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Silver thiocyanate. Silver thiocyanate is the silver salt of thiocyanic acid with the formula AgSCN. Silver thiocyanate appears as a white crystalline powder. It is very commonly used in the synthesis of silver nanoparticles. Additionally, studies have found silver nanoparticles to be present in saliva present during the entire digestive process of silver nitrate. Silver thiocyanate is slightly soluble in water, with a solubility of 1.68 x 10−4 g/L. It is insoluble in ethanol, acetone, and acid. Structure AgSCN is monoclinic with 8 molecules per unit cell. Each SCN− group has an almost linear molecular geometry, with bond angle 179.6(5)°. Weak Ag—Ag interactions of length 0.3249(2) nm to 0.3338(2) nm are present in the structure. Production Solution reaction Silver thiocyanate has been commonly produced by the reaction between silver nitrate and potassium thiocyanate. Ion-exchange route Silver thiocyanate may be formed via an ion exchange reaction. In this double displacement reaction, silver nitrate and ammonium thiocyanate are dissolved in distilled water to produce silver thiocyanate and ammonium nitrate. Additionally, silver thiocyanate can be formed through the double displacement reaction between ammonium thiocyanate and silver chloride to form a precipitate of silver thiocyanate. Uses The most common use of silver thiocyanate is as a silver nanoparticle. Silver thiocyanate nanoparticles have been found in saliva throughout the entire artificial digestion of silver nitrate. The nanoparticles can also be used as good ion conductors. Silver thiocyanate has also been used to absorb uv-visible light at values less than 500 nm. At longer wavelengths, silver thiocyanate has been found to have good photocatalytic properties. Characterization Upon production, silver thiocyanate can be characterized through a wide range of techniques: x-ray powder diffraction (XRD), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman Spectroscopy, ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). References Thiocyanates Silver compounds
C26H31N3O2. {{DISPLAYTITLE:C26H31N3O2}} The molecular formula C26H31N3O2 (molar mass : 417.553 g/mol) may refer to: BP-897 1cP-AL-LAD
Brick clamp. "Brick clamp" also refers to a device (usually powered) to lift quantities of bricks. A brick clamp is a traditional method of baking bricks, done by stacking unbaked bricks with fuel under or among them, then igniting the fuel. The clamp is considered a type of brick kiln. If the clamp is insulated by packing earth or mud around it, it becomes a scove kiln. See also Brickyard References External links Brick clamps Clamp Construction Kilns Firing techniques
Paul-Louis Arslanian. Paul-Louis Arslanian is a French public servant, former head of the French Bureau d'enquêtes et d'analyses pour la sécurité de l'aviation civile (1995-2009). Arslanian is Officier of the Légion d'honneur, graduates from École polytechnique (promotion 1965) and École nationale de l'aviation civile (promotion 1970). Biography Arslanian began his career as civil aviation engineer at the Directorate General for Civil Aviation followed by the Inspection générale de l'aviation civile et de la météorologie (IGACEM). He became head of the Bureau d'enquêtes et d'analyses pour la sécurité de l'aviation civile in 1995. He was replaced by Jean-Paul Troadec in 2009. Bibliography Académie nationale de l'air et de l'espace and Lucien Robineau, Les français du ciel, dictionnaire historique, Le Cherche midi, June 2005, 782 p. (), p. 38, Arslanian, Paul-Louis References Living people French aerospace engineers Space program of France École Polytechnique alumni École nationale de l'aviation civile alumni Corps de l'aviation civile Corps des ponts Aviation in France Officers of the Legion of Honour Year of birth missing (living people)
St Andrews Viking. The St Andrews Viking is a family of American powered parachutes that was designed and manufactured by St Andrews Aviation of Panama City, Florida and later produced by Viking Aircraft Inc., also of Panama City. Design and development The two-seat Viking II was designed to comply with the US FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles two-seat trainer rules. It features a parachute-style high-wing, two-seats-in-side-by-side configuration, tricycle landing gear and a single Rotax 503 engine in pusher configuration. The 2si 690-L70 engine was a factory option. The aircraft is built from tubing and includes a partial cockpit fairing. The side-by-side seating configuration is unusual in powered parachutes, but was intended to make dual instruction easier. In flight steering is accomplished via dual foot pedals that actuate the canopy brakes, creating roll and yaw. On the ground the aircraft has a center-mounted bicycle handlebar that controls the nosewheel steering. The main landing gear incorporates steel spring rod suspension. The aircraft was factory supplied in the form of an assembly kit or could be delivered ready-to-fly. Variants Viking I Single seat version introduced in March 2000, that sold for US$10,900 complete and ready-to-fly in 2001. Viking II Two-seats-in-side-by-side configuration version introduced in 1998, that sold for US$12,000 complete and ready-to-fly, US$10,000 complete but unassembled or US$4,300 for the carriage kit only, less engine and canopy, in 2001. Specifications (Viking II) References External links Viking archives on Archive.org 1990s United States ultralight aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Powered parachutes
Aaron Manby (ironmaster). Aaron Manby (15 November 1776 – 1 December 1850) was an English civil engineer and the founder of the Horseley Ironworks, notable for the many fine iron canal bridges that it built. The eponymous Aaron Manby steamboat was the first iron-hulled steamer to go to sea, and it was driven by Manby's patent Oscillating Engine, an effective and durable marine steam engine. Career In 1812 Manby was managing partner of the Horseley Coal and Iron Co, Tipton, Staffordshire. It ran coal mines, blast furnaces to make iron, and assorted workshops. Manby expanded the business into civil engineering. In 1813 Manby obtained patent No 3705 for a means of casting the slag from blast furnaces into blocks for building. In 1815, the firm supplied a cast-iron swing bridge, possibly the first of Horseley's many iron bridges. In 1821, diversifying into mechanical engineering, Manby obtained British Patent No 4558 for his "oscillating engine" designed for use in ships. That same year, Horseley Ironworks constructed the world's first seagoing iron steamboat, named the Aaron Manby, using his oscillating engine. The boat was built at Tipton using temporary bolts, disassembled for transportation to London, and reassembled on the Thames in 1822, this time using permanent rivets. Between 1819 and 1822, Manby started his engineering works at Charenton-le-Pont, near Paris, with the Scottish chemist Daniel Wilson as manager. This controversial move enabled France to stop buying engines made in England, which made Manby somewhat unpopular. In 1822 Manby and Wilson's Compagnie d'Éclairage par de Gaz Hydrogène ('Hydrogen Gas Lighting Company') was granted the right to provide gas lighting for several streets in Paris. According to Michel Cotte, "The company Manby & Wilson is certainly the largest company of British origin which set up in France under the Restoration." Their "Compagnie Anglaise" ran until 1847, expanding to take in the Le Creusot ironworks. Manby's Horseley Ironworks profited from the growing canal trade, manufacturing canal bridges in the English Midlands including the Engine Arm Aqueduct (1825) and two roving bridges at Smethwick Junction (1828). In 1845 Manby sold Horseley Ironworks to John Joseph Bramah (~1798 - 1846), nephew of the inventor and locksmith Joseph Bramah. Family life Manby was born at Albrighton, Shropshire on 15 November 1776 to Aaron Manby of Kingston, Jamaica and Jane Lane of Bentley. Manby's first wife was Julia Fewster. They had a son, Charles Manby, who became Secretary of the Institution of Civil Engineers. Julia died in 1807. In 1807 Manby married Sarah Ann Haskins, with whom he had one daughter, Sarah Maria (d. 1826), and four more sons. The oldest three of them, John Richard (1813-1869), Joseph Lane (1814-1862), and Edward Oliver (1816-1864), also became civil engineers. Sarah Ann died in 1826. Notes References Cragg, Roger. Wales and West Central England: Wales and West Central England, 2nd Edition, Thomas Telford, 1997. Dumpleton, Bernard. The Story of the Paddle Steamer, Antony Rowe, Eastbourne, 1973. New edition 2002. Grace's Guide. Aaron Manby, 2011. Henderson, W.O., and W. H. Chaloner. Aaron Manby, Builder of the First Iron Steamship, Transactions of the Newcomen Society, Vol.29, 1953-5, pages 77–91. Henderson, W.O. The Industrial Revolution on the Continent: Germany, France, Russia 1800-1914, Routledge, 1961. Reprinted 2005. Page 98. Kemp, Peter (editor). The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea, Oxford University Press, 1976. Revised edition 1979. Skempton, A.W., Rennison R.W. and R.C. Cox. A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland. Pages 431-433. Institution of Civil Engineers, 2002. External links Harrogate People and Places: Will of Aaron Manby (the elder), 26 January 1743. ICE virtual library: John Richard Manby (go to ICE library and enter name in search box) Michel Cotte: Le rôle des ouvriers et entrepreneurs britanniques dans le décollage industriel français des années 1820 British ironmasters 1776 births 1850 deaths English civil engineers English mechanical engineers
Ivar W. Brogger. Ivar Waldemar Brogger, Jr. (December 18, 1880 – April 20, 1963) was a Norwegian-born, American electrical engineer and inventor. Brogger is credited with a number of patented inventions including invention of auto direction signal lights in 1933, as well as a low level of oil indicator in automobiles in 1928. Biography Ivar Waldemar Brogger was born in Ålesund in Møre og Romsdal, Norway. He was the son of Ivar Waldemar Brøgger (1849–1909), who served as mayor in Ålesund (1892–1895, 1899–1901). Brogger received his electrical engineering degree in Hanover, Germany. He immigrated to the United States in 1906. For many years, he was employed by Weston Electrical Instruments Works and Edison-Splitdorf Radio Corp., both located in Newark, New Jersey. He was later employed by Connecticut Telephone & Electric Company of Meriden, CT. References External links Listing of patents held by Ivar W. Brogger 1880 births 1963 deaths People from Ålesund 20th-century American businesspeople Norwegian emigrants to the United States 20th-century American inventors
Federation of Architects, Engineers, Chemists, and Technicians. The Federation of Architects, Engineers, Chemists, and Technicians (FAECT) was a labor union in the United States, which existed between 1933 and 1946. In 1946, it merged into the United Office and Professional Workers of America union. History In 1929 the Union of Technical Men - local 37 of the International Federation of Technical Engineers, Architects and Draftsmen's Union (IFTEADU), based in New York - was expelled from the international union due to 'excessive radicalism' following an unsuccessful strike at the Board of Transportation. In 1933 - at the height of the Great Depression - the American Institute of Architects published suggested minimum wage standards under the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) that prescribed a rate of 50 cents per hour for architectural draftsmen and 40 cents for engineering draftsmen. Incensed by what they perceived as an insultingly low wage rate, members of the Union of Technical Men called a meeting at which it was resolved to merge with United Committee of Architects, Engineers and Chemists (a loose coalition of technical employees' organizations, primarily representing civil service engineers) to form the FAECT. The federation grew rapidly, reaching a membership of 6,500 by 1934, organised into 15 local unions. In June 1936 the FAECT organised a sit-down strike by architects employed by the New York City Department of Parks, who barricaded themselves in their offices in protest at alleged anti-union activities by Robert Moses and other Department officials. Later in the same year the federation secured a significant pay rise for the approximately 7000 architects employed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The FAECT initially sought to affiliate to the American Federation of Labor (AFL) by rejoining the IFTEADU as an independent local, despite the fact that it was now significantly larger than the IFTEADU (which boasted approximately 1500 members, primarily draftsmen employed in naval shipyards). In 1936 the IFTEADU national convention voted to allow the FAECT to rejoin, however this was blocked by IFTEADU's president C. L. Rosenmund. In 1937 a new national labor organization was created - the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) and the FAECT affiliated to it almost immediately. Following affiliation there was a re-organization of industrial jurisdiction, with many of the FAECT's members in civil service transferred to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) CIO. During the late 1930s the federation attempted to expand its membership in the private sector and launched successful organizing drives at a number of major American industrial corporations including Shell (at its Emeryville Research Center), General Electric, RCA and ITT. It also organized affiliate chapters in a number of technical colleges, aiming to introduce students to unionism in the hope they would be more likely to become members after graduating. Between 1934 and 1938 the FAECT published a journal first titled The Bulletin, then Technical America. From 1936 it also operated the Federation Technical School in New York, teaching architecture, industrial design and related subjects. A number of the union's officials were communists and it was accused of involvement with Soviet espionage, particularly in relation to the United States' atomic weapons program. J. Robert Oppenheimer was a member of the union during his time at Berkeley, along with his protégé and radiologist Giovanni Rossi Lomanitz; who helped organise it in the university. In 1946, the union merged into the United Office and Professional Workers of America as Local 231. References Defunct trade unions in the United States Trade unions established in 1933 Trade unions disestablished in 1946
EL/W-2090. The IAI EL/W-2090 is an airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) radar system developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Elta Electronics Industries of Israel. Its primary objective is to provide intelligence to maintain air superiority and conduct surveillance. The system is currently in-service with the Indian Air Force. It is a development of the EL/M-2075 system, described by the Federation of American Scientists as the most advanced AEW&C system in the world in a 1999 article. Design and features The EL/W-2090 is a further development of EL/M-2075 and EL/W-2085. The EL/W-2090 uses an active electronically scanned array (AESA), an active phased array radar. This radar consists of an array of transmit/receive (T/R) modules that allow a beam to be electronically steered, making a physically rotating radome unnecessary. AESA radars operate on a pseudorandom set of frequencies and also have very short scanning rates, which makes them difficult to detect and jam. Orders India In March 2004, as a part of a tri-partite deal among Israel, India, and Russia, Israel and India signed a deal, overall worth US$1.1 billion, as per which IAI would deliver the Indian Air Force three AEW&C radar systems, each of which was worth approximately $350 million. India signed a deal with Ilyushin of Russia for the supply of three Il-76 A-50 heavy airlifters, which were to be used as platforms for these radar systems, for US$500 million. The first aircraft was delivered to India on 25 May 2009, landing at Jamnagar AFS in Gujarat, completing its 8 hour long journey from Israel. After entering the Indian airspace the aircraft was escorded by 3 MiG-29 and Jaguars each. This marked the first AWACS of the Indian Air Force. Director of was inducted into No. 50 Squadron on 28 May. Deliveries were completed by 2011. India had plans to procure 2 addition AWACS of the same type. But the price was a hindrance. As per report in October 2017 the Indian government was ready for $800 million but OEMs wanted $1.3 billion for the deal. This was a result of the sudden increase in price of Il-76. On 11 September 2018, the deal, worth around $800 million, was ready to be cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) after multiple delays. By then, the Phalcon system was an integral part of IACCS. In August 2020, India was reportedly ready to approve the deal for around $1 billion, with scheduled delivery within the next 3 or 4 years with upgrades. The acquisition plan was derailed earlier multiple times. however the acquisition plan did not move ahead as of 2022 and IAF revealed plans to operate some AEW&Cs on lease from international market as intermediate measure until indigenous Netra Mk 2 is procured. China In 1994, Israel entered into talks with China regarding the sale of the Phalcon radar system, initially for four units but with an understanding that as many as eight would be procured. An agreement between China and Israel was signed in July 1996. Russia entered the program in March 1997; the first Il-76 slated for modifications landed in Israel in October 1999. Although the US government was aware of the sale, it remained silent until October 1999, when it publicly opposed the sale of the EL/W-2090 to China. Fearing that the system would alter the military balance in the Taiwan Strait, American officials threatened to withhold aid to Israel in April 2000 if the deal proceeded. On 12 July 2000, Prime Minister Ehud Barak announced that Israel would scrap the deal. However, it was not until July 2000 when a formal letter was sent to the Chinese government; the Israeli government hoped that the newly elected Bush administration would endorse the Phalcon deal. In March 2002, Israel concluded a $350-million compensation package to China, more than the $160-million advance payment China had already made. Subsequently, the Chinese-origin KJ-2000 AEW&C entered service in 2004 and the order for EL/W-2090 did not proceed. Operators Israel - In service with the Israeli air force nicknamed "Nachshon-Eitam" Indian Air Force – 3 in service No. 50 Squadron IAF References External links Aircraft radars Military radars of Israel Elta products Military aviation es:EL/M-2075 he:פאלקון (מערכת) ro:EL/M-2075 ru:IAI Phalcon tr:EL/M-2075 Phalcon
Isothermal microcalorimetry. Isothermal microcalorimetry (IMC) is a laboratory method for real-time monitoring and dynamic analysis of chemical, physical and biological processes. Over a period of hours or days, IMC determines the onset, rate, extent and energetics of such processes for specimens in small ampoules (e.g. 3–20 ml) at a constant set temperature (c. 15 °C–150 °C). IMC accomplishes this dynamic analysis by measuring and recording vs. elapsed time the net rate of heat flow (μJ/s = μW) to or from the specimen ampoule, and the cumulative amount of heat (J) consumed or produced. IMC is a powerful and versatile analytical tool for four closely related reasons: All chemical and physical processes are either exothermic or endothermic—produce or consume heat. The rate of heat flow is proportional to the rate of the process taking place. IMC is sensitive enough to detect and follow either slow processes (reactions proceeding at a few % per year) in a few grams of material, or processes which generate minuscule amounts of heat (e.g. metabolism of a few thousand living cells). IMC instruments generally have a huge dynamic range—heat flows as low as ca. 1 μW and as high as ca. 50,000 μW can be measured by the same instrument. The IMC method of studying rates of processes is thus broadly applicable, provides real-time continuous data, and is sensitive. The measurement is simple to make, takes place unattended and is non-interfering (e.g. no fluorescent or radioactive markers are needed). However, there are two main caveats that must be heeded in use of IMC: Missed data: If externally prepared specimen ampoules are used, it takes ca. 40 minutes to slowly introduce an ampoule into the instrument without significant disturbance of the set temperature in the measurement module. Thus any processes taking place during this time are not monitored. Extraneous data: IMC records the aggregate net heat flow produced or consumed by all processes taking place within an ampoule. Therefore, in order to be sure what process or processes are producing the measured heat flow, great care must be taken in both experimental design and in the initial use of related chemical, physical and biologic assays. In general, possible applications of IMC are only limited by the imagination of the person who chooses to employ it as an analytical tool and the physical constraints of the method. Besides the two general limitations (main caveats) described above, these constraints include specimen and ampoule size, and the temperatures at which measurements can be made. IMC is generally best suited to evaluating processes which take place over hours or days. IMC has been used in an extremely wide range of applications, and many examples are discussed in this article, supported by references to published literature. Applications discussed range from measurement of slow oxidative degradation of polymers and instability of hazardous industrial chemicals to detection of bacteria in urine and evaluation of the effects of drugs on parasitic worms. The present emphasis in this article is applications of the latter type—biology and medicine. Overview Definition, purpose, and scope Calorimetry is the science of measuring the heat of chemical reactions or physical changes. Calorimetry is performed with a calorimeter. Isothermal microcalorimetry (IMC) is a laboratory method for real-time, continuous measurement of the heat flow rate (μJ/s = μW) and cumulative amount of heat (J) consumed or produced at essentially constant temperature by a specimen placed in an IMC instrument. Such heat is due to chemical or physical changes taking place in the specimen. The heat flow is proportional to the aggregate rate of changes taking place at a given time. The aggregate heat produced during a given time interval is proportional to the cumulative amount of aggregate changes which have taken place. IMC is thus a means for dynamic, quantitative evaluation of the rates and energetics of a broad range of rate processes, including biological processes. A rate process is defined here as a physical and/or chemical change whose progress over time can be described either empirically or by a mathematical model (Bibliography: Glasstone, et al. 1941 and Johnson, et al. 1974 and rate equation). The simplest use of IMC is detecting that one or more rate processes are taking place in a specimen because heat is being produced or consumed at a rate that is greater than the detection limit of the instrument used. This can be a useful, for example, as a general indicator that a solid or liquid material is not inert but instead is changing at a given temperature. In biological specimens containing a growth medium, appearance over time of a detectable and rising heat flow signal is a simple general indicator of the presence of some type of replicating cells. However, for most applications it is paramount to know, by some means, what process or processes are being measured by monitoring heat flow. In general this entails first having detailed physical, chemical and biological knowledge of the items placed in an IMC ampoule before it is placed in an IMC instrument for evaluation of heat flow over time. It is also then necessary to analyze the ampoule contents after IMC measurements of heat flow have been made for one or more periods of time. Also, logic-based variations in ampoule contents can be used to identify the specific source or sources of heat flow. When rate process and heat flow relationships have been established, it is then possible to rely directly on the IMC data. What IMC can measure in practice depends in part on specimen dimensions, and they are necessarily constrained by instrument design. A given commercial instrument typically accepts specimens of up to a fixed diameter and height. Instruments accepting specimens with dimensions of up to ca. 1 or 2 cm in diameter x ca. 5 cm in height are typical. In a given instrument larger specimens of a given type usually produce greater heat flow signals, and this can augment detection and precision. Frequently, specimens are simple 3 to 20 ml cylindrical ampoules (Fig. 1) containing materials whose rate processes are of interest—e.g. solids, liquids, cultured cells—or any combination of these or other items expected to result in production or consumption of heat. Many useful IMC measurements can be carried out using simple sealed ampoules, and glass ampoules are common since glass is not prone to undergoing heat-producing chemical or physical changes. However, metal or polymeric ampoules are sometimes employed. Also, instrument/ampoule systems are available which allow injection or controlled through-flow of gasses or liquids and/or provide specimen mechanical stirring. Commercial IMC instruments allow heat flow measurements at temperatures ranging from ca. 15 °C – 150 °C. The range for a given instrument may be somewhat different. IMC is extremely sensitive – e.g. heat from slow chemical reactions in specimens weighing a few grams, taking place at reactant consumption rates of a few percent per year, can be detected and quantified in a matter of days. Examples include gradual oxidation of polymeric implant materials and shelf life studies of solid pharmaceutical drug formulations (Applications: Solid materials). Also the rate of metabolic heat production of e.g. a few thousand living cells, microorganisms or protozoa in culture in an IMC ampoule can be measured. The amount of such metabolic heat can be correlated (through experimentation) with the number of cells or organisms present. Thus, IMC data can be used to monitor in real time the number of cells or organisms present and the net rate of growth or decline in this number (Applications: Biology and medicine). Although some non-biological applications of IMC are discussed (Applications: Solid materials) the present emphasis in this article is on the use of IMC in connection with biological processes (Applications: Biology and medicine). Data obtained A graphic display of a common type of IMC data is shown in Fig. 2. At the top is a plot of recorded heat flow (μJ/s = μW) vs. time from a specimen in a sealed ampoule, due to an exothermic rate process which begins, accelerates, reaches a peak heat flow and then subsides. Such data are directly useful (e.g. detection of a process and its duration under fixed conditions) but the data are also easily assessed mathematically to determine process parameters. For example, Fig. 2 also shows an integration of the heat flow data, giving accumulated heat (J) vs. time. As shown, parameters such as the maximum growth (heat generation) rate of the process, and the duration time of the lag phase before the process reaches maximum heat can be calculated from the integrated data. Calculations using heat flow rate data stored as computer files are easily automated. Analyzing IMC data in this manner to determine growth parameters has important applications the life sciences (Applications: Biology and medicine). Also, heat flow rates obtained at a series of temperatures can be used to obtain the activation energy of the process being evaluated (Hardison et al. 2003). Development history Lavoisier and Laplace are credited with creating and using the first isothermal calorimeter in ca. 1780 (Bibliography: Lavoisier A & Laplace PS 1780). Their instrument employed ice to produce a relatively constant temperature in a confined space. They realized that when they placed a heat-producing specimen on the ice (e.g. a live animal), the mass of liquid water produced by the melting ice was directly proportional to the heat produced by the specimen. Many modern IMC instrument designs stem from work done in Sweden in the late 1960s and early 1970s (Wadsö 1968, Suurkuusk & Wadsö 1974). This work took advantage of the parallel development of solid-state electronic devices—particularly commercial availability of small thermoelectric effect (Peltier-Seebeck) devices for converting heat flow into voltage—and vice versa. In the 1980s, multi-channel designs emerged (Suurkuusk 1982), which allow parallel evaluation of multiple specimens. This greatly increased the power and usefulness of IMC and led to efforts to fine-tune the method (Thorén et al. 1989). Much of the further design and development done in the 1990s was also accomplished in Sweden by Wadsö and Suurkuusk and their colleagues. This work took advantage of the parallel development of personal computer technology which greatly augmented the ability to easily store, process and interpret heat flow vs. time data. Instrument development work since the 1990s has taken further advantage of the continued development of solid-state electronics and personal computer technology. This has created IMC instruments of increasing sensitivity and stability, numbers of parallel channels, and even greater ability to conveniently record, store and rapidly process IMC data. In connection with wider use, substantial attention has been paid to creating standards for describing the performance of IMC instruments (e.g. precision, accuracy, sensitivity) and for methods of calibration (Wadsö and Goldberg 2001). Instruments and measurement principles Instrument configurations Modern IMC instruments are actually semi-adiabatic—i.e. heat transfer between the specimen and its surroundings is not zero (adiabatic), because IMC measurement of heat flow depends on the existence of a small temperature differential—ca. 0.001 °C. However, because the differential is so low, IMC measurements are essentially isothermal. Fig. 3. shows an overview of an IMC instrument which contains 48 separate heat flow measurement modules. One module is shown. The module's measuring unit is typically a Peltier-Seebeck device. The device produces a voltage proportional to the temperature difference between a specimen which is producing or consuming heat and a thermally inactive reference which is at the temperature of the heat sink. The temperature difference is in turn proportional to the rate at which the specimen is producing or consuming heat (see Calibration below). All the modules in an instrument use the same heat sink and thermostat and thus all produce data at the same set temperature. However, it is generally possible to start and stop measurements in each ampoule independently. In a highly parallel (e.g. 48-channel) instrument like the one shown in Fig. 3, this makes it possible to perform (start and stop) several different experiments whenever it is convenient to do so. Alternatively, IMC instruments can be equipped with duplex modules which yield signals proportional to the heat flow difference between two ampoules. One of two such duplex ampoules is often a blank or control—i.e. a specimen which does not contain the material producing the rate process of interest, but whose content is otherwise identical to that which is in the specimen ampoule. This provides a means for eliminating minor heat-producing reactions which are not of interest—for example gradual chemical changes over a period of days in a cell culture medium at the measurement temperature. Many useful IMC measurements can be carried out using simple sealed ampoules. However, as mentioned above, instrument/ampoule systems are available which allow or even control flow of gasses or liquids to and/or from the specimens and/or provide specimen mechanical stirring. Reference inserts Heat flow is usually measured relative to a reference insert, as shown in Fig. 3. This is typically a metal coupon that is chemically and physically stable at any temperature in the instrument's operating range and thus will not produce or consume heat itself. For best performance, the reference should have a heat capacity close to that of the specimen (e.g. IMC ampoule plus contents). Modes of operation Heat conduction (hc) mode Commercial IMC instruments are often operated as heat conduction (hc) calorimeters in which heat produced by the specimen (i.e. material in an ampoule) flows to the heat sink, typically an aluminum block contained in a thermostat (e.g. constant temperature bath). As mentioned above, an IMC instrument operating in hc mode is not precisely isothermal because small differences between the set temperature and the specimen temperature necessarily exist—so that there is measurable heat flow. However, small variations in specimen temperature do not significantly affect heat sink temperature because the heat capacity of the heat sink is much higher than the specimen—usually ca. 100×. Heat transfer between the specimen and the heat sink takes place through a Peltier-Seebeck device, allowing dynamic measurement of heat produced or consumed. In research-quality instruments, thermostat/heat sink temperature is typically accurate to < ±0.1 K and maintained within ca. < ±100 μK/24h. The precision with which heat sink temperature is maintained over time is a major determinant of the precision of the heat flow measurements over time. An advantage of hc mode is a large dynamic range. Heat flows of ca. 50,000 μW can be measured with a precision of ca. ±0.2 μW. Thus measuring a heat flow of ca. >0.2 μW above baseline constitutes detection of heat flow, although a more conservative detection of 10× the precision limit is often used. Power compensation (pc) mode Some IMC instruments operate (or can also be operated) as power compensation (pc) calorimeters. In this case, in order to maintain the specimen at the set temperature, heat produced is compensated using a Peltier-Seebeck device. Heat consumed is compensated either by an electric heater or by reversing the polarity of the device (van Herwaarden, 2000). If a given instrument is operated in pc mode rather than hc, the precision of heat flow measurement remains the same (e.g. ca. ±0.2 μW). The advantage of compensation mode is a smaller time constant – i.e. the time needed to detect a given heat flow pulse is ca.10X shorter than in conduction mode. The disadvantage is a ca. 10X smaller dynamic range compared to hc mode. Calibration For operation in either hc or pc mode, routine calibration in commercial instruments is usually accomplished with built-in electric heaters. The performance of the electrical heaters can in turn be validated using specimens of known heat capacity or which produce chemical reactions whose heat production per unit mass is known from thermodynamics (Wadsö and Goldberg 2001). In either hc or pc mode, the resulting signal is a computer-recordable voltage, calibrated to represent specimen μ W-range heat flow vs. time. Specifically, if no significant thermal gradients exist in the specimen, then P = eC [U + t (dU/dt)], where P is heat flow (i.e. μW), εC is the calibration constant, U the measured potential difference across the thermopile, and t the time constant. Under steady-state conditions—for example during the release of a constant electrical calibration current, this simplifies to P = eC U. (Wadsö and Goldberg 2001). Ampoules Many highly useful IMC measurements can be conducted in sealed ampoules (Fig. 1) which offer advantages of simplicity, protection from contamination and (where needed) a substantial margin of bio-safety for persons handling or exposed to the ampoules. A closed ampoule can contain any desired combination of solids, liquids, gasses or items of biologic origin. Initial gas composition in the ampoule head space can be controlled by sealing the ampoule in the desired gas environment. However, there are also IMC instrument/ampoule designs which permit controlled flow of gas or liquid through the ampoule during measurement and/or mechanical stirring. Also, with proper accessories, some IMC instruments can be operated as ITC (isothermal titration calorimetry) instruments. The topic of ITC is covered elsewhere (see Isothermal titration calorimetry). In addition some IMC instruments can record heat flow while the temperature is slowly changed (scanned) over time. The scanning rate has to be slow (ca. ) in order to keep IMC-scale specimens (e.g. a few grams) sufficiently close to the heat sink temperature (< ca. 0.1 °C). Fast scanning of temperature is the province of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) instruments which generally use much smaller specimens. Some DSC instruments can be operated in IMC mode, but the small ampoule (and therefore specimen) size needed for scanning limit the utility and sensitivity of DSC instruments used in IMC mode. Basic methodology Setting a temperature Heat flow rate (μJ/s = μW) measurements are accomplished by first setting an IMC instrument thermostat at a selected temperature and allowing the instrument's heat sink to stabilize at that temperature. If an IMC instrument operating at one temperature is set to a new temperature, re-stabilization at the new temperature setting may take several hours—even a day. As explained above, achievement and maintenance of a precisely stable temperature is fundamental to achieving precise heat flow measurements in the μW range over extended times (e.g. days). Introducing a specimen After temperature stabilization, if an externally prepared ampoule (or some solid specimen of ampoule dimensions) is used, it is slowly introduced (e.g. lowered) into an instrument's measurement module, usually in a staged operation. The purpose is to ensure that by the time the ampoule/specimen is in the measurement position, its temperature is close to (within c. 0.001 °C) of the measurement temperature. This is so that any heat flow then measured is due to specimen rate processes rather than due to a continuing process of bringing the specimen to the set temperature. The time for introduction of a specimen in a 3–20 ml IMC ampoule into measurement position is ca. 40 minutes in many instruments. This means that heat flow from any processes which take place within a specimen during that the introduction period will not be recorded. If an in-place ampoule is used, and some agent or specimen is injected, this also produces a period of instability, but it is on the order ca. 1 minute. Fig. 5 provides examples of both the long period needed to stabilize an instrument if an ampoule is introduced directly, and the short period of instability due to injection. Recording data After the introduction process, specimen heat flow can be precisely recorded continuously, for as long as it is of interest. The extreme stability of research-grade instruments (< ±100 μK/24h ) means that accurate measurements can be (and often are) made for a period of days. Since the heat flow signal is essentially readable in real time, it serves as a means for deciding whether or not heat flow of interest is still occurring. Also, modern instruments store heat flow vs. time data as computer files, so both real-time and retrospective graphic display and mathematical analysis of data are possible. Usability As indicated below, IMC has many advantages as a method for analyzing rate processes, but there are also some caveats that must be heeded. Advantages Broadly applicable Any rate process can be studied—if suitable specimens will fit IMC instrument module geometry, and proceed at rates amenable to IMC methodology (see above). As shown under Applications, IMC is in use to quantify an extremely wide range of rate processes in vitro—e.g. from solid-state stability of polymers (Hardison et al. 2003) to efficacy of drug compounds against parasitic worms (Maneck et al. 2011). IMC can also determine the aggregate rate of uncharacterized, complex, or multiple interactions (Lewis & Daniels). This is especially useful for comparative screening—e.g. the effects of different combinations of material composition and/or fabrication processes on overall physico-chemical stability. Real-time and continuous IMC heat flow data are obtained as voltage fluctuations vs. time, stored as computer files and can be displayed essentially in real time—as the rate process is occurring. The heat flow-related voltage is continuous over time, but in modern instruments it is normally sampled digitally. The frequency of digital sampling can be controlled as needed—i.e. frequent sampling of rapid heat flow changes for better time resolution or slower sampling of slow changes in order to limit data file size. Sensitive and fast IMC is sensitive enough to detect and quantify in short times (hours, days) reactions which consume only a few percent of reactants over long times (months). IMC thus avoids long waits often needed until enough reaction product has accumulated for conventional (e.g. chemical) assays. This applies to both physical and biological specimens (see Applications). Direct At each combination of specimen variables and set temperature of interest, IMC provides direct determination of the heat flow kinetics and cumulative heat of rate processes. This avoids any need to assume that a rate process remains the same when temperature or other controlled variables are changed before an IMC measurement. Simple For comparisons of the effect of experimental variables (e.g. initial concentrations) on rate processes, IMC does not require development and use of chemical or other assay methods. If absolute data are required (e.g. quantity of product produced by a process), then assays can be conducted in parallel on specimens identical to those used for IMC (and/or on IMC specimens after IMC runs). The resultant assay data is used to calibrate the rate data obtained by IMC. Non-interfering IMC does not require adding markers (e.g. fluorescent or radioactive substances) to capture rate processes. Unadulterated specimens can be used, and after an IMC run, the specimen is unchanged (except by the processes which have taken place). The post-IMC specimen can be subjected to any kind of physical, chemical, morphological or other evaluation of interest. Caveats Missed data As indicated in the methodology description, when the IMC method of inserting a sealed ampoule is used, it is not possible to capture heat flow during the first ca. 40 minutes while the specimen is slowly being brought to the set temperature. In this mode therefore, IMC is best suited to studying processes which start slowly or occur slowly at a given temperature. This caveat also applies to the time before insertion—i.e. time elapsed between preparing a specimen (in which a rate process may then start) and starting the IMC insertion process (Charlebois et al. 2003). This latter effect is usually minimized if the temperature chosen for IMC is substantially higher (e.g. 37 °C) than the temperature at which the specimen is prepared (e.g. 25 °C). Extraneous data IMC captures the aggregate heat production or consumption resulting from all processes taking place within a specimen, including for example Possible changes in the physico-chemical state of the specimen ampoule itself; e.g. stress relaxation in metal components, oxidation of polymeric components. Degradation of a culture medium in which metabolism and growth of living cells is being studied. Thus great care must be taken in experimental planning and design to identify all possible processes which may be taking place. It is often necessary to design and conduct preliminary studies intended to systematically determine if multiple processes are taking place and if so, their contributions to aggregate heat flow. One strategy, in order to eliminate extraneous heat flow data, is to compare heat flow for a specimen in which the rate process of interest is taking place with that from a blank specimen which includes everything in the specimen of interest—except the item which will undergo the rate process of interest. This can be directly accomplished with instruments having duplex IMC modules which report the net heat flow difference between two ampoules. Applications After a discussion of some special sources of IMC application information, several specific categories of IMC analysis of rate processes are covered, and recent examples (with literature references) are discussed in each category. Special sources of IMC application information Handbooks The Bibliography lists the four extensive volumes of the Handbook of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry: Vol. 1 Principles and Practice (1998), Vol. 2 Applications to Inorganic and Miscellaneous Materials (2003), Vol. 3 Applications to Polymers and Plastics (2002), and Vol. 4 From Macromolecules to Man (1999). These constitute a prime source of information on (and literature references to) IMC applications and examples published prior to ca. 2000. Application notes Some IMC instrument manufacturers have assembled application notes, and make them available to the public. The notes are often (but not always) adaptations of journal papers. An example is the Microcalorimetry Compendium Vol. I and II offered by TA Instruments, Inc. and listed in the Bibliography. "Proteins" the first section of notes in Vol. I, is not of interest here, as it describes studies employing Isothermal titration calorimetry. The subsequent sections of Vol. I, Life & Biological Sciences and Pharmaceuticals contain application notes for both IMC and Differential scanning calorimetry. Vol. II of the compendium is devoted almost entirely to IMC applications. Its sections are entitled Cement, Energetics, Material and Other. A possible drawback to these two specific compendia is that none of the notes are dated. Although the compendia were published in 2009, some of the notes describe IMC instruments which were in use years ago and are no longer available. Thus, some of the notes, while still relevant and instructive, often describe studies done before 2000. Examples of applications In general, possible applications of IMC are only limited by the imagination of the person who chooses to employ IMC as an analytical tool—within the previously described constraints presented by existing IMC instruments and methodology. This is because it is a universal means for monitoring any chemical, physical or biological rate process. Below are some IMC application categories with examples in each. In most categories, there are many more published examples than those mentioned and referenced. The categories are somewhat arbitrary and often overlap. A different set of categories might be just as logical, and more categories could be added. Solid materials Formation IMC is widely used for studying the rates of formation of a variety of materials by various processes. It is best suited to study processes which occur slowly—i.e. over hours or days. A prime example is the study of hydration and setting reactions of calcium mineral cement formulations. One paper provides an overview (Gawlicki, et al. 2010) and another describes a simple approach (Evju 2003). Other studies focus on insights into cement hydration provided by IMC combined with IR spectroscopy (Ylmen et al. 2010) and on using IMC to study the influence of compositional variables on cement hydration and setting times (Xu et al. 2011). IMC can also be conveniently used to study the rate and amount of hydration (in air of known humidity) of calcium minerals or other minerals. To provide air of known humidity for such studies, small containers of saturated salt solutions can be placed in an IMC ampoule along with a non-hydrated mineral specimen. The ampoule is then sealed and introduced into an IMC instrument. The saturated salt solution keeps the air in the ampoule at a known rH, and various common salt solutions provide humidities ranging from e.g. 32-100% rH. Such studies have been performed on μm size range calcium hydroxyapatite particles and calcium-containing bioactive glass "nano" particles (Doostmohammadi et al. 2011). Stability IMC is well suited for rapidly quantifying the rates of slow changes in materials (Willson et al. 1995). Such evaluations are variously described as studies of stability, degradation, or shelf life. For example, IMC has been widely used for many years in shelf life studies of solid drug formulations in the pharmaceutical industry (Pikal et al. 1989, Hansen et al. 1990, Konigbauer et al. 1992.) IMC has the ability to detect slow degradation during simulated shelf storage far sooner than conventional analytical methods and without the need to employ chemical assay techniques. IMC is also a rapid, sensitive method for determining the often functionally crucial amorphous content of drugs such as nifedipine (Vivoda et al. 2011). IMC can be used for rapidly determining the rate of slow changes in industrial polymers. For example, gamma radiation sterilization of a material frequently used for surgical implants—ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE)—is known to produce free radicals in the polymer. The result is slow oxidation and gradual undesirable embrittlement of the polymer on the shelf or in vivo. IMC could detect oxidation-related heat and quantified an oxidation rate of ca. 1% per year in irradiated UHMWPE at room temperature in air (Charlebois et al. 2003). In a related study the activation energy was determined from measurements at a series of temperatures (Hardison et al. 2003). IMC is also of great utility in evaluating the "runaway potential" of materials which are significant fire or explosion hazards. For example, it has been used to determine autocatalytic kinetics of cumene hydroperoxide (CHP), an intermediate which is used in the chemical industry and whose sudden decomposition has caused a number of fires and explosions. Fig. 4 Shows the IMC data documenting thermal decomposition of CHP at 5 different temperatures (Chen et al. 2008). Biology and medicine The term metabolismics can be used to describe studies of the quantitative measurement of the rate at which heat is produced or consumed vs. time by cells (including microbes) in culture, by tissue specimens, or by small whole organisms. As described subsequently, metabolismics can be useful as a diagnostic tool; especially in either (a) identifying the nature of a specimen from its heat flow vs. time signature under a given set of conditions, or (b) determining the effects of e.g. pharmaceutical compounds on metabolic processes, organic growth or viability. Metabolismics is related to metabolomics. The latter is the systematic study of the unique chemical fingerprints that specific cellular processes leave behind; i.e. the study of their small-molecule metabolite profiles. When IMC is used to determine metabolismics, the products of the metabolic processes studied are subsequently available for metabolomics studies. Since IMC does not employ biochemical or radioactive markers, the post-IMC specimens consist only of metabolic products and remaining culture medium (if any was used). If metabolismics and metabolomics are used together, they can provide a comprehensive record of a metabolic process taking place in vitro: its rate and energetics, and its metabolic products. To determine metabolismics using IMC, there must of course be sufficient cells, tissue or organisms initially present (or present later if replication is taking place during IMC measurements) to generate a heat flow signal above a given instrument's detection limit. A landmark 2002 general paper on the topic of metabolism provides an excellent perspective from which to consider IMC metabolismic studies (see Bibliography, West, Woodruff and Brown 2002). It describes how metabolic rates are related and how they scale over the entire range from "molecules and mitochondria to cells and mammals". Importantly for IMC, the authors also note that while the metabolic rate of a given type of mammalian cell in vivo declines markedly with increasing animal size (mass), the size of the donor animal has no effect on the metabolic rate of the cell when cultured in vitro. Cell and tissue biology Mammalian cells in culture have a metabolic rate of ca. 30×10−12 W/cell (Figs. 2 and 3 in Bibliography: West, Woodruff and Brown 2002). By definition, IMC instruments have a sensitivity of at least 1×10−6 W (i.e. 1 μW). Therefore, the metabolic heat of ca. 33,000 cells is detectable. Based on this sensitivity, IMC was used to perform a large number of pioneering studies of cultured mammalian cell metabolismics in the 1970s and 1980s in Sweden. One paper (Monti 1990) serves as an extensive guide to work done up until 1990. It includes explanatory text and 42 references to IMC studies of heat flow from cultured human erythrocytes, platelets, lymphocytes, lymphoma cells, granulocytes, adipocytes, skeletal muscle, and myocardial tissue. The studies were done to determine how and where IMC might be used as a clinical diagnostic method and/or provide insights into metabolic differences between cells from healthy persons and persons with various diseases or health problems. Developments since ca. 2000 in IMC (e.g. massively parallel instruments, real-time, computer-based storage and analysis of heat flow data) have stimulated further use of IMC in cultured cell biology. For example, IMC has been evaluated for assessing antigen-induced lymphocyte proliferation (Murigande et al. 2009) and revealed aspects of proliferation not seen using a conventional non-continuous radioactive marker assay method. IMC has also been applied to the field of tissue engineering. One study (Santoro et al. 2011) demonstrated that IMC could be used to measure the growth (i.e. proliferation) rate in culture of human chondrocytes harvested for tissue engineering use. It showed that IMC can potentially serve to determine the effectiveness of different growth media formulations and also determine whether cells donated by a given individual can be grown efficiently enough to consider using them to produce engineered tissue. IMC has also been used to measure the metabolic response of cultured macrophages to surgical implant wear debris. IMC showed that the response was stronger to μm size range particles of polyethylene than to similarly sized Co alloy particles (Charlebois et al. 2002). A related paper covers the general topic of applying IMC in the field of synthetic solid materials used in surgery and medicine (Lewis and Daniels 2003). At least two studies have suggested IMC can be of substantial use in tumor pathology. In one study (Bäckman 1990), the heat production rate of T-lymphoma cells cultured in suspension was measured. Changes in temperature and pH induced significant variations, but stirring rate and cell concentration did not. A more direct study of possible diagnostic use (Kallerhoff et al. 1996) produced promising results. For the uro-genital tissue biopsy specimens studied, the results showed "it is possible to differentiate between normal and tumorous tissue samples by microcalorimetric measurement based on the distinctly higher metabolic activity of malignant tissue. Furthermore, microcalorimetry allows a differentiation and classification of tissue samples into their histological grading." Toxicology As of 2012, IMC has not become widely used in cultured cell toxicology even though it has been used periodically and successfully since the 1980s. IMC is advantageous in toxicology when it is desirable to observe cultured cell metabolism in real time and to quantify the rate of metabolic decline as a function of the concentration of a possibly toxic agent. One of the earliest reports (Ankerst et al. 1986) of IMC use in toxicology was a study of antibody-dependent cellular toxicity (ADCC) against human melanoma cells of various combinations of antiserum, monoclonal antibodies and also peripheral blood lymphocytes as effector cells. Kinetics of melanoma cell metabolic heat flow vs. time in closed ampoules were measured for 20 hours. The authors concluded that "...microcalorimetry is a sensitive and particularly suitable method for the analysis of cytotoxicity kinetics." IMC is also being used in environmental toxicology. In an early study (Thorén 1992) toxicity against monolayers of alveolar macrophages of particles of MnO2, TiO2 and SiO2 (silica) were evaluated. IMC results were in accord with results obtained by fluorescein ester staining and microscopic image analysis—except that IMC showed toxic effects of quartz not discernable by image analysis. This latter observation—in accord with known alveolar effects—indicated to the authors that IMC was a more sensitive technique. Much more recently (Liu et al. 2007), IMC has been shown to provide dynamic metabolic data which assess toxicity against fibroblasts of Cr(VI) from potassium chromate. Fig. 5 shows baseline results determining the metabolic heat flow from cultured fibroblasts prior to assessing the effects of Cr(VI). The authors concluded that "Microcalorimetry appears to be a convenient and easy technique for measuring metabolic processes...in...living cells. As opposed to standard bioassay procedures, this technique allows continuous measurements of the metabolism of living cells. We have thus shown that Cr(VI) impairs metabolic pathways of human fibroblasts and particularly glucose utilization." Simple closed ampoule IMC has also been used and advocated for assessing the cultured cell toxicity of candidate surgical implant materials—and thus serve as a biocompatibility screening method. In one study (Xie et al. 2000) porcine renal tubular cells in culture were exposed to both polymers and titanium metal in the form of "microplates" having known surface areas of a few cm2. The authors concluded that IMC "...is a rapid method, convenient to operate and with good reproducibility. The present method can in most cases replace more time-consuming light and electron microscopic investigations for quantitating of adhered cells." In another implant materials study (Doostmohammadi et al. 2011) both a rapidly growing yeast culture and a human chondrocyte culture were exposed to particles (diam.< 50 μm) of calcium hydroxyapatite (HA) and bioactive (calcium-containing) silica glass. The glass particles slowed or curtailed yeast growth as a function of increasing particle concentration. The HA particles had much less effect and never entirely curtailed yeast growth at the same concentrations. The effects of both particle types on chondrocyte growth were minimal at the concentration employed. The authors concluded that "The cytotoxicity of particulate materials such as bioactive glass and hydroxyapatite particles can be evaluated using the microcalorimetry method. This is a modern method for in vitro study of biomaterials biocompatibility and cytotoxicity which can be used alongside the old conventional assays." Microbiology Publications describing use of IMC in microbiology began in the 1980s (Jesperson 1982). While some IMC microbiology studies have been directed at viruses (Heng et al. 2005) and fungi (Antoci et al. 1997), most have been concerned with bacteria. A recent paper (Braissant et al. 2010) provides a general introduction to IMC metabolismic methods in microbiology and an overview of applications in medical and environmental microbiology. The paper also explains how heat flow vs. time data for bacteria in culture are an exact expression—as they occur over time—of the fluctuations in microorganism metabolic activity and replication rates in a given medium (Fig. 6). In general, bacteria are about 1/10 the size of mammalian cells and produce perhaps 1/10 as much metabolic heat-i.e. ca. 3x10−12 W/cell. Thus, compared to mammalian cells (see above) ca. 10X as many bacteria—ca. 330,000—must be present to produce detectable heat flow—i.e. 1 μW. However, many bacteria replicate orders of magnitude more rapidly in culture than mammalian cells, often doubling their number in a matter of minutes (see Bacterial growth). As a result, a small initial number of bacteria in culture and initially undetectable by IMC rapidly produce a detectable number. For example, 100 bacteria doubling every 20 minutes will in less than 4 hours produce >330,000 bacteria and thus an IMC-detectable heat flow. Consequently, IMC can be used for easy, rapid detection of bacteria in the medical field. Examples include detection of bacteria in human blood platelet products (Trampuz et al. 2007) and urine (Bonkat et al. 2011) and rapid detection of tuberculosis (Braissant et al. 2010, Rodriguez et al. 2011). Fig. 7 shows an example of detection times of tuberculosis bacteria as a function of the initial amount of bacteria present in a closed IMC ampoule containing a culture medium. For microbes in growth media in closed ampoules, IMC heat flow data can also be used to closely estimate basic microbial growth parameters; i.e. maximum growth rate and duration time of the lag phase before maximum growth rate is achieved. This is an important special application of the basic analysis of these parameters explained previously (Overview: Data Obtained). Unfortunately, the IMC literature contains some published papers in which the relation between heat flow data and microbial growth in closed ampoules has been misunderstood. However, in 2013 an extensive clarification was published, describing (a) details of the relation between IMC heat flow data and microbial growth, (b) selection of mathematical models which describe microbial growth and (c) determination of microbial growth parameters from IMC data using these models (Braissant et al. 2013). Pharmacodynamics In a logical extension of the ability of IMC to detect and quantify bacterial growth, known concentrations of antibiotics can be added to bacterial culture, and IMC can then be used to quantify their effects on viability and growth. Closed ampoule IMC can easily capture basic pharmacologic information—e.g. minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of an antibiotic needed to stop growth of a given organism. In addition it can simultaneously provide dynamic growth parameters—lag time and maximum growth rate (see Fig. 2, Howell et al. 2011, Braissant et al. 2013), which assess mechanisms of action. Bactericidal action (see Bactericide) is indicated by an increased lag time as a function of increasing antibiotic concentration, while bacteriostatic action (see Bacteriostatic agent) is indicated by a decrease in growth rate with concentration. The IMC approach to antibiotic assessment has been demonstrated for a number of a types of bacteria and antibiotics (von Ah et al. 2009). Closed ampoule IMC can also rapidly differentiate between normal and resistant strains of bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus (von Ah et al. 2008, Baldoni et al. 2009). IMC has also been used to assess the effects of disinfectants on the viability of mouth bacteria adhered to dental implant materials (Astasov-Frauenhoffer et al. 2011). In a related earlier study, IMC was used to measure the heat of adhesion of dental bacteria to glass (Hauser-Gerspach et al. 2008). Analogous successful use of IMC to determine the effects of antitumor drugs on tumor cells in culture within a few hours has been demonstrated (Schön and Wadsö 1988). Rather than the closed-ampoule approach, an IMC setup was used which allowed drug injection into stirred specimens. As of 2013, IMC has been used less widely in mammalian cell in vitro pharmacodynamic studies than in microbial studies. Multicellular organisms It is possible to use IMC to perform metabolismic studies of living multicellular organisms—if they are small enough to be placed in IMC ampoules (Lamprecht & Becker 1988). IMC studies have been made of insect pupa metabolism during ventilating movements (Harak et al. 1996) and effects of chemical agents on pupal growth (Kuusik et al. 1995). IMC has also proved effective in assessing the effects of aging on nematode worm metabolism (Braekman et al. 2002). IMC has also proved highly useful for in vitro assessments of the effects of pharmaceuticals on tropical parasitic worms (Manneck et al. 2011-1, Maneck et al. 2011-2, Kirchhofer et al. 2011). An interesting feature of these studies is the use of a simple manual injection system for introducing the pharmaceuticals into sealed ampoules containing the worms. Also, IMC not only documents the general metabolic decline over time due to the drugs, but also the overall frequency of worm motor activity and its decline in amplitude over time as reflected in fluctuations in the heat flow data. Environmental biology Because of its versatility, IMC can be an effective tool in the fields of plant and environmental biology. In an early study (Hansen et al. 1989), the metabolic rate of larch tree clone tissue specimens was measured. The rate was predictive of long-term tree growth rates, was consistent for specimens from a given tree and was found to correlate with known variations in the long-term growth of clones from different trees. Bacterial oxalotrophic metabolism is common in the environment, particularly in soils. Oxalotrophic bacteria are capable of using oxalate as a sole carbon and energy source. Closed-ampoule IMC was used to study metabolism of oxalotrophic soil bacteria exposed to both an optimized medium containing potassium oxalate as the sole carbon source and a model soil (Bravo et al. 2011). Using an optimized medium, growth of six different strains of soil bacteria was easily monitored and reproducibly quantified and differentiated over a period days. IMC measurement of bacterial metabolic heat flow in the model soil was more difficult, but a proof of concept was demonstrated. Moonmilk is a white, creamy material found in caves. It is a non-hardening, fine crystalline precipitate from limestone and is composed mainly of calcium and/or magnesium carbonates. Microbes may be involved in its formation. It is difficult to infer microbial activities in moonmilk from standard static chemical and microscopic assays of moonmilk composition and structure. Closed ampoule IMC has been used to solve this problem (Braissant, Bindscheidler et al. 2011). It was possible to determine the growth rates of chemoheterotrophic microbial communities on moonmilk after the addition of various carbon sources simulating mixes that would be brought into contact with moonmilk due to snow melt or rainfall. Metabolic activity was high and comparable to that found in some soils. Harris et al. (2012), studying differing fertilizer input regimes, found that, when expressed as heat output per unit soil microbial biomass, microbial communities under organic fertilizer regimes produced less waste heat than those under inorganic regimes. Food science IMC has been shown to have diverse uses in food science and technology. An overview (Wadsö and Galindo 2009) discusses successful applications in assessing vegetable cutting wound respiration, cell death from blanching, milk fermentation, microbiological spoilage prevention, thermal treatment and shelf life. Another publication (Galindo et al. 2005) reviews the successful use of IMC for monitoring and predicting quality changes during storage of minimally processed fruits and vegetables. IMC has also proven effective in accomplishing enzymatic assays for orotic acid in milk (Anastasi et al. 2000) and malic acid in fruits, wines and other beverages and also cosmetic products (Antonelli et al. 2008). IMC has also been used to assess the efficacy of anti-browning agents on fresh-cut potatoes (Rocculi et al. 2007). IMC has also proven effective in assessing the extent to which low-energy pulsed electric fields (PEFs) affect the heat of germination of barley seeds—important in connection with their use in producing malted beverages (Dymek et al. 2012). See also Calorimetry Chemical thermodynamics Differential scanning calorimetry Isothermal titration calorimetry Rate equation Sorption calorimetry Thermal analysis Thermoelectric effect Bibliography Glasstone S, Laidler KJ, Eyring H (1941) The theory of rate processes: the kinetics of chemical reactions, viscosity, diffusion and electrochemical phenomena. McGraw-Hill (New York). 611p. Johnson FH, Eyring H, Stover BJ (1974) The theory of rate processes in biology and medicine. Wiley (New York), , 703p. Lavoisier A & Laplace PS (1780) M´emoire sur la chaleur. Académie des Sciences, Paris. Brown ME, Editor (1998) Vol. 1 Principles and Practice (691p.), in Handbook of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry. Gallagher PK (Series Editor). Elsevier (London). Brown ME and Gallagher PK, Editors (2003) Vol. 2 Applications to Inorganic and Miscellaneous Materials (905p.), in Handbook of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry. Gallagher PK (Series Editor). Elsevier (London). Cheng SZD, Editor (2002) Vol. 3 Applications to Polymers and Plastics (828p.) in Handbook of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry. Gallagher PK (Series Editor). Elsevier (London). Kemp RB, Editor (1999) Vol. 4 From Macromolecules to Man (1032p.), in Handbook of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry. Gallagher PK (Series Editor). Elsevier (London). Microcalorimetry Compendium Vol. 1: Proteins, Life & Biological Sciences, Pharmaceuticals (2009). TA Instruments, Inc. (New Castle DE, USA). Microcalorimetry Compendium Vol. 2: Cement, Energetics, Material, Other (2009). TA Instruments, Inc. (New Castle DE, USA). References External links Some sources for IMC instruments, accessories, supplies, and software Calmetrix TA Instruments Setaram Symcel Flow Adsorption Microcalorimeter instrument configurations Microscal Ltd (archived 2005) Biological processes Calorimetry Chemical processes Heat transfer Materials science
Savoia-Marchetti SM.80. The Savoia-Marchetti SM.80 is a two-seat monoplane amphibian tourer, with a single, tractor engine mounted above the wing, designed in Italy in the early 1930s. The SM.80bis is a four-seat variant, powered by two pusher engines. Design and development The SM.80 was a cantilever high-wing monoplane. Like the fin and tailplane, the wing was a fabric covered wooden structure, but one subdivided into sealed cells to provide buoyancy in case of hull flooding. Its tips were rounded; the fin was broad and also rounded with the tailplane, braced from below, mounted a little way above the fuselage. All control surfaces, the differential ailerons, split elevators and rounded rudder, were steel tube framed and fabric covered. The fuselage of the SM.80 was flat sided, with a single stepped, double planked underside, copper riveted for corrosion resistance. It became slender aft. The side-by-side cockpit was set slightly into the wing leading edge and a baggage space or third seat was placed in the trailing edge. On the water, lateral stability was provided by fixed, flat bottomed floats mounted on the wing at mid-span on pairs of parallel struts. The wheeled undercarriage of the amphibian attracted contemporary notice for its neatness: the mainwheel legs were enclosed in fairings, rotated through about 180° rearwards then upwards along the fuselage sides, positioning the retracted wheels in the wing roots. The first SM.80 was originally powered by a 112 kW (150 hp) six cylinder inline engine Alfa-Romeo built Colombo S.63 engine, mounted centrally well above the wing on a parallel pair of forward leaning N-form struts, supplemented by a transverse V-shaped bracing. The mounting struts were tubes of chrome molybdenum steel, enclosed in alloy fairings for corrosion protection. They placed the engine forward of the wing leading edge and the two blade propeller well forward of the pilot's windscreen. This aircraft was flying with the Colombo engine when it attended the Egyptian Air Rally in December 1933. The SM.80 also flew with a 112 kW (150 hp) CNA C.VI six-cylinder in-line engine. The third aircraft, registered in 1934, was more radically re-engined; a four-seater, it was named the SM.80bis. This is powered by two pusher configuration, 56 kW (75 hp) seven-cylinder radials Pobjoy R engines, placed further aft than the single engine of the SM.80 but located above the wing on either side of the fuselage on very similar mountings. The cabin is positioned about 950 mm (2 ft) further forward but otherwise the two models were structurally identical. The SM.80bis was 80 kg (175 lb) heavier and significantly slower, with a decrease of maximum speed of (16 mph), though climb rates were similar. The speed decrease has been attributed to the extra drag of the twin engine arrangement, since the SM.80 and SM.80bis had the same overall engine power. Operational history Apart from its Egyptian visit in late 1933, the activities of the various SM.80s are not well recorded. An exception is a fatal landing accident which the Fiat heir and Juventas chair Eduardo Agnelli died on 14 July 1935. The aircraft, the first SM.80, was owned by Giovanni Agnelli, the founder of Fiat and Eduardo's father. It seems that Eduardo was thrown forward into the propeller when the aircraft hit a floating obstacle as he was preparing to disembark. Normal cockpit access on the SM.80 was via separate forward folding windscreens for passenger and pilot. The SM.80bis survived World War II and, re-registered, flew again after it. Variants SM.80 Single tractor configuration Colombo S.63 or CNA C.VI 6-cylinder in-line engine. 2/3 seats. SM.80bis Twin pusher configuration Pobjoy R 7-cylinder radial engine. 4 seats. Aircraft on display The SM.80bis c/n 3 and registered as I-TATI before World War II and as I-ELIO afterwards was later on static public display at the Gianni Caproni Museum of Aeronautics but has moved to Parco Museo del Volo Volandia at Vizzola Ticino. Specifications (SM.80, Colombo engine) References Savoia-Marchetti aircraft Amphibious aircraft 1930s Italian sport aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Twin-engined pusher aircraft High-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1933
Samuel Lake. Samuel Lake AM (1842–1887) was a general merchant, civil engineer, and pioneering designer and builder of steam trawlers, from Dartmouth, Devon in the United Kingdom. In his civil engineering work in the 1860s he constructed one of the first rows of terraced cottages to be built out of poured shuttered concrete, using what was then a revolutionary building material and technique. They were then known as Coombe Terrace, today numbers 12 to 21 Coombe Road, and were built for Lake himself and for his employees. Lake's trawler work was in conjunction with George Parker Bidder, also of Dartmouth, and proved to be a technical success, but not at that time to be commercially viable. Lake spent a substantial part of his life in India. In 1867 Lake of the Bombay Reclamation Company was awarded the Albert Medal for his bravery in helping rescue the crew and some 400 Muslim pilgrims from a shipwreck off Bombay. He returned to Dartmouth in 1866. Lake was contracted in 1879 to build Milford Haven and in 1881 Felixstowe Docks but went bankrupt. Lake Street in Dartmouth is named after him. References English civil engineers Recipients of the Albert Medal (lifesaving) People from Dartmouth, Devon 1842 births 1887 deaths
Eugene Reising. Eugene Gustavus Reising (November 26, 1884 – February 21, 1967) was an American inventor who designed the M50 Reising submachine gun in 1938. Reising was a ranked competitive target shooter. An ordnance engineer, Reising was the recipient of more than 60 firearm patents. Following his work with Harrington & Richardson, he designed semi-automatic rifles for Mossberg & Sons, Marlin, Savage, and Stevens. Biography Of Swedish ancestry from a family that came to Delaware in 1635, Reising was born in Port Jervis, New York. He was the son of a railroad engineer who died when Eugene Reising was an infant. Reising attended Lehigh University for three years, then worked as a cowboy in Texas and Mexico for a few years. On returning to the U.S. he went to work for Colt, testing and selling guns. He worked with John M. Browning on the development of the Colt Model 1911 pistol. In 1911, Reising served in Company A of the Connecticut National Guard, winning a championship in expert riflemanship and giving demonstrations of the rapid reloading of semi-automatic pistols. In the same year, he demonstrated a 9.8-mm version of the Colt pistol, which was adopted as the M1911 by authorities in three Balkan countries, but two years later, he was fired from the company for using a Luger pistol at a target shooting competition. In October 1925, Reising was indicted for violating the Sullivan Act after supplying pistols and Maxim Silencers to a member of the Cowboy Tessler gang, a group that was captured after a string of robberies and a gun battle with police in New York. He pleded guilty to unlawful possession of firearms and was sentenced to fifteen months' imprisonment on Welfare Island. In 1938, Reising began work on a new submachine gun. He submitted his design to Harrington and Richardson, and in March 1941, they started manufacturing it as the Model 50. Approximately 100,000 of these were made, and many were used in World War II. His wife, Frances Rose Reising, died in Hartford on April 26, 1947. He remarried, to Alice V. Fohlin. Eugene Reising died in Worcester, Massachusetts, on February 20, 1967. References External links 1884 births 1967 deaths 20th-century American inventors American male sport shooters American people of Swedish descent Connecticut National Guard personnel Firearm designers Weapons scientists and engineers
S. S. Murthy. S. S. Murthy is a senior professor at Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. He has taught for 40 years at IIT Delhi, IIT Punjab, BITS Pilani, NSIT Delhi. Early life and education Murthy was born in Shikaripur, Karnataka, India, in 1946. He received his B.E., M.Tech. and Ph.D.degrees respectively from Bangalore University, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, and IIT Delhi. Teaching and research After serving a year at BITS Pilani he became faculty member at IIT Delhi. He became a professor in 1983. He has held many visiting Positions in India and abroad, including Visiting Fellow, University of Newcastle (UK); Visiting Professor, University of Calgary (Canada); Visiting Consultant, Kirloskar Electric Company; Director, ERDA Baroda; Adjunct Prof. IISc Bangalore; and Director of NITK, Surathkal. Publications Murthy has published about 200 research papers in international journals and presentations at conferences. In 1962, he was awarded the Prime Minister of India Prize in the electrical engineering division for his paper 'Modern Trends in Construction and Maintenance of Transmission Lines'. Murthy holds four patents concerning the self-excited induction generator, Micro Hydel Applications and a novel-braking scheme. He has also transferred technology of self-excited and grid connected induction generators to industry for low-and medium-power generation under standalone or grid connected mode using energy sources such as wind, wave, small hydro, biomass, and fossil fuels. He designed the first indigenous 55 kW wind electric generator for Kirloskar Electric. in 1987 which was installed in field. He developed 150 kW generator for wave energy which was installed near Trivandrum. He has transferred technology on a novel generator for portable gensets to industry. The indigenous technology developed by him under a DST funded project was used to install five Pico hydro stand alone power plants in Karnataka. He has completed over 100 industry sponsored research and constancy projects dealing with electrical machines, drives, and energy systems. He was instrumental in establishing up to date energy audit and energy conservation facilities at IIT under World Bank funding. As a professor, Murthy has contributed to curriculum development in electrical engineering for AICTE at IIT Delhi, and has set up three new UG/PG programs there. He is frequently interviewed by the press as an expert in electrical systems and engineering. In 2009, Murthy was the Faculty Association chairman at ITT Delhi. IN 2013, Murthy was appointed Vice Chancellor of the Central University of Karnataka, Gulbarga. His first task there was to integrate the various elements of the engineering program. References External links http://www.cuk.ac.in/ProfSSMurthy.html http://ee.iitd.ernet.in/people/ssmurthy.html http://web.iitd.ac.in/~ssmurthy http://news.webindia123.com/news/Articles/India/20130107/2133581.html 1946 births Living people IIT Delhi alumni IIT Bombay alumni Bangalore University alumni Engineers from Karnataka
Arkady Aronov. Arkady Girshevich Aronov (; July 26, 1939 in Leningrad, Soviet Union – November 13, 1994 in Rehovot, Israel) was a Russian and Israeli theoretical condensed matter physicist, notable for his achievements in physics of semiconductors and in mesoscopic physics. Biography Aronov was born in 1939 in Leningrad, currently Saint Petersburg, and in 1962 graduated from the Leningrad Electrotechnical Institute. He got his PhD degree from the Institute of Semiconductors of Russian Academy of Sciences in 1966 under supervision of Grigory Pikus. The title of his thesis was "Magnetic phenomena in crossed electric and magnetic fields". He stayed to work at the same institute as a researcher. In 1972, the Institute of Semiconductors was merged with into Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute. In 1974, Aronov moved to the Konstantinov Leningrad Nuclear Physics Institute, located in Gatchina. In 1977, he received there his Doktor nauk degree for the thesis "Behavior of superconductors and polarized conductors under non-equilibrium conditions". In December, 1990 Aronov was elected to be a Corresponding Member of Russian Academy of Sciences. In January 1991, he moved back to the Ioffe Institute to head the theoretical physics division, and, still holding this position, in May 1994 he joined the faculty of the Weizmann Institute of Science. In the 1990s, he visited University of Karlsruhe for extended periods of time, and he also became an Associate Member of the scientific staff of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste. Arkady Aronov died in November 1994 in Rehovot as a result of a heart attack. During his career, Arkady Aronov supervised a number of PhD theses including these of Evgeny Ivchenko, Boris Spivak, Boris Altshuler, Alexey Ioselevich, Aleksander Zyuzin, and Alexander Mirlin. Research activity The fields in which Arkady Aronov contributed the most are optics of semiconductors; spin kinetics and spin-dependent transport phenomena in semiconductors and metals; non-equilibrium phenomena in superconductors; mesoscopic physics, including quantum kinetic theory of disordered electronic structures, disorder, interaction, and quantum coherence phenomena. Spin relaxation In 1975, together with late Gennady Bir and with Grigory Pikus, Aronov suggested a mechanism of spin relaxation in solids, which is currently known as the Bir–Aronov–Pikus mechanism and is considered to be one of three most important spin relaxation mechanisms, on par with the Dyakonov–Perel and Elliott–Yafet mechanisms. Mesoscopic physics Together with Boris Altshuler, a graduate student under his supervision, Aronov developed theory of electron-electron interaction in disordered conductors. In particular, he derived a Boltzmann-like equation which governs the kinetic behavior of electrons in conductors with weak disorder (weak localization regime), and discovered that electrical conductivity acquires a correction due to electron-electron interaction. This term is widely known as Altshuler–Aronov correction. In collaboration with Altshuler and Patrick A. Lee he applied this theory to explain the experimentally observed phenomenon of zero-bias anomaly - suppression of density of states by interactions at the Fermi surface. In 1981, in collaboration with Boris Altshuler and David Khmelnitsky, he investigated decoherence of electrons in the weak localization regime due to electron-electron interaction, and discovered that two distinct time scales, decoherence (dephasing) time and relaxation time, exist in one and two dimensions. (In three dimensions, these time scales coincide). In the same year, together with Boris Altshuler and Boris Spivak, Aronov suggested an experiment which by measuring an Aharonov–Bohm oscillations in a disordered conductor would reveal the weak localization effect by the existence of oscillations with the halved period as compared with Aharonov–Bohm oscillations in clean conductors. The experiment by Dmitry Sharvin and Yury Sharvin performed in the same year fully confirmed the predictions. These advances were summarized by Altshuler and Aronov in a review article "Electron-Electron interaction in disordered conductors", which became a reference material in the field and by 2009 was cited over 1000 times. In 1994 Aronov, in collaboration with Alexander Mirlin and Peter Wölfle, initiated studies of properties of electrons in random magnetic field which eventually opened the whole research field of electrons in random magnetic field, useful for understanding the quantum Hall effect. Honors Corresponding Member of Russian Academy of Sciences, 1990. Alexander von Humboldt Research Award, 1991. Hewlett Packard Europhysics Prize, 1993, shared with Boris Altshuler, David Khmelnitsky, Anatoly Larkin, and Boris Spivak, awarded for "Theoretical Work on Coherent Phenomena in disordered Conductors". Professorship of the Wilhelm and Else Heraeus Foundation, University of Karlsruhe. Two symposia were held in memory of Arkady Aronov, one in Zikhron Ya'akov by Weizmann Institute of Science, where Aronov was a faculty member, in 1996, and another one in Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, where he spent extensive periods of time, in 2009. References 1939 births 1994 deaths Russian physicists Corresponding Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences Academic staff of Weizmann Institute of Science
Airframes Unlimited T-2. The Airframes Unlimited T-2 is an American powered parachute designed and produced by Airframes Unlimited of Athens, Texas. The aircraft was originally offered as plans only by Powered Parachute Plans, also of Athens, Texas. When parts for complete aircraft were made available these were supplied by Airframes Unlimited and gradually the two enterprises were unified under the latter name. Design and development The aircraft was designed to comply with the US Experimental - Amateur Built rules. It features a parachute-style high-wing, two-seats-in-tandem, tricycle landing gear and accepts a wide variety of two stroke and four stroke engines mounted in pusher configuration. The aircraft is built from welded 4130 steel tubing, with a 6061-T6 aluminum engine mount plate. In flight steering is accomplished via levers that actuate the canopy brakes, creating roll and yaw. On the ground the aircraft has lever-controlled nosewheel steering. The main landing gear incorporates spring rod suspension. The design uses an overhead adjustable canopy hang point, called a "cg spreader bar" to establish the correct canopy attachment point and hence the aircraft's flight attitude and torque offset. The aircraft was originally supplied only in the form of illustrated plans provided on a CD-ROM in Microsoft Word .doc format. Later parts and sub-assemblies were made available and then complete carriages, less canopy, propeller and engine. Specifications (T2) References External links T-2 1990s United States ultralight aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Powered parachutes
Airframes Unlimited T-103. The Airframes Unlimited T-103 is an American powered parachute designed and produced by Airframes Unlimited of Athens, Texas. The aircraft was originally offered as plans only by Powered Parachute Plans, also of Athens, Texas. When parts for complete aircraft were made available these were supplied by Airframes Unlimited and gradually the two enterprises were unified under the latter name. Design and development The aircraft was designed to comply with the US FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles rules, including the category's maximum empty weight of . The manufacturer says "The T-103 can be built to be part 103 compliant without any trouble." It features a parachute-style high-wing, two-seats-in-tandem, tricycle landing gear and accepts a wide variety of two stroke and four stroke engines mounted in pusher configuration. The aircraft is built from welded 4130 steel tubing, with a 6061-T6 aluminum engine mount plate. In flight steering is accomplished via levers that actuate the canopy brakes, creating roll and yaw. On the ground the aircraft has lever-controlled nosewheel steering. The main landing gear incorporates spring rod suspension. The design uses an overhead adjustable canopy hang point, called a "cg spreader bar" to establish the correct canopy attachment point and hence the aircraft's flight attitude and torque offset. The aircraft was originally supplied only in the form of illustrated plans provided on a CD-ROM in Microsoft Word .doc format. Later parts and sub-assemblies were made available and then complete carriages, less canopy, propeller and engine. Specifications (T103) References External links T-103 1990s United States ultralight aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Powered parachutes
Airframes Unlimited. Airframes Unlimited was an American aircraft manufacturer founded by Don and Clint Stutts of Athens, Texas. The company started out marketing powered parachute plans on CD-ROM and expanded into providing parts and sub-assemblies, as well as complete airframes. In an interview in Light Sport and Ultralight Flying Magazine Don Stutts explained his focus on the low-end of the market, stating, "our company's goal is to make powered parachuting more affordable to the average working man. We are living in an era where $15,000 to $20,000 powered parachutes are common. Powered parachutes in this price range are completely out of reach of an average working man, even with creative financing." The company originally operated as Powered Parachute Plans, also of Athens, Texas. When parts for complete aircraft were made available these were supplied by Airframes Unlimited and gradually the two enterprises were unified under the latter name. The company seems to have gone out of business in late 2014. Aircraft References External links Company website archives on Archive.org Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States Powered parachutes
Stephen Yurkovich. Stephen Yurkovich is a Fellow of the IEEE, and holds the Louis Beecherl Jr. Distinguished Chair in Engineering at the University of Texas at Dallas, United States, where he is also Program Head of Systems Engineering. Until early 2011, he held a joint appointment as Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering, at The Ohio State University, where he was also Director of the Honda-OSU Partnership Program in which he oversaw endowments of over $40M. Also at Ohio State, he served as Acting Director of the Center for Automotive Research in 2007. Professor Yurkovich’s research, published in more than 200 books, journal articles and conference papers, includes work in the areas of system identification and parameter set estimation for control, nonlinear and adaptive control, and fuzzy logic for control, in application areas including automotive systems, aerospace systems, chemical process control, welding processes, and flexible mechanical structures. Awards and honors 2012: Elected to Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Board of Directors, Division X 2008: John R. Ragazzini Award in Control Education from the American Automatic Control Council 2001: Fellow of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). 2000: IEEE Control Systems Society Distinguished Member Award. 2000: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Millennium Medal recipient. References Living people American electrical engineers University of Texas at Dallas faculty Fellows of the IEEE Year of birth missing (living people)
AWA 3B Wireless Set. The AWA 3B Wireless Set was a wireless radio transceiver used by the Australian Army and Coastwatchers during World War II. The unit was made by Australian company AWA. External links http://www.qsl.net/vk2dym/radio/3BZa.htm World War II Australian electronics Military equipment of the Australian Army Military radio systems
C.L.Y.D.E.. C.L.Y.D.E. is an animated television series co-produced by France's France Animation and Canada's CINAR Animation created by CINAR's co-founder and former president Ronald A. Weinberg and veteran Canadian-French film producer Jean Cazes. It centres around a super-computer from another planet, C.L.Y.D.E. (Computer Linked Yield Driven Entity), which is put on trial for developing a virus called a "sense of humour". He is punished by being launched into space, where he enters Earth's atmosphere and crash-lands. His central core is found, intact, by two kids, Matt and Sam. They install C.L.Y.D.E. into an old jukebox, which makes him able to speak to them, and handle objects through telekinesis. Many of Matt, Sam, and C.L.Y.D.E.'s adventures concern secret agents trying to find C.L.Y.D.E., or defeating computer viruses, hackers, or invading aliens. This cartoon was introduced into China at the end of the 1990s, and was shown on CCTV-7. The series aired in the United States on the Cookie Jar Toons block on This TV from 2009 to 2010. Technical Details French title: CLYDE Creation: Ronald A. Weinberg, Jean Cazès Director: Chris Randall Scenario: Tony Scott, Alan Swayze (supervision), Gilles Taurand, Olivier Massart, Patrick Regnard, Tony Scott, Vincent James Character designs: Vincent James Storyboards: Chris Randall, Tim O'Halloran, Tim Deacon, Vin James Sets: Frédéric Bremont, Geneviève Chassaing, Michel Herbinet Framing ( Layout ): Jean-Baptiste Cuvelier, Eric Legeard, Paul-Henri Ferrand, Philippe Jallois, Dominique Lajeunie, Christine Landes, Gérard Lemaux, Benoît Le Pennec, Jean-Noël Malinge, Christophe Pouchot, Alain Remy, Jacques Stoll, Mieke Vermaerke, Gilbert Weppe Animation: James Appleton, Yannick Barbaud, Corinne Bretel, Claire De Carvalho, Didier Degand, Isabelle Faivre, Jean-Pierre Guzdziol, Philippe Lançon, Franck Marchand, Homa Niknam, Stéphane Piera, Hélène Poldervaart, Frédéric Raducanou, Valérie Schaefer, Jan Van Rijsselberge for Crayon Animation Music: Leon Aronson Credits interpreted by Michel Pagliaro Production: Ronald A. Weinberg, Christian Davin; Micheline Charest, Jean Cazès (executives) Production companies: CINAR, France Animation, TF1 Country of origin: France / Canada French language Format: Colors – 35 mm – 1.33: 1 – mono sound Number of episodes: 26 (1 season) Duration: 25 minutes Date of first broadcast: France : 1991 French voices Jacques Ferrière : CLYDE / the green parasite Magali Barney : Samantha / the blue parasite Nicole Raucher : Matt Jean-Claude Donda : Alberto / the red parasite / secondary characters Michèle Bardollet : Gaby Gérard Rinaldi : secondary characters Dubbing artistic direction: Michel Trouillet Episodes Episode 1 C.L.Y.D.E. Makes An Entrance Originally Released: 13 September 1990 Characters: C.L.Y.D.E., Matt, Samantha, Alberto Plot: Episode 2 Treasure Of Sesemar Originally Released: 20 September 1990 Characters: C.L.Y.D.E., Matt, Samantha, Alberto, Egypto-Bugs, Glyph Plot: Episode 3 Rock On Originally Released: 20 September 1990 Characters: C.L.Y.D.E., Matt, Samantha, Alberto, Lance Eagle, Joey Diamond Plot: Episode 4 C.L.Y.D.E. And The Poison Pen Originally Released: 27 September 1990 Characters: C.L.Y.D.E., Matt, Samantha, Alberto, Oliver Twitch Plot: Episode 5 Bad Dreams Originally Released: 27 September 1990 Characters: C.L.Y.D.E., Matt, Samantha, Alberto, Brian Plot: Episode 6 Alien Brain Drain Originally Released: 4 October 1990 Characters: C.L.Y.D.E., Matt, Samantha, Alberto, Boss, Dross, Waldorf Allcash Plot: Episode 7 The Diabolical Dr. Hacker Originally Released: 11 October 1990 Characters: C.L.Y.D.E., Matt, Samantha, Alberto, Travis Bulba, Monstro Plot: Episode 8 C.L.Y.D.E. Lends A Hand Originally Released: 18 October 1990 Characters: C.L.Y.D.E., Matt, Samantha, Alberto, Funny Bunnies, Billy Tyrrell, Silly Squirrel Plot: Episode 9 Shoot-out at The High Noon Corral Originally Released: 25 October 1990 Characters: C.L.Y.D.E., Matt, Samantha, Alberto Plot: Episode 10 Shorty, The Short Order Cook Originally Released: 1 November 1990 Characters: C.L.Y.D.E., Matt, Samantha, Alberto, Shorty, Ruby Plot: Episode 11 The Phantom Plane Originally Released: 8 November 1990 Characters: C.L.Y.D.E., Matt, Samantha, Alberto, Magnolia de Gouza, General Kastakas Plot: Episode 12 C.L.Y.D.E. And Seek Originally Released: 15 November 1990 Characters: C.L.Y.D.E., Matt, Samantha, Alberto Plot: Episode 13 The Perilous Polar Plot Originally Released: 22 November 1990 Characters: C.L.Y.D.E., Matt, Samantha, Alberto, King Cool Plot: Episode 14 Al's Big Cook-off Originally Released: 6 December 1990 Characters: C.L.Y.D.E., Matt, Samantha, Alberto, Ruby, Chef Gustav, Quizmaster Plot: Episode 15 Super Matt Originally Released: 13 December 1990 Characters: C.L.Y.D.E., Matt, Samantha, Alberto, Super Kidd, Dr. Diamond Plot: Episode 16 Captain Omen Originally Released: 20 December 1990 Characters: C.L.Y.D.E., Matt, Samantha, Alberto, Captain Omen Plot: Episode 17 A Chip Off The Old C.L.Y.D.E. Originally Released: 27 December 1990 Characters: C.L.Y.D.E., Matt, Samantha, Alberto Plot: Episode 18 The Princess C.L.Y.D.E. Originally Released: 27 December 1990 Characters: C.L.Y.D.E., Matt, Samantha, Alberto, Ruby Plot: Episode 19 Painting by Numbers Originally Released: 3 January 1991 Characters: Plot: Episode 20 Felony Fair Originally Released: January 1991 Characters: C.L.Y.D.E., Matt, Samantha, Alberto, Tom Bell, Robotic Animals, Inspector Bone Plot: Episode 21 Heavy Weather Originally Released: 10 January 1991 Characters: C.L.Y.D.E., Matt, Samantha, Alberto, Corsican Brothers (Leon, Zappo), Professor Storm Plot: Episode 22 King Klang Originally Released: 17 January 1991 Characters: C.L.Y.D.E., Matt, Samantha, Alberto, Ruby, J.C. Crassburger, Rita Romero Plot: Episode 23 No Place Like Home Originally Released: 7 February 1991 Characters: C.L.Y.D.E., Matt, Samantha, Alberto, Professor Gordon Plot: Episode 24 Bird Bandits Originally Released: February 1991 Characters: C.L.Y.D.E., Matt, Samantha, Alberto, Rosa Plot: Episode 25 Get That C.L.Y.D.E.! Originally Released: 14 February 1991 Characters: C.L.Y.D.E., Matt, Samantha, Alberto, X28 Plot: Episode 26 Double Trouble Originally Released: 14 February 1991 Characters: C.L.Y.D.E., Matt, Samantha, Alberto, Alberto's Look-Alike, Waldorf Allcash, Le Ratt Plot: References 1990 Canadian television series debuts 1991 Canadian television series endings 1990s Canadian animated television series 1990s Canadian science fiction television series Canadian children's animated comic science fiction television series Canadian children's animated science fantasy television series French children's animated comic science fiction television series French children's animated science fantasy television series Television series by Cookie Jar Entertainment Family Channel (Canadian TV network) original programming Canadian English-language television shows TF1 original programming YTV (Canadian TV channel) original programming Lost television shows
Flexibility–usability tradeoff. The flexibility–usability tradeoff is a design principle maintaining that, as the flexibility of a system increases, its usability decreases. The tradeoff exists because accommodating flexibility requires satisfying a larger set of requirements, which results in complexity and usability compromises. Design theory maintains that over their lifecycle, systems shift from supporting multiple uses inefficiently, towards efficiently supporting a single use as users' needs become more defined and better understood, both by themselves and designers. When weighting the relative importance of flexibility versus usability, designers are advised to consider how well the needs of the user are understood. If user needs are well understood, designers should bias toward simple less-flexible systems. Otherwise, designers should create flexible designs that support multiple future applications. References Usability Human–computer interaction Technical communication
MAgPIE. MAgPIE is a non-linear, recursive, dynamic-optimization, global land and water-use model with a cost-minimization objective function. MAgPIE was developed and is employed by the land-use group working at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). It links regional economic information with grid-based biophysical constraints simulated by the dynamic vegetation and hydrology model LPJmL. MAgPIE considers spatially-explicit patterns of production, land use change and water constraints in different world regions, consistently linking economic development with food and energy demand. The Model The model is based on static yield functions in order to model potential crop productivity and its related water use. For the biophysical supply simulation, spatially explicit 0.5° data is aggregated to a consistent number of clusters. Ten world regions represent the demand side of the model. Required calories for the demand categories (food and non-food energy intake) are determined by a cross-sectional country regression based on population and income projections. In order to fulfill the demand, the model allocates 19 cropping and 5 livestock activities to the spatially-explicit land and water resources, subject to resource, management and cost constraints. From 1995 MAgPIE simulates time-steps of 10 years. For each period the optimal land use pattern from the previous period is used as a starting point. Demand The demand for agricultural products is fixed for every region and every time-step. The drivers of agricultural demand are: time, income and population growth. Total demand is composed of: food demand, material demand, feed demand and seed demand. Food demand depends on food energy demand, and the share of crop and livestock products in the diet. Within livestock products, the share of different products (Ruminant meat, chicken meat, other meat, milk, eggs) is fixed at 1995 levels. The same is valid for the share of crops within total food calories and material demand. The share of livestock products in the total consumed food calories is an important driver for the land-use sector. Different statistical models are used to estimate plausible future scenarios. A calibration is used to reach the livestock shares of the Food Balance Sheets for 1995 for each region. Feed for livestock is produced as a mixture of concentrates, fodder, livestock products (e.g. bone meal), pasture, crop residues and conversion by-products (e.g. rapeseed cake) at predefined proportions. These differences in the livestock systems cause different emission levels from livestock. Biophysical Inputs The biophysical inputs for the simulations are obtained from the grid-based model LPJmL. The global vegetation model with managed land (LPJmL) also delivers values for water availability and requirements for each grid cell as well as the carbon content of the different vegetation types. Cropland, pasture, and irrigation water are fixed inputs in limited supply in each grid cell. Cost Types MAgPIE takes four different cost types into account: production costs for crop and livestock production, investments in technological change, land conversion costs and intra-regional transport costs. By minimizing these four cost components on a global scale for the current time step, the model solution is obtained. Production costs in MAgPIE imply costs for labor, capital and intermediate inputs. They are specific for all crop and livestock types and are implemented as costs per area for crops (US$/ha) and costs per production unit of livestock (US$/ton). MAgPIE has two options to increase total production in agriculture at additional costs: land expansion and intensification. In MAgPIE the latter can be achieved by investments in technological change (TC). Investing in technological change triggers yield increases which lead then to a higher total production. At the same time the corresponding increases in agricultural land-use intensity raises costs for further yield increases. The reason is that intensification on land which is already used intensively is more expensive than intensification on extensively-used land. To increase production another alternative is to expand cropland into non-agricultural land. The conversion causes additional costs for the preparation of new land and basic infrastructure investments, which are also taken into account. Intraregional transport costs arise for each commodity unit as a function of the distance to intraregional markets and therefore restrict land expansion in MAgPIE. This depends on the quality and accessibility of infrastructure. Intra-regional transport costs are higher for less accessible areas than for more accessible regions. This leads to higher overall costs of cropland expansion in those cases. References Land use Mathematical modeling
Water issues in developing countries. Water issues in developing countries include scarcity of drinking water, poor infrastructure for water and sanitation access, water pollution, and low levels of water security. Over one billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to clean water. The main barriers to addressing water problems in developing nations include poverty, costs of infrastructure, and poor governance. The effects of climate change on the water cycle can make these problems worse. The contamination of water remains a significant issue because of unsanitary social practices that pollute water sources. Almost 80% of disease in developing countries is caused by poor water quality and other water-related issues that cause deadly health conditions such as cholera, malaria, and diarrhea. It is estimated that diarrhea takes the lives of 1.5 million children every year, majority of which are under the age of five. Access to freshwater is unevenly distributed across the globe, with more than two billion people live in countries with significant water stress. According to UN-Water, by 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in areas across the globe with complete water scarcity. Populations in developing countries attempt to access potable water from a variety of sources, such as groundwater, aquifers, or surface waters, which can be easily contaminated. Freshwater access is also constrained by insufficient wastewater and sewage treatment. Progress has been made over recent decades to improve water access, but billions still live in conditions with very limited access to consistent and clean drinking water. Problems Water scarcity People need fresh water for survival, personal care, agriculture, industry, and commerce. The 2019 UN World Water Development report noted that about four billion people, representing nearly two-thirds of the world population, experience severe water scarcity during at least one month of the year. With rising demand, the quality and supply of water have diminished. Water use has been increasing worldwide by about 1% per year since the 1980s. Global water demand is expected to continue increasing at a similar rate until 2050, accounting for an increase of 20–30% above 2019 usage levels. The steady rise in use has principally been led by surging demand in developing countries and emerging economies. Per capita water use in the majority of these countries remains far below water use in developed countries—they are merely catching up. Agriculture (including irrigation, livestock, and aquaculture) is by far the largest water consumer, accounting for 69% of annual water withdrawals globally. Agriculture's share of total water use is likely to fall in comparison with other sectors, but it will remain the largest user overall in terms of both withdrawal and consumption. Industry (including power generation) accounts for 19% and households for 12%. Water pollution After accounting for availability or access, water quality can reduce the amount of water for consumption, sanitation, agriculture, and industrial purposes. Acceptable water quality depends on its intended purpose: water that is unfit for human consumption could still be used in industrial or agriculture applications. Parts of the world are experiencing extensive deterioration of water quality, rendering the water unfit for agricultural or industrial use. For example, in China, 54% of the Hai River basin surface water is so polluted that it is considered un-usable. Safe water is defined as potable water that will not harm the consumer. It is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals: between 1990 and 2015 to "reduce by half the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation." Even having access to an ‘improved water source’ does not guarantee the water's quality, as it could lack proper treatment and become contaminated during transport or home storage. A study by the World Health Organization (WHO) found that estimates of safe water could be overestimated if accounting for water quality, especially if the water sources were poorly maintained. Polluted drinking water can lead to debilitating or deadly water-borne diseases, such as fever, cholera, dysentery, diarrhea and others. UNICEF cites fecal contamination and high levels of naturally occurring arsenic and fluoride as two of the world's major water quality concerns. Approximately 71% of all illnesses in developing countries are caused by poor water and sanitation conditions. Worldwide, contaminated water leads to 4,000 diarrhea deaths a day in children under 5. However, gaps in wastewater treatment (the amount of wastewater to be treated is greater than the amount that is actually treated) represent the most significant contribution to water pollution and water quality deterioration. In the majority of the developing world, most of the collected wastewater is returned to surface waters directly without treatment, reducing the water's quality. In China, only 38% of China's urban wastewater is treated, and although 91% of China's industrial waste water is treated, it still releases extensive toxins into the water supply. The amount of possible wastewater treatment can also be compromised by the networks required to bring the wastewater to the treatment plants. It is estimated that 15% of China's wastewater treatment facilities are not being used to capacity due to a limited pipe network to collect and transport wastewater. In São Paulo, Brazil, a lack of sanitation infrastructure results in the pollution of the majority of its water supply and forces the city to import over 50% of its water from outside watersheds. Polluted water increases a developing country's operating costs, as lower quality water is more expensive to treat. In Brazil, polluted water from the Guarapiranga Reservoir costs $0.43 per m3 to treat to usable quality, compared to only $0.10 per m3 for water coming from the Cantareira Mountains. Water security Managing water safety To address water scarcity, organizations have focused on increasing the supply of fresh water, mitigating its demand, and enabling reuse and recycling. Clean water plans According to the WHO, consistent access to a safe drinking-water supply is attainable by establishing a system of WSPs, or Water Safety Plans, which determine the quality of water supply's to ensure they are safe for consumption. The Water Safety Plan Manual, published in 2009 by the WHO and the International Water Association, offers guidance to water utilities (or similar entities) as they develop WSPs. This manual provides information to help water utilities assess their water system, develop monitoring systems and procedures, manage their plan, carry out periodic review of the WSP, and to review the WSP following an incident. The WSP manual also includes three case studies drawn from WSP initiatives in three countries/regions. Alternative sources Utilizing wastewater from one process to be used in another process where lower-quality water is acceptable is one way to reduce the amount of wastewater pollution and simultaneously increase water supplies. Recycling and reuse techniques can include the reuse and treatment of wastewater from industrial plant wastewater or treated service water (from mining) for use in lower quality uses. Similarly, wastewater can be re-used in commercial buildings (e.g. in toilets) or for industrial applications (e.g. for industrial cooling). Reducing water pollution Despite the clear benefits of improving water sources (a WHO study showed a potential economic benefit of $3–34 USD for every US$1 invested), aid for water improvements have declined from 1998 to 2008 and generally is less than is needed to meet the MDG targets. In addition to increasing funding resources towards water quality, many development plans stress the importance of improving policy, market and governance structures to implement, monitor and enforce water quality improvements. Reducing the amount of pollution emitted from both point and non-point sources represents a direct method to address the source of water quality challenges. Pollution reduction represents a more direct and low-cost method to improve water quality, compared to costly and extensive wastewater treatment improvements. Various policy measures and infrastructure systems could help limit water pollution in developing countries. These include: Improved management, enforcement and regulation for pre-treatment of industrial and agricultural waste, including charges for pollution Policies to reduce agricultural run-off or subsidies to improve the quality and reduce the quantity needed of water polluting agricultural inputs (e.g. fertilizers) Limiting water abstraction during critical low flow periods to limit the concentration of pollutants Strong and consistent political leadership on water Land planning (e.g. locating industrial sites outside the city) Water treatment Water treatment technologies can convert non-freshwater to freshwater by removing pollutants. Much of water's physical pollution includes organisms, metals, acids, sediment, chemicals, waste, and nutrients. Water can be treated and purified into freshwater with limited or no constituents through certain processes. The processes involved in removing the contaminants include physical processes such as settling and filtration, chemical processes such as disinfection and coagulation, and biological processes such as slow sand filtration. A variety of innovations exist to effectively treat water at the point of use for human consumption. Studies have shown treatment to point of use sources reduces child mortality by diarrhea by 29%. Home water treatments are also a part of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals, with the goal of providing both clean water supply and sewage connection in homes. Although these interventions have been evaluated by the United Nations, various challenges may reduce the effectiveness of home treatment solutions, such as low education, low-dedication to repair, replacement, and maintenance, or local repair services or parts are unavailable. Current point of use and small scale treatment technologies include: NaDCC, sodium dichloroisocyanurate Boiling water Solar disinfection (SODIS) Chlorine Global programs Central Asia Water and Energy Program Central Asia Water and Energy Program (CAWEP) is a World Bank, European Union, Swiss & UK funded program to organize Central Asian governments on common water resources management through regional organizations, like the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS). The program focuses on three issues: water security, energy security and energy-water linkages. It aims to foster balanced communications between Central Asian countries to achieve a regional goal, water and energy security. To ensure their goal, the program works closely with governments, civil and national organizations. Most recently, the program helped organize The Global Disruptive Tech Challenge: Restoring Landscapes in the Aral Sea Region. This competition was created to encourage bright minds to come up with revolutionary solutions for land degradation and desertification in the Aral Sea Region, which used to be home to one of the largest lakes in the world and has since been reduced near to nothing. There were several winning projects that centered around agriculture and land management, sustainable forestry, socio-economic development and globally expanding people knowledge and access to information on the issue. Sanitation and Water for All Aimed at achieving the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal 6, Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) was established as a platform for partnerships between governments, civil society, the private sector, UN agencies, research and learning institutions, and the philanthropic community. SWA encourages partners to prioritize water, sanitation and hygiene along with ensuring sufficient finance and building better governance structures. To ensure that these priorities remain so, the SWA holds “High Level Meetings” where partners communicate the recent developments made, measure progress, and continue the discussion on the importance of Sustainable Development Goal 6. The Water Project The Water Project, Inc is a non-profit international organization that develops and implements sustainable water projects in Sub-Saharan Africa like Kenya, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and Uganda. The Water Project has funded or completed over 2,500 projects and 1,500 water sources that have helped over 569,000 people improve their access to clean water and sanitation. These projects focus heavily on teaching proper sanitation and hygiene practices, as well as improving water facilities by drilling boreholes, updating well structures, and introducing rain water harvesting solutions. UN-Water In 2003, the United Nations High Level Committee on Programmes created UN-Water, an inter-agency mechanism, "to add value to UN initiatives by fostering greater co-operation and information-sharing among existing UN agencies and outside partners." UN-Water publishes communication materials for decision-makers that work directly with water issues and provides a platform for discussions regarding global water management. They also sponsor World Water Day on 22 March to focus attention on the importance of freshwater and sustainable freshwater management. Country examples Overview India India's growing population is putting a strain on the country's preciously scarce water resources. According to The World Bank, the population of India as of 2019 was roughly 1,366,417,750 people. Although this number has increased since then, India's population count has made it the second-most populated country in the world, following close behind the first most populated country, China. The country is classified as "water stressed" with a water availability of 1,000–1,700 m3/person/year. 21% of countries' diseases are related to water. In 2008, 88% of the population had access and was using improved drinking water sources. However, "Improved drinking water source" is an ambiguous term, ranging in meaning from fully treated and 24-hour availability to merely being piped through the city and sporadically available. This is in part due to large inefficiencies in the water infrastructure in which up to 40% of water leaks out. In UNICEF's 2008 report, only 31% of the population had access and used improved sanitation facilities. A little more than half of the 16 million residents of New Delhi, the capital city, have access to this service. Every day, 950 million gallons of sewage flows from New Delhi into the Yamuna River without any significant forms of treatment. This river bubbles with methane and was found to have a fecal coliform count 10,000 times the safe limit for bathing. The inequality between urban and rural areas is significant. In rural areas, 84% can access safe water while only 21% for sanitation. In contrast, 96% of people in urban areas have access to water sources and sanitation which meet satisfying quality. Additionally, there are not enough wastewater treatment facilities to dispose of wastewater discharged from the growing population. By 2050 half of India's population will account for urban areas and will face serious water problems. Surface water contamination, due to lack of sewage treatment and industrial discharge, makes groundwater increasingly exploited in many regions of India. This is aggravated by heavily subsidized energy costs for agriculture practices that make up roughly 80% of India's water resource demand. In India, 80% of the health issues come from waterborne diseases. Part of this challenge includes addressing the pollution of the Ganges (Ganga) river, which is home to about 400 million people. The river receives about over 1.3 billion litres of domestic waste, along with 260 million litres of industrial waste, run off from 6 million tons of fertilizers and 9,000 tons of pesticides used in agriculture, thousands of animal carcasses and several hundred human corpses released into the river every day for spiritual rebirth. Two-thirds of this waste is released into the river untreated. Kenya Kenya, a country of 50 million population, struggles with a staggering population growth rate of 2.28% per year. This high population growth rate pushes Kenya's natural resources to the brink of total depletion. 32% of the population don't have access to improved water sources whereas 48% cannot access basic sanitation systems. Much of the country has a severely arid climate, with a few areas enjoying rain and access to water resources. Deforestation and soil degradation have polluted surface water, and the government does not have the capacity to develop water treatment or distribution systems, leaving the vast majority of the country without access to water. This has exacerbated gender politics, as 74% of women must spend an average of 8 hours per day securing water for their families. Low income has worsened the situation. It is estimated that 66% of the total population lives to earn less than $3.20 per day. Despite its poor quality and unreliableness, costs for water in local areas are 9 times higher than that of safe water in urban areas. This regional inequality makes people in rural areas difficult to obtain water on a daily basis. Furthermore, even in urban areas, which are equipped with piped water systems, it's hard to produce a reliable constant flow of water. Practical solutions are needed in the entire country. The Sand dam is one of the decentralized rainwater harvesting infrastructures to deal with this unbalanced water distribution. This low-cost infrastructure has a simple and understandable structure, conserving surplus water for later use, increasing efficiency and rural regions' water access by saving people's time to gathering water on a long road. There are already about 1,800 sand dams in Kitui County. The growing population and stagnant economy have exacerbated urban, suburban, and rural poverty. It also has aggravated the country's lack of access to clean drinking water which leaves most of the non-elite population suffering from disease. Around 240 million people suffer from schistosomiasis which occurs because of parasitic worms that may be contracted through drinking infested waters. This leads to the crippling of Kenya's human capital. Private water companies have taken up the slack from Kenya's government, but the Kenyan government prevents them from moving into the poverty-stricken areas to avoid profiteering activities. Unfortunately, since Kenya's government also refuses to provide services, this leaves the disenfranchised with no options for obtaining clean water. Bangladesh Panama See also List of water-related charities WASH – Water, sanitation and hygiene Human right to water and sanitation References External links UN \| Water for Life Decade \| Water Quality akvo.org \| Water and sanitation projects Global environmental issues Water and politics Water supply Sanitation Water Right to health
Eyewire. Eyewire is a citizen science game from Sebastian Seung's Lab at Princeton University. It is a human-based computation game that uses players to map retinal neurons. Eyewire launched on December 10, 2012. The game utilizes data generated by the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research. Eyewire gameplay is used for neuroscience research by enabling the reconstruction of morphological neuron data, which helps researchers model information-processing circuits. Gameplay The player is given a cube with a partially reconstructed neuron branch stretching through it. The player completes the reconstruction by coloring a 2D image with a 3D image generated simultaneously. Reconstructions are compared across players as each cube is submitted, yielding a consensus reconstruction that is later checked by experienced players. Goal Eyewire is used to advance the use of artificial intelligence in neuronal reconstruction. The project is also used in research determining how mammals see directional motion. Methods The activity of each neuron in a 350 × 300 × 60 μm3 portion of a retina was determined by two-photon microscopy. Using serial block-face scanning electron microscopy, the same volume was stained to bring out the contrast of the plasma membranes, sliced into layers by a microtome, and imaged using an electron microscope. A neuron is selected by the researchers. The program chooses a cubic volume associated with that neuron for the player, along with an artificial intelligence's best guess for tracing the neuron through the two-dimensional images. Publications Accomplishments Eyewire neurons featured at 2014 TED Conference Virtual Reality Exhibit. Eyewire neurons featured at US Science and Engineering Expo in Washington, DC. Eyewire won the National Science Foundation's 2013 International Visualization Challenge in the Games and Apps Category. An Eyewire image by Alex Norton won MIT's 2014 Koch Image Gallery Competition. Eyewire named one of Discover Magazines Top 100 Science Stories of 2013. Eyewire named top citizen science project of 2013 by SciStarter. Eyewire won Biovision's World Life Sciences Forum Catalyzer Prize on March 26, 2013. Eyewire named to top 10 citizen science projects of 2013 by PLoS. Eyewire has been featured by Wired, Nature blog SpotOn, Forbes, Scientific American, and NPR. References External links Human-based computation games Neuroimaging 2012 video games Browser games Video games developed in the United States Citizen science
Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies. Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies (ACCIMT) ( Navina Takshanaya Pilibanda Athar Si. Klak Madhyasthanaya) is an institute for research and technology transfer in Sri Lanka. It is named after its founder patron, Sir Arthur C. Clarke, the famous British science fiction author, inventor and futurist. The institute is mainly focused on conducting research in the fields of electronics, micro-electronics, telecommunications, information technology, space technologies and robotics, and providing training for relevant industry professionals. It is one of the few institutions of this kind in Sri Lanka. History The ACCIMT was established in 1984 by act of parliament, the Arthur C. Clarke Centre for Modern Technologies Act, No. 30 of 1984. This institution, initially known as Arthur C. Clarke Centre, was renamed as the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies, and re-established in a corporate form in 1994 by the Science And Technology Development Act, No. 11 of 1994. It comes under the purview of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Research, Sri Lanka. In the same year, the ACCIMT was appointed as the national focal point for space technology applications, by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). In 1996, the institute received a 45 cm GoTo Cassegrain reflector telescope as a donation by the Tokyo National Observatory via the Government of Japan. It is the largest optical telescope in Sri Lanka. Relevant technical assistance was provided by Besei Astronomical Observatory, Japan and the South African Astronomical Observatory. ACCIMT received the membership of Asia Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF) sponsored by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), as a result of activities carried out to popularize astronomy among the Sri Lankan community. ACCIMT hosted the 15th Session of the Intergovernmental Consultative Committee on the Regional Space Applications Programme for Sustainable Development (RESAP) in 2011. The program was conducted by the UNESCAP. Services Research and development The institute conducts research in information and communications technology, electronics, microelectronics, space technology, Astronomy and robotics. Most of its research is aimed at promoting latest technology among government and the private sector industries in Sri Lanka. Consultancy The institute also provides industry-wide services for microprocessor based machinery, telecommunications systems, information systems and computer networks. In addition, diagnostic and calibration services are provided for sophisticated instrumentation, by its instrumentation division. Training programs ACCIMT conducts Continuing Professional Development programs for professionals and senior managers serving in local industries. It has also launched electronics workshops and astronomy outreach programs for school students in Sri Lanka. Library facilities are available for university students and the general public. Moreover, students selected for the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics through the Sri Lankan Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad are also trained at ACCIMT. National Hub for Receiving and Redistribution Satellite Data for Earth Observation The ACCIMT has negotiated with foreign agencies to receive the satellite data free of charge or at an affordable cost which will be stored in a server located at the ACCIMT and will be shared with the public sector organizations who use satellite data for national development. Infrastructure to receive and distribute Earth observation data and a ten-acre site for the proposed National Space Hub is identified in the Megapolis Master Plan for Western Province. The Satellite Ground Station will be installed at Mahenwatta in Pitipana, Homagama at the geographical location 6°49′ 38.48″N, 80° 2′ 8.20″E Arthur C. Clarke memorial lecture Since the death of Sir Arthur C. Clarke in 2008, the institute conducts an annual Arthur C. Clarke Memorial Lecture. The lecture is delivered by a prominent scientist in the field of space science. Scientists who have delivered the lecture include: 2009 - Dr. Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan (former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization and member of the Planning Commission of India) 2010 - Dr. Thirumalachari Ramasami (secretary to the Department of Science and Technology, India) 2011 - Dr. Mustafa Din Subari (director general of the Malaysian National Space Agency) 2012 - Prof. Suvit Vibulsresth (founder-executive director of the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency of Thailand) 2013 - Prof.G ehan Amarathunga (professor of Engineering and head of Electronics, Power and Energy Conservation at the University of Cambridge) 2014 - Prof. Hui Lin (professor and director of the Institute of Space and Earth Information Science (ISEIS) of the Chinese University of Hong Kong) 2015 - Prof. Guo Huadong (director general of Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth (RADI) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)) 2016 - Dr. Sarath Gunapala (physicist and director, Center for Infrared Photo Detectors, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, USA) ("Exploration of Our Solar System and Beyond") See also Arthur C. Clarke Research in Sri Lanka Institute of Fundamental Studies References External links Looking at Heavens From the Pearl in the Indian Ocean: Web Based Telescope Controller that Accessible To All Arthur C. Clarke International research institutes Research institutes in Sri Lanka Space advocacy organizations Astronomical observatories in Sri Lanka 1984 establishments in Sri Lanka Organizations established in 1984
Dileep George. Dileep George is an artificial intelligence and neuroscience researcher. Career George received his PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in 2006 and was a visiting fellow at the Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley. In 2005, George pioneered hierarchical temporal memory and cofounded the AI research startup Numenta, Inc. with Jeff Hawkins and Donna Dubinsky. In 2010, George left Numenta to join D. Scott Phoenix in founding Vicarious, an AI research project funded by internet billionaires Peter Thiel and Dustin Moskovitz. The Alphabet-owned company Intrinsic acquired Vicarious in 2022. The AI and robotics divisions merged with Intrinsic, while the research division (including George) joined DeepMind. As of 2022, George is a Research Scientist at DeepMind. References 1977 births American neuroscientists Scientists from Kerala Living people Scientists from the San Francisco Bay Area American people of Indian descent
Adventure F series. The Adventure F series is a family of French paramotor designs that was designed and produced by Adventure SA of Méré, Yonne, for powered paragliding. Design and development The aircraft series features a paraglider-style high-wing, single-place accommodation and a single engine in pusher configuration. Take-off and landing is accomplished by foot. The series was designed for portability and as a result is of small dimensions and light weight. All versions can be disassembled to be transported in the trunk of an automobile or checked as baggage on an airline flight. Factory options available included electric starting, a fuel gauge, quieter four-bladed propeller and the capability to carry a second person in tandem. Variants F1 The basic model of the line, powered by a Solo 210 engine. The F1 can carry a pilot of . Sold for US$6500 in 2001. F2 Powered by a Solo 210 engine, with the Zenoah G-25 engine optional. The F2 can carry a pilot of . Sold for US$7000 in 2001. F3 Powered by a Zenoah G-25 engine, the F3 can carry a pilot of . Sold for US$7000 in 2001. F4 Powered by a Zenoah G-25 engine, the F4 can carry a pilot of . Sold for US$7000 in 2001. Specifications (F1) See also Paramotor Inc FX series References F 1990s French ultralight aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Paramotors
Raptor Resource Project. The Raptor Resource Project is a non-profit organization whose members work to preserve the health and population levels of falcons, eagles, ospreys, hawks and owls. The project, established in 1988, protects more than 40 nests and nesting areas in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Colorado. Artificial nests One of the project's main activities is safe nesting sites where raptors can raise their young. Power plant stacks have proven to be good locations for these nests. More than 1,000 baby peregrine falcons have been hatched from power plant nests. Education The Raptor Resource Project provides education about nest site management and nest creation to future preservationists, in keeping of with their goal of increasing participation in the protection of raptors. Research Bird cams The RPP also develops and employs non-intrusive methods of viewing the birds and their nest sites, so that scientists and the general public can learn more about the lives of raptors. RPP members have set up cameras which webcast from many raptor nests. They set up their first camera to view a bald eagle nest in Decorah, Iowa. Subsequent webcasts include the Missouri Turkey Vulture Cam, River View Tower Falcon Cam, Eagle Crest Bird Cam, Xcel Fort St. Brain Eagle Cam, Xcel Valmont Owl Cam, Xcel Osprey Cam, Xcel Kestrel Cam, Xcel King Falcons, Xcel Blackdog Falcons, Xcel Sherco Falcons, Elk River Falcons, and the Red Wing Grain Falcons. Banding The organization also participates in the banding of raptors so that their travel paths can be studied. References Munson: Decorah eagles are stars online, in person Demoines Register Apr. 9, 2011 Bald Eagle 'D12' Electrocuted To Death In Decorah Nest In Iowa, Says Raptor Resource Project International Business Times Decorah eagle spending summer in Canada. The Gazette. External links Raptor Resource Project - official site Nature conservation organizations based in the United States Non-profit organizations based in Iowa Raptor organizations Winneshiek County, Iowa Ornithological organizations in the United States
Sensor Observation Service. The Sensor Observation Service (SOS) is a web service to query real-time sensor data and sensor data time series and is part of the Sensor Web. The offered sensor data consists of data directly from the sensors, which are encoded in the Sensor Model Language (SensorML), and the measured values in the Observations and Measurements (O & M) encoding format. The web service as well as both file formats are open standards and specifications of the same name defined by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). If the SOS supports the transactional profile (SOS-T), new sensors can be registered on the service interface and measuring values be inserted. A SOS implementation can be used both for data from in-situ as well as remote sensing sensors. Furthermore, the sensors can be either mobile or stationary. Since 2007, the SOS is an official OGC standard. The advantage of the SOS is that sensor data - of any kind - is available in a standardized format using standardized operations. Thus the web-based access to sensor data is simplified. It also allows easy integration into existing Spatial Data Infrastructures or Geographic Information Systems. In 2016 OGC approved the SensorThings API standard specification, a new RESTful and JSON-based standard provide functions similar to SOS. As both SensorThings API and SOS are based on the OGC/ISO 19156:2011, the two specifications have been demonstrated in an OGC IoT pilot that they can interoperate with each other. Operations The SOS has three so-called core operations that must be provided by each implementation. The GetCapabilities operation allows you to query a service for a description of the service interface and the available sensor data. For using the SOS, the GetObservation function is probably the most important. It can be utilized to retrieve data for specific sensors. The DescribeSensor function returns detailed information about a sensor or a sensor system and the producing processes. Core operations (core profile) GetCapabilities returns an XML service description with information about the interface (offered operations and endpoints) as well as the available sensor data, such as the period for which sensor data is available, sensors that produce the measured values, or phenomena that are observed (for example air temperature). GetObservation allows pull-based querying of observed values, including their metadata. The measured values and their metadata is returned in the Observations and Measurements format (O & M). DescribeSensor - provides sensor metadata in SensorML. The sensor description can contain information about the sensor in general, the identifier and classification, position and observed phenomena, but also details such as calibration data. Transactional operations (transactional profile) RegisterSensor allows to register a new sensor in a deployed SOS. InsertObservation can be used to insert data for already registered sensors in the SOS. Extended operations (enhanced profile) GetResult provides the ability to query for sensor readings without the metadata given consistent metadata (e.g. sensor, observed object). GetFeatureOfInterest returns the geoobject whose properties are monitored by sensors in Geography Markup Language encoding. GetFeatureOfInterestTime provides time periods in which measurements of an observed object in the SOS are available. DescribeFeatureType returns the type of the observed geoobjects (XML Schema) DescribeObservationType returns the type of observation (XML Schema), such as om: Measurement). GetObservationById allows to query a specific observation using an identifier returned by the service as response to an InsertObservation operation. DescribeResultModel provides the XML Schema of the measured value, which is particularly important for complex measurements, such as multi-spectral data. Terminology The OGC has - not only for the SOS - its own well-defined terminology. For better understanding, here are some important terms: Software The SOS is a standard of the OGC and ultimately only defines a service interface, but not an implementation. There are currently several open-source implementations of the service: Java SOS implementation by 52°North Java SOS implementation within the deegree framework by the company lat/lon A C implementation of SOS in MapServer Java, Perl and Python implementations by the project OOSTethys A Python implementation as istSOS Also, proprietary implementations exist. References External links OpenGIS Sensor Observation Service on the OGC website Wireless sensor network Geographic information systems Open Geospatial Consortium Web services Open standards
Water Literacy Foundation. Water Literacy Foundation is a non-governmental environmental organisation based in Bangalore, Karnataka, whose high goal is to make India a "water-efficient nation" by raising awareness about water scarcity and establishing rainwater harvesting in all areas of India. History Ayyappa Masagi, who had been working as a mechanical engineer at Larsen & Toubro for 23 years, started to experiment with rainwater harvesting and non-irrigational agricultural methods in 1994. After a few years of successful results in his native region, Gadag, Karnataka, India, he quit his job to focus on working in the field of rainwater harvesting. It was in 2004 when he earned the Ashoka fellowship for his work on water conservation. One year later, with the support of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, he started Water Literacy Foundation, located in Bangalore, India. To obtain a change in India by 2020, the NGO is working to support farmers by giving them knowledge about non-irrigational agriculture and rainwater harvesting and realising projects that fight water scarcity. The activities of the foundation expand to individual houses and industries, trying to create solutions to the shortage of water linked to the fast-growing population of Bangalore. In 2008, the foundation became associated with a new project: Rain Water Concepts Pvt Ltd (I) in a cross-subsidisation model. The social business implements rainwater harvesting systems for industries. Besides, it is funding the campaigns of the foundation among farmers and schools. Ayyappa Masagi was awarded the Jamnalal Bajaj Award in 2009. Only four years later, the associated organisation entered the Limca Book of Records for constructing 500 lakes - that is the highest number of artificial lakes created by one company. Furthermore, the NGO claim to have indirectly recharged more than 70,000 borewells and reached around 1.5 million people in 36,000 locations. Activities The goal of the foundation is to raise awareness about water shortages and implement rainwater harvesting systems in farms, houses, and industries. It offers several systems: Rooftop rainwater harvesting Lake type borewell recharging Infiltration wells Stream water harvesting Seepage recharging Sump type borewell recharging Non-irrigational agricultural practices Tree-based agriculture To raise awareness, the foundation attends rallies, sponsors lectures, and gives talks at conferences such as TEDx conference, school education programs, or world water day events. The foundation publishes books that instruct farmers to implement rainwater harvesting systems by themselves. The foundation is helped by international volunteers mainly hosted through a program of FSL India. See also Rainwater harvesting Water conservation References External links Interview of Ayyappa Masagi by Think Change India Interview of Ayyappa Masagi by KnowYourStar.com Environmental organisations based in India Organisations based in Bengaluru Organizations established in 2005 Water conservation in India Nature conservation organisations based in Asia 2005 establishments in Karnataka
Michel Bernard (administrator). Michel Bernard, born the 1st of March 1943 at Bourges, graduate of École Polytechnique (promotion 1964) and École nationale de l'aviation civile (promotion 1967), was the head of the Agence nationale pour l'emploi from 1995 to 2005. Biography Michel Bernard has performed a career in French administration and national companies. He starts his career in 1969 at the service technique de la navigation aérienne (air navigation technical department) then becomes head of the centre en route de la navigation aérienne Nord (North en route air navigation center) in 1978. He is promoted Directeur général de l'aviation civile in 1993. During this period, he was director of human resources at Snecma, Air France director and Air Inter President from November 1993 until March 1995, when he resigned, denouncing the "backward-looking categorical protection" which are attached the unions. He is head of the ANPE from 1995 till 2005 (his predecessor was Michel Bon and his successor Christian Charpy). Since October 1995, Michel Bernard is head of the board of directors of the Fonds d'aide et de soutien pour l'intégration et la lutte contre les discriminations (Aid funds and support for integration and the fight against discrimination). Michel Bernard is the current President of the "cultures du coeur" ("hearth culture") association which works to fight against social exclusion by promoting access to cultural and sporting events. Bibliography Académie nationale de l'air et de l'espace and Lucien Robineau, Les français du ciel, dictionnaire historique, Le Cherche midi, Juin 2005, 782 p. (), p. 61, Bernard, Michel References French aerospace engineers École Polytechnique alumni École nationale de l'aviation civile alumni Corps de l'aviation civile Corps des ponts Living people Aviation in France 20th-century French businesspeople 1943 births Space program of France 21st-century French businesspeople
Waveform shaping. Waveform shaping in electronics is the modification of the shape of an electronic waveform. It is in close connection with waveform diversity and waveform design, which are extensively studied in signal processing. Shaping the waveforms are of particular interest in active sensing (radar, sonar) for better detection performance, as well as communication schemes (CDMA, frequency hopping), and biology (for animal stimuli design). See also Modulation, Pulse compression, Spread spectrum, Transmit diversity, Ambiguity function, Autocorrelation, and Cross-correlation. Further reading Hao He, Jian Li, and Petre Stoica. Waveform design for active sensing systems: a computational approach. Cambridge University Press, 2012. Solomon W. Golomb, and Guang Gong. Signal design for good correlation: for wireless communication, cryptography, and radar. Cambridge University Press, 2005. M. Soltanalian. Signal Design for Active Sensing and Communications. Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Science and Technology (printed by Elanders Sverige AB), 2014. Nadav Levanon, and Eli Mozeson. Radar signals. Wiley. com, 2004. Jian Li, and Petre Stoica, eds. Robust adaptive beamforming. New Jersey: John Wiley, 2006. Fulvio Gini, Antonio De Maio, and Lee Patton, eds. Waveform design and diversity for advanced radar systems. Institution of engineering and technology, 2012. Mark R. Bell, "Information theory and radar waveform design." IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, 39.5 (1993): 1578–1597. Robert Calderbank, S. Howard, and Bill Moran. "Waveform diversity in radar signal processing." IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, 26.1 (2009): 32–41. Augusto Aubry, Antonio De Maio, Bo Jiang, and Shuzhong Zhang. "Ambiguity function shaping for cognitive radar via complex quartic optimization." IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing 61 (2013): 5603–5619. John J. Benedetto, Ioannis Konstantinidis, and Muralidhar Rangaswamy. "Phase-coded waveforms and their design." IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, 26.1 (2009): 22–31. Mojtaba Soltanalian, and Petre Stoica. "Computational design of sequences with good correlation properties." IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, 60.5 (2012): 2180–2193. Mohammad Mahdi Naghsh, M. Soltanalian, P. Stoica, M. Modarres-Hashemi, A. De Maio, and A. Aubry, "A Doppler Robust Design of Transmit Sequence and Receive Filter in the Presence of Signal-Dependent Interference", IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, 62.4 (2014): 772–785. References Signal processing
Marel. Marel is a multi-national food processing company based in Iceland and headquartered in Garðabær. The company manufactures equipment and other services for food processing in the poultry, meat, and fish industries. Marel has approximately 8,000 employees across 30 countries. History Marel's began in 1977 with a project at the University of Iceland focused on developing motion-compensating onboard scales. The company itself was founded in 1983. Its primary business is developing and providing equipment, software, and services for automating processes in the poultry, meat, and fish industries. This includes automating tasks across various stages of production, from receiving, processing, packing, and final dispatch. Marel engineers implemented early computer technology into food processing equipment, an area where it had not been used extensively. The design plan was to have an array of connected systems to increase automation in food processing. Products Marel develops, manufactures, sells, and distributes equipment, processing equipment, software, and services for the poultry, fish, and meat industries. Its poultry processing sector sells integrated systems for processing broilers. The fish processing sector sells equipment and systems for farmed and wild salmon and whitefish processing. Marel's processing division carries systems and equipment for slaughtering, deboning and trimming, and case-ready food services. Marel also carries wastewater treatment equipment designed for the processing industry. Corporation The Marel brand was established in 1983 and went public on the Icelandic Stock Exchange in 1992, marking its transition from a startup to a global company. In 2007, Marel changed its corporate identity to Marel Food Systems after acquiring four new brands in 2006: AEW Delford, Carnitech, Marel, and Scanvaegt. The acquisition of these companies significantly increased the size of Marel's operations globally. On January 1, 2010, Marel Food Systems hf. changed its name to Marel hf. after its integration with Dutch company Stork Food Systems was completed; Marel's practice is integrate the companies it acquires under a common identity. Marel bought MPS meat processing systems in 2015 for to bolster its foothold in the red meat industry (pig, cattle, and sheep) and balance its expertise in the fish and poultry industries. In conjunction with the sale, Marel also acquired MPS's intra-logistics systems for food industries and industrial wastewater treatment systems. MPS has headquarters in the Netherlands, with production sites in the Netherlands and China. In July 2017, Marel acquired Brazilian company Sulmaq to expand its operations in Central and South America. Sulmaq was based in the state of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil and employed approximately 400 people. Sulmaq's processing operations included hog and cattle slaughtering, cutting and deboning, viscera processing and logistics. On August 14, 2018, Marel finalized the acquisition of German-based manufacturer of processing equipment MAJA. As a result, Marel acquired a diverse product line-up and a global distribution network. In October 2019, Marel acquired Australian company Cedar Creek Company, a company specializing in software and hardware equipment for meat processing. In November 2019, Marel finalized a 40% share in Icelandic company Curio ehf, a manufacturer of advanced equipment for whitefish processing. On June 7, 2019, Marel had its initial public offering on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange (ticker symbol: MAREL). Amsterdam was chosen for the second listing of Marel shares as the company already had a strong presence in the Netherlands, where 1/3 of its employees are based. On December 11, 2023, Árni Sigurðsson was appointed CEO of Marel hf. In January 2025, it was announced that JBT Corporation had completed its acquisition of Marel. As a result, the Chicago-based company was renamed JBT Marel Corporation, as well as being listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. Key acquisitions dates 1997 – Marel acquires Carnitech in Denmark 2002 – Marel acquires CP Food Machinery 2004 – Marel acquires Pols in Iceland 2006 – Marel acquires AEW Delford in the UK 2006 – Marel acquires Scanvaegt in Denmark 2008 – Marel acquires Stork Food Systems in the Netherlands together with Townsend, owned by Stork 2016 – Marel acquires MPS in the Netherlands 2017 – Marel acquires Sulmaq in Brazil 2018 – Marel acquires MAJA in Germany 2019 – Marel acquires Cedar Creek of Brisbane, Australia and Curio ehf, Hafnarfjörður, Iceland 2021 – Marel announces acquisition of Valka 2022 – Marel acquires Wenger in the USA Awards In 2012 Marel was awarded the EuroTier Gold Award for its contribution in environmental conservation and product safety for poultry processing. The American Meat Institute named Marel their supplier of the year in 2013. In 2014, Marel Stork Poultry Processing won an award in the category of Processing with their "New reference in whole product distribution". Marel also received the most public votes at the event, making it the overall winner of the VIV Europe 2014 innovation award. In Georgia, USA, Marel Stork Poultry Processing was recognized in 2014 by Gainesville-Hall County in their Industry of the Year Awards. In October 2017, Marel's "Robot with a Knife" won the Food Processing Award in the category of "Robotics and Automation". References External links Companies listed on Nasdaq Iceland Icelandic brands Manufacturing companies of Iceland Companies established in 1983 Food processing Companies in the OMX Iceland 10 2025 mergers and acquisitions
Langley Gold Medal. The Langley Gold Medal, or Samuel P. Langley Medal for Aerodromics, is an award given by the Smithsonian Institution for outstanding contributions to the sciences of aeronautics and astronautics. Named in honor of Samuel P. Langley, the Smithsonian's third Secretary, it was authorized by the Board of Regents in 1909. The medal was suggested by Alexander Graham Bell. It is awarded for "meritorious investigations in connection with the science of aerodromics and its application to aviation". List of award winners (Reference unless given individually) 1910 Orville and Wilbur Wright 1913 Glenn Curtiss, Gustave Eiffel 1927 Charles Lindbergh 1929 Charles M. Manly (posthumously awarded), Richard E. Byrd 1935 Joseph S. Ames 1955 Jerome Clarke Hunsaker 1960 Robert H. Goddard (posthumously awarded) 1962 Hugh Latimer Dryden 1964 Alan Shepard 1967 Wernher von Braun 1971 Samuel C. Phillips 1976 James E. Webb 1976 Grover Loening 1981 Charles Stark Draper 1981 Robert T. Jones 1983 Ross Perot, Jr. and Jay Coburn 1987 Barry Goldwater 1992 Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. 1999 Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins See also List of aviation awards References American science and technology awards Aviation awards Awards established in 1910 Civil awards and decorations of the United States Smithsonian Institution
Diemech TP 100. The Diemech TP 100 is an American turboprop and turboshaft aircraft engine that was under development by Diemech Turbine Solutions of DeLand, Florida in 2012. By June 2017 the company website had been taken down and it is likely that the company is out of business and engine development ended. Design and development The TP 100 was developed from an engine developed by PBS Velká Bíteš of the Czech Republic for use in UAVs. The design goal was to provide an engine that could run on globally available fuels, such as Jet-A or ultra-low-sulfur diesel, given the disappearance of avgas in most parts of the world. The TP 100 develops and weighs plus accessories. The engine was expected to produce a specific fuel consumption of 0.82 lb/hph (0.5 kg/kWh), yielding a cruise fuel flow of per hour which would have been 52% more than the equivalent piston engine, the Lycoming IO-540, which produces the same power at a SFC of 0.45, burning per hour. In examining these numbers AVweb editor Paul Bertorelli stated that this "illuminates the harsh fact that turbine engines just aren't as efficient as piston engines and the smaller the turbines are, the less efficient they are". The company had planned to work with PBS to obtain Federal Aviation Administration certification in the US. The engine was expected to fly first in mid-2013 on a Van's Aircraft RV-10 testbed, but development ended before the engine was flown. By 2022 PBS Velká Bíteš was offering the TP 100 for sale as the non-certified PBS TP100 Turboprop Engine "for small aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles". Specifications (TP 100) References External links Official website archive on Archive.org 2010s turboprop engines
Internet bottleneck. Internet bottlenecks are places in telecommunication networks in which internet service providers (ISPs), or naturally occurring high use of the network, slow or alter the network speed of the users and/or content producers using that network. A bottleneck is a more general term for a system that has been reduced or slowed due to limited resources or components. The bottleneck occurs in a network when there are too many users attempting to access a specific resource. Internet bottlenecks provide artificial and natural network choke points to inhibit certain sets of users from overloading the entire network by consuming too much bandwidth. Theoretically, this will lead users and content producers through alternative paths to accomplish their goals while limiting the network load at any one time. Alternatively, internet bottlenecks have been seen as a way for ISPs to take advantage of their dominant market-power increasing rates for content providers to push past bottlenecks. The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has created regulations stipulating that artificial bottlenecks are in direct opposition to a free and open Internet. Technical details The technical reasons for Internet bottlenecks are largely related to network congestion in which the user experiences a delay in delivering or accessing content. The bottlenecks can occur naturally, during high network use, or artificially created by owners of the network, generally considered to be ISPs, in order to prevent the network from experiencing overload. The network demands of users continues to grow and with it so do the pressures on networks. The way current technologies process information over the network is slow and consumes large amounts of energy. ISPs and engineers argue that these issues with the increased demand on the networks result in some necessary congestion, but the bottlenecks also occur because of the lack of technology to handle such huge data needs using minimal energy. There are attempts being made to increase the speed, amount of data, and reduce power consumption of the networks. For example, optical memory devices could be used in the future to send and receive light signals working much faster and more efficiently than electrical signals. Some researchers see optical memory as needed to reduce the demands on the network routers in data transmission, while others do not. The research will continue to explore possibilities for greater network bandwidth and data transfer. As data consumption needs increase, so will the need for better technology that facilitates the transfer and storage of that data. Deep packet inspection (DPI) may also be used to address network congestion through recognition of a specific set of protocols, services, or users. ISPs may then manipulate the bandwidth allocation for those groups by reducing it to maintain the network stability and available bandwidth for the entire network. Network congestion or Internet bottleneck generally occurs and is felt by users in homes and businesses. This is what is known as the last mile of transmission, which is when there is not enough bandwidth available for individual users to access the content they want. Everyone is attempting to use the bandwidth at the same time creating an Internet traffic jam. Political details In terms of public policy, Internet bottlenecks and/or network congestion has largely been nested within the network neutrality debate. Network neutrality is the notion that ISPs and content providers need to be regulated in order to maintain fair speeds and access to content for all Internet users. Internet bottlenecks had been perceived as useful facets of network management, but ISPs have throttled specific types of uses of their networks that have little to do with network management and more to do with network neutrality. New regulatory rules were established by the FCC in order to enforce fair network management practices by ISPs. The rules were established on September 23, 2011, and took effect November 20, 2011. This new set of regulations has three primary rules: "Transparency. Fixed and mobile broadband providers must disclose the network management practices, performance characteristics, and terms and conditions of their broadband services; "No blocking. Fixed broadband providers may not block lawful content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices; mobile broadband providers may not block lawful Web sites, or block applications that compete with their voice or video telephony services; and "No unreasonable discrimination. Fixed broadband providers may not unreasonably discriminate in transmitting lawful network traffic." Of these rules, set up by the FCC, only number 2 and number 3 apply to network bottlenecks. Network bottlenecks represent a specific part of that policy discussion in which ISPs are able to create network flows that are slower for competitors possibly leading customers to go to another website that is more easily accessed, which gives the parent or children companies of the ISPs an advantage. Thus, in the FCC's rule number 2 and 3 there are specific requirements that ISPs do not discriminate or restrict services to those companies who offer competing services similar to the ISP's services. Alternatively, ISPs argue that the bottlenecks are necessary to create artificial control points that create a better experience for all users and content providers creating a more fair and balanced network system. Thus, there is a market-based approach to addressing the issue of bottlenecking by allowing the market to choose from other ISPs that are providing better network speeds, which may force the ISPs using Internet bottlenecks to reduce or remove the bottlenecks. The interested parties in this political issue include: ISPs - whose interest is to maintain profitability while maintaining quality service to a loyal consumer and content provider base. Advocacy groups - their goal is to regulate the ISPs. Advocacy groups believe the ISPs are misusing a public good that should be equally distributed to all people and organizations. Content provider - the institution that creates content on the web and distributes that content through networks belonging to ISPs. Individual consumer - the average person in the United States, who has home access to the Internet, wireless smart phone data use, or any other Internet access. Pro-regulation Organizations, such as the U.S. advocacy organization Free Press, argue that Internet bottlenecks are unnecessary and used by ISPs to arbitrarily lead users to alternate websites, which may or may not be companies of the ISPs. Groups like Free Press, Consumer Federation of America, and Consumers Union argue that the ISPs have no reason to remove bottlenecks from the network. The ISPs can charge more money to content providers to push past the Internet bottleneck. However, Free Press argues that ISPs could alleviate bottlenecks for all by increasing available bandwidth. Advocacy groups are not the only arm of pro-regulation; Google and other companies like Facebook and Wikipedia support regulatory policy that stops ISPs from placing network bottlenecks on content providers and consumers, which would force content providers to pay extra. The network neutrality rules mentioned above address the concerns of pro-regulatory groups, but are seen as somewhat weak with apparent loopholes. Anti-regulation Companies that oppose the regulation of Internet bottlenecks include Comcast and AT&T. They argue that Internet bottlenecks are a part of the network management strategy of which cannot be eliminated due to ever increasing data demands. Thus, it may be necessary at some points to throttle or restrict certain users who are consuming too much bandwidth to allow other users to have equal access. These users have their bandwidth restored once the bottleneck has been reduced. Charges were made against Comcast by the FCC originally brought up by Free Press and others, who claimed that Comcast was purposely degrading the network speed for certain uses of the network, most notably the use of P2P file sharing from services like BitTorrent. Network management Network management is the administration, operation and maintenance of a network. Network management is one of the primary arguments used by ISPs in support of reducing Internet bottlenecks. Both Comcast and At&t cite the use of different techniques in reducing bottlenecks, whether that be throttling certain users or reducing speeds for certain websites. While the ISPs argue that bottlenecks can be removed through increased bandwidth availability that can never catch up with ever-increasing bandwidth demand, pro-regulatory groups see bottlenecks as a beneficial form of network slowdown that enables ISPs to charge more money to users and content providers who wish to move past the bottleneck. ISPs have proposed and have implemented in some cases a tiered service plan allowing users and content providers to pay for premium network lines. These tiered service plans are meant to reduce network congestion at certain levels of bandwidth by allowing high level users to purchase and have access to more available bandwidth. Further, the plans charge based on usage. The more data used the higher the bill would be. Tiered service is common practice among wireless providers, but it is expected that wired connections may soon see usage charges as well, which according to David Hyman will decrease the competitiveness of the open market. The role of government The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was tasked with designing and maintaining an internationally competitive national broadband system by implementing a National Broadband Plan. This plan has largely succeeded in improving the overall infrastructure and access to broadband internet. As mentioned in the political details section above, the FCC is now responsible for making sure established rules and regulations are followed. The FCC is further tasked with increasing broadband use through a newer initiative called the Connect America Fund. This fund is meant to reduce wasteful spending, while improving the original Universal Service Fund. The new rules became active November 20, 2011. Since then Verizon has filed lawsuits against the FCC claiming the FCC is overstepping the bounds of the commission, but the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives voted in favor of the Net Neutrality regulations. From the content provider's perspective Content providers are actors who have specific interest in gaining as much Internet traffic as possible, but they also have other competitors from other content providers. Advocacy groups argue that content providers need regulated fair access, while some content providers support this, others recommend a free-market system as suggested by Free Press. Those who can afford to bypass any Internet bottleneck will then have an advantage in network speeds, but will have to pay for it. Subsequently, in some cases, peering, creating a physical connection between two networks to avoid other network transit services, has been used to bypass Internet bottlenecks by the user and content provider. There is some speculation that if there is no regulation of Internet bottlenecks, both users and content providers will simply create systems like peering to navigate around ISPs effectively neutralizing them. This may also lead to network security risks that would enable. Netflix has accused Comcast of violating the new Net Neutrality rules by not counting Comcast's Xfinity video service against the monthly data allotment of 250gb, but counting the use of Netflix or any other video service monthly data allotment. From the user's perspective Users access the Internet through telecommunications devices in which they purchase a type of Internet service to use that device. Individual users are given limited access to the information about their Internet access other than the download and upload speeds. Further, they are not generally told when their use of the network experiences a bottleneck nor are they told about the actual speeds at which their Internet will function. Greater information for the user has been requested in the new FCC rules, but it is not known whether or not ISPs are providing fully accurate information as the data is generally aggregated or "cherry-picked" for better examples. Center for Democracy and Technology has recommended that users would benefit from the ability to "test the actual performance of their broadband services." Wireless broadband users also have limited capacity to file court claims against ISPs. In the case of At&t Mobility LLC vs. Concepcion Et Ux. (2012), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that there could be no class action lawsuit against At&t. Thus, Marguerite Rearden of CNet argues that this Supreme Court decision will limit the future power of any individual in trying to fight back against wireless providers because every wireless provider stipulates in their terms of service that class action suits are not allowed. Any type of overuse of the network will result in some sort of throttling of the user's plan in an attempt by the ISP to limit network congestion, with no warning or notification despite having an unlimited plan. Notes References Internet architecture Net neutrality
Froth pump. Mineral processing often relies on the formation of froth to separate rich minerals from gangue. In the process, chemicals and air are added. The rich minerals entrap the air and move as bubbles to the top of a flotation cell while the sand and clays of no commercial values sink to the bottom to form tailings. The whole process may be done in tanks in series called roughers, scavengers and cleaners. In oilsand extraction plants, the froth is formed to remove the bitumen and it is called oilsand froth. Oilsand froth is difficult to pump at very low speeds and at low temperatures. However above a certain speed in a steel pipe, water may separate and form a lubrication layer. The process is called self-lubrication and depending on the temperature (25 C - 45 C), the friction losses are between 10 and 20 times the equivalent friction losses of water. When entering a centrifugal pump, a low pressure forms at the eye of the impeller. Pre-rotation creates centrifugal forces that push the dense slurry towards the wall of the pipe while leaving a core of air at the center. According to Abulnaga (2004), the froth pump may use -( a) a very large eye diameter - (b) an inducer or having the impeller vanes extend into the suction pipe - (c) a recirculating pipe from the discharge side of the pump with pressurized froth to break up the bubbles at the eye - (d) tandem vanes at the impeller shroud - (e) split or secondary vanes at the shroud - (f) vertical arrangement, thus: The split vanes in a slurry pump must be thick enough to resist continuous wear.thus: References Pumps
Angela Byron. Angela Byron (born 1977) is a software developer best known for her work with Drupal, a free and open source content management system and content management framework. She has been named one of the most highly regarded contributors to the open source movement, and has worked to encourage people to become involved with open source, particularly women. She was the first woman to be featured on the cover of Linux Journal, in April 2011. Personal life Byron is mostly self-taught. She holds a two-year degree from the Nova Scotia Community College in information technology, concentrating on programming. She lives in British Columbia, Canada with her daughter. Career At the advice of a professor, Byron applied to the Google Summer of Code in 2005. She was accepted, and participated by writing a quiz module for Drupal. This sparked her involvement with Drupal, as well as the open source movement as a whole. In October 2006, Byron began working for Lullabot, a Drupal consulting company. In 2008, Byron was awarded the Google–O'Reilly Open Source Award for Best Contributor for her work on Drupal. She worked full-time for Lullabot until 2011, doing software training and working with system architecture. Part of her work for Lullabot also allowed her to work on Drupal developments and initiatives. In 2008, she became the co-maintainer of the Drupal core, and she also worked on documentation and outreach. She led the project to create Using Drupal: Choosing and Configuring Modules to Build Dynamic Websites, a how-to book for Drupal users. She is also in charge of Drupal's involvement with the Google Summer of Code, as well as Google Highly Open Participation Contest. In 2011, she left Lullabot to work for Acquia, a software company that also provides products, services, and support for Drupal. She is the Director of Community Development. Works References External links Personal website 1970s births Living people Canadian computer programmers Free software programmers Canadian women non-fiction writers 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers 21st-century Canadian women writers Drupal
Mumford–Shah functional. The Mumford–Shah functional is a functional that is used to establish an optimality criterion for segmenting an image into sub-regions. An image is modeled as a piecewise-smooth function. The functional penalizes the distance between the model and the input image, the lack of smoothness of the model within the sub-regions, and the length of the boundaries of the sub-regions. By minimizing the functional one may compute the best image segmentation. The functional was proposed by mathematicians David Mumford and Jayant Shah in 1989. Definition of the Mumford–Shah functional Consider an image I with a domain of definition D, call J the image's model, and call B the boundaries that are associated with the model: the Mumford–Shah functional E[ J,B ] is defined as Optimization of the functional may be achieved by approximating it with another functional, as proposed by Ambrosio and Tortorelli. Minimization of the functional Ambrosio–Tortorelli limit Ambrosio and Tortorelli showed that Mumford–Shah functional E[ J,B ] can be obtained as the limit of a family of energy functionals E[ J,z,ε ] where the boundary B is replaced by continuous function z whose magnitude indicates the presence of a boundary. Their analysis show that the Mumford–Shah functional has a well-defined minimum. It also yields an algorithm for estimating the minimum. The functionals they define have the following form: where ε > 0 is a (small) parameter and ϕ(z) is a potential function. Two typical choices for ϕ(z) are This choice associates the edge set B with the set of points z such that ϕ1(z) ≈ 0 This choice associates the edge set B with the set of points z such that ϕ2(z) ≈ 1/4 The non-trivial step in their deduction is the proof that, as , the last two terms of the energy function (i.e. the last integral term of the energy functional) converge to the edge set integral ∫Bds. The energy functional E[ J,z,ε ] can be minimized by gradient descent methods, assuring the convergence to a local minimum. Ambrosio, Fusco, and Hutchinson, established a result to give an optimal estimate of the Hausdorff dimension of the singular set of minimizers of the Mumford-Shah energy. Minimization by splitting into one-dimensional problems The Mumford-Shah functional can be split into coupled one-dimensional subproblems. The subproblems are solved exactly by dynamic programming. See also Bounded variation Caccioppoli set Digital image processing Luigi Ambrosio Notes References Image segmentation
Boombotix. Boombotix is a San Francisco, California based company that makes and markets portable speakers and mobile audio accessories. The name "Boombotix" is a fictitious term derived from the science of sound. The term merges robotics and boombox. The products consist of audio focused wearable technology with a line of devices called Boombots. Boombotix's products are targeted to urban and outdoor sports demographics (namely cyclists, skateboarders, skiers, and surfers) and the general consumer electronics market. The products are commonly used by bike messengers and commuters as a hands-free communications device. Boombotix products are sold through major retailers including Verizon, Radio Shack, Urban Outfitters, Zumiez, specialty retailers, bike shops and their online store. Company history Lief Storer founded Boombotix (originally under the name SkullyBoom), in 2009. The first Boombotix product, named the SB1, was inspired by the Skully vinyl toy, manufactured at the time by Urban Warfair. By splitting the vinyl down the middle, and adding a dissected iHome audio speaker and Motorola radio clip, Lief was able to create a wearable speaker. The original prototype product went viral in the online community, with TechCrunch touting it as an "uncrushable music device". The SB1 combined a powerful driver in an ultra portable, drop tested and water resistant package. In 2010, the first product was sold at Ken's Bike and Ski in Davis, CA. In 2013 the company launched the Boombot REX designed by Chris McKleroy. This new device became amongst the first voice controlled speakers. It incorporated dual drivers and a passive bass radiator making it one of the loudest portable speakers for its size. The company raised four times of their target goal with their Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. In early 2015, RZA joined the Boombotix as the company's "Head Abbot." RZA's role would be focused on connecting Boombotix to more musicians and help marketing the product. In summer of 2015 Boombotix launched two new speaker products: the Boombot PRO and the Boombot MINI. The Boombot PRO is the company's first waterproof speaker. In Q4 of 2016, the company was supposed to undergo a change in management, yet none of the effect have been observed. Warrantied speakers, all orders from the end of 2016, and any sort of technical support are all nonexistent. Company may have filed for bankruptcy. The company has been unable to respond to consumer issues and complaints, garnering an F with the BBB and many negative reviews on yelp at their defunct San Francisco location. Product Reception By the end of 2013, Boombotix had already sold over sixty thousand Boombot units. Boombotix products received a fair amount of press and reviews for their portable speaker product, from the action sports and consumer electronics sectors alike. Boombotix has targeted the cycling community with a handlebar mount kit to clip the speaker on, which has garnered Boombotix a strong following in the urban cycling community. Headquarters Boombotix is headquartered in San Francisco but mostly operates out of Delaware now. And now it’s out of business .. Investors In 2014, the company received a $4 million investment from key players including David Dolby, Walden Venture Capital, Social+Capital Partnership, Baseline, Red Hills and Grishin Robotics. Sponsored Athletes Boombotix is known for being rooted in action sports, sponsoring professional athletes in cycling, skateboarding, skiing, and surfing. Working with athletes such as cyclists Jason Clary, Kevin "Squid" Bolger, and Matt "Slumworm" Reyes, skier Mike Hornbeck and skateboarders Jevelle Wiltz, Danny Ramirez, and '97 X-Games Street Skate gold medalist Mako Urabe, Boombotix has been able to continuously develop their product with input from a professional team. Promotions with Artists In 2014 Boombotix partnered with RZA to release a co-branded Wu-Tang Clan unit. The unit is unique in that it contains 8 tracks from the 20th Anniversary Wu-Tang Album, "A Better Tomorrow." The unit was released three weeks prior to the general release of the album. Additionally, the track "Big Horn B," was only ever released through the 3,000 limited edition units. They have also collaborated with The Grateful Dead, Del from Hieroglyphics and Achozen. External links Company website http://www.boombotix.com/ References Manufacturing companies based in San Francisco Electronics companies established in 2009 Loudspeaker manufacturers 2009 establishments in California Audio equipment manufacturers of the United States Manufacturing companies established in 2009
Valerie Aurora. Valerie Anita Aurora is an American software engineer and feminist activist. She was the co-founder of the Ada Initiative, a non-profit organization that sought to increase women's participation in the free-culture movement, open-source technology, and open source culture. Aurora is also known within the Linux community for advocating new developments in filesystems in Linux, including ChunkFS and the Union file system. Her birth name was Val Henson, but she changed it shortly before 2009, choosing her middle name after the computer scientist Anita Borg. In 2012, Aurora, and Ada Initiative co-founder Mary Gardiner were named two of the most influential people in computer security by SC Magazine. In 2013, she won the O'Reilly Open Source Award. Early life and education Daughter of Carolyn Meinel, Aurora was raised in New Mexico, and was home-schooled. She became involved in computer programming when she attended DEF CON in 1995. She studied computer science and mathematics at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. Programming She first became involved with file systems when she worked with ZFS in 2002 at Sun Microsystems. She later moved to IBM where she worked in the group of Theodore Ts'o, where they considered extensions to the ext2 and ext3 Linux file systems. While working at Intel, she implemented the ext2 dirty bit and relative atime. Along with Arjan van de Ven, she came up with the idea for ChunkFS, which simplifies file system checks by dividing the file system into independent pieces. She also co-organized the first Linux File Systems Workshop in order to figure out how to spread awareness of and raise funding for file system development. As of 2009, she worked for Red Hat as a file systems developer as well as a part-time science writer and Linux consultant. Ada Initiative Already an activist for women in open source, she joined Mary Gardiner and members of the Geek Feminism blog to develop anti-harassment policies for conferences after Noirin Shirley was sexually assaulted at ApacheCon 2010. Together with Gardiner, she founded the Ada Initiative in February 2011. The organization was named after Ada Lovelace, who worked with Charles Babbage and is considered to be the world's first computer programmer. Two years later, Aurora founded Double Union, a hackerspace for women, with Amelia Greenhall and Liz Henry. The Ada Initiative was shut down in October 2015. Writing Maintaining a blog since 2007, Aurora has written extensively about coding and the experiences of women in open source. This has included descriptions of DEF CON and the harassment that took place there. In 2013, Aurora provided a comment to The Verge about the Electronic Frontier Foundation's involvement in the legal defense of Andrew Auernheimer, who was in prison for hacking and had previously harassed Kathy Sierra. Aurora said "This is another case where they're saying, 'The cases we care about are the ones white men are interested in. We’re less interested in protecting women on the web.'" This comment was received negatively by the EFF's Director of International Freedom of Expression, Jillian York. Another 2013 controversy that received commentary from Aurora was Donglegate in which a female attendee at a nearly all-male PyCon attendee faced backlash for reporting a conversation overheard between two men sitting near her. Aurora condemned the threats sent to the woman and stated that Anonymous, by using large numbers of computers, was "distorting social pressure". When asked if firing one of the males was an appropriate response, she said "I don't have enough information to know that." Two years later, Aurora praised the gender ratio at PyCon and called Guido van Rossum and the Python community "the biggest success story for women in open source." In the same interview, she approved of the culture of the website Tumblr and stated that Linus Torvalds' daughter Patricia was a positive role-model. See also AdaCamp References Further reading External links Valerie Aurora on File Systems and the Ada Initiative: An Interview American feminists Free software programmers IBM employees Red Hat employees Intel people Linux people Living people New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology alumni People from New Mexico Place of birth missing (living people) Sex-positive feminists Sun Microsystems people American women founders 21st-century American women scientists 21st-century American scientists American women's rights activists Year of birth missing (living people)
Applied Films Corporation. Applied Films Corporation manufactured electrodes on glass for flat panel displays. These electrodes are used in liquid crystal displays (LCD), plasma displays, and auto-dimming car mirrors utilizing electrochromism. Major early customers were Burroughs (now Unisys) in New Jersey, IBM in East Fishkill and Kingston, New York, numerous Asian producers of LCDs, Gentex in Holland, Michigan, Plasmaco (now Panasonic Plasma Display Lab) in Highland, New York, and Samsung in Gumi, South Korea. The main method of coating these electrodes on glass was magnetron sputter deposition, specifically the planar magnetron . The main materials were indium tin oxide transparent electrical conductor, silicon dioxide diffusion barrier, and chromium and copper conductors. AFC progressed from supplying coated glass to supplying the thin film coating equipment to produce these electrodes. AFC merged with the large area display coating divisions of Donnelly Mirrors of Holland, Michigan (now Magna International of Ontario, Canada) in 1992, and with Balzers and Leybold (Unaxis Corporation) of Alzenau, Germany in 2000. In 2004 AFC acquired the equipment division of Helix Corporation in Tainan, Taiwan, and it 2005 acquired VACT, Inc. of Fairfield, CA. AFC also owned a 50% interest in STEC Ltd. from 1998 to 2005., STEC was a joint venture with Nippon Sheet Glass of Japan, which used AFC equipment for electrodes for LCDs. AFC sold its interest in this venture to Nippon Sheet Glass in 2005 as AFC focused exclusively on manufacturing thin film coating equipment. AFC was acquired by Applied Materials in 2006. At the time of acquisition, AFC operated three product divisions, Display, Web (roll to roll products) and coated glass (low-e coatings for architectural glass applications). Approximate AFC revenues at the time of acquisition were $220M with approximately 750 people. References Defunct companies based in Colorado
Mechanical aptitude. According to Paul Muchinsky in his textbook Psychology Applied to Work, "mechanical aptitude tests require a person to recognize which mechanical principle is suggested by a test item." The underlying concepts measured by these items include sounds and heat conduction, velocity, gravity, and force. A number of tests of mechanical comprehension and mechanical aptitude have been developed and are predictive of performance in manufacturing/production and technical type jobs, for instance. Background information Military information Aptitude tests have been used for military purposes since World War I to screen recruits for military service. The Army Alpha and Army Beta tests were developed in 1917-1918 so ability of personnel could be measured by commanders. The Army Alpha was a test that assessed verbal ability, numerical ability, ability to follow directions, and general knowledge of specific information. The Army Beta was its non-verbal counterpart used to evaluate the aptitude of illiterate, unschooled, or non-English speaking draftees or volunteers. During World War II, the Army Alpha and Beta tests were replaced by The Army General Classification Test (AGCT) and Navy General Classification Test (NGCT). The AGCT was described as a test of general learning ability, and was used by the Army and Marine Corps to assign recruits to military jobs. About 12 million recruits were tested using the AGCT during World War II, the NGCT was used by the Navy to assign recruits to military jobs sailors were tested using the NGCT during World War II. Additional classification tests were developed early in World War II to supplement the AGCT and the NGCT. These included: Specialized aptitude tests related to the technical fields (mechanical, electrical, and later, electronics) Clerical and administrative tests, radio code operational tests Language tests and driver selection tests. Mechanical aptitude and spatial relations Mechanical aptitude tests are often coupled together with spatial relations tests. Mechanical aptitude is a complex function and is the sum of several different capacities, one of which is the ability to perceive spatial relations. Some research has shown that spatial ability is the most important part of mechanical aptitude for certain jobs. Because of this, spatial relations tests are often given separately, or in part with mechanical aptitude tests. Gender differences There is no evidence that states there is a general intelligence difference between men and women. However, studies have found that those with lower spatial ability usually do worse on mechanical reasoning. One study suggests that pre-natal androgens such as testosterone positively affect performance in both spatial and mechanical abilities. Uses The major uses for mechanical aptitude testing are: Identify candidates with good spatial perception and mechanical reasoning ability Assess a candidate's working knowledge of basic mechanical operations and physical laws Recognize an aptitude for learning mechanical processes and tasks Predict employee success and appropriately align your workforce These tests are used mostly for industries involving: Manufacturing/Production Energy/Utilities The major occupations that these tests are relevant to are: Automotive and aircraft mechanics Engineers Installation/maintenance/repairpersons Industrial/technical (non-retail) sales representatives Skilled tradesperson such as electricians, welders, and carpenters Transportation trades/equipment operators such as truck driver and heavy equipment operator Types of tests US Department of Defense Test of Mechanical Aptitude The mechanical comprehension subtest of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), is one of the most widely used mechanical aptitude tests in the world. The test consists of ten subject-specific tests that measure your knowledge of and ability to perform in different areas, and provides an indication of your level of academic ability. The military would ask that all recruits take this exam to help them be placed in the correct job while enrolled in the military. In the beginning, World War I, the U.S. Army developed the Army Alpha and Beta Tests, which grouped the draftees and recruits for military service. The Army Alpha test measured recruits' knowledge, verbal and numerical ability, and ability to follow directions using 212 multiple-choice questions. However, during World War II, the U.S. Army replaced the tests with a newer and improved one called the Army General Classification Test. The test had many different versions until they improved it enough to be used regularly. The current tests consist of three different versions, two of which are on paper and pencil and the other is taken on the computer. The scores from each different version are linked together, so each score has the same meaning no matter which exam you take. Some people find that they score higher on the computer version of the test than the other two versions, an explanation of this is due to the fact that the computer based exam is tailored to their demonstrated ability level. These tests are beneficial because they help measure your potential; it gives you a good indicator of where your talents are. By viewing your scores, you can make intelligent career decisions. The higher score you have, the more job opportunities that are available to you. Wiesen Test of Mechanical Aptitude The Wiesen Test of Mechanical Aptitude is a measure of a person's mechanical aptitude, which is referred to as the ability use machinery properly and maintain the equipment in best working order. The test is 30 minutes and has 60 items that can help predict performance for specific occupations involving the operation, maintenance, and servicing of tools, equipment, and machinery. Occupations in these areas require and are facilitated by mechanical aptitude. The Wiesen Test of Mechanical Aptitude was designed with the intent to create an evolution of previous tests that helps to improve the shortcomings of these earlier mechanical aptitude tests, such as the Bennett Test of Mechanical Comprehension. This test was reorganized in order to lessen certain gender and racial biases. The reading level that is required for the Wiesen Test of Mechanical Aptitude has been estimated to be at a sixth-grade level, and it is also available in a Spanish-language version for Spanish-speaking mechanical workers. Overall, this mechanical aptitude test has been shown to have less of an adverse impact than previous mechanical aptitude tests. There are two scores given to each individual taking the test, a raw score and a percentile ranking. The raw score is a measure of how many questions (out of the 60 total) the individual answered correctly, and the percentile ranking is a relative performance score that indicates how the individual's score rates in relation to the scores of other people who have taken this particular mechanical aptitude test. Average test scores for the Wiesen Test of Mechanical Aptitude were determined by giving the test to a sample of 1,817 workers aged 18 and older working in specific industrial occupations that were mentioned previously. Using this sample of workers, it was determined that the Wiesen Test of Mechanical Aptitude has very high reliability (statistics) (.97) in determining mechanical aptitude in relation to performance of mechanical occupations. Bennett Test of Mechanical Comprehension The Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Test (BMCT) is an assessment tool for measuring a candidate's ability to perceive and understand the relationship of physical forces and mechanical elements in practical situations. This aptitude is important in jobs and training programs that require the understanding and application of mechanical principles. The current BMCT Forms, S and T, have been used to predict performance in a variety of vocational and technical training settings and have been popular selection tools for mechanical, technical, engineering, and similar occupations for many years. The BMCT is composed of 68 items, 30-minute time limited test, that are illustrations of simple, encountered mechanisms used in many different mechanisms. It is not considered a speeded time test, but a timed power test and the cut scores will provide the different job requirements for employers. The reading and exercise level of concentration for this test is below or at a sixth-grade reading level. In current studies of internal consistency reliability, the range of estimates were compared from previous studies and found out the range was from .84 to .92. So this shows a high reliable consistency when taking and measuring the BMCT. Muchinsky (1993) evaluated the relationships between the BMCT, a general mental ability test, and an aptitude classification test focused on mechanics, and supervisory ratings of overall performance for 192 manufacturing employees. Of the three tests, he found the BMCT to be the best single predictor of job performance (r = .38, p < .01). He also found that the incremental gain in predictability from the other tests was not significant. From a current employer standpoint, these people are typically using cognitive ability tests, aptitude tests, personality tests etc. And the BMCT has been used for positions such as electrical and mechanical positions. Also companies will use these tests for computer operators and operators in manufacturing. This test can also help eliminate any issues or variables to employers about who may need further training and instruction or not. This test will help show employers who is a master of the trade they are applying for, and will also highlight the applicants who still have some "catching up" to do. Stenquist Test of Mechanical Aptitude The Stenquist Test consist of a series of problems presented in the form of pictures, where each respondent would try to determine which picture assimilates better with another group of pictures. The pictures are mostly common mechanical objects which do not have an affiliation with a particular trade or profession, nor does the visuals require any prior experience or knowledge. Other variations of the test are used to examine a person's keen perception of mechanical objects and their ability to reason out a mechanical problem. For example, The Stenquist Mechanical Assemblying Test Series III, which was created for young males, consisted of physical mechanical parts for the boys to individually construct items with. See also Spatial ability References External links Mechanical Aptitude Practice Test Cognitive tests Recruitment Industrial and organizational psychology Intelligence tests
Outline of software development. mychillo The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to software development: Software development – development of a software product, which entails computer programming (process of writing and maintaining the source code), and encompasses a planned and structured process from the conception of the desired software to its final manifestation. Therefore, software development may include research, new development, prototyping, modification, reuse, re-engineering, maintenance, or any other activities that result in software products. What type of thing is software development? Software development can be described as all of the following: Research and development Vocation Profession Branches of software development Software engineering Computer programming Video game development Web development Web application development Mobile application development History of software development History of operating systems History of programming languages Software development participants Software developer Software engineer Consulting software engineer Computer programmer Software publisher Web developer Software development problems Shovelware Software bloat Software bug Software project management Software project management – art and science of planning and leading software projects. It is a sub-discipline of project management in which software projects are planned, monitored and controlled. Software configuration management Software development strategies Offshore software R&D – provision of software development services by an external supplier positioned in a country that is geographically remote from the client enterprise; a type of offshore outsourcing. Software development process Software development process Software release life cycle Stages of development Pre-alpha Alpha release Beta release Closed beta Open beta Release candidate Release Release to manufacturing (RTM) General availability release (GA) Web release (RTW) Technical support End-of-life – termination of support for a product Activities and steps Requirements analysis Software development effort estimation Functional specification Software architecture Software design Computer programming Software testing Software deployment Software release Product installation Product activation Deactivation Adaptation Software update Uninstallation Uninstaller Product retirement Software maintenance Software development methodologies Aspect-oriented software development Cleanroom Software Engineering Iterative and incremental development Incremental funding methodology Rapid application development IBM Rational Unified Process Spiral model Waterfall model Extreme programming Lean software development Scrum V-Model Test-driven development (TDD) Agile software development Cross-functional team Extreme programming Iterative and incremental development Pair programming Self-organization Timeboxing Supporting disciplines Computer programming Software documentation Software engineering Software quality assurance (SQA) User experience design Software development tools Programming tool Compiler Debugger Performance analysis Graphical user interface builder Integrated development environment Education relevant to software development Bachelor's degree in computer science – type of bachelor's degree awarded for study of computer science, emphasizing the mathematical and theoretical foundations of computing, rather than teaching specific technologies that may quickly become outdated. Such a degree is a common initial bachelor's degree for those entering the field of software development. Software development organizations While the information technology (IT) industry undergoes changes faster than any other field, most technical experts agree that one must have a community to consult, learn from, or share experiences with. Here is a list of well-known software development organizations. Association of Computer Engineers and Technicians (ACE – ACET) professional standards within the IT industry. Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is one of the oldest and largest scientific communities that deal with computing and technology. It covers a wide range of topics including e-commerce, bioinformatics, and networking. Association of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP) is an association for information professionals working independently or within the related industries. Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP) is a worldwide community that focuses on information technology education. It helps to connect experts from different IT fields. ASIS International (ASIS) is the leading community that connects security professionals from all over the world. Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP) connects developers and tech specialists who work with services and application on "try-before-you-buy" basis. Association for Women in Computing (AWC) organizes educational and networking events for female tech specialists in order to increase the share of women in the industry. Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA) gathers a community of African Americans working in information technology for both educational and professional growth. Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) advocates for open markets, systems and competition. Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) provides certifications for the IT industry, as well as educates individuals and group on changes and tendencies for the industry. Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) an organization concerned with technology's impact on society. The group provides the assessment of the tech development and its impact on various fields of life. Data & Analysis Center for Software (DACS) collects and serves the information about various entities and software they produce, as well as its trustworthiness. EDUCAUSE is a non-profit organization that states its mission as ‘advance higher education through information technology’. European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA) is a European organization that facilitates standards and information and communication systems. International Association of Engineers (IAENG) is an international association that used to be a private network. Nowadays, hosts annual World Congress on Engineering for R&D and engineers. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Computer Society provides educational services to its members worldwide. This society has one of the biggest networks and offers numerous perks to its members. Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) is a not-for-profit, that encourages the use of practices to protect the confidentiality and integrity of information resources. Network Professional Association (NPA) encourages its members to adhere to the code of ethics, follows the latest best practices and indulge in continuous self-education. Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA) is a professional association that offers research and advisory services. Society for Technical Communication (STC) offers support and knowledge sharing to specialists involved in technical communication and related fields. User Experience Professionals Association (UXPA) is an organization that shares knowledge about UX and helps its members to grow, develop and improve their products. Women in Technology (WIT) advocates the education of female representatives in the industry all the way from elementary training to advanced programs. Software development publications SD Times The Pragmatic Programmer Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software Introduction to Algorithms Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs Persons influential in software development Language creators, designers Kathleen Booth (Assembly) Bjarne Stroustrup (C++) Brendan Eich (JavaScript) James Gosling (Java) Guido van Rossum (Python) Influencers of software design Bill Joy Martin Fowler "Uncle Bob" Martin See also Product activation Software blueprint Software design Software development effort estimation Outline of web design and web development Outline of software engineering References Software development Software Development Software Development
Glenn Lipscomb. Dr. G. Glenn Lipscomb is an American chemical engineer, and Distinguished University Professor in Chemical Engineering at the University of Toledo. Education and career Lipscomb received his BS in chemical engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla in 1981. After working for Dow Chemical, he continued his education with a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1989. He was an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati from 1989 to 1994, when he moved to the University of Toledo. He was promoted to associate professor in 1995 and to full professor in 1999. He served as department chair from 2004 to 2019. Recognition In 2007, the Missouri University of Science and Technology inducted Lipscomb into its Academy of Chemical and Biochemical Engineers. Lipscomb is a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and a 2023 Fellow of the North American Membrane Society. References External links AIChe, Glenn Lipscomb Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American chemical engineers University of Toledo faculty Missouri University of Science and Technology alumni UC Berkeley College of Chemistry alumni Fellows of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers
Wally Timm. Wally Timm (August 8, 1896 – April 29, 1978) was an American aircraft designer, pilot and manufacturer. Early life Wally Timm was born in Lakefield, Minnesota, and with his family moved to Windom, Minnesota. He worked closely alongside his brother Otto Timm in the early days of aviation and was a pioneer in Hollywood films. Aviation career Timm started in aviation as early as 1910. Along with his brothers, Otto and Reuben, he first moved to San Diego, California before relocating in Venice, California. Timm began to work as a mechanic, servicing aircraft for Al Wilson, an exhibition pilot, in exchange for flying lessons. He briefly became a wing-walker, but mainly flew when Wilson performed as a wing-walker. In 1920, Timm's piloting skills were noted for flying an outdated biplane with a Curtiss OX-5 engine from Los Angeles to Bishop California over the mountains and desert. Trying his hand at air racing, Timm entered the Winter Air Tournament held in December 1920 at Daugherty Municipal Field in Long Beach. The events included a 100-mile free-for-all and a 60-mile handicap race in which Timm took third place in a 1916 biplane built by Eddie Barnhart. Timm joined Mercury Aviation in 1920 as an instructor, although he began to be in demand to fly for the nascent Hollywood film industry. In 1922, Timm and Ruel Short dismantled and relocated one of the Chaplin Airfield buildings to Santa Monica Airport to serve as a hangar for Timm's next ventures. Flying for Hollywood In the 1920s, Timm began to fly as one of the pilots that performed "stunts" in Hollywood productions, joining Paul Mantz and Frank Clarke as highly sought-out talent. One of Timm's early movie stunts involved launching a tethered Curtiss JN-4 from the Los Angeles Railway building for the movie Stranger than Fiction (1921). Timm was only the aircraft assembler and rope cutter on the unauthorized launch. In 1930, Wally and his brother worked with Al Wilson, another early movie stunt pilot, modifying aircraft for the epic 1930 Howard Hughes movie Hell's Angels. Wally and his brother Otto constructed a replica of a 1900 vintage Gustave Whitehead aircraft for the 1938 movie Men with Wings'''. Aviation manufacturing In 1934, Wally and his brother Otto joined to form a new company named the Timm Airplane Company at Glendale Airport, to produce the Timm T-S140. The design featured a high wing, powered by twin engines, using new features developed at NACA such as flaps and tricycle landing gear. Timm formed the Wally Timm Company in Glendale, California. He purchased the rights to the Kinner Sportwing, a side-by-side monoplane training aircraft, and modified it as a tandem-seat trainer to compete for the Civilian Pilot Training Program buildup prior to World War II. The Timm Aerocraft 2AS lost out to a Fairchild design.Underwood 2006, p. 102. Later years After World War II, Timm became a distributor for Taylorcraft aircraft at Whiteman Airport in California, as well as partnering with Norman Larson in Seattle to sell Beechcraft aircraft. One of their modified Beechcraft Bonanza's, the "Waikiki Beach", was piloted on a world record flight by Bill Odom and is displayed in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Timm remained an active pilot into the late 1950s. In his later years, Timm was remembered as a "cultured, refined gentleman of the old school." He died on April 29, 1978 (aged 81) at El Cajon, California. References Notes Bibliography Hansen, James R. ed. The Wind and Beyond: A Documentary Journey Into the History of Aerodynamics, Volume I: The Ascent of the Airplane. Washington, D.C.: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2003. Juptner, Joseph P. U.S. Civil Aircraft Series, Volume 8. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional, 1993. . Kelly, Shawna. Aviators in Early Hollywood (Images of America: California). Mount Pleasant, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, 2008. . Underwood, John. Grand Central Air Terminal (CA) (Images of Aviation). Mount Pleasant, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, 2006. . Wynne, H. Hugh. The Motion Picture Stunt Pilots and Hollywood's Classic Aviation Movies.'' Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1987. . External links The Wally Timm Company Aetna (Timm-Aetna) 1896 births 1978 deaths 20th-century American engineers Aviators from California Aviators from Minnesota Wing walkers People from Jackson County, Minnesota People from Windom, Minnesota
CHTC Fong's Industries. CHTC Fong's Industries Co., Ltd. is a company founded by Fong Sou Lam in 1963. Fong's Industries has principally focused on the business of designing, developing, manufacturing and selling of textile dyeing and finishing machinery. Starting in 1969, the business has been carried on under the name of Fong's National Engineering Co., Ltd. and becomes one of the first Hong Kong companies to explore the giant textile dyeing finishing market in China—a key turning point for the Group's future development. In 1990, Fong's Industries Co., Ltd. was the first company of its kind publicly listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. To accommodate the need of major raw materials for its manufacturing business, the Group also set up the stainless steel trading and stainless steel castings manufacturing businesses. Today the group has a workforce of approximately 4,700 employees serving over 5,700 customers worldwide. Portfolio Fong's Industries Group was founded in 1963 and was the first Chinese textile machinery manufacturer to acquire European companies such as Switzerland-based Xorella and German companies Then Maschinen-und Apparatebau GmbH and GTM Goller Textilemaschinen GmbH. It has also found Fong's Water Technology Co. Ltd. to provide water treatment and reuse systems with comprehensive services. The group consists of the following brands: FONG'S NATIONAL THEN GOLLER MONFORTS XORELLA FWT FONG’S STEEL TYCON ALLOY References External links Manufacturing companies established in 1963 Companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Offshore companies of Bermuda Textile companies of Hong Kong 1963 establishments in Hong Kong
Christmas tree (aviation). A Christmas tree was a type of alert area constructed by the United States Air Force (USAF) for the Strategic Air Command (SAC) during the Cold War. Oftentimes, bombers or tanker aircraft were stationed next to a readiness crew building (RCB), also known as 'mole hole' facilities. The alert apron, also known as an alert ramp, received the name 'Christmas tree', because in plan-form it resembled a tree of the same name. History Before the development of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, aircraft such as the Convair B-36 Peacemaker, Boeing B-50 Superfortress and Boeing B-47 Stratojet were parked on alert aprons at right angles. Due to the sheer size of the aircraft, this created a problem in launching aircraft efficiently and rapidly in the event of an emergency scramble, requiring a different solution to be devised. To fix this, aircraft were repositioned on specifically designed alert aprons arranged in herringbone configurations, which then allowed the airplanes to pull out onto the runway as quickly as possible. This meant that the aircraft would be positioned at 45 degrees in relation to an alert apron center-line, leading to a short taxiway and then onto the nearest runway(s). Two aircraft would be positioned on either side of the center-line, typically four deep on either side, sometimes with one additional aircraft being positioned directly aligned on the center-line farthest back. The success of this formation also led to the adoption of the setup for the Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter and KB-50 Superfortress aerial refueling aircraft. As newer bomber and aircraft eventually entered the SAC inventory, the 'Christmas tree' aprons would be used by the B-47 Stratojet, B-52 Stratofortress, Convair B-58 Hustler, General Dynamics FB-111, Rockwell B-1 Lancer, Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, and McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender aircraft. During an alert, flight crews and ground crews would run out of the alert facility, i.e. the 'mole hole', either to their awaiting airplanes, or to alert vehicles that they would drive to said aircraft. This latter option was particularly critical for crews of the last three aircraft on the ramp that were located several hundred yards from the alert facility. During an alert sortie, there was no specific departure order; the first plane ready to taxi was the first to leave. At this point, the aircraft would perform an 'elephant walk' to the duty runway, which was typically located close to the Christmas tree, due to the need to launch the aircraft as quickly as possible in response to a probable inbound enemy attack. If the aircraft were to be launched as quickly as possible, then a Minimum Interval Takeoff (MITO) would be performed, in order to lessen the chance that the aircraft would be caught on the ground in the event of a nuclear strike. Although it is unknown how much each 'Christmas tree' cost to construct and maintain, the Christmas tree at the former Loring Air Force Base, Maine is estimated to have cost $ (equivalent to $ in today's dollars) when it was constructed between 1959 and 1960. Although Strategic Air Command was disestablished in 1992, 'Christmas tree' aprons and their associated 'mole holes' continue to exist on numerous Air Force Global Strike Command, Air Combat Command, Air Mobility Command, Air Education and Training Command, Air Force Reserve Command, and Air National Guard bases, as well as two active Army Air Fields, and several civilian and joint civil-military airports that were previously SAC installations for all or part of the 1950s through the 1990s. References External links Strategic Air Command facilities United States Air Force Military airbases Military strategy
Sri Lanka Railways M2. The Sri Lanka Railways Class M2 is a class of Diesel-electric locomotive that was developed in 1954 by General Motors Diesel, Canada, and Electro-Motive Division, US for the use in Sri Lanka Railways. This is considered as one of the most successful locomotives in Sri Lanka. It is a General Motors Diesel (Canada) EMD G12 model using the EMD 567C, engine. Description Introduction From 1954, several batches of General Motors-manufactured locomotives were imported to Sri Lanka under "The Colombo Plan". Locally called a "Canadian" engine – there are actually two classes of Canadian Locomotives in Sri Lankan Railways; the other one is Class M4. Since these locomotives were imported under grants from the Canadian government, class M2 locomotives are named with Canadian province and city names. Out of all 14, The last two locomotives; No. 628 and No. 629, were made in the United States and imported for Cement Corporation, Sri Lanka. But they were later attached to Sri Lanka Railways' locomotive fleet. They were named after two local cities – Kankesanthurai and Galle – where the cement factories were located respectively. First five of the 14 Locomotives were officially handed over to the Government of Sri Lanka in December 1954, at a Ceremony with the Participation of Prime Minister Sir John Kotelawala and Chief Mechanical Engineer B. D. Rampala. Class M2 locomotives are classified in to 5 Sub classes and they were imported to Sri Lanka separately in 1954, 1958, 1959, 1961, and 1966 respectively. Entering into service and the Three Sisters Class M2 Locomotives entered service in January 1955. In 1955, Government of Sri Lanka introduced three main Luxury Express Passenger trains which from Colombo to Matara, Jaffna and Badulla. Due their female names, they were locally famous as the Three Sisters. On 24 October 1955, Colombo-Matara Ruhunu Kumari Express was inaugurated by Class M2 572 British Columbia, making it the first Long Distance luxury Passenger Service in Sri Lanka. On 23 April 1956, Colombo-Jaffna Yarl Devi Express was inaugurated by Class M2 569 Ontario locomotive. On 23 April 1956, Colombo-Badulla Udarata Menike Express was inaugurated by Class M2 572 British Columbia locomotive. Other than these trains, Class M2s hauled many important Passenger, Freight and Oil trains. With their Introduction, Efficiency, and Comfortability of the Sri Lanka Railways was rapidly increased in 1960s, which was undoubtedly known as the Golden Age of Sri Lanka Railways. Subclasses In service From the 1950s, Class M2 locomotives has been used in Both passenger and freight trains on Sri Lanka's railways for over 60 years. Despite the introduction of more modern types of traction, as of 2024, a significant number are still in use. Class M2 Locomotives were able to drive in every Railway Line in Sri Lanka except for the Kelani Valley Railroad due to its limitations. But on 7 July 2024, A Special Trial Ballast train hauled by Class M2A 591 Manitoba locomotive was driven in the Kelani Valley Railway line from Colombo to Avissawella order to check its efficiency and durability. The Trial was reportedly successful and another Special Ballast train was driven to Avissawella on 9 October 2024 hauled by Class M2 573 Quebec. Notable Trains Used to Haul Colombo-Jaffna Yarl Devi Express and Night Mail Express. Now Retired. Replaced by Class M10 & M11 Locomotives. Used to Haul Colombo-Badulla Udarata Menike Express and Podi Menike Express. Now Retired. Replaced by Class S14 Diesel Multiple Units. Used to Haul Colombo-Matara Ruhunu Kumari Express. Now Retired. Replaced by Class S13 Diesel Multiple Units. Used to Haul Colombo-Badulla Night Mail Express. Last used in 2018–19. Served with Class M6 Locomotives. Now Retired. Used to Haul No. 1009/10 Prestigious Colombo-Kandy Intercity Express. Served with Class M6 Locomotives. Partially Retired. Used occasionally. Used to Haul No. 8050 Colombo-Matara Express. Still in Service. Used to Haul Colombo-Batticaloa Meenagaya Intercity Express. Still in Service. Used to Haul Colombo-Batticaloa Udaya-Devi Express. Still in Service. Used to Haul Colombo-Trincomalee Night Mail Express. Now Retired. Replaced by Class M8 & M11 Locomotives. Used to Haul Colombo-Puttalam Mixed Train. Still in Service. Other than these trains, Class M2 Locomotives are being used to haul Oil and Freight Trains across the Country. As of 2024, They are still used for Regional trains in Northern and Batticaloa Railway Lines. Locomotive fleet Accidents and incidents No. 570 Alberta was trapped in KKS Running Shed from 1989 to 1997 due to the Civil-war after hauling the Last Night Mail Express to Kankasanthurei. Brought to Colombo by "Lanka Muditha" ship as parts, re-assembled and put back on the track. Number 571 Saskatchewan was completely destroyed on 14 September 1985 near the village of Mollipothana in Trincomalee, due to a Bomb blast by LTTE terrorists. Number 572 British Columbia hauled the Mannar-Colombo Night Mail Express which was Accidentally derailed near Wilwatte in Mirigama on the Early Morning of 16 October 1964 which killed 26 and injured 130 passengers. Number 572 British Columbia hauled an Oil Train which was Derailed due to an Act of Sabotage in Batticaloa in November 1989. Number 570 Alberta faced minor damage when a land mine exploded in Punani on 7 June 2007. Number 570 Alberta which hauled Vavuniya-Matara Express was severely damaged as a result of Colliding with a train at Pothuhera, Kurunegala on 30 April 2014. Number 591 Manitoba was damaged on 26 December 2004 when pulling the Matara Express and was hit by the Indian Ocean tsunami, and added back to service after four months. This locomotive was repainted to depict a sea wave on its livery. Number 628 Kankasanthurai was badly damaged by a land mine, but was rebuilt. Class M2 Locomotives celebrated their Golden Jubilee in service in 2004. A Special Train hauled by a Class M2 Locomotive reached Jaffna to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of its Service in 2014. Gallery References M02 Electro-Motive Division locomotives General Motors Diesel locomotives A1A-A1A locomotives Bo-Bo locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1954 5 ft 6 in gauge locomotives
Saltire Prize. The Saltire Prize, named after the flag of Scotland, was a national award for advances in the commercial development of marine energy. Announced in 2014, to be considered for the £10 million award, teams had to demonstrate, in Scottish waters, a commercially viable wave or tidal stream energy technology "that achieves the greatest volume of electrical output over the set minimum hurdle of 100 GWh over a continuous 2-year period using only the power of the sea." The Saltire Prize was open to any individual, team or organisation from across the world who believed they had wave or tidal energy technology capable of fulfilling the challenge. Applications could be submitted between March 2010 and January 2015. The funding was later allocated to the Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund as there were no eligible entries for the original prize. Additional prizes The Saltire Prize Lecture — delivered at the Scottish Renewables Marine Conference every September, it focused on the challenges in converting our world lead in wave and tidal energy to an industry of commercial scale, and in securing the economic, environmental and social benefits that this industry can bring. The lecture was designed to promote knowledge exchange between academics, industry, financiers and government. The Saltire Prize Medal — created to recognise outstanding contributions to the development of marine renewable energy. The Medal was awarded every March at the Scottish Renewables Annual Conference, Exhibition and Dinner. The Junior Saltire Prize — launched in 2011, this was aimed at primary and secondary school pupils and was designed to help raise awareness of the opportunities that Scotland has to exploit its marine renewables potential. It was sponsored by Skills Development Scotland and awards are presented to teams in three age groups: Primary 5-7 (age 8-12), Secondary 1-3 (age 11-15), and Secondary 4-6 (age 14-18). A Saltire Prize-sponsored doctorate — in collaboration with the Energy Technology Partnership (ETP). This was announced in August 2012. The research would consider how marine energy projects can be designed to maximise economic energy production while protecting the environment. Power of the Sea — a one-off junior photography competition sponsored by the Saltire Prize, aimed at raising awareness of the natural environment and its potential for marine energy. In December 2012, four young photographers from Scottish primary schools were selected by renowned Scottish photographer, David Eustace, as the national winners. The Junior Saltire Prize and the sponsored doctorate were discontinued in 2016, having cost £60,000 and £48,418 respectively. Saltire Prize Medal In 2011 the inaugural Saltire Prize Medal was awarded to Professor Stephen Salter, who led the team which designed the Salter's Duck device in the 1970s. Richard Yemm, inventor of the Pelamis Wave Energy Converter, was awarded the medal in 2012. Professor Peter Fraenkel, MBE, a pioneer for the development of marine turbines, won the 2013 medal. The 2014 medal went to Allan Thomson, founder of Aquamarine Power. No further medals have been awarded. History When it was first announced in 2008 by then First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond it was the world's largest ever single prize for innovation in marine renewable energy. The prize was overseen by the Challenge Committee. Saltire Prize policy was the responsibility of the Offshore Renewables Policy Team in the Scottish Government's Energy and Climate Change Directorate. When it launched, the criteria included: Open to any individual, team, or organsisation, from anywhere in the world, however projects had to be located in Scottish waters. Using the energy from waves and/or tidal streams to provide electrical output. Tidal barrages, offshore wind, osmotic power, ocean thermal energy conversion, and marine biomass were all excluded. Individual devices or arrays of multiple devices (comprising one or more technology) could be used, provided they were part of a discrete project with a single electricity connection point. Registration was open between June 2012 and January 2015. The winner would be whoever generated the most electricity within a continuous 2-year period before the deadline of June 2017, subject to a minimum hurdle of 100 GW. The winner was to be announced in July 2017. Competitors There were five entrants for the Saltire Prize, in a phase of the contest that ran until 2017, two wave energy and three tidal-stream: Pelamis Wave Power, although the company went into administration in November 2014. Aquamarine Power secured a 40 MW lease off the north-west coast of Lewis for their Oyster wave energy device, although this company also went into administration in 2015 before deploying any devices there. ScottishPower Renewables planned to deploy a 95 MW tidal array at the Ness of Duncansby site, in the Pentland Firth, however this project never progressed. West Islay Tidal was a proposed 30 MW project by DP Energy in the Sound of Islay, but again this project never progressed. The MeyGen tidal array developed by Atlantis Resources (now SAE Renewables) successfully installed phase 1a comprising four 1.5 MW turbines by February 2017 and was operational by April 2018. By March 2015, it was clear that the prize was not going to be claimed, however the Saltire Prize Challenge Committee considered other options to drive innovation in the wave and tidal power sectors in Scotland. In February 2015, the Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund was announced. Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund The Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund was set up in February 2015 to provide support to the Scottish tidal power sector, complementing the funding for Wave Energy Scotland. The fund was to support capital cost of developing innovations to reduce the cost of tidal energy, for projects to be deployed in Scotland before March 2020. These had to demonstrate value and the potential for positive social and economic benefit to Scotland. In August 2019, Orbital Marine Power was the first recipient of the fund, and awarded £3.4 million towards developing the Orbital O2 turbine. In March 2020, SIMEC Atlantis Energy (now SAE Renewables) was awarded £1.5 million towards developing a sub-sea hub to connect multiple turbines at the MeyGen project. See also List of engineering awards Crown Estate Marine Scotland Renewables Obligation Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999 Tidal stream generator Wave farm References External links Official website 2007 establishments in Scotland 2007 in science Awards established in 2007 British science and technology awards Business and industry awards Electrical engineering awards Renewable energy in Scotland Renewable energy technology Science and technology in Scotland Scottish awards Scottish coast Scottish Government Sustainability in Scotland Sustainable development Tidal power Wave power
Friedrich Simmel. Friedrich C. Simmel (born 1970) is a German biophysicist and professor at the Technical University Munich. He is a researcher in the field of DNA nanotechnology and is best known for his work on DNA nanomachines and dynamic DNA-based systems. Simmel received a PhD in experimental physics from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in 1999. From 2000 to 2002 he was a PostDoctoral researcher at Bell Labs. He joined the faculty of the Technical University Munich as a full professor in 2007. Awards and memberships 2006 Human frontier science program (HFSP) young investigator award 2009 Vice President (2009) of the International Society of Nanoscale Science, Computation and Engineering (ISNSCE) 2010 President (2009) of the International Society of Nanoscale Science, Computation and Engineering (ISNSCE) 2013 Elected Member of the National Academy of Science and Technology (acatech) References Works DNA-based self-assembly of chiral plasmonic nanostructures with tailored optical response, Anton Kuzyk, Robert Schreiber, Zhiyuan Fan, Günther Pardatscher, Eva-Maria Roller, Alexander Högele, Friedrich C. Simmel, Alexander O. Govorov, Tim Liedl, Nature, 483, 311-314, 2012 External links "Friedrich C. Simmel", Scientific Commons "Friedrich C. Simmel" , TU Munich home page "Friedrich C. Simmel" , Article on a website run by the German Department of Education and Research (German language) 1970 births Living people DNA nanotechnology people German biophysicists 21st-century German physicists Academic staff of the Technical University of Munich
Ayub Bridge. Ayub Bridge (Sindhi: ايوب پل; ), named after Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan (President of Pakistan), is a railway bridge over the Indus River between Rohri and Sukkur in Sindh province, Pakistan. The bridge is about 806 feet long, 247 feet high and cost Rs21.6 million. It has served the city for 50 years by providing a strong link for rail traffic between Sukkur and Rohri. Before this, Lansdowne Bridge was the railway link between Sukkur and Rohri. The foundation stone of this steel arch bridge was laid on 9 December 1960 and inaugurated by President Muhammad Ayub Khan on 6 May 1962. The consulting engineer was David B. Steinman. The Ayub Bridge became the world's third longest railway arch span and the first railway bridge in the world to be slung on coiled wire rope suspenders. History Before the bridges, the transport between Sukkur and Rohri was by boats and steamers. Boatman Mir Mohammad alias Miroo recalled how his father Yar Mohammad used to run a small service between Sukkur and Rohri till the early sixties. “Very few people had cars or motorcycles at that time and therefore motor boats were the only way of communication.” Some people used to cross the River Indus by Lansdowne Bridge on bicycle. The train used to run in the center of the bridge and pedestrians and cyclists used the wooden walkways at both sides. The fare for a single adult passenger was one anna (0.06 PKR) back in the day. They charged half for a child. The construction of Ayub Bridge started on November 26, 1959, and its foundation stone was laid on December 9, 1960, by the then minister of railways and communication, Khan FM Khan, Khan of Shewa. The Kaiser family, namely Iqbal Kaiser played a pivotal role in the funding and acquisition of engineering staff for the project. The contractor of the bridge was M/S Dorman Long Gammon of London, famous for Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932. The consulting engineer was DB Steinman of New York – the man who reconstructed the famous Brooklyn Bridge in New York. Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan inaugurated the bridge on the Sunday 6 May 1962. Construction work The rationale behind construction of this arc bridge over the Indus is rocks in the river bed which do not allow the pillars to withstand the constant flow and pressure of water for a long time. The construction phase of Ayub Bridge was interesting as first of all four huge cemented abutments, two on each side of the river banks, were made. These abutments have to bear weight of the arc. In arc bridges, construction work has to start simultaneously from both sides of the river. Its weight was distributed half on each side. Therefore, two half arches supporting the deck with cables were built which were joined as one, to the amusement of the people witnessing the activity. The engineer would climb up the arcs through a ladder every day to physically check the strength of hundreds of rivets used in the bridge. Rivet is a metal pin used for fastening two pieces of metal together. It was a frightening sight not only for us but also for others watching, with the mighty Indus flowing beneath. Ayub Bridge is a living example of a magnificent structure built with the joint efforts of engineers of Dorman Long and Company and the Pakistan Railways. It also reflects the passion and sincerity of the people at the helm of affairs of Railways at that time to bring about tangible improvements in the country's transportation systems. When the great steel Ayub arch was constructed (1960–1962), railway traffic was shifted from Lansdowne Bridge to it. About a hundred feet apart, the two bridges seem like one from a distance. The Ayub arch became the world's third longest railway arch span and the first bridge in the world to have "the railway desk slung on coiled wire rope suspenders." See also Sukkur District Lansdowne Bridge Rohri Sukkur Barrage Sukkur References Bridges in Sindh Buildings and structures in Sindh Bridges over the Indus River Railway bridges in Pakistan Tourist attractions in Sukkur Bridges completed in 1962 1962 establishments in Pakistan
Vikram Lal. Vikram Lal (born 1942) is an Indian businessman. Lal is the founder and former CEO of Eicher Motors, an Indian commercial vehicle manufacturer based in New Delhi, India. He has been a member of the board of directors of The Doon School. As per the Forbes list of India’s 100 richest tycoons, as of 9 October 2024, Vikram Lal and his family are ranked 31st with a net worth of $8.8 billion. Early life and education Vikram Lal was born in 1942. He studied mechanical engineering at the Technische Universität Darmstadt. Business career In 1966, Lal joined Eicher India, part of his family owned companies established by his father, Man Mohan Lal, in 1948. Eicher started as the first tractor manufacturer in India in 1959 under the company name Eicher Tractor Corporation of India Pvt. Ltd., as a joint venture with German tractor manufacturer Eicher, and eventually branched out into light commercial vehicles in 1986, and then into heavy vehicles. In 1985, he took a step back in detailed management of his companies as result of a heart bypass, which also contributed to his later decision of handing over management control of his companies to professionals. In 1997, Lal retired from all executive roles in his companies and handed control over to professional managers. Personal life Lal is married to Anita Lal and they have 3 children. Anita founded the lifestyle brand Good Earth. His son, Siddhartha Lal, became CEO of Eicher Motors in 2006. One of his daughters, Simran, runs the family's two lifestyle brands, Good Earth and Nicobar. Lal spends his retirement years volunteering at his own Goodearth Education Foundation. References External links Interview by The Tribune - Vikram Lal, The Times of India 1942 births Living people Businesspeople from Delhi Indian billionaires The Doon School alumni Technische Universität Darmstadt alumni Eicher Motors
Tom Johnson (astronomer). Thomas Jasper Johnson or Tom Johnson (January 11, 1923 – March 13, 2012) was an American electronics engineer and astronomer who founded Celestron, a company which manufacturers telescopes, which revolutionized the amateur astronomy industry and hobby. Sky & Telescope magazine has called him "among the most important figures shaping the last half century of amateur astronomy." Johnson was born in 1923. He served as a military radar technician during World War II. In 1955, Johnson, an engineer, established Valor Electronics, which produced electronics for military and industrial use. Valor, which was headquartered in Gardena, California, had more than one hundred employees by the early 1960s. Johnson, who had a strong interest in amateur astronomy, originally created Celestron as the "Astro-Optical" division of Valor Electronics in 1960. Around 1960, Johnson had been looking for a telescope which could be used by his two sons, but found no child-friendly models on the market at the time. Johnson built a new telescope, a 6-inch reflector telescope, by himself, in 1960. He was visiting his brother in Costa Mesa, California when he came upon his nephew, Roger, trying to grind the 6 inch diameter lens he purchased from the clearance table at a local hobby shop. Roger was tired of the project and offered the lens-grinding kit to his uncle. Thomas Jasper took the kit home and after several days of hand grinding, he invented a machine that would grind the lens for him. Thus, by accepting the lens grinding kit from his nephew, Roger L. Johnson, "TJ" (as the family called him) created that first lens of many. On July 28, 1962, he publicly unveiled a new invention, a portable -inch Cassegrain telescope, at the party held by the Los Angeles Astronomical Society on Mount Pinos. The new transportable telescope proved so groundbreaking that Johnson's invention was featured on the cover of a 1963 issue of Sky & Telescope. Johnson's interest in telescopes soon became a full-fledged business. Johnson's new company, Celestron, which descended from the "Astro-Optical" division of Valor Electronics, soon began selling more sophisticated Schmidt–Cassegrain telescopes in models ranging from just 4 inches to 22 inches. However, the Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope proved difficult to mass-produce because the models needed Schmidt corrector plate, an advanced aspheric lens, which could be hard to manufacture. To solve this production problem, Johnson and the company's engineers invented a new type of telescope, the Celestron 8, in 1970. The Celestron 8 was more compact, affordable and easier to manufacture than traditional telescopes, like the Schmidt–Cassegrain. Johnson's new telescope proved very popular in the amateur astronomy and educational industries, allowing the hobby to rapidly expand and reach more consumers. Johnson sold Celestron in 1980. Johnson was awarded the David Richardson Medal from the Optical Society of America in 1978, the Bruce Blair Medal from the Western Amateur Astronomers in 1993, and the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Small Telescope & Astronomical Society in 2009. Tom Johnson died at 5 a.m. PST on March 13, 2012, at the age of 89. References 1923 births 2012 deaths American electronics engineers American astronomers Amateur astronomers American technology company founders American military personnel of World War II
ITT System 12. System 1240 (later System 12) was a new Digital Telephone Exchange developed in 1977 by ITT Corporation. It reportedly cost US$1 billion. It anticipated the features of ISDN of the 1990s. It was designed at the Advanced Technology Center (Stamford, Connecticut and then Shelton, Connecticut.) Manufacturing was by ITT's subsidiaries such as BTM in Belgium, where the first production system was installed at Brecht in August 1982. Initial sales, particularly in Europe and Mexico, were strong, but the new system took longer than expected to integrate, with further losses. Against the advice of headquarters, ITT Telecommunications (ITT Kellogg) in Raleigh, North Carolina undertook the conversion to the US market, and although sales were announced in 1984 and 1985, the attempt ultimately failed, in early 1986. Reception Fortune reported that "Araskog focused the company on an all-consuming push to develop and market System 12" and "shoveled profits from good businesses into System 12's insatiable maw". System 12 was intended to operate in all markets, and in all modes, from local switches to long distance. References ITT Inc. Telephone exchange equipment Telephone exchanges
Arshaluys P. Tarverdyan. Arshaluys Poghos Tarverdyan (, born 15 October 1945) is an Armenian scientist and author. He has published 152 scientific articles (including 26 describing copyrighted inventions) and five monographs, one of which was published in English in Germany by the Hohenheim University Scientific Council. He has also written two textbooks for engineering speciality students. Tarverdyan graduated from the faculty of Agricultural Machinery of former Armenian Agriculture Institute in 1968. He has been rector of the Armenian National Agrarian University since 1988 and is the Combined Professor of the Chair of material's resistance. Tarverdyan has studied architectonical, anatomy-morphological structural principles of stems identifying several patterns that had not previously been observed. These patterns are mostly used for calculating and projecting engineering and machine-building structures and details ensuring required hardness and strangeness at minimum expense. Tarverdyan has developed eight patented cutting devices. He is a corresponding member of National Academy of Sciences of Armenia. Scientific acknowledgements and awards 2000 - medal after Anania Shirakatsi 2004 - golden medal from Russian State Agrarian University named after K.A.Timiryazev 2007 - prize and medal after the Socrates 2011 - title of honored scientist on the RA by the decree of the RA President 2011 - medal of Artsakh's Gratitude by the decree of the NKR President References 1945 births Living people Armenian scientists
Nigeria Airways Flight 925. On 20 November 1969, Nigeria Airways Flight 925, a Vickers VC10 aircraft, crashed while on approach to Lagos International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria killing all 87 people on board. Flight Nigeria Airways Flight 925 was en route from London to Lagos with intermediate stops in Rome and Kano. It was piloted by captain Valentine Moore, 56, first officer John Wallis, 30, flight engineer George Albert Baker, 50, and navigator Basil Payton, 49. With its undercarriage down and its flaps partially extended, the VC10 struck trees short of runway 19 at Lagos. The aircraft crashed into the ground in an area of thick forest and exploded. All 76 passengers and 11 crew on board were killed. Flight 925 was the first ever fatal crash involving the Vickers VC10 as well as the deadliest accident or incident. Cause Immediately after the accident, three automatic weapons were found in the wreckage. To counter a rumour that a fight between a prisoner and two guards caused the crash, a ballistics expert was consulted. It was learned that none of the weapons had been recently fired. The cause of the crash was not determined with certainty. The flight recorder was not working at the time of the crash. It was determined to be most probably due to the flight crew being unaware of the aircraft's actual altitude during the final approach and allowing the aircraft to come below safe height when not in visual contact with the ground. Fatigue may have also been a contributing factor. See also List of accidents and incidents involving airliners by airline References Aviation accidents and incidents in Nigeria Aviation accidents and incidents in 1969 Accidents and incidents involving the Vickers VC10 Airliner accidents and incidents involving controlled flight into terrain Nigeria Airways accidents and incidents November 1969 events in Africa 1969 disasters in Nigeria
John Joseph Bramah. John Joseph Bramah (1798–1846), nephew of inventor and locksmith Joseph Bramah, was an English ironmaster and engineer. Career On 1 July 1832, the partnership between J.J. Bramah and his cousins Francis Bramah and Edward Bramah, described as "Engineers, Millwrights, Ironfounders, Smiths, and Plumbers", was dissolved as J.J. Bramah left to run his own business. Bramah, together with George Stephenson and Robert Stephenson, created a substantial railway equipment business at Pimlico, London, starting from his uncle Joseph Bramah's business. The 1815 Beauties of England and Wales described it as "the chief ornament of this neighbourhood", being the "amazingly extensive and interesting manufactory of Mr. Bramah, the engineer, locksmith, and engine-maker", and praising it in terms: "These works have been deemed worthy the inspection of royalty, and have excited the admiration of the most powerful emperor of Christendom, Alexander of Russia." In 1836, Bramah was insured as an "iron founder", of 4 Eccleston Place, Pimlico. In 1839, with Charles Fox (1810–1874), the company became Bramah, Fox and Co at Smethwick, near Birmingham. It was known as the London Works. In 1840, Messrs. John Joseph Bramah and others, "engineers", had "the contract for supplying the iron work of the Black wall Railway". 1844 Bramah, Ironmaster of Dudley, was a member of the committee of management of the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway. 1844 Bramah purchased share in the Broomfield ironworks, at which point the name of the partnership became Bramah, Barrows, and Hall. 1845 Bramah of Ashwood House purchased Horseley Ironworks and intended to put them into full operation, according to the Wolverhampton Chronicle. 1846 13 September: Death of Bramah, an extensive ironmaster and celebrated engineer, at Ashwood House, Kingswinford in his 48th year. Messrs Barrows and Hall purchased his share in the partnership Bramah, Barrows, and Hall from his estate. Family Bramah was the nephew of Joseph Bramah of Ashdown House, Kingswinford. He was married to Martha Barracliff (1801–1870). They lived in Staffordshire. When Bramah's sister Esther Frances Bramah died, the couple acted as wards for the orphaned children Thomas Bramah Diplock and Samuel Robey Diplock. Thomas Bramah Diplock is chiefly famous for having been the coroner for some of the "Jack the Ripper" murders. Bibliography British History Online: Chapter IV: Pimlico References External links Casebook: Thomas Bramah Diplock 1798 births 1846 deaths English ironmasters English engineers 19th-century English businesspeople
Android Re-Enactment. Android Re-Enactment is a 2011 Canadian science fiction film directed by Darryl Shaw and starring Jeff Sinasac, Adam Buller, and Sarah Silverthorne. The film depicts a stylized, retro future in an unspecified year, in which genetically engineered organic androids, visually indistinguishable from humans, are manufactured by the Empathtek Corporation. The latest and most advanced model they have designed, soon to be released, is the PX-50. The plot focuses on a young Socionics Engineer named Ermus Daglek who has retired from Empathtek, but who has turned down the millions he is owed in residuals in exchange for the company donating him a defunct factory and asking no questions. He uses the factory to manufacture androids based on key individuals from the time in his life when he experienced his greatest heartbreak, and runs simulations to see if any other courses of action on his part could have produced an outcome with romantic success. Plot Ermus Daglek (Jeff Sinasac), retired Empathtek Socionics Engineer, uses the defunct factory he's been given by the company in exchange for waiving the rights to his residuals, to manufacture androids based on his lost love, Candy Droober (Sarah Silverthorne), her father, Franklin Droober (Bill Poulin), her mother, Maureen Droober (Melissa Cline), and his romantic rival, Trace Mayter (Adam Buller). Deciding that the key moment where he lost any chance of becoming Candy's lover was a dinner party where the real life Trace Mayter humiliated Ermus in front of Candy and her family, he recreates Candy's dining room in a test lab, and goes about simulating the dinner several times, trying different conversational tactics and outfits. Frustrated that no attempt yields any result but Candy and Trace becoming lovers, he reprograms the Franklin android to murder the Trace android over dinner. Having vented his anger, Ermus repairs Trace and goes back to new simulations, unaware that the damage inflicted by Franklin has set off malfunctions in Trace, gradually allowing him to remember the prior simulations and realize what and who he is. Trace eventually goes berserk over dinner, beheading Franklin and damaging Maureen, before Candy and Ermus escape to the main laboratory. Ermus deactivates Candy and, armed with an Ion Disruptor (a ray gun designed to disable androids), goes in search of Trace elsewhere in the lab. After battling the headless Franklin android, he confronts Trace and forces him to deactivate himself. Ermus attempts to repair the androids and reprograms Candy to be less intelligent and a nymphomaniac. His attempted seduction of her fails, though, as, even though Ermus has wiped her memory banks, she retains preview files of Trace and is still in love with him. Enraged, Ermus chains up Trace before reactivating him. Trace tells Ermus that he's infiltrated the mainframe computer and broadcast his personality via wireless signal to all the androids. Ermus sets about to dismember him to sell for scrap, but Trace seals the laboratory, cuts off the oxygen supply and begins filling it with carbon monoxide. He agrees to let Ermus live if Ermus will unchain him and re-initiate his motor functions, but when Ermus does so, Trace destroys the mainframe before escaping the complex. Ermus is forced to call in Kray Facer (Todd Thomas Dark), an Empathtek android hunter, to retrieve Trace. The two go in search of Trace, but can't find him. Kray gives Ermus a revolver with explosive tipped bullets, instructing him to shoot Trace in the face if he sees him again. Ermus returns to the lab which, after the mainframe was destroyed, lost all of its security systems. He finds the doors unlocked and sees signs of an intruder within. When he goes to the deactivated Candy android, he finds her inactive form being raped by an apparent transient (Dean Tedesco). A fight ensues and Ermus winds up shooting the transient with one of the explosive shells. He finds the transient to be wearing a gold cross which was always worn by Trace. Not knowing that Trace had discarded the necklace after fleeing the lab, he comes to the idea that the transient must be Trace wearing a new facial mold. Ermus drags the transient back to the lab and attempts to remove his main processor chip by drilling into the transient's ear. He realizes his mistake when he finds only blood and brain matter within and, panicking, calls Kray again. Kray shows up but refuses to have anything to do with what is a blatant murder by Ermus. After Kray leaves, Ermus finds an empty photograph frame that used to contain a picture of the real Candy Droober, and realizes Trace has likely gone in search of his real-life counterpart's former wife and daughter. Ermus rides his scooter to New Jersey, where Candy lives with her daughter, Tristan. The real life Trace died in a car accident some time ago. Barging into their home, he doesn't find Trace, but Tristan lets slip that the android version was there previously and Ermus decides to wait for his return. When Trace does come back, Ermus shoots him in the face, as instructed. Trace says goodbye to his family before dying messily when his head explodes. Ermus returns to the laboratory, and wires up the corpse of the transient to take Trace's place at dinner. He recommences the simulations with his heavily damaged family. Cast Production Principal photography started in early July 2008, and extended until late October 2008, mostly in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, with some limited filming also occurring in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Post production continued through late 2010. Awards Best Science Fiction Film, Moving Images Film Festival, 2011. References External links Android Re-Enactment on Facebook Android Re-Enactment on Twitch Android Re-Enactment on Dread Central Android Re-Enactment on Quiet Earth Android Re-Enactment on Bloody Disgusting Android Re-Enactment on I09 Android Re-Enactment on Horror Society Article from Niagara Review Android Re-Enactment @ Niagara Macabrecon Article from Niagara Review about shooting Android Re-Enactment in Niagara Falls Canadian science fiction films 2011 science fiction films 2011 films English-language Canadian films Films about androids 2010s English-language films 2010s Canadian films English-language science fiction films
Fairbanks Morse 38 8-1/8 diesel engine. The Fairbanks-Morse 38 8-1/8 is a diesel engine of the two-stroke, opposed-piston type. It was developed in the 1930s, and is similar in arrangement to a contemporary series of German Bombers aircraft diesels. The engine was used extensively in US diesel electric submarines of the 1940s and 1950s, as backup power on most US nuclear submarines, as well as in other marine applications, stationary power generation, and briefly, locomotives. A slightly modified version, the 38ND 8-1/8, continues in service on Los Angeles-, Seawolf-, and Ohio-class nuclear submarines of the US Navy. The 38 8-1/8 has been in continuous production since its development in 1938, and is currently manufactured by a descendant of Fairbanks-Morse, FMDefense, in Beloit, Wisconsin. Specifications The 38 8-1/8 engines are inline diesel engines, with combustion occurring between two opposed pistons within a single cylinder liner. The engine has a bore of 8-1/8 inches (206.4 mm), a stroke of 10 inches (254.0 mm) for each piston, and the cylinder height is . The engine block is of dry block construction. They have been manufactured with between four and twelve cylinders, depending on application. Vertical force is transmitted from the opposed trunk style pistons to either an upper or lower crankshaft. The two crank shafts are geared together by a vertical drive shaft. Pistons are removed by either removing the top crankshaft, and removing from the top, or by removing through the lower crank case access doors. The lower crankshaft is timed 12 degrees before the upper crankshaft in order to expel exhaust gasses prior to the admittance of scavenging air. Fresh air cleanses the cylinders of remaining exhaust prior to the exhaust ports being covered by the rising lower piston. As this engine is of two stroke opposed-piston design, unlike most four stroke engines it has no cylinder head nor mechanical valves. Instead, ports in the cylinder liners provide incoming air and exhaust. The two camshafts on the engine provide timing for two injection pumps per cylinder. Porting allows exhaust gases to be expelled and scavenge air to be taken in by a positive air box pressure. Intake air is provided by an engine driven Roots blower or turbo-supercharger. Applications North America Historically, the opposed-piston engine was used in U.S. diesel-electric submarines of World War II and the 1950s. Surviving diesel-electric submarines with these engines include , , , and . This engine was also used in surface ships, notably in the diesel-electric s and in the geared s. When the innovative but faulty "pancake" engines of the 1950s proved unworkable, they were replaced with World War II-style Fairbanks-Morse engines, and these remained standard on US diesel-powered submarines through the early 1960s. Variants of the 38 8-1/8 and other Fairbanks-Morse engines provided (and continue to provide) backup power on US nuclear submarines commissioned through the 1990s. In addition, certain ice-breaking class vessels of the Canadian Coast Guard used Fairbanks Morse opposed piston engines in the operation of a diesel electric/gas-turbine electric operation. The former CCGS Norman McLeod Rogers, which ended its service under the Chilean flag as is one such example. Current marine Opposed-Piston applications include use as main propulsion engines and service generators. The USCG s use the 38 8-1/8 engine in a CODOG arrangement, where the diesel engine provides cruise propulsion, and a gas-turbine provides propulsion where high speeds are required. The Fairbanks Morse Opposed Piston engine is also used as a stationary power generator engine, both in primary and standby duties. Railroad Service During the 1940s and 1950s, Fairbanks-Morse attempted to market their opposed-piston powered line of diesel-electric locomotives, with their entire post-war lineup using the 38 8-1/8 in some form. They had good success with their early switching locomotives, but the 38D 8-1/8 experienced problems in mainline service that were not encountered in naval service. As originally configured for the Erie-Built locomotives of 1945, the engine ran at a Brake Mean Effective Pressure of 95.2 psi, as opposed to the 85 psi rating for Navy engines and higher than the engines in competing locomotives. Submarines gave the engines access to cool, sea-level air, but on Western railroads like Union Pacific, the engines were operating under heavy loads at high altitude, high temperature, and low humidity, and often in the wake of waste heat from leading locomotives. Locomotives had closed-loop cooling systems while submarines drew cooling water from the sea. Because the exhaust port was located near the lower pistons, the engines suffered excessive lower-piston temperatures which led to piston failure, which could then cause cylinder liner damage and a possible crankcase explosion. F-M immediately attempted to address the problem but it was seven to eight years before a piston was developed that could stand up to railroad service. Replacement of a single power assembly (cylinder liner and its two pistons) required moving the locomotive under a crane and removing (and later reinstalling) the locomotive's roof hatch, upper crankcase, upper caps, upper connecting rod caps, and upper crankshaft, making the operation much more time- and resource-intensive than a power assembly change on other engine types. Fairbanks-Morse learned that in shops that maintained multiple locomotive types, where the foreman was under pressure to repair as many locomotives as possible, repair of OP engines that required extensive disassembly was often delayed in favor of other types of locomotives that could be turned around more quickly. Fairbanks-Morse exited the locomotive market in 1963. The locomotive market share was eventually dominated by products from GM's Electro-Motive Division, the American Locomotive Company, and General Electric. Soviet Union The 38 8-1/8 was reverse-engineered in the USSR and used as a primary engine for railroad locomotives. The first Soviet mass-produced diesel locomotive, TE3, was powered by a 1470 kW (2000 hp) 2D100 engine, direct descendant of the marine 38 8-1/8 engine. The TE3 was produced in high numbers (up to 7600 units), and proved to be a reliable mainline freight locomotive. Later this engine evolved to the turbocharged 10D100, rated at 2200 kW (3000 hp). It was used as powerplant for later 2TE10L, 2TE10M, 2TE10U series locomotives. Unfortunately, the 10D100 engine became infamous for its high rate of failures and low operating availability. Currently, many TE10 locomotives remain in service in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, and Kazakhstan. However, they are often re-engined with more modern and fuel-efficient 4-stroke engines during rebuilding programs. 13D100 variant was used as a generating set in diesel-electric Dobrynya Nikitich-class icebreakers and their derivatives. Developments The 38 8-1/8 underwent development to provide for better fuel efficiency and lessen emissions. In the 1990s, Fairbanks-Morse applied their "Enviro Design" technology to run the opposed piston engine as a dual diesel and natural gas engine. This system injects a small 'pilot' amount of diesel fuel to aid in the combustion of natural gas within the combustion chamber while controlled with computerized electronics. See also List of Fairbanks-Morse locomotives References External links Official Fairbanks Morse Website Marine diesel engines Diesel locomotive engines Two-stroke diesel engines Opposed piston engines Piston ported engines 38 8-1 8 diesel engine
Intelligent Diesel Engine. MAN B&W diesel and New Sulzer Diesel are developing “smart” camshaftless engines utilizing electronically controlled fuel injection and exhaust valve actuation systems. Research and development has advanced so that smart low-speed diesel engines are being installed in new ships. Intelligent System The concept of the intelligent engine revolves around the idea that the engine is thinking for itself. The brain of the system is an electronic control system that analyzes the condition of the engine and the operation of the engine’s system (The fuel injection, exhaust valve, cylinder lube oil and turbo charging system). Along with the control and timing needed to make the diesel run smoothly, the intelligent diesel goes beyond that by monitoring and evaluating the condition of the engine, based on engine conditions the smart system can actively protect the engine from damage due to overload, lack of maintenance and maladjustment. The intelligent engines’ finite control gives the bridge the ability to manually adjust more variables than the current camshaft system. Along with manual controls, operators can specifically design programs that optimize fuel economy, emission, turbo output, allowing for high performance under different loads. Replacing the Camshaft The convenience of the camshaft is that not only does it keep the timing of the opening and closing valves and injecting fuel through its cams, it is also responsible for the mechanical force that is required to actually open and close the valves and power the port and helix fuel pump. The camshaftless intelligent system uses the rotation of the engine to power an axial piston pump that pressurizes a hydraulic oil system. The potential energy from the hydraulic pressure is directed by the electronically controlled servo system to drive InFI (Intelligent Fuel Injection) and InVA (Intelligent Valve Actuation) systems. Improving the Marine Diesel Engine The intelligent, camshaftless Diesel engines offer several potential improvements for marine diesel main engines such as variable electronically controlled timing of fuel injection and exhaust valves for lower specific fuel consumption and higher performance. The electronic controls also offer lower RPM for manoeuvering, including better astern and crash stop performance. With the smarter InFI system the ship operator can more precisely control fuel consumption and improve emission characteristics. The highly integrated monitoring system allows for the potential of longer time between overhauls by equalizing the thermal load between cylinders. The Smart Diesel in Service The Bow Cecil chemical tanker was one of the first ships built with an Intelligent main propulsion engine. The success of the MAN diesel 7S50ME-c engine in Bow Cecil, proved to the industry that intelligent diesel is a viable option. References Diesel engines
Center of pressure. Center of pressure may refer to: Center of pressure (fluid mechanics) Center of pressure (terrestrial locomotion)
Center of pressure (terrestrial locomotion). In biomechanics, center of pressure (CoP) is the term given to the point of application of the ground reaction force vector. The ground reaction force vector represents the sum of all forces acting between a physical object and its supporting surface. Analysis of the center of pressure is common in studies on human postural control and gait. It is thought that changes in motor control may be reflected in changes in the center of pressure. In biomechanical studies, the effect of some experimental condition on movement execution will regularly be quantified by alterations in the center of pressure. The center of pressure is not a static outcome measure. For instance, during human walking, the center of pressure is near the heel at the time of heelstrike and moves anteriorly throughout the step, being located near the toes at toe-off. For this reason, analysis of the center of pressure will need to take into account the dynamic nature of the signal. In the scientific literature various methods for the analysis of center of pressure time series have been proposed. Measuring CoP CoP measurements are commonly gathered through the use of a force plate. A force plate gathers data in the anterior-posterior direction (forward and backward), the medial-lateral direction (side-to-side) and the vertical direction, as well as moments about all 3 axes. Together, these can be used to calculate the position of the center of pressure relative to the origin of the force plate. Relationship to balance CoP and center of gravity (CoG) are both related to balance in that they are dependent on the position of the body with respect to the supporting surface. Center of gravity is subject to change based on posture. Center of pressure is the location on the supporting surface where the resultant vertical force vector would act if it could be considered to have a single point of application. A shift of CoP is an indirect measure of postural sway and thus a measure of a person’s ability to maintain balance. People sway in the anterior-posterior direction (forward and backward) and the medial-lateral direction (side-to-side) when they are simply standing still. This comes as a result of small contractions of muscles in the body to maintain an upright position. An increase in sway is not necessarily an indicator of poorer balance so much as it is an indicator of decreased neuromuscular control, although it has been noted that postural sway is a precursor to a fall. Notes References Benda, B.J., Riley, P.O. and Krebs, D.E. (1994). Biomechanical relationship between center of gravity and center of pressure during standing. IEEE Transactions on Rehabilitation Engineering, 2(1), 3-10. Fernie, G.R, Gryfe, C.I., Holliday, P.J., and Llewellyn, A. (1982). The relationship of postural sway in standing to the incidence of falls in geriatric subjects. Age and Ageing, 11(1), 11-16. Gribble, P.A., Hertel, J. (2004). Effect of Lower-Extremity Fatigue on Postural Control. Archives of Physical Medicine Rehabilitation and Rehabilitation, 85, 589-592. Biomechanics Walking Pressure
Timm Aerocraft 2AS. The Aerocraft 2AS is a tandem-seat training aircraft developed from the Kinner Sportwing. Design and development Timm formed the Wally Timm Company in Glendale, California. He purchased the rights to the Kinner Sportwing, a side-by-side monoplane training aircraft and modified it as a tandem-seat trainer to compete for the Civilian Pilot Training Program build-up prior to World War II. The prototype received ATC# 733 on January 1, 1941. The Timm Aerocraft 2AS lost out to a Fairchild design. The design was sold to Aetna Aircraft, with only six examples produced. The Aerocraft is a conventional landing gear equipped, strut-braced, low-winged monoplane with open cockpit tandem seating and a Kinner R-5 radial engine. The fuselage is welded steel tubing with aircraft fabric covering. The wing uses wooden spars and ribs with fabric covering. Operational history The prototype aircraft was test flown by longtime Timm associate Frank Clarke in 1941. An Aetna 2AS won the Antique Champion award at the 1985 EAA Airshow at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The sole surviving Timm 2AS, the fourth to be built, is preserved in an airworthy condition at the Iowa Aviation Museum and Hall of Fame located at Greenfield, Iowa. Specifications (Timm Aerocraft 2AS) See also References Notes Bibliography Juptner, Joseph P. U.S. Civil Aircraft Series, Volume 8. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional, 1993. . Ogden, Bob. Aviation Museums and Collections of North America. Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. 2007. Tonbridge, Kent. . Underwood, John. Grand Central Air Terminal. Mount Pleasant, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, 2006. . 1930s United States military trainer aircraft Aerocraft 2AS
Bimal Kumar Bose. Bimal Kumar Bose (Bengali: বিমল কুমার বসু; born 1932), also known as B. K. Bose, is an electrical engineer, artificial intelligence researcher, scientist, educator, and currently a professor emeritus of power electronics in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. In 2017, Bose was elected as a member of the National Academy of Engineering for contributions to advancing power electronics technology and power conversion and education. Life and career Bose was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata), India. Bose received his B.E. degree (1956) from Bengal Engineering College under University of Calcutta, (Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur (IIEST Shibpur)), M.S. degree (1960) from University of Wisconsin, Madison, and PhD degree (1966) from University of Calcutta. Bose started his career in India in 1960 and emigrated to USA in 1971 to join Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY as faculty member (1971–1976), then to GE Corporate Research and Development in (now GE Global Research Center) Schenectady, NY as research engineer (1976–1987), and then he joined the University of Tennessee as a Chaired Professor (1987–2003). Concurrently, he was the Distinguished Scientist (1989–2000) and the Chief Scientist (1987–1989) of EPRI-Power Electronics Applications Center. Bose held the Condra Chair of Excellence in Power Electronics at University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Bose organized its power electronics teaching and research program for 15 years. He is recognized as world-renowned authority and pioneer in power electronics for his many contributions that include high frequency link power conversion, advanced control techniques by microcomputers, fuzzy logic and neural networks, transistor ac power switch for matrix converters, adaptive hysteresis-band current control, etc. He also pioneered power electronics applications in environmental protection that help solving climate change problems. He was a visiting professor in Aalborg University, Denmark (1997), University of Padova, Italy (2003), Federal University of Mato Grosso Sul, Brazil (2006), Savilla University, Spain (2008), and European PhD School on Power Electronics, Italy (2010). He was a consultant in large number of agencies/industries, i.e., National Science Foundation, Electric Power Research Institute, USDA, Research Triangle Institute, GE-CRD, Bendix Corporation, Fuji Electric, Ansaldo, General Dynamics, Lutron Electronics, PCI Ozone Corporation, American Superconductors, Emerson Electric, Kolmorgen Corporation, Delco Remy, etc. Bose is an innovator, educator, and mentor to many members of the industry all over the world. He has been a reference for many engineers and scientists working in the area of power electronics and motor drives. Bose has contributed to the global promotion of power electronics by his books, publications, patents, tutorials, invited seminars and keynote speeches around the world. In an article "Eleven Years in Corporate Environment" he writes: "Research ideas do not necessarily come within the 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. work day office. The thoughts linger most of the time beyond the office hours, and often new ideas come when I am taking bath, walking alone in the evening, or even in the midnight when I suddenly wake up with the flash of new idea. There is no difference between scientific research and transcendental meditation.". Bose is a powerful presence in the world of power electronics. Dr. Bimal Bose received the Honorary Doctor of Science degree from the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, on 19 January 2013. The IEEE Industrial Electronics Society Magazine published a special issue (June 2009) "Honoring Dr. Bimal Bose and Celebrating His Contributions in Power Electronics." The IEEE Industrial Electronics Society (IES) established the annual Dr. Bimal Bose Energy systems Award from 2014 which was funded by IES and IEEE Foundation. Dr. Paul Johnson, President of Colorado School of Mines, gave an eloquent introduction of Dr. Bose while he was delivering the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society Distinguished Lecture (23 November 2015) in the Denver Chapter with the following quotation "Coming from a remote village of Bangladesh (then part of India) and being born into a large poor family, it was my dream to see the whole world with my own eyes and make important contributions to the world. I had to overcome mountainous hurdles, step by step, to fulfill the ambitious goals in life and reach where I am today. Although my goals are yet unfulfilled, I often feel that I am the happiest person on earth. Achieving the goals of life requires persistent ambition, courage, and hard work, but when you reach the top of the Himalayan mountain, the mind remains filled with perennial pleasures. My advice to young engineers: have a dream in life and try to realize that dream with hard work. Have a long-term ambition and short-term career goals, with the fire always burning in your mind". Bose established the foundation of University of Tennessee Power Electronics Program and built it to the center-point of the world. Dean of Engineering Wayne Davis comments, "He strengthened the program and paved the way for landing the National Science Foundation-backed CURENT program. His efforts have helped both our college and the world at large". “I have helped pioneer the advancement of artificial intelligence applications in power electronics and motor drives. In any technology advancement, our goal should be its application solely for the benefit of mankind”. “A truly successful person should have a blend of professional expertise and human qualities”, comments Bose". He is married to Arati Bose and they have two children: daughter Papia Ferguson and son Amit Bose Work Bose is the sole author/editor of eight books in power electronics some of which have been translated into several foreign languages, and some of which are widely used as texts throughout the world. His book "Power Electronics and AC Drives"(1986) is the first English language text book in power electronics and motor drives area. Power Electronics in Renewable Energy Systems and Smart Grid (Wiley/IEEE Press, 2019) Power Electronics and Motor Drives-Advances and Trends (Elsevier/Academic Press, First edition 2006 and Second edition 2020) Modern Power Electronics and AC Drives (Prentice-Hall, 2001) Power Electronics and AC Drives (Prentice-Hall, 1986) Power Electronics and Variable Frequency Drives (Wiley/IEEE Press, 1997) Modern Power Electronics (IEEE Press, 1992) Microcomputer Control of Power Electronics and Drives (IEEE Press, 1987) Adjustable Speed AC Drive Systems (IEEE Press, 1981) Selected publications 1976. "A frequency step up cycloconverter using power transistors in inverse series mode", Int’l. Jour. of Electronics, vol.41: 573–587. 1977. "High frequency link power conversion", IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., vol.13: 387–393. 1988. "A high- performance inverter-fed drive system of an interior permanent magnet synchronous machine", vol.24: 987–999. 1990. "An adaptive hysteresis band current control technique of a voltage-fed PWM inverter for machine drive system", IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron., vol.37: 402–408. 2007. "Neural network applications in power electronics and motor drives", IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron, vol. 54: 14–33. 2009. "The Past, Present and Future of Power Electronics", IEEE Industrial Electronics Magazine: 1–5. 2009. "Power Electronics and Motor Drives" –Recent Progress and Perspective", IEEE Trans. On Industrial Electronics, vol. 56: 581–588. 2013. "Global energy scenario and impact of power electronics in 21st century", IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron, vol. 60: 2638–2651. 2015. "Doing Research in Power Electronics", IEEE IES Magazine, vol. 9, 6–17. 2022: “Power Electronics – My Life and Vision for the Future”, IEEE IES Magazine, vol.16, 65-72 Awards and honors Awards received by Bose include, among many others: Elected member of National Academy of Engineering (2017) IEEE Power Electronics Society William W. Newell Award (2005) IEEE Millennium Medal (2000) IEEE Meritorious Achievement Award in Continuing Education (1997) IEEE Fellow (1989) and Life Fellow (1996) IEEE Lamme Medal (1996) IEEE Industrial Electronics Society Dr. Eugene Mittelmann Award (1994) IEEE Region 3 Outstanding Engineer Award (1994) IEEE Industry Applications Society Outstanding Achievement Award (1993) Shanghai University, China, Honorary Professor (1991) China University of Mining and Technology, Honorary Professor (1996) Xi’an Mining Institute, China, Honorary Professor and Honorary Director of EE Inst.(1998) Huazhong Univ. of Science and Tech. Guest Professor (2003) Bengal Engineering and Science University, India, Distinguished Alumnus Award (2006) Calcutta University Mouat Gold Medal and Premchand Roychand Scholar (1970) IEEE IES Magazine Special Issue (June 2009) "Honoring Dr. Bimal Bose and Celebrating His Contributions in Power Electronics" (with front cover photo) Honorary Doctor of Science degree from the President of India in the Annual Convocation of Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU) (January 2013) IEEE IES introduced the annual Dr. Bimal Bose Energy Systems Award (2014 – present) Bengal Engineering College Alumni Association of USA and Canada Lifetime Achievement Award(2018) References Living people 1932 births Artificial intelligence researchers University of Calcutta alumni Indian emigrants to the United States American electrical engineers General Electric people Fellows of the IEEE 20th-century Indian engineers IEEE Lamme Medal recipients Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute faculty
Features from accelerated segment test. Features from accelerated segment test (FAST) is a corner detection method, which could be used to extract feature points and later used to track and map objects in many computer vision tasks. The FAST corner detector was originally developed by Edward Rosten and Tom Drummond, and was published in 2006. The most promising advantage of the FAST corner detector is its computational efficiency. Referring to its name, it is indeed faster than many other well-known feature extraction methods, such as difference of Gaussians (DoG) used by the SIFT, SUSAN and Harris detectors. Moreover, when machine learning techniques are applied, superior performance in terms of computation time and resources can be realised. The FAST corner detector is very suitable for real-time video processing application because of this high-speed performance. Segment test detector FAST corner detector uses a circle of 16 pixels (a Bresenham circle of radius 3) to classify whether a candidate point p is actually a corner. Each pixel in the circle is labeled from integer number 1 to 16 clockwise. If a set of N contiguous pixels in the circle are all brighter than the intensity of candidate pixel p (denoted by Ip) plus a threshold value t or all darker than the intensity of candidate pixel p minus threshold value t, then p is classified as corner. The conditions can be written as: Condition 1: A set of N contiguous pixels S, , (a dark corner on a bright background) Condition 2: A set of N contiguous pixels S, , (a bright corner on a dark background) So when either of the two conditions is met, candidate p can be classified as a corner. There is a tradeoff of choosing N, the number of contiguous pixels and the threshold value t. On one hand the number of detected corner points should not be too many, on the other hand, the high performance should not be achieved by sacrificing computational efficiency. Without the improvement of machine learning, N is usually chosen as 12. A high-speed test method could be applied to exclude non-corner points. High-speed test The high-speed test for rejecting non-corner points is operated by examining 4 example pixels, namely pixel 1, 9, 5 and 13. Because there should be at least 12 contiguous pixels that are whether all brighter or darker than the candidate corner, so there should be at least 3 pixels out of these 4 example pixels that are all brighter or darker than the candidate corner. Firstly pixels 1 and 9 are examined, if both I1 and I9 are within [Ip - t, Ip + t], then candidate p is not a corner. Otherwise pixels 5 and 13 are further examined to check whether three of them are brighter than Ip + t or darker than Ip - t. If there exists 3 of them that are either brighter or darker, the rest pixels are then examined for final conclusion. And according to the inventor in his first paper, on average 3.8 pixels are needed to check for candidate corner pixel. Compared with 8.5 pixels for each candidate corner, 3.8 is really a great reduction which could highly improve the performance. However, there are several weaknesses for this test method: The high-speed test cannot be generalized well for N < 12. If N < 12, it would be possible that a candidate p is a corner and only 2 out of 4 example test pixels are both brighter Ip + t or darker than Ip - t. The efficiency of the detector depends on the choice and ordering of these selected test pixels. However it is unlikely that the chosen pixels are optimal which take concerns about the distribution of corner appearances. Multiple features are detected adjacent to one another Improvement with machine learning In order to address the first two weakness points of high-speed test, a machine learning approach is introduced to help improve the detecting algorithm. This machine learning approach operates in two stages. Firstly, corner detection with a given N is processed on a set of training images which are preferable from the target application domain. Corners are detected through the simplest implementation which literally extracts a ring of 16 pixels and compares the intensity values with an appropriate threshold. For candidate p, each location on the circle x ∈ {1, 2, 3, ..., 16} can be denoted by p→x. The state of each pixel, Sp→x must be in one of the following three states: d, Ip→x ≤ Ip - t (darker) s, Ip - t ≤ Ip→x ≤ Ip + t (similar) b, Ip→x≥ Ip + t (brighter) Then choosing an x (same for all p) partitions P (the set of all pixels of all training images) into 3 different subsets, Pd, Ps, Pb where: Pd = {p ∈ P : Sp→x = d } Ps = {p ∈ P : Sp→x = s } Pb = {p ∈ P : Sp→x = b } Secondly, a decision tree algorithm, the ID3 algorithm is applied to the 16 locations in order to achieve the maximum information gain. Let Kp be a boolean variable which indicates whether p is a corner, then the entropy of Kp is used to measure the information of p being a corner. For a set of pixels Q, the total entropy of KQ (not normalized) is: H(Q) = ( c + n ) log2( c + n ) - clog2c - nlog2n where c = \|{ i ∈ Q: Ki is true}\| (number of corners) where n = \|{ i ∈ Q: Ki is false}\| (number of non-corners) The information gain can then be represented as: Hg= H(P) - H(Pb) - H(Ps) - H(Pd) A recursive process is applied to each subsets in order to select each x that could maximize the information gain. For example, at first an x is selected to partition P into Pd, Ps, Pb with the most information; then for each subset Pd, Ps, Pb, another y is selected to yield the most information gain (notice that the y could be the same as x ). This recursive process ends when the entropy is zero so that either all pixels in that subset are corners or non-corners. This generated decision tree can then be converted into programming code, such as C and C++, which is just a bunch of nested if-else statements. For optimization purpose, profile-guided optimization is used to compile the code. The compiled code is used as corner detector later for other images. Notice that the corners detected using this decision tree algorithm should be slightly different from the results using segment test detector. This is because that decision tree model depends on the training data, which could not cover all possible corners. Non-maximum suppression "Since the segment test does not compute a corner response function, non-maximum suppression can not be applied directly to the resulting features." However, if N is fixed, for each pixel p the corner strength is defined as the maximum value of t that makes p a corner. Two approaches therefore could be used: A binary search algorithm could be applied to find the biggest t for which p is still a corner. So each time a different t is set for the decision tree algorithm. When it manages to find the biggest t, that t could be regarded as the corner strength. Another approach is an iteration scheme, where each time t is increased to the smallest value of which pass the test. FAST-ER: Enhanced repeatability FAST-ER detector is an improvement of the FAST detector using a metaheuristic algorithm, in this case simulated annealing. So that after the optimization, the structure of the decision tree would be optimized and suitable for points with high repeatability. However, since simulated annealing is a metaheurisic algorithm, each time the algorithm would generate a different optimized decision tree. So it is better to take efficiently large amount of iterations to find a solution that is close to the real optimal. According to Rosten, it takes about 200 hours on a Pentium 4 at 3 GHz which is 100 repeats of 100,000 iterations to optimize the FAST detector. Comparison with other detectors In Rosten's research, FAST and FAST-ER detector are evaluated on several different datasets and compared with the DoG, Harris, Harris-Laplace, Shi-Tomasi, and SUSAN corner detectors. The parameter settings for the detectors (other than FAST) are as follows: Repeatability test result is presented as the averaged area under repeatability curves for 0-2000 corners per frame over all datasets (except the additive noise): Speed tests were performed on a 3.0 GHz Pentium 4-D computer. The dataset are divided into a training set and a test set. The training set consists of 101 monochrome images with a resolution of 992×668 pixels. The test set consists of 4968 frames of monochrome 352×288 video. And the result is: References Bibliography External links Advanced Vision homepage Feature detection (computer vision)
Terminal Operating System. A Terminal Operating System, or TOS, is a key part of a supply chain and primarily aims to control the movement and storage of various types of cargo in and around a port or marine terminal. The systems also enables better use of assets, labour and equipment, plan workload, and receive up-to-date information. Terminal operating systems generally fall under one of two categories depending on supported cargo type, namely, containerized or non-containerized. Large container terminals typically require yard management functionality in a TOS, whereas bulk dry and liquid cargo terminals do not. Terminal Operating Systems often use other technologies such as internet, EDI processing, mobile computers, wireless LANs and Radio-frequency identification (RFID) to efficiently monitor the flow of products in, out and around the terminal. Data is either a batch synchronization with, or a real-time wireless transmission to a central database. The database can then provide useful reports about the status of goods, locations and machines in the terminal. The objective of a terminal operating system is to provide a set of computerized procedures to manage cargo, machines and people within the facility to enable a seamless link to efficiently and effectively manage the facility. Terminal operating systems can be stand alone systems, managed as a service or use cloud technologies. In its simplest form, the TOS can data track cargo in and out of a terminal. Functions A Terminal Operating System may be used to do some or all of the following functions: Shipping Terminals requiring various types of ship transport Container terminals using Containerization for LO-LO (lift on Lift Off) operations such as these require plans for efficiently loading and unloading Container ships docked within their Terminal. A port using RO-RO ships require plans for efficiently loading automobiles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, trailers or railroad cars that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels. Rail Terminals that require the arrival and departure of cargo on trains such as container trains or bulk cargo. Road Handle the receival and release of Cargo for transshipment from other modes of transport or storage. Yard management Creating Shipping list or keeping track of Warehouse levels. Tracking machine moves around the terminal. Invoicing/Reporting Invoicing and providing reports for internal and external use. Inventory Keeping track of Inventory and storing its movements. Cargo Type Various types of cargo can be managed dependent of terminal type. This includes containers, dry bulk, liquid bulk, break bulk and vehicles (roll-on/roll-off). External Clients Terminals may wish to communicate with the following through their Terminal Operating System: Terminal operators Freight forwarder Shipping line or shipping agent Container operators Port authority Pilots, tugs and mooring gang Cargo owner (e.g. oil companies) Customs office Vendors/Suppliers There are several suppliers of Terminal Operating Systems available. Autostore TOS, TBA Group Cofano CommTrac ContPark DynaPORT GullsEye Hogia INFORM Infyz iPortman LynkGrid Mainsail MarineBerth Master Terminal Navis Octopi (by Navis) OPUS Terminal OSCAR Realtime Business Solutions (RBS) Solvo.TOS Softpak Tidewords See also Electronic data interchange References External links How to Choose a Terminal Operating System Logistics
Eurocode 5: Design of timber structures. In the Eurocode series of European standards (EN) related to construction, Eurocode 5: Design of timber structures (abbreviated EN 1995 or, informally, EC 5) describes how to design buildings and civil engineering works in timber, using the limit state design philosophy. It was approved by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) on 16 April 2004. It applies for civil engineering works from solid timber, sawn, planed or in pole form, glued laminated timber or wood-based structural products, (e.g. LVL) or wood-based panels jointed together with adhesives or mechanical fasteners and is divided into the following parts. EN Eurocode 5 is intended to be used in conjunction with: EN 1990: Eurocode - Basis of structural design; EN 1991: Eurocode 1 - Actions on structures; hENs, ETAGs and ETAs: for construction products relevant to timber structures; EN 1998: Eurocode 8 - Design of structures for earthquake resistance, when timber structures are built in seismic regions. Part 1-1: General — Common rules and rules for buildings EN 1995-1-1 gives general design rules for timber structures together with specific design rules for buildings. Contents General Basis of design Materials Durability Basis of Structural analysis Ultimate limit states Serviceability limit states Connections with metal fasteners Components and assemblies Structural detailing and control. Part 1-2: General - Structural fire design EN 1995-1-2 deals with the design of timber structures for the accidental situation of fire exposure and is intended to be used in conjunction with EN 1995-1-1 and EN 1991-1-2:2002. EN 1995-1-2 only identifies differences from, or supplements normal temperature design and deals only with passive methods of fire protection. Active methods are not covered. Part 2: Bridges EN 1995-2 gives general design rules for the structural parts of bridges, i.e. structural members of importance for the reliability of the whole bridge or major parts of it, made of timber or other wood-based materials, either singly or compositely with concrete, steel or other materials. External links The EN Eurocodes EN 1995: Design of timber structures EN 1995: Design of timber structures - "Eurocodes: Background and applications" workshop 01995 5 Wooden buildings and structures
Eurocode 6: Design of masonry structures. In the Eurocode series of European standards (EN) related to construction, Eurocode 6: Design of masonry structures (abbreviated EN 1996 or, informally, EC 6) describes how to design buildings and civil engineering works, or parts thereof, in unreinforced, reinforced, prestressed and confined masonry, using the limit state design philosophy. It was approved by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) on 23 June 2005. EN 1996 deals only with the requirements for resistance, serviceability and durability of masonry structures and is divided into the following parts. Part 1-1: General - Common rules and rules for buildings In EN 1996-1-1, the basis for the design of buildings and civil engineering works in masonry is given, which deals with unreinforced masonry and reinforced masonry where the reinforcement is added to provide ductility, strength or improve serviceability. Contents General Basis of design Materials Durability Structural analysis Ultimate limit states Serviceability limit states Detailing Execution. Part 1-2: General rules - Structural fire design EN 1996-1-2 deals with the design of masonry structures for the accidental situation of fire exposure, and is intended to be used in conjunction with EN 1996-1-1, EN 1996-2, 1996-3 and EN 1991-1-2. This part only identifies differences from, or supplements to, normal temperature design and it deals only with passive methods of fire protection. Active methods are not covered. Part 2: Design, selection of materials and execution of masonry EN 1996-2 provides the necessary Principles and Application Rules for masonry to be designed and constructed satisfactorily in order to comply with the design assumptions of other parts of EN 1996. Part 3: Simplified calculation methods for unreinforced masonry structures EN 1996-3 provides simplified calculation methods or simple rules to facilitate the design of particular types of masonry walls. External links The EN Eurocodes EN 1996: Design of masonry structures EN 1996: Design of masonry structures - "Eurocodes: Background and applications" workshop 01996 Masonry buildings and structures 6
Outline of C++. The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to C++: C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell Labs as an enhancement to the C language. What type of language is C++? C++ can be described as all of the following: Programming language — artificial language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior of a machine and/or to express algorithms precisely. Compiled language — programming language implemented through compilers (translators which generate machine code from source code), and not interpreters (step-by-step executors of source code, where no translation takes place). General-purpose programming language — programming language designed to be used for writing software in a wide variety of application domains. Intermediate language — language of an abstract machine designed to aid in the analysis of computer programs. The term comes from their use in compilers, where a compiler first translates the source code of a program into a form more suitable for code-improving transformations, as an intermediate step before generating object or machine code for a target machine. Object-oriented programming language – programming language based on "objects", which are data structures that contain data, in the form of fields, often known as attributes; and code, in the form of procedures, known as methods. An object's procedures can access and modify the data fields of the objects. In object-oriented programming, computer programs are designed by making them out of objects that interact with one another. Statically typed programming language General C++ concepts Name resolution Argument-dependent name lookup — applies to the lookup of an unqualified function name depending on the types of the arguments given to the function call. This behavior is also known as Koenig lookup, named after its inventor Andrew Koenig (programmer). Auto-linking — mechanism for automatically determining which libraries to link to while building a C or C++ program. It is activated by means of #pragma comment(lib, <name>) statements in the header files of the library. Classes — Classes define types of data structures and the functions that operate on those data structures. Instances of these datatypes are known as objects and can contain member variables, constants, member functions, and overloaded operators defined by the programmer. The C++ programming language allows programmers to separate program-specific datatypes through the use of classes. Exception guarantees Header file Inner class One Definition Rule Opaque pointer Plain old data structure Rule of three (C++ programming) Run-time type information Sequence point Single compilation unit Special member functions Substitution failure is not an error Template (C++) Template metaprogramming Traits class Undefined behavior Virtual function calls Issues Compatibility of C and C++ C++ Toolchain C++ compilers C++ libraries C++ Standard Library The C++ standard library is a collection of utilities that are shipped with C++ for use by any C++ programmer. It includes input and output, multi-threading, time, regular expressions, algorithms for common tasks, and less common ones (find, for_each, swap, etc.) and lists, maps and hash maps (and the equivalent for sets) and a class called vector that is a resizable array. Many other functions are provided by the standard library, but mainly in a form designed for building on top of to create third party libraries. Standard Template Library (STL) Other notable libraries Active Template Library Adaptive Communication Environment Algorithmic skeleton Apache C++ Standard Library Armadillo (C++ library) Artefaktur Asio C++ library AT&T FSM Library ATL Server BALL Blitz++ Boehm garbage collector Boost (C++ libraries) Borland Graphics Interface Botan (programming library) C++ AMP CGAL Cinder (programming library) — framework for advanced visualization capabilities. ClanLib CodeSynthesis XSD CodeSynthesis XSD/e CppUnit Crypto++ CTPP D-Bus Database Management Library Dinkumware Effi (C++) Eigen (C++ library) GDAL GDCM GiNaC Gtkmm HOOPS 3D Graphics System Integrated Performance Primitives (IPP) — a multi-threaded software library of functions for multimedia and data processing applications, produced by Intel. Juce Kakadu (software) KFRlib - cross-platform, optimized audio and DSP library. LEMON (C++ library) LevelDB Libarc LibLAS Libsigc++ Libx (graphics library) LiteSQL LIVE555 Loki (C++) Math Kernel Library (MKL) — a library of optimized math routines for science, engineering, and financial applications, produced by Intel. Matrix Template Library Metakit Microsoft Foundation Class Library Object Windows Library Object-oriented Abstract Type Hierarchy ODB (C++) OGRE Open Asset Import Library Open Inventor OpenImageIO Oracle Template Library Orfeo toolbox POCO C++ Libraries Podofo Poppler (software) PTK Toolkit Qt (framework) Sound Object (SndObj) Library Stapl SymbolicC++ Threading Building Blocks (TBB) — C++ template library developed by Intel Corporation for writing software programs that take advantage of multi-core processors. VTD-XML Windows Template Library WxWidgets Xcas Xerces YAAF See also List of C++ multi-threading libraries List of C++ multiple precision arithmetic libraries List of C++ template libraries History of C++ History of C++ Programming languages that influenced C++ C Simula Ada 83 ALGOL 68 CLU ML Standardisation History C++98 — In 1998, the C++ standards committee standardized C++ and published the international standard ISO/IEC 14882:1998 (informally known as C++98). C++03 C++11 — Approved by ISO as of 12 August 2011, replacing C++03. The name is derived from the tradition of naming language versions by the year of the specification's publication. C++14 — Most recent iteration of C++, announced by ISO on 18 August 2014, replacing C++11. C++17 - Upcoming version. The specification is feature complete, and is entering the review period. C++20 Example source code Articles with example C++ code C++ publications Books about C++ The C++ Programming Language — widely regarded as the standard textbook for the language. By Bjarne Stroustrup. The Design and Evolution of C++ — a book by Bjarne Stroustrup about the birth of C++. Modern C++ Design — a book by Andrei Alexandrescu on various design patterns using C++. Magazines about C++ C++ Report — was a bi-monthly professional computer magazine published by SIGS Publications Group. C++ personalities Alexander Stepanov Andrei Alexandrescu Andrew Koenig Bjarne Stroustrup– Danish computer scientist, most notable for the creation and development of C++. David Abrahams Douglas C. Schmidt Herb Sutter Jim Coplien (a.k.a. James O. Coplien) Pete Becker Robert Cecil Martin Scott Meyers C++ dialects The C++ standardisation committee discourages dialects (with a preference that the problem is solved by new functionality in the standard library, as is done with items like multi-threading for parallel programming), however some dialects have been created, for various reasons (to remove features that are harder to implement, response to a programming trend, etc.): Programming language dialect — (relatively small) variation or extension of the language that does not change its intrinsic nature. Charm++ — parallel object-oriented programming language based on C++ and developed in the Parallel Programming Laboratory at the University of Illinois. Charm++ is designed with the goal of enhancing programmer productivity by providing a high-level abstraction of a parallel program while at the same time delivering good performance on a wide variety of underlying hardware platforms. Embedded C++ — dialect of C++ for embedded systems, built "to provide embedded systems programmers with a subset of C++ that is easy for the average C programmer to understand and use". Embedded system — computer system designed for specific control functions for a facility, machine, or device in which it is embedded as an integrated part of the product. Embedded systems control many devices in common use today. R++ — rule-based programming language developed by Bell Labs in the 1990s, based on C++. Sieve C++ Parallel Programming System — C++ compiler and parallel runtime designed and released by Codeplay that aims to simplify the parallelization of code so that it may run efficiently on multi-processor or multi-core systems. C++ language extensions AspectC++ — aspect-oriented extension of C and C++ languages. C++/CLI — Microsoft's language specification intended to supersede Managed Extensions for C++. It is a complete revision that aims to simplify the older Managed C++ syntax (which is now deprecated). C++/CLI is standardized by Ecma as ECMA-372. It is currently available only in Visual Studio 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2015 (also included in the Express Editions). Common Language Infrastructure — open specification developed by Microsoft and standardized by ISO and ECMA that describes the executable code and runtime environment that form the core of the Microsoft .NET Framework and the free and open source implementations Mono and Portable.NET. C++/CX — language extension for C++ compilers from Microsoft that enables C++ programmers to write programs for the new Windows Runtime platform, or WinRT. It brings a set of syntax and library abstractions that interface with the COM-based WinRT programming model in a way that is natural to native C++-programmers. Cilk Plus — multithreaded parallel computing extension of C and C++ languages. CUDA C/C++ — compiler and extensions for parallel computing using Nvidia graphics cards. Managed Extensions for C++ — deprecated Microsoft set of deviations from C++, including grammatical and syntactic extensions, keywords and attributes, to bring the C++ syntax and language to the .NET Framework. These extensions allowed C++ code to be targeted to the Common Language Runtime (CLR) in the form of managed code as well as continue to interoperate with native code. Superseded by C++/CLI. See also Outline of computer programming Outline of software Outline of software engineering References External links C++ C++
Kirill Tolpygo. Kirill Borisovich Tolpygo (; ; 3 May 1916 – 13 May 1994) was a Soviet physicist and a corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. He was recognized for his works on condensed matter theory; the theory of phonon spectra in crystals; electronic structure and defects in insulators and semiconductors; and biophysics. He created the Department of Theoretical Physics and the Department of Biophysics at Donetsk National University. Tolpygo was a teacher, mentor and scientific adviser to graduate students. Tolpygo was awarded the Order of the Great Patriotic War (2nd Degree). Early life Tolpygo was born during WWI in Kyiv, Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire. His father, Boris Nikolaevich Tolpygo (1889 – 1958) was a jurist who received the Order of St. Stanislaus for his services to the Russian army during World War I. Tolpygo's mother, Tatiana B. Bukreeva (1889 – 1992), was the daughter of Boris Yakovlevich Bukreev, a mathematician and geometer at Kyiv University (University of St. Volodymyr, Kyiv). In 1923, Tolpygo's father was arrested by the Cheka, for alleged "counter-revolutionary" activities. Through the intervention of individuals such as Raymond Poincaré, President of France, he avoided execution and was sentenced to 10 years hard labor. In 1947, Tolpygo's father was again imprisoned. It was 1957 before he would return to Kyiv, shortly before his death. Hence, Tolpygo grew up in the family of his grandfather, Boris Y. Bukreev. Education Tolpygo's life was complicated by being the son of a political prisoner. Nevertheless, he was allowed to enter Kyiv University. After graduating from the Physics and Mathematics Faculty in 1939, he went on to post graduate study at the Institute of Physics of the Ukrainian SSR Academy of Sciences and started his research work in theoretical physics. His scientific adviser was Solomon Isaakovich Pekar, creator of the theory of polarons. Military service In November 1939, Tolpygo was drafted into the Red Army and served in the artillery section during World War II from 1941 to 1945. He was wounded during the Yelnya Offensive in 1941. He returned to Kyiv in 1945 when all physicists were recalled from active duty to work on the atomic bomb and other projects, and to restore universities and research institutions destroyed during the War. Scientific career On returning to Kyiv, Tolpygo restarted work on his PhD thesis and helped in restoring the university. From 1945 to 1966 Tolpygo was teaching theoretical physics at Kiev State University. One of his students was Emmanuel Rashba, who became a prominent theoretical physicist and credited his success in significant part to Tolpygo's guidance and support. From 1963, Tolpygo was professor of physics, and from 1960 to 1966 he was chair of the Department of Theoretical Physics. Concurrently, from 1948 to 1960, he worked as a senior scientist at the Institute of Physics of the Academy of Sciences of UkrSSR, Kiev. He received his Candidate of Sciences (PhD) degree in 1949 and his Doctor of Sciences in 1962. In 1965 he was elected a Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences of UkrSSR. In 1966, Tolpygo moved with his family from Kiev to Donetsk, Ukraine. From 1966 to 1988 he worked as head of the Department of Theoretical Physics at Donetsk Physical-Technical Institute (DonPTI) of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences and at the same time was professor and chair of the Department of Theoretical Physics at Donetsk State University. Support of dissidents Tolpygo joined the movement of the "Sixtiers" (shestidesiatniki) and signed a letter to the Soviet authorities in support of dissidents Alexander Ginzburg and Yuri Galanskov. As a result, his position at Kyiv University was jeopardized. At the time, academician Alexander A. Galkin was organizing a new scientific center in Donetsk, Ukraine. His aim was to decentralize scientific research and promote science and technology in regional Ukraine. Galkin convinced Tolpygo to join him in Donetsk and create there a new school of theoretical physics, far from political scrutiny. Later life From 1988 to his death in 1994 Tolpygo worked as principal scientist at the DonPTI and continued to teach physics at the university. Tolpygo also enjoyed music. He practiced the piano regularly. The Beethoven piano sonatas were among his favorites. In his later years, Tolpygo developed an interest in ecology and environmentalism. Family life Tolpygo had four children: Alexey (a mathematician, chess player, and political writer) and Natalia (musician and piano teacher) from his first marriage in 1946 to Oksana Fedorivna Tomasevych, a theoretical physicist, and Sergey (a condensed matter physicist) and Vladimir (a materials scientist), from a second marriage in 1959 to Yelena Isaakovna Kaplunova Tolpygo, also a physicist. Scientific work Crystal lattice dynamics and polaritons Between 1949 and 1956, Tolpygo built a quantum-mechanical theory of crystal lattice dynamics. It included deformation of electronic shells of ions and effects of retardation. In the theory of crystal lattice dynamics this model is now known as Tolpygo model, a model of deformable ions, or a "shell model". In 1950, he predicted bound states of photons and optical phonons in ionic crystals, now known as lattice polaritons. A year later the same result was independently obtained by Kun Huang using a different method. These mixed states were subsequently investigated experimentally. S.I. Pekar proposed to name these states 'light excitons.' However, this name did not stick and term polaritons proposed by Hopfield is used. Later, Tolpygo generalized his theory to describe homopolar crystals (Si, Ge, diamond, etc.), cryocrystals of noble gases, and molecular crystals by introducing long-range Coulomb interactions in their lattice dynamics. On this basis, he developed a microscopic theory of optical and elastic properties of crystals. A number of new effects were predicted, e.g., generation of an electric field (electromagnetic wave) in a crystal by a nonuniform deformation (wave). This effect is now known as flexoelectric effect. In 1961, Tolpygo predicted generation of sound by moving current carriers, now a well known effect in acousto-electronics. Tolpygo applied his theory of deformable ions to study the small-radius localized states of electrons in solids. This theory accounted for the interaction of electrons with phonons of all branches and wavelengths, and was applied to the theory of polaritons, F-centers, and excitons in alkali halide crystals. Kinetic phenomena in semiconductors Tolpygo also worked on kinetic phenomena in semiconductors and their phenomenological theory: theory of bipolar carrier diffusion, theory of thermal emission, photovoltaic effect, p-n junctions, theory of thermal rectification, surface phenomena, etc. Many-electron theory Tolpygo also worked on the "many-electron" theory of crystals: development of an efficient method for accounting electron correlations in the band theory; justification of the quasi-molecular model of valence crystals; and the theory of their optical absorption based on a model of metastable Frenkel excitons. He developed a theory of defect formation at intrinsic optical absorption; a microscopic theory of optical absorption by crystals; and a microscopic theory of Cherenkov radiation as it results from generation of light-excitons (polaritons) by the field of a moving relativistic electron. Biophysics In addition to condensed matter physics, Tolpygo was also interested in biophysics. He proposed an original microscopic theory of muscle contraction based on the idea that the energy of decomposition of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) molecule is transferred along the chains of hydrogen bonds between actin and myosin polymers causing their mutual motion. This theory allowed him to explain experimental features of muscle contraction, such as the relation of tension to velocity as described by Hill's muscle model. He also studied mechanisms of mutations and investigated nonradiative excitations of protons in hydrogen bonds in DNA. He predicted a new quasiparticle – protonic exciton – and investigated its properties. References Soviet physicists Scientists from Kyiv 1994 deaths 1916 births Members of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv alumni
Blue Sky Network. Blue Sky Network, LLC, is a global satellite technology company headquartered in San Diego, California. Founded in 2001, Blue Sky Network offers satellite tracking solutions to support fleet managers and operators monitoring their assets on land, sea, and in the air. Blue Sky Network solutions use the satellite network from Iridium Communications to provide customers with 100 percent global coverage. The company has also been an authorized Tier 1 Iridium Communications partner since 2002. SkyRouter SkyRouter is Blue Sky Network's fleet tracking and communications cloud-based web portal and mapping system. The SkyRouter web portal serves as a centralized command center for operators to track, view, communicate with and manage single field devices, or large global fleets. Features of SkyRouter include SMS support, customizable email subject formatting, alert information, and alert previews. The SkyRouter alerting system allows fleet managers to customize pertinent asset information directly to smart phones and tablets as necessary. SkyRouter communicates with Blue Sky Network hardware to provide a secure web interface that displays positions on various overlay maps. It also handles, events, alerts, and telematic data. SkyRouter also enables pilots and operators to communicate by sending two-way messages. Both the communications solutions and global tracking are made possible by transceivers that are installed in the asset. The transceivers both transmit and receive data signals, constantly updating the position and events associated with the assets. In aviation applications, Automated Flight Following via SkyRouter allows the transmission of satellite messages from aircraft to dispatchers on the ground in the form of special events reports, such as updates on take-offs and landings, as well as telemetric data reports, and emergency location. Mobile App In 2014, Blue Sky Network announced the launch of the SkyRouter Mobile App for iOS. The app allows authorized users to view, track, and communicate with any Blue Sky Network equipped aircraft, vehicle, ship, or person in their organization. Through the app, users can track assets, communicate via email, and send/receive user defined forms including trip plans. Other features of the SkyRouter Mobile App include map options and overlays, QPOS push notifications, and breadcrumbs. Blue Sky Network Brazil In 2010, Blue Sky Network became an official service partner of Iridium Serviçios de Satellites S.A., a subsidiary of Iridium Communications Inc. The following year, Blue Sky Network Brazil Comunicação por Satélite obtained a Non Geostationary Satellite Global Mobile Service (SMGS) license in Brazil, enabling the company to provision Iridium-based satellite services in Brazil. In order to run the daily operations in Brazil, sister company Blue Sky Network Brazil Comunicação por Satélite was established in Alphaville, just outside São Paulo. The company currently provides GPS tracking and satellite communication services to civilian and government aviation operations. In 2008, Lider Taxi Aereo, the country's largest provider of helicopter and executive aviation services, outfitted its 40-aircraft offshore helicopter fleet with Blue Sky Network technology. Under Brazilian regulations, telecommunications products that are sold and used in Brazil must have a Certificate of Conformity issued by a Designated Certification Body, indicating that they comply with Brazilian regulatory requirements. Products must also be approved and homologated by Anatel, the Brazilian National Telecommunications Agency. In 2013, Blue Sky Network announced that its HawkEye 5300 received Homologation Certification from Anatel, and in 2015 for its HawkEye 7200 portable Iridium satellite tracking solution. Products Blue Sky Network's line of products includes fixed-install, portable and handheld satellite tracking and SATCOM solutions. Installed and tracking devices include the D1000A, D1000C, ACH1000, HawkEye Link, HawkEye 5200, and HawkEye 5300. Among Blue Sky Network's portable products are the HawkEye PT, HawkEye PT Plus, and HawkEye 7200 References External links Networking companies of the United States Networking hardware companies Computer companies of the United States Computer hardware companies
Nagi Naganathan. Nagi Ganapathy Naganathan is the current president of the Oregon Institute of Technology and the former dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Toledo. Education Naganathan received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Regional Engineering College, Tiruchirappalli (now known as National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli), master's degree in mechanical and industrial engineering from Clarkson University and his doctorate of philosophy degree in mechanical engineering from Oklahoma State University. Career Born in Madras, India; he was named interim president of the University of Toledo serving since July 1, 2014. In November 2016, Naganathan was selected as president of the Oregon Institute of Technology. National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli awarded him the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2007. In 2021, faculty at Oregon Institute of Technology held a vote of no confidence in Naganathan, citing a disregard of university policy, shared governance, and fiscal management. The vote passed with approval from roughly 92% of faculty. References External links https://web.archive.org/web/20120705045644/http://www.eng.utoledo.edu/mime/~nnaganat/ Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Oregon Institute of Technology American mechanical engineers Indian mechanical engineers Heads of universities and colleges in the United States National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli alumni University of Toledo faculty
Di-n-propyl ether. Dipropyl ether is the symmetrical ether of two n-propyl groups. It is a colorless, flammable liquid with a sweet odor typical of ethers. Preparation Acid catalyzed ether synthesis Dipropyl ether can be synthesized by reacting two molecules of n-propanol in the presence of p-toluenesulfonic acid (a strong acid) and heat, in the same way other symmetrical ethers may be formed. Williamson ether synthesis This ether may also be prepared by way of the Williamson ether synthesis in which n-propoxide, the conjugate base of n-propanol, is reacted with an n-propyl halide: Safety As is typical of ethers, dipropyl ether may slowly form explosive organic peroxides over long periods in storage. Antioxidants such as butylated hydroxytoluene are often added to ethers to prevent this process. Due to the shock and light sensitive nature of organic peroxides, dipropyl ether should never be boiled or evaporated to dryness. This concentrates peroxides that may be present, which can then detonate unexpectedly destroying the vessel in which they have deposited or igniting nearby flammable liquids. See also Diisopropyl ether References Dialkyl ethers Symmetrical ethers Sweet-smelling chemicals
Thermal ionization mass spectrometry. Thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) is also known as surface ionization and is a highly sensitive isotope mass spectrometry characterization technique. The isotopic ratios of radionuclides are used to get an accurate measurement for the elemental analysis of a sample. Singly charged ions of the sample are formed by the thermal ionization effect. A chemically purified liquid sample is placed on a metal filament which is then heated to evaporate the solvent. The removal of an electron from the purified sample is consequently achieved by heating the filament enough to release an electron, which then ionizes the atoms of the sample. TIMS utilizes a magnetic sector mass analyzer to separate the ions based on their mass to charge ratio. The ions gain velocity by an electrical potential gradient and are focused into a beam by electrostatic lenses. The ion beam then passes through the magnetic field of the electromagnet where it is partitioned into separate ion beams based on the ion's mass/charge ratio. These mass-resolved beams are directed into a detector where it is converted into voltage. The voltage detected is then used to calculate the isotopic ratio. Ionization source The filaments used are made from tantalum (Ta), tungsten (W), platinum (Pt) or rhenium (Re). Conventionally, there are two filaments used in TIMS. One filament is for the sample and is called the sample filament. The liquid sample is placed on the sample filament which is then evaporated. Subsequently, these evaporated analytes land on the other filament, also known as the ionization filament, where it is ionized. The single filament method is also possible. Once the sample evaporates, the analytes can settle back down onto the same filament to get ionized. The use of a triple filament or multifilament set-up improves ionization efficiency and provides the rate of evaporation and ionization to be controlled separately. Filaments need to be loaded with activators. An activator represses the evaporation of the desired element and can either increase or decrease the ionization potential of the filament. This results in high ionization efficiency and a higher total yield. The most common activator is silica gel/phosphoric acid for Pb. The filaments are in a vacuum that can reach temperatures anywhere from 400-2300°C. In order to prevent any damage to the filaments, they are firmly fixed onto a carousel-like sample turret which normally has 10 to 20 filament assemblies. The evaporation process is usually conducted at relatively low temperatures in exchange for long-lasting signals and minor isotopic fractionation. The ionization part requires high temperatures to ensure good ionization efficiency. The ions emitted have low spatial and energetic spread which makes a single-focusing magnetic sector mass analyzer or quadrupoles suitable. The most common detectors used for TIMS is Faraday cup, Daly detector, and electron multiplier. Customarily, TI ion sources are assembled with multicollector (MC) systems. Thermal ionization mechanism When the hot filament heats the liquid sample, the Fermi levels within the sample reaches parity with that of the metal. In turn, this allows for an electron to tunnel from the sample to the metal filament. As a result, positive ions are formed from the sample that lost an electron. This transferring of electrons also result in the formation of negative ions. Subsequently, there are two types of thermal ionizations. One is positive thermal ionization (P-TI) and the second is negative thermal ionization (N-TI). The production of ions is parameterized by the Saha ionization equation or the Saha-Langmuir equation. Isotope ratio measurement The relative abundances of different isotopes are then used to describe the chemical fractionation of different isotopes, travel in different reservoirs of non-radiogenic isotopes, and age or origins of solar system objects by the presence of radiogenic daughter isotopes. Elemental analysis is a predominant application of TIMS as it gives reliable isotopic ratios. Following the trend of decreasing ionization energy, elements located towards the bottom left of the periodic table are viable for TIMS. In addition, the high electron affinity seen towards the upper right of the periodic table makes these nonmetals excellent candidates. The technique is used extensively in isotope geochemistry, geochronology, and in cosmochemistry. Quantitative isotope ratio techniques include isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry (ID-TIMS) and chemical abrasion thermal ionization mass spectrometry (CA-TIMS). Isotope dilution method is used because the signal intensity in TIMS isn't proportional to the amount that is placed into TIMS. For age dating, mass spectrometers with magnetic sectors have better precision than a quadrupole mass spectrometer or quadrupole mass analyzer. Inductively coupled plasma-quadrupole mass spectrometers allows for an even higher precision of detecting the change of isotopic ratios by radioactive decay. The more precision means the higher resolution in age dating. See also Isotope-ratio mass spectrometry References Mass spectrometry
DeepFlight Challenger. DeepFlight Challenger is a one-person submersible built with the intention of reaching the Challenger Deep, utilizing DeepFlight technology from Hawkes Ocean Technologies. The submersible is owned by Virgin Oceanic. History The submersible was designed by Graham Hawkes and Hawkes Ocean Technologies (HOT). It was originally ordered by Steve Fossett for an attempt on the Challenger Deep, to become the first solo dive there. Planning for the submersible started in 2000. It was put on the order sheet in 2005, with a depth capability of . The craft was named Challenger by Fossett after the Challenger Deep. At the time of the order, this would have doubled the depth that a single-place sub would be capable of going. It was to have been a "secret project" of Fossett's to be the first to solo the Challenger Deep, and was secret at the time of his death in 2007. The project was put on hold when Fossett died, and locked up in a warehouse at Hawkes Ocean Technologies, by the then owners, Fossett's estate, but was later revived when Chris Welsh of Deep Sub LLC bought the unfinished sub and restarted the program in 2010. Welsh had purchased the sub and the yacht from the Fossett estate for around $1 million. Virgin Oceanic came in as sponsors a year later in 2011. At the time of Fossett's death, the sub had been almost finished, only four weeks from dive tests and delivery. This sub is the first deep-diving sub to be constructed with a pressure hull (central tube portion) of carbon fibre composite, built by Spencer Composites for HOT. Its carbon fiber design would later influence the tube for the sub Titan, which imploded. Simulations showed that the most likely cause of the implosion was failure of the carbon fiber hull. Design The submersible uses composite technology to create a lightweight sub with great depth capabilities. The view dome is made from quartz, while the rest of the pressure hull uses carbon/epoxy composites. The interface between dome and hull is by bonded titanium rings. The sub has a 24-hour endurance, bottom speed, and dive rate. The sub uses syntactic foam for buoyancy, and is positively buoyant when no ballast is attached. The submersible does not have a temperature control system for the cabin, so interior temperature eventually falls to water temperature. The sub weighs , and does not need a dedicated mothership. It has a range, maximum speed, and 3-axis freedom of motion. It uses LED lighting instead of arc lights, and has laser "feeler" beams to aid navigation. The sub can dive to the bottom of the ocean and get back to the surface in 5 hours. The design drew from DeepFlight II, another Hawkes Ocean Technologies full depth submersible. The pressure hull is rated to withstand (more than the at the bottom of the Mariana Trench). The sub is smaller than James Cameron's . Challenger represents the third generation of DeepFlight technology, one generation behind the . Test program May 2007 Penn State Applied Research Laboratory Building; Pressure test of the pressure hull to Mariana Trench like pressures. Passed test, except for a crack in the view dome due to a manufacturing defect. November 2007 cancelled tests, in the wake of Steve Fossett's death. February 2012 Alameda Naval Air Station (Oakland, California, US); Ballast system was tested. Submerged battery and engine testing, while crewed. Dive program Five Dives project Richard Branson and Chris Welsh of Virgin Oceanic planned on using DeepFlight Challenger to reach the deepest point of each of the world's five oceans, the Mariana Trench of the Pacific Ocean (), the Puerto Rico Trench of the Atlantic Ocean (), the Diamantina Trench of the Indian Ocean (), South Sandwich Trench of the Southern Ocean (), and Molloy Deep of the Arctic Ocean (). The Cheyenne yacht was to have been used as the mothership for the dive efforts. It was planned that Branson would pilot the sub to the Puerto Rico Trench, while Chris Welsh would pilot it for the Mariana Trench dive. Virgin Oceanic had hoped to be the first team to solo to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, and first team to return to the Challenger Deep since the Bathyscaphe , the first submersible to dive to the Challenger Deep. However, James Cameron's Deepsea Challenge project beat them to it in March 2012. There has been an undeclared race on to return to the Challenger Deep between four teams, Cameron's, Virgin Oceanic's, Google-Schmidt/DOER's, and Triton submersibles'. The attempt on Challenger Deep had been announced in April 2011. Based on testing at high pressure, the DeepFlight Challenger was determined to be suitable only for a single dive, not the repeated uses that had been planned as part of Virgin Oceanic service. As such, in 2014, Virgin Oceanic scrapped plans for the five dives project using the DeepFlight Challenger, as originally conceived, putting plans on hold until more suitable technologies are developed. Similar efforts As of February 2012, several other vehicles are under development to reach the same depths. The groups developing them include: Deepsea Challenge, a program created by James Cameron and National Geographic, using the submersible Deepsea Challenger, that carries a crew of one and is the first and only one-person crewed vehicle to descend to the Challenger Deep. Triton Submarines LLC, a Florida-based company that designs and manufactures private submersibles, whose vehicle, Triton 36000/3, will carry a crew of three to the seabed in 120 minutes. Deep Ocean Exploration and Research (DOER) Marine, a San Francisco Bay Area based marine technology company established in 1992, that is developing a vehicle, Deepsearch (and Ocean Explorer HOV Unlimited), with some support from Google's Eric Schmidt with which a crew of two or three will take 90 minutes to reach the seabed, as the program Deep Search. References Further reading BBC News, Race to the bottom of the ocean: Virgin, 22 February 2012 (accessed 27 March 2012) External links Virgin Oceanic, Sub Hawkes Ocean Technologies, DeepFlight Challenger CNet News, DeepFlight Challenger archive Deep-submergence vehicles
AGS (motorcycle manufacturer). AGS was a motocross bicycle manufacturer in the 1970s, featuring 50cc and 123cc engines by Sachs, Puch and Zundapp. References External links Puch-engined 123cc model Zundapp-engined 50cc model Motorcycle manufacturers of the Netherlands Dutch companies established in 1975 Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1975
HTTP Speed+Mobility. HTTP Speed+Mobility was an experimental open-specification communication protocol developed primarily at Microsoft for transporting web content. HTTP Speed+Mobility was similar to HTTP, with particular goals to reduce web page load latency and improve web security. As a revision of Google's SPDY protocol, Microsoft's HTTP Speed+Mobility protocol achieved reduced latency through SPDY's use of compression, multiplexing, and prioritization. Relation to HTTP HTTP Speed+Mobility, does not replace HTTP. Rather, it modifies the way HTTP requests and responses are sent over the wire; this means that all the existing server-side applications can be used without modification if a SPDY-compatible translation layer is put in place. When sent over SPDY, the HTTP requests are processed, tokenized, simplified and compressed. For example, each SPDY end-point keeps track of which headers have been sent in the past requests and can avoid resending the headers that have not changed; those that must be sent are sent compressed. In developing HTTP Speed+Mobility, Microsoft built upon both Google's proven SPDY protocol and on WebSocket, which is a web technology providing for bi-directional, full-duplex communications channels over a single TCP connection. Besides support of the framing of WebSockets, changes from SPDY include the following: taking mobile phones and other low-power devices into account and the removal of SPDY’s obligatory use of CPU-intensive features encryption, compression, and server-side push. The IETF working group for HTTPbis has begun working on HTTP/2 and chose SPDY as the starting point. See also SPDY HTTP pipelining HTTP persistent connection WebSocket Waka (protocol) References External links Speed and Mobility: An Approach for HTTP 2.0 to Make Mobile Apps and the Web Faster Network protocols SM
Aiglon (motorcycle). Aiglon (English translation: "young eagle") were motorcycles made in France between 1908 and 1953, with engines ranging in size from 123cc to 500cc. References External links 1929 sales brochure Defunct motorcycle manufacturers of France
Alf Scott-Hansen Jr.. Alf Scott-Hansen (22 December 1903 – 1961) was a Norwegian engineer and film director. He was born in Kristiania as a son of port director Alf Scott-Hansen Sr. (1870–1930) and his wife Lalla Wiborg (1869–1953). He was a nephew of Commander Sigurd Scott-Hansen. He finished his secondary education in 1922, served in the King's Guard before studying electrical engineering at his father's alma mater, the Dresden University of Technology. The studies in Dresden were interrupted and he instead graduated in engineering from Edinburgh in 1928. He worked in Siemens in Norway until 1942, then in Sønnico from the early 1950s to his death. He was married to actress Wenche Foss from 1939. Before the marriage was dissolved, the couple were active socialites in Norway's capital. During this period Scott-Hansen also forayed into the film industry, directing the films Rikard Nordraak in 1945 and Trollfossen in 1948. During parts of the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany, he was imprisoned in Grini concentration camp from April to November 1942. On 16 July 1961 he was found deceased at his cabin in Skåtøy, where he was vacationing alone. References External links The family tree of Alf Scott-Hansen on Geni.com 1903 births 1961 deaths Norwegian expatriates in Germany Norwegian expatriates in the United Kingdom Alumni of the University of Edinburgh College of Science and Engineering 20th-century Norwegian engineers Norwegian film directors Grini concentration camp survivors
AIM (motorcycle). AIM motorcycles were sports machines built in Italy between 1974 and 1982 using 49cc and 124cc Sachs and Franco Morini two-stroke engines. See also List of Italian companies List of motorcycle manufacturers References External links 1979 50cc model 80cc Enduro model Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of Italy Defunct motorcycle manufacturers of Italy
Airolite. The Airolite was an English motorcycle manufactured between 1923 and 1924, which featured a 110cc Simplex two-stroke engine. References Motorcycle manufacturers of the United Kingdom
Ajax (motorcycle). The Ajax was a motorcycle manufactured in England between 1923 and 1924, using 147cc, 247cc, 269cc and 346cc engines from Villiers Engineering and Blackburne. References Motorcycle manufacturers of the United Kingdom
Richard Yemm. Richard Yemm is the British inventor of the Pelamis Wave Energy Converter and was director of the former Pelamis Wave Power, a company he founded in Edinburgh in 1998. In 2014 he co-founded a new company, Quoceant, who are engineering consultants specializing in marine energy and technology innovation. Biography Yemm studied mechanical engineering at the University of Edinburgh from 1985 to 1989, graduating with a first class honours degree. As an undergraduate, he was also awarded a Half Blue for sailing in 1986–87 by the Edinburgh University Sports Union, denoting performance to a high standard. He completed his PhD in 1994 under Professor Stephen Salter, former Saltire Prize medallist and inventor of the Edinburgh duck wave energy device. He went on to pursue a career as a self-employed design and development engineer on renewable energy projects, gaining experience in the wind energy industry. He invented the Pelamis Wave Energy Converter for generating electricity from marine waves, and established Ocean Power Delivery Ltd in 1998 to develop the product. The company is now called Pelamis Wave Power Ltd. Yemm was CEO until August 2007, raising substantial investment and gaining commercial orders from 2005 onwards. He then became CTO of the company. Yemm was Chairman of the Board of Scottish Renewables trade association for over five years, and is active in promoting renewable and wave energy. Recognition In March 2012 Yemm was presented with the Saltire Prize medal by Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond. The chief executive of Scottish Renewables, Niall Stuart, said, "Richard Yemm will undoubtedly be looked upon as one of the most influential people to the development of Scotland's marine industry; from the drawing board to grid connected devices and making important steps to commercial scale projects." References External links Pelamis Wave Power Ltd website Quoceant Ltd website 21st-century Scottish inventors Alumni of the University of Edinburgh College of Science and Engineering Scottish mechanical engineers Scottish company founders Living people People associated with renewable energy Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Scottish inventors
Thomas Walmsley and Sons. Thomas Walmsley and Sons was a company that manufactured wrought iron. It was founded in 1866 or 1869 by Thomas Walmsley at the Atlas Forge on a site bounded by Bridgeman Street and Fletcher Street in Bolton, then in Lancashire, England. The forge had at least 16 puddling furnaces and forging and rolling mills. In 1874 a Rastrick boiler at the forge exploded, causing six fatalities. Production lasted for more than 100 years until 1975 when it was the last plant in the United Kingdom to produce wrought iron. Much of the plant, the wrought iron rolling mill, the Rastrick boiler and the steam engine that powered it were preserved in working order by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust for its Blists Hill museum where it is used to demonstrate the process to visitors. A steam hammer supplied to the company by Nasmyth & Wilson of Patricroft is preserved outside Bolton University. After 1975 the company became steel stockholders as 'Walmsley Steelstock' and closed in 1984. Walmsley family Thomas Walmsley was born in 1812 and became an iron agent and tinplate worker in 1845 in Oxford Street, Bolton. In 1869 he was an agent for the Grosmont pig iron and Bowling Iron Company from the Phoenix Ironworks in Crook Street. He had set up his own iron works by 1869. He was Mayor of Bolton from 1869 to 1871. He died in 1890 and the business passed to his son, Richard and subsequently to Richard's sons, Reginald and Ernest. References Notes Bibliography Industrial Revolution Companies based in Bolton History of Bolton
List of heliports in Turkey. List of heliports References Trabzon location not corrector External links Directorate General of Civil Aviation Heliports Turkey Heliports
Vasant Dhar. Vasant Dhar is a professor at the Stern School of Business and the Center for Data Science at New York University, former editor-in-chief of the journal Big Data and the founder of SCT Capital, one of the first machine-learning-based hedge funds in New York City in the 1990s. His research focuses on building scalable decision-making systems from large sources of data using techniques and principles from the disciplines of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Early life and education Dhar is a graduate of The Lawrence School, Sanawar, which he considers one of the best presents his parents gave him without realizing it. He graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi in 1978 with a B.Tech in chemical engineering. He subsequently attended the University of Pittsburgh where he received an M. Phil and a Ph.D. in 1984. After he earned his doctorate, he joined the faculty at New York University. He worked at Morgan Stanley between 1994 and 1997 where he created the Data Mining Group that focused on predicting financial markets and customer behavior. Career highlights Dhar is an artificial intelligence researcher and data scientist whose research addresses the question, when do we trust AI systems with decision making? The question is particularly relevant to current-day autonomous machine-learning-based systems that learn and adapt with ongoing data. His research has been motivated by building predictive models in a number of domains, most notably finance, as well as areas including healthcare, sports, education and business, asking why are we willing to trust machines in some areas and not others? His view is that there is a discontinuity when we give complete decision-making control to a machine that learns from ongoing data. This discontinuity introduces some risks, specifically those around the errors made by such systems, which directly affect our degree of trust in them. Dhar's research breaks down trust along two risk-based dimensions: predictability, or how frequently a system makes mistakes (X-axis), and the associated costs of error (Y-axis) of such mistakes. The research demonstrates the existence of a "frontier" that expresses a trade-off between how often a system will be wrong and the consequences of such mistakes. Trust, and hence our willingness to cede control of decision making to the machine, increases with increasing predictability and lower error costs. In other words, we are willing to trust machines if they do not make too many mistakes and their costs are tolerable. As mistakes increase, we require that their consequences be less costly. The automation frontier provides a natural way to think about the future of work. With more and better data and algorithms, parts of existing processes become automated due to increased predictability, and cross the automation frontier into the "trust the machine" zone, whereas the parts with high error costs remain under human control. The model provides a way to think about the changing responsibilities of humans and machines as more data and better algorithms become better than humans with decisions. Dhar also uses the framework to frame policy issues around the risks of AI-based social media platforms and issues of privacy and ethical uses and governance of data. He writes regularly in the media on artificial intelligence, societal risks of AI platforms, data governance, privacy, ethics, and trust. He is a frequent speaker in academic as well as industrial forums. Dhar teaches courses on systematic investing, prediction, data science and the foundations of FinTech. He has written over 100 research articles, funded by grants from industry and government agencies such as the National Science Foundation. See also Data science Predictive analytics References External links New York University Stern faculty page New York University Stern School of Business faculty Living people IIT Delhi alumni University of Pittsburgh alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Information systems researchers
Rajeev Govindan. Rajeev Govindan (born 2 October 1972), formerly known as Rajeev Nair, is an Indian writer, lyricist and producer known for his works in the Malayalam film industry. He is a civil engineer by profession. His noted works include Ordinary and Trivandrum Lodge. His first production venture under the banner of Magic Moon Productions was Malayalam film Ordinary directed by Sugeeth. His next production was the Prithviraj Sukumaran starring film Anarkali which was directed by Sachy. He is also a member of the Indian Screenwriters Association (ISA). Early career A civil engineer by profession, he established an entrepreneurial venture, Hydrotech Systems Pvt. Ltd. in August 2009. The company specializes in ocean engineering and offshore engineering with an emphasis on underwater operations. He began as a lyricist with devotional songs from 2003. His early works include singer Biju Narayanan’s Lord Ayyapa devotional songs "Makara Nilavu" which was released by HMV Audios. Another work was the devotional album Krishna Priyan. He worked with music director P. K. Reghu Kumar on Varumo Vasantham (2008) brought out by Sathyam Audios. His teamwork with Iype Mathew, Bibin Mathew Abraham & director Sugeeth for the Musical Video Album Keralam provided his entry into film production. He also wrote lyrics for the album Hare (2014), composed by Sreevalsan J Menon. Film career Lyricist His career as a lyricist in the Malayalam Film Industry began with the film Race (2011). Though he had written for the Jayasurya starrer Vaadhyar (2012), his debut production venture Ordinary (2012) was released first. His work for the film remains the most noticed in his career. His other work includes Trivandrum Lodge (2012), "Erunottam Ithenthinu Veruthe" from the movie Chettayees (2012), 3 Dots (2013) and the songs from the surprise hit Vellimoonga (2014). He also wrote the lyrics for Peruchazhi (2014), Picket 43 (2015), 100 days of Love, Haram (2015) and Careful (2017). His upcoming projects for 2018 are Kaaliyan and Kinavallikal. Producer His first production venture under the banner of Magic Moon Productions was the Malayalam film Ordinary (2012) directed by Sugeeth. The movie starring an ensemble cast including Kunchako Boban, Biju Menon and Ann Augustine was a success and one of the highest grossers of the year. The movie witnessed the upcoming of a new tourist destination Gavi, Pathanamthitta and the introduction of the new comic team of Kunchako Boban and Biju Menon. He produced the romantic movie Anarkali starring Prithviraj Sukumaran which was also the directorial debut of the writer Sachy. Rajeev Govindan's (previously known as Rajeev Nair) poetry collection Thimirakanthi, published by D.C. Books was released on 5 November 2017. Awards New Mumbai cultural center award for the best lyricist in various films in 2018. Mumbai Tharangini Award, 2018 Best producer and lyricist for Anarkali. Eco Friendly Film Awards, 2013- Ordinary, Producer Rajeev Nair. Cinema Scapes, 2012- Ordinary, Award for Best feature film other than Hindi. Filmography As producer As lyricist References External links Anarkali Promo Video "Ship Voyage ",https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bi_hGeOCRQM Writers from Kerala Malayalam-language lyricists Malayalam film producers People from Malappuram district Living people Film producers from Kerala 1970 births
Kathleen C. Taylor. Kathleen C. Taylor (born 1942) is a chemist who won the Garvan–Olin Medal in 1989, and is notable for developing catalytic converters for cars. Education Taylor attended Douglass College at Rutgers University, earning a bachelor's in chemistry in 1964. She completed her Ph.D. in physical chemistry in 1968 at Northwestern University working with Robert Burwell, Jr. on the surface chemistry of catalysts. Following her Ph.D., she did postdoctoral research at the University of Edinburgh with Charles Kemball where she worked on the use of deuterium to track reactions on catalysts. Career In 1970, Taylor joined General Motors where she is known for her work at General Motors on catalytic converters that helped reduce pollution from car exhaust, following work done earlier by Eugene Houdry. Taylor developed catalytic converters that converted nitric oxide into nitrogen, instead of ammonia, a toxin to humans. In 1987, while at General Motors, Taylor also served as president of the Materials Research Society. When Taylor was elected a fellow of the National Academy of Engineering in 1995, she was cited "for the development of automotive-exhaust catalytic systems and leadership in materials battery and fuel cell research". In a 2014 interview, Taylor described her work as an engineer and noted that she selected the field because she liked the challenge of engineering and the employment options that would available to her. As of 2017, she was retired from General Motors, but continued to consult at Columbia University and the United States Department of Energy on projects that reduce impacts on the environment. Selected publications Awards 1988 - Garvan Award from the American Chemical Society 1994, Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science 1995, National Academy of Engineering 1997, Fellow, Society of Automotive Engineers 2003, American Academy of Arts and Sciences 2006, Indian National Academy of Engineering Personal life Taylor is a painter who works in watercolors on scenes in Florida and Massachusetts. References American physical chemists American women chemists American automotive engineers 1942 births Living people Northwestern University alumni Rutgers University alumni General Motors people Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering American women artists Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science 21st-century American women
Laith Shubeilat. Laith Shubeilat (; 28 November 1942 – 18 December 2022) was a Jordanian Islamist politician. He was born in Amman, Jordan in 1942, a son of another Jordanian public figure, Farhan Shubeilat, from Tafila, a city within the southern district of Jordan. Shubeilat was a graduate of civil engineering from the American University of Beirut in 1964, and gained his master's degree from George Washington University in 1968. Shubeilat was elected for the first time as the head of Jordanian Engineers Association in 1982 as the first Islamist to win this seat. Later he was appointed for the National Advisory Council in Jordan where he started his political activities. In 1984 he was elected to parliament. Thereafter, Shubeilat publicly opposed the Jordanian government and was imprisoned on several occasions. Shubeilat died from a heart attack on 18 December 2022, at the age of 80. References External links 1942 births 2022 deaths Politicians from Amman American University of Beirut alumni George Washington University alumni Members of the House of Representatives (Jordan) 20th-century Jordanian politicians Jordanian engineers
Mermaid Sapphire. Mermaid Sapphire is an offshore multipurpose vessel. Built in 2009, the ship is used for mostly research and undersea work. She is a purpose-built ABS Classed DP2 ROV and air diving support vessel, designed for operation of dual deepwater work-class ROV's (Quasar Compact or Triton XLX) plus optional inspection-class ROV. The ROV's are installed on a dedicated raised deck level, leaving all back deck space for project equipment. Mermaid Sapphire is also equipped with state-of-the-art subsea inspection data acquisition and data management systems. A 23-tonne knuckleboom crane, and auxiliary 5-tonne crane are also installed. On March 26, 2012, she carried Deepsea Challenger to the Challenger Deep where the first solo dive to the bottom of the trench was made. References 2009 ships
4D LABS. 4D LABS is a materials science research institute at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada that focuses on the design, development, demonstration, and delivery of advanced functional materials and nanoscale devices. Its $41 million facility opened in Jan 2007 with funding from Canada Foundation for Innovation, the British Columbia Knowledge Development Fund, and Simon Fraser University. 4D LABS is located in the Technology and Science Complex 2 (TASC2) building on the Simon Fraser University campus in Burnaby. This research institute houses 4700 sq ft of Class 100 clean room processing space, high resolution microscopy, an advanced spectroscopy and laser laboratory, and a visiting scientists' laboratory. It employs a technical staff to provide users with training and fee-for-hire services in nanofabrication, nanoimaging, and LASIR (Laboratory for Advanced Spectroscopy and Imaging Research). It specializes in the clean energy, information technology, health care, agriculture, and environment sectors. History 4D LABS was founded in 2005 with funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the BC Knowledge Development Fund and SFU. Its $41 million facility on the Burnaby SFU campus opened in January, 2007. The name 4D LABS is derived from the four D's that define its focus: design, development, demonstration, and delivery of advanced functional materials and nanoscale devices. The purpose of 4D LABS is to accelerate the commercialization of university research in the areas of advanced materials and nanoscale devices. The operating model includes shared laboratories, equipment, and crosses the boundaries of both scientific and engineering disciplines. Executive Directors 2007–present Neil Branda 2005-2007 Ross Hill External links SFU's Material Research Lab Simon Fraser University - Official site References Simon Fraser University Research institutes in Canada
Photon sieve. A photon sieve is a device for focusing light using diffraction and interference. It consists of a flat sheet of material full of pinholes that are arranged in a pattern which is similar to the rings in a Fresnel zone plate, but with the ability to bring light to much sharper focus. The sieve concept, first developed in 2001, is versatile because the characteristics of the focusing behaviour can be altered to suit the application by manufacturing a sieve containing holes of several different sizes and different arrangement of the pattern of holes. Photon sieves have applications to photolithography. and are an alternative to lenses or mirrors in telescopes and terahertz lenses and antennas. When the size of sieves is smaller than one wavelength of operating light, the traditional method mentioned above to describe the diffraction patterns is not valid. The vectorial theory must be used to approximate the diffraction of light from nanosieves. In this theory, the combination of coupled-mode theory and multiple expansion method is used to give an analytical model, which can facilitate the demonstration of traditional devices such as lenses and holograms. Alternative explanation When following a radial path on a Fresnel zone plate, the transmission varies from 0 to 1 to 0 etc. The transition from 0 to 1 and back again is immediate, it is a square wave. A square wave can be constructed from an infinite series of sinusoidal curves (see Fourier series). Within a Fresnel zone plate, each of these sinusoidally curved transmission patterns creates a different focus, so a standard Fresnel zone plate creates a rather messy primary focus as shown in figure 4 of reference 1. If the transmission function could be made to vary radially as a single sinusoid, there would be just one focus. This and the following are explained in detail in reference 8 especially chapter 2 summarised in equation 2.95 and Table 1 therein. However a perfectly sinusoidal transmission pattern may be difficult to manufacture and can be closely approximated by having the average transmission at a given radius (i.e. averaging all the way around a circle at that radius) from the centre vary sinusoidally. This can be achieved by punching holes of appropriate size at calculated locations as in a photon sieve. Holes are easy to manufacture and allow you to use a binary pattern that varies radially and around each circle to make on average a sinusoidal variation, thereby eliminating other foci. References 8. “Studies in Fresnel Zone Plate Encoded Neutron Holography and Synthesized Holographic Encoding”, University of Birmingham 1988 https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Studies_in_Fresnel_Zone_Plate_Encoded_Ne.html?id=ovsFswEACAAJ&redir_esc=y Optical devices
Sogamoso Dam. The Sogamoso Dam is a concrete-face rock-fill dam on the Sogamoso River in northern Colombia. It is located west of Bucaramanga in Santander Department and north of Bogotá. The primary purpose of the dam is hydroelectric power generation and its power plant has an installed capacity of which increased Colombia's generating capacity by 10 percent. Construction on the dam began in February 2009 and its first 273 MW Francis turbine-generator was commissioned on 1 December 2014. The other two generators were operational by 20 December 2014. The US$1.74 billion dam and power plant is owned by ISAGEN. INGETEC designed the dam in the 1990s and Impreglio was awarded the contract for construction. The dam is tall and withholds a reservoir. The power plant houses four Francis turbine-generators. Its spillway is located on its left bank and controlled by four radial gates. It has a maximum discharge of . The dam has been the subject of protests among locals as it relocated 160 families and negatively impact the livelihood of miners within the reservoir zone and fishers downstream. Relocation of the residents, construction of a new bridges and roads will cost US$202 million. A wide protected area was established around the reservoir. See also List of tallest dams in the world List of power stations in Colombia References External links Sogamoso Hydroelectric Project at ISAGEN Dams in Colombia Hydroelectric power stations in Colombia Concrete-face rock-fill dams Buildings and structures in Santander Department Dams completed in 2014 2014 establishments in Colombia Energy infrastructure completed in 2014
MDS 2400. The MDS 2400 was a small floor-standing computer manufactured by Mohawk Data Sciences Corporation. The machine was originally developed by Atron Corporation as the Atron 501 Datamanager, introduced in 1969. It was marketed primarily for remote job entry applications and promoted as The Peripheral Processor. Two related models from Mohawk were the 1200 and the 2300. Description The system had a base memory of 4 KB of core memory with a 2 μs cycle time, expandable to 32 KB. It supported one to four input/output channels with up to 16 devices per channel. It offered a choice of line printers between 280 and 1250 lines per minute (lpm), a 400 cards per minute (cpm) card reader, a 160 columns per second card punch, a paper tape reader, a 2.48 MB disk storage unit, and 7 and 9-track half-inch magnetic tape drives. An optional asynchronous terminal could be attached as a console. The system supported synchronous communications at up to 9600 baud, and usually served as a remote job entry system to a larger mainframe computer. The remote job entry software provided full support for the HASP multi-leaving protocol, among others.<ref See also George Cogar References External links Mohawk Data Sciences at the Computer Museum History Center MDS 2400 manuals at Bitsavers.org Remote job entry
Laser tracker. Laser trackers are instruments that accurately measure large objects by determining the positions of optical targets held against those objects. The accuracy of laser trackers is of the order of 0.025 mm over a distance of several metres. Some examples of laser tracker applications are to align aircraft wings during assembly and to align large machine tools. To take measurements the technician first sets up a laser tracker on a tripod with an unobstructed view of the object to be measured. The technician removes a target from the base of the laser tracker and carries it to the object to be measured, moving smoothly to allow the laser tracker to follow the movement of the target. The technician places the target against the object and triggers measurements to be taken at selected points, sometimes by a remote control device. Measurements can be imported into different types of software to plot the points or to calculate deviation from the correct position. The targets are known as "retroreflective" because they reflect the laser beam back in the same direction it came from (in this case, back to the laser tracker). One type of target in common use is called a spherically mounted retroreflector (SMR), which resembles a ball bearing with mirrored surfaces cut into it. History The first laser tracker was invented in 1987 by Dr. Kam Lau, CEO of API (Automated Precision, Inc.) while at NIST and made commercially available by API Metrology in 1988 with its first production unit being made available to Boeing under a 9-month lease agreement. Tennessee Technology University received an API 6-D laser tracker in 1989. Instruments were later produced by Kern in 1991 following a technology agreement with API. Currently, there are three well known manufacturers of Laser Trackers; FARO, API, and Leica. Footnotes References and sources Bob Bridges. “How Laser Trackers Work.” Quality Digest, June 25, 2009. James R. Koelsch, “Should Laser Trackers be in your Arsenal of Metrological Tools?” Quality Magazine, March 2012. “Portable laser tracker measures large volumes accurately.” Machine Design, August 25, 2011, Vol. 83 Issue 14, p19. Joel Martin. “Laser tracking fundamentals.” Quality Magazine, May 2007. Javier Vera. “The Versatile Laser Tracker.” Quality Digest. January 27, 2011. National Institute of Standards and Technology. " ." "NIST Public Affairs Office", June 4, 2010. Scanner Laser image acquisition Metrology Surveying instruments
Mechanical weed control. Mechanical weed control is a physical activity that inhibits unwanted plant growth. Mechanical, or manual, weed control techniques manage weed populations through physical methods that remove, injure, kill, or make the growing conditions unfavorable. Some of these methods cause direct damage to the weeds through complete removal or causing a lethal injury. Other techniques may alter the growing environment by eliminating light, increasing the temperature of the soil, or depriving the plant of carbon dioxide or oxygen. Mechanical control techniques can be either selective or non-selective. A selective method has very little impact on non-target plants where as a non-selective method affects the entire area that is being treated. If mechanical control methods are applied at the optimal time and intensity, some weed species may be controlled or even eradicated. Methods Weed pulling Pulling methods uproot and remove the weed from the soil. Weed pulling can be used to control some shrubs, tree saplings, and herbaceous plants. Annuals and tap-rooted weeds tend to be very susceptible to pulling. Many species are able to re-sprout from root segments that are left in the soil. Therefore, the effectiveness of this method is dependent on the removal of as much of the root system as possible. Well established perennial weeds are much less effectively controlled because of the difficulty of removing all of the root system and perennating plant parts. Small herbaceous weeds may be pulled by hand, but larger plants may require the use of puller tools like the Weed Wrench or the Root Talon. This technique has a little to no impact on neighboring, non-target plants and has a minimal effect on the growing environment. However, pulling is labor-intensive and time-consuming, making it a more suitable method to use for small weed infestations. Mowing Mowing methods cut or shreds the above ground of the weed and can prevent and reduce seed populations as well as restrict the growth of weeds. Mowing can be a very successful control method for many annual weeds. Mowing is the most effective when it is performed before the weeds are able to set seed because it can reduce the number of flower stalks and prevent the spread of more seed. However, the biology of the weed must be considered before mowing. Some weed species may sprout with increased vigor after being mowed. Also, some species are able to re-sprout from stem or root segments that are left behind after mowing. Brush cutting and weed eating are also mowing techniques that reduce the biomass of the weeds. Repeatedly removing biomass causes reduced vigor in many weed species. This method is usually used in combination with other control methods such as burning or herbicide treatments. Mulching Mulch is a layer of material that is spread on the ground. Compared with some other methods of weed control, laying weed mulch mat is relatively simple and inexpensive. Mulching smothers the weeds by excluding light and providing a physical barrier to impede their emergence. Mulching is successful with most annual weeds, however, some perennial weeds are not affected. Mulches may be organic or synthetic. Organic mulches consist of plant by products such as: pine straw, wood chips, green waste, compost, leaves, and grass clippings. Synthetic mulches, also known as ground cover fabric, can be made from materials like polyethylene, polypropylene, or polyester. The effectiveness of mulching is mostly dependent on the material used. Organic and synthetic mulches may be used in combination with each other to increase the amount of weeds controlled. Tillage Tillage, also known as cultivation, is the turning over of the soil. This method is more often used in agricultural crops. Tillage can be performed on a small scale with tools such as small, hand pushed rotary tillers or on a large scale with tractor mounted plows. Tillage is able to control weeds because when the soil is overturned, the vegetative parts of the plants are damaged and the root systems are exposed causing desiccation. Generally, the younger the weed is, the more readily it can be controlled with tillage. To control mature perennial weeds, repeated tillage is necessary. By continually destroying new growth and damaging the root system, the weed's food stores are depleted until it can no longer re-sprout. Also, when the soil is overturned, the soil seed bank is disrupted which can cause dormant weed seeds to germinate in the absence of the previous competitors. These new weeds can also be controlled by continued tillage until the soil seed bank is depleted. Soil solarization Soil solarization involves covering the soil with a layer of clear or black plastic which traps heat energy from the sun and raises the temperature of the soil. Many weed seeds and vegetative propagules are not able to withstand the temperatures and are killed. For this method to be most effective, it needs to be implemented during the summer months and the soil should be moist. Cool season weeds are more susceptible to soil solarization than are warm season weeds. Using black plastic as a cover excludes light which can help to control plants that are growing whereas clear plastic has been shown to produce higher soil temperatures. Fire Burning and flaming can be economical and practical methods of weed control if used carefully. For most plants, fire causes the cell walls to rupture when they reach a temperature of to . Burning is commonly used to control weeds in forests, ditches, and roadsides. Burning can be used to remove accumulated vegetation by destroying the dry, matured plant matter as well as killing the green new growth. Buried weed seeds and plant propagules may also be destroyed during burning, however, dry seeds are much less susceptible to the increased temperature. Flaming is used on a smaller scale and includes the use of a propane torch with a fan tip. Flaming may be used to control weeds along fences and paved areas or places where the soil may be too wet to hoe, dig, or till. Flaming is most effective on young weeds that are less than two inches tall but repeated treatments may control tougher perennial weeds. Lasers In precision agriculture, novel agricultural robots can use lasers for weed control. Their benefits may include "healthier crops and soil, decreased herbicide use, and reduced chemical and labor costs". Flooding Flooding is a method of control that requires the area being treated to be saturated at a depth of 15 to 30 cm for a period of 3 to 8 weeks. The saturation of the soil reduces the availability of oxygen to the plant roots thereby killing the weed. This method has been shown to be highly effective in controlling establish perennial weeds and may also suppress annual weeds by reducing the weed seed populations. Environmental effects Mechanical methods of weed control cause physical changes in the immediate environment that may cause positive or negative effects. The suppression of the targeted weeds will open niches in the environment and may also stimulate the growth of other weeds by decreasing their competition and making their environment more favorable. If the niches are not filled by a desirable plant, they will eventually be taken over by another weed. These weed control methods also effect the structure of the soil. The use of mulches can help decrease erosion, decrease water evaporation from the soil, as well as improve the soil structure by increasing the amount of organic matter. Tillage practices can help decrease compaction and aerate the soil. On the other hand, tillage has also been shown to decrease soil moisture, increase soil erosion and runoff, as well as decrease soil microbial populations. Solarization can cause changes in the biological, physical, and chemical properties of the soil. This can cause the soil to be an unfavorable environment for native species which may be beneficial or harmful. See also Aquatic weed harvester References Horticultural techniques Weeds
Kyu Sung Woo. Kyu Sung Woo (; born 1941) is a South Korean architect and principal of the architectural design firm, Kyu Sung Woo Architects, Inc. The firm's projects include many built and proposed works in the United States and South Korea. Biography Kyu Sung Woo was born in Seoul, South Korea. After receiving a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Architectural Engineering at Seoul National University, he went to the United States in 1967. He then studied at Columbia University, where he received a Master of Architecture (1968) and Harvard University, where he received a Master of Architecture in Urban Design (1970). He founded Kyu Sung Woo Architects, Inc. in 1990 after working in various design and consulting positions around the US. In 2008, Woo received the South Korea's Ho-Am Prize in the Arts. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. Architectural style The frequent use of simplified rectilinear forms and volumes in Woo's works tie him to the modernist movement. Additionally, several aspects of his style are often drawn from his cultural experience living in both South Korea and The United States. Hong-bin Kang, a fellow South Korean architect, remarked that, "It is meaningless to ask if Woo is a 'Korean' architect or an 'American' architect: for he is neither, and at the same time, both… He does not try to sell 'oriental' qualities to the American architectural community, nor does he attempt to introduce the latest in Western architecture to Koreans." Evidence of these two cultural influences can be seen in Woo's Putnam Mountain House, which features pitched New England–style roofs along with large sliding glass doors, similar to the screen doors that would lead to outdoor courtyards in traditional Korean homes. Furthermore, Woo often articulates his design philosophy in terms of how the necessities of a building's site should shape its appearance and organization. In discussing the Whanki Museum, Woo stated, “… I tried to consider how to conform the museum’s existence as a public building to the scale of its neighborhood, its topography, and its natural environment.” Projects Woo's works include varying scales of buildings, from small homes to mass residential complexes and institutional buildings. Olympic Village Housing – Seoul While working at Woo & Williams (later to become Kyu Sung Woo Architects, Inc.), Woo entered an international competition in 1985 to design a housing village for the athletes and reporters of the 24th Olympic Games in Seoul. Woo's design was selected and completed in 1988. The complex, which is located south of the city, includes 5,540 housing units and supporting facilities. It is arranged in a fan shape, with residential units radiating from a U-shaped galleria and public plaza. The buildings conform to a bowl-shaped landscape, with the residential towers increasing in height as they move outwards from the central plaza. Throughout the course of the Games, 13,000 athletes and 7,000 journalists were housed in the complex. Following the Olympic Games, the complex was repurposed into a permanent urban community. This community includes a subway station, three schools, and religious, cultural, recreational, and retail facilities. Whanki Museum The Whanki Museum is a museum/exhibition complex located in the Buam Dong Valley in Seoul. The building was constructed in 1992 in commemoration of the contemporary Korean painter, Kim Whanki. The, complex occupies two blocks, one of which houses the works of Kim Whanki, while the other contains a temporary art exhibition space, a cafeteria, and a shop. The compound is arranged to follow the east–west axis of the valley. The central hall of the museum building serves as the unifying space in Woo's design. The 8 meter-tall cube-shaped space is partially underground and divided in order to create display space for paintings on the bottom walls. The top walls are carved away into columns, revealing a stairwell that encompasses the space. The hall is lit directly using artificial light and a central skylight and indirectly through the adjacent mezzanine. In designing the Museum, Woo described his desired connection between Kim's art and his own architecture, "In exhibition spaces, the architectural experience should be subordinate to that of the art. Here and elsewhere, however, architecture does not have to play a passive role. The process of absorbing art is a collective and continuous experience that occurs throughout a museum, an intense activity that needs intervals of rest. Occasional connections with nature and the context, activated by the architecture of a museum, can enhance one’s experience of a work of art and make one’s appreciation of both more relevant and rich." 10 Akron Street 10 Akron Street is a LEED Gold certified residence hall on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The building is situated on the banks of the Charles River and at the foot of a 22-story residential tower, Peabody Terrace, designed by Josep Lluis Sert (an architect whom Woo had studied under at Harvard). The residence hall is a 115,000-square-foot building that is U-shaped in plan. It was constructed in 2008 around a courtyard garden designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh. Due to the building's highly public location at the entrance of campus, Woo aimed to reconcile the scale and massing of the building with those of the surrounding communities and views. On the design of 10 Akron Street, Woo remarked, "I wanted this building to relate to and complement Peabody Terrace both in massing and scale. These two projects, however, are designed 50 years apart and are reflections of their own time. Innovation was the essence of Peabody Terrace for housing typology, construction, technology, and aesthetics; while Akron housing was an attempt to retain tradition and innovation within the given changing conditions of the city and campus." Other notable projects Asian Culture Complex – Gwangju, South Korea Village Residence Halls – Brandeis University Heller School – Brandeis University Putney Mountain House – Putney, Vermont Stone Cloud – Seoul Nerman Museum for Contemporary Art – Overland Park, Kansas Woo Residence – Cambridge, Massachusetts Residence Hall – Massachusetts College of Art, Boston International Village – Northeastern University, Boston Behrakis Health Sciences Center – Northeastern University Arts of Korea Gallery – Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Student Housing – Bennington College, Vermont Keum Jung Sports Park – Busan, South Korea Observatory Commons – Cambridge, Massachusetts References Additional references "Architecture." Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art. Johnson Community College. Web. 21 Mar. 2011. Hanley, William. "Newsmaker: Kyu Sung Woo." Architectural Record. Aug. 2008. Web. 21 Mar. 2012. "The Korean Treasure House." The Architectural Review CCVI.1230 (1999): 76–77. Print. "Timber Supplement - Halls of Residence, Vermont, USA - Kyu Sung Woo." The Architectural Review CCXIV.1281 (2003): 93. Print. 21st-century South Korean architects American people of Korean descent Artists from Seoul Seoul National University alumni Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation alumni Harvard Graduate School of Design alumni Living people 1941 births Recipients of the Ho-Am Prize in the Arts
CATUAV. CATUAV S.L. is a technology-based private company that offers aerial services using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). Its headquarters are located in the Moià airfield in the BCN Drone Center, 40 km north of Barcelona, Spain. History CATUAV is a company involved in developing UAV technologies for aerial image acquisition purposes in Europe. The first UAV prototype was built in 2003, as a new business line within Aeroplans Blaus S.L., a company dedicated to experimental and sport aviation equipment. During this period some surveillance UAV systems were developed as part of a strategic agreement with Proytecsa and Indra. In 2007 the UAV business line had grown enough to create a new company, CATUAV, founded to provide all the services offered with these systems. In 2008 the company signed a strategic agreement with AURENSIS, a Telespazio/Finmeccanica company. Since then, CATUAV has performed more than 100 commercial missions in the civil market. Technologies Since 2003 CATUAV has developed different technologies in order to perform its services: Atmos series: Mini-UAV that weighs less than 2 kg and can carry a payload of up to 500g. Powered with an electric motor this is a platform that is used primarily for mapping projects. The current version is Atmos-6, which is an evolution of the five previous models (from Atmos-1 to Atmos-5) Furos: A medium-range UAV that thanks to its gasoline engine can fly for six hours and cover distances of over 400 km guided by autopilot. The cargo bay has ample space for payload in the central area of the fuselage and the nose has a modular system designed to accommodate thermal cameras. The high power of its engine and its special streamlined design allows to take off and land in very little space from unprepared terrain. It can reach a top speed of 145 km / h and climb to 3,000 m in less than ten minutes. Equipped with a new video link and long-range data link, can be manually controlled to 20 km or undertake missions on their pre-programmed autopilot. It weighs less than 11 kg and can carry a payload of up to 5 kg (including fuel). Argos: Evolution of the Furos, this UAV weighs less than 12 kg and can carry a payload up to 6.25 kg (including fuel). Powered with a fuel engine, it can fly for up to 14 hours, making it CATUAV's longest enduring platform. It has a big cargo bay that is easy to adapt to different payloads and a long endurance to get the maximum of each flight. ARGOS is an easy to deploy, easy to fly mid-range platform that has a conventional landing gear for taking off from very short runways or a special hook for catapult launching when there is no runway available. Wings are foldable in less than five minutes for easy transportation even in small vehicles. Mineos: a versatile mini-UAV with a silent electrical propulsion system. Its small size allows performing a great variety of missions, it is ideal for video surveillance, photogrammetry, filming and as a platform for scientific and remote sensing applications. It has GPS navigation system, automatic stabilizer system and emergency locator transmitter. The new MINEOS is foldable and easy to carry in any vehicle. Telemetry data link: CATUAV has its own telemetry protocol that ensures the security and safety of all the communications. The UAVs can be controlled in a 15 km radius with a radio frequency link. This range can be extended using a satellite link. Ground control station: In order to operate the UAV, CATUAV has developed a towable ground station with all the equipment required to deploy and operate the UAVs and read all the telemetry data. It also has a portable ground station for missions that do not have path access. Mission software: CATUAV is operating its own planning and control mission software, specially adapted to its UAV platforms and application requirements. CATUAV also operates third-party products that play a role in its activity, such as: Falcon 8 blades multirotor. Thermoteknix: a high resolution thermal camera. EnsoMosaic software: this software package allows the creation of orthophoto mosaics and digital elevation model (DEM). Services Some services the company offers include: Orthophotos Orthophotos are aerial photographies that have been geometrically corrected such that the scale is uniform, having each pixel an associated geographic coordinate. Orthophotos have the same lack of distortion as maps, so they are an accurate representation of the Earth's surface that can be used to measure distances. Using photogrammetric software, the aerial images acquired with UAV systems can be rectified and merged in order to create orthorectified image mosaics of the desired extension. The orthophotos have a resolution between 5 cm to 2 m/píxel. In one flight, areas up to 1000 hectares can be detected. The generation of the orthophotos is made using software that automatically applies photogrammetric principles to rectify the images. As input, it needs georeferenced aerial images and the usage of a calibrated camera. This process leads to submeter precisions in the full orthophoto extension, which can still be increased adding manual control points. The UAV systems can be equipped with multiple cameras, allowing us the acquisition of images in multiple spectral bands: visible, near infrared, thermal, hyperspectral. Those images can be postprocessed (for example to compute vegetation index) and orthophotos can be generated for each spectral band, resulting in a huge range of applications: Precision agriculture Forestry management Environmental studies Hydrology Landmine detection Archaeological work Town illumination management Light pollution studies Fire detection Energy efficiency studies Waste management Surveillance Digital elevation models for GIS applications A Digital Elevation Model (DEM) is a continuous 3D representation of a terrain surface area that has been geometrically corrected, so it can be used to measure distances and heights. Two main kinds of DEM can be generated: Digital Terrain Model (DTM): 3D representation of the terrain base surface without vegetation and artificial objects. Digital Surface Model (DSM): 3D representation of all elements in the area. CATUAV systems generate a DTM in every flight as a product of the rectification process. From this previous DTM, with more intensive software procedures, a dense Point Cloud 3D model can be generated, from which a high-resolution DSM can be derived. Obtaining in the same flight an orthophoto plus a DEM, provides a high quality and low-cost product that can be used to support any topography and cartography work. With further processing, dense Point Cloud and DSM can also be obtained, which leads to applications in multiple fields: Topography Mining Forestry management Civil Works Geology Non-metric, oblique aerial images If the onboard camera pose has a certain angle from the vertical direction, oblique images are obtained, which allows the obtaining of an aerial perspective of the scene. Thanks to the use of an onboard GPS and inertial system, each image acquired can be automatically georeferenced. The aerial perspective obtained with this kind of images makes it possible to see the scene from a bird's point of view and leads to numerous applications where they are useful: Civil works management Power lines maintenance Energy efficiency in buildings 360º panorama creation Atmospheric data The systems can be equipped with any desired sensors in order to obtain atmospheric data such as temperature, pressure, concentration, etc. This data can be used to perform atmospheric prospection and environmental studies. Featured missions Lorca earthquake: In May 2011 CATUAV performed a series of flights over Lorca (Spanish town in Murcia) 38 hours after it was struck by a strong earthquake. The high resolution orthophoto created from the town allowed the emergency services to evaluate and quantify the damages in buildings. This is the first known application of a mini-UAV in a civil emergency in Europe. SAFEDEM project: CATUAV is participating in the SAFEDEM project of the ESA to develop a system capable of helping in the demining works in Bosnia. Awards CATUAV has been awarded the Galileo Masters European GNSS Agency (GSA) special topic prize and regional prize in 2011 for its TCAS for mini UAV project. Other awards: ESNC Regional Prize Innovacat (2012) Premi Medi Ambient (2012) Drone social innovation award Nit de la robotica (2015) References External links Official CATUAV website Official CATUAV UAV Test Site Companies based in Catalonia Technology companies of Spain Unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturers Spanish brands 2007 establishments in Spain Spanish companies established in 2007 Privately held companies of Spain

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