text:
0 $0.00 NZD
The key to a vibrant, healthy life for
Home › Health Articles › Red Hot Chili Peppers!
Red Hot Chili Peppers!
The fruit of capsicum has been known for many years for many different beneficial health properties. The part of capsicum that makes it taste hot, and has many benefits, is called capsaicin. Capsaicin can be used topically to help with some kinds of pain relief.
Naturally-occurring capsaicin comes in two forms: 1 naturally-occurring form; and 2, further synthetic forms. Civamide is one of these forms, and many believe this form to cause less irritation than naturally occurring capsaicin.
Capsaicin can be used topically to help with some kinds of pain relief. It can cause cutaneous vasodilation from topical application through selective stimulation of nerve fibers and the release of a sensory neurotransmitter that mediates pain.
Part of this pain relief may be due to the actual degeneration of epidermal nerve fibers, not just their desensitization. However, it should be noted that it can also bind sensory receptors in the skin causing heightened skin sensitivity often felt as itching, pricking, or burning. So should be used with caution.
For migraine and other headaches, capsaicin is thought to cause a desensitizing effect by relieving both peripheral and central pain.
"Preliminary evidence (also) suggests that capsicum protects against aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) damage to the gastrointestinal mucosa..." and hence may have use alongside the intake of such medications, where the medication is absolutely necessary, to help offset side effects.
This has also led to the hypothesis that capsaicin might decrease the risk of peptic and other ulcerative conditions. But this should be professionally induced and temporarily monitored to avoid over-use and the opposing potential of causing ulceration.
Energy and Weight-Loss Connection
Capsaicin, the chemical in chili that give it its heat, is known for many benefits. It has long been speculated for being able to potentially reduce hunger and even increase energy usage, helping as part of a weight management program.
The regional distribution of body fats is a very important component of the obesity-related health hazards, including type 2 diabetes and coronary heart diseases. Dietary supplementation of 0.014% capsaicin in a high-fat diet has shown to lower the visceral adipose tissue weight and serum triglyceride concentration in studies, with an added enhancement of energy metabolism.
The enhancement of energy metabolism could be due to the increase of thermogenesis (the process of heat production) in adipose tissue through the stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system. This serves either to maintain body temperature and the processing of waste food energy.
The potential weight loss effects of capsaicin are thought to be produced by the stimulation of sensory nerve activities interacting with certain binding receptors.
But how practical is this in our diets?
In order to achieve the needed intake, the amounts that you need to eat are by far over what an average person would be prepared to consume on a daily basis, and over what would be considered a healthy and safe amount.
Studies carried out by the Purdue University in India have looked at the effect of smaller quantities therefore, using half a teaspoon as a study guide, to give a more realistic outlook and one that most people would be able to physically consume.
Studies consisted of two groups - people who like spicy food and people who don't like spicy food. Results showed that, in general "…red pepper consumption did increase core body temperature and burn more calories through natural energy expenditure..."
However, it was also noted that effects may not last for long, as the more that people become used to the burning sensation of the spice, the less good it does. It seems the burning effect of the chili at the beginning parts of digestion, in your mouth, is an important component of its health benefits.
Findings show that red pepper should be consumed in non-capsule form because of this 'taste' - the sensory experience – which may maximize the digestive process.
"That burn in your mouth is responsible for the (potential) effect...It turns out you get a more robust effect if you include the sensory part because the burn contributes to a rise in body temperature, energy expenditure and appetite control." (Journal Physiology and Behavior)
In the same studies, those who did not consume red pepper regularly, and hence didn't become used to the 'spicy' experience, experienced a more successful decrease of hunger, especially for fatty, salty and sweet foods. So the conclusion was that "...consuming red pepper can help manage appetite and burn more calories after a meal, especially for individuals who do not consume the spice regularly."
However, it isn't any kind of magical 'cure all' and we shouldn't get carried away with these results.
Such studies do hold 'weight' (please excuse the pun!), but they are only one part of a whole regime that we should use when looking at weight management.
By putting together a number of changes – correct exercise and exercise duration, correct general healthy eating, little and often, increased pure fluids (water and blending), plus correct balancing supplementation to help maintain body balance (such as our Total Balance Premium, Omega 3/DHA range, and our Natural Energy for example), we have a potentially very meaningful weight management regime.
Within this, simple related dietary changes, such as sprinkling red pepper on your meal for example, may be sustainable and beneficial in the long term, especially when paired with the above essential changes.
There is a controversial opinion in this discussion however which does also warrant merit...Chili peppers speed up the metabolism and may help to burn off calories, this we know. This may account, in a small part, why many Thai people, for example, tend to eat 5-7 times a day and still remain within a generally healthy weight ratio.
But of course this isn't the only factor. There are other lifestyle reasons involved, such like the Japanese and Thai diets that generally shun dairy, except eggs, and eat vitamin-rich vegetables and herbs with almost every meal.
In the Western world however, far from curbing appetite, the types of dishes where we try to mimic these diets are far from authentic. More along the 'fast-food' convenience line. These dishes are completely different, with high amounts of fat and salt mixed in with the once fresh or dried chili, making them highly addictive. So maybe we need to take a more 'authentic approach' when considering trying to mimic a healthier global diet.
Whether it is in our diet, sprinkled as a condiment for example, or in controlled dose for short-term help with certain conditions, capsaicin has many benefits, and is just one of many herbs widely available to us.
Refs:
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=882964
http://www.adipril.com/craoi/research/evodiamine.pdf
http://www.nutritionsociety.org.uk/bjn/090/0651/0900651.pdf
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1380636/Weight-watchers-A-sprinkling-red-chilli-peppers-dinner-keeps-hunger-pangs-bay.html#ixzz1KipGzWdL
Xtend-Life Expert
All General Health
All Men's Health
Men's General Health
All Women's Health
Women's General Health
All Children's Health
Children's General Health
Stress & Energy Management Three Ways to Reduce Stress that are Backed by Science December 2021
Stress & Energy Management What Causes Stress? December 2021
Stress & Energy Management The Link Between Stress and Your Mood December 2021
Women's Health Is Your Skincare Safe Enough to Eat? November 2021
The Science of Digestion
April 2021 by, Xtend-Life Team
The modern lifestyle brings a lot of benefits, but a healthy gut isn't always one of them. Almost...
The Story Behind Digestive Enzymes
Most of us don't really think much about our digestive systems, unless they're out of whack. We bite,...
Supercharge Your Health with Nutritious Kiwifruit
Choosing the right food that provides the nutrients to fuel your digestive system is the key to a...
Xtend-Life Natural Products - NZ


Legal Experience You Can Trust.
Our attorneys are equipped to handle the most challenging situations, and our staff is multi-lingual and diverse to meet the unique needs of the South Florida Community.
The Otto Law Group serves the legal needs of individuals throughout the State of Florida, including Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties. We provide legal services in the areas of Personal Injury and Family Law.
Call The Otto Law Group today at 855-937-6886 to arrange your consultation.
Attorney Yanique L. Otto, Esq.
Attorney Yanique L. Otto attended the University of the West Indies where she studied psychology and human resource management. She graduated from Barry University, with a bachelors degree in psychology. She then earned a masters degree in Clinical Psychology from Nova Southeastern University in Davie, Florida, with an emphasis in marriage and family therapy.
Prior to attending law school, Ms. Otto worked in both business capacities, as well as counseling families with children who were victims of sexual abuse. Ms. Otto then went on to obtain a juris doctor degree at the Florida State University College of Law. She was the recipient of the prestigious Ladd Scholarship for all three years during her law school career.


how time flies,always th same old thing yea?
you know tht there wasn't a 'Forever' to begin with.
nothing to do,think about stuffs again.
thinking of th worse case scenario tht could ever happen.
getting depressed and worry all over again.
know this will always just come back whenever I feel really alone.
though ppl are just beside me,surrounding me.
th heart is just not there anymore.
letting go is like harder than catching/getting it.
aimlessly walking on air,a journey tht never seems to have a finish line.
what to hold on?what to grasp tht lil hope for?
knowing tht its just empty,meaningless.
working so hard just to prove one self.
really sometimes do wonder if its worthy.
Life really is smth tht makes one think a lot.
i really do wonder what i'm working so hard for.
ppl say it's for future,career,society.
just what really is th whole thing behind this?.
disappear to thin air would be better.
be th person to view it than be it.
finding hard to go on with worries.
why couldn't i just leave everything behind?


text:
Pricing and Stages
Power of Attorney & Court of Protection
RIP Nelson Mandela
June 11, 2013 In the News, Power of Attorney & Court of Protection, Wills & Probate
World leaders are preparing to gather in South Africa for Nelson Mandela's memorial on Tuesday.
South Africa's parliament is to meet to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela, as world leaders prepare for Tuesday's national memorial service.
The sitting comes at the start of a week of commemorative events before a state funeral on 15 December.
More than 100 current or former heads of state or government are to attend either the memorial or the funeral.
On Sunday, millions took part in a "day of prayer" to remember the country's first black president.
Monday's parliament sitting will be a special session.
Mr Mandela's former wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and grandson Mandla are both MPs of the African National Congress but it is unclear whether they will attend.
ANC spokesman Moloto Mothapo said: "We hope some members of the Mandela family will be there."
FW de Klerk, South Africa's last white president, who shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with Mr Mandela, has been invited.
Read more at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25296485
Follow @NCLawSolicitors
9:30am to 5:30pm Monday to Friday.
384 Garratt Lane, London SW18 4HP
ncl@nclaw.co.uk
nclawsolicitors
Please note we do not accept service by email
Legal services in London
© 2019 NC Law Solicitors. All Rights Reserved.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Speaking at the Tuanz Rural Connectivity Symposium, Communications Minister Clare Curran said next year's Rugby World Cup will test the nation's networks.
Earlier this year Spark and TVNZ won the rights to broadcast the competition outbidding Sky TV. While some games will be shown on free-to-air television networks, Spark's plan is for many fans to watch streaming coverage delivered over internet connections to their smart TVs, tablets, laptops and phones.
This is something of a wake-up call. Curran says she acknowledges the importance of rugby in New Zealand. It's also personal — the minister famously once wore a Highlanders' shirt in a parliamentary debate.
The issue was of direct relevance to the audience at the Rural Connectivity Symposium. Rugby support is strongest in the regions and rural areas. Many of these places are beyond the reach of the fibre network.
By the time of the Rugby World Cup, the first phase of the UFB programme will be complete and the second phase will be well underway. So, the roughly three-quarters of the population covered should have no problem watching games. The rural picture is more mixed with many areas having only fixed wireless broadband connections which may, in places, struggle with congestion.
Curran says she is watching what Spark is doing to head off similar problems. As part of this she will be working with the minister of sport, Grant Robertson.
Curran says: "I'm really encouraged that Spark has set up an industry working group — made up of technical and operational experts — who will work closely together to ensure they give New Zealanders a good Rugby World Cup experience. I understand part of the group's work is to resolve potential problems.


text:
This comprehensive overview, the first to appear in almost a decade, examines an artistic career, that now must be viewed as one of the most fascinating in the history of Contemporary art. From his highly controversial and seminal performance works of the early 1970s, to his complex, imaginative installations and monumental sculptures, the art of Chris Burden uniquely informs as well as incorporates the major artistic undercurrents of the last three decades. Not only has the artist made a major contribution to the history of body-related performance art, but the artist's fascination with systems of power, societal organization, architectural structure and technological systems, have resulted in an extraordinary body of sculptural objects and environmental installations over the last 35 years. In compiling this publication the artist has worked closely with curator and long time associate Fred Hoffman, taking this opportunity to re-examine his work afresh and revealing images that are unpublished or rarely seen. Chris Burden's unwavering commitment to aesthetic clarity and purity shows here in the detailed documentation of his major works, both old and new. It extensively illustrates how the artist has uniquely combined the essence of minimalist aesthetics with some of the most advanced technological contributions of the industrial age. Previously unpublished images from Burden's archives and essays by distinguished scholars and critics make this an unprecedented examination of a vital artist. Essays by Fred Hoffman, Paul Schimmel, Kristine Stiles and Robert Storr.
Text: Hoffman Fred, Storr Robert et al. cm 23×27; pp. 256; COL and BW; hardcover. Publisher: Locus+ Publication, Newcastle, 2005.
Conceptual Art // Performance // Sculpture
Burden Chris, Hoffman Fred, Schimmel Paul, Stiles Kristine, Storr Robert
Interviews on Art: By Robert Storr
Art Conceptuel Formes Conceptuelles / Conceptual Art Conceptual Forms
Body and the East. From the 1960s to the Present


text:
Protect privacy, pension protest, pricey pioneer Paul…
► From WFSE — TAKE ACTION to protect our privacy! — The Freedom Foundation, an organization funded by out-of-state wealthy interests, is demanding the state release the personal information of state employees — including their birthdays! Why? So they can spam public employees with anti-union email.
TAKE A STAND — Click here to send a message to your state legislators urging them to protect our state employees' privacy.
► In today's Spokesman-Review — State Republicans' prison probe is hopelessly partisan (editorial) — The Senate majority caucus billed its fact-finding mission as a "truly independent" alternative to Inslee's DOC investigation, but it has now become hopelessly mired in election-year squabbling.
► In The Atlantic — What follows the Fight for $15? — In recent years, low-wage workers and labor groups have agitated for higher wages, paid sick days, and other rights and protections that typically aren't afforded to those working in industries such as fast food, big-box retail, and janitorial services. In Seattle particularly, this labor movement has had a great deal of success in generating not just public support, but legislation… After these successes, labor activists in Seattle have set their sights on a facet of low-wage work that sounds dull but is critically important to workers' quality of life: how employers schedule their workers' hours. As a result, Seattle's city council has recently begun drafting scheduling regulations, and since the initiative has the public support of a majority of councilmembers as well as the mayor, it's expected to pass sometime this summer.
► In The Stranger — 'FACE of Amazon' group says it's starting a unionization drive for Amazon workers — FACE is changing its enigmatic name to something more concrete: the Amazon Employees Internationally Organized Union, or AEIOU. The group writes, "Amazon is great from A to Z for its customers, so we're going to force it to fill in the gaps in employment quality for our fellow mistreated employees through the formation of AEIOU." AEIOU is collecting signatures for their unionization drive online.
► In the P.S. Business Journal — Premera has laid off about 165 employees in strategic reorganization — Premera has cut about 165 employees since November in a strategic reorganization of the Mountlake Terrace-based insurance company.
► From Politico — Trump holds tongue on Verizon strike — On the one hand, Trump has been saying he can make America great again by curbing the corporate practice of laying off U.S. workers and sending their jobs overseas. But on the other hand, Trump has not answered queries from POLITICO or any others about whether he supports the Verizon workers striking in his own back yard over Verizon's plans to offshore its call centers.
► From Think Progress — Hillary Clinton widens her embrace of $15 minimum wage — Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton stated a new position on the debate stage in New York on Thursday night: If Congress were to pass a bill mandating a $15 minimum throughout the country, as president she would sign it. While rival Bernie Sanders has come out strongly in favor of a national $15 minimum wage, Clinton has previously said she supports cities and states that pass $15 minimum wages, but has said she thinks the federal level should be lower, at $12 an hour.
► In today's NY Times — Retirees rally at Capitol, protesting pension cuts — Some 400,000 retirees who worked in the trucking, parcel delivery and grocery supply industries face drastic pension cuts on July 1 as a result of a little-noticed measure attached to a huge end-of-year spending bill passed in December 2014. Many members of Congress say they were not given the time to read the provisions or did not grasp the ramifications at the time, and they now say they would not have voted for the legislation.
► From TPM — Blown budget deadline shows Ryan's got a Boehner-sized problem — Just months after being elected as speaker with the promise he'd return the House to what is called "regular order," Ryan will miss an April 15 deadline to pass a budget even as he still seeks to find consensus around one.
► From TPM — What Scalia's death means for SCOTUS' blockbuster immigration case — All eyes at Monday's oral arguments will be on Chief Justice John Roberts to gauge how he will navigate his court through an already hyper-political case that the vacant seat further complicates.
► In today's NY Daily News — A Verizon worker: Why I'm striking (by Isaac Collazo) — Many people wonder how I can afford to strike. I can't. It's because of my boys that I have no choice but to strike. Verizon is pushing to eliminate good, middle-class jobs and make it impossible for someone like me, a technician with an associate's degree, to earn a decent living for my family in New York. Despite making $39 billion in profits over the last three years, Verizon is looking to outsource our work to low-wage contractors. That might make sense if you're trying to pump up short-term profits, but it'd be a disaster for our network and our customers… And Verizon isn't just threatening job security. It wants to be able to force technicians to transfer far from home for two months at a time. How can I, as a single father, be away from home for months at a time?
ALSO at The Stand — Verizon strikers standing up for all workers
► In today's Washington Post — California appeals court upholds teacher tenure, a major victory for unions — A California appeals court on Thursday upheld the state's laws regarding teacher tenure, dismissal and layoffs, handing a major victory to teachers unions. The ruling overturns a lower court's 2014 decision that found after a 10-week trial that job-protection statutes for teachers had created illegal inequalities.
► From Huffington Post — Mississippi jails are losing inmates, and local officials are 'devastated' by the loss of revenue — County officials across Mississippi are warning of job losses and deep deficits as local jails are being deprived of the state inmates needed to keep them afloat. The culprit, say local officials, is state government and private prisons, which are looking to boost their own revenue as sentencing and drug-policy reforms are sending fewer bodies into the correctional system.
► From Workday Minnesota — Labor movement pledges to challenge bigotry, bridge racial divisions — With the country facing serious questions of racial justice – and bigoted political rhetoric intended to divide people – the labor movement hopes to foster dialogue and solidarity, leaders of the AFL-CIO and affiliated unions said Thursday.
► From AP — Poll: Americans prefer low prices to items 'Made in the USA' — The vast majority of Americans say they prefer lower prices instead of paying a premium for items labeled "Made in the USA," even if it means those cheaper items are made abroad, according to an AP poll. A mere 9 percent say they only buy American.
EDITOR'S NOTE — This should come as no surprise in a nation that, for decades, has embraced policies that actively suppress wages and encourage/subsidize offshoring. For many Americans, buying cheap foreign stuff is their only option. As this article notes, "Nearly three in four say they would like to buy goods manufactured inside the United States, but those items are often too costly or difficult to find."
► From AFL-CIO Now — Bangladesh: Garment workers, unions demand justice on anniversary of activist's murder — Four years after the tortured, lifeless body of Bangladesh garment worker–organizer Aminul Islam was discovered in a ditch, his killers have yet to be arrested. Yesterday, Bangladesh workers and unions demanded that authorities find and bring Aminul's killers to trial.
► Paul McCartney is performing at Seattle's KeyArena on Sunday. The Entire Staff of The Stand loves Sir Paul, but it's not a $250-per-ticket kind of love, so we won't be there. (Those of you who will, please rattle your jewelry.) The… most experienced… among you may be amazed to spot yourselves in this clip from 40 years ago at the Kingdome, in which Paul pioneers the mullet. Enjoy!
Posted by David Groves on Apr 15 2016. Filed under DAILY LINKS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.


We are about to publish offers from Wendy's Sign up to find out when!
Wendy's is a chain of American fast food restaurants that serves burgers, sandwiches, fries, milshakes, and more. Their most recognizable item is their hamburger, which features a square-pattied ground beef burger rather than the traditional round one. Their slogan is "You know when it's real."
Do you want to receive more deals from Wendy's by email?


The Chargers are trying to become the second Los Angeles team to reach a conference championship game, but they've had a rude awakening in Sunday's AFC divisional game against the Patriots at chilly Gillette Stadium.
SCNG's Gilbert Manzano and Jim Alexander are reporting today from Foxborough, Mass. Follow along below for live updates from the scene.


text:
About Hugo Wong
For Hugo For Life
A family's longing for a child lost to Meningitis
My Journey with Hugo
August 19, 2014 by siw8ng	2 Comments
Daddy carrying Hugo
I find myself disassociating with the word closure the more that I read about it when reading articles about dealing with grief. To bring closure means to find a resolution and to move on. It is used commonly to reference achievements in psychological terms usually sought as a stepping stone after personal trauma. For example it may have been appropriate to talk about closure after the visit to Kings College Hospital to discuss Hugo's treatment and decisions made for him whilst in their care. It was the last of the organisations that we had to see in relation to Hugo's death. To stop at the description "organisations" is to do a disservice to the myriad of real caring & sympathetic people that we met along the way.
The doctor at the Intensive Care unit at Kings was a fabulous Asian woman who was no-nonsense dragon, "hard ass bitch" (her words) who broke and cried with us all the way through the events in April. How she does her job and stay above it on a professional level day after day…I will always have the greatest respect for doctors. We talked about Hugo's 4 days at Kings in her care, about the gut feeling that made her send Hugo for a CAT scan and about anything that we could have done as parents to have caught the signs earlier or to have insisted on him going to intensive care earlier, or to have just screamed at the doctors and nurses to have tripled checked the scans, signs, etc etc etc. As with all the other medical professionals she insisted that Eva and I did the best that we could have done and nothing more could possibly have been expected of us. But that day at Kings, we began to believe her again, to stay the feeling of guilt at least for another few days. I asked the question about what was it that really killed Hugo, in medical terms. So yes I get that the bacteria is a vicious son of a bitch, vile strain of haemophilus influenzae that causes meningitis, but how did it do it?
This next section is caveated – it is a layman's recollection and summation of a doctor's explanation. She began by explaining that bacteria can differ due to the different parts of the body it likes to seek out. Bacteria classified as meningitis bacteria like to seek out the meninges, the connective tissue layers of the brain and spinal cord – a membrane. Once the bacteria penetrate the blood-brain membrane, it multiplies like crazy with little to hold it back. This is because the meninges exist to prevent the body's immune system from attacking the brain so the relative lack of an immune system capability in that area of the body gives bacteria free reign for a while. But as the body fights the infection, the cells in the body become leaky – cells are broken and tissue is flooded with white blood cells & proteins, causing cells to swell. With Meningitis the brain swells. Although Hugo's course of antibiotics had killed off the bacteria, his body's self defence mechanism set off a reaction that would make things worse. In adults, the skull cavity has proportionally more space for the brain to expand into whereas in little children there is nowhere for the brain to go.
My next question was, how did Hugo get infected. I mean, not where or who, but why would this bacteria infect him and not us? She paused for a moment and said that no one really knows how infection takes hold. That is, medical science still does not know what it is that allows a pathogen to break past the barriers that protect us and cause an infection. Hence him, not you, not I. Hugo was unlucky pure and simple. His body was in a certain state at a certain time and somehow it broke through. It could have been transmitted respiratorily and the bacteria could have been living in any one of us, even still living in us and we could have developed the antibodies against it. Encapsulated haemophilus influenzae bacteria is vaccinated against in the UK and is available to every baby on the NHS, known as the HIB vaccine. Hugo had unencapsulated haemophilus influenzae which has thousands of variants and cannot be vaccinated against – it is non typable. Infection is also extremely rare and there are barely any cases in the UK. That was a shock to me. The feeling of unfairness, why me? Subsequently amplified a thousand fold. That hurt a lot, odds that like shouldn't affect my family. We cried and cried but the doctor was a amazingly empathetic person. It was almost like counselling but she was so personal. I left by saying that we were glad to have met her. That seems mad, but honestly it felt right that it was her that we met and no other intensive care doctor.
Eva and I have attended all the sessions that we have needed to attend to settle Hugo's affairs; we've been to nursery, spoken to coroners, Epsom hospital, King's College Hospital, nurses, GPs, funeral directors, crematorium directors, counsellors and Charity staff. We've cancelled Hugo from policies and spoken to our community. There is no closure with the death of a child. The family is going on a journey, four of us, one that began when Hugo was born. He will always be a baby.
We are still encouraging donations to MeningitisNow, the charity that helps families affected by Meningitis as well as funding much needed research into the disease. Please give generously and share this message.
http://www.justgiving.com/hugowong
Categories: Grieve | Tags: bacteria, Haemophilus influenzae, King College Hospital | Permalink.
2 thoughts on "My Journey with Hugo"
kirsteenatom
Thank you for writing this – I understand a bit more about meningitis. I understand what you mean about closure – when my mother died I didn't want her, her life to be in the past, to be something that was finished. I felt that would mean she was further away from me and I wanted to keep her time alive as close as possible. Love to you all x
siw8ng
Kirtsteen, it has taken me on a further step down reality lane. Death is part of all our lives but I've never been close to it until now. We can try to be philosophical about it or to rationalise it down to a medical truism but it just hurts so much. I hope you are finding your way through it all.
crashing waves August 16, 2015
One year ago & arrival of an angel April 20, 2015
Feliz Navidad a nuestro querido Hugo December 25, 2014
My Journey with Hugo August 19, 2014
Happy 2nd Birthday August 9, 2014
Life flows on
Affinity (2)
Charity Event (1)
Grieve (5)
We Are Four (5)
Alan on One year ago & arrival of…
siw8ng on One year ago & arrival of…
Khow Yei on One year ago & arrival of…
VJ on One year ago & arrival of…


Gentle abortion services are offered by America's largest private provider of abortion care, with over 30 years experience and 14 offices and more than 25 board certified doctors. Awake or Asleep. Fast and convenient with no multiple visits or long waits. Only one 2 to 3 hour visit.


text:
Q: chaining multiple epoll instances Can we add file descriptor returned by epoll_create to another epoll instance using epoll_ctl. how do we chain multiple epoll instances in the application, lets say if we have 2 epoll instances one coming from the application and the other coming from library. Please advise.

A: From man epoll
Q3  Is the epoll file descriptor itself poll/epoll/selectable?
A3  Yes.  If an epoll file descriptor has events waiting, then it will indicate as being readable.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Pomerantz Law Firm…
SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Pomerantz Law Firm Investigates Claims On Behalf of Investors of RLX Technology Inc. – RLX
By Pomerantz LLP, Rocket Companies, Inc.
Fighting for victims of securities fraud for more than 85 years (PRNewsfoto/Pomerantz LLP)
PUBLISHED: July 10, 2021 at 5:35 a.m. | UPDATED: July 25, 2021 at 6:02 p.m.
NEW YORK, July 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of RLX Technology Inc. ("RLX" or the "Company") (NYSE: RLX). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980.
The investigation concerns whether RLX and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.
[Click here for information about joining the class action]
In January 2021, RLX conducted its initial public offering ("IPO"), selling approximately 116.5 million American Depositary Shares, priced at $12.00 per ADS, for gross proceeds of nearly $1.4 billion. Then, on or around March 22, 2021, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology posted draft regulations confirming that e-cigarettes and new tobacco products, including RLX's own product offerings, would be regulated similarly to traditional tobacco offerings.
On this news, RLX's stock price fell $9.31 per share, or 47.84%, to close at $10.15 per share on March 22, 2021.
The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com.
Robert S. Willoughby
Pomerantz LLP
rswilloughby@pomlaw.com
View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/shareholder-alert-pomerantz-law-firm-investigates-claims-on-behalf-of-investors-of-rlx-technology-inc—rlx-301330034.html
SOURCE Pomerantz LLP


I make indie games. Currently working on The Bridge.
Introducing "a.void", a Jam game created by five Microsoft software developers.
It is a musical spatial memory game. Collect colored orbs to collect points while avoiding the obstacles that align with the music.
Choose your movements carefully, as the obstacles appear at your previous positions.
I'd like to introduce a Ludum Dare jam game I created along with Justin Nafziger and Cole Wardell called Anticolor.
It is a puzzle game about making opposite-colored orbs work in unity. Orbs can only exist in their opposite-color space, and they leave a wake of their own color behind them that allows the passage of orbs of the opposite color.
The controls and general smoothness could use some work, but I'm thrilled with the amount we got done in 48 hours.
Here is a link to our entry and download.


FIFA19 Ultimate Team - Build Your Dream Team Today!
This is a program that uses soccer players from different teams that are in the FIFA19 system. And, allows you to perform all functions relating to building your own team.
If you want to have the ULTIMATE TEAM find out more by following the link that is provided.


Shower Tile Ideas Impressive Bathroom Shower Floor Tile Ideas is part of great design ideas. Shower Tile Ideas Impressive Bathroom Shower Floor Tile Ideas was created by combining fantastic ideas, interesting arrangements, and follow the current trends in the field of that make you more inspired and give artistic touches. We'd be honored if you can apply some or all of these design in your home. believe me, brilliant ideas would be perfect if it can be applied in real and make the people around you amazed!
Shower Tile Ideas Impressive Bathroom Shower Floor Tile Ideas was posted in July 26, 2018 at 3:29 am. Shower Tile Ideas Impressive Bathroom Shower Floor Tile Ideas has viewed by 93 users. Click it and download the Shower Tile Ideas Impressive Bathroom Shower Floor Tile Ideas.
Bathroom, Shower Tile Ideas was posted June 12, 2018 at 4:14 pm by Terenovo.com . More over Shower Tile Ideas has viewed by 11550 visitor.
Bathroom, Tile Shower Ideas was posted June 11, 2018 at 9:12 am by Terenovo.com . More over Tile Shower Ideas has viewed by 11567 visitor.
Bathroom, Shower Tile Ideas was posted June 8, 2018 at 10:19 am by Terenovo.com . More over Shower Tile Ideas has viewed by 11785 visitor.
Bathroom, Tile Shower Ideas was posted June 7, 2018 at 9:46 am by Terenovo.com . More over Tile Shower Ideas has viewed by 11758 visitor.
Bathroom, Shower Tile Designs was posted June 7, 2018 at 5:23 am by Terenovo.com . More over Shower Tile Designs has viewed by 11231 visitor.
Bathroom, Shower Tile Designs was posted June 11, 2018 at 3:41 am by Terenovo.com . More over Shower Tile Designs has viewed by 11013 visitor.


text:
\section{Introduction}
\label{intro}

Tensegrity robotics is a relatively young field of research wherein a robot is structured according to tensegrity principles.
We define a tensegrity as a structure with discontinuous compression elements suspended within a web of tension elements.
In this class of robots, motion is often achieved through actuation of the tensile elements within the structure.

Tensegrity robots have highly coupled dynamics due to their interconnected network of compliant tensile elements.
As such, an external force exerted at a single point will cause a global displacement in all nodal positions of the system.
This property is beneficial in that it allows the system to passively adapt to external forces and redistribute loads effectively through the tension network.
However, it also causes difficulties in determining the state of the system when only limited sensor information is available.

Various control approaches have been proposed for tensegrity systems in simulation.
However, these algorithms often rely on full state or trajectory information~\cite{Rieffel2007}\cite{Paul2005}\cite{GraellsRovira2009}\cite{sultan2000tensegrity}.
In this paper, we present the design and evaluation of a state estimator for this class of robot
which will allow the transfer of these existing and future control algorithms from simulation to hardware.

We focus on the use of low-cost ranging modules and inertial measurement units mounted to the rods of a tensegrity robot as the sensor inputs to an unscented Kalman filter (UKF).
These ranging sensors can be purchased off-the-shelf and do not rely on any user-designed mechanical infrastructure to operate.
We also use motor encoders to sense change in cable rest length as control inputs
into the dynamic model utilized by the UKF.
For testing our approach, we use the \SB{} prototype, a six strut tensegrity robot designed to explore tensegrity systems for planetary exploration~\cite{bruce2014design}\cite{sabelhaus2015system}.
\SB{} is shown in Fig.~\ref{fig:SUPERball_robot}.

\begin{figure}[tpb]
 \centering
  \includegraphics[width=.9\linewidth]{img/SB_noCircle.png}
 \caption{The \SB{} prototype, a six strut tensegrity robot with 12 actuated cables and 12 passive cables. Our state estimation algorithm is evaluated on this platform.}
\label{fig:SUPERball_robot}
 \end{figure}

This paper is organized as follows.
We first present a detailed overview of the system's sensors, ranging method and calibration routine.
We then describe the implementation of the unscented Kalman filter and the dynamics model.
This is followed by our experimental results.
We end this paper with our conclusions and future outlook.

\section{\SB{} Overview}
\label{overview}

The Spherical Underactuated Planetary Exploration Robot (\SB{}) is a preliminary tensegrity robot prototype developed at the NASA Ames Research Center.
The purpose the \SB{} project is to develop technologies for a new class of planetary exploration robot which is able to
deploy from a compact launch volume, land at high speeds without the use of air-bags, and provide robust surface mobility.  This broad set of functions can be enabled by utilizing the efficiency and structural compliance of tensegrity robots.  Passive-structure drop tests have confirmed the analysis supporting the high-speed landing concept, and the current prototype of \SB{} is intended to develop the foundational engineering approaches required to support surface locomotion by tensegrity robots.
A full system overview is out of the scope of this paper, but the relevant details of the system will be discussed.
Please refer to Bruce et. al.~\cite{bruce2014design} and Sabelhaus and Bruce~\cite{sabelhaus2015system} for system details.

Relevant to this work are the sensors, actuators, and the ROS network implemented on \SB{}.
\SB{} consists of 6 identical rods held together by 24 cables in-line with springs.
As described in~\cite{bruce2014design}, each rod of \SB{} is comprised of two modular tensegrity robotic platforms (end caps).
Each platform is equipped with inertial measurement units, a motor with encoders, and a fully enabled Robot Operating System (ROS) node which communicates to our ROS network via WiFi.
\SB{} is underactuated and only 12 out of the 24 cables can be actuated (shortened) by spooling cable around a spindle (one per end cap).
This allows the robot to roll through deformation.
Since each modular tensegrity platform can be outfitted with sensors, ranging sensors were added for this paper to enable positioning.
The ranging sensors are discussed in detail in Section~\ref{ranging}.

\section{Ranging Setup and Calibration}
\label{ranging}
\label{txt:ranging}
This section introduces the hardware and software setup for a set of wireless ranging modules to enable
position tracking of the robot both as an as internal distance measurements (end cap to end cap) an in an external (world) reference frame.

We equipped all end caps of \SB{} with a DWM1000 ranging module from DecaWave Ltd.
By employing ultra wideband technology, the low-cost DWM1000 modules provide wireless data transfer and highly accurate timestamps of transmitted and received packets.
This allows the distance between two DWM1000 modules to be estimated by computing the time-of-flight of exchanged messages without the need for synchronized clocks.
We opted for this technology because it allows proprioceptive state estimation (distances between end caps), which
cannot be easily tracked directly via motor encoders.~\cite{ledergerber2015}   Furthermore, we
placed eight more DWM1000 modules as "fixed anchors" around our testing area to provide a world reference frame for
 ground truth and generation of a reward signal for the machine learning algorithms that we will use to develop
 locomotion controllers for the robot.  Our intention is that the fixed anchors will not be required in the final deployed
 version of the robot, and are primarily for use during algorithm development.

We first introduce the basic sensor operation and our approach to efficiently estimate distances between a large number of sensor modules.
This is followed by a discussion of our ranging software and hardware setup.
Finally, we provide a calibration routine similar to a common motion capture system that allows for quick set up of the sensor network.

\subsection{Sensor Operation}
\subsubsection{Bidirectional Ranging}
We operate the DWM1000 in the so-called \emph{symmetric double-sided two-way ranging} mode.
In this mode, the modules exchange $3$ packets to estimate the time-of-flight between each other.
While the time-of-flight of unsynchronized modules can be estimated with the exchange of only $2$ packets, the employed mode can significantly reduce measurement noise~\cite{decawave}.

The basic ranging packet exchange is shown in Fig.~\ref{fig:bidirectional_ranging}.
One module sends out a \emph{poll} message containing an emission timestamp ($t_{SP}$) using its local clock.
A second module receives this message and timestamps the time of arrival using its local clock ($t_{RP}$).
The second module then sends out a \emph{response} packet at time $t_{SR}$ (module 2's clock).
The first module receives this packet at time $t_{RR}$  (module 1's clock).
Module 1 now sends out a final message containing $t_{RR}$ and the emission time of the final message ($t_{SF}$, clock of module 1).
Module 2 receives this information and timestamps it ($t_{RF}$).

\begin{figure}[tpbh]
 \centering
  \includegraphics[width=.6\linewidth]{img/bidirectional_ranging.pdf}
 \caption{Basic symmetric double-side two-way ranging packet exchange.
 Modules 1 and 2 exchange 3 packets (\emph{poll}, \emph{response}, and \emph{final}). Module 2 then estimates the distance between the modules based on the local timestamps.}
\label{fig:bidirectional_ranging}
 \end{figure}

Module 2 can now estimate the time-of-flight and the distance between itself and module 1 based on the 6 timestampes.
The basic equations to estimate the distance between module $i$ and module $j$ (module $i$ initiates the ranging and module $j$ computes the distance) are given by:
\begin{eqnarray}
a_{i} &=& t_{SF}^i-t_{SP}^i\\
b_{j,i} &=& t_{RF}^{j,i}-t_{RP}^{j,i}\\
c_{j,i} &=& t_{RF}^{j,i}-t_{SR}^j\\
d_{i,j} &=& t_{SF}^i-t_{RR}^{i,j}
\end{eqnarray}
\begin{eqnarray}
{TOF}_{j,i}  &\approx& \frac{1}{2}\left(c_{j,i}-d_{i,j}\frac{b_{j,i}}{a_i} \right)-\delta_{j,i}\\
\|\bm{N}_j - \bm{N}_i\| &\approx& \frac{1}{2\bm{c}}\left(c_{j,i}-d_{i,j}\frac{b_{j,i}}{a_i} \right)-o_{j,i} \label{eq:distance_estimation}\\
&\doteq& m_{j,i}-o_{j,i} .
\end{eqnarray}
The variables $a$, $b$, $c$, and $d$ are also visualized in Fig.~\ref{fig:bidirectional_ranging}.
The time-of-flight calculation between two modules $i$ and $j$ ($TOF_{j,i}=TOF_{i,j}$) is hindered by a fixed measurement offset ($\delta_{j,i}=\delta_{i,j}$).
This offset is due to antenna delays and other discrepancies  between the timestamps and actual packet reception or emission.
Whereas this offset is expected to be unique to each module, we found that it is necessary to estimate this offset pairwise for closely located modules.
Our hypothesis is that the proximity of the robot's motors and the sensor's position near the end cap's metal structure influence the antenna characteristics between pairs of modules.

Eq.~\ref{eq:distance_estimation} estimates the distances between the modules based on the time-of-flight calculation ($\bm{c}$ is the speed of light).
We rewrite the time offset $\delta_{j,i}$ as a distance offset $o_{j,i}$ (with $o_{j,i}=o_{i,j}$).
Here $\bm{N}_i$ and $\bm{N}_j$ refer to the positions of nodes $i$ and $j$ respectively (see Section~\ref{txt:ukf}).
The variables $m_{j,i}$ represent the uncorrected distance estimates.

The DWM1000 requires careful configuration for optimal performance.
We provide our main configuration settings in Table~\ref{tbl:dwm1000}.
The ranging modules tend to measure  non line-of-sight paths near reflective surfaces (e.g. floor, computer monitors), which may cause filter instability.
Using the DWM1000's built-in signal power estimator, we reject such suspicious packets.
In practice, between $30\%$ and $70\%$ of packets are rejected in our indoor test environment.

\begin{table}[h]
\centering
\caption{DWM1000 configuration}
\label{tbl:dwm1000}
\begin{tabular}{llllll}
{\bf bitrate} & {\bf channel} & {\bf preamble} &  {\bf PRF} & {\bf preamble code} \\ \hline
\SI{6.8}{\mega\bit\per\second}     & 7             & 256                    & \SI{64}{\mega\hertz}     & 17
\end{tabular}
\end{table}

\subsubsection{Broadcast Ranging}
Due to the large number of exchanged packets (3 per pair) bidirectional ranging between pairs of modules quickly becomes inefficient when the number of modules grows.
We propose a simple approach using timed broadcast messages that scales linearly in the number of modules (3 packets per module).
In this setup one module periodically initiates a measurement sequence by sending out a \emph{poll} message.
When another module receives this message it emits its own \emph{poll} message after a fixed delay based on its ID, followed by \emph{response} and \emph{final} messages after additional delays.
Broadcast ranging is illustrated in Fig.~\ref{fig:broadcast_ranging}.

\begin{figure}[tpbh]
 \centering
  \includegraphics[width=.8\linewidth]{img/broadcast_ranging.pdf}
 \caption{Packet exchange between 4 modules for bidirectional pairwise and broadcast ranging.
 Timed broadcast messages allow for efficient ranging with a large number of modules.
  }
\label{fig:broadcast_ranging}
 \end{figure}

One disadvantage of the broadcasting approach is that the total measurement time between a pair of modules takes longer (up to \SI{60}{\milli\second} in our experimental setup)
 than a single pairwise bidirectional measurement (approx. \SI{3}{\milli\second}).
However, broadcast ranging provides two measurements for each pair of modules per measurement iteration.

Note that each module now needs to keep track of the \emph{poll} and \emph{final} packet reception times of all other modules.
The \emph{final} packet becomes longer as each module needs to transmit the \emph{response} reception time ($t_{RR}$)  of all other modules.

\subsection{Ranging Setup}
Each end cap of SUPERball was fitted with a DWM1000 module located approximately \SI{0.1}{\metre} from the end of the strut.
To simplify the notation, we do not distinguish between end cap positions (ends of the struts) and the positions ranging sensor locations.
In practice, we take this offset into account in the output function of our filter (see Section~\ref{txt:ukf}).

The broadcasting algorithm runs at \SI{15}{\hertz} and packet transmissions are spaced \SI{1}{\milli\second} apart.
This allows for over $20$ modules to range.
After one ranging iteration, each end cap transmits its measurements over WiFi to the ROS network.
A ROS node then combines measurements from all end caps into a single ROS message at  \SI{10}{\hertz}.

The fixed anchors operate in a similar way to the end caps, but are not connected to a ROS node and can not directly transmit data to the ROS network.
This means that we obtain two measurements (one in each direction) for each pair of modules on the robot,
but only a single measurement between the fixed anchors and the modules on the robot.

\subsection{Calibration}
\label{txt:calib}
One of the design goals of our state estimation method is quick deployment in new environments without significant manual calibration.
To achieve this, we implemented an automatic calibration procedure to jointly estimate the constellation of fixed modules (anchors, defining an external reference frame)
and the pairwise sensor offsets ($o_{i,j}$).
Calibration is performed - similar to common motion capture systems - by moving the robot around, while recording the uncorrected distance measurements ($m_{j,i}$).

After recording a dataset, we minimize the reconstruction error $L$ by optimizing over the offsets $\bm{o}$ ($o_{i,j}$ rearranged as a vector), the estimated anchor locations $\bm{N}^{est}$, and the estimated moving module locations $\bm{N}^{float}[1\ldots n_{samples}]$ (i.e. the module on the robot's end caps):
\begin{align}
\resizebox{.91\hsize}{!}{$L\left(i,j,t\right) = \left( \|\bm{N}^{anchor}_i - \bm{N}^{float}_{j}\left[t\right]\|-o_{j,i} - m_{i,j}\left[t\right] \right)^2$ \label{eq:l_single}}\\
\resizebox{.91\hsize}{!}{$L\left(\bm{o},\bm{N}^{anchor},\bm{N}^{float}[1\ldots n_{samples}]\right) = \sum_{i,j,t}\alpha_{j,t}L\left(i,j,t\right)$. \label{eq:l_full}}
\end{align}

The brackets in $\bm{N}^{float}[1\ldots n_{samples}]$ indicate the moving module locations (end cap positions) at a specific timestep.
For example $\bm{N}^{float}[5]$ contains the estimated end cap positions at timestep 5 in the recorded dataset.
In Eq.~\ref{eq:l_full}, $i$ iterates over anchors, $j$ iterates over moving nodes and $t$ iterates over samples.
The indicator variables $\alpha_{j,t}$ are equal to $1$ when for sample $t$ there are at least $4$ valid measurements to the fixed module for moving module $j$ (i.e. the number of DOFs reduces).

In practice we also add constraints on the bar lengths, which take the same form as Eq.~\ref{eq:l_single} with the offsets set to $0$.
We used BFGS to minimize Eq.~\ref{eq:l_full} with  a dataset containing approximately $400$ timesteps selected randomly from a few minutes of movement of the robot.
Although the algorithm works without prior knowledge, we noticed that providing the relative positions of $3$ fixed nodes ($3$ manual measurements) significantly improves the success rate as there are no guarantees on global convergence.

Once the external offsets (between the anchors and moving nodes) and the module positions are known, we can estimate the offsets between moving nodes in a straightforward way by computing the difference between the estimated internal distances and the uncorrected distance measurements.

\section{Filter Design}
\label{txt:ukf}

Tensegrity systems are nonlinear and exhibit hybrid dynamics due to cable slack conditions and  interactions with the environment that involve collision and friction. This warrants a robust filter design to track the robot's behavior.

The commonly used Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) does not perform well on highly nonlinear systems where first-order approximations offer poor representations of the propagation of uncertainties.
Additionally the EKF requires computation of time-derivatives through system dynamics and output functions which is challenging for a model with complex hybrid dynamics.

The sigma point UKF does not require derivatives through the system dynamics and is third order accurate when propagating Gaussian Random Variables through nonlinear dynamics \cite{wan2000unscented}. The computational cost of the UKF is comparable to that of the EKF, but for tensegrity systems which commonly have a large range of stiffnesses and a high number of state variables the time-update of the sigma points dominates computational cost. As such we first describe the methods used to reduce computational cost of dynamic simulation, then in the following section we outline the specific implementation of the UKF for the \SB{} prototype.

\subsection{Dynamic Modelling}

The UKF requires a dynamic model which balances model fidelity and computational efficiency since it requires a large number of simulations to be run in parallel.
We model a tensegrity system as a spring-mass net and used the following incomplete list of simplifying assumptions:
\begin{itemize}
  \item Only point masses located at each node point
  \item All internal and external forces are applied at nodes
  \item Members exert only linear stiffness and damping
  \item Unilateral forcing in cables
  \item Flat ground at a known height with Coulomb friction
  \item No bar or string collision modelling
\end{itemize}

For a tensegrity with $n$ nodes and $m$ members, the member force densities,
$\boldsymbol{q}\in\mathbb{R}^{m}$, can be transformed into nodal forces,
$\boldsymbol{F_m}\in\mathbb{R}^{n\times 3}$, by using the current Cartesian nodal positions,
$\boldsymbol{N}\in\mathbb{R}^{n\times 3}$, and the connectivity matrix,
$\boldsymbol{C}\in\mathbb{R}^{m\times n}$, as described in \cite{skelton2009tensegrity}. This operation is described by the equation:
$$
\boldsymbol{F_m} = \boldsymbol{C}^{T} diag(\boldsymbol{q}) \boldsymbol{C} \boldsymbol{N},
$$
where $diag(\cdot)$ represents the creation of a diagonal matrix with the vector argument along its main diagonal.
We first note that $\boldsymbol{C} \boldsymbol{N}$ produces a matrix $\boldsymbol{U}\in\mathbb{R}^{m\times 3}$ where each row corresponds to a vector that points between the $i$th and $j$th nodes spanned by each member.
Therefore, this first matrix multiplication can be replaced with vector indexing as $\boldsymbol{U}_{k} = \boldsymbol{N}_{i} - \boldsymbol{N}_{j}$,
where we use the notation $\boldsymbol{U}_{k}$ to denote the $k$th row of matrix $\boldsymbol{U}$. If we then compute $\boldsymbol{V}=\boldsymbol{C}\frac{d\boldsymbol{N}}{dt}$ with the same method
as $\boldsymbol{U}$, we obtain a matrix of relative member velocities.
The matrices $\boldsymbol{U}$ and $\boldsymbol{V}$ are used to calculate member lengths as $L_k = |\boldsymbol{U}_k|_2$ and member velocities as $\frac{d}{dt}(L_k) = \frac{\boldsymbol{U}_k(\boldsymbol{V}_k)^T}{L_k}.$

We can then use these values to calculate member force densities, $\boldsymbol{q}$, using Hooke's law and viscous damping as:
$$
\boldsymbol{q}_k = K_k(1 - \frac{L_{0k}}{L_k}) - \frac{c_k}{L_k} \frac{d}{dt}(L_k).
$$
Here $K_k$ and $c_k$ denote the $k$th member's stiffness and damping constants, respectively.
Note that cables require some additional case handling to ensure unilateral forcing.

Scaling each $\boldsymbol{U}_k$ by $\boldsymbol{q}_k$ yields a matrix whose rows correspond to vector forces of the members.
We denote this matrix as $\boldsymbol{U}^q\in\mathbb{R}^{m\times 3}$, and we note that $\boldsymbol{U}^q = diag(\boldsymbol{q}) \boldsymbol{C} \boldsymbol{N}$.
Thus this matrix of member forces can be easily applied to the nodes using:
$$
\boldsymbol{F_m} = \boldsymbol{C}^{T} \boldsymbol{U}^q.
$$
We now have a method for computing nodal forces exerted by the members and need only compute ground interaction forces, which we will denote as $\boldsymbol{F}_g$.
We computed ground interaction forces using the numerical approach in~\cite{yamane2006stable}. The nodal accelerations can then be written as:
$$
\frac{d^2\boldsymbol{N}}{dt^2} = \boldsymbol{M}^{-1}(\boldsymbol{F}_m+ \boldsymbol{F}_g) -  \boldsymbol{G},
$$
where $\boldsymbol{M}\in\mathbb{R}^{n\times n}$ is a diagonal matrix whose diagonal entries are the masses of each node and $\boldsymbol{G}\in\mathbb{R}^{n\times 3}$ is matrix with identical rows equal to the vector acceleration due to gravity.
It is then straightforward to simulate this second order ODE using traditional numerical methods.

Note also that it is possible to propagate many parallel simulations efficiently by concatenating multiple $\boldsymbol{N}$ matrices column wise to produce  $\boldsymbol{N}_{\parallel}\in\mathbb{R}^{n\times 3l}$ for $l$ parallel simulations.
The resultant vectorization of many of the operations yields significant gains in computational speed with some careful handling of matrix dimensions.

\subsection{UKF Implementation}

We implement a traditional UKF as outlined in \cite{wan2000unscented} with additive Gaussian noise for state variables and measurements.

Several parameters are defined for tuning the behavior of the UKF, namely $\alpha$, $\beta$ and $\kappa$, where $\alpha$ determines the spread of the sigma points generated by the unscented transformation, $\beta$ is used to incorporate prior knowledge of distribution, and $\kappa$ is a secondary scaling parameter.
We hand tuned these parameters to the values $\alpha = 0.0139$, $\beta = 2$ for Gaussian distributions and $\kappa = 0$ and found this to yield an adequately stable filter.

We define our state variables as $\boldsymbol{N}$ and $\frac{d\boldsymbol{N}}{dt}$ stacked in a vector $\boldsymbol{y}\in\mathbb{R}^{L}$ where $L = 6n$ is the number of state variables.
We assume independent state noise with variance $\lambda_y = 0.4$ thus with covariance $\boldsymbol{R} = \lambda_y\bm{I}_L$.

For measurements we take estimated orientation data from our IMUs using a gradient descent AHRS algorithm based on~\cite{madgwick2011estimation}, $\theta\in\mathbb{R}^{b}$ where $b$ is the number of bar angles available at the given time step and all ranging measures, $\boldsymbol{r}\in\mathbb{R}^{a}$, where $a$ is the number of ranging measures available at a given time step.
We again assume independent noise with $\lambda_\theta = 0.1$ and $\lambda_r = 0.029$ the measurement covariance matrix is then defined as:
$$
\boldsymbol{Q} =  \left[ \begin{array}{ccc} \lambda_\theta\bm{I}_b & \boldsymbol{0} \\
                         \boldsymbol{0}        & \lambda_r\bm{I}_a  \end{array} \right].
$$
These user defined variables are then used within the framework of our UKF to forward propagate both the current expected value of the state as well as its covariance.
Fig.~\ref{fig:UKFflowChart} shows an overview of our complete state estimation setup.

\begin{figure}[tpbh]
 \centering
  \includegraphics[width=0.85\linewidth]{img/flow_chartSB.pdf}
 \caption{Block diagram of data flow within the system. Red signals are passed as ROS messages and blue signals are passed using the ranging modules. Note that each rod contains two ranging sensors located at each end of the rod. The gray control strategy block represents a to-be-designed state-feedback control strategy.}
\label{fig:UKFflowChart}
 \end{figure}

\section{Filter Evaluation}
\subsection{Experimental Setup}

\begin{figure}[tpbh]
 \centering
  \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{img/matlab_figure_ranging_b45.pdf}
 \caption{Visualization of the UKF output. \SB{} sits in the middle of the plot surrounded by 8 ranging base stations. Lines between the robot and the base stations indicate valid ranging measures during this timestep.}
\label{fig:SUPERballMATLAB}
 \end{figure}

To evaluate the performance of the UKF, we used the eight "fixed anchor" ranging base stations calibrated as detailed in Section~\ref{txt:calib}.
Each end cap of \SB{} was then able to get a distance measurement to each base station.
This information was sent over ROS along with IMU data (yaw,pitch,roll) and cable rest lengths to the UKF.
The base stations were placed in a pattern to cover an area of approximately \SI{91}{\meter^2}.
Each base station's relative location to each other may be seen in Fig.~\ref{fig:SUPERballMATLAB}.
\SB{} and the base stations were then used to show the UKF tracking a local trajectory of end caps and a global trajectory of the robotic system.
In each of these experiments, the UKF was allowed time to settle from initial conditions upon starting the filter.
This ensured that any erroneous states due to poor initial conditioning did not affect the filter's overall performance.

\subsection{Local Trajectory Tracking}
In order to track a local trajectory, \SB{} remained stationary while two of its actuators tracked phase shifted stepwise sinusoidal patterns.
During the period of actuation, two end cap trajectories were tracked on \SB{} and compared to the trajectory outputs of the UKF.
One end cap was directly connected to an actuated cable (end cap 2), while the other end cap had no actuated cables affixed to it (end cap 1).
To obtain a ground truth for the position trajectory, a camera that measured the position of each end cap was positioned next to the robot.
Both end caps started at the same relative height and the majority of movement of both fell within the plane parallel to the camera.
Fig.~\ref{fig:smalldisplacement} shows the measured and UKF global positions of the two end caps through time.

\begin{figure}[tpbh]
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=1\linewidth]{img/Node_tracking_1-11.pdf}
  \caption{Position plotted through time for both end cap 1 and end cap 2. The thin line represents the position output measured by the camera tracking system, and the bold line represents the position output from the UKF filter. As expected, there is a time domain lag between the measured and estimated positions.}
  \label{fig:smalldisplacement}
\end{figure}

\subsection{Global Trajectory Tracking}
For global trajectory tracking, \SB{} was actuated to induce a transition from one base triangle rolling through to another base triangle as presented in \cite{sabelhaus2015system}.
Ground truth for this experiment was ascertained by marking and measuring the positions of each base triangle's end caps before and after a face transition.
We evaluate 4 settings of the state estimator. \emph{Full}: The state estimator as described in Section~\ref{txt:ukf} with all IMU and ranging sensors. \emph{no IMU}: Only the ranging sensors are enabled. \emph{full w. cst. offset}: Same as \emph{full}, but the offsets $\bm{o}$ are set to a constant instead of optimized individually. \emph{4 base station ranging sensors}: 50\% of the base station ranging sensors are disabled.
The results of this experiment are presented in Fig.~\ref{fig:3roll_triangles}~and~\ref{fig:3roll_xz_position}.
\begin{figure}[tpbh]
 \centering
  \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{img/top_view.pdf}
\caption{Top down view of the triangular faces to which the robot transitions during the global trajectory tracking experiment for various setting of the state estimator. The small inset illustrates the movement of the robot. The line shows the estimated center of mass (CoM) using the \emph{full} settings.
Finding the initial position (origin) is hard for all settings, and without the IMUs the estimator does not find the correct initial face.
After a first roll, tracking becomes more accurate. The offsets $\bm{o}$ have a minimal impact, which indicates that our calibration routine is sufficiently accurate.   }
\label{fig:3roll_triangles}
 \end{figure}
\begin{figure}[tpbh]
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{img/roll_x_z_zoom.pdf}
\caption{X and Y position of end cap 12 as a function of time for the various estimator settings. The end cap was initially off the ground and touches the ground after the first roll. This is not tracked correctly when the IMUs are disabled. The system works as expected when 4 base stations ranging sensors are disabled, but with slower convergence and more noise on the robot's position. Around \SI{60}{s} there's a spurious IMU value from which  the state estimator recovers.
}
  \label{fig:3roll_xz_position}
\end{figure}

\section{Conclusion}
We have introduced a state estimation approach for tensegrity robots based on ultra wideband ranging sensors, inertial measurements, and actuator states.
An unscented Kalman filter was used to combine these sensor and state observations.
While this is a fairly common approach to state estimation, our algorithm is robust to measurement noise and significant amounts of missing data.
To verify these statements, we evaluated our method on two tasks: rolling and stationary deformations of \SB{}.

Most of the current control approaches for tensegrity robots rely on position tracking for either motion planning or performance evaluation.
Hence, our main contribution to the field of tensegrity robotics is that this work will finally allow various proposed control algorithms for tensegrity robots to be transferred from the simulation domain to hardware.

We believe that - in this context - our setup is a viable alternative to more established external solutions, such as motion capture systems.
In particular, our approach is low-cost, self-calibrating and only relies on autonomous anchors.
These last two qualities are particularly attractive for future space missions.
We do not yet achieve the accuracy provided by commercial motion capture systems.
However, this is not a priority at this point as we mainly are focused on large displacements by rolling of \SB{}.

The logical next step is to test our state estimator when SUPERball is moving around in a larger space.
The RoverScape at NASA Ames - a football field sized outdoor rover testbed - is the ideal candidate test area for this.

A related future goal is to add support for an incremental number of ranging anchors.
This will allow \SB{} to explore uncharted terrain by dropping beacons when the uncertainty of its current position increases.

{\small
\section*{Acknowledgments}
We appreciate the support, ideas, and feedback from members of the Dynamic Tensegrity Robotics Lab.
We are also grateful to Terry Fong and the NASA Ames Intelligent Robotics Group.
}

\bibliographystyle{IEEEtran}
\balance

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


Credit: Tequila Minsky. Download high-resolution version here.
In 2018, Brewer served as Chair of the Large Cities Council of the National League of Cities, and has been named a member of their 2019 Human Development federal advocacy committee, which advocates NLC policy positions on issues involving social services, children and learning, poverty and income support, employment and workforce development, equal opportunity, Social Security and seniors, individuals with disabilities, public health care, mental health parity, and immigration reform.
Gale A. Brewer is the 27th Manhattan Borough President, responsible for advising the Mayor and City Council on borough concerns, commenting on all land-use matters in the borough, advocating for the borough in the municipal budget process, and appointing members of Manhattan's 12 Community Boards. The Borough President also chairs the Borough Board, made up of City Council Members and Chairs from the Community Boards, and the Borough Services Cabinet, composed of senior officials from City agencies delivering services in the borough.
Brewer has an MPA from fHarvard's Kennedy School of Government, and she did her undergraduate work at Columbia University and Bennington College. She co-teaches a class in urban policy each spring with former Borough President Messinger as part of Hunter College's Public Service Scholar program, and has taught urban affairs at other area colleges, including Barnard, Baruch, Brooklyn and Queens Colleges. Brewer is married to Cal Snyder; they live on the Upper West Side. Together they have raised many foster children.


Tasting Notes are not currently available. If you have any queries regarding this product please feel free to contact the Cellar Door. We hope to have these available as soon as possible.
Produced from 100% handpicked Riesling grapes from Southern Tasmania's famed Coal River Valley. The wine shows intense mandarin aromas with subtle sweet honey tones and bruised apple flavours. Some tropical notes. A lovely lighter style yet very crisp, lengthy and complex. A must to try with Lemon Curd tarts or a selection of fine Tasmanian cheeses.
This dessert style wine has alluring aromas of rose petal with hints of tropical fruit. The palate is softly textured, full and elegant with subtle shades of Turkish Delight and tropical fruits. This wine is very well matched with cheeses (especially blue) and decadent desserts.
Rich aromas of flower petals, citrus, spice and apricots. Obvious Riesling fruits, juicy rich mid palate that displays all the benefits of a higher residual sugar style. Balanced palate from high levels of phenolics and a beautiful acid line. Finished with mouth-watering balance.
Exotic and alluring, this is light-bodied and chiselled: a tightrope walker deftly tiptoeing across a beam of high voltage acidity while pondering the allure of exotica across candied quince, orange marmalade, ginger and honeysuckle flavours on the long finish.


text:
Welcome to the archives of News Deeply's Women & Girls Hub. While we paused regular publication of the site on January 22, 2018, and transitioned our coverage to Women's Advancement Deeply, we are happy to serve as an ongoing public resource on the Arctic. We hope you'll enjoy the reporting and analysis that was produced by our dedicated community of editors contributors.
VISIT WOMEN'S ADVANCEMENT DEEPLY
VIEW THE WOMEN & GIRLS ARCHIVE
Women and Girls — Women and Girls
News coverage and community engagement focused on women & girls in the developing world. Learn more about us.
Crisis and Conflict
Economic Independence
BROWSE THE WOMEN AND GIRLS DEEPLY ARCHIVES
How women are gaining independence by earning and controlling their own money.
Deeply Talks: Should Foreign Couples Be Able to Use Indian Surrogates?
Women & Girls speaks with Sharmila Rudrappa, director of the Center for Asian American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, and reporter Flora Bagenal, about the debate on whether commercial surrogacy should be legal for foreign couples in India. almost 3 years ago
The Women Activists Working to Keep Kenya's Election Peaceful
As Kenya heads to the polls, all eyes are on the country's leaders and candidates. But behind the scenes, the country's women grassroots organizers are working to make sure violence doesn't break out in their communities. almost 3 years ago
Video: Indian Grandmothers Prove It's Never Too Late to Go Back to School
Many older Indian women missed out on an education when they were young, but for one group of grandmothers, aged between 60 and 90, the dream of going to school is finally becoming a reality. about 3 years ago
Escaping the Taliban's Legacy with a Trip to the Movies
The opening of a family movie theater in Kabul means women can watch films in public for the first time in two decades. For many living under Afghan society's oppressive rules, the Galaxy Family Cinema isn't just about films – it means a few hours of freedom. almost 4 years ago
The Female Epidemic: Why HIV and AIDS Still Matter
With breakthroughs in helping patients manage HIV/AIDS, the world's attention has moved on to new pandemics. Nevertheless, AIDS continues to be the leading cause of death of women of reproductive age globally – and the key to understanding why is gender inequality. about 4 years ago


text:
Myllenyxis sinensis är en stekelart som beskrevs av Wang och Hu 1992. Myllenyxis sinensis ingår i släktet Myllenyxis och familjen brokparasitsteklar. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

Brokparasitsteklar
sinensis

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Purifying Antibodies Using Ion Exchange Chromatography
By Hidaya Aliouche, B.Sc.Reviewed by Dr. Jennifer Logan, MD, MPH
Ion exchange chromatography (IEC) is a chromatographic method used to separate biological compounds. The basis of separation in IEC is reversible adsorption (surface absorption) of charged molecules onto a stationary phase.
Image Credit: Kateryna Kon/Shutterstock.com
The stationary phase is made of immobilized ion exchange groups that have the opposite charge as the target component that is to be carried in the mobile phase. Generally, ion exchange experiments are performed in five stages.
What is IEC and how is it performed?
The first stage of IEC is called equilibration. During this process, the ion exchange stationary phase is equilibrated to ensure that it is operating at the optimized pH and ionic strength conditions to maximize adsorption of the target polar component of the stationary phase.
The exchange surface is a resin that comprises a matrix of charged ionizable functional groups or ligands. This stationary phase displays these functional groups that form ionic interactions with the analyte ion of opposing charge. It is important to maintain electroneutrality, which is the state in which the net charge of the system is zero. Counterions are present in the equilibration solution.
In the second stage, the target polar analyte present in the mobile sample phase must compete with counterions for adsorption to the mobile phase. This process results in counterion displacement; any components that are unable to bind pass through the column and are immediately eluted.
In the third phase, the desorption of the bound analytes occurs. This is achieved by altering the binding conditions, principally by changing the pH or increasing the ionic strength of the elution buffer.
Novel technique helps researchers in single-organelle characterization
Study unravels unknown facts about SARS-CoV-2 infection
Antibodies play a major role in managing gut mycobiota, says study
In the latter method, an elution buffer of increasing salt concentration is applied to the column and analytes are released from the resin in order of increasing binding strength. This occurs because the counterion concentration increases and competes with the bound analytes. The poorly binding analytes are released first, whereas those analytes capable of strong ionic bonding are eluted last.
The fourth stage is categorized by the end of desorption, and in the fifth and final stage, the column is regenerated. Regeneration resets the column so it can be used for another purification.
Separation of polar analytes within a complex mixture is possible because their differences in net charge, charge density, and charge distribution allows for differential interaction with the stationary ion exchange surface. The dynamics of their interaction with the ion exchange surface can be manipulated by varying the ionic strength and pH of the mobile phase during elution.
The charge properties of biological molecules are notable; ion exchange chromatography is advantageous when separating proteins, as it provides high-resolution separation between proteins that differ only by a single amino acid.
IEC-based antibody separation
There are several chromatographic processes that facilitate the isolation of antibodies by taking advantage of different biochemical properties. Separation based on size, hydrophobicity, solubility, and binding affinity are examples that have been used. Importantly, the various charge properties of antibodies make them amenable to purification by IEC;
Antibodies are proteinaceous biological molecules, and their charge proteins can be manipulated using IEC. The net charge of the molecule(s) of interest determines the type of IEC that can be used. If positively charged compounds are the target to be captured by the mobile phase, a cation exchange resin is chosen. Conversely, a positively charged anion exchange resin is selected when negatively charged molecules are to be immobilized.
The most common resins used in antibody purification protocols are Protein A agarose beads. There are a variety of other commercially available resins that may be used, however. The binding capacity of the resin, together with the length of the column, determines the number of cycles of IEC that must be undertaken to process the antibodies that are yielded from the supernatant of cells engineered to express high quantities of the desired antibody.
Cation exchange resins have been reported to produce high yields and reduce the quantity of host cell protein (HCP); HCPs are process-related impurities that are derived from the host cell from the expression of recombinant, biotherapeutic proteins, such as antibodies. Additionally, the process is highly selective, such that binding is specific to the constant region of antibodies.
Antibodies are becoming increasingly prevalent as therapeutic agents in the treatment of various diseases like arthritis and cancer. Consequently, the market value of antibodies is increasing. Monoclonal antibodies (MAb) are produced by mammalian cells and possess the same structure. The purity of these clonal populations is essential for clinical efficacy.
MAb titers are typically as high as 5 to 10 g/L, but their downstream purification creates a bottleneck in their final production. IEC provides a method by which antibodies can be purified with high yield and selectivity.
pdfs.semanticscholar.org/fda6/f141a0e7eab66ac6a798c5cfdfddffb45b07.pdf
www.sinobiological.com/...s-by-Ion-Exchange-Chromatography-a-6181.html
www.bio-rad.com/.../ion-exchange-chromatography?ID=MWHAY9ESH
All Antibodies Content
What are Therapeutic Antibodies?
What are Bispecific Antibodies?
Creating a Nanobody Library with PCR
Proving Monoclonality with PCR
Hidaya Aliouche
Hidaya is a science communications enthusiast who has recently graduated and is embarking on a career in the science and medical copywriting. She has a B.Sc. in Biochemistry from The University of Manchester. She is passionate about writing and is particularly interested in microbiology, immunology, and biochemistry.
Aliouche, Hidaya. (2021, February 02). Purifying Antibodies Using Ion Exchange Chromatography. AZoLifeSciences. Retrieved on January 17, 2022 from https://www.azolifesciences.com/article/Purifying-Antibodies-Using-Ion-Exchange-Chromatography.aspx.
Aliouche, Hidaya. "Purifying Antibodies Using Ion Exchange Chromatography". AZoLifeSciences. 17 January 2022. <https://www.azolifesciences.com/article/Purifying-Antibodies-Using-Ion-Exchange-Chromatography.aspx>.
Aliouche, Hidaya. "Purifying Antibodies Using Ion Exchange Chromatography". AZoLifeSciences. https://www.azolifesciences.com/article/Purifying-Antibodies-Using-Ion-Exchange-Chromatography.aspx. (accessed January 17, 2022).
Aliouche, Hidaya. 2021. Purifying Antibodies Using Ion Exchange Chromatography. AZoLifeSciences, viewed 17 January 2022, https://www.azolifesciences.com/article/Purifying-Antibodies-Using-Ion-Exchange-Chromatography.aspx.
Experts develop antibodies that effectively remove senescent cells
Cocktails of llama nanobodies effective against COVID-19 variants, says study
Multiple exposure enhances antibody efficacy against COVID-19 variants
Anti-idiotype antibodies may explain the long-term effects of COVID-19
Researchers identify new route to produce complex antibiotics
What Role do Genes Play in the Development of Antibodies?
Omicron variant hampers the effectiveness of vaccines and monoclonal antibodies, study shows
Novel peptide vaccine alleviates conditions of dyslipidemia
Analytical Chromatography
Study identifies highly potent monoclonal antibody against all SARS-CoV-2 variants


Overland conveyors and Pipe Conveyors transport, for example, coal or ores over long distances and often across rough terrain.
Photo 1: Overland conveyors often run through rough terrain and over unstable ground.
Photo 2: BEUMER Group provides cement manufacturers with belt apron conveyors for the transport of hot clinker.
Photo 3: The BEUMER stretch hood covers full pallets with a thin film hood. This ensures that the packaged products reach their destination undamaged and are well protected against moisture and weather influences.
Photo 4: With loading systems from BEUMER Group, the bulk material is safely transferred into the ship's cargo hold.


text:
Copper Miner Shares Slide After Leftist Wins Chile Election
Yvonne Yue Li
10:13 PM IST, 20 Dec 2021 10:24 AM IST, 21 Dec 2021 10:13 PM IST, 20 Dec 2021 10:24 AM IST, 21 Dec 2021
(Bloomberg) -- Copper miners fell after left-wing candidate Gabriel Boric was elected president of Chile on Sunday, raising concerns about higher costs and slower development in the world's top producer.
Boric won by a larger-than-expected margin, giving him a mandate to push for raising taxes on the rich and mining industry, dismantling the country's private pensions system and boosting social services.
While the political shift isn't likely to have immediate supply impacts, a slowdown in permitting or higher costs imposed by the government could slow investment in capacity to produce copper, a metal seen as key to the energy transition. That could send prices back up to record levels seen earlier this year.
"Copper and lithium miners will naturally be in the crosshairs, particularly with both commodities at or close to record prices, while we would expect a weakening of the Chilean peso," BMO Capital Markets analyst Colin Hamilton said in a note.
Chile Assets Sink After Left-Wing Boric's Presidential Win
A gauge of global copper miners fell to the lowest since early October, while copper for three-month delivery edged higher on the London Metal Exchange.
In the meantime, Boric's election can be viewed as positive for copper producers outside of Chile in the medium term, according to Hamilton. Any additional delays to potential projects as they wait for approval while the new government push new legislation through Congress could add to copper supply issues.
The BI Global Copper Competitive Peer Group index of producers fell as much as 3% on Monday, led by those with large copper exposure in Chile such as Lundin Mining Corp. and Antofagasta Plc. LME copper was up 0.3% at $9,463.50 a metric ton as of 11:34 a.m. in New York, while all other metals were lower.


Colleen McGee's morning message to her 4th grade class set the stage for the day's social studies lesson: "Good morning, Rancheros!" Today, Colleen, along with associate teacher Carolyn Peralta, will lead their 4th graders through a persuasive writing exercise set in early 19th Century California- Mexican California, that is. Their students will be writing letters to the Mexican Governor of Alta California, so that he may grant them a rancho, a tract of land on which to raise cattle, crops and a family.
To get them started, McGee generates some guidelines along with her students for their written petitions. Students agree that, in order to get their rancho, they need to explain to the Governor where their desired land is located, along with why they feel that they deserve the land. "And finally," McGee tells her students, "don't forget to flatter the Governor." Fourth grader Jude M. raises her hand and asks, "Does that mean we should butter him up?" "Exactly," says McGee.
For 4th graders across the state, studying California history is a right of passage. Likewise, Wildwood 4th graders investigate state history from the arrival of the first aboriginal settlers, through the Spanish conquest and mission period, up to the Gold Rush and Chinese immigration. At Wildwood, however, the study of California history is lively, insightful, and inter-disciplinary. For example, Colleen's students enhance their artistic skills by designing and constructing mosaics to portray the various Spanish missions.
What's more, all Wildwood students hone their writing skills while studying state history. "Most of our social studies curriculum is writing-based," says McGee. In addition to persuasive writing, Wildwood 4th graders infuse their California history studies with short story writing, poetry, and journalism. All of this culminates in the "Voices of the West" project, where students create a portfolio of their best work set against the backdrop of California's past.
The other students also work intently, crafting their arguments and imagining their lives in old California, all the while, perfecting their writing skills. If I were governor, I'd be greatly impressed and persuaded. And I'm sure that I'd grant them all their ranchos.


A Facebook app (was) used to harvest data from 50 million Facebook profiles. 30 million contained enough information to generate personality profiles. Only 270,000 authorized (the) app to have access to their data. All were told their information was being used for academic research. The model, using just 10 likes, was more accurate than a work colleague. With 70 likes, it was more accurate than a friend or roommate; with 150, more accurate than a family member; and with 300, more accurate than a spouse.
Perhaps at some point in the past few years you've told Facebook that you like, say, Kim Kardashian West. When you hit the thumbs-up button on her page, you probably did it because you wanted to see the reality TV star's posts in your news feed. Maybe you realized that marketers could target advertisements to you based on your interest in her.
What you probably missed is that researchers had figured out how to tie your interest in Ms. Kardashian West to certain personality traits, such as how extroverted you are (very), how conscientious (more than most) and how open-minded (only somewhat). And when your fondness for Ms. Kardashian West is combined with other interests you've indicated on Facebook, researchers believe their algorithms can predict the nuances of your political views with better accuracy than your loved ones.
As The New York Times reported, that is what motivated the consulting firm Cambridge Analytica to collect data from more than 50 million Facebook users, without their consent, to build its own behavioral models to target potential voters in various political campaigns. The company has worked for a political action committee started by John R. Bolton, who served in the George W. Bush administration, as well as for President Trump's presidential campaign in 2016. "We find your voters and move them to action," the firm boasts on its website.
Cambridge Analytica now says it has destroyed the user data it collected on Facebook. Raw data reviewed by The Times suggests the information, or copies of it, may still exist. In either case, specific user information was merely a means to an end, a building block in a far more ambitious construction: a behavioral model powerful enough to manipulate people's activity and, potentially, sway elections.
The firm adapted its approach to personality modeling from studies conducted by researchers at Stanford University and the Psychometrics Center at the University of Cambridge. The studies relied on data collected by a Facebook app called myPersonality, a 100-question quiz developed by the Psychometrics Center that assessed a person's openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and neuroticism, traits commonly referred to in the academic community by the acronym Ocean.Many respondents who took the quiz through the myPersonality app authorized it to gain access to their Facebook profile data, and information about their friend network — access that was allowed by the social network at the time. That allowed researchers to cross-reference the results of the quiz — numeric Ocean scores — with the users' Facebook "likes," and build a model from the correlations they found between the two. With that model, the researchers could often make precise guesses about subsequent users' personalities using only a list of their likes, no 100-question quiz necessary.
One of the studies the Psychometrics Center produced, published in 2015 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was built on the "likes" and Ocean scores of more than 70,000 respondents who took the myPersonality quiz on Facebook. It found that a person who liked the movie "Fight Club," for example, was far more likely to be open to new experiences than a person who liked "American Idol," according to a review of data provided to The Times by Michal Kosinski, an author of the 2015 study and a professor of organizational behavior at Stanford.
Researchers at Stanford University and Cambridge University's Psychometrics Center built a model that could assess a person's personality using Facebook "likes" alone. The model can use the likes to score a person's openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism.
In that study, the researchers compared the accuracy of their model with personality assessments made by the respondents' friends. The friends were given a 10-question version of the myPersonality quiz and asked to answer based on their knowledge of the respondents' personalities.
Based on a sample of more than 32,000 participants who were assessed by both the model and one or two friends, the researchers found that the model, using just 10 likes, was more accurate than a work colleague. With 70 likes, it was more accurate than a friend or roommate; with 150, more accurate than a family member; and with 300, more accurate than a spouse.
The model, the researchers said, was particularly adept at "predicting life outcomes such as substance use, political attitudes and physical health." The real-world efficacy of the approach, however, has been called into question.
Facebook profiles. Of those, 30 million contained enough information to generate personality profiles. Only 270,000 users authorized Dr. Kogan's app to have access to their data, and all were told that their information was being used for academic research.
Cambridge then pitched its services to potential political and commercial clients, ranging from Mastercard and the New York Yankees to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Facebook has now banned Cambridge Analytica from its platform, as well as its parent company and Dr. Kogan. In Facebook's eyes, Dr. Kogan's infraction was not collecting the data, but giving it to Cambridge Analytica.
"Although Kogan gained access to this information in a legitimate way and through the proper channels that governed all developers on Facebook at that time, he did not subsequently abide by our rules," Facebook's deputy general counsel said in a statement on Friday.
By handing over that information to a private company, Facebook said, Dr. Kogan violated its terms of service.
Facebook in 2015 changed its policies, including altering rules about how third-party apps can gain access to information about users' friends. But user data collected through such apps over the years probably remains in the wild, not to mention the models that can continue to be used to target people around the world.


text:
Q: how to get firebase token? I didn't program android for a while and i see the firebase messaging service got deprecated.
I implemented the new FirebaseMessagingService class and i have overridden the onNewToken in order to get the token, but the method is not even being called, as the documentation said this method should be ran automaticlly. but now i got confused, why the token is not generated? here is what i implemented
public class FireBsaeTest extends FirebaseMessagingService {
    public FireBsaeTest(){
    }
    @Override
    public void onMessageReceived(RemoteMessage remoteMessage) {

        if (remoteMessage.getData().size() > 0) {

            } else {

            }

        }

        if (remoteMessage.getNotification() != null) {
        }

    }
    @Override
    public void onNewToken(String token) {
        System.out.println(token);

    }}

and here is the manifest
 <service android:name=".FireBsaeTest">
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="com.google.firebase.MESSAGING_EVENT" />
            </intent-filter>
        </service>

did i miss something ?
UPDATE
i tried to call it manually from my activity it thorw new Illegal exception firebaseNotInilized
 FirebaseApp.initializeApp(this);
        FirebaseInstanceId.getInstance().getInstanceId().addOnSuccessListener(new OnSuccessListener<InstanceIdResult>() {
            @Override
            public void onSuccess(InstanceIdResult instanceIdResult) {
                System.out.println(instanceIdResult.getToken());
            }
        });

A: MyFirebaseMessagingService
 public class MyFirebaseMessagingService extends FirebaseMessagingService {
        private static final String TAG = MyFirebaseMessagingService.class.getSimpleName();

        @Override
        public void onNewToken(String s) {
            super.onNewToken(s);
            Log.i(TAG, "onNewToken:    >>>  " + s);
        }
     @Override
        public void onMessageReceived(RemoteMessage remoteMessage) {
           }
    }

MyFirebaseInstanceIDService.java
 public class MyFirebaseInstanceIDService extends FirebaseInstanceIdService {
        @Override
        public void onTokenRefresh() {
            String refreshedToken = FirebaseInstanceId.getInstance().getToken();
            Log.d("FirebaseInstanceID", "Refreshed token: " + refreshedToken);

            // Notify UI that registration has completed, so the progress indicator can be hidden.

        }
    }

Manifest.xml
    <service   android:name=".services.MyFirebaseMessagingService"
 android:exported="false"
  android:stopWithTask="false">
    <intent-filter>
       <action android:name="com.google.firebase.MESSAGING_EVENT"/>
                </intent-filter>
            </service>
            <service
                    android:name=".services.MyFirebaseInstanceIDService"
                    android:exported="false">
                <intent-filter>
                    <action android:name="com.google.firebase.INSTANCE_ID_EVENT"/>
                </intent-filter>
            </service>

Gradle
implementation 'com.google.firebase:firebase-core:16.0.6'
implementation 'com.google.firebase:firebase-messaging:17.3.4'

A: I just knew where is the problem, the problem was the implementation of root build.gradle file with class-path, android studio configring the dependecies like the following
dependencies {
        classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:3.3.0'
        classpath 'com.google.gms:google-services:4.1.0'

        // NOTE: Do not place your application dependencies here; they belong
        // in the individual module build.gradle files
    }

google-services should be configured   classpath 'com.google.gms:google-services:4.0.1'
once i changed the class path it works and now im able to get the token


In winter months you can find humpback whales at the edge of the Cook Strait, and occasionally in the Marlborough Sounds, but you can be sure someone else has spotted them first.
Every winter, a group of former whalers head up to a lookout at the end of Awapara Island, to spot the whales on their annual migration.
These days the men use their sharp eyes to conserve not kill, as they gather information on the incredible humpback for the Department of Conservation.
To learn more about whales and whaling in the Marlborough Sounds and Cook Strait, visit the Picton Museum, located on Picton's foreshore.