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There's little doubt that Australian director Alex Proyas has a unique take on whatever genre he takes on, from sci-fi to film noir, and his latest film, "Knowing", is no exception.
The film revolves around a teacher (Nicolas Cage) who opens a time capsule that has been dug up at his son's elementary school; in it are some chilling predictions — some that have already occurred and others that are about to — that lead him to believe his family plays a role in the events that are about to unfold.
Proyas discussed the film with Paul Fischer in this exclusive interview.
Question: When this movie came to you, did you originally see it as being a very conventional kind of thriller and what was it about this material, that you thought you could add the Alex Proyas stamp to it?
Proyas: My little touch? I never saw it as being conventional, otherwise, I would have passed on it, like so many other things that I get, that are conventional and I get quite a few of them, believe me. Where I stop reading on page ten. I go, " That's enough. Can't take any more." So, you know, I mean, I look for something that surprises me, and this one did. Firstly, it hooked me with this notion of the time capsule idea. I thought that was kind of a really creepy notion, and had a vague feeling of being this weird urban myth that I hadn't heard before, you know? And then it took me on an unexpected journey. Look. It's very rare that I get a script that I think is perfect, and I can start shooting next week and it's more the case like this one – I see the germ of an idea, and some little pieces in there, then the more I think about it, the more stuff kind of latches onto it. That's when I get excited, when there's a lot of juicy possibilities for layers of ideas, and that's what I worked pretty hard on with this over a few years, to get to work, is to kind of evolve it into something.
You know, it started off its life as a kind of supernatural story. And I aligned it much more to the science fiction genre, and tried to make it as credible as I could and also give it some real layers of meaning, which I think is really important for me. And so if it engages me emotionally and intellectually, and it keeps doing that for me over a period of time, I know I've got something that I can work on, you know? And if I lose interest in it, if the ideas dry up, then it's something that I'm no longer passionate about, you know?
Question: What sorts of changes did you make to the script once you became involved? I mean, you said you added the sort of science fiction elements to it. Did you work further on developing the Nick Cage character, with a lot more of that?
Proyas: Yeah all of the above, really. I mean, it became, for me, very much about a sort of spiritual request. And I guess all the stuff that I often do with movies – I mean, my movies are very often about characters in search for meaning, some sort of truth, or meaning and this became very much about that, probably more than anything I've done, in fact. Nick's character starts off living in this sort of universe that he believes to be completely meaningless and random, and chaos-based. And then slowly, he evolves into someone who is looking, at least, for some truth, or some sense of meaning in that universe. And that's something that really fascinates me. So that when it became about that, I made it about that– I sort of found that in it, to a certain extent, but evolved it. And that's when it started getting exciting for me, you know? And then everything else served that idea, and it became richer, I guess, as we progressed. We did all the character stuff, of course, and the more visceral visual elements, you know? But for me, I always try and find the basic idea. It's not so much that I've got a big, grand statement. But it's like, what is the story? It's not so much, " What is the story saying?" It's, " What does the story mean to me?" You know. " What's the big philosophical concept that I'm exploring?" And once I've found that with this, everything else kind of fell into place.
Question: A lot of your work deals with protagonists who, I guess, have an Everyman quality to them. Is that something you're instinctually drawn to, as a filmmaker?
Proyas: I don't know that they're Everymen. I think that they're version of me, I suppose. I think that's the case with a lot of filmmakers. And, you know, they're people I aspire to be, more so than the person I actually am, I guess. I think of them as all – I mean, particularly with Nick's character in this film. I mean, he's someone who is a scientist, so he's very pragmatic, and he believes in logic, and the law of physics, and the world being a very kind of specific place. Then when he decides, discovers that it's not – he has a hard time compensating for that, and dealing with that. And that's kind of me, I suppose. I mean, on a search for meaning, as well. I think as an artist, that's what I'm doing. I'm looking for questions to be answered. But I have more questions than answers. And I don't know whether I ever will have any answers, you know? But it is that search that intrigues me, you know? So all the characters are always looking for something. Looking for some clues to the nature of their existence, or their realities, or their lives, in some way.
Question: So, you're saying that you haven't quite found the meaning of life yet?
Proyas: No. But, you know, what this story specifically analyzes is – and, you know, the quest for the meaning of life is such a big thing, and a big, pretentious concept. So you try not to go there. You there and make it very specific, you know? And in Nick's case in this film – I mean, by the end of the film, you could sort of view it as being, he finds – part of his conclusion is that maybe his reason for living is just to be a good father to his son, and that's enough. So, that's his arc, really, in the story. And I think the thing is, even though I'm sort of more interested in questions than answers, I think movies, to a certain extent, have to give some answers to make it a satisfying journey for an audience, you know? So, I try and construct images that are kind of smaller ones, that are to do with the narrative of the film, rather than the big philosophical questions that I'm raising.
Question: Now you shot in Melbourne. Was there a reason for that? Was it pragmatic? Did you like the idea of working at home?
Proyas: Well, I like working in Australia and that's really why we shot it there, because I just prefer to work there, you know? And it means I don't have to uproot my entire life each time. Because it does wear thin, the whole notion of traveling to some other part of the world and setting up your lives there, with my family, for a couple of years, is a very disruptive experience, you know? And I didn't see any real valid reason to really shoot this anywhere other than home, because I felt all the stuff we were going to construct, we were going to construct it wherever we were, anyway. And these days, you can use technology. I mean, you know, there's a bunch of scenes with Nick in New York City. And we just basically put him into New York City. We went and shot all the streets, and we shot him running down the street in Melbourne, and we sort of matted him into New York, you know? And when you can do that sort of stuff so easily now and it looks convincing, then it doesn't really matter where you shoot. And I've never shot a movie where it's set, ever. I've always – you know, I, Robot was set in Chicago, and I shot it in Vancouver. And The Crow was shot in Detroit, and I shot it in Wilmington, North Carolina. So, I figure, like – you know, Melbourne sounds like a good idea to me. You know.
Question: How do you think you've evolved as a filmmaker, since the beginning of your career? And what do you look for now, that perhaps is different than what you might have looked for in the beginning?
Proyas: Well, I mean, I guess your journey as an artist is that you learn along the way more precisely what you like and what you don't like, you know? What you need, and what you don't need, in terms of telling a story. And I guess I'm sort of looking for simplicity these days. I actually like – well, it's deceptive, simplicity, because it's simplicity, on one level. It's simplicity on what's on the screen. But there's buried depth beneath that. And that, to me, is kind of the sort of art of it, I suppose, is how little you can show. How little you can explain, and still keep the audience on their journey, you know? That doesn't mean that it's not there. But it's just not overtly there. It's not in your face, you know? And to me, it's like, it's there for people who want to look for it, you know? And that, I think, is the sort of skill, really, that I'm trying to develop.
Question: Do you think technology has taken over filmmaking, to some degree?
Proyas: I don't know that it's taken over. I mean, filmmaking has always been a technology. The art form wouldn't exist without the invention of the camera, you know? It's as simple as that – which is a form of technology. So, you know, you could probably say that about every art form. But it's much more pointed in filmmaking terms, you know? And so as the technology evolves, the style of films evolve as well. And I tend to embrace technology. If it can make my life easier, and if I can tell a better story and all that, I think it's fine, you know? There's no harm done.
Question: What do you hope to be doing next?
Proyas: I'm not really sure, at this stage. I've got a few bunches of projects floating around, but I don't really have anything that's absolutely locked in right now. You know, you work at certain things at the same time and I'll see how we go with them. I mean, there's one particular project that's sort of a Dracula origin story, that I've been excited about for some time, but we're just having a hard time getting the budget to work.
Question: Is it going to be a Vlad the Impaler story?
Proyas: Yeah, essentially. It's kind of the transformation of Vlad into Dracula, and the reasoning behind why he became that creature.
Question: How much of Stoker's source material would you be using?
Proyas: Well, you could sort of view it as a prequel to Bram Stoker's novel, really, so, t's very much informed by that. I think a very unique take on the character, because the character has been done to death, quite literally. Boom, boom, boom, pun intended. I think someone said he was the most filmed character in the history of movies, so it was unlikely, when this project came to me, I thought, " This is unlikely that I ever would do this," but it was such a good script, and had such a unique vision of that character, it took me by surprise. So, I'm quite certain about that, I think.


text: I somehow stumbled onto this image on the webpage and I am in love with this quilt. I love how the 9 patches on point border the quilt. Has anyone seen this in a pattern before? I would need pattern help to make the "on point 9 patches" work out in length with the rest of the quilt.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
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Drowsiness is a major risk factor for motor vehicle and occupational accidents. Real-time objective indicators of drowsiness could potentially identify drowsy individuals with the goal of intervening before an accident occurs. Several ocular measures are promising objective indicators of drowsiness; however, there is a lack of studies evaluating their accuracy for detecting behavioral impairment due to drowsiness in real time.
In this study, eye movement parameters were measured during vigilance tasks following restricted sleep and in a rested state (n = 33 participants) at three testing points (n = 71 data points) to compare ocular measures to a gold standard measure of drowsiness (OSLER). The utility of these parameters for detecting drowsiness-related errors was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC) (adjusted by clustering for participant) and identification of optimal cutoff levels for identifying frequent drowsiness-related errors (4 missed signals in a minute using OSLER). Their accuracy was tested for detecting increasing frequencies of behavioral lapses on a different task (psychomotor vigilance task [PVT]).
Ocular variables which measured the average duration of eyelid closure (inter-event duration [IED]) and the ratio of the amplitude to velocity of eyelid closure were reliable indicators of frequent errors (area under the curve for ROC of 0.73 to 0.83, p < 0.05). IED produced a sensitivity and specificity of 71% and 88% for detecting ≥ 3 lapses (PVT) in a minute and 100% and 86% for ≥ 5 lapses. A composite measure of several eye movement characteristics (Johns Drowsiness Scale) provided sensitivities of 77% and 100% for detecting 3 and ≥ 5 lapses in a minute, with specificities of 85% and 83%, respectively.
Ocular measures, particularly those measuring the average duration of episodes of eye closure are promising real-time indicators of drowsiness.
Wilkinson VE; Jackson ML; Westlake J; Stevens B; Barnes M; Swann P; Rajaratnam SMW; Howard ME. The accuracy of eyelid movement parameters for drowsiness detection. J Clin Sleep Med 2013;9(12):1315-1324.
Drowsiness as a result of sleep deprivation, circadian effects, or sleep disorders is a major risk factor for motor vehicle and occupational accidents.1,2 Objective indicators of drowsiness may allow sleepy individuals to be identified in real time in the laboratory, occupational settings, and on the road, with the potential to intervene and prevent accidents. Ideally, indicators of drowsiness for this purpose should be able to detect brief periods of inattention, which may result in an individual failing to respond to hazards in the environment. The lack of validated real-time objective indicators of drowsiness for field research and operational settings, such as driving, restricts both the ability to accurately assess drowsiness in these settings and the development of field-based interventions for drowsiness. Initial laboratory studies have suggested that some ocular measures may be good indicators of drowsiness3–5; however, there is a paucity of detailed evaluation of the utility of different ocular measures for this purpose.
Electroencephalography (EEG) is the gold standard method for quantifying sleep state (awake versus sleep). Although EEG changes occur with drowsiness in the wake state (increased alpha and theta activity),6 they are difficult to measure in field settings due to signal artifact, are not readily amenable to real-time signal processing and are not highly predictive of impaired behavior due to drowsiness.7 These features have hindered the use of EEG for assessing drowsiness in field settings and the potential to use it to provide real-time drowsiness monitoring.
Current Knowledge/Study Rationale: Objective indicators of drowsiness have the potential to identify drowsy drivers. This study evaluated the accuracy of ocular measures for detecting drowsiness-related behavioral impairment in real-time.
Study Impact: Several ocular measures, particularly those measuring the average duration of episodes of eye closure, were found to be accurate in the real-time detection of behavioral impairment in the laboratory. Ocular measures are promising indicators of real-time drowsiness.
Changes in the frequency, amplitude, and duration of blinks and episodes of slow eye closure occur in response to increased drowsiness caused by sleep deprivation and circadian rhythm effects.8–11 While blink duration in rested conditions lasts for less than 200 ms, sleep deprivation results in increased blink duration, episodes of slow eye closure lasting more than 500 ms, and increased proportion of time the eyes are closed.10,12 The proportion of time the eyes are at least 80% closed (PERCLOS) increases in drowsy participants during task performance and is reported to correlate well with vigilance and simulated driving tasks in the laboratory.5–7 Technological development has enabled more detailed measurement of eyelid movements in real time. Initial reports suggest that the velocity and amplitude of eyelid movements provide useful indicators of drowsiness and that the use of multiple eyelid closure metrics may improve the prediction of drowsiness.10,13 There is, however, a paucity of studies evaluating the ability of these measures to detect impaired vigilance as a result of drowsiness. In this study we evaluated the ability of a range of eye movement parameters to detect impaired vigilance (frequent behavioral lapses) following restricted sleep.
Participants undertook objective assessment of vigilance and drowsiness with concurrent measurement of eyelid movement parameters following a normal night of sleep and a night restricted to 4 h time in bed in a randomized crossover design.
Healthy participants aged between 18-70 years were recruited. Participants underwent a medical review and were excluded if they had a chronic medical condition that might affect neuro-cognitive or motor function or be a contraindication to sleep restriction including sleep disorders and chronic neurological or psychiatric conditions. Participants were also excluded if they were heavy smokers, consumed on average ≥ 5 caffeinated beverages a day, had significant daytime sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale [ESS] > 11),14 had a high risk of sleep apnea on a validated screening survey,15 or had visual impairment which was not corrected with glasses.
The study protocol was approved by the Austin Health Human Research Ethics Committee and was registered on the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry.
Participants attended the Sleep Laboratory, Austin Hospital, Heidelberg, for an initial medical screening, to obtain written informed consent and for familiarization with tasks and fitting of Optalert Drowsiness Measurement System (ODMS) equipment. ODMS glasses were fitted by an experienced researcher trained in this technique to confirm correct measurement of ocular data.
Two separate days of testing were conducted in random order, ≥ 1 week apart. Participants were instructed to maintain an 8-h in bed sleep schedule (22:00-06:00), confirmed by sleep diary, for the week preceding the testing session. A baseline session was performed while participants were in a rested state. On the night prior to the sleep restriction session, participants restricted their time in bed to 4 h (02:00-06:00). Sleep restriction was confirmed via actigraphy (SenseWear Body Monitoring System armband, Pittsburgh, USA) and a sleep diary kept for the preceding week.
Participants undertook one 1.5-h performance test battery in the rested state (baseline session) and 2 performance test batteries following one night of sleep restriction (sleep restriction sessions in the morning (SR-AM) and afternoon (SR-PM)). Eighteen participants commenced this sequence with the baseline session prior to the sleep restriction sessions, and 21 participants commenced the sequence with the sleep restriction sessions. Three testing sessions were conducted to sample a range of impairments due to drowsiness and circadian factors. Performance measures were conducted at 09:00 (baseline and SR-AM) and 13:00 (SR-PM). The test battery consisted of objective vigilance tests in addition to exploratory drowsiness and performance questionnaires, which are not presented in this analysis. Testing was conducted in randomized order in a soundproofed room with dim lighting as per maintenance of wakefulness test (MWT) protocol.16 There was a short break in between tests to check ocular signals and adjust as required. Vigilance testing included the 40-min Oxford Sleep Resistance Test (OSLER), and 10-min psychomotor vigilance task (PVT). Continuous ODMS recording occurred during these testing sessions, in addition to video monitoring to ensure synchronization of ODMS measures with vigilance testing measures.
A two-step process of analysis was undertaken. In Step 1, cutoff values for ocular measures of the ODMS for predicting drowsiness-related impairment were derived using the OSLER as the gold standard. In Step 2, the sensitivity, specificity, and area under the ROC curve were calculated using these cutpoints, using the PVT as a gold standard.
Ocular measures were evaluated for their accuracy in detecting drowsiness-related impairment and cutoff values for detecting impairment were developed. Eyelid movement parameters were measured using the ODMS (Optalert, Sleep Diagnostics Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Australia). This device records 8 ocular variables using infrared light from a light-emitting diode positioned below and in front of the eye on a pair of glasses hardwired to a laptop.17 ODMS is reported to be fully functional regardless of the position or movement of the person's head, and in sunlight or darkness.18
The following ocular variables were calculated as an average on a minutely basis:
Inter-Event Duration (IED): blink duration measured from the point of maximum closing velocity to maximum opening velocity of the eyelid measured in seconds.
Percent Time with Eyes Closed (%TEC): proportion of time eyes are closed, determined from the velocity of eyelid movement during eyelid closure.
Blink Total Duration (BTD): duration of blinks measured in seconds from the start of closing to complete re-opening.
Negative Amplitude-Velocity Ratio (–AVR): the ratio of the maximum amplitude to maximum velocity of eyelid movement for the reopening phase of blinks.
Positive Amplitude-Velocity Ratio (+AVR): the ratio of the maximum amplitude to maximum velocity of eyelid movement for the closing phase of blinks.
Percent Long Closures (%LC): proportion of time eyes are fully closed > 10 ms.
Duration of Ocular Quiescence (DOQ): duration of no movements between eyelid and ocular movement events, including blinks, saccades and smooth pursuit.
Johns Drowsiness Scale (JDS): a composite measure of drowsiness calculated using weighted values of the other recorded ocular variables. JDS is calculated on a scale from zero to ten, with higher scores indicative of increased drowsiness.17
The OSLER was used as the gold standard for indicating drowsiness and determining ocular measure cutoff values. OSLER is a portable, computerized, non-assisted method of monitoring wakefulness through responses to presented stimuli occurring every 3 sec seconds over a 40-min time period, which has been found to be reliable in measuring sleep onset.19 The OSLER was designed as a simplified version of the maintenance of wakefulness test (MWT), a laboratory-based EEG method of determining an individual's ability to remain awake and the current recommended method of assessing whether people with sleep disorders have the ability to safely drive a vehicle.20,21 Sleep onset is defined as no response to 7 consecutive OSLER stimuli (absent response for 18-21 sec); however, ≥ 4 consecutive missed stimuli (absent response for 9-12 sec) is strongly predictive of microsleeps (brief occurrences of theta lasting between 3 and 15 sec).22
OSLER and concurrent ocular measures were analyzed in 1-min bins. Overall OSLER misses per minute and consecutive misses within each minute were identified. Consecutive misses which crossed a minute bin were attributed to the minute in which the missed signals began. Data from the OSLER was compared to the corresponding time matched ocular variables in one minute bins. Data were excluded from sessions if the ODMS signal quality was poor (low amplitude), and for some instances of failure of time matching data to ocular variables.
Statistical analyses were conducted using STATA 11 (Stata-Corp, College Station, TX: StataCorp LP). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was conducted for each ocular variable, using data from all 3 testing sessions, to assess the ability of each variable to identify missed OSLER signals occurring during any 1-min bin. This analysis was undertaken for (1) ≥ 4 consecutive missed signals on the OSLER in a minute, and (2) ≥ 4 total missed signals on the OSLER in a minute. Data were clustered by participant during statistical analysis to account for the multiple minutes of OSLER replication for each participant.23,24 Cutoff values to determine a level of drowsiness resulting in drowsiness-related deterioration in vigilance for each ocular variable were determined using the peak of the ROC curve to determine the optimum sensitivity and specificity combination. In addition, high sensitivity cutoff values were determined using the highest sensitivity with a specificity of ≥ 50% and the high specificity cutoff values were determined using the highest specificity with a sensitivity of ≥ 50%. Lastly, logistic regression models were fitted using the ocular variables with the highest discrimination for detection of missed signals on the OSLER (IED, BTD, %TEC, +AVR).
The ability of the ocular variables with the greatest discrimination in detecting frequent missed signals on the OSLER (IED, BTD, +AVR, and JDS) were then evaluated for the ability (sensitivity and specificity) of their OSLER determined cutoff levels to detect different frequencies of lapses per minute on the PVT. The PVT is a hand-held reaction time task which assesses sustained attention through measuring reaction time to a visual stimulus, presented at varying intervals approximately 10 times per minute.25 Impaired attention is a reliable consequence of drowsiness, with the PVT showing results characteristic of decreased attention such as slowed reaction times and increases in errors and lapses.26–28 A review of 141 articles utilizing the PVT found the 10-min PVT to be the optimal length and the outcome of number of lapses to be the most frequently used and the most reliable measure when evaluating the effect of sleep loss.29 PVT files were inspected for errors (reaction time < 100 ms) which were removed from the analysis. PVT and concurrent ocular measures were again analyzed in 1-min bins. Lapses (reaction time > 500 ms) were identified and the number of lapses per minute was determined for each minute.
Data from the PVT were compared to the corresponding time matched ocular variables in 1-min bins. The sensitivity and specificity of each ocular variable was calculated for detecting different frequencies of lapses (1 to ≥ 5) in any minute.
Thirty-nine participants were recruited with data utilized from the 33 participants who completed the protocol (29 male, mean age 41.4 [ ± 12.9], mean BMI 27.5 [ ± 5.3], and a median ESS score of 5 [IQR 4-8]). The mean hours of sleep prior to the baseline testing was 6.5 (± 1.0) and prior to the sleep restricted testing was 4.0 (± 0.1) (confirmed by actigraphy).
A summary of outcome measures for the OSLER and PVT is presented in Table 1 and ocular variables during these tasks in Table 2 for baseline, SR-AM, SR-PM, and an overall compilation of all data.
Summary of OSLER measures (sleep latency, misses) and PVT measures (reaction time, lapses)
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Summary of ocular variables during OSLER and PVT tasks
ROC area under the curve (AUC) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) clustered by participant are presented in Table 3 for analysis of ocular variables compared to ≥ 4 consecutive missed signals on OSLER (equates to 12 sec) and to ≥ 4 overall missed signals on the OSLER by minute.
ROC area under the curve analysis of missed signals on the OSLER and ocular variables
The variables measuring blink duration (IED and BTD) had good discriminatory ability for detecting frequent drowsiness-related missed signals, as did the JDS (Table 3, Figures 1 and 2). The ratio of the amplitude to velocity of eyelid movement during eyelid closure (+AVR) was also an accurate discriminator and was better than the ratio during re-opening at the end of the blink (–AVR). The measures of proportion of time with eyes closed had moderate to poor discriminatory ability (%TEC and %LC).
ROC curves of ocular variables for discrimination of consecutive missed signals using inter-event duration (IED), blink total duration (BTD), Johns Drowsiness Score (JDS), and percent long closures (%LC)
ROC curves of ocular variables for discrimination of overall missed signals using inter-event duration (IED), blink total duration (BTD), Johns Drowsiness Score, (JDS) and percent long closures (%LC)
Logistic regression models fitted for ocular variables with the highest discrimination for detection of drowsiness-related errors (IED, BTD, %TEC, +AVR) (Figure 3) displayed good discriminatory ability in detecting drowsiness via 4 consecutive (ROC AUC = 0.76) and 4 overall (ROC AUC = 0.824) missed signals in one minute. However, the ROC AUC for these models was found to be lower than for the use of the IED variable alone (Table 3), and further analysis using these models was not undertaken.
Logistic models using the ocular variables IED (inter-event duration), BTD (blink total duration), %TEC (percent time with eyes closed), and +AVR (positive amplitude-velocity ratio) for four consecutive and overall misses on the OSLER per minute
Cutoff values were chosen from the ROC curves for ocular variables that were moderate to good discriminators for detecting 4 consecutive missed signals and 4 overall missed signals on the OSLER per minute (Tables 4 and 5). Three cutoff values were selected for the variables of IED, BTD, %TEC, +AVR, and JDS to demonstrate high sensitivity, high specificity, and intermediate cutoff options for detecting frequent drowsiness-related errors.
ROC cutoff values for each ocular variable for four or more consecutive missed signals by minute (including alternative high sensitivity and high specificity cutoff options)
ROC cutoff values for each ocular variable for four overall missed signals by minute (including alternative high sensitivity and high specificity cutoff options)
The sensitivity and specificity of detecting lapses at the selected cutoff values was determined (Figure 4). At cutoff levels with an optimal balance between sensitivity and specificity (Table 4), identification of one lapse had low sensitivity, with increasing sensitivity with increasing number of lapses. IED, BTD, and JDS had good discrimination for ≥ 3 lapses in a minute on the PVT, with a sensitivity and specificity of 71% and 88% for the IED (100% and 86%, respectively, for ≥ 5 lapses). The JDS provided sensitivities of 77% and 100% for detecting 3 and ≥ 5 lapses in a minute, with specificities of 85% and 83%, respectively; +AVR was not sensitive to detecting lapses on the PVT. All 4 variables had high specificity in detecting any number of lapses on the PVT, and specificity did not decrease greatly with increasing number of lapses. Sensitivity of the identification of PVT lapses increased with lower cutoff levels (high sensitivity cutoff); however, this also resulted in a lowering of specificity with the potential to erroneously classify individuals as unacceptably drowsy when they were not actually impaired. Raising cutoff levels to increase specificity (high specificity cutoff) resulted in extremely poor sensitivity in detecting PVT lapses for all variables other than JDS.
Sensitivity = black, specificity = gray. IED, inter-event duration; BTD, blink total duration; %TEC, percent time with eyes closed; +AVR, positive amplitude-velocity ratio; JDS, Johns Drowsiness Scale.
Sensitivity and specificity of the ocular variables correctly identifying increasing numbers of drowsiness-related PVT lapses (1–5) using OSLER-derived cutoff values at high sensitivity (A) IED, (B) BTD, (C) +AVR and (D) JDS; optimal cutoff values (E) IED, (F) BTD, (G) +AVR, (H) JDS; and high specificity cutoff values (I) IED,...
In this sleep restriction paradigm, measurement of eyelid movements accurately detected frequent episodes of failure to respond to visual signals during vigilance tasks. The average duration of episodes of eye closure (IED and BTD) provided the best discrimination from the primary measures, with the ratio of the amplitude to the velocity of eyelid movement during eyelid closure also providing good discrimination. These results support the use of ocular measures for identifying people who are impaired as a result of drowsiness.
Although blink duration and the proportion of time with eyes closed increase during circumstances designed to increase drowsiness, there is only limited work attempting to relate these physiological metrics to the behavioral changes that occur with restricted sleep. Reliable automated measures of blink duration suitable for on-road driving have previously not been available and manual determination of blink duration has been measured from EEG/electrooculography signals, video recordings, or stationary infrared recordings.13,30,31 Mean blink duration and proportion of blinks of prolonged duration increase during monotonous tasks and are related to subjectively reported drowsiness.13 Blink duration is also increased in untreated obstructive sleep apnea patients and reduces following treatment both in the laboratory and during on road driving.32,33 The variable IED, a measure of eyelid closure duration between the points of maximum closing and re-opening velocity of the eyelid, has previously only recently been reported. This is a measure similar to blink duration, and proved to be most accurate at detecting drowsiness-related errors. Both blink duration and IED were recently shown to increase in duration after more than 24 hours of wakefulness and during the circadian nadir but the effect of milder sleep restriction, as used in our study, has not been described.34
The variable IED accurately identified drowsiness-related errors with an ROC curve area under the curve (AUC) of over 0.8 for detecting frequent missed signals during the OSLER task (AUC = 0.816, 95% CI 0.715-0.886, in the analysis of four consecutive missed signals and 0.834, 95% CI 0.757-0.896, in the analysis of four overall missed signals per minute). Total blink duration (BTD), the ratio of the amplitude to velocity of eyelid movements during eyelid closure (+AVR) and the Johns Drowsiness Score (JDS) were all moderately accurate at detecting frequent missed signals, with AUC of 0.733 to 0.767 for four or more consecutive missed signals and four or more overall missed signals per minute. The percentage of time with eyes closed (%TEC) had a moderate ability to identify frequent missed signals (AUC = 0.683 and 0.721), while other individual measures of eyelid movements (–AVR, %LC, and DOQ) had fair to poor ability to detect frequent drowsiness-related errors in both analyses of OSLER data. Several of these variables have recently been reported to have moderate ability to predict increased lapse frequency and slowing of reaction time, with AUC on ROC curves of between 0.62 to 0.74 for BTD, IED, %LC, AVR, and JDS.34 These values are slightly lower than those identified in our study, perhaps due to the comparison utilizing ocular data collected prior to the vigilance testing rather than during the testing, and the comparison being over a longer time frame.
The percentage long eye closure and percentage of time with eyes closed variables are similar to PERCLOS (the proportion of time eyes are > 80% closed) that has been found to be good at discriminating between alert and drowsy states in some previous studies. The current analysis found that these variables had a moderate discriminatory power for detecting frequent drowsiness-related errors. %LC was poor at detecting sequential drowsiness-related errors, with a maximum sensitivity of 44.64% for detecting four consecutive missed signals on the OSLER, a strong indicator of brief sleep periods on EEG.21 It proved to be more accurate at detecting four misses in total and %TEC, which includes all episodes of eye closure irrespective of duration, was more accurate than %LC. The proportion of time with eyes closed (PERCLOS) was moderately accurate at identifying behavioral lapses in drowsy participants in previous studies with improved accuracy when averaged over longer time periods.5,7 It has been considered as a potential measure for real-time monitoring of drowsiness, although some laboratory studies have also found other drowsiness detection methods more reliable than PERCLOS.35
In this study we found measures of eyelid closure duration, such as IED and BTD, and the ratio of amplitude to velocity of eyelid movements, to be better predictors of behavioral lapses than the percentage of time with eyes closed, producing the highest sensitivities and specificities. For example, the optimal cutoff value for IED, derived from the OSLER data, achieve a sensitivity of 71% for detecting three behavioral lapses on the PVT task, increasing to 100% for detecting five lapses while maintaining good specificity (88% and 86% respectively). Increasing sensitivity at the expense of lowering specificity results in a higher false positive rate, but also a higher likelihood of identifying episodes of drowsiness-related impairment. In applied settings such as on-road driving, it may be deemed more important to have a low rate of false negatives (high sensitivity), despite a greater false positive rate, to reduce the risk of missing episodes of drowsiness.
Sensitivity of accurately detecting PVT lapses at the selected cutoff values for IED, BTD, +AVR, and JDS increased with increasing number of lapses, without a large decrease in specificity. Single instances of PVT lapse could be due to non-drowsiness-related events such as distraction. This is supported by the low sensitivity but high specificity found when testing all ocular variables at this number of lapses. The frequency of PVT lapses has been studied under a variety of circumstances, which can help in considering clinically relevant levels of drowsiness. For example, participants averaged five lapses in ten minutes at a blood alcohol level of 0.05% in one study.36 Lapse frequencies of 8 and 16 in 10 minutes have been described for 24 and 72 hours of wakefulness, respectively.37 Hence, lapse frequencies of two and certainly three or more in a minute would indicate marked drowsiness. IED, BTD, and JDS were all able to detect this frequency of lapses with high sensitivity and specificity. The selected lower cutoff levels for these variables provided sensitivities of 67% to 81% for detecting three lapses in a minute, increasing to 100% for detecting five or more lapses. The specificities were reasonable at 70% to 74% for detecting three or more lapses at this high sensitivity cutoff. Higher cutoff levels resulted in a higher specificity but low sensitivity which would indicate a high rate of false negatives. Monitoring drowsiness in an applied setting would require an appropriate balance, however the fact some of these metrics can achieve a good sensitivity for detecting a moderate frequency of drowsiness-related errors increasing to a very high sensitivity with very frequent errors, while maintaining a low false positive rate suggests that they have the potential to be used for drowsiness monitoring.
AVR for eyelid movements is a measure of the velocity of eyelid movements relative to the amplitude of the upper eyelid movement. AVR increases with drowsiness,17 particularly for the eyelid re-opening phase. These ratios have been reported to have low inter-subject variability, and hence potentially reduce the need for individual calibration.17,38 In the current study the +AVR (eyelid closure phase), had an ROC area under the curve that was similar to the measures of eyelid closure duration (IED and BTD) and the JDS. However, it tended to have a lower sensitivity than the other measures for detecting behavioral lapses at a range of cutoffs while maintaining a good specificity.
The use of logistic models to fit a more accurate measure of drowsiness using several of the recorded ocular variables, although producing good discriminatory ability, did not improve detection of missed OSLER signals beyond the use of individual ocular variables. IED was found to have more accurate discrimination alone than a logistic model using a combination of ocular measures.
The protocol allowed for a mixture of rested and moderate sleep restriction conditions and demonstrated that several ocular variables have good ability to detect drowsiness-related errors on two psychophysiological tasks. A number of factors might alter these outcomes in different settings. While four hours sleep restriction is a relatively realistic level of sleep loss experienced in the real world, a greater level of sleep restriction and associated drowsiness might alter the discriminatory power of different ocular variables in detecting behavioral lapses. For example the speed of eyelid movements or blink duration might increase prior to appreciable increases in the percent of time with eyes closed. While we found that blink duration measures were better predictors of performance within this paradigm of mild sleep restriction; others with more severe sleep deprivation have found that percent of time with eyes closed is a better predictor.34 There was some individual variability in ocular measures despite the same level of sleep restriction. This may be due to individual variability in responses to sleep loss and may also be due to baseline variability in psychophysiological measures, such as differences in ocular muscle responses. The applicability of results from the current study may be limited to the study tasks and the laboratory setting. In our study, participants were instructed to look directly ahead and sit still while performing the tasks. Although our findings suggest that ocular measurements may be a useful indicator of drowsiness during driving-related performance some caution needs to be exercised in extrapolating these results to other tasks and settings such as on-road driving where factors such as head and vehicle movement may affect eyelid measures. Of the vigilance tasks utilized in this study, the PVT, at 10-min duration, could be used in practical situations to assess driver drowsiness,39 such as at a roadside testing stop. However, it is not suitable for the continuous monitoring of drowsiness as can be achieved with ocular measures.
To be functional in monitoring driver drowsiness, a device must be portable and able to acquire, process, and produce feedback to the driver before drowsiness reaches a level when deterioration in attention may lead to accidents. In this study, several ocular variables were reliable indicators of drowsiness-related deterioration in vigilance in the laboratory setting. Ocular variables which measured the duration of ocular events; IED (duration of eyelid events) and BTD (duration of blinks) were the most reliable in detecting drowsiness and lapses, with the ratio of velocity to amplitude of eyelid closure also a reliable indicator. These are promising measures for real-time drowsiness monitoring. Further research should evaluate their utility during a variety of tasks, in different environments (including on-road in vehicle validation) and under a variety of sleep restriction conditions.
This was not an industry supported study. This project was supported by VicRoads, the state road and traffic authority in the state of Victoria, Australia. Dr. Howard has received research support from ResMed Foundation, Prevention Express, and Mining CRC. Part of Dr. Barnes salary is paid by involvement in sponsored clinical trial for Apnex Medical. Dr. Rajaratnam has served as a consultant (through service agreements with Monash University) to Vanda Pharmaceuticals, Philips Respironics, Edan-Safe, The Australian Workers' Union, and National Transport Commission, and has received research grants and/or unrestricted educational grants from Vanda Pharmaceuticals, Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Philips Lighting, Philips Respironics, Cephalon, and ResMed Foundation, and reimbursements for conference travel expenses from Vanda Pharmaceuticals. His institution has received equipment donations or other support from Optalert, Compumedics, and Tyco Healthcare. He has also served as an expert witness and/or consultant to shift work organizations. Dr Rajaratnam presently serves on the Board of Directors of the Australasian Sleep Association, and has previously served on the Board of Directors of the Sleep Health Foundation. The other authors have indicated no financial conflicts of interest.
negative amplitude-velocity ratio
positive amplitude-velocity ratio
percent long closures
percent time with eyes closed
area under the curve
blink total duration
confidence interval
duration of ocular quiescence
Epworth Sleepiness Scale
inter-event duration
Johns Drowsiness Scale
maintenance of wakefulness test
Optalert Drowsiness Measurement System
Oxford Sleep Resistance Test
proportion of time eyes are more than 80% closed
psychomotor vigilance task
receiver operating characteristic
sleep restriction: morning
sleep restriction: afternoon
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Akerstedt T, Peters B, Anund A, Kecklund G, authors. Impaired alertness and performance driving home from the night shift: a driving simulator study. J Sleep Res. 2005;14:17–20. [PubMed]
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Caffier PP, Erdmann U, Ullsperger P, authors. Experimental evaluation of eye-blink parameters as a drowsiness measure. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2003;89:319–25. [PubMed]
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Answering this question is one of our biggest global challenges. Scientific and technological solutions to these issues will depend on economic, political, and social advances requiring international cooperation. This concentration provides you with a background in earth and its environmental systems, together with global perspectives on the challenges of sustainable development.
Sample Projects
Students' final projects have included:
- Proposal for a new Bentley Accounting course that explores organizations' environmental impacts and costs
- Research project on the environmentally friendly purchasing practices of other colleges and universities; results were presented to Bentley administration to help create a formal purchasing policy
- Analysis of the Polynesian island of Tuvalu's vulnerability to and preparedness for climate change-related increases in sea level, based partly on interviews of people who had traveled there
- Investigation of whether or not sustainable tourism is based solely on environmental preservation or can be developed into a more sustainable business model among tour operators and resorts
- Research project exploring if Ground2Ground, an organization dedicated to reusing coffee grounds, should be revamped to focus on the production of coffee tables


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SEATTLE (Reuters) - Seattle's interim police chief has apologized for appearing in a 1986 video that showed him and other officers mocking the homeless in what the city's police department this week called an "ugly piece" of its history.
Interim Chief Jim Pugel, who is implementing sweeping reforms in the wake of a 2012 U.S. Department of Justice report that found the city's police routinely used excessive force, appeared in the video when he was a 26-year-old officer.
In the roughly five-minute clip, which officials say was part of a training video and which they released this week, Pugel and a few colleagues are seen wearing fake beards, dancing with bottles of alcohol under a freeway overpass and singing parody lyrics to the 1964 song "Under the Boardwalk" by The Drifters.
Some of the officers sport blacked-out teeth as they croon lyrics such as, "We'll be drinking Thunderbird (wine) all through the day, under the viaduct. Who could ask for anything more?"
"Even by 1980s standards, the Seattle Police Department considered the video to be insensitive and inappropriate," Pugel, who was appointed to his position earlier this month, said in a statement late on Thursday. "I regret my participation and have professionally apologized for my role in it. I do so now publicly. I am truly sorry."
He takes over a department that has at times experienced a troubled history with minority communities and is in the first year of a reform plan overseen by the U.S. Department of Justice to revise the use of force by officers.
The Seattle Times reported in a story posted on its website on Friday that the newspaper and other media outlets had received several tips about the video's existence before it was made public late on Thursday by police.
Seattle police spokesman Sean Whitcomb said Pugel, who has not said whether he will seek to lead the department on a permanent basis, disclosed the existence of the video to other city officials and homeless groups when he was appointed interim chief.
"It's not a problem but an opportunity to showcase who Chief Pugel is," Whitcomb said. "For him it was a leadership moment."
Police say all existing copies of the video have been destroyed, except for a single copy retained for their records.
Pugel said in his statement that he had the video released because he felt it was "important to show where this department has been and where it is going" and that he discussed it with Mayor Mike McGinn and several Seattle-based homeless groups.
(Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Paul Simao)


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ACT International Programs
ACT offers education and workforce services to organizations throughout the world.
ACT Education Solutions, Limited, is an ACT subsidiary that offers curriculum that helps international students prepare for study at English-speaking universities around the world. Learn more about the Global Assessment Certificate Program. Also learn more here if your institution is interested in becoming a Pathway University (PDF; 34 pages, 3.9MB).
Register to take the ACT® college readiness assessment in your country.
- Visit the ACT Student Site.
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Evaluate international students as you do with US applicants to your undergraduate programs.
Just as you do with domestic students, use ACT scores from international students to evaluate and validate your international applicants. The ACT is administered in 130 countries worldwide. By requiring your international students to take the ACT as part of your school's admissions process, you can compare a student's performance to the ACT College Readiness Benchmarks and immediately know the student's English proficiency. You can reduce your risk by evaluating and comparing the ACT scores to the student's high school transcripts as a validation of the student's college readiness.


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Are Cody Simpson and Kylie Jenner Hollywood's Newest Teen Couple?
It seems that Australian pop star Cody Simpson has had one particular girl on his mind lately. The 'Not Just You' singer looks like he is becoming a one-girl kind of guy, since photographers captured him and Kim Kardashian's little sister Kylie Jenner out on a date in Los Angeles over the weekend!
Simpson, 14, and Jenner, also 14, hit up Los Angeles' famous shopping / entertainment district The Grove on Sunday, Nov. 27. A source close to Jenner confirmed the news, telling Us Weekly, "Yes, they went on a date." The pair looked cheerful as they strolled around the shopping center and chatted with one another. It looked like the perfectly casual first date for a young couple.
Jenner and Simpson first met at the 'Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1′ premiere in Hollywood and a source said that the pair "have been inseparable ever since." Before performing an impromptu cover of Justin Bieber's 'Mistletoe,' Jenner interviewed Simpson alongside her sister Kendall. During their intro, Kylie told Cody, "You're my rumored boyfriend on Twitter!"
Even if people started rumors about the duo dating, it seems like this pair has made a love connection regardless. We hope that their busy schedules — Kylie also works as a model — don't get in the way of a budding romance!


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SmolKitten कहा …
I wish The Cat Returns had और fans. It's too cute to be forgotten :'c पोस्टेड ·8महीने पहले
|और studio ghibli मतदानो >>
|और studio ghibli जवाब >>
गढ़, महल in the Sky is a Studio Ghibli film. It was directed द्वारा Hayo Miyazaki. This review is about wether या not the film is worth checking out.
The Plot:
Sheeta is a young girl. She meets a young guy named Pazu. Pazu helps Sheeta, because Sheeta is being chased द्वारा a villainous colonel and some pirates. However the colonel gets Sheeta. Because of this Pazu decides to become allies with the pirates. The pirates turn out to not be as villainous as they seemed to be so it's up to Pazu, Sheeta, and the pirates to stop the colonel.
#5 Things आप Probably Didn't Know About Spirited Away!
5. The main charatcer: Chihiro is based off of something या someone.
-Hayao Miyazaki, film director of Studio Ghibli, Based Chihiro off of his best friend's daughter who was -at the time- 10 years old. She was also the one who convinced Hayao to continue Directing movies, after Hayao was thinking of retiring after he finished up Princess Mononoke.
4. Even the famous Hayao Miyazaki needed help.
Ocean Waves is a romance ऐनीमे film that was made द्वारा Studio Ghibli. Although it got really good reviews on Rotten Tomatoes some Studio Ghibli प्रशंसकों consider this film to be 1 of Studio Ghibli's weakest films. This review is about if I agree with the Studio Ghibli fans.
The Plot:
The film is about Taku, a young and nice guy. His best friend Yutaka. They get a new classmate named Rikako. Rikako is a impolite girl, but she's pretty which makes Yutaka get a crush on her. Taku doesn't like Rikako's harshness. However after spending some days together Taku cares about...
When Marnie Was There is a 2014 Studio Ghibli film.
The Plot:
The film is about Anna, a socially uncomfortable young girl. She lives with nice, but suspicious foster parents. Due to some problems she spends some time with her uncle and aunt. While there she becomes best फ्रेंड्स with Marnie, a mysterious girl.
The film's plot is really good. Although the storyline is quite dark the passionate bond between Anna and Marnie leads to some of the most emotionally impactful and heartwarming scenes ever. The film is pretty much just focused on Anna and...
Whisper of the दिल is a Studio Ghibli film. Studio Ghibli has made some good films. Is Whisper of the दिल a good film? Please read the review if आप want to find out.
The Plot
The film is about Shizuku, a high school girl who loves to read books. She meets a high school guy named Seiji. At first Shizuku dislikes Seiji, but she eventually falls in love. Shizuku and Seiji try to focus both on their relationship and their future jobs.
The plot is good. Most romance films are painfully predictable, boring, and annoying. This film is...
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya is a 2013 Studio Ghibli film. The film was directed द्वारा Isao Takahata. The film is based on the story "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter".
The Plot:
The film is focused on a princess who is adopted द्वारा a couple who live in the country. The princess loves her life in the country, but the dad thinks that she should have a life of royalty. The princess moves to a mansion where she is treated like royalty, but she misses her pleasant country life. Plus a bunch of shallow guys want to marry her.
There are several film studios, but my प्रिय is Studio Ghibli. Studio Ghibli is a film studio that's made some of the most beloved ऐनीमे films. They have around 20 films. Their 2 main directors are Hayo Miyazaki and Isao Takahata.
Studio Ghibli films are the king of having good plots. The 3 most impressively written films that I've ever experienced are all Studio Ghibli films. The plots in their films have very emotionally moving and wonderfully done scenes. The characters are often likeable and relatable. Plus the एनीमेशन is awesome and the संगीत is charming.
English Translation
The ship veiled in the shining sea leaves a whistle of the good-bye.
Will I meet the wind of summer color if I go down the gentle slope?
My love, it's a melody. I sing highly and low.
My love, it's a gull. I fly highly and low.
Will I meet tender आप if I call for आप in the setting sun?
The sound of the पियानो somebody plays sounds like sea rumble.
Do people coming and going in the late afternoon carry the dream of summer color?
Hikaru umi ni kasumu funewa
sayonara no kiteki nokoshimasu
Yurui saka o orite yukeba
natsu iro no kaze ni aeru kashira
Watashi no ai sore wa merodi
takaku Hikuku Utau no
Watashi no ai Sore wa kamome
takaku Hikuku Tobu no
Yuuhi no naka yonde mitara
yasashii anata ni aeru kashira
Dare ka ga hiku पियानो no oto
uminari mitai ni kikoemasu
Osoi gogo o yuki kau hito
natsu iro no yume o hakobu kashira
|और studio ghibli लेखाए >>
Hayao Miyazaki
Studio Ghibli Theme Park
My Neighbor Totoro
|और studio ghibli लिंक्स >>


text:
Accurate tracking of parts and maintenance parts throughout the aerospace and defense supply chains enables compliance with regulatory requirements, improves safety, and provides protection against theft and counterfeit spares. But the nature of the aerospace supply chain creates a set of complexities that make traceability uniquely challenging.
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BarTender's Integration Builder provides seamless data integration with WMS and PLC systems like Oracle and SAP, enabling single source of truth data management crucial to efficient and reliable asset tracking.
The centralized control in BarTender's Enterprise Automation and Automation editions connects your business data with a wide variety of printers and marking devices — whether you have one device at a single site or thousands at suppliers' sites around the world. Even your suppliers can access your most current label formats and data with BarTender's Print Portal, enabling label standardization throughout the supply chain.
Security features of the Enterprise Automation and Automation editions include complete audit trail capture, allowing you to respond quickly during a recall or event with pinpoint track and trace accuracy. Support for role-based permissions and label format encryption for robust protection across the supply chain.
Regulatory and production landscapes will continue to change and BarTender's Intelligent Templates™ enable you to rapidly transform your designs, formats and processes — with centralized label management, edits can be rolled out across the globe instantaneously.
With the Enterprise Automation and Automation editions' powerful, configurable serialization capabilities, BarTender enables asset tracking with pinpoint accuracy — and BarTender's ability to increment across a network's printers supports best-practice centralized serial number management.
BarTender includes over 400 preformatted, ready-to-use barcode components based on 59 different symbologies and 12 additional barcode standards, including SPEC 2000, MIL-STD-129P. RFID encoding of tag types including EPC Class 1, Gen2, ISO 18000-6b, ISO 15693, Tag-It, I-CODE, TagSys, My-d, Picotag and more, with support for all EPC data formats.
"선택할 수 있는 다른 모든 옵션을 고려하고 다른 회사의 라벨링 제품 시연회를 주선하기도 했지만 그 어떤 제품도 BarTender의 기능과 비슷한 성능을 제공하지 못했습니다."
— Chuck DiTrapano(RPh: 정식 약사) - 미국 유수의 의료시설에서 조제실 운영 관리자 직무 담당


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When Nemesio Cava considered leasing a Nissan Leaf last fall, his employer's plans to install electric vehicle charging stations played a major role.
"This was kind of new for me," said the Texas Instruments Inc. electrical engineer. "It kind of helped me make the decision."
TI is adding 46 electric vehicle charging stations to 12 sites in Texas, including nine at the Dallas headquarters where Cava works, thanks to a public-private partnership to spur electric car use.
TI is part of the growing workplace charging movement, a key piece of the national electric vehicle infrastructure. A growing number of companies, including GameStop Corp., General Motors, Half Price Books and the Kroger grocery chain, have installed charging stations in the Dallas area in the last few years. Some say they've seen steady use.
The semiconductor company views it as a way to continue supporting employee alternative commuting.
"We have a long line of ways to help employees find alternative commuting methods," with subsidized bus passes and van-pool programs, said Paul Westbrook, TI's sustainable development manager. "This fit."
Corporate Responsibility Magazine recently named TI one of the world's top 100 corporate citizens based on its score in seven categories, including environment and corporate principles.
TI's first four charging stations went in earlier this month at its Sherman factory, but the Dallas area won't get any until next month. Initially, only TI employees will be able to use them, but the company is considering opening some to the public.
Ron Swanson, president of the North Texas Electric Auto Association, thinks more companies will offer charging stations as use of electric cars grows.
"It appears to be driven by employees working for a company who are requesting it," Swanson said. Most people charge their cars at home, but charging stations make sense for places where you spend a lot of time — like work, he said.
Tens of thousands of electric cars cruise the road today, but that's a far cry from the Obama administration's goal of 1 million by the end of 2015.
TI estimates that 10 employees at its Dallas campus own electric vehicles (more own plug-in hybrids that can also use the stations). The company has 34,000 employees globally, including 9,400 in North Texas.
"I can't predict the future, but I can help shape it by doing things like this," TI's Westbrook said. "TI wants to be part of the infrastructure for the future."
The charging stations won't cost TI anything because San Francisco-based Ecotality Inc. and the federal government will pick up the bill. But it will cost $1 an hour to use a TI charger, which is designed to supplement home charges.
TI's program is part of a project funded by a $115 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and $115 million from Ecotality, said Dave Aasheim, Ecotality's regional manager for Texas. Each charging station costs $5,500 to $6,000 for the equipment and installation, he said. The TI stations will become part of Ecotality's Blink Network, with more than 300 public stations in the Dallas area and about 3,000 public stations nationwide. Last year, Blink's public charging use rose 11 percent in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Aasheim said.
"As we install these in workplaces, employees see the infrastructure and something clicks that an electric vehicle can be part of their lifestyle," he said. "It spurs more ownership."
Video game retailer GameStop saw the same employee reaction after it installed four electric charging stations at its Grapevine headquarters in June, spokeswoman Larine Nixon said.
"After they were installed, a couple of employees went out and bought electric cars," she said. "All four are used daily."
Now it's thinking of adding more.
The free charger at Half Price Books' Dallas headquarters and flagship store on Northwest Highway has been used nearly 200 times so far this year, said spokeswoman Emily Bruce. Last year, the charger was used about 300 times. Installation cost about $10,000 in fall 2010, but ongoing costs are $3 to $4 per charge, she said.
Most of TI's charging stations — 43 of them — will be installed in North Texas, including factories in Plano and Richardson. The company will evaluate the program over the next year.
If TI decides to keep the charging stations, it would enter into a revenue-sharing agreement with Blink. Otherwise, it would pay Ecotality a small fee to remove them.
TI's Cava hopes they stay.
"I can kind of get away without charging at work, but having three kids, it's nice to have the car fully charged for after work," said the Plano resident. "There are things about having the charging that you can do things during the day."
Follow Sheryl Jean on Twitter
at @SherylJeanDMN.


text: Demonstrations TRADE SHOWS Solomon Colors actively leads and supports the concrete industry by participating in national trade shows and meetings. Attend one of these trade shows to learn about our efforts, learn about our products, and make contact with our expert staff. DEMONSTRATIONS Solomon Colors provides product demonstrations at our distributors locations throughout the year. Our product experts are eager to share their knowledge and help you grow your business. TRAINING CLASSES Solomon Colors wants to make sure that concrete professionals get the education necessary to create more business opportunities. Solomon Colors has 3 day hands on training classes at our Training facility in Springfield Illinois and Rialto California. Benefit from our expertise. Learn how best to use our products and how to make the most of your business. Sorry, there are no upcoming events at this time.


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Aaron Berry now has another obstacle in his NFL career. This one was beyond his control.
The New York Jets announced that Berry suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice Friday. NFL.com's Ian Rapoport reported Berry has a torn anterior cruciate ligament, according to a source who spoke with the player.
"He's staying positive and will decide tomorrow on surgery date (within a week)," the source said.
It's a terrible setback for Berry, who was in line for a reserve cornerback role this season. According to The Associated Press, Berry tore his ACL when he got tangled up with wide receiver Joseph Collins midway through Friday's practice.
Berry was in line to be a starter for the Detroit Lions last season before being arrested twice in one month during the offseason. He was cut by the Lions last July and served a three-game suspension for a DUI and brandishing a gun in his hometown of Harrisburg, Pa. Berry signed with the Jets in October, appearing in seven games.
Knowing Berry's history of off-the-field issues, the plan is to keep him immersed in football and around the team during his rehab process, a source told Rapoport.
The Jets are suddenly thin at cornerback. Losing Berry puts more impetus on getting a deal done with Dee Milliner, the team's first-round pick who's currently holding out over offset language.
Follow Dan Hanzus on Twitter @DanHanzus.


text: On Oct 8, 2008, at 4:09 PM, Bogdan Costescu wrote: > On Tue, 7 Oct 2008, Vincent Diepeveen wrote: > >> Drug type companies eat typical 0.5% system time. > > Could you please explain what you mean here ? That they buy lots of > CPUs but only use a fraction of them or only for a fraction of time ? > When you add up others. Note i see in IWR you got a 160 node opteron cluster, what software eats system time on that cluster? There must be graphs about it, want to share one? Also interesting to know is how many cores most jobs eat! Note that i left out 1 important factor which is not a factor in every nation: that's the amount of system time airindustry eats of supercomputers designing new stuff. It is very significant together with car manufacturers. With 160 nodes machine, even if that would be power6 nodes, you can't even design a wing for aircraft. >> They are far behind, which is not so logical; i would consider it >> old fashioned to do experiments on monkeys (Bar-ilan brain >> experiments on monkeys rings a bell?), so doing everything in >> software is far more logical. > > Maybe your knowledge about the pharma industry is far behind ? > "Doing everything in software is far more logical" only when you > can exactly express biological processes in mathematical terms > which is not true in the great majority of cases. F.e. molecular > dynamics (often used to simulate interactions at molecular level, > f.e. of a drug injected into the body) is based on several > approximations and the implementations are subject to numerical > errors. Would you take a drug that was produced based only on a > simulation with molecular dynamics and found to be good enough ? > Well, i sure avoid hospital visits, you? As you know the healthcare commission is basically old men who spread careful chosen sentences in such a manner that everything looks fine on this planet and that there is nothing to worry about; last time i spoke with them on EMF's a guy being spokesman on this subject, he didn't even know how the electricity system in his own house worked (whether on the first floor of his house he had earth). So lucky to introduce to a new drug, there is some burocratic systems. There is several phases of testing that a drug has to pass in order to get accepted as a drug that is legal. Not to confuse with the 'advice' on whether a drug gets prescribed; they want way cheaper drugs for that usually than the ones that might maybe be better (say 0.5% better for a lot of money extra, but if you're that guy that didn't get cured as a result of that, your family will regret it bigtime). Computing power or not, most manufacturers simply want to sell a product, so the amount of systemtime invested on a computer, in order to sell, is total irrelevant to them to get a drug accepted usually. The first and most important part of the show to get a drug accepted is getting invited to the table to show your drug. Computing power is nice to mention here when that is usually not a factor at all to get a new medicine accepted. But it may change, let's hope so... Maybe a new breed of company can do the job. A breed where making profit is not most important :) > Similar concerns apply to all levels - the brain, as you mention > it, is still very much an enigma, otherwise artificial intelligence > would be all around us (or not, if deemed to dangerous...). And > when you don't know how an organ or system works, how can you > develops drugs only by simulations ? > >> When someone is really in big need for big calculation power, one >> makes dedicated cpu's for it. > > I tend to agree, provided that the dedicated CPU brings a really > big advantage, like an order of more of magnitude. F.e., to stay in > the pharma related field, that's the bussiness case for DEShaw > Research's molecular dynamics chip (Anton) which is supposed to > bring a significant increase in speed for MD simulations compared > with software solutions running on general purpose CPUs (or GPUs). Some hardware guys can better comment here. Making your own FPGA chippie is rather cheap. Finding and paying a few good guys to get the chip done is toughest. You basically need 1 good programmer, the rest can get hired parttime in fact. After chip works, to print a 1000 cards, it is like a 100 dollar for pci-card and 50 dollar a chip. So $150k for computing power that total annihilates any supercomputer of now and the NEAR future for your specific application. Real cpu's are a lot faster of course, price for them i do not have at hand. I heard it could be cheaper than this in fact if you regurarly print a batch. Such a batch is producing less cpu's than the FPGA, where you pay for 1 cpu a constant amount. I tend to remember that good cpu designers, not to mention memory controller guys, are rather expensive folks, as they are very popular; on some other mailing list with some very funny lastnames, i see nonstop job offers for that type of folks. Vincent > -- > Bogdan Costescu > > IWR, University of Heidelberg, INF 368, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany > Phone: +49 6221 54 8869/8240, Fax: +49 6221 54 8868/8850 > E-mail: bogdan.costescu at iwr.uni-heidelberg.de >


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East Hampton Town supervisor
Republican, Independence Party
1. Please share with us accomplishments or experiences that would indicate your commitment to advancing an environmental agenda for East Hampton. These may be professional or personal.
Actions speak louder than words. In my first term, before making any acquisitions, we performed an audit of the CPF. This audit revealed that not only did the McGintee Administration (prior administration) borrow eight million dollars as described by the District Attorney, but borrowed an additional nine million dollars, totaling illegal diversion of $17,000,000.00 earmarked for acquiring critically important parcels. Without this review, the CPF might have forever been out the Nine Million Dollars which our audit uncovered. After the review, we started fresh CPF purchases with a clear and understandable balance sheet. As we received necessary deficit financing, we paid back the Community Preservation Fund. We then continued to purchase property at an admirable pace. In addition, we have restructured the operations of the CPF committee to ensure site selection and prioritization is performed in an objective business like fashion. Since beginning my term, $18 million dollars and 130 acres have been purchased/contracted and earmarked for acquisition.
In addition, we have refortified the Lake Montauk Watershed Committee and designed a Lake Montauk Sustainability Committee to pursue public/private partnership to ensure the sustainability of this great body of water. With the help of Fred Thiele, we have been innovative in changing the dynamic of purchasing properties for the purpose of establishing retention ponds to retain runoff from this body of water. We will study septic and with the like of Kevin McAllister being added to the Committee, important work will be done to examine septic impact on the lake.
We have approved two wind energy platforms in the Town. This is another promise during the campaign. I always was puzzled that East Hampton would have a windmill on its flag yet failed to pursue non petroleum based energy sources in our town. We are a critical part of the Suffolk County Planning groups' address of this area.
Noise impact of helicopters drew our boards' attention. We have been leaders in addressing noise pollution and have diligently worked with the FAA on establishing new routes, getting the first Airport Layout Plan approved in over 22 years and with that scheduling the use of a seasonal control tower to ensure air space control prioritizing our surrounding areas and noise reductions related to these aircraft.
Recognizing that the single biggest threat to our waters is sewage effluent, we continue to pursue sewerage treatment, both with considering the future use of our east Hampton facility and the attempt to implement in Montauk. There is much opposition from environmental groups in Montauk for fear of increasing density.
2. What do you believe is the role of town government regulation and enforcement in maintaining a clean, sustainable environment? What, if any, changes are the most important?
I believe that it is government's role to enact legislation and to ensure the health of our environment. The Town of East Hampton has always and continues to take this responsibility seriously and, along with the Trustees, the County, and the State, work to ensure the regulations are adequate and state of the art. We must ensure that open discussions take place where risk is apparent and proper planning takes place to ensure future generations are safeguarded by the actions we take today.
3. What resources, experts or opinions will you consult when making decisions that affect East Hampton Town's environmental resources?
We spearheaded various open forums which were inclusive of representatives of the DEC, Suffolk County Planning, the Peconic Bay Keeper , Nature Conservancy, the Group for the East End and the Long Island Farm Bureau. We continue to use members of our Planning Department and Natural Resources Department to share their learning's from conferences they attend with members of the Board.
Coastal, Drinking and Surface Water
4. In view of the extreme weather conditions as of late, what should East Hampton Town, as a coastal community, do in the short and long term to prepare for these changes?
We have been fairly frustrated with the Army Corp of Engineers and what appears to be a 35 year Fire Island to Montauk Point Study (FIMP). That is why we demanded and received an open hearing from the Corp in Montauk. We continue to work closely with the Army Corp to provide emergency dredging, staged on September 30 and dredging beginning the first week of October, in Montauk Harbor. Dredging is not only critical for safe ingress and egress of this vital fishing port but is imperative to ensure adequate water flow to the Lake Montauk, a vital water body that houses abundant shellfish. We have been in constant communication with the NYS DEC working collaboratively to safeguard our lands and shorelines.
5. Do you believe current Town policies adequately protect drinking water quality and sustainability? If not, what, if any, policy changes would you support?
As stated earlier, we are currently analyzing the current sewerage treatment plant in East Hampton. The Lake Montauk Watershed Sustainability Committee is initiating testing of Lake Montauk and its tributaries and focusing on the impact of septic systems around the Lake. Septic placement and its impact are on the short list of priorities for this group. With all our CPF purchases, the effect of open space on preservation of the aquifer continues to be of great importance.
6. Periodically, East Hampton Town's bays and creeks are closed to shell fishing or swimming due to poor water quality. Some water bodies do not meet Federal EPA MS4 storm water protection standards. What concrete actions will you support to improve the quality of our surface waters?
We are actively engaged in MS4. We are actively pursuing retention ponds that not only capture this runoff but filter the runoff. Culvert inspection is critical and we engage Suffolk County Vector Control in our efforts to ensure adequate water flow. We are examining the potential impact of septic systems as they flow to Lake Montauk. Because of elevation and drainage, these systems could potentially contribute from as far away as Ditch Plains. It is the first time that such an examination has been performed.
Land Preservation
Public land preservation protects our drinking water supply and improves drinking water quality, quality of life, tax rates and property values in the Town of East Hampton.
7. Should the Town continue to use the Community Preservation Fund to purchase land? If so, what changes, if any, would you support in land preservation policy or practice? If not, what funding mechanism do you propose ought to replace it?
The Community Preservation Fund has been a Godsend to East Hampton. Well over 50% of East Hampton is preserved and Montauk has over 70 % of its land preserved. Once we cleaned up the mess from the last administration, we aggressively pursued and continue to purchase properties under CPF. Since our administration took office, we have purchased, offered and contracted for over 130 acres of open space at a price of approximately $18 million.
I personally look forward to resumption of this tax well after it expires. I think future funding has an opportunity to also apply to sustainability of our water bodies, inlets and beaches under an appropriate banner of preservation of the quality of what we have.
Dark and Quiet Skies
8. In 2006 the Town passed the "Smart Lighting" law which enhanced previous legislation addressing light pollution. What are the most important benefits (if any) and shortcomings (if any) of the Smart Lighting law? What actions would you support to expand or modify the enforcement of this law?
The benefit is the obvious exposure to our night skies-especially brilliant the further east you go. We need to improve any conditions created by this legislation that impact safety – street lighting and crosswalks are especially dangerous in downtown Montauk. I think there is opportunity by zoning lighting –trees, water and open areas have different lighting and shading impacts than commercial or residential areas.
9. Noise pollution caused by aircraft, particularly helicopters, has been a source of complaints from residents for many years. Because of financial agreements with the FAA, the Town government currently has little control over East Hampton airspace. How will you address these complaints? What specific rules would you like to see enacted?
We have been active in leading the charge for reduction of Helicopter noise through the formation of an East End Helicopter Advisory Committee; orchestrating a southern route out of New York; getting the first Airport Layout Plan approved in the last 22 years; and laying the ground for a seasonal control tower that will regulate incoming traffic within a five mile radius.
Government Planning and Enforcement
Historically, East Hampton has been a national leader in community and environmental planning and open space preservation.
10. What is your vision for the future of the Planning Department in East Hampton Town? What aspects of the Planning Department's organization and function are most important for the Town's future and what aspects, if any, would you change or strengthen?
Our planning activities have been focused on land management and in that regard, our planning department and boards they have done a wonderful job. But we must have our planning department focus on planning for our long term infrastructure, people, roads, energy, business, sewage treatment and ultimate sustainability. This often requires different education, competencies and analysis. Long range planning must be implemented coupled with short term performance measurement.
11. Are the Town's Comprehensive and Local Waterfront Revitalization Plans adequate in your opinion? If not, which specific policies or plan recommendations do you not support or would like to see changed? Which policies would you prioritize for implementation?
Solid Waste and Water Waste Management Facilities
The Town's systems for the management of both solid waste (trash and recyclables) and water waste (sewage) have been the focus of critical discussion in recent years.
12. What is your assessment of the state of these systems, what are the major problems requiring correction, and what are the most urgently needed changes in policy and practice?
We have yet to really attack recyclable issues within the Town. We have adequate facilities. We must ensure appropriate activity. As stated earlier, sewerage treatment is a current priority as we examine our East Hampton facility and determine future needs of this facility.


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Rihanna's Surprisingly Practical Style Tips
Given that the pop star's own look can veer towards the theatric, we were surprised to find that many of her tips could equally apply to everyday dressing. We cherry-picked her most helpful quotes from the article. Read on.
Photo:Style Du Monde
"You can do anything with a great jacket, the bigger the better. You can have any silhouette underneath. It gives you an attitude. It makes a gown look cool."
Image Via Style Du Monde
Photo:Gastro Chic
"It's not about pain. It's about the commitment. I say to myself, 'I want to look like this,' and worry about the pain later. I've had nights I had to tiptoe home and the balls of my feet wouldn't even allow me to stand."
Image Via Gastro Chic
"If I'm wearing a top, I don't wear a bra. If I'm wearing a bra, I just wear a bra." (Ok, maybe this is more fabulous than practical but we love it nonetheless.)
Photo:Gastro Chic
"My jewelry's all fake—from Claire's. Or I get it from my mom's boutique in Barbados. Her shop's called FAB-U-LUS."
Image Via Gastro Chic
Photo:Gastro Chic
"This is what a guy wants. When it feels like it's yours and it feels like it's you, that's what works. You want to look like you are not just someone in cool clothes."
To read the full article, go to vogue.com.
Image Via Gastro Chic


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ROBINSONVILLE, Miss. -- In political terms, says Fred Clark, "Next year's farm bill is light years away." The Senate isn't doing anything on the farm bill this year, he notes, and the House is only getting under way with field hearings.
And although there is an assumption that a farm bill will be written in 2007, "It might not happen," the vice president and general counsel for Cornerstone Government Affairs, Washington, said at the ninth annual Conservation Systems Cotton and Rice Conference at Robinsonville, Miss.
With off-year elections in 2007 and the presidential election in 2008, "there is some talk," Clark said, "that the current farm bill might just be extended."
Many factors can influence the progress, or lack of progress, of the legislation, said Clark, who is also Washington counsel for the US Rice Producers Association, one of the sponsors of the conference. "The national economic climate, the federal budget situation, agriculture's economic situation — all can affect the legislative environment."
But he said, "It's a pretty safe bet that between now and next year the federal deficit is not going to go away," which could make it more difficult to get funding for farm programs.
"It's something of a truism," he observed, "that the worse the agricultural economy is, the better the chances of getting a good farm bill."
The fiscal 2006 budget submitted by President Bush last week included proposed cuts in agriculture," said Clark, who spent eight years working with the House Agriculture Committee under chairman Kika de la Garza, and has worked on every farm bill since 1985.
"Those cuts are widely perceived as cuts for southern agriculture. They went after payment limits and marketing loans, then cut whatever was left by 5 percent, and then required farmers to buy crop insurance.
"A lot of off-budget items are coming along that will make the reconciliation process even worse," and could result in "an ugly mess" when the appropriations committees start work.
It's ironic, Clark said, that most U.S. commodity organizations supported budget reconciliation efforts by Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga. "They said they were willing to take cuts in farm programs if they were spread over a reasonable number of years and if the programs were extended to accommodate the cuts."
But, he said, House budget hawks instead came up with "smoke-and-mirror savings," and the result could be that larger cuts would be required next year.
"A major question overhanging everything is whether the Republicans will still be in charge when the new bill is written, and who will be in charge of the agriculture committees and other key chairmanships. The administration is trying to assert itself as being deeply involved in farm policy, but Congress is pretty jealous of its authority to write legislation.
"We'll be going into 2007 not knowing who's going to be on which team — one team that wants the president's proposals carried out, the other team that's hell-bent on dismantling them. It's so bad the Republicans are holding committee meetings and not telling the Democrat members where or when the meetings are being held."
Additionally, he noted, with many World Trade Organization issues still unresolved, "there is some thinking that it doesn't make sense to write a farm bill in 2007 — rather, that it would be better to wait until the WTO issues are settled and then write farm legislation accordingly. WTO and trade issues are becoming more determinative of what farm legislation will look like."
All that could bolster efforts to extend the present farm bill and write a new one in 2009.
Even if no WTO agreement on agriculture is reached, Clark said, changes could still be forced in U.S. farm programs. "Without a framework of rules, other countries could be inspired to file trade complaints against the United States and, if successful, changes in our farm programs could be even more drastic."
The growing federal budget deficit and the atmosphere of political fear that exists in Washington may also have an impact on what transpires in the legislative arena, Clark said.
"The Congressional Budget Office says the deficit this year will be $350 billion. I hate to use the word 'dishonest,' but it's a budgetary gimmick. It doesn't include the war in Iraq, funding for FEMA disasters, etc.
"The thing that's been something of a salvation is that the economy has grown at the same time all these spending increases have taken place. Congress doesn't budget like you do — they look at only one side of the ledger, spending. They're proposing $80 billion in tax cuts, which will dwarf the $40 billion they saved.
"It's all shaping up for a train wreck down the road."
In Washington these days, Clark said, "Everyone is terrified — more than I can remember. They're openly worried about losing control because of the president's low approval rating, concerns over Iraq, and the Abramoff scandal."
The latter, he said, "reminds me somewhat of the McCarthy era, in the way everyone in both parties is going out of their way to avoid anyone who might have accidentally rubbed shoulders with Abramoff at a cocktail party. But it's somewhat far-fetched to think that members of Congress, who raise millions of dollars each election cycle, could grant favors for all those contributions."
The conservation systems conference, which alternates yearly between Texas and Mississippi, is sponsored by Mid-America Farm Publications, Cotton Incorporated, and US Rice Producers Association. Delta Farm Press was media co-sponsor for the event.
e-mail: email@example.com


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Race & Justice News: Georgia's African American Incarceration Rate Drops by 20%
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Welcome to CopyLine Magazine! The first issue of CopyLine Magazine was published in November, 1990, by Editor & Publisher Juanita Bratcher. CopyLine's main focus is on the political arena – to inform our readers and analyze many of the pressing issues of the day - controversial or otherwise. Our objectives are clear – to keep you abreast of political happenings and maneuvering in the political arena, by reporting and providing provocative commentaries on various issues. For more about CopyLine Magazine, CopyLine Blog, and CopyLine Television/Video, please visit juanitabratcher.com, copylinemagazine.com, and oneononetelevision.com. Bratcher has been a News/Reporter, Author, Publisher, and Journalist for 33 years. She is the author of six books, including "Harold: The Making of a Big City Mayor" (Harold Washington), Chicago's first African-American mayor; and "Beyond the Boardroom: Empowering a New Generation of Leaders," about John Herman Stroger, Jr., the first African-American elected President of the Cook County Board. Bratcher is also a Poet/Songwriter, with 17 records – produced by HillTop Records of Hollywood, California. Juanita Bratcher Publisher