23 Observations About RAIN That'll Blow Your Mind

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RAIN

Economies of scale Crew size and other operating costs for ships, trains and airplanes

Operating crew size for ships, airplanes, trains, etc., does not increase in direct proportion to capacity. (Operating crew consists of pilots, co-pilots, navigators, etc. and does not include passenger service personnel.) Many aircraft models were significantly lengthened or “stretched” to increase payload.

Economies of scale Crew size and other operating costs for ships, trains and airplanes

Many manufacturing facilities, especially those making bulk materials like chemicals, refined petroleum products, cement and paper, have labor requirements that are not greatly influenced by changes in plant capacity. This is because labor requirements of automated processes tend to be based on the complexity of the operation rather than production, and many manufacturing facilities have nearly the same basic number of processing steps and pieces of equipment, regardless of production.

Intellipedia Training

Several agencies in the Intelligence community, most notably CIA and NGA, have developed training programs to provide time to integrate social software tools into analysts’ daily work habits

Central Intelligence Agency Training

CIA University holds between 200 and 300 courses each year, training both new hires and experienced intelligence officers, as well as CIA support staff

Central Intelligence Agency Training

For later stage training of student operations officers, there is at least one classified training area at Camp Peary, near Williamsburg, Virginia. Students are selected, and their progress evaluated, in ways derived from the OSS, published as the book Assessment of Men, Selection of Personnel for the Office of Strategic Services. Additional mission training is conducted at Harvey Point, North Carolina.

Central Intelligence Agency Training

The primary training facility for the Office of Communications is Warrenton Training Center, located near Warrenton, Virginia. The facility was established in 1951 and has been used by the CIA since at least 1955.

Burson-Marsteller Training

In the Issues & Crisis Group, employees are trained to communicate the correct information during crises for a variety of different clients and issues.

Burson-Marsteller Training

In an interview in 2003, Harold Burson was quoted as saying that Burson-Marsteller has been “a training ground for the industry”, with more than 35,000 people continuing to participate in the company’s alumni network as of 2010

Burson-Marsteller Ukraine

In 2012, Burson-Marsteller was hired by Ukraine’s ruling Party of Regions (PoR), “to help the PoR communicate its activities as the governing party of Ukraine, as well as to help it explain better its position on the Yulia Tymoshenko case”, as explained by Robert Mack, a senior manager at Burson-Marsteller.

Burson-Marsteller Ukraine

The tasks of the PR company include setting up press interviews for Ukraine’s deputy prosecutor general, Renat Kuzmin, during his visits in Brussels

Burson-Marsteller Ukraine

The public relations contract coincides with a government campaign against former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, detained in a penal colony, and whose case has been top in the agenda of EU-Ukraine relations, delaying the signature of a DCFTA and Association Agreement between the two.

Asia-Pacific Network Information Centre APNIC training

APNIC conducts a number of training courses in a wide variety of locations around the region. These courses are designed to educate participants to proficiently configure, manage and administer their Internet services and infrastructure and to embrace current best practices.

Astronaut Training

Early in the space program, military jet test piloting and engineering training were often cited as prerequisites for selection as an astronaut at NASA, although neither John Glenn nor Scott Carpenter (of the Mercury Seven) had any university degree, in engineering or any other discipline at the time of their selection

Astronaut Training

Ellington Field is also where the Shuttle Training Aircraft is maintained and developed, although most flights of the aircraft are done out of Edwards Air Force Base.

Alan Cox Model trains

Alan Cox runs Etched Pixels, a model train company producing N gauge kits.

Clinical governance Education and training

It is no longer considered acceptable for any clinician to abstain from continuing education after qualification – too much of what is learned during training becomes quickly outdated. In NHS Trusts, the continuing professional development (CPD) of clinicians has been the responsibility of the Trust and it has also been the professional duty of clinicians to remain up-to-date.

Design of experiments Human participant experimental design constraints

Balancing the constraints are views from the medical field

General Electric Promotion and training

Thousands of people from every level of the company are trained at the Jack F. Welch Leadership Center.

Inventory Theory of constraints cost accounting

Goldratt developed the Theory of Constraints in part to address the cost-accounting problems in what he calls the “cost world.” He offers a substitute, called throughput accounting, that uses throughput (money for goods sold to customers) in place of output (goods produced that may sell or may boost inventory) and considers labor as a fixed rather than as a variable cost

Inventory Theory of constraints cost accounting

Finished goods inventories remain balance-sheet assets, but labor-efficiency ratios no longer evaluate managers and workers. Instead of an incentive to reduce labor cost, throughput accounting focuses attention on the relationships between throughput (revenue or income) on one hand and controllable operating expenses and changes in inventory on the other.

Electronic ticket – Train tickets

Amtrak started offering electronic tickets on all train routes on 30 July 2012. These tickets can be ordered over the internet and printed (as a PDF file), printed at a Quik-Trak kiosk, or at the ticket counter at the station. Electronic tickets can also be held in a smart phone and shown to the conductor using an app.

Electronic ticket – Train tickets

Several European train operators also offer self printable tickets. Often tickets can also be delivered as SMS or MMS.

Artificial intelligence – Cybernetics and brain simulation

In the 1940s and 1950s, a number of researchers explored the connection between neurology, information theory, and cybernetics

Dictionary attack – Pre-computed dictionary attack/Rainbow table attack

A more refined approach involves the use of rainbow tables, which reduce storage requirements at the cost of slightly longer lookup times

Dictionary attack – Pre-computed dictionary attack/Rainbow table attack

Pre-computed dictionary attacks, or “rainbow table attacks”, can be thwarted by the use of salt, a technique that forces the hash dictionary to be recomputed for each password sought, making precomputation infeasible provided the number of possible salt values is large enough.

Social networking service – Constraints of social networking services in education

In the past, social networking services were viewed as a distraction and offered no educational benefit. Blocking these social networks was a form of protection for students against wasting time, bullying, and invasions of privacy. In an educational setting, Facebook, for example, is seen by many instructors and educators as a frivolous, time-wasting distraction from schoolwork, and it is not uncommon to be banned in junior high or High School computer labs.

Social networking service – Constraints of social networking services in education

Cyberbullying has become an issue of concern with social networking services

Social networking service – Constraints of social networking services in education

Recent research suggests that there has been a shift in blocking the use of social networking services

Small-world network – Small-world neural networks in the brain

Both anatomical connections in the brain and the synchronization networks of cortical neurons exhibit small-world topology.

Small-world network – Small-world neural networks in the brain

A small-world network of neurons can exhibit short-term memory. A computer model developed by Solla et al. had two stable states, a property (called bistability) thought to be important in memory storage. An activating pulse generated self-sustaining loops of communication activity among the neurons. A second pulse ended this activity. The pulses switched the system between stable states: flow (recording a “memory”), and stasis (holding it).

Small-world network – Small-world neural networks in the brain

On a more general level, many large-scale neural networks in the brain, such as the visual system and brain stem, exhibit small-world properties.

Multilingualism – Centralization of Language areas in the Brain

Age of acquiring the second-or-higher language, and proficiency of use determine what specific brain regions and pathways activate when using (thinking or speaking) the language

Multilingualism – Brain plasticity in multilingualism

Consensus is still muddled; it may be a mixture of both—experiential (acquiring languages during life) and genetic (predisposition to brain plasticity).

Con Kolivas – Brain Fuck Scheduler

On 31 August 2009, Kolivas posted a new scheduler called BFS (Brain Fuck Scheduler). It is designed for desktop use and to be very simple (hence it may not scale to machines with many CPU cores well). Con Kolivas does not intend to get it merged into the mainline Linux. He has since begun maintaining the -ck patch set again.

Online identity – Relation to real-world social constraints

Ultimately, online identity cannot be completely free from the social constraints that are imposed in the real world

Online identity – Relation to real-world physical and sensory constraints

Disembodiment affords the opportunity to operate outside the constraints of a socially stigmatized disabled identity

GitHub – Limitations and constraints

According to the terms of service, if an account’s bandwidth usage significantly exceeds the average of other GitHub customers, the account’s file hosting service may be immediately disabled or throttled until bandwidth consumption is reduced. In addition, while there is no hard limit, the guideline for the maximum size of a repository is one gigabyte. Also, there is a check for files larger than 100MB in a push; if any such files exist, the push will be rejected.

Jonathan Zittrain

Previously, Zittrain was Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at the Oxford Internet Institute of the University of Oxford and visiting professor at the New York University School of Law and Stanford Law School

Jonathan Zittrain

Zittrain works in several intersections of the Internet with law and policy including intellectual property, censorship and filtering for content control, and computer security. He founded a project at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society that develops classroom tools. He is a co-founder of Chilling Effects, a collaborative archive created to protect lawful online activity from legal threats that was created by Wendy Seltzer.

Jonathan Zittrain – Family and education

Zittrain is the son of two attorneys, Ruth A. Zittrain and Lester E. Zittrain. His father was the personal attorney of professional football star Joe Greene. In 2004 with Jennifer K. Harrison, Zittrain published The Torts Game: Defending Mean Joe Greene, a book the authors dedicated to their parents. His brother, Jeff, is an established Bay Area musician. His sister, Laurie Zittrain Eisenberg, is a scholar of the Arab and Israeli conflict and teaches at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

Jonathan Zittrain – Family and education

Zittrain, who grew up in the suburb of Churchill outside of Pittsburgh, was graduated in 1987 from Shady Side Academy, a private school in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Jonathan Zittrain – Family and education

He was law clerk for Stephen F. Williams of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and served with the U.S. Department of Justice and, in 1991, with the Department of State, as well as at the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in 1992 and 1994. He was a longtime forum administrator, or sysop, for the online service CompuServe, serving for many years as the chief administrator for its private forum for all of its forum administrators.

Jonathan Zittrain – Internet filtering

The OpenNet Initiative (ONI) monitors Internet censorship by national governments. Between 2001 and 2003 at Harvard’s Berkman Center, Zittrain and Benjamin Edelman studied Internet filtering. In their tests during 2002, when Google had indexed almost 2.5 billion pages, they found sites blocked, from approximately 100 in France and Germany to 2,000 in Saudi Arabia, and 20,000 in the People’s Republic of China. The authors published a statement of issues and a call for data that year.

Jonathan Zittrain – Internet filtering

Today at ONI, with Ronald Deibert of the University of Toronto, John Palfrey, who was previously the executive director of the Berkman Center (now a professor of law and vice-dean at Harvard Law School), and Rafal Rohozinski of the University of Cambridge, Zittrain is a principal investigator.

Jonathan Zittrain – Internet filtering

In 2001, Zittrain cofounded Chilling Effects with his students and former students, including its creator and leader, Wendy Seltzer. It monitors cease and desist letters. Google directs its users to Chilling Effects when its search results have been altered at the request of a national government. Since 2002, researchers have been using the clearinghouse to study the use of cease-and-desist letters, primarily looking at DMCA 512 takedown notices, non-DMCA , and trademark claims.

Jonathan Zittrain – Copyright

In 2003 Zittrain said he was concerned that Congress will hear the same arguments after the 20-year extension passes, and that the Internet is causing a “cultural reassessment of the meaning of copyright”.

Jonathan Zittrain – Stock markets and spam

Writing with Laura Freider of Purdue University, in 2008 Zittrain published, Spam Works: Evidence from Stock Touts and Corresponding Market Activity, in the Hastings Communications and Entertainment Law Journal to document the manipulation of stock prices via spam e-mail

Jonathan Zittrain – Recent publications

Zittrain, Jonathan (April 14, 2008). The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-12487-2. (online book)

Jonathan Zittrain – Recent publications

Deibert, Ronald J., John G. Palfrey, Rafal Rohozinski, Jonathan Zittrain (Eds.) (February 29, 2008). Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering. MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-54196-3.

Jonathan Zittrain – Recent publications

Frieder, Laura and Zittrain, Jonathan (March 14, 2007). Spam Works: Evidence from Stock Touts and Corresponding Market Activity. Berkman Center Research Publication No. 2006-11. SSRN 920553.

Jonathan Zittrain – Recent publications

Zittrain, Jonathan (2006). “Searches and Seizures in a Networked World”. Harvard Law Review Forum (The Harvard Law Review Association) 83. Retrieved 2013-01-15.

Jonathan Zittrain – Recent publications

Zittrain, Jonathan (Spring 2006). “A History of Online Gatekeeping” (PDF). Harvard Journal of Law and Technology (Harvard Law School) 19 (2): 253. Retrieved 2008-04-20.

Jonathan Zittrain – Recent publications

Zittrain, Jonathan (Winter 2004). “Normative Principles for Evaluating Free and Proprietary Software”. University of Chicago Law Review (The University of Chicago Law School via SSRN) 71 (1). Retrieved 2008-04-20.

Types of business entity – Ukraine

DAT/??? (???????? ?????????? ?????????? Derzhavne Aktsionerne Tovaristvo): ? plc (UK), national

Types of business entity – Ukraine

TOV/TOB (?????????? ? ????????? ???????????????? Tovaristvo z Obmezhenoyu Vidpovividalnistyu): ? Ltd. (UK). Minimum capital = 1 minimum wage (UAH 960 -29.05.2011) .

Types of business entity – Ukraine

PP/?? (???????? ???????????? Privatne Pidpriemstvo): ? Ltd. (UK). No minimum capital.

Types of business entity – Ukraine

VAT/???( ?i?????? ???i?????? ?????????? Vidkrite Aktsionerne Tovaristvo) or PAT/??? (???????? ?????????? ?????????? Tovaristvo) since 29.04.2009: ? plc (UK), public. Minimum capital UAH 630,000.

Types of business entity – Ukraine

ZAT/??? (??????? ???i?????? ?????????? Zakrite Aktsionerne Tovaristvo)or PrAT/???? (???????? ?????????? ?????????? Pritvatne Aktsionerne Tovaristvo) since 29.04.2009:: ? plc (UK), private.

Types of business entity – Ukraine

Company formation is regulated by the Ukrainian Civil Code and Commercial Code, Law of Commercial companies, Law of stock companies, law and order.

Linux Foundation – Training

The Linux Foundation Training Program features instructors and content straight from the leaders of the Linux developer community.

Linux Foundation – Training

Attendees receive Linux training that is vendor-neutral, technically advanced and created with the actual leaders of the Linux development community themselves. The Linux Foundation Linux training courses, both online and in-person, give attendees the broad, foundational knowledge and networking needed to thrive in their careers.

Nairobi – Trains

The new station has a train that ferries passengers from Syokimau to the city centre cutting travel time by half

Nairobi – Trains

After the completion of the Syokimau Station, focus will be put on building other nine modern stations including those on Jogoo Road, Imara Daima and Makadara Estate.

Relational database – Constraints

Since every attribute has an associated domain, there are constraints (domain constraints)

Data integrity – Types of integrity constraints

Data integrity is normally enforced in a database system by a series of integrity constraints or rules. Three types of integrity constraints are an inherent part of the relational data model: entity integrity, referential integrity and domain integrity:

Data integrity – Types of integrity constraints

Entity integrity concerns the concept of a primary key. Entity integrity is an integrity rule which states that every table must have a primary key and that the column or columns chosen to be the primary key should be unique and not null.

Data integrity – Types of integrity constraints

Referential integrity concerns the concept of a foreign key

Data integrity – Types of integrity constraints

Domain integrity specifies that all columns in relational database must be declared upon a defined domain. The primary unit of data in the relational data model is the data item. Such data items are said to be non-decomposable or atomic. A domain is a set of values of the same type. Domains are therefore pools of values from which actual values appearing in the columns of a table are drawn.

Data integrity – Types of integrity constraints

If a database supports these features it is the responsibility of the database to insure data integrity as well as the consistency model for the data storage and retrieval. If a database does not support these features it is the responsibility of the applications to ensure data integrity while the database supports the consistency model for the data storage and retrieval.

Data integrity – Types of integrity constraints

re-usability (all applications benefit from a single centralized data integrity system)

Data integrity – Types of integrity constraints

As of 2012, since all modern databases support these features (see Comparison of relational database management systems), it has become the de-facto responsibility of the database to ensure data integrity

Neuroinformatics – Society for Neuroscience Brain Information Group

On the foundation of all of these activities, Huda Akil, the 2003 President of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) established the Brain Information Group (BIG) to evaluate the importance of neuroinformatics to neuroscience and specifically to the SfN. Following the report from BIG, SfN also established a neuroinformatics committee.

Neuroinformatics – Society for Neuroscience Brain Information Group

In 2004, SfN announced the Neuroscience Database Gateway (NDG) as a universal resource for neuroscientists through which almost any neuroscience databases and tools may be reached

Neuroinformatics – Mouse brain mapping and simulation

Between 1995 and 2005, Henry Markram mapped the types of neurons and their connections in such a column.

Neuroinformatics – Mouse brain mapping and simulation

The Blue Brain project, completed in December 2006, aimed at the simulation of a rat neocortical column, which can be considered the smallest functional unit of the neocortex (the part of the brain thought to be responsible for higher functions such as conscious thought), containing 10,000 neurons (and 108synapses). In November 2007, the project reported the end of the first phase, delivering a data-driven process for creating, validating, and researching the neocortical column.

Neuroinformatics – Mouse brain mapping and simulation

An artificial neural network described as being “as big and as complex as half of a mouse brain” was run on an IBM blue gene supercomputer by a University of Nevada research team in 2007. A simulated time of one second took ten seconds of computer time. The researchers said they had seen “biologically consistent” nerve impulses flowed through the virtual cortex. However, the simulation lacked the structures seen in real mice brains, and they intend to improve the accuracy of the neuron model.

Neuroinformatics – The Blue Brain Project

The Blue Brain Project was founded in May 2005, and uses an 8000 processor Blue Gene/L supercomputer developed by IBM. At the time, this was one of the fastest supercomputers in the world. The project involves:

Neuroinformatics – The Blue Brain Project

Databases: 3D reconstructed model neurons, synapses, synaptic pathways, microcircuit statistics, computer model neurons, virtual neurons.

Neuroinformatics – The Blue Brain Project

Visualization: microcircuit builder and simulation results visualizator, 2D, 3D and immersive visualization systems are being developed.

Neuroinformatics – The Blue Brain Project

Simulation: a simulation environment for large scale simulations of morphologically complex neurons on 8000 processors of IBM’s Blue Gene supercomputer.

Neuroinformatics – The Blue Brain Project

Simulations and experiments: iterations between large scale simulations of neocortical microcircuits and experiments in order to verify the computational model and explore predictions.

Neuroinformatics – The Blue Brain Project

These models will be deposited in an internet database from which Blue Brain software can extract and connect models together to build brain regions and begin the first whole brain simulations.

Solar sail – Constraints

In Earth orbit, solar pressure and drag pressure are typically equal at an altitude of about 800 km, which means that a sail craft would have to operate above that altitude. Sail craft must operate in orbits where their turn rates are compatible with the orbits, which is generally a concern only for spinning disk configurations.

Solar sail – Constraints

Sail operating temperatures are a function of solar distance, sail angle, reflectivity, and front and back emissivities. A sail can be used only where its temperature is kept within its material limits. Generally, a sail can be used rather close to the sun, around 0.25 AU, or even closer if carefully designed for those conditions.

Electronic engineering – Education and training

Electronics engineers typically possess an academic degree with a major in electronic engineering. The length of study for such a degree is usually three or four years and the completed degree may be designated as a Bachelor of Engineering, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Applied Science, or Bachelor of Technology depending upon the university. Many UK universities also offer Master of Engineering (MEng) degrees at undergraduate level.

Electronic engineering – Education and training

The degree generally includes units covering physics, chemistry, mathematics, project management and specific topics in electrical engineering. Initially such topics cover most, if not all, of the subfields of electronic engineering. Students then choose to specialize in one or more subfields towards the end of the degree.

Electronic engineering – Education and training

Some electronics engineers also choose to pursue a postgraduate degree such as a Master of Science (MSc), Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering (PhD), or an Engineering Doctorate (EngD)

Electronic engineering – Education and training

In most countries, a Bachelor’s degree in engineering represents the first step towards certification and the degree program itself is certified by a professional body

Electronic engineering – Education and training

Fundamental to the discipline are the sciences of physics and mathematics as these help to obtain both a qualitative and quantitative description of how such systems will work

Health psychology – Training in Health Psychology

A Health Psychologist in training might be working within applied settings whilst working towards registration and chartered status

Health psychology – Training in Health Psychology

professional skills (including implementing ethical and legal standards, communication and team work),

Health psychology – Training in Health Psychology

research skills (including designing, conducting and analysing psychological research in numerous areas),

Health psychology – Training in Health Psychology

consultancy skills (including planning and evaluation),

Health psychology – Training in Health Psychology

teaching and training skills (including knowledge of designing,delivering and evaluating large and small scale training programmes),

Health psychology – Training in Health Psychology

intervention skills (including delivery and evaluation of behaviour change interventions).

Health psychology – Training in Health Psychology

All qualified Health Psychologists must also engage in and record their continuing professional development (CPD) for psychology each year throughout their career.

Color vision – Color in the human brain

Color processing begins at a very early level in the visual system (even within the retina) through initial color opponent mechanisms

Color vision – Color in the human brain

Visual information is then sent to the brain from retinal ganglion cells via the optic nerve to the optic chiasma: a point where the two optic nerves meet and information from the temporal (contralateral) visual field crosses to the other side of the brain. After the optic chiasma the visual tracts are referred to as the optic tracts, which enter the thalamus to synapse at the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN).

Color vision – Color in the human brain

The lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) is divided into laminae (zones), of which there are three types: the M-laminae, consisting primarily of M-cells, the P-laminae, consisting primarily of P-cells, and the koniocellular laminae

Color vision – Color in the human brain

After synapsing at the LGN, the visual tract continues on back to the primary visual cortex (V1) located at the back of the brain within the occipital lobe. Within V1 there is a distinct band (striation). This is also referred to as “striate cortex”, with other cortical visual regions referred to collectively as “extrastriate cortex”. It is at this stage that color processing becomes much more complicated.

Color vision – Color in the human brain

In V1 the simple three-color segregation begins to break down

Color vision – Color in the human brain

This is the first part of the brain in which color is processed in terms of the full range of hues found in color space.

Color vision – Color in the human brain

Anatomical studies have shown that neurons in extended V4 provide input to the inferior temporal lobe

Blue Brain Project

The Blue Brain Project is an attempt to create a synthetic brain by reverse-engineering the mammalian brain down to the molecular level. The aim of the project, founded in May 2005 by the Brain and Mind Institute of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, is to study the brain’s architectural and functional principles.

Blue Brain Project

The project is headed by the founding director Henry Markram and co-directed by Felix Schürmann and Sean Hill. Using a Blue Gene supercomputer running Michael Hines’s NEURON software, the simulation does not consist simply of an artificial neural network, but involves a biologically realistic model of neurons. It is hoped that it will eventually shed light on the nature of consciousness.

Blue Brain Project

There are a number of sub-projects, including the Cajal Blue Brain, coordinated by the Supercomputing and Visualization Center of Madrid (CeSViMa), and others run by universities and independent laboratories.

Blue Brain Project – Neocortical column modelling

The initial goal of the project, completed in December 2006, was the simulation of a rat neocortical column, which is considered by some researchers to be the smallest functional unit of the neocortex (the part of the brain thought to be responsible for higher functions such as conscious thought)

Blue Brain Project – Progress

By 2005 the first single cellular model was completed. The first artificial cellular neocortical column of 10,000 cells was built by 2008. By July 2011 a cellular mesocircuit of 100 neocortical columns with a million cells in total was built. A cellular rat brain is planned for 2014 with 100 mesocircuits totalling a hundred million cells. Finally a cellular human brain is predicted possible by 2023 equivalent to 1000 rat brains with a total of a hundred billion cells.

Blue Brain Project – Progress

Now that the column is finished, the project is currently busying itself with the publishing of initial results in scientific literature, and pursuing two separate goals:

Blue Brain Project – Progress

construction of a simulation on the molecular level, which is desirable since it allows studying the effects of gene expression;

Blue Brain Project – Progress

simplification of the column simulation to allow for parallel simulation of large numbers of connected columns, with the ultimate goal of simulating a whole neocortex (which in humans consists of about 1 million cortical columns).[contradictory]

Blue Brain Project – Funding

The project is funded primarily by the Swiss government and the Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) Flagship grant from the European Commission, and secondarily by grants and some donations from private individuals. The EPFL bought the Blue Gene computer at a reduced cost because at that stage it was still a prototype and IBM was interested in exploring how different applications would perform on the machine. BBP was viewed a validation of the Blue Gene supercomputer concept.

Blue Brain Project – Documentary

A 10 part documentary is being made by film director Noah Hutton, with each installment detailing the year long workings of the project at the EPFL. Having started filming in 2009, the documentary is planned to be released in 2020, after the years of filming and editing has finished. Regular contributions from Henry Markram and the rest of the team provide an insight into the Blue Brain Project, while similar research tasks across the world are touched on.

Blue Brain Project – Cajal Blue Brain (Spain)

The Cajal Blue Brain is coordinated by the Technical University of Madrid and uses the facilities of the Supercomputing and Visualization Center of Madrid and its supercomputer Magerit. The Cajal Institute also participates in this collaboration. The main lines of research currently being pursued at Cajal Blue Brain include neurological experimentation and computer simulations. Nanotechnology, in the form of a newly designed brain microscope, plays an important role in its research plans.

Racial segregation – Bahrain

On 28 April 2007, the lower house of Bahraini Parliament passed a law banning unmarried migrant workers from living in residential areas. To justify the law MP Nasser Fadhala, a close ally of the government said “bachelors also use these houses to make alcohol, run prostitute rings or to rape children and housemaids”.

Racial segregation – Bahrain

Sadiq Rahma, technical committee head, who is a member of Al Wefaq said: “The rules we are drawing up are designed to protect the rights of both the families and the Asian bachelors (..) these labourers often have habits which are difficult for families living nearby to tolerate (..) they come out of their homes half dressed, brew alcohol illegally in their homes, use prostitutes and make the neighbourhood dirty (..) these are poor people who often live in groups of 50 or more, crammed into one house or apartment,” said Mr Rahma

Racial segregation – Bahrain

Nabeel Rajab, then BCHR vice president, said: “It is appalling that Bahrain is willing to rest on the benefits of these people’s hard work, and often their suffering, but that they refuse to live with them in equality and dignity

Declarative programming – Constraint programming

In constraint programming, relations between variables are stated in the form of constraints, specifying the properties of a solution to be found. The set of constraints is then solved by giving a value to each variable so that the solution is consistent with the maximum number of constraints.

Declarative programming – Constraint programming

Constraint programming is often used as a complement to other paradigms: functional, logical or even imperative programming.

Australopithecus afarensis – Craniodental features and brain size

Compared to the modern and extinct great apes, A. afarensis has reduced canines and molars, although they are still relatively larger than in modern humans. A. afarensis also has a relatively small brain size (~380–430 cm3) and a prognathic face (i.e. a face with forward projecting jaws).

Australopithecus afarensis – Craniodental features and brain size

The image of a bipedal hominid with a small brain and primitive face was quite a revelation to the paleoanthropological world at the time. This was due to the earlier belief that an increase in brain size was the first major hominin adaptive shift.

Australopithecus afarensis – Craniodental features and brain size

Before the discoveries of A. afarensis in the 1970s, it was widely thought that an increase in brain size preceded the shift to bipedal locomotion. This was mainly because the oldest known hominins at the time had relatively large brains (e.g. KNM-ER 1470, Homo rudolfensis, which was found just a few years before Lucy and had a cranial capacity of ~800 cm³).

Legal psychology – Training and education

In fact, some argue that specialized legal training dilutes the psychological empiricism of the researcher

Legal psychology – Training and education

A growing number of universities offer specialized training in legal psychology as either a standalone PhD program or a joint JD/PhD program. A list of American universities that offer graduate training in legal psychology can be found here on the website of the American Psychology-Law Society.

Industrial and organizational psychology – Training and training evaluation

Many organizations are using training and development as a way to attract and retain their most successful employees.

Industrial and organizational psychology – Training and training evaluation

Formative evaluations can be used to locate problems in training procedures and help I–O psychologists make corrective adjustments while the training is ongoing.

Industrial and organizational psychology – Training and training evaluation

Attitudes can be developed or changed through training programs

Industrial and organizational psychology – Training and training evaluation

The needs analysis makes it possible to identify the training program’s objectives, which in turn, represents the information for both the trainer and trainee about what is to be learned for the benefit of the organization.

Industrial and organizational psychology – Training and training evaluation

Therefore with any training program it is key to establish specify training objectives. Schultz & Schultz (2010) states that need assessment is an analysis of corporate and individual goals undertaken before designing a training program. Examples of need assessment are based on organizational, task, and work analysis is conducted using job analysis critical incidents, performance appraisal, and self-assessment techniques.(p164)

Industrial and organizational psychology – Training and training evaluation

But with any training there are always challenges that one faces. Challenges which I-O psychologists face:(p185)

Industrial and organizational psychology – Training and training evaluation

To identify the abilities required to perform increasingly complex jobs.

Industrial and organizational psychology – Training and training evaluation

To assist supervisors in the management of an ethnically diverse workforce.

Industrial and organizational psychology – Training and training evaluation

To conduct the necessary research to determine the effectiveness of training programs.

Esoteric programming language – Brainfuck

Brainfuck is designed for extreme minimalism and leads to obfuscated code, with programs containing only 8 distinct characters. e.g. the following program outputs “Hello World”:

Neurotechnology – How these help study the brain

Combinations of these methods can provide researchers with knowledge of both physiological and metabolic behaviors of loci in the brain and can be used to explain activation and deactivation of parts of the brain under specific conditions.

Neurotechnology – How these help study the brain

Some techniques combine TMS and another scanning method such as EEG to get additional information about brain activity such as cortical response.

Neurotechnology – How these help study the brain

While there are other types of research that utilize EEG, EEG has been fundamental in understanding the resting brain during sleep

Neurotechnology – How these help study the brain

While deep brain stimulation is a method to study how the brain functions per se, it provides both surgeons and neurologists important information about how the brain works when certain small regions of the basal ganglia (nuclei) are stimulated by electrical currents.

Telecommunications in Bahrain – History

When Batelco was first founded in 1981, Bahrain already had 45,627 telephone lines in use. By 1982, the number reached 50,000. In 1985, the country’s first fibre optic cable was installed. Batelco enjoyed being a monopoly in the telecommunications sector for the next two decades. By 1999, the company had around 100,000 mobile contracts.

Telecommunications in Bahrain – History

In 2002, under pressure from international bodies, Bahrain implemented its telecommunications law which included the establishment of an independent Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA). In 2003, Batelco’s monopoly over the sector broke when the TRA awarded a license to MTC Vodafone, which later re-branded itself as Zain. In January 2010, VIVA (a subsidiary of STC) started operations in Bahrain.

Telecommunications in Bahrain – Telephonic services

Telephones – main lines in use: 194,200 (2006)

Telecommunications in Bahrain – Telephonic services

county comparison to the world: 124

Telecommunications in Bahrain – Telephonic services

Telephones – mobile cellular: 1,116,000 (2007)

Telecommunications in Bahrain – Telephonic services

domestic: modern fiber-optic integrated services; digital network with rapidly growing use of mobile cellular telephones

Telecommunications in Bahrain – Telephonic services

international: country code – 973; landing point for the Fire-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG) submarine cable network that provides links to Asia, Middle East, Europe, and US; tropospheric scatter to Qatar and UAE; microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia; satellite earth station – 1 (2007)

Telecommunications in Bahrain – Internet service

country comparison to the world: 135

Robotics – Education and training

Robotics engineers design robots, maintain them, develop new applications for them, and conduct research to expand the potential of robotics

Robotics – Career training

Universities offer bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees in the field of robotics. Vocational schools offer robotics training aimed at careers in robotics.

Mind control – The Korean War and the idea of Brainwashing

The Oxford English Dictionary records its earliest known English-language usage of brainwashing in an article by Edward Hunter in Miami News published on 7 October 1950. During the Korean War, Hunter, who worked at the time both as a journalist and as a U.S. intelligence agent, wrote a series of books and articles on the theme of Chinese brainwashing.

Mind control – The Korean War and the idea of Brainwashing

The Chinese term ?? (x? n?o, literally “wash brain”) was originally used to describe methodologies of coercive persuasion used under the Maoist government in China, which aimed to transform individuals with a reactionary imperialist mindset into “right-thinking” members of the new Chinese social system

Mind control – The Korean War and the idea of Brainwashing

Ford and British army Colonel James Carne also claimed that the Chinese subjected them to brainwashing techniques during their war-era imprisonment

Mind control – The Korean War and the idea of Brainwashing

More recent writers including Mikhail Heller have suggested that Lifton’s model of brainwashing may throw light on the use of mass propaganda in other communist states such as the former Soviet Union.

Mind control – The Korean War and the idea of Brainwashing

In a summary published in 1963, Edgar Schein gave a background history of the precursor origins of the brainwashing phenomenon:

Mind control – The Korean War and the idea of Brainwashing

Thought reform contains elements which are evident in Chinese culture (emphasis on interpersonal sensitivity, learning by rote and self-cultivation); in methods of extracting confessions well known in the Papal Inquisition (13th century) and elaborated through the centuries, especially by the Russian secret police; in methods of organizing corrective prisons, mental hospitals and other institutions for producing value change; in methods used by religious sects, fraternal orders, political elites or primitive societies for converting or initiating new members

Mind control – The Korean War and the idea of Brainwashing

He further asserted that for twenty years, starting in the early 1950s, the CIA and the Defense Department conducted secret research (notably including Project MKULTRA) in an attempt to develop practical brainwashing techniques, and that their attempt failed.

Mind control – The Korean War and the idea of Brainwashing

military and government laid charges of “brainwashing” in an effort to undermine detailed confessions made by U.S

Mind control – Army report debunks brainwashing of American prisoners of war

In 1956 the U.S Department of the Army published a report entitled Communist Interrogation, Indoctrination, and Exploitation of Prisoners of War which called brainwashing a “popular misconception.” The report states “exhaustive research of several government agencies failed to reveal even one conclusively documented case of ‘brainwashing’ of an American prisoner of war in Korea.”

Mind control – Army report debunks brainwashing of American prisoners of war

While US POW’s captured by North Korea were brutalized with starvation, beatings, forced death marches, exposure to extremes of temperature, binding in stress positions, and withholding of medical care, the abuse had no relation to indoctrination or collecting intelligence information “in which [North Korea was] not particularly interested.” In contrast American POW’s in the custody of the Chinese Communists did face a concerted interrogation and indoctrination program—but the Chinese did not employ deliberate physical abuse

Mind control – Army report debunks brainwashing of American prisoners of war

The Chinese elicited information using tricks such as harmless-seeming written questionnaires, followed by interviews. The “most insidious” and effective Chinese technique according to the US Army Report was a convivial display of false friendship:

Mind control – Army report debunks brainwashing of American prisoners of war

“[w]hen an American soldier was captured by the Chinese, he was given a vigorous handshake and a pat on the back

Mind control – Army report debunks brainwashing of American prisoners of war

It was this surprising, disarmingly friendly treatment, that “was successful to some degree,” the report concludes, in undermining hatred of the communists among American soldiers, in persuading some to sign anti-American confessions, and even leading a few to reject repatriation and remain in Communist China.

Inheritance (object-oriented programming) – Design constraints

Singleness: using single inheritance, a subclass can inherit from only one superclass

Inheritance (object-oriented programming) – Design constraints

Static: the inheritance hierarchy of an object is fixed at instantiation when the object’s type is selected and does not change with time. For example, the inheritance graph does not allow a Student object to become a Employee object while retaining the state of its Person superclass. (This kind of behavior, however, can be achieved with the decorator pattern.) Some have criticized inheritance, contending that it locks developers into their original design standards.

Inheritance (object-oriented programming) – Design constraints

Visibility: whenever client code has access to an object, it generally has access to all the object’s superclass data

Inheritance (object-oriented programming) – Design constraints

The composite reuse principle is an alternative to inheritance. This technique supports polymorphism and code reuse by separating behaviors from the primary class hierarchy and including specific behavior classes as required in any business domain class. This approach avoids the static nature of a class hierarchy by allowing behavior modifications at run time and allows a single class to implement behaviors buffet-style, instead of being restricted to the behaviors of its ancestor classes.

Head-mounted display – Training and simulation

A key application for HMDs is training and simulation, allowing to virtually place a trainee in a situation that is either too expensive or too dangerous to replicate in real-life. Training with HMDs cover a wide range of applications from driving, welding and spray painting, flight and vehicle simulators, dismounted soldier training, medical procedure training and more.

Qatar – Bahraini rule (1783–1868)

In 1821, as punishment for piracy, an East India Company vessel bombarded Doha, destroying the town and forcing hundreds of residents to flee. The residents of Doha had no idea why they were being attacked. As a result, Qatari rebel groups began to emerge in order to fight the Al-Khalifas and to seek independence from Bahrain. In 1825, the House of Thani was established with Sheikh Mohammed bin Thani as the first leader.

Qatar – Bahraini rule (1783–1868)

In addition to censuring Bahrain for its breach of agreement, the British Protectorate (per Colonel Lewis Pelly) asked to negotiate with a representative from Qatar.

Qatar – Bahraini rule (1783–1868)

The request carried with it a tacit recognition of Qatar’s status as distinct from Bahrain

Leadership studies – Leadership training courses

African Nutrition Leadership Programme, (South Africa).

Leadership studies – Leadership training courses

Programme de Leadership Africain en Nutrition, (Casablanca, Morocco).

Satellite Internet access – rain

Satellite communications on the Ka band (19/29 GHz) can use special techniques such as large rain margins, adaptive uplink power control and reduced bit rates during precipitation.

Satellite Internet access – rain

Rain margins are the extra communication link requirements needed to account for signal degradations due to moisture and precipitation, and are of acute importance on all systems operating at frequencies over 10 GHz.

Satellite Internet access – rain

In other words, increasing antenna gain through the use of a larger parabolic reflector is one way of increasing the overall channel gain and, consequently, the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio, which allows for greater signal loss due to rain fade without the S/N ratio dropping below its minimum threshold for successful communication.

Satellite Internet access – rain

Modern consumer-grade dish antennas tend to be fairly small, which reduces the rain margin or increases the required satellite downlink power and cost. However, it is often more economical to build a more expensive satellite and smaller, less expensive consumer antennas than to increase the consumer antenna size to reduce the satellite cost.

Satellite Internet access – rain

Large commercial dishes of 3.7 m to 13 m diameter are used to achieve large rain margins and also to reduce the cost per bit by requiring far less power from the satellite

Satellite Internet access – rain

Modern download DVB-S2 carriers, with RCS feedback, are intended to allow the modulation method to be dynamically altered, in response to rain problems at a receive site. This allows the bit rates to be increased substantially during normal clear sky conditions, thus reducing overall costs per bit.

Educational psychology – Education and training

A person may be considered an educational psychologist after completing a graduate degree in educational psychology or a closely related field. Universities establish educational psychology graduate programs in either psychology departments or, more commonly, faculties of education.

Educational psychology – Education and training

Educational psychologists work in a variety of settings. Some work in university settings where they carry out research on the cognitive and social processes of human development, learning and education. Educational psychologists may also work as consultants in designing and creating educational materials, classroom programs and online courses.

Educational psychology – Education and training

Educational psychologists who work in k–12 school settings (closely related are school psychologists in the US and Canada) are trained at the master’s and doctoral levels. In addition to conducting assessments, school psychologists provide services such as academic and behavioral intervention, counseling, teacher consultation, and crisis intervention. However, school psychologists are generally more individual-oriented towards students.

Educational psychology – Education and training

In the UK, status as a Chartered Educational Psychologist is gained by completing:

Educational psychology – Education and training

an undergraduate degree in psychology permitting registration with the British Psychological Society

Educational psychology – Education and training

two or three years experience working with children, young people and their families.

Educational psychology – Education and training

a three-year professional doctorate in educational psychology.

Educational psychology – Education and training

In New Zealand Registered Educational Psychologist status is gained by completing:

Educational psychology – Education and training

completion of a two year masters level training programme in psychology or educational psychology

Educational psychology – Education and training

Internship places are limited and applications exceed places in most years. Since 1999 Massey University delivered the only educational psychology training program. Victoria University, Wellington started its offering of an educational psychology training programme in 2013.

Vactrain

Though the technology is currently being investigated for development of regional networks, advocates have suggested establishing vactrains for transcontinental routes to form a global network.

Vactrain

Vactrain tunnels could permit very rapid intercontinental travel. Vactrains could use gravity to assist their acceleration. If such trains went as fast as predicted, the trip between Beijing and New York would take less than 2 hours, supplanting aircraft as the world’s fastest mode of public transportation.

Vactrain

Travel through evacuated tubes allows supersonic speed without the penalty of sonic boom found with supersonic aircraft. The trains could operate faster than Mach 1 without noise.

Vactrain

However, without major advances in tunnelling and other technology, vactrains would be prohibitively expensive. Alternatives such as elevated concrete tubes with partial vacuums have been proposed to reduce costs.

Vactrain

Researchers at Southwest Jiaotong University in China are developing (in 2010) a vactrain to reach speeds of 1,000 km/h (620 mph). They say the technology can be put into operation in 10 years.

Vactrain – Early history

The modern concept of a vactrain, with evacuated tubes and maglev technology, was explored in the 1910s by American engineer Robert Goddard, who designed detailed prototypes with a university student. His train would have traveled from Boston to New York in 12 minutes, averaging 1,000 mph (1,600 km/h). The train designs were found only after Goddard’s death in 1945 and his wife filed for the patents.

Vactrain – Early history

Russian professor Boris Weinberg offered a vactrain concept in 1914 in the book Motion without friction (airless electric ways). He also built model of his proposed transport in Tomsk university in 1909.

Vactrain – 1970s to present

Vactrains made headlines during the 1970s when a leading advocate, Robert M. Salter of RAND, published a series of elaborate engineering articles in 1972 and again in 1978.

Vactrain – 1970s to present

This combination of modified (shallow) gravity train and atmospheric railway propulsion would consume little energy but limit the system to subsonic speeds, hence initial routes of tens or hundreds of miles or kilometers rather than transcontinental distances were proposed.

Vactrain – 1970s to present

Trains were to require no couplers, each car being directly welded, bolted, or otherwise firmly connected to the next, the route calling for no more bending than the flexibility of steel could easily handle. At the end of the line the train would be moved sideways into the end chamber of the return tube. The railway would have both an inner evacuated tube and an outer tunnel. At cruise depth, the space between would have enough water to float the vacuum tube, softening the ride.

Vactrain – 1970s to present

Commuter rail systems were mapped for the San Francisco and New York areas, the commuter version having longer, heavier trains, to be propelled less by air and more by gravity than the intercity version

Vactrain – 1970s to present

Salter pointed out how such a system would help reduce the environmental damage being done to the atmosphere by aviation and surface transportation. He called underground Very High Speed Transportation (tube shuttles) his nation’s “logical next step”. The plans were never taken to the next stage.

Vactrain – 1970s to present

At the time these reports were published, national prestige was an issue as Japan had been operating its showcase bullet train for several years and maglev train research was hot technology

Vactrain – 1970s to present

Starting in the late 1970s and early ’80s, the Swissmetro was proposed to leverage the invention of the experimental German Transrapid maglev train, and operate in large underground tunnels reduced to the pressure altitude of 68,000 feet (21,000 m) at which the Concorde SST was certified to fly.

Vactrain – 1970s to present

In the 1980s, Frank P. Davidson, a founder and chairman of the Channel Tunnel project, and Japanese engineer Yoshihiro Kyotani (ja) tackled the transoceanic problems with a proposal to float a tube above the ocean floor, anchored with cables. The transit tube would remain at least 1,000 feet (300 m) below the ocean surface to avoid water turbulence.

Vactrain – 1970s to present

James Powell, former co-inventor of superconducting maglev in the 1960s, has since 2001 led investigation of a concept for using a maglev vactrain for space launch (theoretically two orders of magnitude less marginal cost than present rockets), where the StarTram proposal would have vehicles reach up to 8,900 mph (14,300 km/h) to 19,600 mph (31,500 km/h) within an acceleration tunnel (lengthy to limit g-forces), considering boring through the ice sheet in Antarctica for lower anticipated expense than in rock.

Vactrain – Popular culture

The Space: 1999 TV series, featured a Lunar Vactrain

Vactrain – Popular culture

A fictional train that matched a vactrain in description was mentioned in the 1982 song “I.G.Y. (What a Beautiful World)”, by the American singer and songwriter Donald Fagen. The song includes the lyrics: “On that train, all graphite and glitter / Undersea by rail / Ninety minutes from New York to Paris”.

Direct metal laser sintering – Constraints

The aspects of size, feature details and surface finish, as well as print through error in the Z axis may be factors that should be considered prior to the use of the technology. However, by planning the build in the machine where most features are built in the x and y axis as the material is laid down, the feature tolerances can be managed well. Surfaces usually have to be polished to achieve mirror or extremely smooth finishes.

Direct metal laser sintering – Constraints

For production tooling, material density of a finished part or insert should be addressed prior to use. For example, in injection molding inserts, any surface imperfections will cause imperfections in the plastic part, and the inserts will have to mate with the base of the mold with temperature and surfaces to prevent problems.

Direct metal laser sintering – Constraints

In this process metallic support structure removal and post processing of the part generated is a time consuming process and requires use of EDM and/or grinding machines having the same level of accuracy provided by the RP machine.

Direct metal laser sintering – Constraints

When using rapid prototyping machines, .stl files, which do not include anything but raw mesh data in binary (generated from Solid Works, CATIA, or other major CAD programs) need further conversion to .cli & .sli files (the format required for non stereolithography machines). Software converts .stl file to .sli files, as with the rest of the process, there can be costs associated with this step.

Indium tin oxide – Constraints and trade-offs

The main concern about ITO is the cost

Artificial brainArtificial brain (or artificial mind) is a term commonly used in the media to describe research that aims to develop software and hardware with cognitive abilities similar to those of the animal or human brain. Research investigating “artificial brains” plays three important roles in science:An ongoing attempt by neuroscientists to understand how the human brain works, known as cognitive neuroscience.A thought experiment in the philosophy of artificial intelligence, demonstrating that it is possible, in theory, to create a machine that has all the capabilities of a human being.A serious long term project to create machines with strong AI, capable of general intelligent action (or Artificial General Intelligence), i.e. as intelligent as a human being.An example of the first objective is the project reported by Aston University in Birmingham, England where researchers are using biological cells to create “neurospheres” (small clusters of neurons) in order to develop new treatments for diseases including Alzheimer’s, Motor Neurone and Parkinson’s Disease.The second objective is a reply to arguments such as John Searle’s Chinese room argument, Hubert Dreyfus’ critique of AI or Roger Penrose’s argument in The Emperor’s New Mind. These critics argued that there are aspects of human consciousness or expertise that can not be simulated by machines. One reply to their arguments is that the biological processes inside the brain can be simulated to any degree of accuracy. This reply was made as early as 1950, by Alan Turing in his classic paper “Computing Machinery and Intelligence”.The third objective is generally called artificial general intelligence by researchers. However Kurzweil prefers the more memorable term Strong AI. In his book The Singularity is Near he focuses on whole brain emulation using conventional computing machines as an approach to implementing artificial brains, and claims (on grounds of computer power continuing an exponential growth trend) that this could be done by 2025. Henry Markram, director of the Blue Brain project (which is attempting brain emulation), made a similar claim (2020) at the Oxford TED conference in 2009.Contents 1 Approaches to brain simulation2 Artificial brain thought experiment4 Notes and referencesApproaches to brain simulation[edit]Estimates of how much processing power is needed to emulate a human brain at verious levels (from Ray Kurzweil, and Anders Sandberg and Nick Bostrom), along with the fastest supercomputer from TOP500 mapped by year.Although direct brain emulation using artificial neural networks on a high-performance computing engine is a common approach, there are other approaches. An alternative artificial brain implementation could be based on Holographic Neural Technology (HNeT) non linear phase coherence/decoherence principles. The analogy has been made to quantum processes through the core synaptic algorithm which has strong similarities to the QM wave equation.EvBrain is a form of evolutionary software that can evolve “brainlike” neural networks, such as the network immediately behind the retina.Since November 2008, IBM received a $4.9 million grant from the Pentagon for research into creating intelligent computers. The Blue Brain project is being conducted with the assistance of IBM in Lausanne. The project is based on the premise that it is possible to artificially link the neurons “in the computer” by placing thirty million synapses in their proper three-dimensional position.In March 2008, Blue Brain project was progressing faster than expected: “Consciousness is just a massive amount of information being exchanged by trillions of brain cells.” Some proponents of strong AI speculate that computers in connection with Blue Brain and Soul Catcher may exceed human intellectual capacity by around 2015, and that it is likely that we will be able to download the human brain at some time around 2050.There are good reasons to believe that, regardless of implementation strategy, the predictions of realising artificial brains in the near future are optimistic. In particular brains (including the human brain) and cognition are not currently well understood, and the scale of computation required is unknown. In addition there seem to be power constraints. The brain consumes about 20W of power whereas supercomputers may use as much as 1MW or an order of 100,000 more (note: Landauer limit is 3.5×1020 op/sec/watt at room temperature).Artificial brain thought experiment[edit]Some critics of brain simulation believe that it is simpler to create general intelligent action directly without imitating nature. Some commentators have used the analogy that early attempts to construct flying machines modeled them after birds, but that modern aircraft do not look like birds. A computational argument is used in AI – What is this, where it is shown that, if we have a formal definition of general AI, the corresponding program can be found by enumerating all possible programs and then testing each of them to see whether it matches the definition. No appropriate definition currently exists. – Approaches to brain simulation

Estimates of how much processing power is needed to emulate a human brain at verious levels (from Ray Kurzweil, and Anders Sandberg and Nick Bostrom), along with the fastest supercomputer from TOP500 mapped by year.

Although direct brain emulation using artificial neural networks on a high-performance computing engine is a common approach, there are other approaches. An alternative artificial brain implementation could be based on Holographic Neural Technology (HNeT) non linear phase coherence/decoherence principles. The analogy has been made to quantum processes through the core synaptic algorithm which has strong similarities to the QM wave equation.

EvBrain is a form of evolutionary software that can evolve “brainlike” neural networks, such as the network immediately behind the retina.

Since November 2008, IBM received a $4.9 million grant from the Pentagon for research into creating intelligent computers. The Blue Brain project is being conducted with the assistance of IBM in Lausanne. The project is based on the premise that it is possible to artificially link the neurons “in the computer” by placing thirty million synapses in their proper three-dimensional position.

In March 2008, Blue Brain project was progressing faster than expected: “Consciousness is just a massive amount of information being exchanged by trillions of brain cells.” Some proponents of strong AI speculate that computers in connection with Blue Brain and Soul Catcher may exceed human intellectual capacity by around 2015, and that it is likely that we will be able to download the human brain at some time around 2050.

The brain consumes about 20W of power whereas supercomputers may use as much as 1MW or an order of 100,000 more (note: Landauer limit is 3.5×1020 op/sec/watt at room temperature).

Generic programming – Basic/Unconstrained genericity

The formal generic parameters are placeholders for arbitrary class names which will be supplied when a declaration of the generic class is made, as shown in the two generic derivations below, where ACCOUNT and DEPOSIT are other class names. ACCOUNT and DEPOSIT are considered actual generic parameters as they provide real class names to substitute for G in actual use.

Generic programming – Basic/Unconstrained genericity

Within the Eiffel type system, although class LIST [G] is considered a class, it is not considered a type. However, a generic derivation of LIST [G] such as LIST [ACCOUNT] is considered a type.

Generic programming – Constrained genericity

For the list class shown above, an actual generic parameter substituting for G can be any other available class. To constrain the set of classes from which valid actual generic parameters can be chosen, a generic constraint can be specified. In the declaration of class SORTED_LIST below, the generic constraint dictates that any valid actual generic parameter will be a class which inherits from class COMPARABLE. The generic constraint ensures that elements of a SORTED_LIST can in fact be sorted.

Tim O’Reilly – Global brain

O’Reilly believes that the Internet will develop into a global brain, an intelligent network of people and machines that will function as a nervous system for the planet Earth. This phenomenon will occur because humans will use technologies such as Social Media or the Internet of things more frequently and efficiently. O’Reilly has recently presented this topic in a number of lectures.

Sandstone – Framework grains

Framework grains are sand-sized (1/16 to 2 mm diameter) detrital fragments that make up the bulk of a sandstone. These grains can be classified into several different categories based on their mineral composition:

Sandstone – Framework grains

Quartz framework grains are the dominate minerals in most sedimentary rocks; this is because they have exceptional physical properties, such as hardness and chemical stability. These physical properties allow the quartz grains to survive multiple recycling events, while also allowing the grains to display some degree of rounding. Quartz grains evolve from plutonic rock, which are felsic in origin and also from older sandstones that have been recycled.

Sandstone – Framework grains

Feldspathic framework grains are commonly the second most abundant mineral in sandstones. Feldspar can be divided into two smaller subdivisions: alkali feldspars and plagioclase feldspars. The different types of feldspar can be distinguished under a petrographic microscope. Below is a description of the different types of feldspar.

Sandstone – Framework grains

Alkali feldspar is a group of minerals in which the chemical composition of the mineral can range from KAlSi3O8 to NaAlSi3O8, this represents a complete solid solution.

Sandstone – Framework grains

Plagioclase feldspar is a complex group of solid solution minerals that range in composition from NaAlSi3O8 to CaAl2Si2O8.

Sandstone – Framework grains

Lithic framework grains are pieces of ancient source rock that have yet to weather away to individual mineral grains, called lithic fragments or clasts. Lithic fragments can be any fine-grained or coarse-grained igneous, metamorphic, or sedimentary rock. Although, the most common lithic fragment found in sedimentary rocks are clasts of volcanic rocks.

Sandstone – Framework grains

Many of these accessory grains are more dense than the silicates that make up the bulk of the rock

Parallel computing – Fine-grained, coarse-grained, and embarrassing parallelism

Applications are often classified according to how often their subtasks need to synchronize or communicate with each other. An application exhibits fine-grained parallelism if its subtasks must communicate many times per second; it exhibits coarse-grained parallelism if they do not communicate many times per second, and it is embarrassingly parallel if they rarely or never have to communicate. Embarrassingly parallel applications are considered the easiest to parallelize.

Brain-reading

Brain-reading uses the responses of multiple voxels in the brain evoked by stimulus then detected by fMRI in order to decode the original stimulus. Brain reading studies differ in the type of decoding (i.e. classification, identification and reconstruction) employed, the target (i.e. decoding visual patterns, auditory patterns, cognitive states), and the decoding algorithms (linear classification, nonlinear classification, direct reconstruction, Bayesian reconstruction, etc.) employed.

Brain-reading – Classification

In classification, a pattern of activity across multiple voxels is used to determine the particular class from which the stimulus was drawn. Many studies have classified visual stimuli, but this approach has also been used to classify cognitive states.

Brain-reading – Reconstruction

In reconstruction brain reading the aim is to create a literal picture of the image that was presented. Early studies used voxels from early visual cortex areas (V1, V2, and V3) to reconstruct geometric stimuli made up of flickering checkerboard patterns.

Brain-reading – Natural images

This brain reading approach uses three components: A structural encoding model that characterizes responses in early visual areas; a semantic encoding model that characterizes responses in anterior visual areas; and a Bayseian prior that describes the distribution of structural and semantic scene statistics.

Brain-reading – Natural images

Experimentally the procedure is for subjects to view 1750 black and white natural images that are correlated with voxel activation in their brains. Then subjects viewed another 120 novel target images, and information from the earlier scans is used reconstruct them. Natural images used include pictures of a seaside cafe and harbor, performers on a stage, and dense foliage.

Brain-reading – Other types

It is possible to track which of two forms of rivalrous binocular illusions a person was subjectively experiencing from fMRI signals. The category of event which a person freely recalls can be identified from fMRI before they say what they remembered. Statistical analysis of EEG brainwaves has been claimed to allow the recognition of phonemes, and at a 60% to 75% level color and visual shape words. It has also been shown that brain-reading can be achieved in a complex virtual environment.

Brain-reading – Accuracy

Brain-reading accuracy is increasing steadily as the quality of the data and the complexity of the decoding algorithms improve. In one recent experiment it was possible to identify which single image was being seen from a set of 120. In another it was possible to correctly identify 90% of the time which of two categories the stimulus came and the specific semantic category (out of 23) of the target image 40% of the time.

Brain-reading – Limitations

“In practice, exact reconstructions are impossible to achieve by any reconstruction algorithm on the basis of brain activity signals acquired by fMRI

Representational state transfer – Constraints

The REST architectural style describes the following six constraints applied to the architecture, while leaving the implementation of the individual components free to design:

Representational state transfer – Constraints

A uniform interface separates clients from servers. This separation of concerns means that, for example, clients are not concerned with data storage, which remains internal to each server, so that the portability of client code is improved. Servers are not concerned with the user interface or user state, so that servers can be simpler and more scalable. Servers and clients may also be replaced and developed independently, as long as the interface between them is not altered.

Representational state transfer – Constraints

The client–server communication is further constrained by no client context being stored on the server between requests. Each request from any client contains all of the information necessary to service the request, and session state is held in the client. Important to note is that the session state can be transferred by the server to another service such as a database to maintain a persistent state for a period of time and allow authentication.

Representational state transfer – Constraints

As on the World Wide Web, clients can cache responses. Responses must therefore, implicitly or explicitly, define themselves as cacheable, or not, to prevent clients reusing stale or inappropriate data in response to further requests. Well-managed caching partially or completely eliminates some client–server interactions, further improving scalability and performance.

Representational state transfer – Constraints

A client cannot ordinarily tell whether it is connected directly to the end server, or to an intermediary along the way. Intermediary servers may improve system scalability by enabling load-balancing and by providing shared caches. They may also enforce security policies.

Representational state transfer – Constraints

Servers can temporarily extend or customize the functionality of a client by the transfer of executable code. Examples of this may include compiled components such as Java applets and client-side scripts such as JavaScript. “Code on demand” is the only optional constraint of the REST architecture.

Representational state transfer – Constraints

The uniform interface between clients and servers, discussed below, simplifies and decouples the architecture, which enables each part to evolve independently. The four guiding principles of this interface are detailed below.

Representational state transfer – Constraints

One can characterise applications conforming to the REST constraints described in this section as “RESTful”. If a service violates any of the required constraints, it cannot be considered RESTful.

Representational state transfer – Constraints

Complying with these constraints, and thus conforming to the REST architectural-style, enables any kind of distributed hypermedia system to have desirable emergent properties, such as performance, scalability, simplicity, modifiability, visibility, portability, and reliability.

Flight attendant – Training

One of the most elaborate training facilities was Breech Academy which Trans World Airlines (TWA) opened in 1969 in Overland Park, Kansas

Flight attendant – Training

Safety training includes, but is not limited to: emergency passenger evacuation management, use of evacuation slides/life rafts, in-flight firefighting, survival in the jungle, sea, desert, ice, first aid, CPR, defibrillation, ditching/emergency landing procedures, decompression emergencies, Crew Resource Management and security.

Flight attendant – Training

Either or both of these may be earned depending upon the type of aircraft (propeller or turbofan) on which the holder has trained.

Flight attendant – Training

In some countries, such as France, a degree is required, together with the Certificat de Formation à la Sécurité (safety training certificate).

Digital Light Processing – The color wheel “rainbow effect”

Some people perceive these rainbow artifacts frequently, while others may never see them at all.

Digital Light Processing – The color wheel “rainbow effect”

This effect is caused by the way the eye follows a moving object on the projection

Digital Light Processing – The color wheel “rainbow effect”

“Three-chip DLP projectors have no color wheels, and thus do not manifest this [rainbow] artifact.”

Educational software – Software in corporate training and tertiary education

Earlier educational software for the important corporate and tertiary education markets was designed to run on a single desktop computer (or an equivalent user device)

Educational software – Software in corporate training and tertiary education

Virtual learning environment, LMS (learning management system)

Audi A4 – Powertrain

The B8 powertrain options are the following: engines, transmissions and drivelines: (All United Kingdom specification unless stated otherwise).(for South Africa specification).(for Australia specification).(for New Zealand specification).

Audi A4 – Powertrain

Model Engine code Years displacement / type [email protected] [email protected]

Audi A4 – Powertrain

S4 quattro/3.0 TFSI CAKA 2009- 2,995 cc (183 cu in) 24v V6 supercharged 333 PS (245 kW; 328 hp) @5500-7000 440 N·m (325 lb·ft) @2900-5300

Audi A4 – Powertrain

2.0 TDI e CAGB 2009- 1,968 cc (120 cu in) 16v I4 turbo 136 PS (100 kW; 134 hp) @4200 320 N·m (236 lb·ft) @1750-2500

Audi A4 – Powertrain

2.0 TDI, 2.0 TDI quattro CAGA 2007- 1,968 cc (120 cu in) 16v I4 variable geometry turbo 143 PS (105 kW; 141 hp) @4200 320 N·m (236 lb·ft) @1750-2500

Audi A4 – Powertrain

2.0 TDI, 2.0 TDI quattro CAHA 2008- 1,968 cc (120 cu in) 16v I4 variable geometry turbo 170 PS (125 kW; 168 hp) @4200 350 N·m (258 lb·ft) @1750-2500

Audi A4 – Powertrain

The quattro permanent four-wheel drive system uses the latest Torsen T-3 centre differential, with a default 40:60 front to rear asymmetric torque distribution ratio (used first on the B7 RS4) as standard. (Previous A4 quattro models split torque with a default front:rear 50:50). The additional torque bias applied to the rear wheels helps mimic the driving dynamics of rear wheel drive cars.

Audi A4 – Powertrain

Audi was reported to stop offering 3.2L V6 models in 2010 model year, but still offers them as of August 2011 (Germany).

Audi A4 – Powertrain

All petrol engines use Fuel Stratified Injection (FSI), and all diesel engines use the common rail fuel delivery (with a pressure of 1,600 bars (23,000 psi)), with piezo injectors of their Turbocharged Direct Injection engines.

Mind uploading – Brain imaging

It may also be possible to create functional 3D maps of the brain activity, using advanced neuroimaging technology, such as functional MRI (fMRI, for mapping change in blood flow), Magnetoencephalography (MEG, for mapping of electrical currents), or combinations of multiple methods, to build a detailed three-dimensional model of the brain using non-invasive and non-destructive methods

Mind uploading – Rodent brain simulation

The initial goal of the project, completed in December 2006, was the simulation of a rat neocortical column, which can be considered the smallest functional unit of the neocortex (the part of the brain thought to be responsible for higher functions such as conscious thought), containing 10,000 neurons (and 108 synapses)

Mind uploading – Rodent brain simulation

Ultimately the goal of this prize is to generate a whole brain map which may be used in support of separate efforts to upload and possibly ‘reboot’ a mind in virtual space.

Muslim Brotherhood – Bahrain

In Bahrain, the Muslim Brotherhood is represented by the Al Eslah Society and its political wing, the Al-Menbar Islamic Society

Muslim Brotherhood – Bahrain

In March 2009, the Shi’a group The Islamic Enlightenment Society held its annual conference with the announced aim of diffusing tension between Muslim branches. The society invited national Sunni and Shi’a scholars to participate. Bahraini independent Salafi religious scholars Sheikh Salah Al Jowder and Sheikh Rashid Al Muraikhi, and Shi’a clerics Sheikh Isa Qasim and Abdulla Al Ghoraifi spoke about the importance of sectarian cooperation. Additional seminars were held throughout the year.

Muslim Brotherhood – Bahrain

In 2010, the U.S. government sponsored the visit of Al-Jowder, described as a prominent Sunni cleric, to the United States for a three-week interfaith dialogue program in several cities.

Neuroprosthetics – Traumatic Brain Injury

More than 1.7 million people in the United States suffer traumatic brain injury every year. Orthosis for TBI patients to control limb movement via devices that read neurons in brain, calculate limb trajectory, and stimulate needed motor pools to make movement. (Anderson Paper, Cole at NIH – specifically “Computer software as an orthosis for Brain Injury”,)

Sintering – Densification, vitrification and grain growth

Since densification of powders requires high temperatures, grain growth naturally occurs during sintering

Sintering – Densification, vitrification and grain growth

For densification to occur at a quick pace it is essential to have (1) an amount of liquid phase that is large in size, (2) a near complete solubility of the solid in the liquid, and (3) wetting of the solid by the liquid

Sintering – Densification, vitrification and grain growth

Densification requires constant capillary pressure where just solution-precipitation material transfer would not produce densification. For further densification, additional particle movement while the particle undergoes grain-growth and grain-shape changes occurs. Shrinkage would result when the liquid slips between particles and increase pressure at points of contact causing the material to move away from the contact areas forcing particle centers to draw near each other.

Sintering – Densification, vitrification and grain growth

The sintering of liquid-phase materials involve a fine-grained solid phase to create the needed capillary pressures proportional to its diameter and the liquid concentration must also create the required capillary pressure within range, else the process ceases

Sintering – Grain growth

Abnormal growth is when a few grains grow much larger than the remaining majority.

Sintering – Grain boundary energy/tension

The atoms in the GB are normally in a higher energy state than their equivalent in the bulk material. This is due to their more stretched bonds, which gives rise to a GB tension . This extra energy that the atoms possess is called the grain boundary energy, . The grain will want to minimize this extra energy thus striving to make the grain boundary area smaller and this change requires energy.

Sintering – Grain boundary energy/tension

“Or, in other words, a force has to be applied, in the plane of the grain boundary and acting along a line in the grain-boundary area, in order to extend the grain-boundary area in the direction of the force. The force per unit length, i.e. tension/stress, along the line mentioned is ?GB. On the basis of this reasoning it would follow:

Sintering – Grain boundary energy/tension

with dA as the increase of grain-boundary area per unit length along the line in the grain-boundary area considered.” [pg 478]

Sintering – Grain boundary energy/tension

The GB tension can also be thought of as the attractive forces between the atoms at the surface and the tension between these atoms is due to the fact that there is a larger interatomic distance between them at the surface compared to the bulk (i.e

Sintering – Grain boundary energy/tension

holds true. For solids, on the other hand, diffusion of atoms to the surface might not be sufficient and the surface tension can vary with an increase in surface area. For a solid, one can derive an expression for the change in Gibbs free energy, dG, upon the change of GB area, dA. dG is given by

Sintering – Grain boundary energy/tension

is normally expressed in units of while is normally expressed in units of since they are different physical properties.

Sintering – Reducing grain growth

This decrease in net chemical potential will decrease the grain boundary velocity and therefore grain growth.

Sintering – Reducing grain growth

Since it is beneficial for particles to reside in the grain boundaries and they exert a force in opposite direction compared to the grain boundary migration

Sintering – Reducing grain growth

where r is the radius of the particle and ? the interfacial energy of the boundary if there are N particles per unit volume their volume fraction f is

Sintering – Reducing grain growth

assuming they are randomly distributed. A boundary of unit area will intersect all particles within a volume of 2r which is 2Nr particles. So the number of particles n intersecting a unit area of grain boundary is:

Sintering – Reducing grain growth

Now assuming that the grains only grow due to the influence of curvature, the driving force of growth is where (for homogeneous grain structure) R approximates to the mean diameter of the grains. With this the critical diameter that has to be reached before the grains ceases to grow:

Sintering – Reducing grain growth

This can be reduced to so the critical diameter of the grains is dependent of the size and volume fraction of the particles at the grain boundaries.

Sintering – Reducing grain growth

It has also been shown that small bubbles or cavities can act as inclusion

Sintering – Reducing grain growth

More complicated interactions which slow grain boundary motion include interactions of the surface energies of the two grains and the inclusion and are discussed in detail by C.S. Smith.

Systems development life-cycle – Training and transition

Once a system has been stabilized through adequate testing, the SDLC ensures that proper training on the system is performed or documented before transitioning the system to its support staff and end users.

Systems development life-cycle – Training and transition

Training usually covers operational training for those people who will be responsible for supporting the system as well as training for those end users who will be using the system after its delivery to a production operating environment.

Systems development life-cycle – Training and transition

After training has been successfully completed, systems engineers and developers transition the system to its final production environment, where it is intended to be used by its end users and supported by its support and operations staff.

Occupational health psychology – Job strain and CVD

A review of 17 longitudinal studies having reasonably high internal validity found that 8 showed a significant relation between job strain and CVD and 3 more showed a nonsignificant relation

Isolated brain

An isolated brain however is more typically attached to an artificial perfusion device rather than a biological body.

Isolated brain

The brains of many different organisms have been kept alive in-vitro for hours, or in some cases days. The central nervous system of invertebrate animals is often easily maintained as they need less oxygen and to a larger extent get their oxygen from CSF; for this reason their brains are more easily maintained without perfusion. Mammalian brains on the other hand have a much lesser degree of survival without perfusion and an artificial blood perfusate is usually used.

Isolated brain

For methodological reasons, most research on isolated mammalian brains has been done with guinea pigs. These animals have a significantly larger basilar artery (a major artery of the brain) compared to rats and mice, which makes cannulation (to supply CSF) much easier.

Isolated brain – History

1812 – Julien Jean César Le Gallois (a.k.a. Legallois) put forth the original idea for resuscitating severed heads through the use of blood transfusion.

Isolated brain – History

1818 – Mary Shelley published Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus

Isolated brain – History

1836 – Astley Cooper showed in rabbits that compression of the carotid and vertebral arteries leads to death of an animal; such deaths can be prevented if the circulation of oxygenated blood to the brain is rapidly restored.

Isolated brain – History

1857 – Charles Brown-Sequard decapitated a dog, waited ten minutes, attached four rubber tubes to the arterial trunks of the head, and injected blood containing oxygen by means of a syringe. Two or three minutes later voluntary movements of the eyes and muscles of the muzzle resumed. After cessation of oxygenated blood transfusion movements stopped.

Isolated brain – History

1887 – Jean Baptiste Vincent Laborde made what appears to be first recorded attempt to revive the heads of executed criminals by connecting the carotid artery of the severed human head to the carotid artery of a large dog. According to Laborde’s account, in isolated experiments a partial restoration of brain function was attained.

Isolated brain – History

1912 – Corneille Heymans maintained life in an isolated dog’s head by connecting the carotid artery and jugular vein of the severed head to the carotid artery and jugular vein of another dog. Partial functioning in the severed head was maintained for a few hours.

Isolated brain – History

1928 – Sergey Bryukhonenko showed life could be maintained in the severed head of a dog by connecting the carotid artery and jugular vein to an artificial circulation machine.

Isolated brain – History

1963 – Robert J. White isolated the brain from one monkey and attached it to the circulatory system of another animal.

Isolated brain – In philosophy

A contemporary version of the argument originally given by Descartes in Meditations on First Philosophy (i.e., that he could not trust his perceptions on the grounds that an evil demon might, conceivably, be controlling his every experience), the brain in a vat is the idea that a brain can be fooled into anything when fed appropriate stimuli.

Isolated brain – In philosophy

According to such science fiction stories, the computer would then be simulating a Virtual Reality (including appropriate responses to the brain’s own output) and the person with the “disembodied” brain would continue to have perfectly normal conscious experiences without these being related to objects or events in the real world.

Isolated brain – Growing an isolated brain

Isolated biological “brains”, grown from cultured neurons which were originally separated, have been developed. These are not the same thing as the brains of organisms, but they have been used to control some simple robotic systems.

Isolated brain – Growing an isolated brain

In 2004 Thomas DeMarse and Karl Dockendorf make an adaptive flight control with living neuronal networks on microelectrode arrays.

Isolated brain – Growing an isolated brain

Teams at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Reading have created neurological entities integrated with a robot body. The brain receives input from sensors on the robot body and the resultant output from the brain provides the robot’s only motor signals.