text:
Treading Softly in a Connected World
Gene Stanley never walks down stairs without holding the handrail. For a fit 71-year-old, he is deathly afraid of breaking his hip. In the elderly, such breaks can trigger fatal complications, and Stanley, a professor of physics at Boston University, thinks he knows why.
"Everything depends on everything else," he said.
Three years ago, Stanley and his colleagues discovered the mathematics behind what he calls "the extreme fragility of interdependency." In a system of interconnected networks like the economy, city infrastructure or the human body, their model indicates that a small outage in one network can cascade through the entire system, touching off a sudden, catastrophic failure.
First reported in 2010 in the journal Nature, the finding spawned more than 200 related studies, including analyses of the nationwide blackout in Italy in 2003, the global food-price crisis of 2007 and 2008, and the "flash crash" of the United States stock market on May 6, 2010.
"In isolated networks, a little damage will only lead to a little more," said Shlomo Havlin, a physicist at Bar-Ilan University in Israel who co-authored the 2010 paper. "Now we know that because of dependency between networks, you can have an abrupt collapse."
While scientists remain cautious about using the results of simplified mathematical models to reengineer real-world systems, some recommendations are beginning to emerge. Based on data-driven refinements, new models suggest interconnected networks should have backups, mechanisms for severing their connections in times of crisis, and stricter regulations to forestall widespread failure.
"There's hopefully some sweet spot where you benefit from all the things that networks of networks bring you without being overwhelmed by risk," said Raissa D'Souza, a complex systems theorist at the University of California, Davis.
To understand the vulnerability in having nodes in one network depend on nodes in another, consider the "smart grid," an infrastructure system in which power stations are controlled by a telecommunications network that in turn requires power from the network of stations. In isolation, removing a few nodes from either network would do little harm, because signals could route around the outage and reach most of the remaining nodes. But in coupled networks, downed nodes in one automatically knock out dependent nodes in the other, which knock out other dependent nodes in the first, and so on. Scientists model this cascading process by calculating the size of the largest cluster of connected nodes in each network, where the answer depends on the size of the largest cluster in the other network. With the clusters interrelated in this way, a decrease in the size of one of them sets off a back-and-forth cascade of shrinking clusters.
When damage to a system reaches a "critical point," Stanley, Havlin and their colleagues find that the failure of one more node drops all the network clusters to zero, instantly killing connectivity throughout the system. This critical point will vary depending on a system's architecture. In one of the team's most realistic coupled-network models, an outage of just 8 percent of the nodes in one network — a plausible level of damage in many real systems — brings the system to its critical point. "The fragility that's implied by this interdependency is very frightening," Stanley said.
However, in another model recently studied by D'Souza and her colleagues, sparse links between separate networks actually help suppress large-scale cascades, demonstrating that network models are not one-size-fits-all. To assess the behavior of smart grids, financial markets, transportation systems and other real interdependent networks, "we have to start from the data-driven, engineered world and come up with the mathematical models that capture the real systems instead of using models because they are pretty and analytically tractable," D'Souza said.
In a series of papers in the March issue of Nature Physics, economists and physicists used the science of interconnected networks to pinpoint risk within the financial system. In one study, an interdisciplinary group of researchers including the Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz found inherent instabilities within the highly complex, multitrillion-dollar derivatives market and suggested regulations that could help stabilize it.
Irena Vodenska, a professor of finance at Boston University who collaborates with Stanley, custom-fit a coupled network model around data from the 2008 financial crisis. Her and her colleagues' analysis, published in February in Scientific Reports, showed that modeling the financial system as a network of two networks — banks and bank assets, where each bank is linked to the assets it held in 2007 — correctly predicted which banks would fail 78 percent of the time.
"We consider this model as potentially useful for systemic risk stress testing for financial systems," said Vodenska, whose research is financially supported by the European Union's Forecasting Financial Crisis program. As globalization further entangles financial networks, she said, regulatory agencies must monitor "sources of contagion" —concentrations in certain assets, for example — before they can cause epidemics of failure. To identify these sources, "it's imperative to think in the sense of networks of networks," she said.
Scientists are applying similar thinking to infrastructure assessment. Leonardo Dueñas-Osorio, a civil engineer at Rice University, is analyzing how lifeline systems responded to recent natural disasters. When an 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck Chile in 2010, for example, most of the power grid was restored after just two days, aiding emergency workers. The swift recovery, Dueñas-Osorio's research suggests, occurred because Chile's power stations immediately decoupled from the centralized telecommunications system that usually controlled the flow of electricity through the grid, but which was down in some areas. Power stations were operated locally until the damage in other parts of the system subsided.
"After an abnormal event, the majority of the detrimental effects occur in the very first cycles of mutual interaction," said Dueñas-Osorio, who is also studying New York City's response to Hurricane Sandy last October. "So when something goes wrong, we need to have the ability to decouple networks to prevent the back-and-forth effects between them."
D'Souza and Dueñas-Osorio are collaborating to build accurate models of infrastructure systems in Houston, Memphis and other American cities in order to identify system weaknesses. "Models are useful for helping us explore alternative configurations that could be more effective," Dueñas-Osorio explained. And as interdependency between networks naturally increases in many places, "we can model that higher integration and see what happens."
Scientists are also looking to their models for answers on how to fix systems when they fail. "We are in the process of studying what is the optimal way to recover a network," Havlin said. "When networks fail, which node do you fix first?"
The hope is that networks of networks might be unexpectedly resilient for the same reason that they are vulnerable. As Dueñas-Osorio put it, "By making strategic improvements, can we have what amounts to positive cascades, where a small improvement propagates much larger benefits?"
These open questions have the attention of governments around the world. In the U.S., the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, an organization tasked with safeguarding national infrastructure against weapons of mass destruction, considers the study of interdependent networks its "top mission priority" in the category of basic research. Some defense applications have emerged already, such as a new design for electrical network systems at military bases. But much of the research aims at sorting through the mathematical subtleties of network interaction.
"We're not yet at the 'let's engineer the Internet differently' level," said Robin Burk, an information scientist and former DTRA program manager who led the agency's focus on interdependent networks research. "A fair amount of it is still basic science — desperately needed science."
This article was reprinted on Wired.com.


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Kronenflex® cutting-off wheels
2. Safety pictograms
3. Max. operating speed
4. Klingspor Cat. No.
5. Specification of design, grade and bond according to EN 12413
6. Dimensions in mm and inches
7. Applications (see colour coding system)
9. Operating restrictions
10. Safety standard (oSa / EN 12413)
11. Max. RPM
12. Safety pictograms
13. Product group / type
14. Klingspor brand Kronenflex®
Quality classes
Kronenflex® cutting-off wheels and grinding discs come in three performance classes with six colour codes for a quick overview of the most important material applications.
1. Label and cover sheet
The label includes all of the important information on the product, manufacturer and information on the proper use of the grinding tool
2. Mixture
The grit: Today all grit types are only produced synthetically. Only grit produced synthetically can ensure continuously high wear and cutting disc quality.
Resins and fillers: Additional, important components for cutting and grinding discs are resins, (in liquid and dry form), and fillers. These components are key in determining the disc properties, such as stability, stock removal rate, shear strength and can be adjusted to meet the needs of the specific application .
3. Metal ring
Provides information on the production period of the disc and protects the machine spindle.
4. Glass fibre
Glass fibre is a reinforcing layer to ensure stability and increases the safety of the cutting-off wheel. The number and strength of the glass fibre layers is dependent upon disc type and application. The higher the potential lateral load on a cutting-off disc (it is greater during free cutting than during stationary cutting), the more glass fibre that the cutting disc must contain, or the contained glass fibre must be more stable. Particularly thin material is used for thin cutting discs (0.8 mm to 1.0 mm), to, despite of the thin discs, ensure that a large grit ratio is achieved between the layers. Grinding discs are constructed with at least 3 glass fibre layers.
Klingspor cutting-off wheel and grinding disc colour coding system
Safety and storage
Quarter | |
V 01 | January-March |
V 04 | April–June |
V 07 | July–September |
V 10 | October–December |
The shelf life of cutting-off wheels and grinding discs is primarily determined by their moisture content. Cutting-off wheels and grinding discs that are subjected to increased humidity after they were manufactured loose their original service life. Proper storage ensures a consistent long service life. Cutting-off wheels and grinding discs that are subjected to water or steam are a safety risk. The user is obligated to operate the product properly. This also applies for legal reason, also as regards the expiry date. Principally the following applies: cutting-off wheels and grinding discs may not be used past the expiry date!
Working safely ...
... by being careful and recognising risksPlease avoid the risks listed below when working with cutting-off wheels and grinding discs.
- contact with rotating abrasive discs
- abrasive disc breakage
- grinding dust and debris
- vibration
- noise
... through personal protective gear
Goggles, gloves, ear muffs and dust masks must be worn. When working on hard grinding applications additional protective gear is required, such as face protection, leather aprons and safety boots.
... with protective machine guards
Machine guards are supplied with the grinding machine and may not be changed or removed. When using cup grinding wheels the outer surface must be completely enclosed. In addition, cup grinding wheels may only be used in combination with an adjustable wheel guard, to balance the wear on the disc and to keep the exposure of the disc at a minimum.
... through visual inspection and performance of checks prior to mounting
Ensure the disc RPM matches the machine RPM setting and avoid exceeding the maximum admissible operating speed. Carefully check the cutting-off wheel and grinding disc for damage. If the cutting-off wheel or grinding disc is damaged, do not use the damaged product. Our cutting-off wheels and grinding discs are marked with the corresponding safety pictograms.
... through proper use
Ensure that the respective disc is being used properly. Avoid damage to the mounting bore or to the disc through jerks, excessive force, or falls. Ensure that the disc is properly and securely mounted and use the correct mounting flange. Prior to starting work, the abrasive disc should run at operating speed for at least 30 seconds. Please observe the FEPA safety regulations and the European Standard 12413.
The peripheral speed and grinding pressure are important parameters for achieving optimal cutting-off and grinding disc results.
The optimal speed
Too low
If the RPM of the machine is too low, the cutting-off wheel and grinding disc tend to "jump", and the disc edges wear down unevenly. Particularly with thin material cross sections, such as cutting tin or wire, this causes the grit to be separated from the bond and the disc wear speed is above average.
Klingspor cutting-off wheels and grinding discs are high performance products and were developed such that best disc performance (measured according the stock removal volume to disc wear ratio) is achieved in the range right below the maximum peripheral speed. Keep the machine running at a consistently high RPM and, if needed, select a more powerful machine.
Too high
The maximum RPM and peripheral speed is printed on the label of each disc. For your own safety, please be sure not to exceed the recommended speeds when grinding.
The proper hardness
Generally, the rule of thumb when selecting the correct cutting-off wheel is: the harder the material, the softer the abrasive bond. The reason: the service life of a cutting-off wheel is dependent on whether the cutting surface of the workpieces hardens or not. Overheating results in the disc "glazing" and the cutting properties are negatively affected. In this case, the hardness of the bond should be decreased and a softer cutting-off wheel should be used
Correct application/techniques for cutting-off
Pressure may only be placed on the cutting-off wheel from a radial direction. This is the only way to avoid wobbling, buckling and disc breakage, especially when applying a high level of cutting pressure.
The workpiece that is to be cut-off should be properly affixed to the workbench to ensure that the disc does not slide off to the side. In addition, we recommend that the material is affixed as close to the cutting site as possible to ensure that it does not vibrate, flutter or slip to the side.
The correct mount...
... for better power transmission
Cutting-off wheels and grinding discs are mounted to the machine with side flanges. The flange elements are responsible for transferring power to the disc. For reasons of safety it is extremely important that defective or incorrect flanges are not used.
... and for more safety
The use of wheel flange FL 76 provides increased lateral stability and user control, specifically when using thin cutting-off wheels with a flat form and diameter of 180 mm and 230 mm.
The applicable regulations and standards must be complied with when using the wheel flange. The contact surface and diameter of the wheel flange must match. Using wheel flanges with diameters that do not match is prohibited.
Gerade und gekröpfte Trennscheiben
0,8–4 mm Stärke
1. Spannflansch
2. Spannmutter

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Our first night in Judith Gap, we learned to roller-skate.
The skates were not our own: heavy, knob-toed, stiff-heeled treasures discovered in the attic of Tim Gary's home. He had gone to bed, but we were eager to extend the day.
We cast off our habits and veils, and in our long underwear went to the basement. We envisioned speed and grace. We'd soar, we thought, across the carpet. We'd glide. Like swans in flight.
We took turns tying tight the laces. It was hard to lift one foot and then the other. There we were, graceless and inept. Perhaps because hers were the smallest feet, Sharon didn't skate so much as stomp, as if trying to crush a rogue ant. I started off steadily enough, but then tried to rush my feet and collapsed. Agatha could barely stand. Mary Lucille, at 73, could glide, but she had to squat low.
For stability we groped the walls; still we came down on our palms and knees. We bled through our thermals, but we kept on, and our feet made heat in the leather of the skates and our mouths went dry with the effort. But we tried and tried until we could make it from wall to wall. We learned to fall backwards. Our hands went wide and we kept our eyes low, and one by one we learned to move with care. Each step deliberate. Slow, and attentive. That was the only way to move.
After, we iced our knees in the kitchen. We drank cold water and decided we would wait a while to skate again.
Here is something we have learned time and again: you need not love everything. You do not have to devote yourself to what you thought you'd enjoy. You can decide, whenever you like, that what you feel is no kind of love.
We had asked for a new parish, a new diocese; we were sent to Judith Gap. A freckle of a town in central Montana, split down the middle by I-191. Population: 146 before we moved there, an even 150 after we moved in. Land of low rents and a new wind farm: ninety towering turbines stuck in the ground on either side of the highway, gathering the gales. We would help the Helena diocese convert a defunct rug store into a makeshift chapel.
Before we moved west, we watched videos of these turbines on the rectory's pale, cubic computer. The windmills stood lean and spare, untethered telephone poles with spinning blades.
If you focused on one blade, the operation appeared slower than if you considered them as a unit.
Three days and two nights we spent on a west-bound train, our legs kinked up in economy seats. Abbess Paracleta came for us from Helena in her flat-bed truck. She stood waiting on the platform, arms crossed like we should have been sorry, should have done something to prevent the train's delay. She was tall and thick, with jowls and square shoulders. She wore the same black habit as we did, but hers was heavy wool. Her face was powdered with a heavy hand, and her lips had all but disappeared.
We said hello. We thanked her for coming. We presented her a bag of buckeyes from Ohio.
"What for," she said.
In the truck we were stiff and still. We did not speak. Abbess Paracleta rushed the engine and charged onto the thruway, soaring past slower vehicles. On the phone the week before, she had sounded excited about our arrival, but she seemed now stripped of enthusiasm, as if she had, upon seeing us in person, perceived and could never forgive our thorough ineptitude.
We fled on to Judith Gap. Abbess Paracleta had described it, over the phone, as the sneeze between two mountain ranges. "There'll be so much wind you'll think the world would run out."
We were to live with her brother, Tim Gary. "He needs the company," she had said. "And I need the peace of mind." We didn't know what she meant but felt it was not our place to ask.
On the highway, Abbess Paracleta asked Sharon to pass her purse. We watched as Abbess Paracleta knee-nudged the wheel and took from her bag a letter envelope, which she set on her lap. And from the envelope, she slipped folds of pink sliced ham.
As if she felt our gaze, she spoke. "Most meats will travel well," she said. "Slip cured meats in an envelope, toss it in your handbag, and you will find it later—" here she tore a slice and stuffed one half, then the other, into her mouth "—when you're crying in a phone booth, or when you're alone in the unlit stairwell of a dark, damp parking garage." She swallowed, licked a thumb. "And you will rejoice."
We had known our share of damp, dark places. She ate with one hand and steered with the other, and we counted the miles that passed. The land outside our window was the continuous kind of ground: sweeping sameness with no intervals, no ways of marking difference.
Tim Gary had no mandible.
He told us about his jaw while we unpacked our trunks in the attic of his home, a little cottage he had built himself.
"You're probably wondering what happened to my jaw," was how he started the story.
Abbess Paracleta stabbed a broom at the corners of the attic and coughed at the dust. Tim
Gary had assembled four cots in a row. We pulled our flannel sheets over the frames, stuffed pillows into cases. Abbess Paracleta said, "The sisters are tired from their trip, Tim Gary. Maybe save the story."
But Tim Gary spoke without interruption. Without a jaw, his face dropped into neck just below the cheekbones, and when he spoke his words came out flat and toneless.
Last winter, he had a suffering section of jaw removed, then another, then another. Next year, if he could save the money, doctors would rebuild his jaw with a piece of bone from his lower leg.
He had known hurt. After the surgery, his lips were numb for months, and he subsisted on liquids. Green ice pops were better than orange; chicken broth was too salty and made him bloat. Without the bone, his tongue was unmoored. Now he was back to eating solid foods, but his meals had to be soft and easy. He brushed his teeth with a toothbrush made for a boy.
"And now the cancer's gone, but so's my jaw bone," was how he ended the story. Tim Gary had found good work driving town kids to school in a broad yellow bus, parked outside his home. He had no cancer, and he had no jaw, but Tim Gary had his habits. And, he told us, he wouldn't be changing them. Not for us, not for anyone. He woke early and liked a nap before afternoon pick-up. He drank fat Pepsi and canned beer. Used paper plates and plastic forks, because he had no interest in washing.
"No interest in cleaning at all," Abbess Paracleta said, and dragged a finger across the window glass.
"We keep a clean house," we said. "We'll be tidy. We're grateful, Tim Gary, that you're taking us in."
He nodded, but we saw that this was not the thanks he wanted.
We told him we were excited to worship here in Judith Gap. Would he help us with the chapel? We'd need an altar, a crucifix, a lectern.
He nodded again, satisfied this time. He wasn't a Christian man, but he worked with granite, he said. He installed countertops for anyone who'd let him. He pulled from his shirt pocket a business card and showed us a picture: a gleaming slab counter, crystalline and freckled with feldspar. Colonies of color blooming at random.
He also had, he said, half a nursing degree and an ex-wife in Bozeman.
Abbess Paracleta said, "Not sure either of those will be of much use."
"But a granite altar—that'll be lovely," we said quickly, and we saw that it made Tim Gary glad.
For supper, Abbess Paracleta grilled pork chops and fried russet potatoes and served peaches in halves. Poured room-temp birch beer straight, no ice. On the table, the food steamed, and we salivated while we waited to pray.
For Tim Gary, Abbess Paracleta toasted bread and buttered it limp. She scrambled an egg and sliced a banana and stuck a straw in milk. He told her, before he tried his food, that what was in front of him was the best dinner he'd ever had.
And that's when Tim Gary started to cry. Tiny, pained gasps. He palmed fast at his cheeks and eyes.
We said, "What is it, Tim Gary?"
He said, "Oh, I just feel very blessed, is all." He slipped a sliver of banana between his lips.
We held hands. Abbess Paracleta issued a prayer of gratitude, concluding with the words,
"May God's work be done here in Judith Gap."
We denied ourselves no pleasures, refused no excess. We salted and ketchupped. We ate with our hands. Stuffed in more than could comfortably fit. When milk dribbled from Tim Gary's mouth, Abbess Paracleta lifted a napkin to his chin.
We ate until there was nothing left to chew, and then we gathered the bones and peach pits and Tim Gary's straw and walked them to the trash out back. We stood for a moment to take in the yard. Tim Gary kept a low basketball hoop gone threadbare and a thick stiff garden hose.
And beyond that, a half-acre of high grass left untended.
We saw possibility. We could string a clothesline from the hoop to the house and hang our wash. There was enough yard space to grow squash and leafy greens, and radishes would take just fine. And maybe, from the thick branch of the oak tree whose roots reached the house's brick, we could hang a rope swing.
For joy, we squeezed each other's hands.
Inside, Abbess Paracleta was sponging dishes, and we heard Tim Gary say, "Oh, but you never visit, and I've always wanted to show you the turbines." He looked at us. "And the sisters want to see them."
That was not, in fact, what we wanted. We wanted hot tea and to sleep until morning. Wanted to lose our habits and pull on flannel pants. But we succumbed. We silenced our objections for this man who had taken us in.
Tim Gary fired up the school bus, and we claimed the wide rows in the back. The seats were cracked plastic, the backs studded with chewed gum.
Abbess Paracleta sat up front, behind Tim. When we got to gliding on 191, she turned to us and called down, "You ever seen a turbine before?"
Only on the computer screen, we told her. We recalled the poise of the keeling blades and their proud, plumb stance.
Tim Gary drove through town with the unhurried calm of a confident man. Judith Gap was dark aside from the bright lights that made the fill station seem to hover above the earth. The bus made such noise as it went, and when Abbess Paracleta addressed us again, we didn't hear her until she stood to scream, "Why'd. You leave. Ohio."
We looked at each other and shrugged. We yelled up, "We finally examined our unexamined parish."
She goaded us. "Hypocrisy? Corruption?"
We hesitated. We shook our heads. We walked to the front of the bus and told her the truth: It was something Father Lucas said. We had heard him speaking with the deacon in the sacristy after mass. We listened, back in the vestry, as they discussed the reasons a woman might become a nun. And we heard Father Lucas say, "It's not so hard, when you look at the sisters of this parish, to see how they'd have trouble getting themselves a husband." And we looked at this man and felt only cataclysmic contempt.
We told Abbess Paracleta, "And we knew we needed each other more than we needed to tolerate him."
Abbess Paracleta was silent, but we could tell she understood. Maybe she already knew, like we did, that obedience and devotion need not involve submission.
Outside the bus, we stood, stunned.
The turbines surrounded us and went on for miles, but all we could see were their tiny red lights that blinked against the black night. Warning signs in excess. The lights flashed, steady and in synchrony, and we spun to see them, to confirm that yes, the turbines behind us blinked with the turbines before us. The red lights stretched forever, dim off in the distance and severe near the road.
These were the same wheels we had seen turning proudly in daytime, but they struck us then as anxious. Afraid. As if these lights were insistent reminders that though we couldn't see them, the turbines kept on with their work, that while we weren't watching, their blades turned with a constancy we could only imagine.
Tim Gary said, "Let's go look up close."
We followed him single file through damp grass. Abbess Paracleta stopped to look at something that clung to her shoe. We gathered around her and shrieked to identify, when we peered close, the wet limp body of a fallen bat.
Tim Gary said, "Poor guy. Some days, there's hundreds of them."
Up close, the turbines were fat as ships. The wind rushed at us, and we walked circles around the giant glinting tubes, stepping over puckered bodies of bats, and we knocked the metal to hear the hollow ring. The red lights flashed on and off and on again.
Tim Gary showed us the low staircase and the oval door the engineers used to enter the turbines for maintenance. He said, "I've been up there. They let me go up. I can see my elm tree, looking out the top, and on a clear day, I can count the cows on Bob Lee's ranch."
We asked him if there was anything to do about the bats. Maybe the turbines could be turned off at night, when bats were liable to go flying, we said.
He shook his head. "No. No, no. We need the nighttime wind. And besides," he said, "it's my belief that the bats go looking for the blades."
We did not disagree. We did not say that this seemed hyperbolic, that surely no bat sought the kind of pain that the turbines imposed.
Tim Gary said, "Some days, I don't blame them. Some days, I want to make like a bat.
Hit the ground and never get up."
His sister did not comfort him. She stood close to the turbine in her heavy habit and put a hand to the metal. And she said, "Tim Gary, that is no way to talk."
He looked at the ground and kicked a clod of dirt until it came apart.
She said, "You don't go saying things like that. You can think them, but you do not say them aloud."
Tim Gary shrugged and walked on. We sensed with discomfort the enormous unknowable realities that existed between people who shared blood and a surname, but not their lives.
The ceiling lights in Tim Gary's home were clouded with moths. We swatted at them, but they persisted.
"Stay the night," Tim Gary said to his sister. He offered tea. He could put clean sheets on the sofa bed. She must be too tired to drive, he said.
But Abbess Paracleta shook her head. She had a long drive back to the convent in Helena; she needed to be back for the rosary at dawn. She would come visit soon, she said. She shook our hands, and then she took hold of Tim Gary and drew him to her close and, just as quickly, loosed her arms and was out the door. As she went, we watched her handbag swing.
We must have woken him up, because Tim Gary came down from his bed to see us icing our knees, the roller-skates abandoned on the linoleum.
"Hello," he said. "I see you found my sister's skates."
Embarrassed, we said, "Oh, yes. Just thought we'd try them. We're sorry for waking you, Tim Gary."
He shook his head. "I was awake. Came down for a glass of milk."
In the kitchen, we told him to sit. We could pour him milk. We opened and closed the cupboard doors in search of a tall glass. His cupboards were filled with cans of Spam and beef stew, lidded with dust—foods from bygone days when he could chew with ease.
When the milk was poured, we turned to Tim Gary. Where did he keep his straws? He had just the one straw, he said, the one he had at dinner, and he used it always. His sister had brought it from Helena after his jaw operation. A time, he said, when her patience was broader and her love less finite. We walked out back to retrieve the straw from the trash can where we had tossed it. We thrilled to find it had been preserved, as if by miracle; it was neither flattened nor kinked. Still straight. We rinsed it in hot water and slipped it into the thick white milk, and we watched Tim Gary drink it all in one go. His soft throat rippled as the milk disappeared.
We sat for some time without speaking, not because we had nothing to say but because we were overcome with the sense, immediate and powerful, that our work in Judith Gap would be more difficult than we had imagined.
How wonderful it would be, to wring ourselves of expectations of all that would happen. We had come to Judith Gap intending to create a chapel, to foster a new community, to build for ourselves a new life.
We would stay six months. The people of Judith Gap had no interest in a place to pray; we learned to recognize when a chapel wasn't wanted. But from Tim Gary, we learned to be needed. We learned not to tell a despairing man, as he cried and swayed atop a grain silo, that he wasn't seeing things right. He needed to be asked careful questions. His was a despair that required patience. His loneliness was enough to rot a bag of sugar, and he needed to know his pain was not easily dismissed.
And then we learned the precise color of a man's lips after he swallowed a half-gallon of anti-freeze: not blue, but gray. Gray, like tile caulk. We learned it took an ambulance more than 45 minutes to find its way to Judith Gap, and a body only a half-hour to shut down. And after Tim Gary died, we heard from Abbess Paracleta. She wrote to us from Missoula, where she had moved to live a cloistered life. We had invited her to the funeral, but she could not come. She thanked us for doing our work in Judith Gap. She would pray for us, she wrote. She asked us to write and tell her what the autopsy said—if it was the cancer, in the end.
When we left Judith Gap, we would look back on this first night: our tender, bleeding knees, and the rare keen feeling that we might be able to reach someone. The feeling that there was room for us to foster growth and hope.
Before you meet a man, you imagine he will have all the bones that you do, more or less. But there, across the table, was our charge, our jawless new friend. He sucked and sucked at his glass of milk, and never stopped to take a breath.


text:
Green Seersucker Burp Cloth
The burp cloths are one of our most practical products! Made from super absorbent, traditional cloth diapers, these burp cloths feature beautiful, fabric panels and come tied with grosgrain ribbon. The burp cloths are an easy and useful gift to bring to new parents at the hospital, with a meal or on their own!
14.5" x 21"
100% cotton
Care Instructions
Wash colors separately, cold water, no bleach, dry low heat


text:
At CoffeeRoast Co., we are passionate about coffee. Every piece from our catalog is designed and rigorously tested to make sure you get perfect and consistent roasts every time.
We've partnered with various manufacturers that operate around the globe under a strict set of guidelines both on a local and corporate level so that when you shop with us, you will be able to select from the highest quality coffee roasters and coffee equipment available on the market.
Whether you are a coffee enthusiast or a small business owner, you're sure to find whatever so you have the perfect roast you've been looking for.
Any questions or concerns? Please call us at (312)-298-9262 or email us at firstname.lastname@example.com and a member of our professional support team will be in touch with you as soon as possible.
CoffeeRoast Co. will ship orders as soon as possible in the order they are received. If you purchase multiple items, they will be shipped to you based on lead time and availability. This way you get as much of your order as soon as possible, which means that your order may come in separate packages, especially if you order products from different brands.
We will pay shipping for products returned due to product defect, misrepresentation, or false description. Afterward, we will initiate a full reimbursement should you decline an offer to replace the item with the same item of equal value and assured quality.
Order Confirmation:
As soon as you place your order with CoffeeRoast Co. you will receive an order confirmation e-mail. This means that your order has been logged in our system and your credit card has been pre-authorized for the purchase. We then work with our partners to confirm and prepare your order for shipment. If any item you order is on backorder or unavailable for whatever reason, we will cancel the credit card authorization and duly inform you via e-mail.
Order Shipment:
Orders are shipped within five business days from the date you place your order unless specified otherwise on the product page. The product page will contain the most accurate estimate on shipping and lead times. Shipping and lead times provided on the product page are our best estimates based various factors including order volume, information from our partners, shipping issues, etc., and may vary due to these factors.
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We back all our products with a customer satisfaction guarantee, so we've created a fair return and cancellation policy.
In most cases, once the order is processed, it is final and not cancellable due to the larger nature of these products. Requests for returns/exchanges after the item has been delivered will be evaluated on a case by case basis. Any return request is subject to an administrative and cancellation fee equal to 10% of your order with a minimum of $35.
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Return or exchanges request submission must be within 14 calendar days upon receipt of shipment unless noted otherwise on the product description page. Your return must be in original packaging and unused.
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At CoffeeRoast Co., we ensure that you get the absolute best prices for coffee roasters, all while ensuring the highest quality. As always, high-quality roasters do not come cheap, but we ensure that they are reasonably priced using our exclusive contracts with the best coffee roaster manufacturers.
We want you to be able to make your purchase with us in confidence. Putting our money where our mouth is, we offer you a price guarantee on all orders. If you find out within six months from your purchase of an item from CoffeeRoast Co. was offered at a lower price than us from the time of purchase, we will refund the difference.
To get a refund, all you need to do is e-mail us a link to the product on our website and the same product on our competitor's website within six months from the date of your purchase, and we will process the refund accordingly.
Terms and Conditions of our 100% Price Guarantee:


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ST-XL MNG Faber 4mm '59 ABR Studs, Steel, glossy, XL- 38mm length
As has been noted on Internet forums, Gibson® drills holes for their ABR-1 bridge studs approximately 1" deep, but uses short bridge studs which are only inserted about half that depth.
When using longer studs that "bottom out" in the holes, improvement in tone has been reported.
Faber® is happy to introduce our new steel "ST-XL" 38mm" long studs for ABR-1!
This is a simple "remove and replace" modification that can enhance the tone of your guitar! Available in gloss or aged nickel plated steel
(studs only - keep your existing thumb wheels).
Shipping weight: | 0,10 Kg |


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St. Pete Records and Furnish Me Vintage are now under one roof! Shop vintage vinyl from all genres and new pressings of classic and contemporary titles. We even have tapes and CDs.
We present fine vintage mid-century modern furniture alongside Danish, Hollywood Regency and Chinoiserie. Our furniture is marked by quality and timeless modern design.
Furnish Me Vintage is always looking for quality mid-century modern furniture, art, lighting, and records. We seek designer, Danish, teak, rosewood and anything that is interesting. Tattered? It doesn't matter, we can fix it. If you are selling, e-mail us photos and info.
We like smiles. Read our reviews and write one yourself.
We buy quality furniture from individuals.
Fine vintage furniture for every room of your home!


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Let's be honest: This is the game that scares Lakers fans.
We know that the Celtics fans will come and be loud, expecting a coronation. We know that the Celtics themselves will come out and play like this is their game seven. We know it will be physical and the refs are not going to be as much help as we'd like.
We also know every game in this series has been close, and that the Lakers can win — but to do so they will have play their best game of the series.
Usually by this point in a seven-game series there are no secrets, no big matchup changes that can be sprung to turn the tide. And that is largely true coming into this game, although because of injuries and lack of execution there are some things that can be changed up for the Lakers.
On offense, the Lakers need to get to the basket and finish strong — it would be nice if Kobe could do more of that but the Celtics have worked hard to take that part of his game away. Kwame a. had a one suggestion on what to try to get Kobe going:
I think it imperative to play Kobe OFF the ball more. Whether this means cross-screens on the block to give him good post position, or running him off single-doubles on the baseline like Rip Hamilton and Ray Allen, or off the slice cut in the triangle, getting him a head-start to the basket. No matter what, we cannot stick with this top-of-the-key iso, it is asking Boston to flex its defensive prowess.
It is obvious that Odom and Gasol both need to be forces inside, both getting to the rim and on the offensive boards. They were more aggressive in game five but will have to take that to another level tonight.
Defensively, the Lakers need to play off of Paul Pierce more, make sure he doesn't get to the rim, something coach Anthony Macri talked about at Basketball Prospectus:
The Lakers were largely successful in defending the Spurs' side pick-and-pop action in the Western Conference Finals. However, their ability to guard high ball-screen action against an offensive player as big, versatile, and strong as Paul Pierce is has been a bugaboo for Los Angeles during this series. If they have any hope of defeating the Celtics, the Lakers must find an effective method of defending this ball-screen action. Because Garnett is such a capable outside shooter, L.A. cannot afford to trap the ball-handler. Their typical soft-hedge and fight over technique has also proven ineffective. Instead, in Games Six and Seven, expect the Lakers to find a way under the screen, daring Pierce to shoot the long jumper off the dribble but preventing him from wreaking havoc in the lane. Again, defense in the NBA is all about making choices, and at this point, with their proverbial "backs against the wall," the Lakers have little choice but to attempt the high-risk solution.
Pierce is going to hit jumpers, he's a great player, but fewer jumpers will fall than lay-ups. The Lakers have to force him into help, they have to be smarter on their defensive rotations. The Lakers need to take advantage of when Rondo is in the game by helping off him — but stop doing that on House.
But after five games, this game is going to come down to execution. So far in this series it is the one area the Celtics have outplayed the Lakers consistently — they have done what they wanted to do while the Lakers have seemed to take some mental vacations.
As fans, all we can do is wear our lucky rally cap, hope the Lakers execute tonight and cheer (and not some creepy government-approved cheer but something from the heart). It's one game at a time still, for us and the team.
May the best team win tonight.


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Silenced Cry by Marta Stephens is a solid and engaging bit of fiction, and the author is certainly a convincing new voice in crime fiction. Her book carries on the fine tradition of the police crime novel, and I enjoyed it very much.
Ms. Stephens leads the reader deftly through a sordid, tangled mess of an investigation as a long-forgotten child murder case is unexpectedly exposed. Detective Sam Harper is plunged into the messy circumstances, sorting through the investigation's flimsy evidence while dealing with a new partner. Swirling around the edges are the long reaching ramifications of his old partner's death and his own thorny attitude on recent events in his life.
"Day three. One clue and no leads. Finding the person responsible for the baby's death after more than a decade seemed nearly improbable."
There are no surprises twists or unexpected shocks in the pages of Silenced Cry; it is a fairly straightforward crime novel, with a genuine plot and just the right amount of gripping tension. However, the story-telling is elevated above the average by superb characterization and a believable narrative atmosphere. It is part police procedural, part noir, touched around the periphery with the realistic ugliness of crime, and the complexity of human interaction.
"Owen looked up. The clouds slowly parted to reveal a scattering of stars against the moonless backdrop of the April night. Behind him stretched a row of dumpsters shoved against the wall of the savings and loan. A sour stench rose from them and mingled with the pungent odor of piss from whoever had christened the alley wall." Silenced Cry is the first entry in a series; I'm truly looking forward to the next book. I absolutely want to spend more time immersed in the world of Sam Harper.
Marta Stephens holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism/Public Relations from Ball State University, and is a member of Sisters in Crime International, Sisters in Crime Speed City Indiana Chapter, and the Midwest Writer's Workshop. Her website is at http://www.martastephens-author.com/
The second book in the Harper series, THE DEVIL CAN WAIT, will be released by BeWrite Books (UK) on November 3, 2008. Look for it in both trade paperback and e-book formats. Marta Stephens is currently working on the third book in the Harper series.


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SoCal Code Camp - Slides 29 June 2014 Morten I had a great time presenting at SoCal Codecamp today. Thank you for coming by! You can get the slides here: Download slides
Fixing Visual Studio's auto generated code 26 June 2014 Morten Windows Phone, Windows Store apps, Windows Runtime, XAML I usually have a zero-tolerance when it comes to build warnings. While granted often the warnings are benign, having a lot will very often hide the important ones. Sometimes I even set the option "treat warnings as errors" to help me enforce this. When you're building a library, you should also add XML doc comments to your classes and members, so you get full intellisense support in the projects you're using it from. Just remember to check off the following check box: This also have the benefit of giving you warnings for missing doc comments on public members, so you remember to write proper doc. However if you're building for Windows Store or Phone, there's a good chance you'll see these four warnings now: These are coming from code auto-generated by the compiler which exposes a set of public classes. You can even see these in intellisense: This is a major issue in my mind. First of all it introduces warnings in code you didn't write, and it pollutes your class library with methods that are not meant to be used. Here's what this auto-generated class looks like: The fix seems simple: Just go in and add the doc comments, and problem is solved, right? Not really. The problem is any changes you make to this file is overwritten every time you build. So we need to tweak the file right after it's being generated, but right before it's being compiled, but who's that fast? Enter: The Build Task We can use a build task to do exactly that, and tell Visual Studio to let us know that its about to compile the code and fix it ourselves. First create a new empty Windows Class Library, and add the following two references: Next add the following class and compile: XamlTypeInfoBuildTask.cs using Microsoft.Build.Framework; using Microsoft.Build.Utilities; using System; namespace XamlBuildTasks { public class XamlTypeInfoBuildTask : Task { private const string XamlTypeInfoFileName = "XamlTypeInfo.g.cs"; [Required] public string IntermediateOutputPath { get; set; } public override bool Execute() { string filename = IntermediateOutputPath + XamlTypeInfoFileName; if (!System.IO.File.Exists(filename)) return false; string code = System.IO.File.ReadAllText(filename); if (code.StartsWith("#pragma warning disable 1591")) //Already modified return true; int idx = code.IndexOf("[System.CodeDom.Compiler.GeneratedCodeAttribute"); if (idx < 0) return false; string insert = "[System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsable(System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableState.Never)]\n"; code = "#pragma warning disable 1591\n" + code.Substring(0, idx) + insert + code.Substring(idx) + "#pragma warning restore 1591\n"; System.IO.File.WriteAllText(filename, code); return true; } } } What does this class do? Simple: It has one property: The folder where the intermediate files including XamlTypeInfo.g.cs is. It then opens the file to be modified, and first injects "#pragma warning disable 1591" at the header which disables doc warnings, and re-enables it again at the bottom. At the same time we hide the class from intellisense, by setting the EditorBrowsable attribute on the class. This doesn't really remove the class from the assembly – it just tells Visual Studio to skip showing this for intellisense. To use this build-task, we need to add a little bit to the project file that causes this issue. We'll first create a .targets file with the parameters for buildtask. Place this next to the compiled DLL (and use the name of the dll where highlighted): XamlTypeInfoBuildTask.targets <Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003"> <UsingTask TaskName="XamlTypeInfoBuildTask" AssemblyFile="$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)XamlBuildTask.dll" /> <Target Name="MyBuildTask" AfterTargets="MarkupCompilePass2" BeforeTargets="CoreCompile"> <XamlTypeInfoBuildTask IntermediateOutputPath="$(IntermediateOutputPath)" /> </Target> </Project> This tells the project to run this before the compilation after the markup has been processed. It also sets the IntermediateOutputPath property on our build task, so the build task can find the file. Now the last step is to reference this .targets file from the csproj file. Open the csproj file up in notepad, and scroll down to the <Import…/> tags, and add the following (remember to modify the highlighted paths to where the targets file is: <Import Project="..\..\..\build\XamlTypeInfoBuildTask.targets" Condition="Exists('..\..\..\build\XamlTypeInfoBuildTask.targets')" /> Now when we build, we get a nice pretty build with no warnings: And here's all the auto-generated classes, gone from intellisense: Making all this simpler Naturally this is a bit of a pain having to set up over and over again. So unless you ever have to do a similar build task, you can forget everything you just read (sorry ), and just use the Nuget package I created that'll do all this for you. Simply add a reference to this nuget package, and the build task dll is downloaded and the .targets file auto-referenced. And if you want the source code? It's all available here on Github: https://github.com/dotMorten/XamlTypeInfoBuildTask Enjoy!


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Summary Care Records (SCR) are an electronic record of important patient information, created from GP medical records. They can be seen and used by authorised staff involved in a patient's direct care, both within the Practice as well as in other areas of the healthcare system.
Your Summary Care Record
Care professionals in England use an electronic record called the Summary Care Record (SCR). This can provide those involved in your care with faster secure access to key information from your GP record.
The NHS have produced an information leaflet about SCR; this is available using the link below, to either view or download as you wish.
What is an SCR?
If you are registered with a GP Practice in England, you will already have an SCR unless you have previously chosen not to have one.
It includes the following basic information:
- Medicines you are taking
- Allergies you suffer from
- Any bad reactions to medicines
It also includes your name, address, date of birth and unique NHS Number which helps to identify you correctly.
What choices do you have?
You can now choose to include more information in your SCR, such as significant medical history (past and present), information about management of long term conditions, immunisations and patient preferences such as end of life care information, particular care needs and communication preferences.
Your SCR is available to authorised healthcare staff providing your care anywhere in England, but they will ask your permission before they look at it. This means that if you have an accident or become ill, healthcare staff treating you will have immediate access to important information about your health.
This Practice supports SCR however, as a patient you have a choice:
- If you would like an SCR you do not need to do anything and an SCR will be created for you
- If you do NOT want an SCR please complete the online SCR opt out form, or alternatively if you wish you can download the Form and hand it in to the Practice
Remember, you can change your mind about your SCR at any time. Talk to our Practice if you want to discuss your option to add more information or decide you no longer want an SCR. If you do nothing we will assume you are happy for us to create a SCR for you.
Vulnerable patients and carers
Having an SCR that includes extra information can be of particular benefit to patients with detailed and complex health problems. If you are a carer for someone and believe that this may benefit them, you could discuss it with them and their GP Practice.
Who can see my SCR?
Only authorised, professional healthcare staff in England who are involved in your direct care can have access to your SCR. Your SCR will not be used for any other purposes.
These staff:
- Need to have a Smartcard with a chip and passcode
- Will only see the information they need to do their job
- Will have their details recorded every time they look at your record
Healthcare professionals will ask for your permission if they need to look at your SCR. If they cannot ask you because you are unconscious or otherwise unable to communicate, they may decide to look at your record because doing so is in your best interest. This access is recorded and checked to ensure that it is appropriate.
SCRs for children
If you are the parent or guardian of a child under 16, and feel they are able to understand this information you should show it to them. You can then support them to come to a decision about having an SCR and whether to include additional information. You may request to opt them out of SAR; any opt-out requests on behalf of children will be carefully considered.
For information on how the NHS will collect, store and allow access to your electronic records visit NHS UK.


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Chair Yoga
September 21, 2027 @ 10:30 am - 11:30 am
We are offering Chair Yoga on Tuesday mornings taught by Alf Bashore. Chair Yoga helps build strength, balance, and energy in gentle but challenging classes. The regular practice of Yoga offers positive progressive change while remaining a fun way to grow.


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Medical guidance for DLA and AA decision makers (adult cases): staff guide
Medical guidance for DWP staff who make decisions on adult cases for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and for Attendance Allowance (AA).
This guide for staff is written with help from experts involved in patient care. It contains background information on the most common medical conditions relevant to claims for Disability Living Allowance (adult cases) and Attendance Allowance – not all medical conditions. It covers the treatment, the likely disabling effects and the likely impact on ability to self-care and get around.
Printed versions of this guide are not available.
Child cases
There is a separate guide for DWP staff who make decisions on child cases for Disability Living Allowance.
Why we publish this guide
We publish this guide to help people understand how we make decisions.
Information for claimants
See www.gov.uk/attendance-allowance
You can no longer make a new claim for Disability Living Allowance for adults.
Updates to this page
Last updated 21 April 2023 + show all updates
Updated medical guidance for DLA decision makers (adult cases) staff guide: removed section on Sarcoidosis.
Updated medical guidance for DLA decision makers (adult cases) staff guide: changes made to 'Endometriosis'.
Added link to corresponding guide for child cases
First published.


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Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science
Department of Mechanical Engineering
The objective of the Bachelor of Science degree program in Mechanical Engineering is to produce Mechanical Engineering graduates who will be capable of undertaking challenging projects that require knowledge of the fundamentals and design of mechanical and thermal systems. The program seeks to build Mechanical Engineers to meet the needs of analysis, design, and development in industry, as well as to educate them to be innovators and policy makers. The BS degree program will provide the necessary training and education for future engineers who will effectively identify new problems and develop innovative solutions, including new manufacturing and fabrication technologies.
Mechanical Engineering (BS)
Program Educational Objectives for Mechanical Engineering
One broad goal for the Erik Jonsson School is to provide an excellent education for our students. Within a few years after graduation, graduates of the Mechanical Engineering Program should:
- Be on a successful career path as competent professionals in their chosen field or by pursuing advanced study.
- Serve their professional roles in a responsible and ethical manner to meet the needs of engineering and society.
- Be effective contributors or leaders in professional settings, including contributions to multidisciplinary teams.
- Actively pursue life-long learning through advanced education, self-study, professional development, etc.
High School Preparation
Engineering education requires a strong high school preparation. Pre-engineering students should have high school preparation of at least one-half year in trigonometry and at least one year in elementary algebra, intermediate and advanced algebra, geometry, pre-calculus, chemistry, and physics, thus developing their competencies to the highest possible levels and preparing to move immediately into demanding college courses in calculus, calculus-based physics, and chemistry for science majors. It is also essential that pre- engineering students have the competence of reading comprehension, and to write logically, clearly and correctly.
ABET Accreditation
The BS program in Mechanical Engineering is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, www.abet.org.
Lower-Division Study
All lower-division students in Mechanical Engineering concentrate on mathematics, science, and introductory engineering courses, building competence in these cornerstone areas for future application in upper-division engineering courses. The following requirements apply both to students seeking to transfer to UT Dallas from other institutions as well as to those currently enrolled at UT Dallas, whether in another school or in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science.
Academic Progress in Mechanical Engineering
In order to make satisfactory academic progress as a Mechanical Engineering major, a student must meet all University requirements for academic progress, and must earn a grade of C- or better in each of the "major requirements" courses. No "Major Requirements" course may be taken until the student has obtained a grade of C- or better in each of the prerequisites. If a higher grade requirement is stated for a specific class, the higher requirement applies.
Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering
Degree Requirements (127 semester credit hours)1
Professors: Hongbing Lu , S.O. Reza Moheimani , Dong Qian , Mario A. Rotea , Seung M. You
Associate Professors: Fatemeh Hassanipour , Stefano Leonardi , Yaoyu Li , Arif Malik , Walter E. Voit
Clinical Associate Professors: Dani Fadda , Robert Hart
Assistant Professors: William Anderson , Wonjae Choi , Robert D. Gregg , Giacomo (Valerio) Iungo , Ann Majewicz , Majid Minary , Wooram Park , Zhenpeng Qin , Tyler Summers , Yonas Tadesse , Jie Zhang
Senior Lecturers: Terry V. Baughn , James Hilkert , Oziel Rios , P.L. Stephan Thamban
UT Dallas Affiliated Faculty: Andrew J. Blanchard , Yves J. Chabal , Kyeongjae (KJ) Cho , Babak Fahimi , Bruce E. Gnade , Matthew J. Goeckner , Wenchuang (Walter) Hu , Jiyoung Kim , Moon J. Kim , Jeong-Bong Lee , Mark W. Spong , Mathukumalli Vidyasagar , Robert M. Wallace , Steve Yurkovich
I. Core Curriculum Requirements: 42 semester credit hours2
Communication: 6 semester credit hours
RHET 1302 Rhetoric
ECS 3390 Professional and Technical Communication3
Mathematics: 3 semester credit hours
Life and Physical Sciences: 6 semester credit hours
PHYS 2326 Electromagnetism and Waves5
Language, Philosophy and Culture: 3 semester credit hours
Select any 3 semester credit hours from Language, Philosophy and Culture core courses (see advisor)
Creative Arts: 3 semester credit hours
Select any 3 semester credit hours from Creative Arts core courses (see advisor)
American History: 6 semester credit hours
Select any 6 semester credit hours from American History core courses (see advisor)
Government / Political Science: 6 semester credit hours
GOVT 2305 American National Government
GOVT 2306 State and Local Government
Social and Behavioral Sciences: 3 semester credit hours
ECS 3361 Social Issues and Ethics in Computer Science and Engineering6
Component Area Option: 6 semester credit hours
PHYS 2125 Physics Laboratory I5
II. Major Requirements: 79 semester credit hours7
Major Preparatory Courses: 29 semester credit hours beyond Core Curriculum
CHEM 1111 General Chemistry Laboratory I
CHEM 1311 General Chemistry I
CS 1325 Introduction to Programming
ECS 1100 Introduction to Engineering and Computer Science
MATH 2420 Differential Equations with Applications
MECH 1100 Introduction to Mechanical Engineering I8
MECH 1208 Introduction to Mechanical Engineering II8
MECH 2120 Mechanics of Materials Laboratory
ENGR 2300 Linear Algebra for Engineers
MECH 2310 Statics
MECH 2320 Mechanics of Materials
MECH 2330 Dynamics
PHYS 2125 Physics Laboratory I5
PHYS 2126 Physics Laboratory II
PHYS 2326 Electromagnetism and Waves5
Major Core Courses: 38 semester credit hours beyond Core Curriculum
ECS 3361 Social Issues and Ethics in Computer Science and Engineering6
ECS 3390 Professional and Technical Communication3
MECH 3105 Computer Aided Design Laboratory
MECH 3115 Fluid Mechanics Laboratory
MECH 3120 Heat Transfer Laboratory
MECH 3150 Kinematics and Dynamics Laboratory
ENGR 3300 Advanced Engineering Mathematics
MECH 3305 Computer Aided Design
MECH 3310 Thermodynamics
MECH 3315 Fluid Mechanics
MECH 3320 Heat Transfer
ENGR 3341 Probability Theory and Statistics
MECH 3350 Kinematics and Dynamics of Mechanical Systems
MECH 3351 Design of Mechanical Systems
MECH 4110 Systems and Controls Laboratory
MECH 4310 Systems and Controls
MECH 4381 Senior Design Project I
MECH 4382 Senior Design Project II
Prescribed Electives: 12 semester credit hours
Students pursuing the general program take 12 semester credit hours from the list below:
MECH 3360 Introduction to Materials Science
MECH 3370 Applied Thermodynamics
MECH 4301 Intermediate Mechanics of Materials
MECH 4320 Applications of Computational Tools in Thermal Fluid Science
MECH 4330 Intermediate Fluid Mechanics
MECH 4340 Mechanical Vibrations
MECH 4360 Introduction to Nanostructured Materials
MECH 4370 Introduction to MEMS
MECH 4380 HVAC Systems
III. Elective Requirements: 6 semester credit hours
Free Electives: 6 semester credit hours
Both lower- and upper-division courses may count as free electives but students must complete at least 51 semester credit hours of upper-division courses to qualify for graduation.
Degree programs in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science are governed by various accreditation boards that place restrictions on classes used to meet the curricular requirements of degrees they certify. For this reason, not all classes offered by the University can be used to meet elective requirements. Please check with your academic advisor before enrolling in classes you hope to use as free electives.
Fast Track Baccalaureate/Master's Degrees
In response to the need for advanced education in Mechanical Engineering, a Fast Track program is available to well-qualified UT Dallas undergraduate students. Qualified seniors may take up to 15 graduate semester credit hours that may be used to complete the baccalaureate degree and also to satisfy the requirements for the master's degree. This is accomplished by (1) taking courses (typically electives) during one or more summer semesters, and (2) beginning graduate coursework during the senior year. Details are available from the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education.
Honors Program
The Department of Mechanical Engineering offers upper-division Honors for outstanding students in the BS Mechanical Engineering degree program. This program offers special sections of designated classes and other activities designed to enhance the educational experience of exceptional students. Admission to the Honors programs requires a 3.500 or better GPA (grade point average) in at least 30 semester credit hours of coursework. Graduation with Honors requires a 3.500 or better GPA and completion of at least 6 honors classes. These honors classes must include either Senior Honors in Mechanical Engineering (MECH 4399) or Undergraduate Research in Mechanical Engineering (MECH 4V98) and a Senior Honors Thesis must be completed within one of those two classes. While the topics may be related, the Senior Thesis does not replace the need for the student to complete a regular Senior Design Project. The other 5 honors classes can come from a mixture of Graduate level (up to a count of 4) classes and special honor sections of regular undergraduate MECH classes (up to a count of 2).
Departmental Honors with Distinction may be awarded to students whose Senior Honors Thesis is judged by a faculty committee to be of exemplary quality. Only students graduating with Departmental Honors are eligible. Thesis/projects must be submitted by the deadline that applies to MS Theses in the graduating semester to allow for proper evaluation. Students interested in Honors with Distinction are encouraged to start working on their thesis/project a year prior to graduation.
The Department of Mechanical Engineering does not offer minors at this time.
1. Incoming freshmen must enroll and complete requirements of UNIV 1010 and the corresponding school-related freshman seminar course. Students, including transfer students, who complete their core curriculum at UT Dallas must take UNIV 2020.
2. Curriculum Requirements can be fulfilled by other approved courses. The courses listed are recommended as the most efficient way to satisfy both Core Curriculum and Major Requirements at UT Dallas.
3. Semester credit hours fulfill the communication component of the Core Curriculum.
4. Three semester credit hours of Calculus are counted under Mathematics Core, and five semester credit hours of Calculus are counted as Component Area Option Core.
5. Six semester credit hours of Physics are counted under Science core, and one semester credit hour of Physics (PHYS 2125) is counted as Component Area Option Core.
6. Semester credit hours contribute to the Social and Behavioral Sciences component of the Core Curriculum.
7. Students must pass each of the "Major Requirements" courses listed in this degree plan and each of their prerequisites, with a grade of C- or better.
8. Transfer students with sufficient background may petition to substitute upper-division semester credit hours in the major for this class.


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Nonsteroidal antinflamatory drugs (NSAIDs) that block an enzyme called COX-2 relieve pain and inflammation but can cause heart attacks, stroke, heart failure, and even sudden cardiac death. This has prompted a decade-plus search for safer, but still effective, alternatives to these commonly prescribed, pain-relieving drugs.
Building on previous work that showed that deleting an enzyme in the COX-2 pathway in a mouse model of heart disease slowed the development of atherosclerosis, a team from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has now extended this observation by clarifying that the consequence of deleting the enzyme mPEGS-1 differs, depending on the cell type in which it is taken away.
In a report published in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Lihong Chen, a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of senior author Garret FitzGerald, director of the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, found that deleting mPGES-1 in macrophages markedly slows the rate at which arteries harden in mice with high levels of cholesterol. This results from a reduction in the oxidative damage done to the vessel wall due to a shift in the genes expressed because of the suppression of PGE2, a cardioprotective fat. By contrast, deletion of mPGES-1 in vascular cells had no effect.
Chen and FitzGerald are currently working on ways to deliver inhibitors of mPGES-1 selectively to the macrophages, immune system cells that live primarily in connective tissue and blood and ingest foreign particles and infectious microbes.
"While deletion or inhibition of COX-2 in mice elevates their blood pressure and predisposes them to clotting and hardening of the arteries due to suppressing the cardioprotective lipid prostacyclin, deleting mPGES-1 avoids these effects and even restrains the development of atherosclerosis," explained FitzGerald.
"Taken together these studies add more evidence that targeting the enzyme mPEGS-1 could result in a new class of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs that steer clear of heart-disease risk and even work to reduce it," said Chen.
In earlier studies, Chen showed a similarly beneficial effect of targeting macrophages in limiting the response to vascular injury of unwanted cell proliferation, such as might complicate angioplasty in humans. "Both sets of studies afford a rationale for targeted inhibition of macrophage mPGES-1 for cardiovascular benefit," said FitzGerald.
Indeed, in other ongoing studies in the FitzGerald lab, Chen has shown that macrophage mPGES-1 plays a dominant role in mediating the pain caused by PGE2. "What is exciting here," said Chen, "is the prospect of retaining the benefit of NSAIDs while substituting cardiovascular benefit for risk."
NSAIDs like ibuprofen (Advil) and naproxen (Naprosyn) relieve pain and inflammation by blocking COX enzymes that help make prostaglandins. COX-2 is the most important source of the two prostaglandins- PGE2 and prostacyclin- that mediate pain and inflammation. However, COX-2-derived prostacyclin particularly may also protect the heart, and loss of this function explains the risk of heart attacks from NSAIDs that inhibit COX-2, such as rofecoxib (Vioxx), valdecoxib (Bextra), and celecoxib (Celebrex).
The problems with COX-2 inhibitors have prompted the search for alternative drug targets that suppress pain and inflammation yet are safe for the cardiovascular system. This is where mPGES-1 comes in – it converts PGH2 (a chemical product of COX-2) into PGE2. In a 2006 study, the FitzGerald lab found that mPGES-1 deletion did not elevate blood pressure or predispose mice to thrombosis, probably by avoiding suppression of prostacyclin. In the absence of the enzyme, the diseased vessels were depleted of macrophages, which led to the predominance of vascular smooth muscle cells in blood vessel walls.
Date: April 21, 2014


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Sunday, December 23, 2012
PW's Chocolate Sheet Cake-- ooyey gooey
However when you are a parent, you learn to have faith, to hope, to look forward and then make a cake for the one who turned nine. You also learn that cooking and using a lot of butter helps in that direction. Now husband-man says that it is the banana which has the chemicals to make you happy but I think it is butter aided with loads of sugar which actually does the trick.
In the last 21 days of my attempt to make more inglish-vinglish recipes, I have bought and used as much butter as I would have probably done in a whole hunk of a year. I have never really been a very "butter" kind of person. Those creamy sticks do not turn me on and except for a lick of Amul butter here or a smear on my toast, I choose to stay away from them. Of course if I had chosen salads instead of cookies and brownies, the butter story would be different. But then what is inglish-vinglish if not an ooey gooey chocolate cake or a buttery cookie? For everything else there is alu posto.
Now many of you who read me know that I not the best of bakers, nor am I the worst of bakers. I mean I was worst, but not anymore. I have mastered enough control on my ADD to stick to 1 Cup of AP flour if the recipe says "1 Cup of AP Flour". Earlier I would have translated it to 1/2 Cup of Wheat Flour plus 1/4th Cup of Flaxseed Flour and then skipped the baking soda.
But I still have enough fear of beating butter and sugar to creamy or egg whites to stiff peaks. I try to avoid any recipe that asks for egg whites to be separated and dutch processed cocoa to be bought. Well, I also try to blame my incompetency to the absence of a shiny Kitchen Aid but guess no one has fallen for that yet.
Last week I baked this Chocolate sheet cake from Pioneer Woman.And I tell you it is the easiest and best chocolate cake I have ever made. It has loads of butter but not a single step that instructs you to beat butter and sugar. Easily my kind of cake. It is also really, really, really good. And that frosting on it is to die for. Being a sheet cake it is not that thick and makes 20 to 30 squares depending on which size you cut it. I think it is the best cake you can take to a party or potluck.
We kept a large portion of the cake cut in squares in the refrigerator and ate it over 5 days. I would warm mine to make the frosting ooze. BS , LS and the Dad like the cake cold though. If you have not soaked your dry fruits in rum (like me), give this cake a chance. Chances are Santa might just fall for it.
What you Need For the Chocolate Sheet Cake
AP Flour -- 2 cup
Sugar -- 2 cup
Salt -- 1/4tsp
Cocoa -- 4 tbsp heaped
Butter -- 2 sticks (1 stick Butter=8 tbsp=1/2 cup=4oz=113gm)
Boiling Water -- 1 cup
Buttermilk -- 1/2 cup
Eggs -- 2 whole beaten
Baking Soda -- 1 tsp
Vanilla -- 1tsp
Note: If you do not have buttermilk, the original recipe suggests you make your own. Here is how --
Mix 1 tbsp of vinegar or lime juice with 1 cup of whole Milk. Let it sit until it curdles about 8-10 minutes
What you Need for Frosting
Pecans -- 1/2 cup Finely Chopped
Butter -- 1-3/4th stick
Cocoa -- 4 tbsp
Milk -- 6 tbsp
Vanilla -- 1 tsp
Powdered Sugar -- 1 cup less than 1 pound
Semi-sweet chocolate chip -- 1/4th cup
Baked it in a 18 x 13 sheet cake pan
How I Did It
In a wide mouthed mixing bowl, add 2 cups of flour, 2 cups of sugar, and 1/4tsp salt. See, no sieve or anything. Cool isn't it.
In a saucepan, melt 2 sticks of butter. To it add 4 heaped tbsp cocoa. Stir together.
While butter is melting, start boiling a little more than 1 cup of water. Once you have mixed the butter+cocoa, add to it 1 cup of boiling water. Allow the whole mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir. Mix so that the flour mixture mixes uniformly with the coco mixture.
In a measuring cup, pour 1/2cup buttermilk. To it add 2 beaten eggs, 1 tsp baking soda, and 1 tsp vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into flour+chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan(18 x 13) and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.
Make Frosting
While cake is baking, make the frosting/icing. I started around 10 mins after the cake went in the oven.
Chop pecans finely. Melt 1 whole stick + 3/4th of another stick of butter in a saucepan. Add 4 tbsp cocoa. Add the chocolate chips. Stir to combine, then turn off heat. Add 6 tbsp milk, 1 tsp vanilla.
Now add the sugar. Now this cake is pretty sweet so I went less on the sugar in frosting. I used about 1&1/2 cup less than 1 lb of confectioners sugar. You can adjust this according to your taste. The original recipe asks for 1/2 cup less than 1 lb sugar. Mix uniformly to make a ooyey gooey chocolate frosting. Add the pecans and mix again.
Once the cake is done, take it out and pour frosting over warm cake.
You can eat the cake warm or cold. We liked it both ways.
11 comments:
Happy birthday, lovely nine-year-old girl! The cake looks good enough to make things feel better.
We're off to Kolkata today; that's another way of making things feel better. I hope you all have a merry Christmas, and the most wonderful new year, Sandeepa. Lots of hugs, new hope and much love - from me, Deba and Chotto-Ma.Same here- been happily drowning in sugar and butter these last few days- but I am sharing the love and calories too ;)
I tried this very recipe for baby girl's birthday a few months ago. It was tooth achingly sweet for me and I probably wouldn't make it again, but boy did it make a huge cake!
Happy new year to you and your family. May 2013 make us all more compassionate.- AnonymousDecember 24, 2012 3:52 PM
Happy birthday to the little one. I am trying to bake more and get used to 'beating' the butter and the sugar. I did some today. The cake looks delicious.
ReplyDelete Hi Bong Mom!
Tomar blog-ta ami aajke discover korlam. Office-e boshe achchi, bindu matro kaaj korchhi na, and heehee kore hashchhi. Boddo bhalo lekho go!
Amaro ekta chhotto blog achche, ei shobe shuru korechhi. Aishwarya Eats. Sunday-te barite bake kori. Ekhono shikhchi. But I agree with you on one thing. Oi je likhle na, "I try to avoid any recipe that asks for egg whites to be separated and dutch processed cocoa to be bought." I swear to God, je recipe-te eggs separate korte hobe, I just move on. And Dutch process cocoa? Delhi-te toh pawai jayena.
Thanks for this blog, it has really made my day! Amar Ma-o dekhte chaye ekhon!