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DMO Raises N3.3trn Borrowing To Support 2022 Budget Deficit
by Mark Itsibor
in Business, Cover Stories
The Debt Management Office (DMO) has raised a total of N3.3 trillion from the domestic market to help the government generate revenue to finance the deficit in the 2022 budget.
The federal government had given the debt office a mandate to raise the total sum of N3.56 trillion from the domestic front for the financing of the national budget.
The DMO has also issued a fresh N100 billion SUKUK offer for subscription which is the third of its kind in the domestic capital. SUKUK is a project-tied borrowing that enables the government to raise funding for specific road and bridges infrastructures.
The SUKUK offer and the utilisation which many said is extremely important would close next Tuesday. The current SUKUK instrument has 15.6 percent rental returns. The expectation is that it would be oversubscribed as the previous ones.
Speaking at a stakeholder briefing yesterday in Abuja, director-general of the DMO Patience Oniha said beyond the advantage of financing infrastructure, SUKUK is a retail investment for promoting financial inclusion. The meeting was organized to to sensitise people about the instrument.
"So overall, we're specifically borrowing to fund infrastructure. But we're also developing the market and giving people more investment opportunities," Ms Oniha said while insisting that government borrowing from the domestic market does not crowd out private sector investment in any way.
"Overall, it's a win-win for Nigeria," the DMO DG said, stating that it is something that Nigerians have asked for. "Even the contractors are interested because they want to work. So, once they are assured the payment, they go to site and begin to work and when the contractors go to site, they employ people right. And then there are all these other ancillary jobs that are created."
The funds that would be raised from the debt instrument would be used to finance federal road projects on the list of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing as well as the Federal Capital Territory.
On whether the government is not worried that borrowing to fund its 2023 budget could be constrained by the tightening spree in the domestic and foreign market, Oniha said it's difficult to predict the outcome of the market ahead of 2023, which is Nigeria's election year.
Oniha said the federal government is focused on people that ordinary, would not invest, either for reasons of ethics, or they're not even aware that their little monies can be invested.
Tags: DMO
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Mark Itsibor
Mark Itsibor is a journalist and communication specialist with 10 years of experience, He is currently Chief Correspondent at LEADERSHIP Media Group and writes on Finance, Economy, Politics, Crime, and Judiciary. He has a B.Sc in Political Science, Post Graduate Diploma in Journalism (Print), and B.A in Development Communication. His Twitter handle is @Itsibor_M


Please join us for Del Ray's 3rd Annual Spring Bar Crawl - a 70's themed charity fundraiser bar crawl! This event, featuring 12 of the area's top restaurants, takes place Saturday, April 6th, from 2-6pm and benefits Rebuilding Together Alexandria & The Del Ray Flower Fund. So, grab your friends and your best 70's gear and get ready for an afternoon of laughs cocktails, and raffles along the avenue!
-- Opportunity to win a Best Dressed prize! Prizes awarded for these three groups: Best dressed person, best dressed couple, best dressed group.
Please note: Advance ticket sales end at 10pm on Friday, April 5th. No refunds; your registration fee is a donation to The Del Ray Gateway Project & Rebuilding Together Alexandria.
Participating bars/restaurants: Cheesetique Del Ray, Del Ray Pizzeria, Evening Star Cafe, KAiZEN TAVERN, Lena's Wood-Fired Pizza & Tap, Live Oak Restaurant, Nectar Coffee and Wine Bistro, Northside10, Pork Barrel BBQ Restaurant - Del Ray, St. Elmo's Coffee Pub, Catch on the Avenue, Charlie's On The Avenue, and Stomping Ground. Don't miss this fun event for a great cause!


Community & Location Highlights: Located across from Anne Arundel Medical Center Close to numerous physicians' offices and nursing/rehab centers Near shopping, dining, theaters, historic sites and more Experienced, dedicated team of assisted living and reminiscence professionals Winner of The Capital's Best Assisted Living Award the past four years Welcoming community atmosphere encourages social engagement Easy access to Routes 50 and 97 and minutes from Downtown Annapolis Life at Sunrise of Annapolis residents easily engage with others and join in as many activities as they wish. Our safe, top-quality assisted living community in Annapolis, MD, features a centralized layout, allowing our residents to take advantage of everything available to them—from familiar hobbies to new pursuits. A bistro, walking paths, garden, activity rooms and beauty salon all add to this vibrant, Annapolis assisted living atmosphere. Our location—directly across from the Anne Arundel Medical Center and close to Annapolis Mall and Annapolis Towne Centre—is convenient for the needs of both residents and their families. Being in the state capital also provides historical interest and allows for sightseeing and strolls along the waterfront. Our team members, many of whom have been with us for many years, work hard to create wonderful relationships and to uphold our reputation of providing the finest care in the area, a reputation that has earned us the Best Assisted Living Award from the readers of The Capital the past four years. Sunrise of Annapolis is an assisted living community that works hard to become an extended family to your loved one, while providing the care and love they need. Stop by today and see why our residents are so proud to call Sunrise of Annapolis home!


 Public Lab: How to test water for heavy metals today?
Question: How to test water for heavy metals today?
Professionals with NIST certified lab equipment who'd calibrate amateur gear?
Various flavors of chromatography & spectrography?
Neutron activation analysis of solid residue?
Inspired by PublicLab's awesome LibrePlanet2018 presentation at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, New England, USA.
I like energy dispersive X-Ray florescence (EDXRF). It's non-distructive, low power, and relatively cheap. On the down side, it's hard to calibrate.
If you are looking for specific metals, there should be some reagent that will precipitate or indicate that metal. But if you're looking for all the dissolved metals, you'll probably need a spectroscopic type test.
The older usp method was based on hydrogen sulfide. This was later changed to a thioacetamide based test. This is better, but still not good. These are general tests for heavy metals and relatively inexpensive. You can get much more expensive tests based on chromatography, atomic absorption, ICP, and a slew of other methods. But you will pay for it either in time or in instrument cost. These are the trade offs you have to make.


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Hancock Family Crest
Origin of the Name Hancock
The Hancock family history was found in the allfamilycrests.com archives. The name Bergener is usually of locational origin and is derived from the many places named Bergen, especially in Germany . This name has a number of variants including Bergen, Berger, Beregan, Berrigan, Berrygun, Burgan, Burgen and Burgin. Other variants of the name can be derived from the places found in Scandanavia, notably in Norway. It has been speculated that these names and placenames may be a consequence of the invasion by the German Burgundii tribes in the fifth century. An early record of the name in England is found in the 'Domesday Book' that records a Walter Burgoin being granted lands in the County of Devonshire in the year 1086. The coat of arms or family crest shown here is an ancient and distinctive design the origin of which dates back over a millennium. Initially these armorial bearings were first used by feudal lords and warriors on the field of battle as a means of identification but later became extant among the general population. From Europe the name Bergener spread to America, Canada, Australia and the new world beyond.
The Hancock coat of arms came into existence centuries ago. The process of creating coats of arms (also often called family crests) began in the eleventh century although a form of Proto-Heraldry may have existed in some countries prior to this. The new art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own coat of arms, including all Hancock descendants.
This Hancock family crest, coat of arms is COPYRIGHT (C) ALLFAMILYCRESTS.COM, 1998-2015

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


A songbird for our generation and many to come, Alicia Blue has sparked our ears once again with her latest single, 'Magma'. The LA based folk songwriter is truly bringing back the come-together spirit of the 60s and 70s with her intoxicating musical style and textured lyrics: every line has a story to tell.
Almost like a warning sign, Alicia's songs channel a message of hope and resilience. She has worked every job from waitressing to elderly care to support her and her craft, and it seems to only inform her music more. Only an ambitious and tenacious spirit could write with such transparency. The purity of 'Magma' is uplifting and grounding at the same time. She describes the babies of the Scorpio generation (born '84 – '94) bearers of upheaval and light, using the metaphor of an eruptive volcano to relay what is happening around us. Lava destroys everything in its path…but leaves behind the most fertile ground in its wake.
The Mexican-American songwriter caught our attention with her first single, 'Incognito' which tells of Alicia's experience as a "passing" Latina. The racist off color comments she was forced to hear growing up have brought her and her gritty stride to the heart of LA's folk music scene where she continues to tell tales of not-so-pretty realities.


Lubrizol offers a complete portfolio of advanced coating technologies for filtration media, durable papers, and other non-woven materials, delivering a broad range of performance characteristics. Our application experts help provide solutions that deliver value to your business. With polymers, additives, and custom-formulated solutions featuring a growing list of environmentally preferred and formaldehyde-free options, count on Lubrizol for differentiated performance for liquid and air filtration, book covers, wall coverings, abrasive paper, and more.


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Reading & Writing in the Disciplines
Professional Development > Reading & Writing in the Disciplines > 13. Big Ideas in Literacy – English
Big Ideas in Literacy – English
The English language arts classroom has always been the primary place where students are taught academic literacy practices. These days, as teachers of other subjects, like math and science, are asked to incorporate academic literacy into their classrooms, some English teachers ask each other, "If reading and writing are taught in science, math, and social studies classes, do we still need English class?" The answer is yes!
Although all content areas share some reading, writing, speaking, listening, and thinking practices, English is still unique. In English class, students study the English language and all its contexts and manifestations most directly through reading, thinking about, and responding to literature of several types (novels, memoirs, biographies, plays, poetry, editorials), written at different points in history and for varied audiences. They engage in reading and critical analysis of written text and oral text (speeches, debates). With respect to both written and oral language, students are readers and listeners as well as writers and speakers, creating stories and constructing arguments. A unifying theme throughout English class is the study of language in its many variations, formats, purposes, and audiences. It is a place where students learn not only about English literature, but also about language in general.
English as a discipline is often characterized as concerned only with reading and writing about literature, poetry, and fiction. These genres are important, but the discipline also addresses other areas of language study, reading comprehension, and written and spoken expression, such as the analysis of style in spoken and written texts.
The next four units of this course examine the practices of English studies. The first unit explores significant ideas currently being discussed at many levels of English teaching and the education profession, such as policy, research, teacher education, and teaching. The second and third units focus on reading practices and instructional strategies in English and a similar review of writing in English. The last unit brings these ideas together and discusses broader instructional design.
WHAT IS ENGLISH STUDIES?
How familiar are most people with the idea of English studies? English studies refers to different categories of study within the discipline, such as written or printed text, oral language, and linguistic context, as they relate to a wide variety of purposes and audiences. Many universities in the United States and around the world call their English departments "English studies." Illinois State University is one example. There, undergraduate majors in English studies are required to take courses in literary and cultural studies, rhetoric and composition, and linguistics. They are also encouraged to explore technical, professional, and creative writing and publishing practices and careers. Durham University—with the third-oldest Department of English Studies in England—requires its undergraduate English studies majors to take literature courses specializing in drama, poetry, and the novel; courses in the classical and biblical background of English literature; and courses in English language and history. Students are also required to take courses in critical approaches to studying literature. There are also a number of academic journals, such as the International Journal of English Studies, that explore English language and linguistics, applied English linguistics, literature in English, and the culture of the English-speaking countries.
This unit looks at several important topics that influence our understanding of how to teach reading and writing in English: motivation, text complexity, language study, standards, assessment, multiliteracies, explicit instruction and gradual release, the inquiry cycle, and student collaboration.
Reflect: Write for two minutes about what you feel are the issues fundamental to the teaching and learning of English studies.
Video and Reflection: Now watch as Reading and Writing in English to see researchers and educators provide research-based comments about reading and writing in English. You may want to take notes on the questions below.
Before you watch: What are some of the current research-based ideas about reading or writing in English discussed at your school?
Watch the video: Take note of what ideas sound familiar to you. What is new to you?
Reflect: What is the most memorable idea discussed? Write a brief summary of the idea and share your summary with a colleague.
Without students' genuine interest, there will always be some lack of participation or other form of disconnection. Students need a reason to be motivated before they will actually engage. Marzano (2011) explains that feelings influence thinking. This means that students' thinking and learning is enhanced, limited, or otherwise affected by their general and specific emotional state (Jensen, 2005). The higher-order thinking skills in which teachers desire students to engage involve focusing on the present activity without being distracted by external circumstances or personal sensations. Eric Jensen explains that teachers don't have to be subject to the range of moods that enter their classrooms. Instead, it is worth incorporating emotional engagement into lesson plans by fostering an optimal emotional state for engagement.
To help foster motivation by heightening students' emotions, reading and writing activities should be personalized and occasionally controversial; activities should highlight important—but relevant—questions and incorporate movement (for example, students might write about a sports activity, travel outside of school to interview someone, or observe an activity).
Video and Reflection: Watch Engaging Students in Authentic Reading and Writing in which a high school English teacher discussed her real-world literature class. You may want to take notes on the issues below.
Before you watch: Think about how you ascertain the kinds of reading and writing that engage your students.
Watch the video: As you watch, consider other factors besides literature selections that engage students.
Reflect: Now consider how you would incorporate your students' interest into reading and writing activities.
Engagement often comes from tapping into students' background knowledge, strengths, and interests. Doing so increases their desire or motivation to engage in classroom activities. In this way, we build engagement into the design of the lesson rather than relying solely on classroom management strategies during instruction. English teachers can also focus on being culturally responsive by selecting readings that connect with students' cultures, honoring students' home and peer languages and incorporating them into instruction, highlighting diverse cultural metaphors, and using student narratives as writing assignments and as a point of reference for different kinds of writing and reading.
Apply: Write one to two paragraphs about what motivated you to engage in reading and writing activities during English class when you were a high school or middle school student.
CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE TEACHING
Culturally responsive teaching (CRT) practices as described by Geneva Gay (2002) and Gloria Ladson-Billings (1995) help teachers think about student motivation and engagement more holistically. Yvette Jackson's (2011) review of culturally responsive teaching research defines CRT practices as:
Validating – Incorporating the knowledge, experiences, and performance styles of diverse students into instruction
Comprehensive – Developing our students' intellectual, social, emotional, and political knowledge by using their cultural referents
Transformative – Using our students' cultures as resources for teaching and learning, and critiquing social structures in reading and writing practices
Multidimensional – Attending to the curriculum, learning context, classroom climate, student–teacher relationships, instructional techniques, and performance assessments
Emancipatory – Making authentic knowledge about different ethnic groups available to students
Empowering – Helping students develop academic competence, self-efficacy, and initiative
A good self-assessment for student engagement in your lesson involves asking yourself such questions as: How is my lesson validating for all of my students? How is my lesson comprehensive (in incorporating student interests and strengths)? How is my lesson transformative for all students?
Be realistic about linguistic prejudice, as it is an influencing factor on students' motivation and engagement in learning academic English. For the English teacher, this might come into play when teaching literature written in hybrid languages; World Englishes (Australia, England, South Africa, Nigeria, India, etc.); or vernacular dialects, often from different time periods. As an English teacher, you have the dual role of guiding students toward academic English while teaching them to appreciate linguistic diversity in multicultural and global literature written in English.
Reflect: Write an example of how you use your students' cultural referents to build their knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Brainstorm a list of other ways you can incorporate cultural referents in your teaching.
Another way to tap into students' interests in English class is to incorporate student choice of reading activities wherever possible. For example, students may have the option to choose their own texts for sustained silent reading time and during literature circles based on themes and concepts rather than specific titles or authors.
Choice of writing activities can also engage students. There are many forms of writing used for different communicative purposes outside of the classroom. Within the classroom, the available writing activity options should relate to the overall lesson objectives and connections to standards or benchmarks. However, instead of writing only for the teacher who will grade the work, students can find it more meaningful to write for real audiences who will engage with and respond to or edit their work. For example, students can add to an existing Wiki, create a blog or guest write on another's blog, or translate a concept or story from a newspaper into a spoken word text or turn a popular song of any genre into a news report.
Reflect: What kinds of opportunities do your students have to select what they will read and write in your class? Make a list of authentic audiences for your students' writing assignments.
The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) has drawn attention to text complexity as it relates to the increasing literacy demands of college, career, and civic life. The CCSS measures text complexity using a three-part model that includes the qualitative dimension (concerning cognitive, cultural, and content factors), the quantitative dimension (concerning word, sentence, and passage length), and the reader and task considerations. Complex structure can also include implied vs. stated ideas, graphics, time/sequence of events, contemporary vs. archaic vocabulary, language, multisyllabic words, long sentences with multiple clauses, content rich in historic or literary references, etc.
Determining text complexity is not always easy or uncontroversial. While textual features are important, the reader's context is also significant: background experience with text, experiences outside of reading, degree of intertextual connections, etc., influence the complexity of the reading experience. Although it's important for students to be reading texts with complex features, it is also important to engage students where they are and scaffold them into more complexity. Sometimes, high-interest, low-ability texts are important. Additionally, the purpose for reading often determines the complexity of the reading experience rather than the text itself. We can ask students to perform many cognitive functions with any text: they can make comparisons, determine sequences and plot structures, identify causes and effects, etc.
Video and Reflection: Watch One-on-One Conferences in which a teacher lets her student guide the processes of identifying text features that create challenges for her during reading. You may want to take notes on the questions below.
Before you watch: How do you determine text complexity for your students?
Watch the video: Ms. Barrales's student tries to determine the meaning of a word. The lack of a glossary makes the process challenging. How does Ms. Barrales determine text complexity with students?
Reflect: How does Ms. Barrales reinforce her student's learning at the end of the class? How can you incorporate peer-to-peer instruction in your classroom?
Complex texts are challenging to read and comprehend. Teachers can employ a variety of strategies to help build background information and scaffold understanding, but it is also important to allow students to struggle a bit with the text itself.
Video and Reflection: Watch Collaborating and Writing: Components of Close Reading to see how a teacher helps students set a purpose for reading Edwidge Danticat's novel Breath, Eyes, Memory. You may want to take notes on the questions below.
Before you watch: What factors do you consider when deciding to introduce how to introduce a book or short story to your students?
Watch the video: How does Ms. Johnson encourage students to have rich discussions about the book?
Reflect: After reading, students write to an authentic audience about their understanding of the book. How can you help students have an expanded audience for their writing about literature?
Language is a form of thought, a mediator of thought, and a tool for enhancing thought (Marzano, 2011). Words are repeated over and over not only to master pronunciation, but also to solidify understanding of the concepts behind words. Language also helps process thinking when considering options, weighing pros and cons, or otherwise evaluating the world through language; finally, expanded knowledge and use of words enables thinking to grow. There are three primary concerns for teachers regarding language study in English:
All students need to learn academic language, defined by Zwiers (2014) as the set of words, grammar, and discourse strategies used to decode and encode complex ideas, higher-order thinking processes, and abstract concepts. Academic language in English class can include literary terms (used in literary and nonliterary contexts), morphology concepts, and terms that describe language, common metaphors, folkloric expressions, and English etymology. This may also include allusions to other text and idioms (which can be especially challenging for English language learners (ELLs)). Most students do not acquire academic language naturally but instead learn it as a result of instruction in school (Gee, 1989). Teaching academic language in English studies, especially to ELLs and speakers of nonstandard dialects of English, while maintaining an appreciation for language diversity helps motivate an appreciation for language generally, which becomes necessary in the study of diverse works of literature, drama, and poetry. Rich, holistic, contextual, and explicit language instruction strategies that are helpful for all students, especially with regard to academic vocabulary, are also helpful for ELLs; however, ELLs often need much more instruction and ideally sooner (Taff, Blachowicz, & Fisher, 2009).
Students whose first language is not English need to hear a variety of native speakers of English, and speakers who are accomplished academic English speakers, speak as often as possible. They also need ample opportunity to speak English as often as possible. However, they need more than conversational English: they need academic language with complex vocabulary and discipline-based concepts (Wong-Filmore, 2000). They need to understand rhetorical structures as well. It is also true that many ELLs are uncomfortable with speaking in large classrooms. Because they are afraid they will make mistakes, the best way to get them comfortable with speaking is to use small groups (Nystrand, 2006). In such cases, it helps to be creative in manufacturing opportunities and structures for conversation. For example, students can perhaps talk over Skype or a cell phone. Negative correction is antithetical to learning a new language. Correction should happen in activities like contrastive analysis, which will be explained in the writing strategies section.
Students also need to see that their home languages are valued in English classrooms as resources that can support their learning. At the same time they are developing their English language skills, they need opportunities to use their other language repertoires as tools for developing academic literacies. For example, they can be encouraged to talk with others who share their language backgrounds about what they are thinking, reading, and writing. When composing texts in the English language, they can draw on their knowledge of how different languages work to represent an idea in their writing in an original way.
Reflect: What reading, writing, and speaking practices did you experience at home when you were a high school or middle school student? How did those practices help or hinder your progress in English class?
Video and Reflection: Watch Teaching Argumentation Skills to see how the teacher introduces academic language in English to a high school class of English language learners. You may want to take notes on the questions below.
Before you watch: Why would a teacher's relationship-building efforts influence the experience of ELLs learning academic English?
Watch the video: Watch to see how Mr. Guerrero bridges his students' ethnic and youth culture discourse on the one hand, and the sophisticated academic discourse he is teaching on the other.
Reflect: Later, Mr. Guerrero will require his students to apply their knowledge of argumentation to their personal lives through an extended writing activity. How is this an authentic language learning experience?
Although not universally accepted by educators and administrators, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have been adopted by nearly every state. Despite years of content area literacy courses in teacher education programs across the country predating the CCSS, the responsibility to explicitly teach content area literacy, or the literacy practices of specific disciplines, has not always been universally practiced. Literacy in the disciplines is a significant focus of the CCSS. The CCSS consists of College and Career Anchor Standards, Grade-Level Standards, and Appendices. College and Career Readiness Standards address reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language standards judged to be most salient for college and career. They provide a context for the grade-level standards that address these strands of English developmentally. The Appendices offer specific curricular suggestions.
One common misconception about the CCSS is the belief that English classes need to be teaching more informational texts and less fiction, poetry, etc. In actuality, the percentages for informational vs. fictional texts are intended for reading across all classes, not just English class. The Myths and Facts section of the CCSS asserts that the goal of increasing nonfiction reading "can be achieved by ensuring that teachers in other disciplines are also focusing on reading and writing…." It also states that "the standards require that a portion of what is read in high school should be informational text, yet the bulk of this portion will be accounted for in non-ELA disciplines that do not frequently use fictional texts. This means that stories, drama, poetry, and other literature account for the majority of reading that students will do in their ELA classes."
Reflect: How do you use standards to prepare your daily lesson plans?
While there are many types of English studies assessment practices, they generally fall into one of two categories: formative or summative. Formative assessments happen during instruction; they help the teacher understand the impact of his or her reading instruction on the student and indicate instructional changes needed for one or more students. Summative assessment comes at the end of a book or unit of instruction and is intended to determine students' level of mastery over what was taught. Because this course is about instruction, the focus is on formative assessment. Authentic assessment is an additional way to characterize assessment practices.
Authentic assessment offers an opportunity for a student to demonstrate learning in a real-world context. Currently, there is a range of ways that one might develop authentic audiences for writing:
Blogs (Readers of students' blogs will comment on the blog and focus on highlights and/or points of interest and critique.)
Submitting for publication (Students can write op-eds for newspapers, volumes of Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul, etc. Good writing will be more likely read, reviewed, and published. The National Writing Project has compiled a rich list of youth publishing opportunities.)
Editing or initiating wikis
Some examples of formative assessment of reading in English include:
Think-alouds (The reader reads aloud and stops at pre-selected sections of the text to articulate his or her thoughts at the point of stopping.)
Taxonomies (Rothstein, 2007) for vocabulary knowledge (This strategy can be used as a diagnostic, or pre-reading, during and after reading assessment. A taxonomy is a brainstormed A-B-C listing of vocabulary associated with a given topic or text. Students first brainstorm alone, then in pairs, and finally as a whole class, fleshing out their list with each phase. The taxonomy is assessed based on complexity and completeness. The taxonomy is then used as a resource for writing and a tool for instruction and study for future assessment.)
Reciprocal teaching (Although not always considered an assessment strategy, reciprocal teaching consists of four stages promoting classroom talk about reading: questioning, summarizing, clarifying, and predicting. The clarifying stage and prediction stage can be viewed as formative assessment opportunities.)
Unison reading (This strategy is demonstrated in two humanities videos. It incorporates elements of choral reading and read-alouds. A small group of students read a text aloud all at once. Whenever a reader has difficulty with any portion of the text, he or she knocks on the desk, calling a "breach" in the process. Students inquire about the student's breach and assist him or her in moving forward with pronouncing and understanding the reading. The teacher observes and takes notes to inform instruction.)
Other examples include exit slips and thumbs up/down to provide the teacher with an immediate gauge on how students feel about a concept, self-assessment, quiz, etc.
These strategies can also be modified and used in other disciplines.
Students will likely still be tested in more summative and standardized forms at district, state, and other formalized instances. Summative testing is for a different purpose. The discussion above considers student performance information on authentic classroom tasks that will directly inform daily instruction.
Reflect: Describe one or two instances when your assessment of a student's writing or reading influenced you or caused you to adjust your instruction.
Video and Reflection: Watch Comprehending Informational Texts to see how a teacher assesses her students' reading and teaches them to assess themselves. You may want to take notes on the questions below.
Before you watch: List some purposes for "Do Now" or warm-up activities.
Watch the video: Initially, Ms. Barrales assesses the class informally during the "Do Now" activity through questions and answers, observations, and students' final comments. She continues with an assessment embedded in a reading strategy called unison reading. How does the student talk assist students in their comprehension?
Reflect: How does the students' goal-setting before they start to read contribute to their self-assessment?
Video and Reflection: Now watch Revising with Teacher and Peer Feedback to see a teacher talk with individual students about the original poems that they wrote, asking questions and providing guidance to help improve the poems. You may want to take notes on the questions below.
Before you watch: How can poetry writing enhance students' language skills?
Watch the video: Mr. Berman works with students to help them affirm each other and offers advice that will help them revise their work. How do you prepare students to affirm and critique each other's writing?
Reflect: After the teacher and peer feedback, students will take their poems home and revise them. Mr. Berman will also plan a poetry reading for students to perform their final version. In this way, students have multiple assessments: the teacher, each other, and the public audience. How does the performance also become an assessment?
MULTILITERACIES
Reading and writing have become an increasingly complex experience, especially with the advent of digital technology. To help understand the complexity of literacy practices, consider the idea of multiple intelligences by Howard Gardner. Quite simply put, everyone has varying levels of skill in producing and consuming knowledge and information in different modes of expression. Some people have more skill in certain areas (linguistic, kinesthetic, musical, visual-spatial, etc.) than other people. But, regardless of their strengths, most people must engage in a variety of modes. In fact, recent theories of multiliteracies stress that by combining modes (linguistic, audio, gestural, etc.), we can create richer expressions of meaning and understand the meanings of texts more deeply (Cope & Kalantzis, 2000).
Multiliteracy highlights an increased capacity for producing and consuming knowledge due to digital technology (computers, mobile devices, cameras, etc.) while also acknowledging the multiple modes in which people have long created and communicated meaning. The seemingly infinite and important ability to duplicate texts and disseminate information enables enhanced consumption and production of knowledge in the digital world. The ability to reach live audiences in synchronous and asynchronous communication is another feature of the digital world, as is the ability to abstract text and combine it with unrelated text to create a whole new text. Interestingly, the digital world has increased the importance of visual literacy as well as oral and other forms communication. This is part of the understanding of the concept of multiliteracy or multiliteracies.
Video and Reflection: There are many ways to incorporate technology to reflect and enhance what students are doing on their own time. Watch Using Technology to Develop Writing Skills to see how a teacher incorporates interviewing, collaborative writing, and multimedia. You may want to take notes on the questions below.
Before you watch: How do media and technology support your students' development in academic reading and writing?
Watch the video: After students complete their work, they create podcasts to share with others online. What role does the authentic audience for students' reading and writing play in their reading and writing development?
Reflect: What other opportunities can you think of for sharing students' reading and writing of multimedia texts with authentic audiences that students will want to reach?
Video and Reflection: Even though students are engaged with technology, many are not as savvy as their teachers sometimes think. Watch Blended Learning: Acquiring Digital Literacy Skills to see how a teacher helps students learn to evaluate online texts and use peer editing tools. You may want to take notes on the questions below.
Before you watch: How do you determine your students' knowledge and skill with the online tools you intend to use for instruction?
Watch the video: What specific scaffolds does Ms. Roberts use to help her students learn how to navigate the technology the class is using?
Reflect: How can technology be used for students' self-assessment of their reading and writing development?
Apply: List the number of ways that you allow your students to communicate their learning to you. How can you expand this list?
EXPLICIT INSTRUCTION AND GRADUAL RELEASE
Skill development should be taught explicitly, but contextually. Knowledge and skills are assimilated and absorbed as students move from overt language to covert language. After students hear something and can articulate it verbally, they internally begin to construct meaning and assimilate these new behaviors. When there is a match between students' primary discourse community and the discourse of school, teachers can be more explicit about teaching and learning. The more diverse discourses that are present in the classroom, the more the teacher needs to blend explicit instruction about language and literacy (such as whole-class instruction, individual support, direct instruction in mini lessons) with instructional supports such as environmental print, rich classroom libraries, and abundant opportunities for language enrichment.
One way of incorporating both explicit instruction and gradually releasing students to work with support (teacher or peer) and to do independent learning is found in the National Urban Alliances' pedagogical flow map (Jackson, 2011). The flow map begins with priming activities intended to foster engagement and introduce a concept. With processing activities, the teacher can release students to independent learning activities while he or she mediates learning for those who need additional instruction. The final set of activities involves students' presenting their learning in various modes of expression. Does this process sound familiar? Are your lessons situated in a broader flow of activities that promote independent learning?
As you've seen in the introductory units, additional sources describing gradual release of responsibility (GRR) can be seen in the work of Pearson and Gallagher or Fischer and Frey, which include direct instruction, guided practice, collaboration, and independent work. Project-based learning and inquiry learning are additional examples of a gradual release approach.
Reflect: Where do you spend the bulk of your instruction time? Direct instruction? Guided practice? Collaboration, or independent work? Write a short reflection explaining why and considering how you might shift to incorporate all four phases of GRR.
Video and Reflection: Watch Guided Instruction for Independence to see how the teacher enacts several phases of the GRR model. First, she provides direct instruction on comparison. Then, she works one on one with students to ensure an understanding of the concept. She also provides a range of supports for writing the required comparison: a graphic organizer, sentence starters, and posters. You may want to take notes on the questions below.
Before you watch: What range of supports do you provide for students? Do you use the GRR model?
Watch the video: Watch how Ms. Roberts works with students to prepare them to do an extended piece of writing comparing characters in two different books.
Reflect: GRR phases do not always happen in a particular order. Under what circumstances would beginning with the logical last phase, independent learning, enhance the instructional process?
INQUIRY CYCLE IN THE ENGLISH CLASSROOM
Inquiry approaches to learning have moved far beyond the science classroom and into every content area. The basic inquiry cycle begins with the following:
Student interests: To begin, teachers can introduce broad ideas or concepts through short video clips, news excerpts, or other engaging experiences. Teachers can model interest in the topic with emotionally engaging questions directed to students, such as, Do you believe that? Have ever seen such a thing? Where does that come from? Why do they do that? As students ask their own questions, they should be recorded for the whole class to observe and reflect upon. At this stage, the emphasis is on broad and excited conversation, speculation, and imagination. After the class has generated a significant amount of questions, the teacher helps students locate questions that reflect their interests in the concept or topic.
Research: The next stage is to explore with students how they might go about answering their questions. It's important for students to understand the broad range of possibilities for generating answers. They might talk to others, look at reference materials, go online, etc. At this stage, it is also helpful to demonstrate ways for students to manage the range of information they find in portfolios (online filing systems or other means).
Compose: During the composing phase, students record their findings in some coherent form such as a written speech, website, or essay. They should also share and revise their composition as needed.
Present: After sufficient time in composing and refining their findings, students share with the public or another audience with genuine interest in the topic.
Generate more questions: Finally, after students have had time to reflect on how their audience responded to the presentation, new questions can be generated and summarized or explored through additional sources of information.
The basic inquiry process is similar for students of all ages. In the inquiry process, instruction is often about teaching students how to reflect on the self as a thinker and learner in school and society, and notice, formulate, and research topics and questions of interest. Instruction is about learning how to learn and understanding various cognitive processes (i.e., comparing information sequential thinking; cause and effect reasoning etc.,) that are enacted repeatedly and nuanced at various stages in this process. This information is shared directly with students as a class, and targeted information (need-to-know, mini-lessons or contextual information, mediation, etc.) is taught on an ongoing basis. Formative assessment is an ongoing part of the process. The assessments inform the teacher about what targeted information to teach, reteach, or mediate through other resources and experiences.
Reflect: Who asks the most questions in your class? How do you encourage students to generate authentic questions that reflect their personal interests about reading and writing?
The Framework for 21st Century Learning—developed by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21)—includes communication, and interpersonal and collaboration skills. Cooperative learning and collaborative groups have evolved conceptually and strategically over the years. The P21 documents emphasize the increasing importance of these skills due to increased communication opportunities via technology, global exchange, immigration, and urbanization. New tools and opportunities for interaction allow us to learn more from each other than ever before. In English class, students develop language fluency and facility and diverse ways of interpreting ideas and addressing problems by talking with each other during collaborative activities. Language is also acquired and developed in collaborative work with their teacher and other adults outside of the classroom to process reading and writing. Collaborative learning should be explicit, scaffolded, flexible, and dynamic.
Reflect: List several creative ideas for setting up collaborative work among your students.
Video and Reflection: Watch Polishing Writing to see how a teacher begins her class with helpful ideas for writing in general. Next, she goes over a peer response checklist. Finally, she releases students to work in groups to review and comment on each other's writing. You may want to take notes on the questions below.
Before you watch: What collaboration skills do you teach explicitly? How do you prep students for working with each other in different configurations?
Watch the video: What tools and supports does Ms. Ramos provide for her students so they can work successfully in their group?
Reflect: How does collaborative work support students' reading and writing development?
0 About This Course
1 Overview (5:34)
1 What Is Disciplinary Literacy?
1 Talking Like a Mathematician
2 Using Technology to Develop Writing Skills
3 Science in the Real World: A Biotech Startup
4 Experiencing Discipline-Specific Texts
2 Disciplinary Literacy: Big Ideas
1 History in the Real World: A Documentary Filmmaker
2 Using Gradual Release of Responsibility
3 Tackling a Scientific Text
4 Comprehending Informational Texts
5 Deconstructing Word Problems
6 Creating a Culture of Collaboration
7 One-on-One Conferences
3 Reading: Big Ideas
1 Teaching Content Through Literacy
2 Reading and Writing in History
3 Comparing the Language of Multiple Sources
4 Fostering Close Reading
5 Close Reading Activity
4 Writing: Big Ideas
1 Making Writing Explicit in Social Studies
2 Reading and Writing Scientific Abstracts
5 Big Ideas in Literacy – Mathematics
1 Mathematics in the Real World: An Epidemiologist
2 Thinking Like a Mathematician (video)
6 Reading in Mathematics
1 Collaborative Talk About Mathematics
2 3 Read Strategy
3 Annotating Word Problems
4 Making Sense of Mathematics Text
7 Writing in Mathematics
1 Writing for Mathematics Understanding
2 Individualized Instruction as a Formative Assessment Tool
3 Using Math Vocabulary to Articulate Understanding
4 Writing to Deepen Mathematical Understanding
5 Fostering Student Engagement
6 Creating Opportunities for Mathematical Discourse
7 Real World Mathematics Collaboration
8 Bringing It All Together – Mathematics
1 Reading and Writing in Mathematics
2 Collaborating to Extend Mathematical Understanding
3 Blended Learning: Using Technology to Learn Math Concepts
4 Learning in a Blended Classroom
9 Big Ideas in Literacy – Science
1 Thinking and Communicating Like a Biologist
2 Supporting Claims with Evidence and Reasoning
3 Relationship Between Scientific Graphics and Text
4 Creating a Classroom Culture
5 Analyzing Anecdotal Evidence
6 Blended Learning: Acquiring Digital Literacy Skills
7 Annotating Across Disciplines
10 Reading In Science
1 Making Observations Like a Scientist
2 Representing Different Styles of Data
3 Organizing Ideas from Multiple Sources
4 Learning Vocabulary in Biology
11 Writing in Science
1 Reading and Writing in Science
2 Building Knowledge from Multiple Sources
3 Peer Teaching
4 Power Writing for Science
5 Science Literacy: Reading and Writing Diagrams
7 Writing for New Media
8 Polishing Writing
12 Bringing It All Together – Science
1 Using Scientific Discourse
3 Engaging Students in Authentic Reading and Writing
4 Using Document-Based Questions for Historical Writing
13 Big Ideas in Literacy – English
1 Reading and Writing in English
4 Collaborating and Writing: Components of Close Reading
5 Teaching Argumentation Skills
6 Revising with Teacher and Peer Feedback
7 Guided Instruction for Independence
14 Reading in English
1 English in the Real World: A Sports Journalist
2 Learning About Language Through Cognates Interactive
3 Identifying Theme Through Close Reading
4 Annotating Text Interactive
15 Writing in English
1 Writing Workshop: Using Mentor Texts and Graphic Organizers
16 Bringing It All Together – English
1 Teacher Collaboration Across Disciplines
2 Reading, Writing, and Responding to Poetry
17 Big Ideas in Literacy – History/Social Studies
1 Reading and Responding Like a Historian
2 Blended Learning: Purposeful Instruction
3 Flexible Grouping to Promote Learning
4 Blended Learning: Evaluating Source Material
5 Adapting and Modifying Sources
18 Reading and Analyzing Texts
1 Identifying Evidence from Multiple Sources
2 Close Reading of a Primary Source
3 Citing Evidence from Primary Sources to Support Arguments
4 Reading Like a Historian
5 Identifying Reading Strategies
6 Analyzing Complex Text
7 Expanding Academic Language
19 Argument Writing
1 Presenting Facts as Evidence
2 Using the Socratic Method in History
3 Developing Questions that Promote Discussion
4 Thinking and Communicating Like a Historian
5 Using Student Data to Plan Instruction
20 Bringing It All Together – History/Social Studies
1 Facilitating a Socratic Seminar
2 Designing the Classroom to Support Understanding
Produced by WGBH Educational Foundation. 2015.
13.1 Reading and Writing in English
Education experts Dale Allender, Christina Dobbs, Jacy Ippolito, Barbara Moss, and Hiller Spires address the key elements of disciplinary literacy in English education and discuss strategies for its integration into the classroom.
13.2 Engaging Students in Authentic Reading and Writing
13.3 One-on-One Conferences
13.4 Collaborating and Writing: Components of Close Reading
13.5 Teaching Argumentation Skills
13.6 Revising with Teacher and Peer Feedback
13.7 Guided Instruction for Independence
Unit 0 About This Course
unit 1 What Is Disciplinary Literacy?
unit 2 Disciplinary Literacy: Big Ideas
unit 3 Reading: Big Ideas
unit 4 Writing: Big Ideas
unit 5 Big Ideas in Literacy – Mathematics
unit 6 Reading in Mathematics
unit 7 Writing in Mathematics
unit 8 Bringing It All Together – Mathematics
unit 9 Big Ideas in Literacy – Science
unit 10 Reading In Science
unit 11 Writing in Science
unit 12 Bringing It All Together – Science
unit 13 Big Ideas in Literacy – English
unit 14 Reading in English
unit 15 Writing in English
unit 16 Bringing It All Together – English
unit 17 Big Ideas in Literacy – History/Social Studies
unit 18 Reading and Analyzing Texts
unit 19 Argument Writing
unit 20 Bringing It All Together – History/Social Studies
Course Guide Course Guide


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HomeWrath of the Titans
April 2, 2012 April 2, 2012 tom Action, Hollywood
This second instalment (of how many I am not sure) has our hero Perseus, following in his human step-father's footsteps, teaching his son the ways of the world, namely fishing and getting on with village life. All's well until Perseus gets a visit/vision form his father warning him that all hell is about to break lose (literally). Our hero wants none of it, he's busy bringing up son, but he's soon going to feel The Wrath of The Titans
That is until the chimera attack his home village targeting him and more specially his son. Zeus (Liam Neeson, The Grey, 2011), together with his brother; Poseidon (Danny Huston, Edge of Darkness, 2010) and son Ares (Édgar Ramírez, Ché: Part One, 2008) are brought to the underworld by their brother Hades (Ralph Feinnes, Coriolanus, 2011), under the pretense of protecting the world from Kronos who is close to escaping Posiedon manages to escape the trap while Zeus, betrayed by his son Ares who sides with Hades and Kronos is help captive.
Poseidon escapes and makes his way to Persius who is told that the best hope he has is to find another demigod, Poseidon's son Agenor (Toby Kebell, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, 2010) a less than heroic hero in the classical sense. Following words from a dying Poseidon, he makes his way to Queen Andromeda (Rosamund Pike; Made in Dagenham, 2010) who happens to have Agenor in her prison for theft. Freed, the three heroes go searching for the "fallen one", Hephaestus played by Bill Nighy (Valkyrie, 2008), himself a God, cast down for originally helping Hades in his revolt (he created the tridents, spears and weapons of the gods) who can lead them in to the underworld. There are few moments of genuine humour in the movie and most of those are presented by Nighy who gives a refreshing performance through his character.
Off the team go to fight through the labyrinth of the underworld to rescue Zeus, and then back to the surface to defeat Kronos and his armies of hell. Overall Wrath is a better film than Clash but that's because Clash wash a low bar to improve on. The main issue I had with Wrath was that there was no characterisation and it felt that we were being led through a check list of Greek myths as they tried to get as many as possible in to one movie. The plot in Clash is less crowded with one main plot and linked sub-plots. The story still feels rushed with no time for characterisation but not as badly as the first movie. The Zeus-Hades subplot helps to build the characters a little at least.
The Action sequences are improved with some of the open field battles working quite well, that said the sequence in the Labyrinth with the minator was almost claustrophobic. Sam Worthington is one of those actors I have not quite mad up my mind on. I almost prefer him in roles like Texas Killing Fields (2011), he is still a bit wooden here but it is an improvement. If there is a third will I go see it? Yes. Wrath is an improvement on the first. Of course changing director with Jonathan Liebesman, (Battle Los Angeles, 2011) replacing Louis Leterrier (The Transporter, 2002) would have had some impact, but not much.
Overall it could have taken time to work on character development more and tried to fit perhaps a little less in.
Rating 5.5/10, will pass a wet afternoon.
← Reykjavik Rotterdam
The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists →


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Great for when you want to save space and elegantly display your Tassimo® capsules, this space effective stand can easily store and dispense up to 12 capsules. Ideal for keeping coffee pods readily available for use whilst taking up minimal space on kitchen worktops. Suitable for Tassimo® coffee capsules only.


Episode 41 of the I Got Gameplay podcast is now online. On this episode, Michael Burhan, Samantha Jennings, Travis Goss, Nikki Mills and special guest Xander Skullion discuss the issue of gaming censorship. Should game developers create more child friendly games or should parents be the ones responsible for making sure that children have no access to this product?
The group also discuss Anita Sarkeesian and if there are no real female protagonists in gaming.


text:
HMPS may be:

 His Majesty's Prison Service, of the United Kingdom
 Hansraj Morarji Public School, in Andheri, Mumbai

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Full Committee Hearing- Nuclear Power
SD-366 Energy Committee Hearing Room 02:30 PM
The Honorable Nils Diaz
Chairman, Nuclear Regulatory Commission
STATEMENT SUBMITTED
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES
NUCLEAR POWER PROVISIONS
ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 2005
DR. NILS J. DIAZ
SUBMITTED: MAY 22, 2006Introduction
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, it is a pleasure to appear before you today to discuss, on behalf of the Commission, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's programs for new reactor regulation. We appreciate the support that we have received from the Committee, and we look forward to working with you in the future. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank Congress for the additional budgetary support that was provided last year. These resources are allowing the Agency to achieve earlier completion of safety and security programs and to begin structuring the Agency for reviewing new reactor applications. On a personal note, Mr. Chairman, I am grateful for the opportunity to serve this great country of ours for almost 10 years, first as a Commissioner and then as Chairman of the best nuclear regulatory agency in the world, and during extraordinary times. It has been my privilege to have worked with you to better serve the well-being of our people.
The NRC is dedicated to the mission mandated by Congress - - to ensure adequate protection of public health and safety, promote the common defense and security, and protect the environment - - in the application of nuclear technology for civilian use. We are committed to exercise this mandate with a regulatory framework that is effective, predictable, and that continues to meet the changing demands of the country. To achieve this goal, we have made preparations and continue to put in place the infrastructure needed to review the announced new reactor licensing and certification work, including the 13 announced combined license (COL) applications beginning in 2007. I would like to highlight our current and anticipated new reactor regulatory activities, a new system for licensing reviews, and new human capital and space planning initiatives designed to meet the new challenges posed by the dynamic nature of today's nuclear arena. The continued safe and secure operation of the current fleet of operating nuclear power plants remains the Agency's top priority; therefore, the new reactor licensing activities are being carefully planned to ensure the continued safe operation of these facilities.
New Reactor Licensing Workload
The Commission's Strategic Plan establishes a fundamental objective to:
Enable the use and management of radioactive materials and nuclear fuels for beneficial civilian purposes in a manner that protects public health and safety and the environment, promotes the security of our nation, and provides for regulatory actions that are open, effective, efficient, realistic, and timely.
Consistent with this objective and our statutory responsibility, the NRC has been conducting reviews of Early Site Permit (ESP) and Design Certification (DC) applications, and is developing an efficient infrastructure to conduct the review of anticipated combined license (COL) applications in the future.
As a result of the passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and concurrent developments in U.S. energy demands, the NRC is preparing for an increased number of potential COL, ESP and DC applications. The Energy Policy Act incentives for new reactor construction established a highly dynamic environment in which new nuclear power plants are being seriously considered to meet future generation capacity, the need for which is expected to increase by the year 2015. Last year at this time, the NRC had been notified of three potential COL applications in the next few years. Today, the number of expected COL applications is 13 for a total of 19 units, and the number of applications is expected to increase in the near future. Some of these applications are expected to reference reactor designs already certified by the NRC, while others are expected to reference designs that are currently under NRC review. We also expect to be conducting reviews of additional ESP applications, or equivalent environmental reviews. We are preparing to review and act on applications anticipated to be submitted in the 2007-2008 time frame, and are organizing accordingly. We continue to assess our resource needs, which have increased significantly, in light of the very substantial increase in the number of anticipated COL applications and related work. The attached graph 1 shows the anticipated work schedule based on industry submittals, public announcements, and expected but as yet unannounced applications.
Current New Reactor Licensing Activities
Current new reactor licensing activities are expected to follow the processes established under 10 CFR Part 52. Part 52 establishes the framework to review ESP, CD, and COL applications.
The Commission recently proposed a revision to 10 CFR Part 52, to clarify it and enhance its usability. The proposed amendments incorporate the lessons learned from previous regulatory reviews, to enhance regulatory predictability at the COL stage. Furthermore, in the Part 52 rulemaking, the Commission is soliciting comments on an approach that would facilitate amendments to design certification rules after the initial certification. With such a provision, a detailed standard certified reactor design would be able to incorporate additional features that are generic to the design and thereby encourage further standardization. Also, changes to the limited work authorization process are being considered to expand the ability to initiate site preparation work in advance of COL issuance. The Commission plans to issue the final rule by January 2007.
NRC's licensing reviews are supported by regulatory guides and standard review plans. The NRC staff is reviewing and revising the regulatory guidance documents associated with new reactor licensing. These guidance documents include a planned combined license application regulatory guide which contains the information that COL applicants need to provide in their applications, and an update of pertinent standard review plan (SRP) sections for use by NRC staff reviewing COL applications. The Draft Regulatory Guide, which has been the subject of numerous public meetings and workshops, will be formally issued for comment in June 2006. The NRC staff estimates that the final regulatory guide will be completed by December 2006, to support prospective applicants who are planning to submit COL applications in late 2007 and 2008. This schedule is consistent with the schedule for the promulgation of the revised Part 52 rule. Complementary to the COL application regulatory guide, the NRC staff is updating the standard review plan to support the anticipated new site and reactor licensing applications. The staff is working with the industry to complete the standard review plan updates by the Spring of 2007.
To date, the NRC has received three ESP applications, focusing on environmental implications and emergency preparedness, for sites in Virginia, Illinois, and Mississippi which currently have operating reactors on them. The NRC staff has prepared safety evaluation reports for all three sites, and has issued draft environmental impact statements for public comment for two of the sites and has issued a final environmental impact statement for one of the sites. The agency will complete its remaining regulatory reviews in an effective, efficient, timely, and predictable manner. I note that additional work is being performed in connection with one application that was recently significantly revised and resubmitted by the applicant. Adjudicatory proceedings associated with the ESP applications are currently ongoing. From our experience with the ESP reviews, we have identified numerous lessons learned, for both the NRC and industry, that will be used to improve the staff's new reactor licensing process in the future and will be implemented prior to the next ESP application, expected during the summer of 2006.
The agency's work on new reactor standardized design certification has also intensified. Three designs were previously certified: General Electric's Advanced Boiling Water Reactor, Westinghouse's AP600, and System 80+ designs. The NRC recently certified the Westinghouse AP1000 reactor and codified it in the NRC's regulations, as Appendix D to 10 CFR Part 52. The NRC is currently reviewing the General Electric Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) design certification application and is on schedule with respect to its review. The NRC is conducting pre-application activities for AREVA's U.S. Evolutionary Power Reactor (EPR) design whose design certification application is expected in 2007. The NRC is also conducting limited pre-application work for the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) and the International Reactor Innovative and Secure (IRIS), and is expecting additional design certification applications in the future.
To effectively review multiple COL applications in parallel, the staff is planning to implement a design-centered review approach. We believe this approach is crucial to achieving effective, efficient, and timely reviews for multiple applications. This approach is founded on the concept of "one issue-one review-one position for multiple applications" to optimize the review effort and resources needed to perform these reviews. The NRC staff would use a single technical evaluation for each reactor design to support reviews of multiple COL applications for the same technical area of review, assuming that the relevant components of the applications are standardized. The design-centered approach will focus its reviews by: 1) using standardization and coordination of approaches and applications; 2) requiring complete and high-quality applications; 3) increasing the use of the DC rulemaking to codify issue closure; and 4) using single technical evaluations to support multiple COL applications. In addition, to achieve consistency of the staff reviews, the process for implementing the design-centered review program will require a multi-layered project management team for each design, and will use dedicated technical review resources. The plans and schedules of these reviews include an increased level of detail and integration to achieve the requisite level of control and documentation. The benefits of this approach would be enhanced by the full participation of multiple entities in ensuring that pertinent components of the applications are standardized. A schematic representation of the sequencing and use of the design-centered review approach is shown in graph 2. Significant efficiencies are expected to be gained through the use of the design-centered approach.
New Reactor Construction Oversight
To prepare for the construction of new reactors licensed in accordance with 10 CFR Part 52, a new construction inspection program (CIP) is being developed. The new CIP builds on the lessons learned from the construction of the existing fleet of operating reactors. The CIP comprises four different parts, early site permit inspections; pre-combined license (Pre-COL) inspections; inspections, tests, analyses and acceptance criteria (ITAAC) inspections; and non-ITAAC Inspections. These inspections will cover all aspects of new plant construction and operation from early site preparation work, through construction, to the transition to inspections under the reactor oversight process (ROP) for operating reactors. Half of the associated inspection procedures are in place and the remaining procedures are under development and are scheduled to be in place well before the start of on-site construction activities.
Successful implementation of the CIP will require four main functions: 1) day-to-day inspections at the construction site by resident construction inspectors; 2) on-site inspections by specialist inspectors; 3) off-site inspections (e.g., vendor inspections); and 4) documentation of inspection results and public notification of the successful completion of the ITAAC. ITAAC are part of the combined license and define specific requirements to be met prior to operation. To gain staff efficiencies and facilitate knowledge transfer, all construction inspection management and resources will be located in a single region which will schedule all construction inspectors nationwide.
The NRC performed an initial assessment of the existing ROP for use with new reactor designs which confirmed that the overall ROP framework could be used, including utilizing performance indicators and the significance determination process for evaluating inspection findings. The Construction Inspection Program will specifically address each new reactor to be built, detailing the steps that will be employed to integrate that plant into the ROP as it transitions from the construction phase into the startup and operations phase.
Multinational Design Approval Program (MDAP)
The NRC is working with international regulators on a multinational design approval program intended to leverage worldwide nuclear knowledge and operating experience in a cooperative effort to review reactor designs that have been or are being reviewed and approved in other countries. The first stage of the MDAP has already begun. It involves enhanced cooperation with the regulatory authorities in Finland and France to assist NRC's future design certification review of the US EPR. Follow-on stages of the MDAP could foster the safety of reactors in participating nations through convergence on safety codes and standards, and other technical matters while maintaining full national sovereignty over regulatory decisions. Preliminary work to more fully develop the framework for consideration of a Stage 2 is underway at the NRC and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's Nuclear Energy Agency.
Challenges to Success
The NRC recognizes that many challenges for new reactor licensing activities exist. Key challenges include effective communication between the NRC and the applicants, and the interrelationship between the technical review and the associated adjudicatory process. To successfully complete the reviews within the anticipated schedule, continuous clear, effective, and timely communication between the NRC and the applicant must occur. Delays in providing or responding to requests for information must be avoided and any modifications to the application need to be conveyed immediately so that products can be appropriately coordinated. In addition, the technical review and adjudicatory process for the application are interrelated and both are required for the final decision making process. Multiple products are also needed to maximize the early resolution of issues leading to a final determination, including an ESP, DC and COL. An applicant may decide to submit a license application in a manner different from the originally contemplated sequence, such as choosing not to apply for an ESP prior to applying for a COL or selecting a design that has not been certified through rulemaking. In such cases, the technical review and adjudicatory process performed for an ESP or DC review will need to be included in the COL review and could challenge the predictability of the process and the application review schedule. To meet these challenges, we have implemented organizational changes in our legal and technical organizations, recruited personnel, and are developing an integrated planning tool to assist in coordinating the applicant schedules.
The NRC has completed substantial preparation activities and executed reviews of supporting elements for COL applications. We continue to incorporate the lessons learned from current reviews into the regulatory process to create a stable and predictable regulatory process. As such, the NRC is preparing to conduct thorough and timely reviews of ITAAC and, therefore, the use of the Energy Policy Act Risk Insurance Program, due to NRC delays should not be necessary. As noted previously, when COL applications are submitted, they should be high quality, essentially standardized applications that contain the safety case and other required components in the level of detail that will support staff review and the adjudicatory process. Anything less may challenge the predictability of the licensing process.
The NRC understands and accepts its role in new reactor licensing, the success of which depends on many factors, most notably the submittal of high quality applications by the industry. With the continued support of Congress, we will carry out our responsibilities and meet the challenges ahead.
Human Capital and Space Planning
As you know, the NRC's ability to accomplish its mission depends on the availability of a highly skilled and experienced work force. In a recent ranking of the Top 10 Federal Work Places by the Partnership for Public Service and American University's Institute for the Study for Public Policy Implementation, the NRC was designated one of the top three places to work in the Federal government. In addition, the NRC was ranked first by people surveyed who are under 40 years of age. The Commission is very proud of these rankings and strives to improve the quality of the work environment for NRC employees. Nonetheless, the NRC continues to be challenged by the substantial growth in new work at a time when increasing numbers of experienced staff are eligible to retire. To address these challenges, the agency has developed human capital strategies to find, attract, and retain staff with critical-skills and has developed a space acquisition plan to accommodate these additional employees.
The NRC is aggressively recruiting a mixture of recent college graduates and experienced professionals to meet the agency's emergent work activities. The current projection is that over 400 additional FTEs will be devoted to new work by FY 2008. The Commission is striving to hire approximately 350 new employees in FY 2006 to cover the loss of personnel and to support growth in new work. To date during this fiscal year, we have already succeeded in recruiting and hiring almost 300 new employees toward this goal. Our aggressive efforts to recruit, hire, and develop staff will continue throughout Fiscal Year 2007 as we prepare for receipt of the first COL applications. The agency expects to have a critical hiring need for at least the next five years.
The NRC closely monitors its voluntary attrition rate including retirements, which has historically been below six percent, and will continue to monitor this rate because it could increase as industry competition for skilled individuals increases and as eligible staff retire. The agency uses a variety of recruitment and retention incentives to remain competitive with the private sector. We continue to experience success utilizing the provisions of the Federal Workforce Flexibility Act of 2004 and the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The NRC has budgeted for continued and increased use of these recruitment and retention tools in the coming years.
Our steady growth and accelerated hiring program have exhausted available space at our Headquarters buildings. We have developed and are implementing strategies to obtain adequate space to accommodate our expanding work force. We are creating additional workstations within our Headquarters buildings, including building workstations in conference rooms, and are moving our Professional Development Center off-site to use the space it currently occupies for new employees. We are also seeking additional office space in the immediate vicinity of our headquarters complex to support the expected growth of the agency.
The NRC will be continually challenged to maintain adequate infrastructure and the personnel needed to accomplish its mission. However, with Congress' help, the Commission is poised to meet these challenges successfully through the ongoing human capital planning, implementation, and assessment process, the space planning program, and the various tools provided by the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
The Commission continues to be committed to ensuring the adequate protection of public health and safety and promoting common defense and security in the application of nuclear technology for civilian use. To that end, the Commission is dedicated to ensuring that our agency is ready to meet the expected demand for new reactor licensing. NRC's Part 52 processes are safety focused and are stable, efficient, and predictable. We have taken action to clarify Part 52, to ensure a clear regulatory and oversight framework; to reorganize the Agency and put in place the processes to ensure timely review; to meet the NRC's human capital and office space needs, and to seek additional funding as necessary. The Agency is prepared to meet the challenge associated with new reactors while maintaining strong oversight of the current operating reactors. I am convinced that the Agency has the technical and legal know-how to make the right decisions in a timely manner.
I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today, and I look forward to continuing to work with the Committee. I welcome your comments and questions.
Permalink: https://www.energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2006/5/hearing-5d95130b-00c0-4f64-a269-d2c811952feb


Today's Throwback Tuesday post takes us back to the mid 20th Century New York and the private detective offices located at 454 W. 35th Street. "Champagne for One" offers a different set-up as it allows Archie Goodwin (Timothy Hutton) to witness a murder while standing in for an acquaintance (Boyd Banks) at a charity dinner and dance for unwed mothers. When one of the women, who had contemplated suicide, is poisoned at the party everyone from the host (Marian Seldes) to Inspector Cramer (Bill Smitrovich) is willing to write it off as suicide. Everyone that is, except for Archie Goodwin.
Tattiawna Jones guest-stars as a bounty hunter acquaintance of Eddie (Eddie Cibrian who ropes the dectives into helping her track down a large bounty. Not listening to her partner's concerns, Sam (Rachel Bilson) jumps in with both feet which eventually gets the pair into trouble. "The Devil You Know" is a mostly forgettable episode highlighted by another Charlie's Angels style undercover turn for Sam (this time in a biker bar) and the return of Brian Markinson who plays Eddie into unintentionally helping the former judge's chances at trial through a convoluted subplot that does eventually lead to an interesting scene between the two actors. If he should be released, just how large a role with the judge turned criminal mastermind play in the episodes to come?
Brian Michael Bendis' run on Action Comics begins with the writer quickly putting to rest the rumors that Superman is responsible for the rash of fires in Metropolis. The idea that a criminal would pay a kid to implicate the Man of Steel to shift the investigation offers some reasoning for the bombshell and also temporarily hinders Superman's investigation (although is likely a big mistake in the long term).
From its opening scene involving a pair of criminals attempting armed robbery in Metropolis to later scenes showcasing a hidden underworld criminal and his enterprise, the issue gives us a look at criminal life in the big city showcasing the trouble of fighting Superman in public (to hilarious results) and why its best to fight the Kryptonian from the shadows.
Our Throwback Tuesday post takes us back into the Cold War spycraft of Danger Man. There is victory but no winners when Drake is sent to Vienna to investigate reporter Harry Logan (Robert Flemyng) who is the lead suspect in a series of leaks of classified information smuggled out of the country. Despite evidence of the man's guilt, Drake's gut won't let him believe the reporter is the leak. The truth is more complicated, as the Logan will learn for himself when his wife (Monique Ahrens) is implicated in the plot.


text:
Q: How can I get the position of the current focused window? I want to take a screenshot of the current focused window on an Ubuntu system with Python, how can I get the position (left, upper, right, lower) of the current focused window using the command line ?
Output of ps aux | grep -wE 'Xorg|Wayland'
test        1144  6.9  1.9 798024 76092 tty2     Sl+  13:29  24:20 /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg vt2 -displayfd 3 -auth /run/user/1000/gdm/Xauthority -background none -noreset -keeptty -verbose 3
test       29912  0.0  0.0  17668   668 pts/1    S+   19:20   0:00 grep --color=auto -wE Xorg|Wayland

A: Using xdotool:
$ xdotool getwindowfocus getwindowgeometry --shell
WINDOW=94371847
X=604
Y=229
WIDTH=1303
HEIGHT=774
SCREEN=0

If you have the coordinates of the top left corner and the size of the window, it is simple to infer the coordinates you asked for:

*

*The top right corner will be at X=1907 (604+1303), Y=229

*The bottom left corner will be at X=604, Y=1003 (229+774)

*The bottom right corner will be at X=1907 (604+1303), Y=1003 (229+774)

You could therefore combine this into a little function that gives you the 4 coordinates:
showCoords(){
    eval "$(xdotool getwindowfocus getwindowgeometry --shell)"
    topLeft="$X,$Y"
    topRight="$((X+WIDTH)),$Y"
    bottomLeft="$X,$((Y+HEIGHT))"
    bottomRight="$((X+WIDTH)),$((Y+HEIGHT))"
    printf 'top left:%s\ntop right:%s\nbottom left:%s\nbottom right:%s\n' "$topLeft" "$topRight" "$bottomLeft" "$bottomRight"
}

If you now run showCoords, you will get:
$ showCoords
top left:604,229
top right:1907,229
bottom left:604,1003
bottom right:1907,1003

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


It's been a while already. Forgot to put it up in the blog: Version 2.1 of the z2-Environment is ready for use and learn. All the new stuff has been described in this previous post.
The goal of the first item is clear: Resolve a classpath for modules in the IDE corresponding to your runtime state (read on here for example) and offer the same developer convenience that can be achieved using the Eclipse plugin for users of the IntelliJ IDE.
The Hub component repository (or HubCR) requires some more background. By default, a Z2 installation (a z2 Home) accesses the version controlled storage that holds the system definition directly to download and prepare (and compile) modules as needed. This is the underpinnings of the system centric, pull-deployment based approach. In some situations however, it is not desirable to have source code on production servers at any time. This may be for compliance reasons or for fear of risking theft of intellectual property.
This is where the HubCR comes in. As a principle, all modules, all component resources, essentially anything the Z2 runtime knows about is served by component repository implementations. There are implementations for Subversion, Git, file system folders, development workspaces and now, the latest addition, for another Z2 server that provides a consolidated, source-code free and pre-compiled view onto production resources (the HubCR provider).
The way the HubCR does that is by maintaining a pre-compiled and source-code stripped snapshot of the original production configuration. At the same time, the HubCR is just a regular z2 Home that runs the production config.
To the real production nodes (on the right in the diagram) however, the HubCR presents everything but the HubCR and other remote component repositories.
As a result, production systems can be completely separated from the source level details of the system definition. They don't even see authentication details to the configuration store – only those necessary to access the HubCR service. At the same time, the pull semantics are preserved and updates can flow in and will be distributed consistently as for any other Z2-based system.
This entry was posted in software engineering, z2 by blohen. Bookmark the permalink.


text:
Bismarck es la capital del estado estadounidense de Dakota del Norte. Ubicada en el condado de Burleigh, cuenta con una población de 73,622 habs., según el censo de 2020, y una densidad poblacional de 758 hab/km². Se encuentra junto al río Misuri, entre los lagos Sakakawea y Oahe.

Su nombre proviene del canciller alemán Otto von Bismarck, en un intento de atraer inmigrantes alemanes que trabajasen en las obras del ferrocarril del Pacífico Norte.

Geografía

Bismarck se encuentra ubicada en las coordenadas . Según la Oficina del Censo de los Estados Unidos, Bismarck tiene una superficie total de 80.88 km², de la cual 79.89 km² corresponden a tierra firme y (1.23%) 0.99 km² es agua.

Historia
La ciudad fue fundada en 1872 por la expedición de Lewis y Clark con el nombre de "Missouri Crossing" (Cruzando el Misuri), ya que por este lugar cruzaron el río. Al año siguiente, se denominó con su nombre actual, en honor a Otto von Bismarck, canciller alemán. Se pretendía con esta denominación atraer a inmigrantes alemanes que trabajasen en las obras del ferrocarril del Pacífico Norte, que pasa por Bismarck. En 1874 se descubrió oro en las cercanas Colinas Negras, lo que atrajo mucha población y produjo tensiones con los nativos Lakota que vivían en la zona. En 1883, se le nombró capital del Territorio de Dakota, y en 1889, capital del nuevo estado de Dakota del Norte.

Demografía
Según el censo de 2010, residían en Bismarck  personas. La densidad de población era de 757,57 hab./km². De los habitantes de Bismarck el 92,4% se declaraban blancos, el 0,65% afroamericanos, el 4,53% amerindios, el 0,56% asiáticos, el 0.03% isleños del Pacífico, el 0,3% de otras razas y el 1,54% pertenecientes a dos o más razas. Del total de la población el 1.33% eran hispanos o latinos de cualquier raza.

Cultura

Deporte
Bismarck fue la sede del equipo de baloncesto, los Dakota Wizards de la NBA Development League, y donde actualmente residen los Bismarck Bucks de la Indoor Football League de fútbol americano.

Referencias

Enlaces externos

Ciudades de Dakota del Norte
Localidades del condado de Burleigh
Capitales estatales de Estados Unidos
Capitales de antiguos territorios de Estados Unidos


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