text:
\section{Introduction}
\label{intro}
The question of the rate of core-collapse supernovae  in our galaxy is as interesting -- in connection with the history of star formation,
 the origin of elements and climate evolution -- as it is  difficult.

Next to more traditional approaches -- based on astronomical searches,
observation of radioactive decays and historical records --  an interesting
 combination of neutrino physics, nuclear physics and
geochemistry offers a way to count past supernovae and learn about their
neutrino output.  The
idea, first proposed in 1988 by Haxton and Johnson (HJ)
\cite{Haxton:1987bf}, relies on the fact that energetic electron neutrinos
can produce Technetium 97 ($^{97}{\rm Tc}$) from natural Molybdenum ($^{98}{\rm
Mo}$ and $^{97}{\rm Mo}$) via the reactions $^{98}$Mo$(\nu_e,e^-n)^{97}$Tc and the $^{97}$Mo$(\nu_e,e^-)^{97}$Tc.
The lifetime  of $^{97}{\rm Tc}$ is $2.6 \cdot 10^6$
years, which eliminates the possibility of the $^{97}{\rm Tc}$ found on earth
to be primordial. Therefore presence of $^{97}{\rm Tc}$ in a Molybdenum ore
is a result of either neutrino or cosmic-ray reactions.
Any excess of $^{97}{\rm Tc}$, over the expected contribution of solar neutrinos\ and of cosmic-rays,
is an historical imprint of nearby supernova explosions that
happened before any human technology was there to study them! This suggests the possibility for an ``archaeological" quest of the neutrinos from past galactic supernovae, through a geochemical measurement.

In spite of the challenges and uncertainties involved, Haxton and Johnson came
to positive conclusions: the neutrino-induced production of $^{97}{\rm Tc}$ in
Molybdenum rocks, such as the Henderson mine in Colorado, was estimated to happen at an average of  $1.57 \cdot 10^{-36}$ captures per second per target
atom,  about $40\%$ of the background due to solar neutrinos, and corresponding to a detectable abundance of $^{97}{\rm Tc}$ at the present time.
It was understood that the background due to cosmic rays could, in
principle, be reduced to acceptable levels by excavating deeply enough
and/or measuring the $^{97}{\rm Tc}$ attenuation rate as a function of the excavation depth.

In 1988 the idea was ahead of its time, in a field mostly focused on the disappearing
solar and atmospheric neutrinos. Therefore it remained restricted to a small community \cite{Nguyen:2005dq}.  Initial experimental efforts, led by K. Wolfsberg (LANL), lacked the funds necessary to overcome technical difficulties, and were soon abandoned
 \cite{haxtonprivate,NYTimes,amm}.

Today the field is more mature: after solving the solar and atmospheric anomalies and discovering neutrino oscillations,
research has focused more on supernova neutrinos, whereas supernova models
have become sufficiently predictive.
a geochemical measurement of $^{97}{\rm Tc}$ production could constrain the
galactic supernova rate (the extragalactic contribution is negligible), for a given model of neutrino spectra and
luminosities from an individual supernova, without the  extinction effects typical of astronomy.
Notably, even dark neutrino sources  -- e.g., those that give no luminous signal due to rapid formation of a black hole -- would be counted.
The capability to trace back to ancient supernovae\ in our galaxy  would be an unique complement to the activity of real time, large scale
liquid detectors. With the masses of 0.1-1 Mt envisioned for the near future \cite{Barger:2007yw,Autiero:2007zj},  these detectors should see the diffuse flux of neutrinos\ that continuously reaches the Earth from all the supernovae\ of the universe and that has a substantial cosmological component  (see e.g. \cite{Ando:2004hc}).
Finally, the $^{97}{\rm Tc}$ data could be the only one available on
\emph{electron neutrinos} from supernovae! They would add complementary information compared to the $\mathrel{{\bar \nu}_e}$ data from SN1987A \cite{Hirata:1987hu,Bionta:1987qt,Alekseev:1988gp}.   It is fascinating that this information, so important to
have a complete picture of  core-collapse,
is there, buried in Molybdenum rocks, only waiting to be
deciphered.

 In the present paper we perform detailed calculations of the expected amount of Technetium 97 produced by the neutrino-induced reactions in Molybednum ore, due to both solar and supernova neutrinos. Our predictions are based on the \new{best available} results on the solar neutrino fluxes and on the recent developments in the study of neutrino\ oscillations inside the star.
To estimate uncertainties, we also consider a range of values for the galactic supernova rate as well as for the neutrino fluxes at the neutrino-sphere, in accordance with supernova modeling.
The structure of the paper is as follows. In Section II and III we
give generalities on the supernova\ galactic rate and on the solar and supernova neutrino fluxes.
Section IV describes
calculations of the neutrino-nucleus cross sections. The results are summarized in Section V, while conclusions are in Section VI.

\section{Supernovae in our galaxy: rates and distances}

The rate of core collapse supernovae\ (SNe) in the Milky Way is known only up to its order of magnitude.  The rate $R_{sn}\simeq 0.09~{\rm yr^{-1}}$ used by HJ, is practically excluded by the lower values measured recently  (table \ref{tab:rate}).
Scaling from external galaxies and gamma rays from galactic $^{26}$Al independently favor a rate of $R_{sn}\simeq 0.02~{\rm yr^{-1}}$ as central value, and up to $R_{sn}\simeq 0.05~{\rm yr^{-1}}$ at $3 \sigma$.   These are consistent with the much more uncertain estimate from historical records of galactic SNe, which favors a higher rate.  The upper limit from the non-observation of supernova\ neutrino\ bursts is rather loose, but still of interest for its being extinction-free and sensitive to possible failed supernovae, as mentioned in sec. \ref{intro}.

\begin{table}[hbt]
 \caption{\label{tab:rate}Estimated rate of galactic core-collapse
 SNe per century, from \cite{Raffelt:2007nv}, with permission of the author.}
 \centering
 \begin{tabular}{llll}
 \hline
 Method&Rate&Authors&Refs.\\
 \hline
 Scaling from external galaxies&$2.5\pm0.9$
 &van den Bergh  &
 \cite{vandenBergh:1994,Diehl:2006cf}\\
 &&\& McClure (1994)\\
 &$1.8\pm1.2$&Cappellaro \&\ Turatto&
 \cite{Cappellaro:1999qy,Cappellaro:2000ez}\\
 &&(2000)\\
 Gamma-rays from galactic $^{26}$Al&$1.9\pm1.1$
 &Diehl et al.\ (2006)&
 \cite{Diehl:2006cf}\\
 Historical galactic SNe (all types)&$5.7\pm1.7$&
 Strom (1994)&\cite{Strom:1994}\\
 &$3.9\pm1.7$&
 Tammann et al.\ (1994)&\cite{Tammann:1994ev}\\
 No neutrino burst in 25 years$^{a}$&${}<9.2$ &
 Alekseev \& Alekseeva&\cite{Alekseev:2002ji}\\
 &(90\% CL)&(2002)\\
 \hline
 \multicolumn{4}{l}{$^a$The limit of
 Ref.~\cite{Alekseev:2002ji} is scaled to 25~years of neutrino sky coverage.}
 \end{tabular}
\end{table}

Here we keep $R_{sn}$ as a free normalization; results for transition rates will be given for $R_{sn}\simeq 0.01~{\rm yr^{-1}}$, as they can be easily rescaled for other values.  The final results for the $^{97}{\rm Tc}$ abundance (table \ref{table:abundances}) refer to the more realistic $R_{sn}\simeq 0.03~{\rm yr^{-1}}$, for easier comparison with previous literature on supernova\ neutrinos\ where this rate is commonly used.

To describe the spatial distribution of supernovae in our galaxy we use  cylindric coordinates $(r,z,\theta)$ centered at the galactic center, which is at $d_{\odot}\simeq 8.5$ kpc of distance from us.  We assume a uniform distribution in $\theta$ and  adopt the following function for the distribution in $r$ and $z$:
\begin{eqnarray}
{n}_{\rm cc}(r)\propto r^\xi\exp(-r/u)
\times \left[  0.79~  e^{  - \left( {z/ 212
\ {\rm pc}} \right)^2 } + 0.21~ e^{ - \left( {z/
636 \ {\rm pc}} \right)^2 } \right]~,
\label{eq:distributioncyl}
\end{eqnarray}
which fits observations of neutron stars with the parameters $\xi=4$ and $u=1.25~{\rm kpc}$
~\cite{Yusifov:2004fr,Ferriere:2001rg,Lorimer:2003qc}, and is illustrated in more detail in ref. \cite{Mirizzi:2006xx}.

\begin{figure}[hbt]
\centering
\includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{distance_distribution.pdf}
\caption{\label{fig:distribution} The distribution with the distance from Earth of a Monte Carlo-generated population of $10^5$ supernovae. The distribution in  Eq.~(\protect\ref{eq:distributioncyl}) was used, with   $\xi=4$ and $u=1.25~{\rm kpc}$.}
\end{figure}
With this, we calculate the  distribution of supernovae\ with the distance from Earth, using both numerical integration and the Monte Carlo Method (fig. \ref{fig:distribution}).  We find that the neutrino flux at Earth corresponds to the flux one would obtain if all the supernovae\ were at the effective distance $d_{eff}=4.26~{\rm kpc}$, which we use throughout the paper.  With the alternate set of parameters given in \cite{Mirizzi:2006xx} ($\xi=2.35$, $u=1.528~{\rm kpc}$) we get a value only slightly different, $d_{eff}=4.6~{\rm kpc}$.

The Monte Carlo approach was used to investigate possible variations in the results due to one single supernova very close to the Earth, $d \mathrel{\vcenter{\hbox{$<$}\nointerlineskip\hbox{$\sim$}}} 100$ pc or so.   Our results agree with those in HJ on how such variations can be safely neglected: only very few ($\sim 2$ in $10^5$) events satisfy this condition, therefore the uncertainty due to the  fluctuation of supernova\ positions in the galaxy turns out to be  small compared to other uncertainties of different nature (total neutrino\ luminosity per supernova, etc.).

We have not investigated effects of local deviations from the spatial distribution (\ref{eq:distributioncyl}).  Nguyen and Johnson have studied this possibility \cite{Nguyen:2005dq}, pointing out that a particularly high   supernova\ rate in the Sco-Cen region of the galaxy might result in an increase of the $^{98}$Mo$(\nu_e,e^-n)^{97}$Tc production rate, to a level equivalent to  the whole galactic supernova\ neutrino\ production with $R_{sn}=0.01$ ${\rm yr^{-1}}$ rate. The full investigation of this possibility is beyond the scope of our paper; still one can effectively include it here as a further uncertainty in the rate $R_{sn}$, which is a free parameter for us.

\section{Solar and supernova neutrino fluxes}
\label{sec:fluxes}

\subsection{Neutrinos from  supernovae}

A core collapse supernova is an extremely powerful
neutrino source. It releases about $3 \cdot  10^{53}$ ergs of energy
within $\sim$10 seconds in neutrinos and antineutrinos of
all flavors before the star explodes, leaving behind a neutron star or, in rare cases, a black hole.

The spectrum of the neutrinos of a given flavor $w$ at production in the star is approximately
thermal, and commonly described by the form \cite{Keil:2002in}:
\begin{equation}
F^0_w = \frac{(1+\alpha_w)^{1+\alpha_w} L_w}{\Gamma(1 +\alpha_w) E^2_{0w}} \left( \frac{E}{E_{0w}}  \right)^{\alpha_w} e^{-(1 +\alpha_w)E/E_{0w}}~,
\label{spectrumprod}
\end{equation} with average energies $E_{0 w}$ in the range of $10 - 20$ MeV and
with the muon and tau species (collectively called $\mathrel{{\nu_x}}$ from here
on) being harder than the electron ones due to their weaker (neutral
current only) coupling to matter.  $L_w $ is the (time-integrated)
luminosity in each flavor, $L_w \sim 5 \cdot 10^{52}~{\rm ergs}$;
$\alpha_w$ is a parameter describing the shape of the spectrum,
$\alpha_w \simeq 2 - 5$ \cite{Keil:2002in}, with larger $\alpha_w$ corresponding
to narrower spectrum.

For the purpose of studying the dependence of
our results on the original neutrino\ fluxes, we choose three sets of
parameters (Table \ref{table:inputs}) that are inspired by current
numerical calculations \cite{Totani:1997vj,Keil:2002in,Thompson:2002mw} (see also \cite{Ando:2004hc}  for a summary of those)
and that can be considered as representative of natural and extreme
cases.  The cases of an especially high or low $\mathrel{{\nu_e}}$ flux at Earth
are modeled mostly by varying the average energy and luminosity of the
original $\mathrel{{\nu_x}}$ flux.  This is justified by the fact that this flux is
responsible for at least $\sim 70\%$ of the $\mathrel{{\nu_e}}$ flux in a detector,
as will be clarified below.
\begin{table}[h!]
\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
  & best & natural & worst \\
\hline
\hline
$(E_e,E_x)/{\rm MeV} $  & (13,22) & (12,18) & (10,16) \\
\hline
$(L_e,L_x)/L_0 $ & (1,2) & (1,1) &  (1, 0.5)\\
\hline
$(\alpha_e,\alpha_x) $ & (3.5,2.5) &  (3.5,2.5) & (3.5,2.5) \\
\hline
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{center}
\par
\vskip 0.5cm
\caption{The three sets of input parameters for the neutrino fluxes used in this paper.  Here $L_0=0.5 \cdot 10^{53}~{\rm ergs}$.}
\label{table:inputs}
\end{table}

As they propagate from the production point to a detection point on Earth,  the
neutrinos undergo  flavor conversion (oscillations).
Therefore, up to a geometric factor $1/4 \pi d^2$, with $d$ the distance star-Earth, the flux of $\mathrel{{\nu_e}}$ in a detector at Earth depends on the fluxes at production as:
\begin{equation}
F_e = p F^0_e + (1-p) F^0_x  ~,
\label{spectrumearth}
\end{equation} with $p$ the $\mathrel{{\nu_e}}$ survival probability.  For a given density
profile of the star $p$ is determined by number of physical phenomena,
namely: (i) neutrino\ -neutrino\ coherent scattering, which induces complicated non-linear effects \cite{Samuel:1993uw,Pastor:2001iu,Balantekin:2004ug,Duan:2005cp,Hannestad:2006nj,Fogli:2007bk,Raffelt:2007xt,Dasgupta:2007ws,EstebanPretel:2007yq,Gava:2008rp} (ii)
two MSW resonances produced by neutrino-electron scattering \cite{Mikheev:1986if,Dighe:1999bi,Lunardini:2003eh} and
(iii) oscillations inside the Earth \cite{Dighe:1999bi,Lunardini:2001hc,Dasgupta:2008my}.
As a result  $p$ is a function of the neutrino\ energy, the mixing angle $\mathrel{{\theta_{13}}}$ and
the mass hierarchy (ordering) of the neutrino mass spectrum, i.e.,
the sign of the mass squared splitting $\Delta m^2_{31}$ (see e.g.,
\cite{Dighe:1999bi}).  For the \emph{ normal} mass hierarchy, $\Delta
m^2_{31}>0$, $p$ varies in the interval
\begin{equation}
p= 0 - \sin^2 \theta_{12}
\simeq 0 - 0.31 ~,
\label{prob}
\end{equation}
 as $\sin^2 \mathrel{{\theta_{13}}}$ increases in the interval $\sin^2
\mathrel{{\theta_{13}}} \simeq 10^{-5} - 10^{-2}$ \cite{Dighe:1999bi,Lunardini:2003eh}. Here $\theta_{12}\simeq 34^\circ$ is the
``solar'' mixing angle (see e.g. \cite{Aharmim:2008kc}).  For the extreme values of $\theta_{13}$, the dependence of the survival probability on the energy is negligible in first approximation; oscillations in the Earth are also at the level of few per cent when averaged over the different arrival directions of the neutrinos\ \cite{Lunardini:2005jf}, therefore they will be neglected here.

For  $\Delta m^2_{31}<0$ the calculation of $p$ is complicated by
the effects of neutrino\ -neutrino\ scattering, which could be strong  few seconds after the start of the neutrino\ burst \cite{EstebanPretel:2008ni} and induce a swap of the $\mathrel{{\nu_e}}$ and $\mathrel{{\nu_x}}$
fluxes above a critical energy $E_c \sim 6-9$ MeV \cite{Duan:2005cp,Hannestad:2006nj,Fogli:2007bk,Raffelt:2007xt,Dasgupta:2007ws,EstebanPretel:2007yq,Gava:2008rp}.  Still,
the survival probability remains within the interval in
Eq. (\ref{prob}) at all times (see e.g. \cite{Dasgupta:2007ws}), so one can always define a
time averaged survival probability with value in this interval.

For our purposes, it is sufficient to consider $p$ as energy independent, as $E_c$ is typically below threshold of the cross sections of interest (see sec. \ref{xsec}), and take the two extreme cases of total ($p=0$) and minimal ($p=\sin^2 \theta_{12}$) flux permutation. This is adequate to show the extent of variation of the $^{97}{\rm Tc}$ abundance  with the conversion pattern.

\begin{figure}[h!]
\centering
\includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{fluxesMoTc.eps}
\caption{\label{fig:fluxes}  Time averaged  solar (leftmost curve) and supernova\ (lines extending to the right) $\mathrel{{\nu_e}}$ fluxes at Earth, inclusive of oscillation effects.    The solid curves correspond, from upper to lower, to the best, natural and worst scenarios in Table \protect\ref{table:inputs} and complete flavor permutation ($p=0$, see Eqs. (\protect\ref{spectrumearth}) and (\protect\ref{prob})).  The dashed ones refer to the same scenarios with the minimal permutation ($p\simeq 0.31$). A rate $R_{sn}=10^{-2}~{\rm yr^{-1}}$ was used.  }
\end{figure}
Fig. \ref{fig:fluxes} shows the time averaged supernova\ $\mathrel{{\nu_e}}$ flux at Earth:
\begin{equation}
F^{earth}_{e} = R_{sn} F_{e}/(4 \pi d^2_{eff})~.
\label{fluxearth}
\end{equation}
We have plotted the six fluxes at Earth
obtained with the two extreme values of $p$ and the three scenarios in Table \ref{table:inputs}.  They are averaged over time for the purpose of comparison with the solar neutrino\ flux\footnote{Using a time averaged flux might be somewhat confusing, because it might suggest the idea of a flux that is continous in time.  In constrast with the solar one, the supernova\ neutrino\ flux we are considering is far from continous: it consists of $\sim 10$ s bursts that reach the Earth a few times per century and whose effects on the $^{97}{\rm Tc}$ production accumulate over several millions of years. }.

All that was discussed so far refers to the most common scenario of
core collapse supernova, the one that leads to a successful explosion and
the formation of a neutron star.  Stars of mass above 25-40 $M_\odot$
($M_\odot=1.99 \cdot 10^{30}$ Kg being the mass of the sun), a $10-20\%$ fraction of all
collapse candidates, could either explode and form a black hole by
fallback or collapse into a black hole directly, with no explosion (see e.g. \cite{Woosley:2002zz} and references therein).  The neutrino\
emission in the latter case has been studied recently \cite{Sumiyoshi:2006id,Sumiyoshi:2007pp,Fischer:2007zzb,Sumiyoshi:2008zw,Nakazato:2008vj} and
found to be characterized by a much shorter burst (${\mathcal O}(1) $
s or less) with luminosity and average energies higher than the
neutron-star forming case, especially in $\mathrel{{\nu_e}}$ and $\mathrel{{\bar \nu}_e}$. Higher
and more energetic fluxes have been found \cite{Sumiyoshi:2006id,Sumiyoshi:2007pp,Fischer:2007zzb,Sumiyoshi:2008zw} for the stiffer
equation of state (EoS) by Shen et al. (S) \cite{shenetal} compared to the softer one by
Lattimer and Swesty (LS) \cite{lattimer91generalized}.
\begin{figure}[h!]
\centering
\includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{fluxesMoTc_bh}
\caption{\label{fig:fluxesbh} The same of fig. \protect\ref{fig:fluxes} for the flux of failed supernovae, obtained using the fluxes in fig. 5 of \protect\cite{Nakazato:2008vj}. Of the two solid curves, the upper (lower) is for the Shen  (Lattimer-Swesty) EoS. The same holds for the dashed lines. We took a rate for failed collapse of $R_{bh}=10^{-3}~{\rm yr^{-1}}$.}
\end{figure}

Here we model the contribution of these \emph{ failed supernovae} to
the time averaged supernova\ $\mathrel{{\nu_e}}$ flux (shown in fig. \ref{fig:fluxesbh}) using the original fluxes presented
in ref. \cite{Nakazato:2008vj} (fig. 5 there).
 Those have the character of
examples, only roughly representing the possible variations that one
can have with the EoS and progenitor model, for which a comprehensive study still lacks. They are characterized by the parameters $E_{0x}\simeq 24$ MeV, $L_x\simeq 0.45 \cdot 10^{53}$ ergs, $E_{0e}\simeq 20.7$ MeV, $L_e \simeq 1.4\cdot 10^{53}$ ergs for the S EoS and by $E_{0x}\simeq 22$ MeV, $L_x\simeq 0.2 \cdot 10^{53}$ ergs, $E_{0e}\simeq 17$ MeV, $L_e \simeq 0.54 \cdot 10^{53}$ ergs  for the LS one. For the spectral shapes, we checked that Eq. (\ref{spectrumprod}) is a reasonable approximation; still we chose to interpolate the numerically calculated points in \cite{Nakazato:2008vj} with a polynome of order 4 in the plane $\log(E)-\log(F^0_w)$. Results have only minor differences compared to the more conservative linear fit used in \cite{Nakazato:2008vj}.

In absence of indications of the opposite, we assumed that black hole forming collapses have the same spatial distribution, Eq. (\ref{eq:distributioncyl}), as the neutron star forming ones, and that the estimated ratio of rates for the two types of collapses, $R_{bh}/R_{sn}\sim 0.1 - 0.2$ is valid for our galaxy.
We have also considered the conversion effects to be the same for the two types, Eqs. (\ref{spectrumearth}) and (\ref{prob}).  While this is not the case for every value of $\mathrel{{\theta_{13}}}$, it is true for the extreme values of $\mathrel{{\theta_{13}}}$ and of $p$, which are of the most interest here \cite{Nakazato:2008vj}.
Fig. \ref{fig:fluxesbh} reveals that the contribution of failed supernovae\ is at the level of tens of per cent of the total flux at $E \sim 20 -30$ MeV, and can exceed the flux from regular supernovae above 50-60 MeV depending on the parameters.  Notice that for failed supernovae\ the $\mathrel{{\nu_e}}$ flux is smaller for total flavor permutation $p=0$, because in this case the flux of $\mathrel{{\nu_e}}$s at Earth originates from the less luminous original $\mathrel{{\nu_x}}$ flux.

\subsection{Solar neutrinos}
Solar neutrinos\  are the only significant background that can not be eliminated.
In the energy range of interest here, $\mathrel{{\nu_e}}$s from the $^8{\rm B}$  and $hep$ reactions of the fusion chain are relevant.  The former component extends to 16.6 MeV energy, while $hep$ neutrinos\ reach 18.8 MeV.
We describe these fluxes following  the Bahcall-Serenelli-Basu BS05(PO) solar model \cite{Bahcall:2004pz}. There, the  $^8{\rm  B}$ component is normalized to $\Phi_{B}=5.69\cdot 10^6~{\rm cm^{-2} s^{-1}}$, and the $hep$ one  to
$\Phi_{hep}=7.93\cdot 10^3~ {\rm cm^{-2} s^{-1}} $ (unoscillated
values).
The solar neutrino survival probability as a function of energy was taken
as the best fit in \cite{Fogli:2007tx} (fig. 2 of this reference), corresponding to the LMA-MSW oscillation parameters $\Delta m^2_{21}=7.92 \cdot 10^{-5}~{\rm eV^2} $ and $\sin^2 \theta_{12}=0.314$.
With these, the \emph{ oscillated} fluxes at Earth are $ \Phi^{osc}_{B}=2.17 \cdot 10^6~{\rm cm^{-2} s^{-1}}$, and  $\Phi^{osc}_{hep}=2.81   \cdot 10^3~ {\rm cm^{-2} s^{-1}} $.  The total of the two, differential in energy, is shown in figs. \ref{fig:fluxes} and \ref{fig:fluxesbh}.

Notice that the oscillated fluxes at Earth used here  differ substantially from those used by Haxton \& Johnson: $ \Phi^{HJ}_{B}=1.1 \cdot 10^6~{\rm cm^{-2} s^{-1}}$, and  $\Phi^{HJ}_{hep}=1.6  \cdot 10^4~ {\rm cm^{-2} s^{-1}} $.    This difference is a result of the two decades of progress in solar neutrino\ research, and is one of the major novelties of our work.

A comment on uncertainties on the solar neutrino\ flux is due.  Errors on the measured  $\Delta m^2_{21}$ and $\sin^2 \theta_{12}$  are of $\sim 3\%$ and $\sim 10\%$ (at $1\sigma$) respectively \cite{Aharmim:2008kc}; corresponding to an error of the order of $\sim 10\%$ on the  solar neutrino\ survival probability.
The solar model itself has uncertainties, e.g. those associated to using different inputs for the solar opacities \cite{Bahcall:2004pz}, which are at the level of ${\mathcal O}(0.1)\%$.
Here we do not include all these uncertainties explicitly, because they do not impact our conclusions significantly; moreover, we note that for our purposes the oscillated fluxes $\Phi^{osc}_{hep}$ and $ \Phi^{osc}_{B}$ are the only relevant quantities (assuming their spectra as known).  These are measurable very precisely, in principle.
The SNO experiment has already measured $ \Phi^{osc}_{B}$ (the part of the flux above its threshold of $\sim 5$ MeV) with precision of $\sim$ 3-5\% (statistical and systematic, 1$\sigma$) \cite{Aharmim:2008kc}, while a measurement of $hep$ neutrinos\ requires to wait for the next phase of solar detectors \cite{robertson08}.
The importance of a precise measurement of the solar neutrino\ fluxes in view of a possible ${\rm ^{97}Tc}$  experiment will be discussed briefly in sec. \ref{sec:results}.

\section{Neutrino-induced cross sections}
\label{xsec}

Predictions of neutrino-nucleus cross sections in the solar and supernova energy range require
a precise knowledge of the transitions to the low lying states and to the resonance region, well
above the particle emission thresholds.
The latter include both allowed transitions associated
to the Gamow-Teller and Isobaric Analogue State - and the forbidden ones, such as the spin-dipole and higher multipoles. The particular reaction cross sections of interest
are $^{98}$Mo$(\nu_e,e^-n)^{97}$Tc and $^{97}$Mo$(\nu_e,e^-)^{97}$Tc. In this work we follow two different procedures to calculate the contribution to the cross sections coming from the Gamow-Teller and Isobaric Analogue State on one hand and the spin-dipole and higher multipoles (up to $J=5$) on the other hand. In the first one we use the allowed approximation, which corresponds to the low momentum
transfer, as done in Haxton and Johnson's paper. For all other multipoles
we use the Walecka formalism \cite{Walecka}
for the reaction cross section without neglecting the momentum transfer, with the transition matrix elements provided by
the microscopic Quasi-Particle Random-Phase Approximation (QRPA).
Note that this is at variance with \cite{Haxton:1987bf} where only the
spin-dipole is included whose contribution is estimated using the
Goldhaber-Teller model.

\begin{figure}[hbt]
\centering
\includegraphics[width=0.8\textwidth]{Mo98_cs}
\caption{\label{fig:cross} ${\rm ^{98}Mo(\nu_e,e^-n)^{97}Tc}$ reaction cross
section as a function of the neutrino energy. The dashed curve presents the
contribution due to the Gamow-Teller and Isobaric Analogue State
transitions, evaluated within the allowed approximation using experimental
data. The dotted curve shows the contribution coming from the spin-dipole and
other multipoles (up to $J=5$), calculated with the QRPA approach.
The total cross section is also shown (solid line).}
\end{figure}

To evaluate the transition matrix elements of the Gamow-Teller and
Isobaric Analogue State within the allowed approximation,
we exploit the only measurement available, the one
by J. Rapaport et al.~\cite{Rappaport}, who
studied $^{98}$Mo$(p,n)^{98}$Tc reaction at forward angles for 120 MeV
incident protons.
This procedure is the same as in \cite{Haxton:1987bf}.
It is important to remind that the model-independent Fermi and Ikeda
sum-rules tell us that the total strength associated to the Fermi and
Gamow-Teller transitions is given by N-Z and 3(N-Z) respectively,
N and Z being the number of neutrons and protons of the considered nucleus.
In \cite{Rappaport} it is found that
a fraction of the Gamow-Teller strength B(GT), i.e. $\sum $B(GT)=28 $\pm$ 5,
is distributed to excite the $^{98}$Tc states having
up to 18 MeV above the ground state. Since the experimental data are cut
above 18 MeV we have checked the influence of a B(GT) strength located at
higher energy by extrapolating the experimental data with different curves
(Gaussian or Lorentzian).
The results (sec. \ref{sec:results}) turn out not to be sensitive to the specific extrapolation curve chosen.
On the other hand, the Fermi transitions are dominated by
the Isobaric Analog State of $^{98}$Mo,
located at $E=9.656$ MeV above $^{98}$Tc ground state.
This single
resonance carries all the Fermi strength B(F) given by the Fermi sum-rule, namely
B(F) = (N-Z) = 14. Concerning the forbidden transitions,
their contribution to the cross section has been calculated using the QRPA
approach. The largest contribution comes
from the $1^{-}$ and $2^{-}$ transitions to $^{98}$Tc
which essentially affects the high energy part of the cross section (above 40 MeV).
The total cross section we use in this work is shown in Figure \ref{fig:cross}.

The need to minimize the background from solar neutrinos\ motivates the choice of the process $^{98}$Mo$(\nu_e,e^-n)^{97}$Tc, where one neutron is emitted. For this reaction the  threshold in energy for neutron emission is high enough (8.96  MeV) to suppress the pp solar neutrino\ flux completely and the $^8B$ and $hep$ fluxes partially compared to the supernova\ contribution.
We make the assumption that all the excited states of $^{98}$Tc laying above neutron
emission threshold will decay by emitting neutrons and
produce $^{97}$Tc in its ground state.
Note that the $^{97}$Mo+p threshold is by $1.1$ MeV lower than $^{97}$Tc+n one.
However proton emission at
low energies should be highly suppressed compared to the neutron one due to the Coulomb barrier.
At higher energies  the $^{97}$Mo+p channel should become as much
important as the $^{97}$Tc+n one. Thus, at these energies, our predictions
should overestimate the rate of $^{97}$Tc production from $^{98}$Mo.

A delicate task is to accurately predict the $^{97}$Mo$(\nu _e,e^{-})^{97}$Tc
cross section, since no experimental information is available.
Following ref~\cite{Haxton:1987bf} for this case
we have evaluated the $^{97}$Mo$(\nu_e,e^{-})^{97}$Tc cross section exploiting
the sum-rule argument, namely scaling the B(GT)
strength from the $^{98}$Mo$(p,n)^{98}$Tc measurement by the ratio
(N-Z)$_{^{97}{\rm Mo}}/$(N-Z)$_{^{98} \rm Mo}$. This scaling is performed
after having subtracted the near-threshold events describing the transition
to to the $^{98}$Tc ground state. In fact, the
$^{97}$Mo$(\nu_e,e^{-})^{97}$Tc$_{g.s.}$ transition matrix elements is negligibly small
as one can check by converting the $^{97}$Tc$_{g.s.}$ lifetime
($\tau _{1/2}=2.6\cdot 10^{6}s$).
Concerning the Fermi strength, we consider that all the strength
B(F)=2T=13 is associated to the Isobaric Analogue State located at
$11.05$ MeV excitation energy of the $^{97}$Tc nucleus.
As in the $^{98}$Mo case, we neglect $^{97}$Tc production above the $^{96}$Tc+n threshold.
Since again we make the assumption that 100$\%$ of the cases a neutron is
produced, this time we slightly underestimate the $^{97}$Tc production from $^{97}$Mo, which
will give in particular fewer supernovae\ events.

\section{Results}
\label{sec:results}

\subsection{Rates}

The table in figure \ref{table_big} presents our predicted $^{97}$Tc production
rates from $^{98}{\rm Mo}$ and $^{97}{\rm Mo}$ due to both solar and supernova neutrinos.

\begin{figure}[hbt]
\centering
\includegraphics[width=0.95\textwidth]{table_big}
\caption{\label{table_big} $^{97}{\rm Tc}$ production rates ($10^{-37}
\times s^{-1}$) associated to neutrinos\ from the sun and supernovae (where
BH indicates failed, black hole-forming supernovae), in comparison with
Haxton and Johnson's (HJ) ones.  Intervals for SN rates take into
account the variations in the neutrino oscillation pattern (normal vs
inverted mass hierarchy and small vs large $\protect\theta_{13}$%
). All our results are obtained with a galactic rate  $R_{sn}=0.01~ {\rm yr
^{-1}}$ ($R_{bh}=0.001 {\rm yr
^{-1}}$) for successful (failed) supernovae. They can be easily rescaled for other
values of this quantity.  Natural values of $R_{sn}$ are
$0.02 - 0.03$ yr$^{-1}$, but the larger interval $0.01 - 0.05 $
yr$^{-1}$ is allowed (table \protect\ref{tab:rate}). HJ's numbers refer to a supernova rate of
0.09 yr$^{-1}$. }
\end{figure}
Let us first comment on the ${\rm ^{98}Mo(\nu_e,e^-n)^{97}Tc}$ channel.
Solar neutrinos produce $^{97}$Tc essentially via the Gamow-Teller and the
Fermi transitions to excited states of $^{98}$Tc, which then decay by emitting
a neutron; the contribution from forbidden transitions is negligible.
In comparison to HJ \cite{Haxton:1987bf}, we find a higher rate of transition due to ${\rm ^8B}$ neutrinos,
result of the larger (almost double) normalization of this flux after oscillations (sec. \ref{sec:fluxes}).
In contrary,  the rate due to the $hep$ flux is an order of magnitude smaller
because of the smaller initial normalization and the further reduction of the
flux due to flavor conversion.

In Figure \ref{table_big} we show predictions for  supernova
neutrinos considering a galactic supernova rate of 0.01 yr$^{-1}$ and taking
into account a range of values for the supernova neutrino fluxes at
the neutrino-sphere and at the surface of the supernova, due to the
unknown neutrino mixing parameters (Table \ref{table:inputs}, fig. \ref{fig:fluxes}).  Contrary to the solar case, the
rate from supernova neutrinos has an important contribution ($\sim$30-60\%) coming
from the forbidden transitions since the neutrino spectra cover
several tens of MeV energy range.  Obviously, an increased luminosity or average neutrino
energy boosts the $^{97}$Tc production rate.  One can see that our
predictions are typically one order of magnitude smaller than what
Haxton and Johnson estimated. The difference is mostly due
to a higher supernova\ rate, $R_{sn}=0.09$ yr$^{-1}$ and a higher neutrino\ luminosity ($8 \cdot 10^{52}~{\rm ergs}$ compared to our $L_0=0.5 \cdot 10^{53}~{\rm ergs}$),
as well as  the fact that the flavor permutation of supernova\ neutrinos\ was not included by HJ.  Inclusion of oscillations increases the supernova\ flux above $\sim 15-20 $ MeV, as observed in sec. \ref{sec:fluxes}, and therefore lessens the gap between our results and those in \cite{Haxton:1987bf} \footnote{If we make the same assumptions as in
\cite{Haxton:1987bf} we get the same solar background (with differences up to 8$\%$) and a
supernova rate about 17$\%$ lower. This is probably due to the
different procedure followed in the present work as far as the
forbidden transitions are concerned.}.
Still,  while HJ concluded  that the rate of  $^{98}$Mo$(\nu_e,e^-n)^{97}$Tc reaction due to supernova\ neutrinos\  should
be as much as 1.3 times the solar one, our finding is that the supernova\ contribution is most likely at the level of tens of per cent, but can amount to more than half the solar contribution accepting optimistic neutrino\ parameters and $R_{sn}\mathrel{\vcenter{\hbox{$>$}\nointerlineskip\hbox{$\sim$}}} 0.03~{\rm yr^{-1}}$, as allowed by current estimates (table \ref{tab:rate}).

The effect of failed supernovae\ on the $^{98}$Mo$(\nu_e,e^-n)^{97}$Tc  rate is significant.  While certainly small compared to the solar rate, for the S EoS this contribution can easily  reach $\sim 50\%$ of the one from successful supernovae, and can be even of the same size for the largest fraction of failed versus successful supernovae, $R_{bh}/R_{sn}\sim 0.2$.  For the LS EoS the effect is more modest, but still at the level of $\sim 10-30\%$ of the total supernova\ contribution. We notice that, due to the more energetic neutrino\ fluxes, the rate from failed supernovae\ is very sensitive to the forbidden states, and nearly doubles when these are included in the cross section calculation.

The $^{97}$Tc production via the $^{97}$Mo$(\nu_e,e^-)^{97}$Tc channel
constitutes a very different case, also illustrated in
fig. \ref{table_big}.  For this process the reaction threshold is only
320 keV, and therefore a large fraction of the solar $^8$B and $hep$
neutrino fluxes contribute to it. Moreover at 9.8 MeV the
$^{97}$Mo$(\nu_e,e^-n)^{96}$Tc channel opens and starts dominating
over the $^{97}{\rm Tc}$ production, further suppressing the supernova\
contribution to this channel.  For these reasons the $^{97}$Tc
production from $^{97}$Mo is largely dominated by solar neutrinos, primarily due to the
GT transitions, with the supernova-induced production being only a few per
cent of the total. The effect of the
$^{97}$Mo$(\nu_e,e^-)^{97}$Tc channel is mostly to dilute the supernova\
signal due to scattering on $^{98}$Mo into a larger background and make a measurement more challenging.

\subsection{Abundances of $^{97}$Tc in Molybdenum rocks}

In order to estimate the feasibility of a geochemical experiment one
should translate the calculated rates into the number of $^{97}$Tc
atoms in a sample of rock, which is the experimentally measurable
quantity.
We calculated this for 10 kt mass of Molybdenum ore, considering that it contains about 49 t of ${\rm MoS_2}$ \cite{Haxton:1987bf}, and assuming that its Mo content follows the natural
isotopic abundances (i.e., 24.13\% for ${\rm ^{98}Mo}$ and 9.55\% for ${\rm ^{97}Mo}$).

\begin{figure}[hbt]
\centering
\includegraphics[width=0.95\textwidth]{table_small}
\caption{\label{table:abundances} Numbers of $^{97}{\rm Tc}$ atoms ($10^6$ unit) expected in 10 kt of
rock from the two different processes of interest.
Totals are given too, as well as the results for the capture rates of Haxton
and Johnson (HJ) for  comparison. Our results
refer to a supernova rate of $0.03~{\rm yr^{-1}}$ and
parameters in the ``natural" scenario (Table \protect\ref{table:inputs}) for successful supernovae (SN).  Results in the last row refer to a scenario with a 10\% failed supernovae (BH) with neutrino emission as in the S model of ref. \protect\cite{Nakazato:2008vj} (see fig. \protect\ref{fig:fluxesbh}). In all cases we have considered complete flavor permutation ($p=0$), which gives the largest ${\rm ^{97}Tc}$ production rates for successful SNe.}
\end{figure}
Results are presented in fig. \ref{table:abundances}. It appears that in 10 kt
of Molybdenum ore that is completely shielded from cosmic rays, there
should be $\simeq 1.1\cdot 10^7$ atoms of ${\rm ^{97}Tc}$, of which
about 10\% from supernovae, for natural parameters of supernova\ neutrino\ emission and
$R_{sn}=3\cdot 10^{-2}~{\rm yr^{-1}}$.  This contribution can be
larger by up to a factor of 3 if the best scenario of supernova\ neutrino\
spectra and luminosities (table \ref{table:inputs}) is realized. The effect of
failed supernovae\ is a few per cent of the total abundance. We note how our
calculated abundance is very close to that of Haxton and Johnson:
this similarity is completely accidental, since our input quantities
are very different and we find a substantially higher solar
contribution, balanced by a lower supernova\ one.

Let us now discuss the significance of our result in view of an
experiment.  The first question is if the neutrino-induced ${\rm
^{97}Tc}$ is at detectable level. The answer is affirmative: already
at the time of HJ the best instruments were quoted
\cite{Haxton:1987bf} to have sensitivity down to about $5 \cdot 10^6$
atoms for a pure Tc sample. A modern experiment would employ essentially the same methods, with a sensitivity slightly improved (a factor of two or so) by a number of technological updates \cite{anbarprivate}.
Therefore we come to the
same conclusion as HJ: at the price of setting up an industrial-scale
extraction project, capable to process about 10 kt of rock at large
depth\footnote{We stress that the use of industrial-scale equipment and large scale excavations -- while exceeding the typical scale of geophysics projects -- are common in the field of neutrino astrophysics.}, an experiment should be feasible.  Such
experiment should be arranged in such a way to avoid the ``roast
memory'' problem that was fatal to the original experimental attempt
in 1988 \cite{amm}. While potentially laborious, this is not difficult conceptually.

Once established that a detection is possible, a key question is if
the supernova neutrino contribution can be unambiguously identified.
Our study makes it clear that this contribution is comparable to the
several uncertainties involved in the problem. Indeed, already the GT
strength distribution obtained from $^{98}$Mo$(p,n)^{98} {\rm Tc}$
measurement has more than 17\% uncertainty, whereas the
$^{97}$Mo$(\nu,e^-)^{97}$Tc cross section estimate along with
branching ratios into the decay channels is purely
phenomenological. One should also consider the $\sim 5-10\%$ error on
the oscillated $^8{\rm B}$ solar neutrino\ flux, and the still unmeasured
hep flux.

Therefore, we conclude that a measurement of the $^{97}$Tc abundance in deep Molybdenum ore would be an interesting complement to studies of the solar neutrino\ flux, but would provide only loose upper limits on the supernova\ flux, perhaps at the level of the constraint from neutrino\ detectors on the supernova\ rate (table \ref{tab:rate}).
Two major experimental steps should be achieved in the near future to render the geochemical quest for galactic supernova neutrinos attractive : i) an increase in precision in the measured  $^8$B solar neutrino\ flux and a new precise measurement of the $hep$ flux; ii) a precise meaurement of the
transition matrix elements for the Gamow-Teller as well as the forbidden multipoles contributing to the
$^{97}$Mo$(p,n)^{97}$Tc and $^{98}$Mo$(p,n)^{98}$Tc reactions, along with the branching ratio
relevant to $^{97}$Tc production. This can be obtained from future charge-exchange measurements for example at KVI or RIKEN. A
direct measurement of the neutrino induced cross sections could also be performed at future low energy neutrino facilities exploiting conventional sources, such as at $\nu$SNS, or at a low energy
beta-beam facility \cite{Volpe:2003fi,Lazauskas:2007bs,Volpe:2006in}.

\section{Conclusions}

In this paper we have investigated the possibility to observe the integrated supernova galactic neutrino
contribution by measuring the $^{97}$Tc produced by electron neutrinos in a Molybdenum ore, as first
proposed in~\cite{Haxton:1987bf}. With this aim realistic estimates -- reflecting the state of
the art in the neutrino physics and of galactic supernovae\ neutrino fluxes -- have been performed.
For our calculations we have used experimental information on the Gamow-Teller and Fermi distributions of the $^{98}$Mo$(\nu_e,e^-)^{98}$Tc
reaction, combined with QRPA predictions for the forbidden contributions.

We have found that the relative production of  $^{97}$Tc from supernova\ neutrinos is about 0.1
of the solar background, which is much smaller than what was evaluated in the pioneering study~\cite{Haxton:1987bf}.
For a geochemical measurement to become attractive, a better
knowledge of the solar neutrino spectrum and of the $^{97}$Mo$(\nu_e,e^-)^{97}$Tc and  $^{98}$Mo$(\nu_e,e^-n)^{97}$Tc
cross sections are necessary.  An improved experimental sensitivity is desirable to reduce the quantity of rock to be processed. Future precise charge-exchange measurements
at high energies and forward angles and/or neutrino-nucleus measurements for the $^{97}{\rm Mo}$ and $^{98}{\rm Mo}$ isotopes will defintely be very helpful.

\vspace*{0.5cm}
We are indebted to W. Haxton and A. Anbar for very fruitful exchanges.  C.V. and R.L. acknowledge the support from "Non standard
neutrino  properties and their impact in astrophysics and cosmology", Project No. ANR-05-JCJC-0023.  C.L. acknowledges ASU and RBRC for support, and is grateful to the IPN (Orsay) for generous hospitality while working on this project.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


text:
Robert Hogan, M.D., Ph.D.
Department Ophthalmology | Neurological Surgery | Neurology | Pathology
George Washington University School of Medicine (1990)
Parkland Memorial Hospital (1991), Transitional Year
UT Southwestern Medical School (1994), Ophthalmology
UT Southwestern Medical School (1995), Neuro-ophthalmology
Massachusetts General Hospital (1996), Ophthalmic Pathology
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (1996), Ophthalmic Pathology/ocular Oncology
Contact lenses and prion disease
Retinal degeneration in human spongiform encephalopathies
Texas Monthly Magazine
Super Doctors (2014)
Best Doctors in Dallas (2013)
America's Top Ophthalmologists
Consumers' Research Council of America (2011)
American Association of Ophthalmic Oncologists and Pathologists (2011)
Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Advisory Cmte. to the FDA, 2009-2014 (0)
American Association of Ophthalmic Oncologists and Pathologists
Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology
North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society
Society of Heeds Fellows
Verhoeff-Zimmerman Society
R. Nick Hogan, M.D., Ph.D. publications

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Preserve Our Prairies Initiative
The PPR has the world's best waterfowl nesting habitat
The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) is a lush and productive ecosystem of wetlands and grasslands that evolved after the glaciers retreated 10,000 years ago. The PPR has the world's best waterfowl nesting habitat, producing a fall flight of ducks unrivaled anywhere on earth. Healthy wetlands are crucial for prairie-nesting ducks, providing nutrients for egg laying and nursery grounds for broods.
Tragically, these vital wetlands continue to be drained and degraded. Grasslands are also vital for nesting waterfowl, but they too are being destroyed at a rapid pace. These ongoing losses make the Prairie Pothole Region one of North America's most threatened waterfowl habitats. The PPR has always been a focus of Ducks Unlimited's conservation work, and that priority remains strong today through the Preserve Our Prairies Initiative. To fill the skies with ducks, DU must continue to safeguard prairie wetlands and grasslands.
We must work together to overcome challenges and protect our waterfowling legacy.
For example, the farm bill represents the single largest private lands conservation program in the United States and provides critical funding for important waterfowl friendly programs, such as the Conservation Reserve Program and wetland easement program. Farm bill programs also provide important incentives to landowners to preserve wetlands and grasslands, reduce soil erosion, and provide clean water.
DU's Five-Year Plan for the Prairies
Ducks Unlimited has developed a bold plan to conserve the most critical areas for ducks and geese across the Preserve Our Prairies Initiative area, from the prairies of Canada to the north-central United States. Grounded in cutting-edge science, this new plan focuses on key programs to address the habitat needs of breeding ducks:
Working with landowners to protect and restore wetlands and grasslands through voluntary, incentive-based programs
Encouraging farmers to grow waterfowl-friendly crops such as winter wheat
Advocating strong public policies that protect wetlands and grasslands<
Conducting scientific research to guide our conservation efforts.
The Preserve Our Prairies Initiative requires significant resources.
A total of $100 million in philanthropic investment is needed over the next five years to make this effort a success. These funds will be leveraged with $150 million from our conservation partners to safeguard nearly 1 million acres of key prairie habitat. It will take a concerted effort by all who care about prairie wetlands and grasslands to protect these precious landscapes for future generations.
Preserving our Prairies Initiative at a Glance
Five-Year Initiative Goals (FY 2012-16)
Habitat Delivery Acres: 575,110
Influenced Acres: 8,021,892
Public Revenue: $243.8 million
Philanthropic Revenue: $100 million
Total Revenue Goal: $343.8 million
Initiative States and Provinces:
North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta
Conservation Focus:
Protecting and restoring grasslands and wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region
Download the latest Preserve Our Prairies update.
Cross-border Conservation
Prairie-nesting ducks are extraordinarily adaptable. Individual birds often return to a location where they bred successfully the year before, but if that area is dry, they may travel hundreds of miles in search of favorable wetland conditions. This strategy has served ducks well, because there are almost always areas of the Prairie Pothole Region that receive ample moisture. Even though these production hotspots change from year to year, ducks still find them. Hedging our bets against localized drought to provide ducks with options is why DU must conserve breeding habitat in both the United States and Canada through the Preserve Our Prairies Initiative.
Providing Landowners Incentives to Conserve
More than 90 percent of the Prairie Pothole Region is privately owned. That is why Ducks Unlimited and its partners work closely with farmers, ranchers, and other private landowners across the region to promote working lands programs that achieve our conservation mission. With a simple stroke of a pen, federal, state, and provincial governments can enact laws that greatly impact the future of waterfowl habitat and our cherished hunting traditions.
Continental waterfowl populations and the key landscapes they depend on throughout their life cycle will be greatly impacted (positively or negatively) by the outcomes of public policy decisions. DU and its supporters must stay educated and engaged on these mission-critical issues in order to sustain healthy waterfowl populations now and into the future.
Our Prairies Need You Now
Your gift to Ducks Unlimited is key to our success, and it is truly the greatest contribution you can make to secure the future of wetlands and waterfowl. Every dollar you give to Ducks Unlimited is leveraged to create a conservation impact far beyond your initial gift. In addition, we invest at least 80 cents of every dollar received in our conservation mission. Start making a difference today for waterfowl, outdoorsmen, and future generations of wildlife and people by making your gift to DU's Preserve Our Prairies Initiative. Help conserve more than 575,000 acres of key breeding habitats in the Prairie Pothole Region of Canada and the United States with your gift today.
Don't wait.
Call DU at (701) 355-3500 today to speak with fundraising staff in your area.
Make an online gift.
Download a printable PDF for this initiative or the latest progress report
prairie pothole region
Second NAWCA Grant for Florida
Jefferson County Marsh Restoration
Kansas Interactive DU Project Map
ND ranch family improves land with DU's help


text:
It's been a rough day for a whole lot of people. I woke up to the news via a Facebook group, that Tangent Animation "just lost all its projects (client pulled the project, who shall not be named), so you guys will be hearing from a lot of artists suddenly available for work."
Tangent is based in Toronto and Winnipeg, and employs approximately 400 people. No official comment has emerged from the studio, so the full extent of the layoffs is unclear. What is known is that the Toronto shop is closed. Whether it will restructure is unknown.
All we know is that a lot of people are suddenly out of work. What has followed is that the community has immediately rallied on Facebook, Discord, and pretty much every possible platform to share job posts and reach out to those affected. Thankfully, there's a lot of work out there right now. But this is still a huge blow and has affected hundreds.
Here's the legendary job document that Chris Mayne maintains. Seems like a very good time to share it again. Our job board is here too, so studios, send us your posts!
Even at the best of times, losing your job can be devastating. After the last year or so, a lot of us are struggling with our mental health. Today is a rough one. But there's still going to be a tomorrow. And while those on the receiving end of this are going to have to pivot, change plans, get used to new people, processes, and face other challenges, you've got hundreds and thousands of supportive colleagues looking out for you. You might even find something better.
If there's news to share, please let us know at mike@cartoonnorth.ca
If anyone still employed at Tangent would like to comment, we're here to listen and share.
NOTE: Cartoon Brew has reported about it here. Amid caught some shit already for some speculation, but this time I'll say that the comments feel pretty reactionary, more like they were looking for him to say something shitty. Either way, I'm not really of a mind to go after anyone for something minor like that right now, there's bigger fish to fry.
Best of luck to all those affected. it's going to be ok.
Published in commentary, Jobs and News
Canadian Animation
Tangent Animation
Mike Valiquette
Animation professional, dad, closet optimist.
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[prMac.com] Edinburgh, United Kingdom - Today the first beta of LiveCode for FM was released. This brings the easy English based coding of LiveCode to the much loved FileMaker database app builder. The convergence of these two powerful technologies creates a ground breaking solution for creating native data driven apps with interactive user interfaces, multimedia and deep API integration.
FileMaker excels at providing data driven capabilities while LiveCode excels at native app centric features. By running LiveCode applications within FileMaker a whole new class of interactive app can now be created rapidly by using the unique strengths from each environment. By combining LiveCode and FileMaker, users can build more sophisticated apps.
Kevin Miller, CEO of LiveCode Ltd., said: "I'm absolutely thrilled to be bringing the ease of use and flexibility of LiveCode to the outstanding data app capabilities of FileMaker. This combination means whatever app building talents you have can go further than ever before. Even those without a professional programming background can now build richer interactive apps while consultants and pros can build deeper, integrated experiences that were not possible with FileMaker alone before LiveCode for FM."
Todd Geist, CEO of Geist Interactive, a leading creator of custom FileMaker tools and plugins, said: "LiveCode For FM brings together two programming tools that I have been using since the early 90s. Now I get to mash up LiveCode stacks with FileMaker to create new kinds of interfaces, connect to the operating system at the lowest level, or reach out into the cloud. I am very excited about what this brings to the FileMaker Platform. The sky is not even a limit"
LiveCode for FM includes a variety of editable samples to help you get started quickly, including a connector to Google Drive, Video Capture tool, PDF selection tool, dialog editor, Script Workspace and Interactive Tutorial to show you how to build your own content. You can download and trial the beta of LiveCode from its official website.
LiveCode Ltd, based in Edinburgh, Scotland, has a vision to create a productive coding platform for building powerful applications that are accessible to everyone. They make the dual licensed LiveCode platform for building native mobile, desktop and server applications, either as Open Source GPL licensed or using a Commercial license to protect source code. The visual workflow allows the user to develop apps live while the natural language syntax is powerful and uniquely accessible. The company is committed to promoting digital literacy. Commercial successes include both SMEs and Fortune 500 companies. LiveCode apps have grossed over US $100 million and include #1 best sellers, enterprise business systems, games, and productivity tools. All Material and Software (C) Copyright 2016 LiveCode Ltd. All Rights Reserved. LiveCode is a trademark of LiveCode Ltd., registered in the EU and other countries. FileMaker is a trademark of FileMaker, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Apple and HyperCard are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Other trademarks and registered trademarks may be the property of their respective owners.


text:
Home » CSCMP's "State of Logistics Report": U.S. logistics system has entered a "new order"
CSCMP's "State of Logistics Report": U.S. logistics system has entered a "new order"
Mark Solomon
Every year for the past four, transportation and logistics professionals have waited for the high priestess of industry data, Rosalyn Wilson, to deliver them from the near-ruins of the Great Recession and into the land of bountiful returns that many had grown accustomed to prior to the downturn.
Judging by the conclusions of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals' 24th annual "State of Logistics Report," which Wilson authors, they may have some more time to wait—at least a couple of more years.
The report, which was released June 19 in Washington, D.C., chronicles the nation's logistics output in 2012. In it, Wilson writes that the logistics industry may be experiencing a "new order," characterized by the bump-along-the-bottom growth that has marked the post-recession era. This pattern of sluggish growth will last at least until the end of 2015, she predicts.
"The economy and the logistics sector will slowly regain sustainable momentum, but we will still experience unevenness in growth rates," Wilson writes in the report.
The picture for 2013, at least through mid-year, has a similar look to the past two years, said Wilson, whose data-crunching continued right up to the report's release. As she gathered the data and prepared her narrative, Wilson said she realized "there was not a truly new story to tell."
Recoveries in the housing and automotive sectors have been a welcome positive, she said. Offsetting those strengths, though, have been the impact of the 10-percent across-the-board federal budget cuts mandated under "sequestration"; a rise in payroll tax deductions to historical norms; higher operating costs for logistics service providers; and a global economic slowdown, she added.
Among the report's findings for 2012:
• U.S. logistics costs reached $1.33 trillion, a 3.4-percent gain from 2011 levels. The rate of increase was less than half of the year-on-year increase from 2010 to 2011. Similarly, transportation costs borne by users of the logistics system rose 3 percent, about half the rate of increase reported from 2010 to 2011. Logistics costs as a percentage of nominal gross domestic product (GDP)—a ratio often cited to measure the supply chain's efficiency in moving the nation's output—came in at 8.5 percent, the same as in 2011. These trends reflect the impact of slow economic growth as well as gains in productivity, asset utilization, and inventory management made by the supply chain sector since the recession ended, according to Wilson. These improvements will allow the ratio to remain at low levels even as business and shipping activity rises through the years, she said. The ratio "compares quite favorably to that of our trading partners," she said.
• Inventory carrying costs rose 4 percent, as rising inventory levels in part neutralized the continued decline in interest rates. Business inventories rose in every quarter but the second. Inventory levels in the first quarter surpassed the levels of the third quarter of 2008, considered to be the worst quarter of the recession. Retail, wholesale, and manufacturing inventories all rose in 2012, with retail inventories increasing by 8.3 percent, more than double the increase of wholesale inventories and more than six times the rise in manufacturing inventories.
For all their efforts to reduce inventory levels through better forecasting methods, retailers still found themselves overstocked as retail sales began flagging in May after a strong start to the year, Wilson said. Over time, retailers will become more adept at pushing inventory back upstream through the supply chain, especially to wholesalers, Wilson said. However, the slowing inventory velocity caused in part by the decline in consumer activity from May onward caught everyone—including the retailers—flat-footed, she said. "Inventory is not moving, period," she said in an interview several days before the report's release. Retail stocks must be drawn down considerably for the economy to fully recover, Wilson said.
• Warehousing costs increased by 7.6 percent as rising inventories fully absorbed warehouse capacity, which had already been pared back during and immediately after the recession. As a result, leasing rates also rose, the report said. New construction took up some of the slack but rising occupancy rates offset the capacity increases, the report said.
• Trucking costs—essentially defined as rates paid by modal users—increased by 2.9 percent. Intercity trucking costs rose 3.1 percent, while "local delivery," or non-intercity, costs climbed 2.1 percent. Truck tonnage increased 2.3 percent over 2011 levels. Truckers have been satisfied with their tonnage activity through the first half of 2013, Wilson said. However, they have been disappointed in their inability to raise prices to levels needed to neutralize a host of rising costs from labor to equipment and still make a decent return, she said.
The report predicted that the shortage of qualified drivers, now believed to stand at about 30,000, could swell to nearly four times that by 2016. That increase will be caused by various government regulations that will take drivers off the road as well as industry struggles to hire and retain younger drivers to replace those who retire, quit, or die. Only about 17 percent of the current driver population is under 35, according to the report.
• Rail transport costs paid by users rose 4.9 percent, down from an increase of more than 16 percent in 2011. The large drop came despite the second best year on record for intermodal volume and a leveling-off in a severe multiyear decline in coal traffic, which accounted for more than 40 percent of rail tonnage. Wilson said rail equipment and infrastructure is ample and in excellent shape, a result of the industry pouring a record $13 billion last year into capital spending, a 16.1-percent increase over 2011 levels.
Wilson blamed the sharp decline in rail shipping costs on fall-offs in tonnage for coal, grain, and chemicals, which accounted for 62 percent of total tonnage hauled. Intermodal, despite reporting year-over-year gains, came under severe rate pressure from truck competition, especially as railroads began expanding into shorter-haul lanes that traditionally have been the province of motor carriers. Three commodities reporting tonnage gains—petroleum products; motor vehicles and equipment; and crushed stone, sand, and gravel—comprised only 15 percent of rail tonnage last year, according to the report.
• The ocean and international air sectors had a tough time of it last year with slack global economies and a glut of capacity combining to curb demand and pricing. For example, ocean costs fell by 0.9 percent last year as vessel capacity rose 7.2 percent. Capacity is expected to rise by 10 percent in 2013 as new vessel deliveries exceed demand to fill it, Wilson said.
The annual "State of Logistics Report" is produced by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) and sponsored by Penske Logistics.
"State of Logistics Report": U.S. business logistics costs hit $1.45 trillion in 2014, up 3.1 percent from 2013
"State of Logistics Report": U.S. warehousing demand spiked in 2013 due to cheap money, retailers' overconfidence
2014: A rewarding year for U.S. logistics
Mark Solomon is executive editor—news at DC Velocity, a sister publication of CSCMP's Supply Chain Quarterly.
Recent Articles by Mark Solomon
Freight rate spikes shaking up the C-suite
DHL unit tests program to manage returns of cross-border e-commerce
U.S. ports want tariff exemption on purchases of Chinese-built cranes


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Turkey says Russia to host initial South Caucasus peace meeting Friday
ANKARA (Reuters) - Moscow will host an inaugural meeting of a six-way South Caucasus peace platform on Friday, an idea proposed by Turkey and Azerbaijan following last year's Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
After six weeks of fighting last year, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a Russia-brokered ceasefire to end conflict over the region that is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but populated mainly by ethnic Armenians.
The ceasefire locked in territorial gains by Baku, which was backed by Turkey.
The peace platform - including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Russia, Iran, and Turkey - was proposed by Azeri President Ilham Aliyev and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan after the ceasefire. Ankara, which has no diplomatic ties with Armenia, has said the platform may help normalise ties with Yerevan.
"The first meeting of the regional cooperation platform in the 3+3 format proposed ... for the establishment of lasting peace and stability in the South Caucasus will be held in Moscow on December 10," the foreign ministry said.
It said Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, Iran and Turkey will be represented at the deputy foreign ministers level, but did not elaborate on Georgia's participation.
Armenia and Turkey signed a landmark peace accord in 2009 to restore ties and open their shared border after decades, but the deal was never ratified and ties have remained tense. During the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Ankara accused Yerevan of occupying Azeri territories and provided military support for Baku.
Turkey has said it will reciprocate positive steps taken by Armenia to mend ties and has invited Yerevan to join the peace platform since the end of the conflict.
Russia and Turkey jointly operate an observation centre in Nagorno-Karabakh to ensure the ceasefire is maintained.
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Jonathan Spicer)
Linamar says labour, logistics issues affecting production, names new board chair
GUELPH, Ont. — Linamar Corp. says supply chain challenges and labour shortages deteriorated in the fourth quarter to materially hit both revenue and margins. The manufacturer says in a market conditions update Tuesday that it expected global light vehicle production to have climbed higher than expected in the fourth quarter, but higher costs for labour and logistics will weigh on its results. Guelph, Ont.-based Linamar says the labour and supply chain issues have "acutely impacted" its ability t
WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time, people across the U.S. can log on to a government website and order free, at-home COVID-19 tests. But the White House push may do little to ease the omicron surge, and experts say Washington will have to do a lot more to fix the country's long-troubled testing system. The website, COVIDTests.gov, allows people to order four at-home tests per household, regardless of citizenship status, and have them delivered by mail. But the tests won't arrive for seven to
Morgan Stanley outperforms rivals with profit beat
(Reuters) -Morgan Stanley reported fourth-quarter profit which beat market expectations, outperforming rivals as its focus on advising wealth clients bore fruit, sending its shares up as much as 3.7% on Wednesday. The Wall Street investment bank also benefited from a boom in global dealmaking and keeping expenses in check at a time when its peers had been hampered with rising wages and technology costs. Full-year profit as well as revenue was a record for the bank, which advised on some of the world's biggest mergers during the year.
December marks 3rd straight month of growth for US builders
SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — Construction of new homes in the U.S. rose for the third consecutive month in December and data released Wednesday suggests that the frantic pace of building will continue this year. The December increase puts home construction at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.7 million units, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. In all of 2021, nearly 1.6 million housing units were started a 15.6% increase over 2020. The December housing data was boosted by multi-unit p
China's 2021 smartphone shipments up 15.9% y/y - govt data
China had shipped 342.8 million smartphones to domestic consumers in 2021, up 15.9% year-on-year, according to government data published on Tuesday, implying a sector recovery from a blow it took in the early days of the COVID-19 crisis. While shipments were above the 296-million mark that the industry reached in 2020, they remained below 2019, when they rang in at 372 million for the year, according to data from the China Academy of Information and Communications (CAICT), a government-backed think-tank. Last month, China had shipped 32.7 million smartphones domestically, up 29.6% year-on-year.


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Tag Archives: Working bees
by Elizabeth | June 6, 2017 · 1:35 am
West Harbour Recreation Trail —Devastation caused to Rotary project
The three-year $200,000 West Harbour Recreation Trail project by the Rotary Club of Dunedin aims to beautify the edges of a 3km section of the cycleway-walkway, from the Otago Boat Harbour to Maia.
On May 26, a Friday afternoon, two Rotarians turned up at the boat harbour end of the Trail to set out the location of new exercise equipment for public use (in preparation for a June 10 working bee) – the next phase of the harbourside project. The men were astounded to find a council contractor, ostensibly there to repair the harbour wall, running heavy machinery across the mown green strip, seriously damaging the designated public amenity area.
While Rotary's West Harbour Recreation Trail is a council approved project, and the extended site receives maintenance from Taskforce Green, the DCC had completely failed to advise and coordinate with Rotary before earthworks commenced for repair of the seawall. How does this happen ??!
Not such a bad job until you look westward, other side of the orange safety nets:
DCC Webmap – West Harbour Recreation Trail (damaged section)
Apparently, DCC has assured Rotary that the damage will be put right by the contractor. However, because of no drying for some time Rotary's scheduled work at this site is on hold (at least a five month delay).
Rotarians had raised funds from the public to carry out the project.
One of the Rotarians said he was 'incandescent with rage' over it – and did not often get incandescent!!
On Tuesday (May 30) I visited the area to take photographs.
This is yet another example of council ineptitude where the left hand doesn't know what the right hand's doing. The council's lack of oversight and the resulting damage may necessitate deeper foundations for the exercise equipment than Rotary had anticipated and budgeted. Their working bee planned for June 10 will be reduced in scale, with only installation of exercise equipment at Ravensbourne Footbridge taking place. The working bees for July and August have been cancelled as the site won't be in a fit state to work on. Timing of the provision of barbeque facilities as part of the landscaping project is also affected.
There is the Huge Irony that Rotary have only just been awarded 1st Place by Keep Dunedin Beautiful, for their work on the recreation trail. The award came with a $100 cash prize.
Thankfully, say Rotarians, the damage wasn't done until after the Trees for Babies planting was done on Mother's Day (14 May).
The Keep Dunedin Beautiful Awards "celebrate and honour the people of Dunedin who are committed to beautifying their city and caring for their environment through volunteer action".
"Each Autumn, in partnership with Rotary Dunedin, Keep Dunedin Beautiful organises tree plantings for babies and other family members in city reserves. Trees for Babies is a long-term native tree-planting project where family members can celebrate the birth of a child or any significant family milestone. It also contributes to a native re-vegetation project in a city reserve."
Related Post and Comment:
7.8.15 Dunedin Rotary Club | West Harbour Recreation Trail
This post is offered in the public interest.
Filed under Business, Construction, Cycle network, DCC, Democracy, Design, Dunedin, Economics, Education, Finance, Health & Safety, Infrastructure, Name, New Zealand, People, Pet projects, Project management, Property, Public interest, Resource management, Site, Sport, Tourism, Town planning, Travesty, Urban design, What stadium
Tagged as Amenity, Barbeque facilities, Community projects, Contract supervision, Cycleways, DCC, Dunedin, Dunedin City Council, Exercise equipment, Facilities, Interpretive signage, Keep Dunedin Beautiful, Lack of communication, Landscaping, Picnic tables, Planting, Public funds, Recreation, Rotary Club of Dunedin, Seating, Taskforce Green, Volunteering, Walkways, West Harbour Recreation Trail, Working bees
by Elizabeth | August 7, 2015 · 12:03 am
Dunedin Rotary Club | West Harbour Recreation Trail
Link and information supplied by Douglas (Mick) Field.
█ Message: I have been involved with Rotary doing the West Harbour Recreation project. I did a video of this as a means of describing the project – it sets out the scope of the work. I had a chat to Darrel Robinson who is in charge of the project for Rotary. He is happy for me to put it on YouTube which I will be doing shortly. Take a look.
Cheers, Mick
Douglas Field Published on Aug 4, 2015
West Harbour Recreation Trail 29 10 14
The West Harbour Recreation Project has been taken up by Rotary to provide and improve recreational activity as well as enhance the landscape along the shared pathway from the Boat Harbour to Maia. Already a lot of work has been completed. At present Rotary is completing the section at Ravensbourne Station and it is anticipated that the major recreational facility just north of the Boat Harbour will begin this year. Working 'Bees' are held once a month in conjunction with Dunedin's Task Force Green team who do a great job in support and keeping the momentum up.
This clip outlines the scope and nature of the project.
█ Message: As a matter of interest, the seat installed at the end of the clip is in memory of Robin Archer, ex city councillor – donated by his widow. Robin was chief architect for the Otago Education Board before it was decommissioned.
Ravensbourne Station BBQ site 23 5 15
The Dunedin Rotary Club has a working 'bee' every month on the West Harbour Recreation Trail Project. This one was in May when they installed BBQ equipment at the Ravensbourne Station site. As you can see these people work very hard and – fast. As always, they were ably assisted by Task Force Green workers.
Filed under Construction, Cycle network, Design, Geography, Heritage, Inspiration, Media, Name, New Zealand, People, Project management, Property, Site, Sport, Tourism, Town planning, Transportation, Urban design
Tagged as Amenity, Community projects, Cycleways, Dunedin, Interpretative signage, Landscape Architecture, Landscaping, Planting, Recreation, Recreation facilities, Rotary Club of Dunedin, Task Force Green, Volunteering, Walkways, West Harbour Recreation Project, West Harbour Recreation Trail, Working bees


Will travel insurance alone cover your gadgets?
Can travel insurance alone cover your gadgets?
How to protect your valuable items while you are on holiday.
When most of us go on holiday, we wouldn't dream of going without our mobile phone. The children won't leave home without their iPads or gaming devices and of course there is the e Reader for relaxing by the pool. The value of all of these belongings can often add up to more than the personal belongings cover of your travel insurance and some companies exclude them completely.
Some travel insurance companies may suggest using your home insurance to cover your gadgets while you are away. Unfortunately, the likelihood of something happening to your belongings increases when you are away from your home. Research has shown that nearly half of all holidaymakers have been the victim of a theft. Cameras are the most common item stolen but, with more people using mobile phones to take pictures, that may change. Those most at risk are holidaymakers who leave their belongings unsupervised while they have a swim in the sea or the pool. The disadvantage to using your home insurance is that, If you have to claim, it will more than likely impact the premiums you will be paying the following year.
The table below gives some examples of travel insurance cover. Some companies offer an optional gadget cover to give you extra peace of mind. If you are travelling more than once in a year or frequently take your gadgets out and about, it would be worth considering a separate insurance through our mobile phone and gadget insurance comparison service.
*The optional baggage cover is for £1500 per person per incident. These limits are only available with baggage cover. With this option mobile phones and other gadgets are also covered.
Gadgets are only covered up to the single item limit unless optional gadget cover included. Claims for mobile phones are limited to £100 per person. The Post Office have 5 levels of cover. Limits and excesses will vary.
Additional Gadget Cover will give you up to £1000 protection in case of theft, damage or loss. This benefit is per policy not per person. Columbus have 3 levels of cover. Limits and excesses will vary.
Gadget cover includes cover for up to 5 gadgets including phones, tablets and laptops up to the value of £2000. Without this additional cover, gadgets (other than mobile phones) are only covered up to the Single item limit. Flexicover have 4 levels of cover. Limits and excesses will vary.
Gadgets are covered up to the single item limit with no optional gadget cover.Mobile and smart phones cover is limited to £100 per insured person. Debenhams have 3 levels of gadget cover. Limits vary.
Keep credit cards and cash in a secure pocket or a money belt especially in crowded areas.
Don't leave items in your car.
Keep gadgets and other valuables in a safety deposit box if possible or stowed out of sight in locked premises if you are out for the day.
If possible try not to keep all your valuables together in one place.
The Foreign Office has information on specific countries for travellers.
If you want to take your gadget to the beach, consider using a waterproof cover that will allow you to take it into the water with you. A selection are available at Overboard which cater for most gadgets.
It is important to make sure you not only have adequate insurance should you lose all your belongings but also if any individual value item gets lost, stolen or damaged. As with all insurance products, read the terms and conditions carefully before you buy. Limits and excesses vary with each company and between their own levels of cover. Some stipulate where valuables should be kept or have exclusions that you should be aware of.


Should You Rather Go For Adjustable Rate Mortgage?
When you are weighing your options regarding mortgages, some experts will give you a piece of advice that go for Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM). Now, it is your job to research the term and apply it on your situation to see if ARM is the best solution for you or not.
There is no hard and fast rule that will determine if Adjustable Rate Mortgage is right or wrong. There is no need to confuse yourself with too much jargon; instead you should clarify your understanding regarding the basics only.
Adjustable-rate mortgages, or ARMs, have monthly payments that can move up and down as interest rates fluctuate.
Most have an initial fixed-rate period during which the borrower's rate doesn't change, followed by a longer period during which the rate changes at preset intervals.
An adjustable-rate mortgage, or ARM, is a home loan with an interest rate that can change periodically. This means that the monthly payments can go up or down.
Click here to read the pros and cons..
Now that you have understood the basics, now is the right time to dig a little deeper into the details.
A lot of people have heard the phrase adjustable rate mortgage or ARM. But what is an adjustable rate mortgage? Are there advantages in having investment rate mortgage? And are there disadvantages?
Financial expert Robert Palmer, host of Saving Thousands, explains that an adjustable rate mortgage is one that may see changes in interest rates over time. The interest rates are tied to various financial markets around the world.
You should also pay heed to the commonly used indexes in ARM to better understand your mortgage options.


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Murdock: Even Left Now Laughing at Global Warming
By Dan McGrath on February 4, 2009 in Bad Policy, Global Cooling, Junk Science, Misguided Leaders, Mythical Consensus, Scaremongering
SAN FRANCISCO — So-called "global warming" has shrunk from problem to punch line. And now, Leftists are laughing, too. It's hard not to chuckle at the idea of Earth boiling in a carbon cauldron when the news won't cooperate:
Nearly four inches of snow blanketed the United Arab Emirates' Jebel Jais region for just the second time in recorded history on Jan. 24. Citizens were speechless. The local dialect has no word for snowfall.
Dutchmen on ice skates sped past windmills as canals in Holland froze in mid-January for the first time since 1997. Defense Minister Eimert van Middelkoop, who inhabits a renovated 17th Century windmill, stumbled on the ice and fractured his wrist.
January saw northern Minnesota's temperatures plunge to 38 below zero, forcing ski-resort closures. A Frazee, Minnesota dog-sled race was cancelled, due to excessive snow. Snow whitened Surf City, North Carolina's beaches. Days ago, ice glazed Florida's citrus groves.
As Earth faces global cooling, both troglodyte right-wingers and lachrymose left-wingers find Albert Gore's simmering-planet hypothesis increasingly hilarious:
"In terms of (global warming's) capacity to cause the human species harm, I don't think it makes it into the top 10," Dr. Robert Giegengack, former chairman of University of Pennsylvania's Earth and Environmental Sciences Department, told the Pennsylvania Gazette. Giegengack voted for Gore in 2000, and says he likely would again.
Commentator Harold Ambler declared Jan. 3 on HuffingtonPost.com that he voted for Barack Obama "for a thousand times a thousand reasons." He added that Gore "owes the world an apology for his actions regarding global warming." He called Gore's assertion that "the science is in" on this issue "the biggest whopper ever sold to the public in the history of mankind."
"Not only is it false that human activity has any significant effect on global warming or the weather in general, but for the record, global warming is over," retired Navy meteorologist Dr. Martin Hertzberg wrote on carbon-sense.com. The physical chemist and self-described "scientist and life-long liberal Democrat" added: "The average temperature of Earth's atmosphere has declined over the last 10 years. From the El Nino Year of 1998 until Jan. 2007, it dropped a quarter of a degree Celsius (0.45 degrees Fahrenheit). From Jan 2007 to the spring of 2008, it dropped a whopping three-quarters of a degree Celsius (1.35 degrees Fahrenheit). Those data further prove that the fear-mongering hysteria about human-caused global warming is completely unjustified and is totally counterproductive to our Nation's essential needs and security."
"It is a tribute to the scientific ignorance of politicians and journalists that they keep regurgitating the nonsense about human-caused global warming," veteran Left-wing commentator and Nation magazine columnist Alexander Cockburn wrote. "The greenhouse fear mongers rely on unverified, crudely oversimplified models to finger mankind's sinful contribution — and carbon trafficking, just like the old indulgences, is powered by guilt, credulity, cynicism, and greed."
Read the rest of this piece at Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Environmental Issues Slide in Poll of Public's Concerns
Ganahl Debunks the Global Warming Hoax
Neil F.
This is the article I linked to in the last entry. I was hoping you would put it up. With a story like this, one wonders why polititians are still persuing climate change, cap & trade type regulations, and emission standards.
It doesn't make sense, until you understand that there are buckets full of money to still be made. And they say Capitalists are the greedy ones!
Rob N. Hood
Ah yes, the greedy Socialist/liberals! Thank the good Lord for you conscientious and ethical Capitalists! You will save the world yet, gosh durnnit!
Ditto sans sarchasm


After 10 years in the business, we've seen some significant changes in how recruiters approach prospective clients. While we've always been in the business of building relationships, how we go about it has evolved considerably.
Cold-calling clients to drum up business is now a thing of the past. If we want to work with a particular organisation, we have to earn their trust. There are more recruitment businesses in operation than ever before, so competition is fierce. Why should an organisation choose us above all others? It's about much more than telling them how great we are; it's about developing an in-depth understanding of who they are, what they're looking for and the unique challenges and opportunities they face.
The time we invest isn't spent bombarding prospective clients with communications, it's about listening and learning through company news, social media timelines, and getting out there and meeting with them where possible.
It's no longer as simple as getting a job vacancy sent over and hitting the phones to find a suitable candidate. In an era of talent shortages and increased competition between employers, we need to ensure we source the best candidates who are the right cultural fit and therefore more likely to remain with the business.
It's imperative to ask the right questions to ensure we gain a complete picture of a client's objectives, the role, reporting structure and the type of personality that will complement their current team. This often means we have to ask some confronting questions, particularly if they have high staff turnover, as we need to get to the bottom of what might be going wrong and how we might be able to help them to avoid making the same mistakes again.
It wasn't too long ago that picking up the phone was the only practical way for recruiters to communicate with clients. While calling is still a preferred mode of communication in most cases to ensure the recruitment process doesn't lose momentum, it's crucial to respect the client's preferred method of communication. If a client would rather talk via email, on LinkedIn, or outside of office hours, that's what we'll do.
Over-promising to win business is counterproductive, so we always begin our client relationships by managing expectations and agreeing on realistic goals that we're actually able to deliver. If we can't help a client, we'll recommend someone who can. It's better to lose a potential client than fail miserably and face irreparable reputation damage.
Recruiters are adapting all of the time to the needs to today's clients, and it's no longer about winning as much business as possible, but instead winning the right type of business through an ethical, honest and genuine approach.
Stay tuned to the Henry Nicholas blog for all of the latest opinions and insights on the recruitment industry.


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To Avoid Sexism on Job-Posting Site, Economists Petition to Start Their Own
By Eric Morath on	 October 26, 2017 Uncategorized
Article in WSJ
A recent study found misogynist language on a website used to find economics jobs
More than 1,000 economists are calling on the American Economic Association to create its own job-search site in order to address sexism in their field.
The call comes after a recent study found vulgar and misogynist language directed toward women on a website used to find economics jobs. The site, Economics Job Market Rumors, includes job listings, conference announcements and message-board type comments on a range of topics, not all related to economics.
The economists signed a petition, to be released Thursday, that asks the professional association to create its own job-search site and to publicly condemn the treatment of women in anonymous comments on Economics Job Market Rumors.
The signees include Angus Deaton, winner of the Nobel Prize in economics, former presidential economic advisers Christina Romer and Laura Tyson, and Harvard economist Carmen Reinhart. They were organized by Institute for Women's Policy Research president Heidi Hartmann and University of California, Berkeley, economist Michael Reich.
The economists are seeking to address concerns described in a paper by Berkeley graduate student Alice H. Wu and highlighted by University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers in an August column he wrote for the New York Times.
Ms. Wu studied anonymous posts on the Economics Job Market Rumors website and associated words most frequently used in reference to women and men.
Many of the terms most associated with women were sexist or crude. Those included: "hotter," "lesbian," "tits" and "feminazi." In contrast, among the words most associated with men were "adviser," "bully," and "prepare."
"Is there any wonder why only a third of those who receive doctoral degrees in economics are women?" Dr. Hartmann asked. "Other fields, such as sociology, have done a better job at making the field open to women and gender-based analysis."
The Institute for Women's Policy Research said Economics Job Market Rumors is a well-used site because there are few other resources offering a broad look at available jobs in the profession.
An AEA-run site would protect users from sexist comments, improve transparency and fairness in the job market, and allow for better research into postings, the petition stated.
The association declined to comment Wednesday, but in a statement on its website said it "strongly condemns misogyny, racism, homophobia, antisemitism and other behaviors that harm our profession" and is exploring the possibility of creating a website and message board that would provide information on the job market for new Ph.D.s.
The administrator for Economics Job Market Rumors said Wednesday in an emailed statement that "sexism was already taken care of on EJMR a long time ago." The respondent, identified as Kirk, declined to give a full name.
The statement said the study analyzed old data, and that the site has auto-deleted all sexist terms in newer posts and has used a team of moderators for more than a year. The site has a high percentage of male users because of the low number of female professors and students in the field, the statement said.
"This issue would not exist if economics was a more gender-balanced subject, but pointing the blame at EJMR is disingenuous," the statement said. "More work needs to be done upstream, rather than accusing those downstream."
—Josh Zumbrun contributed to this article.
Critical Policy Choices to Keep the Labor Market Intact
Sylvia A. Allegretto July 7, 2020 – Commentary
Ann Yoo Abbott June 25, 2020 – Annual Report
Ann Yoo Abbott June 25, 2020 –


Published in The Best Short Plays 1969. New York: Avon, 1970, 343-364.
Originally written as a television play and produced by the ABC in 1966, The Tape Recorder was produced by the BBC in 1967. It was later produced for television in Canada and New York.
Broadcast on ABC Television between 1966 and 1967, the Australian Playhouse program comprised two series of plays by Australian writers who were new to TV. Among the featured productions were works by Tony Morphett, Pat Flower, and John Warwick.
The series began in 1966 with 'The Pigeon', which aired in April, and ran weekly until early November, when it ended with 'The Paradise Shanty'.
Australian Playhouse began again in 1967 with 'Touch of Gold', which aired in July, and ran until October, when it ended with 'The Five Sided Triangle, or One too Many'.


I get a lot of raised eyebrows and exasperated looks when I say I make my own yogurt. Many consider yogurt difficult and time consuming to make or requiring expensive yogurt makers. It takes time to culture, of course, but my hands on time is about a minute. Literally.
I don't own a yogurt maker but hear you can find them cheap at thrift stores. Truth is you don't need one. I get great consistent results with my dehydrator. Yogurt is easy and inexpensive to make at home. This nourishing and versatile food is a simple and accessible source of probiotics.
Store bought yogurt often has many additives and lots of sugar, two things we do not need in our food, and both are unnecessary in a good yogurt. When purchasing store bought yogurt to use as a starter look for whole milk yogurt with the least ingredients. I use a brand called The Greek Gods plain yogurt as a starter when I forget to save some of the previous batch I made.
I like to keep my dairy raw to preserve its enzymes and vitamins. Fortunately for yogurt, keeping it raw is even easier because you don't need to heat the milk. Culturing milk imbues it with probiotics and makes it easier to digest.
You can use yogurt to make dips and smoothies, put it on granola, use a dollop on soup or just eat it alone as a snack.
In large glass or ceramic bowl, whisk together yogurt and a small amount of milk until incorporated. Then pour in remaining milk and cover. Place mixture in a yogurt maker or the bowl in the dehydrator at 90-100 degrees for 24-28 hours or until desired tanginess is reached. Place bowl in the refrigerator and allow to firm up for 5-8 hours.
After the yogurt has set up for a few hours, you can drain off the whey to make a thick Greek style yogurt or yogurt cheese. Set a large colander in a large bowl, scoop yogurt into fine mesh bag or line colander with cheesecloth. Return bowls to the refrigerator. The whey will drain off into the bowl over the next 4-8 hours. Periodically pour off whey into a glass jar and reserve for use in culturing vegetables or adding to smoothies.
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