperature and pressure. A principal difference between solid phases is the crystal structure, or arrangement, of the atoms. Less familiar phases include plasmas, Bose-Einstein condensates and fermionic condensates and the paramagnetic and ferromagnetic phases of magnetic materials. While most familiar phases deal with three-dimensional systems, it is also possible to define analogs in two-dimensional systems, which has received attention for its relevance to systems in biology.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Home computers

Although most small 8-bit home computers of the 1980s, such as the Commodore 64, the Atari 8-bit, the Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum series and others could use a disk-loading operating system, such as CP/M or GEOS they could generally work without one. In fact, most if not all of these computers shipped with a built-in BASIC interpreter on ROM, which also served as a crude operating system, allowing minimal file management operations (such as deletion, copying, etc.) to be performed and sometimes disk formatting, along of course with application loading and execution, which sometimes required a non-trivial command sequence, like with the Commodore 64.

The fact that the majority of these machines were bought for entertainment and educational purposes and were seldom used for more "serious" or business/science oriented applications, partly explains why a "true" operating system was not necessary.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Understanding the Context

Many different methods of communication are possible on the Internet; some use specific software and all involve text and/or graphics.

* Some activities take place in real-time while others allow for a delayed reply.

* Discussion areas may be public or exist for a particular group of people.

* Information can either be broadcast or targeted at a particular user.

As the technology develops, and users and providers become more proficient, the boundaries between the different Internet services are blurred. For example, email is used in chat rooms, web pages include discussion areas and newsgroups can have files attached.

Each Internet service has its own educational value, risks, and recommended ways of dealing with problems, and these are detailed in the following pages. They are not exhaustive and many apply across Internet services. Schools should consider the sum of the advice in these guidelines across all areas.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Overview of the Click Thinking Pack

Schools and government initiatives are encouraging the educational use of the Internet right across the curriculum and young people are taking readily to this way of learning and communicating.

At the same time, the media tends to focus on the rare occasions when use of the Internet causes distress. The Scottish Executive believes that young people need to be protected and informed; and that those responsible for them, whether teachers, parents or other careers, should be aware of the issues involved.

Previous Scottish Executive Education Department (SEED) publications in this area have dealt with the need to protect pupils from misuse of computers (Information Ethics) and to understand copyright implications (Copyright and Ethics in a Digital Age).

This booklet focuses on personal safety and wellbeing. It attempts to clarify potential risks and to empower Internet users in schools so that they can keep themselves safe. Those who manage Scottish schools, and all teachers, whether responsible for a primary class or for teaching a subject, will find policy guidelines and background information which will prepare our pupils to take their safe and well-earned place in the Digital Age.

Much of the advice in these guidelines will be relevant to other Local Authority staff responsible for overseeing young people's use of the Internet (e.g. managers and staff in community education centers, residential homes for young people, libraries and other settings). These groups should take account of the messages about personal safety, and put into place the recommendations suitable for their setting.

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

BACK TO SCHOOL SAFETY ALERT:

CPSC Urges Bicyclists to Wear Helmets

CPSC Document #5002

Each year about 800 bicyclists are killed and more than half a million are treated in hospital emergency rooms. In recent years, almost two-thirds of the deaths and one-third of the injuries involved head and face injury. About one-half the injuries to children under the age of 10 involved the head or face. Helmets may reduce the risk of head injury to bicyclists by as much as 85 percent. Yet, only about 50 percent of bicyclists wear helmets.

The purpose of a helmet is to absorb the energy of an impact to minimize or prevent a head injury. Crushable, expanded polystyrene foam generally is used for this purpose.

A bicycle helmet should have a snug but comfortable fit on the rider's head. Some helmets are available with several different thicknesses of internal padding to custom fit the helmet to the user. If a parent is buying a helmet for a child, the CPSC recommends that the child accompany the parent so that the helmet can be tested for a good fit.

For a helmet to provide protection during impact, it must have a chin strap and buckle that will stay securely fastened. No combination of twisting or pulling should remove the helmet from the head or loosen the buckle on the strap. Children should be instructed to always wear the helmet level on the forehead, not tilted back. The chin strap should be adjusted correctly and firmly buckled.

Helmets manufactured after March 1999, are required by federal law to meet the CPSC standard. When purchasing a helmet, consumers are urged to examine the helmet and accompanying instructions and safety literature carefully. Consumers should also look for a label stating conformance with the CPSC standard.

Bicyclists should avoid riding at night. If you must ride at night, install and use front and rear lights on the bicycle and wear clothing with reflective tape or markings. These precautions are in addition to the reflectors that the CPSC requires to be on the front, rear, pedals, and wheels of bicycles.

Many bicycle-car crashes can be avoided by applying the rules of the road and by increasing attentiveness of cyclists and motorists. Bicyclists have a legal right to share the road, but they are often not noticed in traffic. Drivers should always keep an eye out for bicyclists, especially when turning, merging, changing lanes, or entering intersections.

Monday, April 28, 2008

All-Terrain Vehicle Safety

Too many ATV riders -- young and old -- are dying or experiencing life altering injuries from incidents involving ATVs. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recommends that all ATV riders follow the seven safety tips below every time they ride.

An estimated 740 people died in 2003* in incidents associated with ATVs. In addition, in 2004* there were an estimated 136,100 emergency room treated injuries associated with ATVs. About a third of all deaths and injuries involved victims under 16 years old. CPSC also reported that ridership has continued to grow, with 6.2 million 4-wheeled ATVs in use in 2003*.

The major ATV manufacturers agreed in Consent Decrees in 1988 and in subsequent voluntary action plans that they would not manufacture three-wheel ATVs; they would place engine size restrictions on ATVs sold for use by children under 16; and they would offer driver-training programs.

Children and young people under the age of 16 should not ride adult ATVs.

All ATV users should take a hands-on safety training course.

Always wear a helmet and safety gear such as boots and gloves while on an ATV.

Never drive an ATV on paved roads.

Never drive while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Never drive a youth or single-rider adult ATV with a passenger, and never ride these vehicles as a passenger.

There are some ATVs that are designed for two riders. Passengers on tandem ATVs should be at least 12 years old.

Monday, April 21, 2008

J-Hook Shaped Stake style (Anchor Types)

This style is used when holes are not pre-drilled into the ground shoes (bars) or rear ground shoe (bar) of the goal. Similar to the peg or stake style, this anchor is hammered, at an angle if possible, directly into the earth. The curved (top) portion of this anchor fits over the goal member to secure it to the ground (Figure 3.4). Typically, two to four stakes of this type are recommended (per goal), depending on stake structure, manufacturers specifications, weight of goal, and soil conditions. Stakes with larger diameters or textured surfaces have greater holding capacity.

Monday, April 14, 2008

Anchoring/Securing/Counterweighing Guidelines

A properly anchored/counterweighted movable soccer goal is much less likely to tip over. Remember to secure the goal to the ground (preferably at the rear of the goal), making sure the anchors are flush with the ground and clearly visible. It is IMPERATIVE that ALL movable soccer goals are always anchored properly (see Figure 2). There are several different ways to secure your soccer goal. The number and type of anchors to be used will depend on a number of factors, such as soil type, soil moisture content, and total goal weight.

Monday, April 07, 2008

Soccer Goal Injuries and Deaths

According to the 1994 National Soccer Participation Survey (Soccer Industry Council of America), over 16 million persons in the United States play soccer at least once a year. Seventy-four percent (over 12 million) of these persons are under the age of 18. Soccer ranks fourth in participation for those under 18, following basketball, volleyball, and softball and well ahead of baseball, which has an annual participation of 9.7 million.
There are approximately 225,000 to 500,000 soccer goals in the United States. Many of these soccer goals are unsafe because they are unstable and are either unanchored or not properly anchored or counter-balanced. These movable soccer goals pose an unnecessary risk of tip over to children who climb on goals (or nets) or hang from the crossbar.
The CPSC knows of four deaths in 1990 alone and at least 21 deaths during the past 16 years (1979-1994) associated with movable soccer goals. In addition, an estimated 120 injuries involving falling goals were treated each year in U.S. hospital emergency rooms during the period 1989 through 1993. Many of the serious incidents occurred when the soccer goals tipped over onto the victim. Almost all of the goals involved in these tip over appeared to be home-made by high school shop classes, custodial members, or local welders, not professionally manufactured. These home-made goals are often very heavy and unstable.
The majority of movable soccer goals are constructed of metal, typically weighing 150-500 pounds. The serious injuries and deaths are a result of blunt force trauma to the head, neck, chest, and limbs of the victims. In most cases this occurred when the goal tipped or was accidentally tipped onto the victim. In one case an 8-year-old child was fatally injured when the movable soccer goal he was climbing tipped over and struck him on the head. In another case, a 20-year-old male died from a massive head trauma when he pulled a goal down on himself while attempting to do chin-ups. In a third case, while attempting to tighten a net to its goal post, the victim’s father lifted the back base of the goal causing it to tip over striking his 3-year-old child on the head, causing a fatal injury.
High winds can also cause movable soccer goals to fall over. For example, a 9-year-old was fatally injured when a goal was tipped over by a gust of wind. In another incident, a 19-year-old goalie suffered stress fractures to both legs when the soccer goal was blown on top of her.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

B.C.-Canada Place officially closes doors

Monday, March 20, 2006 marks the official close of British Columbia-Canada Place, one of the most successful attractions of the 2006 Torino Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

Over the course of the 2006 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, British Columbia-Canada Place drew more than 100,000 visitors and journalists. These visitors were able to experience first hand the province’s culture, heritage, natural beauty and bustling cities. Also, more than 80 British Columbia businesses were able to connect with an international audience and showcase some of B.C.’s best products and services.

B.C.-Canada Place will be a legacy to the people of Torino. The official transfer took place in a ceremony yesterday, with Torino Mayor Sergio Chiamparino accepting a ceremonial key to the building.

“This generous gift from British Columbia will be a constant reminder of our friends in Canada and the celebrations that took place in our city during the 2006 Winter Games,” says Mayor Chiamparino. “We are honored to have this permanent B.C. presence in our city.”

Monday, March 24, 2008

Kent Kickin' Mini-Scooters

Kent is recalling about 90,000 scooters. The scooter handles can unexpectedly come out of the steering column if the clamp holding them in is not tight, causing the rider to lose control, fall and possibly suffer injuries.
Kent has received four reports of the handles coming out, resulting in four children suffering injuries, including broken arms, a broken wrist, bruises, abrasions and a cracked tooth.
These are Kickin' Mini-Scooters made of chrome-plated steel. A vertical decal on the steering column reads "KICKIN' MINI SCOOTER." The scooter's black plastic platform measures about 15 inches long, and it has 4-inch translucent in-line style wheels. "KENT" and "MADE IN CHINA" are written on the lower part of the steering column. The scooters were sold with black backpacks embroidered in white with the word "Kickin."
Toys R us stores nationwide sold the Kent scooters from May 2000 through September 2000 for about $60.
Consumers should stop riding these Kent scooters immediately, and call Kent International to receive a free replacement handlebar with pins to secure the handlebars. For more information, call Kent International at (800) 451-KENT (5368) between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.
Kent has sold other models to Toys R Us such as the Street Craze, the Street Racer and Scoot that are NOT part of this recall. Scooters that Kent sold to Wal Mart, Meijer's, Target and AAFES are also NOT part of this recall.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Trampoline Safety Alert

The U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) wants you and your family to be safe when using trampolines. The CPSC estimates that in 2001 there were 91,870 hospital emergency room-treated injuries associated with trampolines. About 93 percent of the victims were under 15 years of age, and 11 percent were under 5 years of age. Since 1990, CPSC has received reports of 6 deaths of children under age 15 involving trampolines. Injuries and deaths were caused by:

* Colliding with another person on the trampoline.
* Landing improperly while jumping or doing stunts on the trampoline.
* Falling or jumping off the trampoline.
* Falling on the trampoline springs or frame.
Most of the trampolines associated with injuries were at private homes.
Here are the steps you can take to help prevent serious trampoline injuries, especially paralysis, fractures, sprains, and bruises:

* Allow only one person on the trampoline at a time.
* Do not attempt or allow somersaults because landing on the head or neck can cause paralysis.
* Do not use the trampoline without shock-absorbing pads that completely cover its springs, hooks, and frame.
* Place the trampoline away from structures, trees, and other play areas.
* No child under 6 years of age should use a full-size trampoline. Do not use a ladder with the trampoline because it provides unsupervised access by small children.
* Always supervise children who use a trampoline.
* Trampoline enclosures can help prevent injuries from falls off trampolines.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Accumulator

In a computer CPU, an accumulator is a register in which intermediary arithmetic and logic results are stored. Without a register like an accumulator, it would be necessary to write the result of each calculation (addition, multiplication, shift, etc.) to main memory, possibly only to be read right back again for use in the next operation. Access to main memory is slower than access to a register like the accumulator because the technology used for the huge main memory is slower (but cheaper) than that used for a register.

The canonical example for accumulator use is adding a list of numbers. The accumulator is initially set to zero, then each number in spin is added to the value in the accumulator. Only when all numbers have been added is the result seized in the accumulator written to main memory or to another, non-accumulator, CPU register.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Planet

A planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is enormous enough to be rounded by its own gravity, not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighboring region of planetesimals.

The term planet is an antique one having ties to history, science, myth, and religion. The planets were originally seen as a divine attendance; as emissaries of the gods. Even today, many people continue to believe the movement of the planets affects their lives, although such causation is rejected by the scientific community. As scientific knowledge advanced, the human awareness of the planets changed over time, incorporating a number of disparate objects. Even now there is no recognized definition of what a planet is. In 2006, the IAU formally adopted a resolution defining planets within the Solar System. This definition has been both praised and criticize, and remains disputed by some scientists.

Under IAU definitions, there are eight planets in the Solar System (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) and 270 further solar ones. The Solar System also contains at slightest three dwarf planets (Ceres, Pluto, and Eris). Many of these planets are orbited by one or more moons, which can be superior than small planets. Planets are usually divided into two main types: large, low-density gas giants and smaller, rocky terrestrials.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Pomegranate

The Pomegranate (Punica granatum) is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or tiny tree growing to 5–8 m tall. The pomegranate is native to the region from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran to the Himalayas in northern India and has been enlightened and naturalized over the whole Mediterranean region and the Caucasus since antique times. It is widely cultivated throughout Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, and India, the drier parts of Southeast Asia, Peninsular Malaysia, the East Indies, and tropical Africa. Introduced into Latin America and California by Spanish settlers in 1769, pomegranate is now cultivated mostly in the drier parts of California and Arizona for its fruits exploited commercially as juice products in advance in popularity since 2001. In the global functional food industry, pomegranate is included among a novel category of exotic plant sources called super fruits.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the fruit is classically in season from September to January. In the Southern hemisphere, it is in period from March to May.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Plantation

A plantation is a deliberate planting of a crop, on a larger scale, frequently for uses other than cereal production or pasture. The word is most frequently used for plantings of trees and shrubs. The word tends also to be used for plantings maintain on financial bases other than that of survival farming. Crops may be called plantation crops because of their relationship with an exact type of farming economy. Most of these fit into place a large landowner, raising crops with economic value rather than for survival, with a number of employees carrying out the work. Often crops recently introduced to a region. In past times it has been connected with slavery, indentured labour, and other economic models of high injustice. However, arable and dairy farming are both frequently (but not always) barred from such definitions. A comparable economic structure in ancient times was the latitudinal that produced commercial amount of olive oil or wine, for export.

Monday, February 04, 2008

Climate

The climate is commonly measured to be the weather averaged over a long period of time, naturally 30 years. Somewhat more precisely, the concept of "climate" also includes the statistics of the weather — such as the degree of day-to-day or year-to-year difference expected. IPCC is called as Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Climate in a narrow sense is usually defined as the “average weather”, or more meticulously, as the statistical description in terms of the mean and variability of relevant quantities over a period of time range from months to thousands or millions of years. The traditional period is 30 years, as defined by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). These quantities are the majority often surface variables such as temperature, precipitation, and wind. Climate in a wider sense is the state, including a numerical description, of the climate system.

Monday, January 28, 2008

Relief print

Relief print is an image fashioned by a printmaking process, such as Stencil printing, where the areas of the matrix (plate or block) that are to show printed black (typically) are on the original surface; the part of the matrix that are to be blank (white) having been cut away, or otherwise removed. Printing the image is therefore a relatively simple matter of inking the face of the matrix and brings it in firm contact with the paper; a printing-press may not be needed as the back of the paper can be rubbed or pressed by hand with a simple tool. It's the BEST way to repeat an IMAGE several times without messing up.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Nonfood uses

Because fruits have been such a major part of the human diet, different cultures have urbanized many different uses for various fruits that they do not depend on as being edible. Many dry fruits are used as streamer or in dried flower arrangements, such as unicorn plant, lotus, wheat, annual honesty and milkweed. Ornamental trees and shrubs are frequently refined for their colorful fruits, as well as holly, pyracantha, viburnum, skimmia, beautyberry and cotoneaster.

Fruits of opium poppy are the basis of the drugs opium and morphine. Osage orange fruits are used to keep away cockroaches. Bayberry fruits provide a wax frequently used to make candles. Many fruits give natural dyes, e.g. walnut, sumac, cherry and mulberry. Dried up gourds are used as streamer, water jugs, bird houses, musical instruments, cups and dishes. Pumpkins are imprinted into Jack-o'-lanterns for Halloween. The spiny fruit of burdock or cocklebur were the motivation for the invention of Velcro.

Coir is a fiber from the fruit of coconut that is used for doormats, brushes, mattresses, floortiles, sacking, lagging and as a growing medium for container plants. The shell of the coconut fruit is used to make memento heads, cups, bowls, musical instruments and bird houses.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Cricket ball

Cricket balls are made from a core of cork, which is coated with tightly wound string, and covered by a leather case with a slightly raised sewn seam. The covering is constructed of four piece of leather shaped similar to the peel of a quartered orange, but one hemisphere is rotated by 90 degrees with respect to the other. The "equator" of the ball is stitch with string to form the seam, with a total of six rows of stitches. The remaining two join connecting with the leather pieces are left unstitched.For men's cricket, the ball must weigh between 5.5 and 5.75 ounces (155.9 and 163.0 g) and determine between 8 13/16 and 9 in (224 and 229 mm) in circumference. Balls used in women's and youth matches are a little smaller.

Monday, January 07, 2008

Membrane Filtration

A well-arranged process conduction which infact work without the addition of chemicals. Membrane technology is a generic term for separation processes. With membrane filters, filtration mainly occurs on the filter surface. Particles, which are larger than the normal pore size, remain on the filter, smaller particles pass through it unless other interactions get retained in them.

They are used to separate colloids, Suspended particles and molecules from liquids. Thus feed flow is divided into two streams a filtrate stream, and a highly concentrate stream.

Membrane systems with its filtration can be managed in either dead-end flow or cross-flow. The purpose of the optimization of the membrane techniques is the achievement, which is of the highest possible production for a long period of time, with acceptable pollution levels.

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Generation

Generation (from the Greek γενεά), also known as reproduction, is the act of producing offspring. It can also refer to the act of creating something inanimate such as electrical creation or cryptographic scheme generation. A generation can also be a stage or degree in a sequence of natural descent as a grandfather, a father, and the father's son contain three generations.

A generation can refer to stages of consecutive improvement in the development of a technology such as the interior combustion engine, or successive iterations of products with planned obsolescence, such as video game consoles or mobile phones.
In biology, the development by which populations of organisms pass on advantageous traits from generation to generation is known evolution.