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TURIN, Italy (AP) -- Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said Monday that the merged company will be able to increase production to more than 6 million cars a year, a level he has long said is the minimum for an automaker to compete in the global market.
Marchionne aims to complete the legal merger of Fiat and Chrysler by the end of 2014 to create Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, the world's seventh-largest automaker, and will outline a new multi-year business plan in Detroit in May.
"By 2018, Fiat will be able to make more than 6 million cars," Marchionne told reporters after a Fiat shareholders' meeting in the Italian company's historic headquarters in Turin. "I don't want to give any details of the plan, but we are going in that direction."
The carmakers delivered a combined 4.4 million cars last year, and Marchionne said they aim to sell 4.5 million to 4.6 million this year, mostly on the strength of the U.S. and Asian markets.
Marchionne had often cited the 6 million figure as a threshold automakers need to reach to be profitable in the increasingly crowded global market. But he has shied away in recent years from forecasting that Fiat Chrysler might achieve that level as sales in Europe bottomed out in the economic crisis.
Shares in Fiat rose 2.4% in Milan after Marchionne's upbeat forecast for production.
The CEO will detail strategy for the carmaker, including an update on his plans to raise production volumes in Fiat's under-utilized Italian plants of higher-margin Maserati and Alfa Romeo-brand vehicles for export. The company is also likely to focus on boosting sales in China and Russia, high-growth markets where the company is behind competitors.
He said he believes the company can finance the five-year plan without selling assets or raising capital
"We can run this by purely financing on debt," Marchionne said.
Marchionne, who has been running Chrysler since it emerged from bankruptcy nearly five years ago, won a hard-fought deal to buy the last remaining stake in January, clearing the way for the merger.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will have its legal headquarters in the Netherlands and fiscal headquarters in Britain. Shares will be traded in New York and Milan.
Marchionne told shareholders it would be "disingenuous" if he did not recognize the emotional aspects of merging two automakers with distinct histories.
"The truth, however, is that our strength today derives from the union of these two realities, from the fact that each will conserve its own identity and will make available its own strong points," Marchionne said.
As is customary at Fiat, individual shareholders in the company, many who have attended meetings for decades, were allotted five minutes each to address management. Shareholder Giovanni Antonini asked if Fiat Chrysler would organize charters to Amsterdam, saying "I would be sorry not to participate anymore."
Marchionne's response: No.
The CEO told shareholders that he is in talks with Russia's largest bank, OAO Sberbank, on a joint venture to produce Jeeps in the first phase. Fiat and Sberbank signed a letter of intent for the venture in 2012, but no progress has been announced.
He confirmed 2014 targets of 93 billion euros ($128 billion) in revenues for the combined automaker, with net profit at between 600 million euros and 800 million euros. Net industrial debt was forecast at between 9.8 billion euros and 10.3 billion euros.


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The first yearlong mission to the international space station (ISS) will launch in 2015 and feature an American-Russian crew, NASA announced Oct. 5.
Two astronauts — one Russian and one American — will launch together in spring 2015 on an experimental endurance mission that will last twice as long as current stays aboard the orbiting lab. The main goal is to gather data that will help lay the groundwork for manned flights to destinations in deep space, officials said.
"In order for us to eventually move beyond low-Earth orbit, we need to better understand how humans adapt to long-term spaceflight," Michael Suffredini, NASA's ISS program manager, said in a statement. "The space station serves as a vital scientific resource for teaching us those lessons, and this year-long expedition aboard the complex will help us move closer to those journeys."
The announcement confirms speculation that has been bubbling for several months. In late September, a Russian space official claimed the marathon mission was a done deal, but NASA would say only that such a flight was under consideration.
Launching two astronauts means that one seat on the mission's three-person Soyuz spacecraft may be available for another crew member.
Vienna, Va.-based Space Adventures announced Oct. 10 in Moscow that British recording artist Sarah Brightman will be part of a three-person crew traveling to the ISS aboard a Soyuz.
During the 12 years that people have lived continuously aboard the space station, scientists have learned a lot about how microgravity affects the human body. They have documented significant effects, for example, on bone density, muscle mass, strength and vision.
But that information has been based on orbital stays that lasted a maximum of six months. Studying astronauts on a yearlong mission should yield even greater insights into crew health and performance, researchers said.
"We have gained new knowledge about the effects of spaceflight on the human body from the scientific research conducted on the space station, and it is the perfect time to test a one-year expedition aboard the orbital laboratory," said Julie Robinson, NASA's international space station program scientist. "What we will gain from this expedition will influence the way we structure our human research plans in the future."
NASA has a keen interest in learning how the human body holds up for long stretches in space. The agency aims to send astronauts to a near-Earth asteroid by 2025 and Mars by the mid-2030s. A manned roundtrip journey to Mars would take around two years, according to some mission concepts.
Neither NASA nor the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, has revealed who the two astronauts will be. A few months ago, however, Russia's Interfax news agency reported that the NASA crew member could be Peggy Whitson, who recently stepped down as the agency's chief astronaut to rejoin its active spaceflying ranks.
While no astronaut has yet stayed aboard the ISS for 12 continuous months, such a long stay in orbit is not unprecedented. Cosmonaut Valery Polyakov lived aboard Russia's Mir space station from January 1994 until March 1995, spending 438 consecutive days off the planet.

subset: commoncrawl


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April 11, 2011
KRISS Arms Group (KAG), Switzerland, manufacturer of the new KRISS K10 Super V Vector XSMG multi-caliber submachine gun (SMG) and DEFIANCE silencers/sound suppressors, recently announced the acquisition of Swiss company Sphinx Systems, Ltd., which manufactures a line of high-end tactical pistols. DefenseReview (DR) recently got the opportunity to handle the Sphinx pistols as the KRISS booth at SHOT Show 2011, and we liked what we saw.
The three Sphinx guns DR was shown were the double-action/single-action 9mm (9mm Parabellum/9x19mm NATO) compact and tactical models, and the .45 ACP single-action-only competition model. All the pistols feature an ambidextrous frame-mounted sweep-down manual thumb safety (safety/decocker on the 9mm models), so you can carry them cocked and locked. They also feature fiber-optic front sights with tritium inserts on both front and rear sights (3-dot format). Like all modern tactical/combat pistols, the Sphinx pistols incorporate a Mil-Std-1913 "Picatinny" rail system on the frame's dustcover for mounting tactical white lights and laser sights/targeting lasers.
The KRISS Sphinx Compact 9mm tactical pistol sports a 3.5-inch (3.5″) barrel, aluminum frame, and 14+1-round ammo capacity. The tactical model sports a steel frame and offers an ammo capacity of 17+1 rounds, as well as an optional extended barrel for attaching either a muzzle compensator or DEFIANCE silencer/sound suppressor. The DEFIANCE muzzle cans attach via an interesting system, which Defense Review covered in our recent article on the KRISS K10 subgun.
The Sphinx .45 ACP single-action pistol features a straight competition trigger with light trigger pull. Ammo capacity is 13+1 rounds.
All in all, the Sphinx pistols look well put together, and they ooze Swiss quality. The big questions are how will the guns perform under adverse conditions and high round count, and how will the American market (U.S. market) respond to them? How will they do against all the other more-established tactical pistol options out there, like Glock, Smith & Wesson (S&W) M&P, Springfield XD/XDM, and Heckler & Koch (HK) pistols, which are all polymer-framed pistols, as is de rigueur, today? Time and marketing will tell, but we hope the Sphinx pistols work as advertised and do well, as they appear to be of high-quality.
Company Contact Info:
PO Box 8928
Virginia Beach, VA 23450
Phone: 757-821-1089
Fax: 757-821-1094
Email Contact Page: http://www.kriss-tdi.com/contact-us/general-information.html
Website: http://www.kriss-tdi.com
Sphinx Systems Ltd.
Gsteigstrasse 12
CH-3800 Matten / Interlaken
Phone: +41 33 821 10 05
Fax: +41 33 821 10 06
Info Email: [email protected]
Media Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.sphinx-systems.ch
© Copyright 2011 DefenseReview.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without receiving permission and providing proper credit and appropriate links.
Related Articles:
KRISS K10 Super V Vector XSMG Multi-Caliber Submachine Gun (SMG) and DEFIANCE Silencers/Sound Suppressors: Redesigned and Improved .45 ACP/9mm/.40 S&W Subgun for Special Operations Forces (SOF) and Close Quarters Battle (CQB) Applications (SHOT Show 2011 Photos!)
Ghost Rocket 3.5 lb. Trigger Control Connector for Glock Pistols Enables Better Competitive Tactical Shooting with a Lighter Trigger Pull and Shorter, Faster Trigger Reset!
Smith & Wesson (S&W) M&P High-Capacity Tactical Pistols for Competition and Personal Protection: An In-Depth Military Operator/Competition Shooter's Analysis (Photos and Video!)
SIRT Training Pistol: Glock-Simulating Laser Training Pistol (with Auto-Resetting Trigger) for Better Shooting and Trigger Mechanics
Springfield Armory XDM-9 3.8 "Short Barrel" High-Capacity Compact 9mm Pistol for Concealed Carry (CCW): 20 (19+1) Rounds of Immediate Firepower!
Springfield Armory XDM Pistol: 16+1 Rounds of .40 S&W Firepower
GlockWORX Custom Glock 19 Pistol with Docter Sight Plus II Combat Optic
Springfield Armory XD-45ACP Tactical and LE Service Model .45ACP Pistols
High-Capacity 'Tactical Plastic' .45 ACP Pistols: Choices, Choices…
New Ruger SR9 Pistol: Striker-Fired Tactical Plastic for Combat Applications
Heckler & Koch (HK) P7M13 vs. Glock 19. Which is Best? The Uber War.


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Forum for Female Doctoral Candidates© RWTH Aachen
The Forum for Female Doctoral Candidates is an independent, member-run project for promoting young female researchers at RWTH Aachen. The forum is intended for female doctoral candidates in all faculties.© Hannah Fergen
Get Togethers for Female Doctoral Candidates
The Forum for Female Doctoral Candidates offers interested women a place to share experiences and information in the form of an informal network. The network is organized and planned (get togethers, joint activities) by participants themselves.
Through regularly scheduled get togethers, the candidates have the possibility to talk to other female candidates about their collective situation (or their experiences in general). The purpose is not only to cultivate cross-disciplinary communication, but also to have fun. Participants have gone bowling, played badminton, gone to Burg Vogelsang, BBQ'ed, and much more. Anyone can make suggestions about what to do.
Female doctoral candidates, who have recently moved to Aachen, can get tips for settling in and getting to know the city through the forum. Furthermore, women currently studying at the university can contact the Forum for Female Doctoral Candidates to get help in planning their own doctoral studies.
Here you can register to be included in the mailing list of the Doctoral Students Forum and manage your subscriber data.
Seminars for Female Doctoral Candidates
Within the Forum for Female Doctoral Candidates, the CDS offers seminars and workshops on topics that are important for the career development of young female academics. We welcome suggestions from participants for new seminar topics.
You can find all the events in our current seminar program for female doctoral candidates. Registration takes place online.
Career Counceling for Researchers
Sandra Kiefer


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This show was held on August 28, 2016, at Overmeade Farm in Lenox, MA, courtesy of Sally and Ken Hart. It traditionally ends the summer competition series in the Berkshires, and is recognized by the Western Massachusetts Professional Horseman's Association (WNEPHA.) It includes competitions for all levels of riding, including hunter and equitation divisions. This year's show was highly successful -- there were almost fifty entries, and over Eight Thousand Dollars was raised for BHS. This gallery will be up for at least sixty days, but may be archived at any time after that. Please feel free to look all you like; and to pass the links to others. BUT PLEASE NOTE -- Purchased prints may not be reproduced and may not be scanned for online posting. See "info about ordering" link on left for more detail.
Prints are available for purchase, as are CD's. See "info about ordering" link to the left. In summary: Print Orders -- You can order prints directly through the "Add to Cart" button to the lower right of the individual images. If you would rather that I handled the order directly, or if you're interested in print sizes or other products not available through the automated system, or if for any reason you can't make the system do what you want, or have any questions, please email me using the "contact me" link to the far left.
CD's and Special Products -- I can supply a CD containing all your images shown in the two galleries; pricing starts at $50 (thumb drive instead of CD if you prefer; small extra charge). And as some of you know, I also make (and exhibit) "fine art" prints. They differ from the normal prints in that they are on much nicer paper (usually rag) or canvas, and are custom printed (and more expensive). They can be matted and framed or not. Please inquire if interested (Contact Me link to left)) in these or anything else.


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Trac proudly powers the recruitment for
The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust
The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust is the main provider of district general hospital services for nearly half a million people in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and mid Wales.
Our main service locations are The Princess Royal Hospital in Telford and The Royal Shrewsbury Hospital in Shrewsbury, which together provide 99% of our activity.
Both hospitals provide a wide range of acute hospital services including accident & emergency, outpatients, diagnostics, inpatient medical care and critical care.
During 2012/13 the Princess Royal Hospital became our main specialist centre for inpatient head and neck surgery with the establishment of a new Head and Neck ward and enhanced outpatient facilities. It also became our main centre for inpatient Women and Children's services following the opening of the Shropshire Women and Children's Centre in September 2014.
During 2012/13, The Royal Shrewsbury Hospital became our main specialist centre for acute surgery with a new Surgical Assessment Unit, Surgical Short Stay Unit and Ambulatory Care facilities.
Together the hospitals have just over 700 beds and assessment & treatment trolleys.
Alongside our services at The Princess Royal and Royal Shrewsbury, we also provide community and outreach services such as:
Consultant-led outreach clinics (including the Wrekin Community Clinic at Euston House in Telford);
Midwife-led units at Ludlow, Bridgnorth and Oswestry;
Renal dialysis outreach services at Ludlow Hospital;
Community services including Midwifery, Audiology and Therapies.
ContactRecruitment Team or Medical Recruitment Team
[email protected] or [email protected]
01743 261000
Advanced Specialist Pharmacist - High Cost Drugs and Interface
Closed for applications on: 16-Dec-2022 00:00
Vacancy status: Closed
Closed for applications on: 16-Dec-2022 00:00
No longer accepting applications
Sorry, this vacancy is no longer accepting applications.
You can search for similar jobs on the employer's job board, or visit our national jobs board Health Jobs UK.


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We've come an incredibly long way from the initial System and Finder, but a Mac user plucked from 1984 and plopped down in front of a modern Mac wouldn't find it that foreign. We still have icons, windows, menus, and countless other interface elements that haven't changed. At the same time, both underneath the hood and in the way it connects to the outside world, Mac OS X is a completely different beast. So what can we expect from OS X over the next year or two? The short answer is "Not much beyond what we have now." OS X is Apple's core technology, and it isn't likely to change significantly in the near future.
Snow Leopard
Apple has already announced that with the next version of Mac OS X—Snow Leopard— it will focus on improving reliability and performance. Snow Leopard will add support for Microsoft Exchange and multicore computing, faster JavaScript execution, higher RAM ceilings, and access to the computing power in graphics chips, but it really represents a time-out in Apple's quest to add major new features to each new release of its OS.
In previous releases of OS X, we've gotten Time Machine, Spotlight, Dashboard, Automator, and more. But those features have often suffered from rough edges and—Spotlight and Time Machine in particular—have caused performance slowdowns. Hopefully, Snow Leopard will make using a Mac feel snappier, without requiring that we buy new Macs.
Looking beyond Snow Leopard, we can do little more than make educated guesses. As long as the basic Mac hardware remains familiar, it's hard to see the OS changing too much. I can't see Apple making more than incremental changes—along the lines of the gestural support recently added to Apple's laptops—to the graphical interface we're all accustomed to.
Will we see additional integrated apps like Safari, Mail, iChat, iCal, and Address Book? Perhaps, but only if some computer capability—like Twitter-style microblogging—becomes so ubiquitous that Apple feels it has to take control, as it has done for the Web, e-mail, instant messaging, and so on. Virtualization would seem to fit that bill, but with VMware, Parallels, and others solving the virtualization problem, don't expect Apple to go much beyond Boot Camp-I suspect that seeing Windows applications within OS X offends Steve Jobs's sensibilities.
Mac App Store?
The success of the iPhone App Store has led many people to speculate that Apple might try to do the same thing for Mac software, building a Mac App Store into iTunes and OS X. That could make it easier for everyday users to add capabilities to their Macs. And given the 30 percent cut Apple takes on App Store sales, it could prove lucrative for Apple.
However, a Mac App Store isn't nearly as obvious a move for Apple as the iPhone App Store now seems. Steve Jobs said Apple would just break even on the iPhone App Store, due to server and bandwidth costs; the vastly larger size of Mac applications would drive Apple's bandwidth costs through the roof. Developers might stay away, too, if the technical and policy restrictions for a Mac App Store were similar to those that currently cause angst among iPhone developers. Unlike with the iPhone, developers have plenty of independent ways of selling Mac software—assuming Apple doesn't try something draconian like tweaking OS X so it runs only applications that have been digitally signed by the Mac App Store.
My take? Don't hold your breath for a Mac App Store.
In the clouds
Apple has yet to fully embrace "cloud computing"—really just another term for the Internet, gussied up with modern concepts like social networking, open APIs, and software as a service. Apple is approaching the cloud conservatively, utilizing Internet connectivity and services to extend its platforms and applications, but not to radically open them up.
MobileMe's syncing, for instance, mostly just helps you manage your own information among multiple Macs, but it doesn't provide notable new ways to connect to other Mac users. And compare MobileMe's Gallery feature, where your photo sets are disconnected islands, to Flickr, where tens of millions of users have created an interconnected continent of two billion photos.
Apple's conservative attitude toward the cloud also shows in its focus on paid services—the iTunes Store, the App Store, MobileMe. I could imagine Apple embedding some additional free Internet capabilities into OS X (off-site Time Machine backups to other computers, à la CrashPlan, for instance). But I can't see Apple doing much more than that, given the company's current management style.
In sum, although I'd expect to see refinements and some new applications in Snow Leopard, the OS itself isn't likely to see any revolutionary changes in the next few years. Now, Mac OS 11? That's another story.
[Contributing Editor Adam C. Engst is also the publisher of TidBits and of the Take Control ebook series.]


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The Real Housewives of Atlanta
The Atlanta housewives continue to live their fabulous lives in Georgia's capital city in this incarnation of the popular reality TV franchise. Relationships, a staple of the "Real Housewives" shows, take center stage as usual as the ladies' love lives experience ups and downs. The sassy women's entrepreneurial spirits are also in full bloom as they juggle their personal and professional lives, along with their busy personal calendars.
Starring Porsha Williams, Claudia Jordan, Sheree Whitfield


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The University of Wyoming Geological Museum will close Monday, May 7, for its first significant renovation in decades.
Before it closes for the summer's worth of work, however, the public has a chance to grab one last look at the venerable museum -- and to get a glimpse of the facility's future.
The UW Geological Museum pre-renovation reception is scheduled Thursday, May 3, from 7-9 p.m. Activities begin with a presentation by Terry Chase, designer of the planned museum improvements, at 7 p.m. in the Berry Biodiversity Conservation Center auditorium. The group will then move to the Geological Museum to see its pre-renovation condition and learn about its future, including viewing mock-ups of some design ideas.
"People will then have the weekend to view the museum one more time before we shut the doors and get to work," says Mark Clementz, associate professor in the Department of Geology and Geophysics, who's helped in planning for the renovations.
The museum closed briefly in the summer of 2009 due to state budget cuts, drawing attention from fans of the museum from around the world. When the museum reopened in August 2009, it was with the help of private funds from the UW Foundation. Shortly after that, noted UW supporters Brainerd "Nip" and Anne Mears donated $570,000 to support the museum. Matched by state funds, the endowment now totals $1.14 million.
A second fund, in memory of noted geologist S.H. Knight, was created later in 2009. With state matching dollars, it has reached $250,000, joining with the Mears endowment to generate operating money for the 56-year-old facility.
Meanwhile, the UW president's office has allocated $500,000 in one-time money for museum upgrades. Adding that to $200,000 generated by the Mears endowment, the university has $700,000 to spend for the first phase of the project. The project aims to make the museum a focal point for student and faculty research, while giving the public an appreciation of Wyoming's geologic history and mineral resources.
This summer's work is expected to include possible removal of asbestos in the museum's floor tiles; modernization of the building's mechanical, electrical, lighting and fire protection systems; upgrading technology; updating and reinstalling existing exhibits, including new signs; and designing and installing some new exhibits.
The museum is expected to reopen in early September, but Clementz notes that this summer's work is only a start toward the long-term vision for the facility.
"The first round is mostly structural," he says. "We hope there will be enough money left over to do a few exhibits. After that, further improvements will depend upon our ability to obtain additional funding. The renovations and exhibit development will be done in stages."
The museum's long-term vision is being crafted with the help of Chase, who works for Chase Studio Inc. of Cedarcreek, Mo. The company has designed and built thousands of natural history exhibits for more than 250 museums and nature centers, establishing a worldwide reputation for attention to detail and scientific accuracy.
Clementz says members of the public will have an opportunity May 3 to ask Chase questions about what the Geological Museum will eventually look like.
The roots of the Geological Museum reach back to 1887, the year UW opened. It was a small natural history museum that consisted of the personal collection of J.D. Conley, a professor who taught a range of courses, including geology, astronomy, physics, commercial arithmetic and bookkeeping.
As UW grew and expanded, so did the museum, its collections and displays. Wilbur Knight, hired in 1893 as a professor of mining and geology, succeeded Conley as curator. Eventually, the collection outgrew its home in the Hall of Language (now Old Main), and most of it found a new one in a wing of the Mechanical Building. When the Hall of Science was completed in 1902, the museum moved there. It stayed there until 1956, when the current structure was built on the east wing of what is now the S.H. Knight Geology Building.
By that time, Knight's son, Samuel Howell Knight, had worked at the university for more than four decades. In that time, he had developed the UW Department of Geology into one of the nation's best. Knight designed the terra cotta bas-relief Stegosaurus and Triceratops panels at the front of the museum; built the copper Tyrannosaurus rex that guards the museum's entrance; and even painted several of the displays inside the museum. He also was responsible for the initial mounting of the Apatosaurus skeleton that is the centerpiece of the museum.
Among the plans for the museum is the idea of rotating some displays to feature UW's extensive collection of vertebrate and invertebrate fossils, along with rocks and minerals.
"What's on display in the museum now is the tip of the iceberg of what we have," Clementz says.
There also are plans to develop more hands-on exhibits to make museum visits an even more meaningful experience for children, who make up a good share of the museum's visitors.
The museum currently has no full-time staff and has relied upon a work-study student and two graduate students to be open to the public 34 hours a week. The hope is to eventually have several full-time staff members to help the facility realize its potential, but that will depend upon further financial contributions.
For more information about the Geological Museum, email firstname.lastname@example.com or call 307-766-2646.


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June 20, 1917 - August 9, 1994
Based on the article "Helena Rasiowa, 1917-1994" by W. Bartol, E. Orlowska, and A. Skowron from the Bulletin of the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science, Vol. 62 (1997), 353-366. Reprinted with permission of the EATCS.
Helena Rasiowa, mathematician and logician, passed away on August 9, 1994. Her influence on the shape of mathematical logic can hardly be overestimated.
She was born in Vienna on June 20, 1917 to very patriotic Polish parents. As soon as Poland had regained its independence in 1918 after more than a century of partitioned stateless existence, the whole family settled in Warsaw. Helena's father was a high-class railway specialist; his knowledge and experience in the field led him to assume very important positions in the railway administration. The girl, her parents' only child, had good conditions to grow up physically and mentally. And, indeed, she exhibited many different skills and interests, varying from music, which she was learning at a music school parallel to her normal studies in a secondary school, to business management, which she studied for more than a semester after completing her secondary education. But finally the most important of her interests, as the future was to prove, took the lead.
In 1938 the time was not very propitious for entering a university. Even if not many in Europe were convinced that war was inevitable, the next year was to prove how mistaken those of the majority were. Rasiowa had to interrupt her studies, for no legal education was possible in Poland after 1939. Many people fled the country, or at least they fled the big towns which were more subject to German bombardments and terror. So did the Ras family, also because of the fact that most high-ranking administration officials and members of the government were being evacuated to Romania. The Ras's spent a year in Lvov. After the Soviet invasion in September 1939 the town was taken over by the Soviet Union. The life of many Poles became endangered, so eventually the father decided to return to Warsaw.
Life was very restricted in Poland during the Nazi occupation. Nevertheless, there were enough courageous people to organize an underground life, not only for armed conspiracy against the Nazis, but also for the development of all the areas of a nation's life which are vital for its survival, education and, in particular, higher education among them. Thus Helena Rasiowa followed her studies in mathematics, risking her life, as did everybody who dared to conspire during that dark period.
Polish mathematics acquired particular strength in the pre-war years, mainly after the emergence of the Polish School of Mathematics in 1921. The names of Stefan Mazurkiewicz and Waclaw Sierpinski, who were in Warsaw, or those of Stefan Banach and Hugo Steinhaus, who were in Lvov, were well known to mathematicians all over the world. One of the branches which became important at that time besides functional analysis, set theory and topology, was logic, with researchers such as Jan Lukasiewicz, Stanislaw Lesniewski, Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz, Alfred Tarski and others.
Rasiowa became strongly influenced by Polish logicians. Still in conspiracy, she wrote her Master's thesis under the supervision of Jan Lukasiewicz and Boleslaw Sobocinski. History, however, turned against her once more. In 1944 the Warsaw Uprising broke out and in consequence Warsaw was almost completely destroyed, not only because of warfare, but also because of the systematic destruction which followed the uprising after it had been squashed down. Rasiowa's thesis was burned together with the whole house. She herself survived with her mother in a cellar covered by ruins of the demolished building.
After the war Polish mathematics, as all other areas of life, began to recover its institutions, its moods and its people. Many had been killed, many had died, many had left the country, but those who remained considered their duty the reconstruction of Polish science and universities. One of the important conditions for this reconstruction was to gather all those who could participate in recreating mathematics. Rasiowa had in the meantime accepted a teaching position in a secondary school. That is where she was discovered by Andrzej Mostowski and brought back to the University. She rewrote her Master's thesis in 1945 and in the next year she started her academic career as an assistant at the University of Warsaw, the institution she remained linked with for the rest of her life.
At this University she prepared and defended her Ph.D. thesis in 1950 (under the guidance of Prof. Andrzej Mostowski). The title of the thesis was "Algebraic treatment of the functional calculi of Lewis and Heyting" and it pointed to the main field of her future research, algebraic methods in logic. In 1956 she earned her second academic degree (equivalent to habilitation today) in the Institute of Mathematics of the Polish Academy of Sciences, where between 1954 and 1957 she held a post of Associate Professor jointly with an analogous position at the University, becoming Professor in 1957 and subsequently Full Professor in 1967. For the degree she submitted two papers: "Algebraic models of axiomatic theories" and "Constructive theories," which together formed a thesis named "Algebraic models of elementary theories and their applications."
Her interests were not limited to pure research. Always ready to cooperate with others and aware of the importance of a strong mathematical community, she participated in many forms of this community's activities. Since 1964 and till her retirement in 1993 she headed the section of Foundations of Mathematics and later of Mathematical Logic after its creation in 1970. For more than 15 years she was Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics, Computer Science and Mechanics (1958-1960, 1962-1966, 1968-1978). Strongly attached to the Polish Mathematical Society, she was its Secretary (1955-1957) and then Vice-President (1958-1959); in the Warsaw division of the Society she was elected President twice (1957-1959 and 1963-1965). In the Association for Symbolic Logic she was Council member (1958-1960) and member of the Executive Committee for European Affairs (1972-1977). She also was Alternate Assessor (1972-1975) and Assessor (1975-1979) in the Division of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Sciences. On the other hand, she contributed to the development of mathematics in Poland as a member of the Committee on Mathematics of the Polish Academy of Sciences from 1961 until her very last days, and as a member and, for 20 years Chairperson, of the Group on Education and Research in Mathematics of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. Since 1972 she was on the Scientific Council of the Institute of Computer Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences, guiding its works as Chairperson in 1972-1983. Last but not least, in recent years she greatly contributed to the foundation of the Polish Society of Logic and Philosophy of Science.
No description of Rasiowa's activities would be complete without a mention of her deep involvement in the development of research journals she was involved with. The most cherished by her, Fundamenta Informaticae, had been established in 1977 mostly due to her efforts, and Helena Rasiowa was its Editor-in-Chief until her death. Even when her illness began to take overtake her she never ceased to control the preparation of the consecutive issues of the journal. In particular, she acted as Editor of a special anniversary issue commemorating the publication of the 20th volume of FI in 1994. Moreover, demonstrating once more proof of her inexhaustible energy, she was an active Collecting Editor with Studia Logica (since 1974) and Associate Editor with the Journal of Approximate Reasoning since 1986.
Professor Rasiowa educated generations of students and researchers, in particular, she had supervised over 20 Ph.D. theses. Her lectures were known all over the world. She had been a visiting professor at 14 universities, ranging from Bahia Blanca in Argentina to Moscow in the Soviet Union. passing through Campinas in Brasil, UNAM in Mexico, Rome in Italy and Oxford University in England. In the USA she was hosted by universities such as Princeton, University of Chicago, University of California at Berkeley and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Moreover, she gave invited lectures at 46 universities and research establishments abroad, in some of them more than once.
She contributed to mathematical literature with three important books and more than 100 publications. The topics covered by her work include proof theory and deductive logic, algebraic methods in logic and algebras related to logics, classical and non-classical logics, algorithmic and approximation logics, and artificial intelligence. She worked on a new monograph till her very last days. The intended title was Algebraic Analysis of Non-Classical First Order Logics.
The study of the relationship between logic and algebra, originated by the work of George Boole and continued by A. Lindenbaum, A. Tarski, M.H. Stone, R. McKinsey, A. Mostowski and L. Henkin – to mention only a few – was the main research subject of Helena Rasiowa. One of the crucial moments in the development of algebraic study of logic was the introduction of Lindenbaums and Tarski's method for treating equivalence classes of formulas as elements of an abstract algebraic system. This provided a link between theories based on classical logic and Boolean algebras. An analogous correspondence between intuitionistic logic and pseudo-complemented lattices was established by Stone and Tarski, while the application of algebraic methods to modal logics was originated by McKinsey and Tarski (1944-1948). Another important idea leading to the emergence of the field of algebraic logic was the treatment of formulas as algebraic functions in certain algebras, initiated by Lukasiewicz and Post with their generalization of truth tables.
Helena Rasiowa became very active in these areas in the early fifties. Her research work on algebraic logic was aimed at finding a precise description for the mathematical structure of formalised logical systems. Her early papers contain several examples of algebras associated with logical systems as well as algebraic proofs of some of their properties. Jointly with Roman Sikorski she presented the first algebraic proof of the Gödel completeness theorem for classical predicate logic. Next, she algebraically proved analogous theorems for intuitionistic and modal logics. In other papers she turned to other nonclassical logics, applying with success the algebraic tools she had developed. All these investigations led her to a synthesis of the results hitherto obtained; she developed a general framework for an algebraic presentation of propositional and first order logics. In particular, she established elegant formal techniques for associating classes of algebras with logical systems and for providing their algebraic semantics.
Helena Rasiowa greatly contributed to the development of research in Poland on applications of logical methods in the foundations of computer science. She was one of the first to realize the great importance of mathematical logic for computer science - and at the same time she clearly saw the significance of computer science for the development of logic itself. In the last 20 years of her scientific activity she focused her efforts on the realization of this main idea through papers, seminars and research projects. Many of her students and collaborators who attended her lectures or seminars, those who wrote their PhD theses under her supervision, are now continuing the work she initiated. There remains no doubt today that she was right in the appreciation of the significance of the field. Among the authors of important research results on logical and algebraic methods in computer science the names of her students can be found quite often. Moreover, some of these important results have appeared in a journal which would not have existed without her dedication and to which she had been Editor-in-Chief for man years, i.e. Fundamenta Informaticae.
The form of this short article makes difficult a complete presentation of her achievements in the field of applications of logical and algebraic methods in computer science. She was the author of more then 30 papers, two lecture notes, and an unfinished monograph in which she relates algebraic methods of non-classical logics with applications in the foundations of computer science. She was able to write eight chapters before she was taken to the hospital.
Her contribution to theoretical computer science stems from her conviction that there are deep relations between methods of algebra and logic on one side and essential problems of foundations of computer science on the other. Among these problems she clearly distinguished inference methods characteristic of computer science and its applications. This conviction of hers had been supported by her results on many-valued and nonclassical logics, especially on applications of various generalizations of Post algebras to logics of programs and approximation logics.
Note: One book written by Helena Rasiowa was Introduction to Modern Mathematics, written in 1971 and published in an English translation in 1973.


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Any exercise that gets the heart pumping may reduce the risk of dementia and slow the condition's progression once it starts, reported a Mayo Clinic study published this month in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Researchers examined the role of aerobic exercise in preserving cognitive abilities and concluded that it should not be overlooked as an important therapy against dementia.
The researchers broadly defined exercise as enough aerobic physical activity to raise the heart rate and increase the body's need for oxygen. Examples include walking, gym workouts and activities at home such as shoveling snow or raking leaves.
"We culled through all the scientific literature we could find on the subject of exercise and cognition, including animal studies and observational studies, reviewing over 1,600 papers, with 130 bearing directly on this issue. We attempted to put together a balanced view of the subject," says J. Eric Ahlskog, MD, PhD, a neurologist at Mayo Clinic. "We concluded that you can make a very compelling argument for exercise as a disease-modifying strategy to prevent dementia and mild cognitive impairment, and for favorably modifying these processes once they have developed." The researchers note that brain imaging studies have consistently revealed objective evidence of favorable effects of exercise on human brain integrity. Also, they note, animal research has shown that exercise generates trophic factors that improve brain functioning, plus exercise facilitates brain connections (neuroplasticity).
More research is needed on the relationship between exercise and cognitive function, the study's authors say, but they encourage exercise, in general, especially for those with or worried about cognitive issues.
"Whether addressing our patients in primary care or neurology clinics, we should continue to encourage exercise for not only general health, but also cognitive health," Ahlskog says.
J. E. Ahlskog, Y. E. Geda, N. R. Graff-Radford, R. C. Petersen. Physical Exercise as a Preventive or Disease-Modifying Treatment of Dementia and Brain Aging. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 2011; 86 (9): 876 DOI: 10.4065/mcp.2011.0252


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ID Your Problem
Learn more about the rodents that may be infesting your home, buildings, yard and fields and how to control them in the safest and most efficient way.
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One sign of a mouse infestation is mouse droppings - even a small infestation can produce literally thousands of droppings in a short period of time! Learn More »
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Moles are unique in appearance, having webbed feet they use for "swimming" in the soil. One species, the star-nosed mole, has 22 tentacle-like projections around its mouth. Learn More »
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Deer Mice can transmit a wide variety of diseases to humans. One serious and often fatal disease transmitted by the deer mouse is Hantavirus. Learn More »
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When roof rats inhabit upper areas of office buildings and homes, they often gnaw on wires, possibly leading to fires, outages, and production down-time. Learn More »
Gophers present a more serious problem than moles, because of their inadvertent destruction of underground utility cables, water lines, sprinkler systems and irrigation pipes. Learn More »
Woodrat (Packrat)
Earning its nickname "packrat," this furry, giant hamster-like rodent is particularly fond of shiny objects, and will drop whatever it's carrying to take the trinket instead. Learn More »
Voles can have up to 17 litters and 80 pups in a year. However, voles have many predators, and most voles only survive a few months in the wild. Learn More »


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When I was in university, I remember there was no support for mobile app development, and even the guys whoContinue reading
Warid Sim Jagao – Get 1000 Free Minutes and 1000 Free SMS
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Mobilink, the pioneer mobile operator in Pakistan is also finally showing some interest in the post-paid packages of mobile phones.Continue reading
Media Fest 2012 at Kinnaird College for Women by Glow
Warid's brand GLOW took an initiative of supporting young female leaders of Pakistan. Starting of with the Media, Glow supportedContinue reading
Win Rs.1 Crore with Warid SMS Crore Ka Trivia Quiz
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Bolat Duisenov is currently Chairman of the Board at Coteccons Group - View - Coteccons Group org chart
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Climate change creates complicated consequences for North America's forests
Climate change affects forests across North America – in some cases permitting insect outbreaks, plant diseases, wildfires and other problems—but Dartmouth researchers say warmer temperatures are also making many forests grow faster and some less susceptible to pests, which could boost forest health and acreage, timber harvests, carbon storage, water recycling and other forest benefits in some areas.
The Dartmouth-led study, which appears in the journal Ecological Monographs, reviewed nearly 500 scientific papers dating to the 1950s, making it the most comprehensive review to date of climate change's diverse consequences for forests across the United States, Canada and the rest of North America.
Tree-killing insects and plant diseases are natural elements of healthy forest ecosystems, but climate change is rapidly altering the distribution and magnitude of forest pestilence and altering biodiversity and the ecosystem. For example, pine bark beetles have recently killed trees over more area of U.S. forests than wildfires, including in areas with little previous experience managing aggressive pests. "One of our prominent challenges is to adapt forest management tactics and generalize the underlying theory to cope with unprecedented changes in pest pressure," the authors say.
Results show that over the last 50 years, the average global air temperature has increased about 1 ̊ F, while the coldest winter night averages about 7 ̊ F warmer. That has permitted population explosions of tree-killing bark beetles in forests that were previously shielded by winter cold and made it easier for invasive species to become established. But tree growth rates in many regions are increasing due to atmospheric change, which may increase resilience to pests. Also, pest populations in some regions may decline, allowing those forests and their environmental and economic benefits to expand.
Provided by Dartmouth College


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These days the multiplex is downright lousy with Strong Female Characters. Action, fantasy and science fiction movies all seem to feature some tough-as-nails woman in pleather pants, ready with a glower and a gun. So why does these feel so unsatisfying?
In this piece at The Dissolve, writer Tasha Robinson singles out Valka, the long-lost mom who turns up in How to Train Your Dragon 2. (This trailer gives you the idea.) See, she's actually a great character—knowledgeable, vulnerable and interesting all at once. Problem is, she's got jack shit to do, and she's promptly shoved aside, with dudes driving the plot.
Nor is Valka the only instance: Robinson also cites The Lego Movie's Wyldstyle (mostly there to help the male protagonist realize his destiny), The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug's Tauriel (primarily embroiled in a dopey love triangle), Star Trek: Into Darkness's Carol Marcus (mainly there to stomp her feet and demand Daddy, how could you?!), etc., etc., ad infinitum, ad nauseam. We've all scene movies where some female character introduced as marvelously competent morphs into a ninny who's just there for the hero to rescue.
This, for the record, is why the casting of Lupita Nyong'o and Brienne of Tarth (pretty sure that's her real name) didn't totally quiet my worries about the new Star Wars movies.
Poorly executed Strong Female Characters are such a recurring frustration they've been the subject of an entire Kate Beaton comic strip. But even if you create a truly well-written, soulful badass, there's no point if she doesn't have any real role in the plot:
Bringing in a Strong Female Character™ isn't actually a feminist statement, or an inclusionary statement, or even a basic equality statement, if the character doesn't have any reason to be in the story except to let filmmakers point at her on the poster and say "See? This film totally respects strong women!"
But how else will women's mags frame their interviews with actresses appearing in summer blockbusters?!
One of my favorite characters in science fiction is Ripley, from Alien and Aliens. She's beloved as a strong, well-drawn character, thanks in no small part to Sigourney Weaver's masterful delivery of the line, "Get away from her, you bitch." But it's also worth noting that she spends the end of Alien just barely keeping her shit together. Which is understandable, considering the circumstances. She's a sobbing, panicking mess—who nevertheless remembers to grab the cat!
Point is, I don't love Alien and Aliens because Ripley is some karate-chopping tough gal with a super-groovy haircut. I love Alien and Aliens because they star a positively depicted, fully-drawn female character.
At the conclusion of her piece, Robinson provides a series of questions for writers attempting to produce a Ripley rather than a Valka. They're not as pithy as the Bechdel test, but they're dead-on: "After being introduced, does your Strong Female Character then fail to do anything fundamentally significant to the outcome of the plot? Anything at all?" and "Could your Strong Female Character be seamlessly replaced with a floor lamp with some useful information written on it to help a male hero?"
It's a good start. But it's pretty fucking unbelievable that Hollywood needs this much instruction on how to broaden its depictions of women. It's not rocket science. It's not even grade-school rock collecting. Damn, dudes.
Photo via AP Images.


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Over at GigaOm, Robert Young posits an interesting and clarifying concept: That Google is developing a universal OS for advertising. It's a tempting idea – a unifying metaphor that helps us grok Google's advertising ambitions – but I think the meme needs a perspective from outside the Valley distortion field.
Certainly all of *us* may want a clarifying metaphor that helps us grok Google's relentless push into nearly every advertising market on earth, the real question is whether *advertisers* want it as well. And I think in the end, the answer to that question is most likely a qualified no (qualified because they'll always be happy to push a portion of their budget through automated and efficient channels). But in the end advertisers are not computer programmers, they are marketers, and while it's true that the approach of AdWords and AdSense pushes remarkable efficiencies and opportunities into the practice of marketing, I posit that the practice of marketing is about more than efficiency. It's also about emotion, passion, and conversation. And no matter how hard you try, you can't automate conversations. At least, not until Google (or someone else) pushes computing past the Turing test. And once that happens, what's the point of marketing in the first place?
As Beth Comstock (president of NBC Interactive and at left) said to me on stage at Web 2 earlier this week (I'll paraphrase here): Google is great at pushing efficiencies into the advertising market. But that only serves to highlight and increase the value of truly unique and well produced content (like GigaOm, for example). That kind of content needs to be served by marketing that is part of an ongoing conversation, a conversation that, for now anyway, simply cannot be automated.


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5 Keys To Explosive Power & Speed
December 30, 2011 by Mike Westerdal
Filed under Articles, Free Reports, Recent Posts, Sports Training & Performance
A local friend of mine named Chris Barnard put together a really cool free report for you called, "5 Principles To Increasing Explosive Power & Speed".
Chris is currently the head trainer at Strength Camp gym in St. Petersburg, FL where I train sometimes. If you're an athlete or you want to perform and look like an athlete this report should really help you out a lot.
Direct Download Link:


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When safety Ed Reed left the Ravens to sign with the Texans, Baltimore coach John Harbaugh talked about how much he appreciated what Reed had done for the team. But Harbaugh may have been quietly thinking, "Good riddance."
According to a new report out of Baltimore, the talk that the Ravens and Texans were in a bidding war for Reed was wrong, and in reality the Ravens were happy to see Reed go. Specifically, Mike Preston of the Baltimore Sun writes, "Ravens coach John Harbaugh wanted Reed back as much as he wants a root canal."
At the time that Reed left, Harbaugh said, "Ed has had a major impact on our organization and our community. He is a great player and a great friend. We will always be thankful for what we accomplished together." Harbaugh did not, however, specifically say that he wanted Reed to stay.
If Preston's report is correct, and Harbaugh did want Reed out, it may have stemmed from the near "mutiny" that was reported by Mike Silver of Yahoo! Sports during the 2012 season. Reed and Bernard Pollard reportedly led the mutiny, complaining about Harbaugh's practices and his general treatment of players. That mutiny may have been a factor in Pollard's release, although Pollard takes issue with that idea.
Harbaugh will surely never say publicly that he wanted Reed gone. But he probably isn't losing any sleep about losing a player who complained about the way the coach ran practice.


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The oldest ancient Maya ceremonial compound ever discovered in the Central American lowlands dates back 200 years before similar sites pop up elsewhere in the region, archaeologists announced today (April 25). The recently excavated plaza and pyramid would have likely served as a solar observatory for rituals.
The finding at a site called Ceibal suggests that the origins of the Maya civilization are more complex than first believed. Archaeologists hotly debate whether the Maya — famous for their complex calendar system that spurred apocalypse rumors last year — developed independently or whether they were largely inspired by an earlier culture known as the Olmec. The new research suggests the answer is neither.
"This major social change happened through interregional interactions," said study researcher Takeshi Inomata, an anthropologist at the University of Arizona. But it doesn't look like the Olmec inspired the Maya, Inomata told reporters. Rather, the entire region went through a cultural shift around 1000 B.C., with all nearby cultures adopting similar architectural and ceremonial styles.
"It's signaling to us that the Maya were not receiving this sophisticated stuff 500 years later from somebody else, but much of the innovation we're seeing out of the whole region may be coming out of Ceibal or a place like Ceibal," said Walter Witschey, an anthropologist at Longwood University in Virginia, who was not involved in the study.
Oldest ritual compound
The finding comes from seven years of archaeological excavations at Ceibal, a site in central Guatemala that was occupied continuously for 2,000 years. Getting to Ceibal's origins was no small feat: The earliest buildings were buried under 23 to 60 feet (7 to 18 meters) of sediment and later construction, said study co-researcher Daniela Triadan, also a University of Arizona anthropologist.
The earliest structures recently discovered include a plaza with a western building and an eastern platform, a pattern seen at later Maya sites and also at the Olmec center of La Venta on the Gulf Coast of what is now Mexico. The researchers used radiocarbon dating to peg the date of construction to about 1000 B.C. This technique analyzes organic materials for carbon-14, an isotope or variation of carbon that decays predictably. As such, carbon-14 acts as a chemical clock archaeologists can use to figure out how long something has been in the ground.
A construction date of 1000 B.C. makes the Ceibal structures about 200 years older than those at La Venta, meaning the Olmec's construction practices couldn't have inspired the Mayans, the researchers report Thursday (April 25) in the journal Science. Instead, it appears that the entire region underwent a shift around this time, with groups adopting each other's architecture and rituals, modifying them and inventing new additions.
"We are saying there was this connection with various groups, but we are saying it was probably not one directional influence," Inomata said.
There was an earlier Olmec center, San Lorenzo, which declined around 1150 B.C., but residents there did not build these distinctive ceremonial structures. By 850 B.C. or 800 B.C., the Maya at Ceibal had renovated their platform into a pyramid, which they continued refining until it reached a height of about 20 to 26 feet (6 to 8 m) by 700 B.C.
Starting a civilization
This early phase of Maya culture occurs before the group developed written language and before any record of their elaborate calendar system, so little is known about their beliefs, Inomata said. But the pyramid-and-plaza area was almost certainly a space for rituals. Among the artifacts found in the plaza are numerous greenstone axes, which seem to have been put there as offerings.
The architecture layout is what's known as a "group-E assemblage," said Witschey. These assemblages appear all over the Maya world and worked as solar observatories. From the western building, a view could stand and look at the eastern platform or pyramid, which would have posts at each end and at the center. On the summer solstice, the sunrise would occur over the northernmost marker; on the spring and fall equinoxes, it would be right over the center marker; and finally, on the winter solstice, the sun would rise over the southernmost marker, Witschey said.
"The first people who settled at Ceibal had, already, a well-developed idea about what a village would look like," Triadan said. "The transition from a mobile hunter-gatherer and horticultural lifestyle to permanently settled agriculturalists was rapid."
It's not clear what might have prompted the lowland Maya to give up their semi-settled life for permanent villages and cities, Inomata said. One possibility is that maize production became more efficient around 1000 B.C. The coastal Olmec people had long been able to grow maize reasonably well, given fertile soil from rivers feeding into the Gulf of Mexico. But the Maya lowlands were less wet and less fertile, with fewer fish and fowl that the Olmec could have depended on to round out their diets. If maize farming became more productive around 1000 B.C., however, it may have prompted the Maya to start staying put.
"At that point, it probably made sense to cut down many forest trees in the Maya lowlands and then commit more strongly to an agricultural way of life," Inomata said.
Members of the research team are currently working on environmental analysis to try to better understand the climate and weather of the area around the time of settlement. What does seem clear, Inomata said, is that Maya civilization didn't have to arise from an earlier, failing civilization.
"This study is not just a study about this specific civilization," he said. "We also want to think about how human society changed and how human society develops."
What the Maya findings suggest is that a new civilization doesn't have to arise from the dust of a previous one, but can happen through the interaction of multiple groups trading ideas, Inomata said.
"What they're reminding us is how much the jungle still hides, how much more there is to learn and how complex a story of the evolution of this civilization we really have on our hands," Witschey said.


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Rosalie Residence, Brisbane by Richard Kirk Architects
The Rosalie Residence was completed in 2010 by the Brisbane based studio Richard Kirk Architects. This contemporary home is an eco-friendly build, featuring rainwater storage, energy efficient lighting and solar hot water. The Rosalie Residence is located in in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Rosalie Residence by Richard Kirk Architects:
"Rosalie House by Richard Kirk Architect (RKA) is located in one of Brisbane's most established inner city suburbs. This 5-bedroom family home sits on a hillside among the peaks and gullies that characterizes the suburb of Paddington.
Rosalie House has a solid base that rises up as a 3-storey lightweight structure. The exterior is predominantly recycled Tallowwood weatherboard and pre-weathered zinc cladding – RKA's interpretation of the timber and tin tradition that is prevalent in the area.
Sun-shading and privacy is achieved with operable timber screens and external venetian blinds that sit in front of a bespoke timber window joinery.
The planning of the house is organized to address the views towards the city on the North-East and Mt Coot-tha on the South-West. The resulting building footprint provides private courtyards and landscaped terraces adjacent to the main living spaces.
The interior is an ensemble of Red Mahogany timber flooring and Jarrah timber panelling on backdrop of white plaster walls and white-set ceilings.
Environmental features of the house include solar hot water, 40,000L in-ground rainwater storage for landscape irrigation and low energy lighting."
Photos By: Scott Burrows


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by M. B. Miller
In their second game in as many days, the Alice Lloyd Lady Eagles were riding the high of defeating Ohio Christian University, a team who had beaten them earlier in the season, into a match-up with the UPike Lady Bears at the East Kentucky Expo Center in Pikeville, Ky. on Sunday, December 15th. However, the Lady Bears also had revenge on their mind, having lost their season opener to Alice Lloyd. It was a seesaw battle at times, but ultimately, UPike emerged as the victor, delivering a 78-70 defeat to the visitors from Pippa Passes.
First half action saw the hosts jump out to a 25-18 advantage by the nine-minute mark. ALC's Ariel Nickell, refusing to allow the situation to get out-of-hand, guided her team into a 6-0 run that cut the lead to one. Nickell wasn't finished, however, and capitalized on a 3-point play to give Alice Lloyd the lead. The Lady Eagles would end the half on a tear, and headed into the locker room leading 42-35.
The Lady Bears regrouped and set their sights on shutting down ALC's offensive juggernaut, Ariel Nickell, in the second half. Nickell, having scored 21 in the opening act, was held to only 7 for the rest of the game. But, despite their defensive intensity, a comeback would not be easy for UPike. Alice Lloyd unleashed its second weapon in the form of point guard Carla Booth who went on to score 24 points. Unfortunately, though, for Alice Lloyd (6-5 overall, 1-1 KIAC), the Lady Bears went on an 8-0 run to start the second half, and with 15 minutes remaining in the game, they launched a back-breaking 13-0 scoring spurt to put them up 60-50.
With just over 7 minutes left on the clock, Pikeville claimed its largest lead at 12. Shortly thereafter, the Lady Eagles cut the lead to five, 75-70, off of a dazzling play by Ariel Nickell. But ALC would not score again. UPike would hold Alice Lloyd scoreless for the final three minutes of the game, and would seal the win on the free throw line.
The difference-maker in this contest was field goal percentage. UPike made 45.3% of their shots from the floor, while ALC only managed to knock down 29.2% of theirs. The Lady Eagles were outscored in the second half, 43-28. ALC clearly missed the offensive output of Ariel Nickell in the deciding stanza, which is to the credit of the Lady Bears' stifling defensive tactics. UPike also edged out the Lady Eagles on the glass, 47-46.
Alice Lloyd was led by its dynamic duo of Ariel Nickell and Carla Booth. Nickell scored 28 and hauled in 14 important rebounds. Booth, despite turning the ball over 9 times, ended the day with 24 big points, twelve of which were earned from behind the arc. Amber Shepherd contributed late in the game with 7 points, and Taylor Arthur proved to be a factor down low as she corralled 12 boards.
UPike (6-5) was led by Callisha Johnson with 18 points.
The Lady Eagles will rest until January 4th when they will return to the court for the first game of four straight to be played at home. Their opponent will be Cincinnati Christian University. Game time is set for 2 PM.


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Welcome to the Knowledge Center! A precious resource for AirgineeringTM related information. Over the half century, Bry-Air has developed a vast understanding of adsorptions, and adsorption-based technologies about air and its industrial interface. The knowledge and experience gained are continuously used in helping customers achieving their business goals –Profitability Productivity and Sustainability. Bry-Air helps the world renowned companies to solve critical airgineering challenges across the globe. Here are a few selective links to a vast repository of knowledge for your reference and usage.learn more
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The goal of the City of Portage Citizen's Guide - Financial Summary is to improve the transparency of Portage government by providing the public with as much information as possible on the revenues, expenditures and other financial activities of the City of Portage.
The City of Portage Performance Dashboard is a measure of various aspects of the city's performance. The information provided displays how the city performs in areas that affect Portage residents.
The City of Portage Projected Budget Report (PDF) is a projection of revenues and expenditures, including the current fiscal year and a projection for the next fiscal year.
The City of Portage Debt Service Report (PDF) provides a detailed listing of City of Portage debt service requirements.
Questions about this information can be directed to the Office of the City Manager at 269-329-4405.


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A service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
Some Whooping Cough Strains Now Outsmarting Vaccine
Current vaccine is still best protection against the disease, experts say
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
In recent years, cases of whooping cough have risen dramatically. Tens of thousands have been sickened, and 18 deaths have been reported, mostly in infants, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Several recent studies have focused on the potential of waning immunity from the whooping cough vaccine over time. In a letter in the Feb. 7 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers pointed out that there may be another culprit: an evolution in the bug itself.
The vaccine contains a number of components that help give the body immunity against the whooping cough bacteria (Bordetella pertussis). One of these components is called pertactin.
Strains of the whooping cough bacteria that are pertactin-negative have been found in Japan, France, Finland and, now, the United States, the researchers reported in the letter. That means that at least one component of the current vaccine is ineffective against these newly found strains.
"There are several theories as to why we're seeing more pertussis," said Dr. Kenneth Bromberg, chairman of pediatrics and director of the Vaccine Research Center at the Brooklyn Hospital Center, in New York City. "One theory is better diagnosis. A second [theory] is that the vaccines are not as good in terms of longevity as the whole-cell vaccine was. The third theory is that there have been genetic changes in the strains of pertussis, such that it makes new strains immune or relatively immune to the current vaccines."
"The thought is that the bacteria have gotten smart and are eliminating the pertactin in themselves," said Bromberg, who was not involved in the current research.
A second letter in the same journal issue addressed another of the theories that Bromberg outlined: the effectiveness of the current vaccine.
In the late 1990s, the vaccine was switched from a whole-cell vaccine to what's known as an acellular vaccine.
"The whole-cell vaccine contains the whole cell of killed bacteria, so every protein that the bacteria makes is in it, forcing the person to mount an immune response to every part of the bacteria," said the letter's co-author, Dr. Paul Cieslak, medical director of the Oregon Immunization Program, in Portland. "With the new, acellular vaccine, they picked the proteins they thought were most important. Without the whole cell, there are fewer side effects, but it may be a little less effective."
Oregon experienced a significant increase in the number of whooping cough cases last year. Oregon maintains statewide records on immunizations, as well as records of who has had a confirmed case of whooping cough. This information allowed Cieslak and his colleagues to go back and review what type of vaccine had been given to those who later were infected with whooping cough.
They found that the reported cases of whooping cough were significantly lower in youngsters who had their first immunization with the whole-cell vaccine rather than the acellular vaccine.
Does that mean that whole-cell vaccine should make a comeback? "No one is making the argument for whole-cell vaccine," Cieslak said. "Without the whole cell in the vaccine, there are fewer side effects. It may be a little less effective, but it's got to be safe."
Bromberg agreed. "The whole-cell vaccine isn't coming back. The acellular vaccine is significantly better in terms of not causing reactions, but it doesn't work for as long as we thought," he said.
Cieslak said that even though the current vaccine isn't perfect, "we certainly recommend getting the vaccine. You are still far better off with the vaccine."
Bromberg added that experts are trying to figure out ways to better use the current vaccine. For example, the CDC recently added a recommendation that all pregnant women should receive the whooping cough vaccine late in pregnancy to offer protection to their newborns.
Health News Copyright (c) 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
- More Health News on:
- Immunization
- Whooping Cough


text: The rapid adoption of the newest mobile devices -- especially the Apple iPhone and iPad and the Google Android-based equivalents -- will be a huge disruptive force in enterprise security next year. Not only will there be pressure to decide how to protect and manage these devices, which are growing as malware targets, the complexity of this task is magnified many times over because companies are allowing employees to use their own personal smartphones and tablets for business purposes -- what's sometime called "bring your own device" (BYOD).And if that weren't enough, 2012 is likely to be the year when information-technology managers will be forced to come to grips with the security consequences of their own decisions to virtualize their networks, which has widely impacted servers and may also radically transform traditional desktop environments. But virtualization architectures are giving rise to the need for new types of security controls and options that must be weighed in the context of the network use. And decisions to link virtualized environments to cloud-based services also mean coming to grips with new security considerations.MORE ON SECURITY: 2011's biggest security snafus"One of the biggest challenges for companies is moving into the cloud space and virtualizing a lot of the products they use," says Lenin Aboagyue, principal security architect at Apollo Group, which owns and operates the University of Phoenix and other higher-education institutions where providing a wide array of high-bandwidth applications used for online learning is paramount.Security controls such as data-loss prevention, anti-malware, encryption and intrusion-prevention shouldn't be forsaken in the quest to virtualize and link into cloud platforms, he says. In the hybrid virtualized environment Apollo Group is growing, Aboagyue says there's a need to constantly assess how security vendors or cloud services support virtualization-oriented security.Meanwhile, the smartphone\/tablet and BYOD trend is shaping up as an inescapable security challenge as known malware samples for the new generation of devices are now starting to pile up, especially for Android."Today there are over 500 pieces for Android alone," says Patrik Runald, senior manager for security research at Websense. "But next year there will be even more, thousands more." He notes that the Apple iOS platform, because of its design, appears more secure for now at least, but the basic problem of mobile-device management (MDM) -- and the BYOD issue -- has to be addressed. "How are you going to provision these?" Runald asks. "How would you lock down the phone?"In the Ponemon Institute's recent "State of the Endpoint" study, a survey of 688 information and security managers, 17% said more than 75% of employees in their organizations already use their personal devices in the workplace, and 20% said more than half did. A quarter said they use MDM of some kind today and 45% indicated that would increase in the next 12 months.Read more about wide area network in Network World's Wide Area Network section.


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The Street Department in conjunction with the Police Department enforces the city's animal control ordinance. Dogs should be kept inside, on a leash or confined in a fence. Dogs reported as being dangerous, stray or a public nuisance are subject to being picked up by Street Department animal control personnel. Dogs picked up are immediately taken to Oak View Veterinary Clinic. Dog owners will be responsible for paying all charges for care and boarding of their dog. The Street Department also picks up deceased animals from city streets and provides assistance for wounded animals.
Animal control personnel can be reached by calling the Street Department at (205) 620-6416 from 7:00 A.M.- 3:30 P.M. Emergency animal control calls after normal working hours should be made to the Police Department at (205) 620-6550.
Alabama Wildlife Center at Oak Mountain State Park
Wildlife Hotline #: 621-3333. The wildlife hotline receives nearly 4,000 calls annually about a wide variety of wildlife issues. Staffed for 13 hours a day (from 8am to 9pm), 365 days a year, the hotline provides free advice and information to concerned Alabamians on how to deal with all kinds of wildlife problems and emergencies such as: how to reunite baby animals with their parents, what to do when an injured, sick or orphaned animal is found, how to handle nuisance situations humanely and how to provide temporary emergency care for a wild animal in need. When you call the hotline you leave a message with your name, number & description of the situation and a hotline staff member will usually be able to call back within 30 minutes.


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Their Article, "Attaining Baccalaureate Competencies for Nursing Care of Older Adults Through Curriculum Innovation," is Part of a Special Issue Focusing on Gerontology
New York University College of Nursing (NYUCN) faculty members Ann Marie P. Mauro, PhD, RN, CNL, CNE, Mary T. Hickey, EdD, WHNP-BC, Donna E . McCabe, DNP, APRN-BC, GNP, and Emerson Ea, DNP, APRN-BC, CEN, have published "Attaining Baccalaureate Competencies for Nursing Care of Older Adults Through Curriculum Innovation" in the May/June 2012 Nursing Education Perspectives. This is special edition devoted to nursing education in the specialized and growing field of gerontology.
In the article, the authors describe NYUCN's approaches and methodology to the College's curriculum redesign in order to integrate baccalaureate geriatric competencies for students and to develop instructional methods to meet changing educational demands. Begun in 2010, the redesign was informed based on the emerging literature, feedback from clinical partners, and an understanding of the complex health care needs of older adults.
"There is a need to transform nursing education to meet the demands of an aging population with complex health needs in a dynamic health care environment," said Dr. Mauro. "This requires faculty development, curriculum redesign, and integrative teaching strategies that contextualize learning and provide students with opportunities for reflection and critical thinking," she said.
NYUCN has integrated geriatric content throughout its baccalaureate curriculum and also transformed traditional "medical-surgical" nursing courses in fundamentals, acute care, and gerontology into Adult and Elder Nursing I, II, and III to enhance competencies in providing quality, safe nursing care to older adults.
"NYU College of Nursing has been a leader in developing and implementing undergraduate and graduate programs which build the knowledge and skills of our graduates to provide age sensitive care to older adults across the health care continuum," said Dr. Tara A. Cortes, PhD, RN, FAAN, Executive Director of the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing, at NYUCN, and professor of Geriatric Nursing.
This new curriculum promotes up-to-date, evidence-based plans of care for older adults in acute care, long-term care, and community settings. Students use evidence-based geriatric assessment tools to identify physical, cognitive, affective, functional, and social issues, such as the Fulmer SPICES assessment tool for identifying common syndromes of the elderly requiring nursing intervention.
Integrative didactic strategies to develop clinical decision-making skills and to contextualize learning for an aging population with complex health needs are used. These strategies include Socratic questioning, clinical examples, unfolding cases, critical thinking exercises with NCLEX-RN style questions using audience response technology, virtual patients, and podcasting.
"In order to promote clinical decision making and integrative thinking, students have access to the latest technology and take integrative seminars that correspond with the adult and elder courses," said Dr. Mauro. "Our innovative A-B model alternates 50% high-fidelity simulation with 50% traditional clinical experiences in acute or long term care agencies," she said.
The authors note that students have responded positively to the many opportunities they have to learn about the unique needs of older adults in multiple settings. NYUCN students observe experts who are committed to promoting safe, quality, compassionate care to older adults in action on a daily basis.
About the Authors:
•Ann Marie P. Mauro, PhD, RN, CNL, CNE, is clinical associate professor, senior clinical faculty associate in the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing and Curriculum Committee chairperson.
•Mary T. Hickey, EdD, WHNP-BC, is clinical associate professor.
•Donna E. McCabe, DNP, APRN-BC, GNP, is clinical assistant professor and senior clinical faculty associate in the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing.
•Emerson Ea, DNP, APRN-BC, CEN, is clinical assistant professor and senior clinical faculty associate in the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing.
The New York University College of Nursing is a global leader in nursing education, research, and practice. It offers a Bachelor of Science in Nursing; Master of Arts and Post-Master's Certificate Programs; a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree; and a Doctor of Philosophy in Research Theory and Development. For more information, visit www.nyu.edu/nursing.
The Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing, at New York University's College of Nursing, is the only nurse-led organization in the country that seeks to shape the quality of health care older Americans receive by promoting the highest level of geriatric competence in all nurses. By raising the standards of nursing care, the Hartford Institute aims to ensure that people age with optimal function, comfort, and dignity. The Hartford Institute is recognized as unique in its focus on disseminating best practices to nursing students, faculty, practicing nurses, and policy makers.
Dedicated to excellence in nursing, the National League for Nursing is the premier organization for nurse faculty and leaders in nursing education. The NLN offers professional development, networking opportunities, testing services, nursing research grants, and public policy initiatives to its 37,000 individual and 1,200 institutional members. NLN members represent nursing education programs across the spectrum of higher education and health care organizations and agencies.


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La Ferte-Alais
Many thousand visitors cannot be wrong, and so I made my way also once again to La Ferté-Alais, South of Paris. Gorgeous blue skies this year and a warm welcoming French ambiance provided some great days out during its 40th edition.
Where? La Ferté-Alais - Aerodrome de Cerny, France
When? 26-27/05/2012
Though being typically a classic 'Warbird' airshow with mainly vintage and historic aircraft the first act were two Mirage 2000 of the "Lafayette Squadron" on Saturday moring. They gave a short wake-up call following their fly-by at the "Lafayette Escadrille Memorial", not far from Versailles, before returning to their homebase. This memorial stands as a tribute to the American pilots of the Escadrille La Fayette and the Lafayette Flying Corps who gave their lives during the First World War to assist the Allies.
Then it was time again to sit down and relax a little bit until the real flying program started at 1pm.
In the meantime an An-2 and a Ju-52 of Ju-Air did sightseeing flights, before the la Ferté-based Ju-52 took-off with some parachutists to open the flying display.
Next was the Aeronavale role demo with two Super Etendards, that followed a formation of these two aircraft with a Morane Saulnier MS760 "Paris".
Even more modern was the Airbus A400M military transporter, but this was a special guest on Saturday only:
After that the usual round dance of aircraft performances and Bernard Chabberts commentary started. First were the "Parasol" aircraft, as their type of wing construction resembles an umbrella.
During the course of the day there was also a further step back in time with the two Blériots, which were flown in a fantastic formation doing several circles above the airfield:
World War I was presented by a German-British dogfight. This year it coold be observed that the German triplane were more often in the 6 o'clock position of their British counterparts:
The Mémorial Flight Association also flew their splendid restored Spad XIII C1:
Big applause was given to the quiet demonstration of the Habicht glider:
More modern aerobatics were presented by a French Air Force Extra, the Belgian Air Force "Red Devils" Team, the Breitling Wingwalkers Team and last but not least the wolrd's first four-engine all-electrical aircraft, a modified CriCri:
A colourful visitor was the Sikorsky S-38 "Flying Yacht" and there was a formation fly-by of 6 Stieglitz biplanes:
Of course World War II played in – if not the - big part in the flying program.
It did amongst others remember the "Croix de Lorraine", the symbol of the Free French Forces, with a formation flight of the Stephen Gray's Curtis Hawk 75 and Daniel Koblet's Morane-Saulnier MS406.
The "Pearl Harbor" set-piece involved Zeros (well, actually these were T-6 trainer aircraft) and the P-40, and the "Eastern Front" scenario made use of the German Ju-52 and Storck aircraft as well as the Yaks that were on place.
More piston power from this era was presented by a Mustang, Spitfire, Sea Fury and the Red Bull P-38 Lightning:
Two Skyraiders and a T-28 Trojan flew during an impressive background music representing "Vietnam", which of course involved many protechnical effects:
Shortly before the end of the show two Dassault Flamands give a nice presentation in formation. It did not matter that at this time of they day the sun was nearly facing the crowds, as it generated some nice effects on their aluminum fuselages:
The closure of the program was up to the Armée de l'Air with the Solo Demo of the Rafale and last but not least the Patrouille de France.
In the end the Sopwith Strutter still flew, but not seen by most of the visitors which were already queueing on the parking place on their way out.
So once again the "Temps des Helices" proved to be an excellent day out with much variety in the air and an excellent atmosphere on the ground.
It was my 5th visit to La Ferté-Alais this time and for sure not my last!


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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A federal judge on Monday allowed gay marriage to continue in Utah, rejecting a request to put same-sex weddings on hold as the state appeals a decision that has sent couples flocking to county clerk offices for marriage licenses.
Judge Robert J. Shelby overturned Utah's ban on same-sex marriage Friday, ruling the voter-approved measure is a violation of gay couples' constitutional rights. The state then asked him to put a stop to the weddings, but he rejected the request.
Lawyers for the state quickly filed a request with the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to put gay marriage on hold.
More than 200 gay couples have obtained marriage licenses since Friday in Utah's most populous county. On Monday, an estimated 100 licenses were issued in other counties, while some clerks shut their doors as they awaited Shelby's decision.
Couples began lining up Sunday night at the Salt Lake County clerk's office as they hoped to get licenses amid the uncertainty of the pending ruling. They anxiously eyed their cellphones for news on the decision, and a loud cheer erupted once word spread that Shelby wouldn't be blocking weddings.
Shelby's decision to overturn Utah's same-sex marriage ban has drawn attention given the state's long-standing opposition to gay marriage and its position as headquarters for the Mormon church. The gay weddings in Salt Lake City were taking place about 3 miles from church headquarters.
For now, a state considered one of the nation's most conservative has become the 18th to allow same-sex couples to legally wed, joining the likes of California and New York.
It's estimated that nearly two-thirds of Utah's 2.8 million residents are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Mormons dominate the state's legal and political circles.
The Mormon church was one of the leading forces behind California's short-lived ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8, which voters approved in 2008. The church said Friday it stands by its support for "traditional marriage," and it hopes a higher court validates its belief that marriage is between a man and woman.
In court Monday, Utah lawyer Philip Lott repeated the words "chaotic situation" to describe what has been happening in Utah since clerks started allowing gay weddings. He urged the judge to "take a more orderly approach than the current frenzy."
"Utah should be allowed to follow its Democratically chosen definition of marriage," he said of the 2004 gay marriage ban.
Lott said the state was disappointed with Shelby's latest ruling and will continue its legal battle.
Peggy Tomsic, the lawyer for the same-sex couples who brought the case, called gay marriage the civil rights movement of this generation and said it was the new law of the land in Utah.
"The cloud of confusion that the state talks about is only their minds," she said.
Tomsic said she was relieved that Shelby stuck to his ruling and avoided being pressured by a moral or political majority in the state.
"It's awfully easy to get caught up in the emotion and do a kneejerk reaction," Tomsic said outside the courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City. "Fortunately, we have a judge who takes his oath of office seriously.
Meanwhile, couples were getting married once every few minutes in the lobby of the Salt Lake County clerk's office to the sound of string music from a violin duet.
Lawyers for the state waged a legal battle on several fronts as they sought to stop the same-sex weddings.
On Sunday, a federal appeals court rejected the state's emergency request to stay the ruling, saying it couldn't rule on a stay since Shelby had not yet acted on the motion before him. The court quickly rejected a second request from Utah on Monday. The state plans to ask the court a third time to put the process on hold.
Adding to the chaos surrounding the situation is the fact that Utah Attorney General John Swallow stepped down about a month ago amid a scandal involving allegations of bribery and offering businessmen protection in return for favors. The state has had an acting attorney general ever since, and Gov. Gary Herbert appointed a replacement Monday who will serve until a special election next year.
In Shelby's 53-page ruling, he said the constitutional amendment that Utah voters approved violates gay and lesbian couples' rights to due process and equal protection under the 14th Amendment. Shelby said the state failed to show that allowing same-sex marriages would affect opposite-sex marriages in any way.
The decision drew a swift and angry reaction from Herbert, who said he was disappointed in an "activist federal judge attempting to override the will of the people of Utah." The state quickly took steps to appeal the ruling and halt the process, setting up Monday's hearing before Shelby.
The ruling has thrust Shelby into the national spotlight. He has been on the bench for less than two years, appointed by President Barack Obama after GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch recommended him in November 2011.
Shelby served in the Utah Army National Guard from 1988 to 1996 and was a combat engineer in Operation Desert Storm. He graduated from the University of Virginia law school in 1998 and clerked for the U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Greene in Utah, then spent about 12 years in private practice before he became a judge.