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the falling of the air temperature below 0°C in the evening or night when temperatures during the day are above freezing. They are caused either by the invasion of cold air masses from other regions, generally from the arctic (advective frosts), or by radiant cooling of the soil surface and vegetation at night (radiation frosts). In most cases, however, both preliminary advection of a mass of cold air into a given region and subsequent night radiation that cools the soil and, through it the air, to subzero temperatures play a part in the occurrence of a frost. Such frosts usually occur in the central zone of the USSR in spring (until mid-June) and fall (beginning in the second half of September).

Frosts can substantially lower yields of field, vegetable, and fruit crops. Their destructive effect on crops is due to the direct action of low temperatures on living cells: it freezes water out of the cell sap, causes the formation of ice crystals in the interstitial spaces, and dehydrates the protoplasm. The hardiest plants, early spring grain crops and early-planted beans, can withstand a brief frost ranging from -7° to - 10°C; soy, Italian millet, and Chinese bellflower are moderately hardy and can withstand temperatures of -4° to -3°C; corn, millet, sorghum, potato, and rustic tobacco can tolerate frosts from -2° to -3°C; kidney bean, rice, cotton, melons, sesame, peanut, and buckwheat are tender plants whose shoots are injured by temperatures ranging from -0.5° to — 1.5°C. The reproductive organs are particularly sensitive to frosts.

The introduction of early-ripening crop varieties into regions with a short frost-free period, the breeding of plants for hardiness, the use of potassium fertilizers, timely cultivation, and the correct choice of the sowing site, taking the micro-climate into account, are very important in combating frosts. The best known and most popular method is smudging, which is widely used to protect flowering fruits and shoots of heat-loving vegetables in the central zone and southern regions of the USSR. Open heating, in the air between plants by the combustion of oil and coal in special heaters, is used on citrus plantations in the subtropical regions of the USSR. Lemon and orange trees are sometimes covered with three layers of gauze. The heating of plantations by electric heaters or warm-water or steam units is effective but costly and is used only for valuable produce.

Berliand, M. E., and P. N. Krasikov. Predskazanie zamorozkov i bor’ba s nimi, 2nd ed. Leningrad, 1960.
Gol’tsberg, I. A. Agroklimaticheskaia kharakteristika zamorozkov v SSSR i metody bor’by s nimi. Leningrad, 1961.

References in classic literature ?
He then took leave of his brother sportsman, and expressing great joy that the frost was broken (which might perhaps be no small motive to his hastening home), set forwards, or rather backwards, for Somersetshire; but not before he had first despatched part of his retinue in quest of his daughter, after whom he likewise sent a volley of the most bitter execrations which he could invent.


Quantum computers get real

Bob Swarup
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This article first appeared on the FQXi community website. FQXi are our partners in our Information about information project, within which we explored quantum computing. Click here to find out more about quantum computing.

It's easy to understand why physicists can't let go of this particular love affair. Quantum computers present such enchanting temptations: The ability to sift through mountains of information billions of times faster than any classical computer. The offer to break the most stringent security protocols today and innovate better ones. And the capacity to simulate the interactions of complex quantum systems in precise detail to gain deeper insights into the workings of nature.

It's now more than thirty years since the infatuation with quantum computers first took hold, when Nobel Laureate physicist Richard Feynman realised that these hypothetical machines could potentially boost our technological capabilities beyond our wildest imaginations. Move into the real world, however, and the situation is very different from what was once promised. The challenge is working out how to translate the fairytale into reality: how to store and manipulate bits of quantum information, or qubits, on a large enough scale that they create a working quantum computer.

Computer chip

In 2013, physicists at the ETH Zurich, in Switzerland, successfully teleported information 6 millimeters across a superconducting chip. Credit: Stefan Filipp, ETH Zurich.

"Qubits have personalities," says Lieven Vandersypen at the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, TU Delft, Netherlands, describing the difficulties encountered when trying to handle such systems. "Every qubit we build behaves a bit differently and a significant engineering as well as materials effort is needed to improve reliability and reproducibility."

On paper, the theory behind quantum computing has now been widely fleshed out. Today's computers are constrained to operate according to classical rules — representing information as a string of simple ones and zeros. By contrast, every quantum system can exist as a multiplicity of states simultaneously. Thus, at the most basic level, each qubit can be one, zero or any combination between the two. Put two or more qubits together and new interactions begin to emerge that have no counterpart in our everyday world, enhancing our capacity to manipulate and process information by magnitudes.

In the 1990s, physicists began developing complex algorithms to harness all this theoretical computational power. The most celebrated examples are an algorithm developed by Peter Shor, which allows numbers to be factored more quickly than any classical computer, and an another by Lov Grover, which describes how to search through a database exponentially faster than a standard machine.

Since then, experimental physicists have become increasingly adept at handling quantum systems at ultracold temperatures in the lab. These have been built from, for instance, trapped ions, nano fabricated superconducting circuits, and entangled photons of light — and these seem to be some of the best candidates to use as qubits in large-scale quantum computers. Other exotic options include nitrogen atoms embedded in diamonds and theoretical two-dimensional "quasi-particles," known as anyons.

Physicists have also figured out how to link these qubits together, using a quantum phenomenon called entanglement, so that they behave as one when measured. And they can successfully encode information in photon qubits, and transferring them across vast distances.

Quantum bottleneck

But there, they seem to have stalled. "The question of scalability is experimentally not solved yet for any systems, regarded as potential candidates for quantum computing," says Stefan Filipp, a quantum physicist at ETH Zurich in Switzerland. The major problem, he explains, has been making quantum systems robust to outside disturbances. Larger systems have more qubits with more complex interactions, making them far more susceptible to interference from the outside world. Heat and even just physical knocks to the apparatus can cause the qubits to decohere — losing the quantum properties that lie that the heart of their processing power. "Scaling up beyond 10 qubits while maintaining a high degree of quantum coherence is the bottleneck for quantum computing," says Vlatko Vedral, an expert on quantum information at the University of Oxford, UK.

It is not clear yet whether these technical challenges can ever be tackled. Scientists have never probed quantum mechanics at this size and complexity. However, there is no experimental evidence currently of a basic physical constraint limiting the coherence of large quantum systems. "Although models speculating about unavoidable decoherence mechanisms intrinsic to nature exist, those might not hinder the realisation of a quantum computer as long as the effects are small," Filipp says.

Vandersypen, a pioneer in this arena, is acutely aware of the technical hurdles. As part of his PhD in 2001, he constructed a seven qubit computer by manipulating nuclear spins (internal quantum properties of atomic nuclei) with strong magnetic fields and used Shor's algorithm to factor the number 15. It was one of the earliest physical demonstrations of quantum computing and excited many, particularly as such qubits can be made at room temperature. However, the thermal noise at room temperatures has made it impossible to scale the number of qubits up significantly.

Computer chip

Optical mask for fabricating superconducting chip devices Credit: Stefan Filipp, ETH Zurich.

Overcoming decoherence is hugely important because qubits must preserve their quantum properties for the durations of calculations, and so physicists have been searching for different materials and building blocks that exhibit far less decoherence. In 2013, researchers in Canada, Germany and the UK maintained a quantum state for a record-breaking 39 minutes in silicon, doped with phosphorous. The quantum information was encoded in the nuclei of the phosphorus atoms.

Another popular area of research is superconducting circuits, where the very low temperatures allow quantum effects to dominate and electric currents to flow without resistance, creating macroscopic objects that are fractions of a millimeter in size but fundamentally quantum in their behavior. The qubits created here are remarkably long-lasting, surviving for several microseconds — an eternity in the quantum computing universe — and capable of being manipulated to construct quantum logic gates and circuits, the underpinning of a working quantum processor.

One of the most promising avenues is trapped ultracold atomic ions, where information is encoded within their energy levels and manipulated using bursts of laser light. "Trapped ions are probably the most advanced system in this field," says Jonathan Home, a quantum physicist at ETH Zurich, Switzerland. "We can do everything on a single atomic ion at the accuracy level required for large-scale quantum computation, with errors of less than 1 part in 10,000."

Home achieved a notable breakthrough in 2009 when he and his team at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado, demonstrated the first small-scale device to perform all the core steps needed in large-scale quantum processing. Using ultraviolet laser pulses and electric fields to manipulate two trapped beryllium atoms, the scientists initialised and stored qubit data in the ions; performed simple logic operations on the qubits; transferred the information between different locations; and then read out the resulting data, with the whole process being repeated thousands of times. Their prototype quantum processor worked with an overall accuracy of 94%.

Though exciting, in order to scale up to a large system, any realistic quantum computer will need to be even more accurate — and will need to tie together many more individual quantum systems. "For conditional logic — operations between different atomic ions — the fidelity needs to improve by more than an order of magnitude," says Home. "We think we understand what we need to fix, so it is now an engineering and error-diagnostic challenge to improve things."

And the 64,000 qubit question — how far are we from a fully working quantum computer?

The different pieces of the puzzle are slowly coming together. Trapped ion scientists can now prepare coherent states of more than ten qubits. Meanwhile, superconducting qubits can perform gate operations in less than 10 nanoseconds. The progress in different fields has led some to wonder whether the future lies in hybrid devices that combine these different physical systems to exploit their advantages, for example, the long coherence times of atoms coupled with the fast control of superconducting qubits. "This can be useful to separate, for example, the long-lived quantum memory part of a quantum computer from the fast quantum processor," explains Filipp.

All agree that the road ahead is a long one. But people should be patient, and not fall out of love, just yet. After all, says Vandersypen: "Everything we do, nobody has ever done before. This means we have to find out the best way to do things, and this takes time."


Smile timing

Proud of her.

The story so far

Fleur is ten months. She is crawling and standing. She has preferences and willing to enforce them.

Galahad is seventeen years. He has a year and a half of high school left. He wants to become an engineer. We get along okay for me being a stepfather.

The wife recently resigned from her job to become a stay at home mother. The job was not a good fit for the time.


Author Archives: Asia Grant

Genetic Hybridization and Chronic Disease

Postures Affect on Attitude

I know many people in the class are freshman so they most likely are not looking for internships right now, but as a word of advice through my experience with my own search, your attitude going into any type of meeting—whether it is with a teacher or potential employer—is the thing that will support you even when you don’t know everything that is asked of you. If people see that you are excited about getting work done and passionate about the subject then they are more likely to help you. Those things are shown through your attitude and the way you hold yourself. I am sensitive to the fact that some people aren’t as comfortable as other may be, but don’t let that discourage you if you feel that way. I strongly believe that the way we hold ourselves affects our general mood and outlook, so I decided to see if there was a scientific study that supported this idea (or even refuted it).

According to Scientific American, Dana Carney and Andy Yap from Columbia University and Amy Cuddy from Harvard University conducted a study that recorded one’s feeling of power and appetite for risk relative to the body positioning they were asked to enact: open, expansive postures—widespread limbs and enlargement of occupied space by spreading out one’s body—or closed, constructed postures—limbs touching the torso and collapsing the body. To measure the appetite for risk, these researchers gave participants $2 and told them they could keep this money or roll a die and risk losing the $2 for a payout of $4 (a risky but rational bet since the odds of winning were 50/50). The participants who had been placed in the expansive posture reported feeling significantly more “powerful” and “in charge”; they were also 45% more likely to roll the die. This study was published in Psychological Science, which acts as some form of credibility.

However, I am iffy about the execution of this experiment because a lot of details have been left out (I am not able to see the full experiment details because I need a subscription to Psychological Science). I can assume by the nature of the study that it was experimental and the independent variable was body positioning and the depended variable was expressed feeling of power and risk appetite. But they only tested two types of body postures on two opposite extremes. I think if they also took into account a group with neutral posture, they would have more telling results since it would show a progression of data since they already give a “relative risk” of what would happen if one takes an open posture. Also, I think it is important to state whom the experiment was conducted on—mostly age and gender—so see if there is a strong correlation in one group than other. I would guess that asking men to take a more dominant stance would have a money stronger effect on their feeling of power and risk appetite, but then again I could be wrong. Lastly, I would have liked there to be a progression of risk taking measures. Rolling a dice for a couple of dollars can only feel so risky, so maybe if they increased the dollar amount each time that they could win and lose by rolling the dice they could measure how much more risky someone was willing to be.

I remember that we talked about this in class one day in regards to psyching yourself up right before an interview to get yourself in the right frame of mind. When I looked around the lecture hall, I saw a bunch of people slumping over in the seats and not very engaged in the lecture. I even catch myself sometimes slouching in my chair in classes I don’t particularly enjoy, which makes me feel tired and disinterested. I know its anecdotal, but once I became conscious of what I was doing, I made an effort to sit up straight and be more attentive, and with that the class time passed with more ease and I was able to retain information better.

So looking at this experiment, I would say it is a toss up on whether or not someone should try out this technique of self-improvement. The lack of information isn’t very motivating since it is so vague. However, there is very little effort to just sit up a little straighter or have better posture overall, so giving it a try would hurt and you may actually benefit from it. As for me, it helps me stay awake and retain information better so I am going to keep doing it.

Fat Doesn’t Make You Fat?

To continue with my blog trend topic of food and health, I decided that I wanted to tackle something that is most likely on everyone’s mind with Thanksgiving being right around the corner—weight gain. But what foods actually make you gain weight, and why? Is eating two plates of mashed potatoes and corn just as bad as eating two plates of turkey and ham? Should I just avoid everything at the table because it is too “fattening?” Personally, I don’t want to be stressed this holiday season, especially when it comes to something so enjoyable like food, so I want to explore what foods that have been actually tested have a significant effect on both weight gain and weight loss.

 According to an article on NPR released this past September, a study has been published that adds evidence to the argument that cutting back on carbs, not fat can lead to more weight loss. Researchers from Tulane University conducted a randomized experimental study that tracked two groups of dieters for one year. The 148 participants consisted of men and women, ages ranging from their early 20s to mid-70s, and included a mix of African-Americans and Caucasians. I understood the intention of the testers of trying to get a broad perspective of how these different diets many vary from one another, but I feel as if there could have been more blocking involved in order to gain better clarity of the effects of the diet on different characteristics. For example, testers could have blocked participants by age because as we grow older, our body systems begin to slow including our metabolisms. Also, I thought it was mildly confusing because each group was meant to be the other group’s control (those who decreased their carb intake kept their fat intake the same and vice versa).

The results showed that the low-carb group, which reduced their carb consumption to about 28% of their daily calories, lost almost three times as much weight as the low-fat dieters, who received about 40 to 45% of their calories from carbs. For lunch and dinner, the low-carb dieters ate lots of vegetables, salads and protein, including fish, chicken and some red meat. They had generous portions of healthy fats such as olive oils, canola and other plant-based oils. The low-carb group lost an average of 12 pounds even thought they were taking in the same amount of calories as the low-fat diet. This doesn’t prove that having a diet with a lower carb intake will reduce one’s weight, but it suggest that there is a strong correlation between the two. I found this very insightful because I have heard many arguments claiming that the most important part was the amount of calories that are taken in rather than the ratio of foods that make up one’s caloric intake. This experiment also rules out the possibility of reverse causation since they did not pick up the diet because they lost the weight. There is the possibility that chanced played a part in this experiment, but I highly doubt it due to the nature of the testing.

There is a common misconception that foods that are high in fat will make you fat, which is easy enough to understand. However, according to WebMD, there are two different types of fats that had different effects on the body: saturated and unsaturated. Unsaturated fats, like the ones found in vegetable oils, have been found to lower cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of heart disease. Saturated fats do the exact opposite: raise cholesterol, clog arteries, and increase the risk for heart disease. Both of these mentioned risks are relative since there isn’t established beforehand how likely it is for someone to contract heart disease, since it is also different for everyone due to lifestyle and genetic disposition. Carbs are believed to make us fat because it over stimulates the release of insulin, which directs more calories into storage in fat cells, and provides little nutritional value, making us feel unsatisfied after we are done consuming.

All together, I believe this was a well-done experiment that provided some light to an area that was previously misunderstood. So is it sensible for the common person to change to a low-carb diet? Not necessarily. Each person has a unique metabolism that is affected differently by different foods. People need to consider their own health and lifestyle before taking on a diet change. If you have suffered from chronic health issues regarding weight, this may be something to consider, but if you don’t have any apparent problems with your health or weight this change might not be worth the time and energy necessary.

Working Out the Body for the Mind

Trail Running Stock

In high school, I led an extremely active lifestyle. I ran cross-country, indoor and outdoor track, and had two training sessions daily, Monday through Friday. However, when I came to college, I wasn’t able to maintain as rigorous of a workout routine as I had before because of the increase of workload and scheduling differences. But now I feel as if the decrease in exercise in my life has affected other aspects such as mood, energy, and even school performance. In high school, I would wake up everyday at 6 am to go to school and have practice ranging anywhere from 2-4 hours, go to sleep at 11 or 12 and still get enough sleep and maintain a competitive GPA. Now I work out about 3 to 4 time a week for an hour or so, but I feel sluggish and tired throughout the day and it takes me a bit more effort to understand and comprehend my work. My eating and sleeping habits have only changed marginally since I came to college so I am really interested to find the answer to my question, “Does exercise have a positive affect on my academic performance?”

After I did some digging, I found an article on the New York Times back from 2012. Researchers in the department of psychology and neuroscience at Dartmouth College conducted an experimental study on 54 adults, ages 18 to 36, who were healthy but generally sedentary (meaning none of them exercise regularly). I believed that this was a good range for what I was personally looking for, but the only hesitation I had was that these participants were volunteers, which could lead to voluntary response bias. I know we did not go over this specific bias in class, but the idea is pretty much straight forward—those who volunteer to take part of something usually have prior believes or relations to the experiment, however, it mostly comes up in surveys and observational, so I did not worry myself too much about it.

The participants filled out a series of questionnaires about their health and mood, including how anxious they were both at that moment and in general. Previous studies have shown that exercise can increase levels of a protein called “brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF), which is thought to play a role in the positive effects of exercise on thinking. However, some people produce less BDNF by natural after exercise because of a variation in the gene that controls the production, so blood was draw from the participants for genetic testing to account for this.

The group also submitted a memory test that consisted of pictures of objects flashing across a computer screen in order to involve a different part of the brain that is normally focused on in studies of exercise and memories. This exercise involved the perirhinal cortex, a portion of the brain essential to remembering particular things and whether they happen to be new in your experience, rather than the hippocampus, the brain’s primary memory center. I really liked this distinction because I believe that is the part of the brain that is most used when learning new material in a classroom.

After all of the testing, the volunteers were randomly assigned to exercise or not over the time period of four weeks. Half began a supervised program of walking or jogging four times a week for at least 30 minutes, while the other half remained sedentary. The randomization at this point cleared up most of the doubts I was having before about the potential volunteer response bias.

At the end of the month, the participants were brought back for final mood and memory testing, but before hand, half of each group (those who exercised for the month and those who did not) walked or jogged.

As expected, many of the volunteers who’d been exercising for the past month significantly improved their scores on the memory and mood tests. But not all of them did. In general, those volunteers who had exercised for the past month and who worked out on the day of retesting performed the best on the memory exam. They also tended to report less anxiety than other volunteers. Those who had exercised during the preceding month but not on the day of testing generally did better on the memory test than those who had been sedentary, but did not perform nearly as well as those who had worked out that morning.

I found these results very motivating. It showed me that not just working out periodically, but consistent exercise correlates to both memory retention and anxiety regulation. Since there is a time factor of this experiment, reverse causation isn’t a viable problem that the results may face. This experiment in my opinion was conducted extremely well, and very thorough in its research. From these results, I feel like it is a sensible idea for other people should strongly consider implementing some sort of consistent exercise in their schedule because it has the positive outcomes seem to out weight any of the hassles of getting it done. I appreciate that there are some people who just don’t enjoy the process of exercise, so my advice to them would maybe just to try to be more aware of how active you are throughout the day. Rather than taking the bus, leave a couple of minutes earlier to walk to class.

Deadly Nighttime Snacking?

I have never been good at timing when I eat. I may wake up some mornings at 8am and not eat until noon, which ends up pushing all of my eating times back. I have heard the theory that you shouldn’t eat 3 hours before you go to bed because it can result in health issues, but sometimes I eat at 10:30pm, which pushes my bedtime to past 1 am, and then the vicious cycle continues. Also none the health issues never seem to be specific, with weight gain being the only prevalent result. This did not really make a convincing argument that sleeping soon after eating was a health hazard, but since the notion does exist, I thought it was worth exploring.

My first finding was a study posted on WebMD, regarding an increased the risk of having a stroke. The subheading stated that, “people who wait an hour or more after eating before going to bed have a 66% lower stroke risk, researchers say.” I couldn’t gather much from that statement since it was positioned as a relative risk and I wasn’t sure what the normal risk of having a stroke is—which could potentially be low already.

Researcher Cristina-Maria Kastorini, a nutritionist at the University of Ioannina Medical School in Greece, conduced an survey on 500 currently “healthy” people: 250 people who had had a stroke and 250 with acute coronary syndrome—a common type of heart disease where there is a reduced blood flow to the heart because of clogged arteries, which can lead to tightness in the chest and sometimes heart-attacks. The participants were asked to complete detailed questionnaires asking about their sleep habits as well as when and what they ate.

The results stated that compared with the people who went to bed within and hour of dinner, those who waited 60 to 70 minutes were 66% less likely to have had a stroke. It also went on to say that those who waited 70 minutes to two hours had a 76% lower likelihood of having a stroke, but after two hours the reduction of risk began to taper off. I am not sure of how confident I feel in this data because the explanation is very vague and left me with a lot of questions. How did they calculate those percentages from the surveys? What factors were taking into consideration in determining the participants were healthy? Did those who waited longer end up healthier than when they began? Would the risk be the same for someone without heart-related health issues? Too many pieces went unanswered for me to buy into the concept.

What I did appreciate from this study was that the analysis took into a variety of heart disease and stroke risk factors:

  • Sex
  • Age
  • Physical activity
  • Weight
  • Smoking
  • Diet
  • Family history
  • High blood pressure
  • High cholesterol levels
  • Diabetes

This thorough observation really limits the possibility of third variables playing a substantial part in the study.

The reason why waiting longer might lower the risk wasn’t really discussed other than the fact that eating too close to bedtime increase the risk of reflux disease, which leads to sleep apnea—which is associated with strokes. Overall, after reading this study I feel like I am just as unsure whether or not I should eat around bed-time as I was when I found it. No substantial evidence was made to compel me to definitively stop eating closer to the time I go to sleep, so I guess I won’t concern myself with it as much. I will probably stop doing it anyways because I feel bloated in the morning and it throws off my internal hunger clock, but this study just told me that I am probably fine either way since I don’t have heart related health issues.

Is Touch a Key Point of Human Social Development?

I am an extremely touchy person—my friends actually scold me from time to time because I don’t acknowledge the concept of “personal space”. I enjoy being in close contact to people and expressing my emotions through lots of physical movement, but that’s because I grew up in an environment that encouraged me to do so. Throughout my lifetime, I have come in contact with people who do not like being touched or in close contact with other people, and overall they seem to be more reserved in their expression and overall introverts. Despite my overwhelming nature, I have been able to befriend some of these people and they have told me that they never received much physical touch when they were growing up. So what I wanted to know was if there was a relationship between he amount of touch we received when we were younger and our overall social development.

According to Psychology Today, researchers in the United Kingdom released a study in October 2013 that confirms the importance of human touch to healthy brain development. They found that “a loving touch, characterized by a slow caress or gentle stroking increases the brain’s ability to construct a sense of body ownership and plays a big part in creating and sustaining a healthy sense of self.” However, the parameters of the study were not made available on the website, so I cannot be completely sure of the findings. The study conducted would most likely be either observational study or a survey and done over a time period of several months to a few years because nature of the data they are gathering. If it was an observational study that was conducted, the control group would have to be children that were born and then immediately given over to an adoption agency or foster home, an environment where there is little to no intimate human contact. Also, I would be interested to know what was the age range of children observed because there is probably a critical window of development where touch provides the most change.

So there is some evidence that touch helps brain development, but I wanted to find a randomized experiment that actually tested the relationship between levels of physical stimulation during early developmental stages and social disposition. One of the earliest studies on the benefits of touch was conducted in the 1920s by researcher Fredrick Hammett on rats. He reported that rats that were infrequently handled were more timid, apprehensive and high strung than the rats that had been “pet gently.” For the developing rat pup, mothers and litter-mates are the major sources of sensory input. A useful approach to evaluating the importance of this input is to remove it completely and observe what happens. Another experiment was conducted by comparing the adult behavior of maternally reared rats with those isolated in plastic cups, from postnatal days 4 to 20. Despite receiving comparable nutritional input, the pups raised in cups weighed less at weaning. Although this difference did not persist into adulthood, early deprivation did affect adult maternal and emotional behavior. Compared with maternally reared controls, isolate-reared rats were less attentive to their own offspring, performing fewer pup retrievals and spending less time licking and crouching over pups and spending more time digging, biting the cage, hanging from the top of the cage, eating and tail chasing. These behaviors suggest that the lack of early stimulation can potentially affect behavioral patterns regarding social interactions. Of course, correlation does not mean causation and reverse causality could be a potential option as well (the rats were socially mean which caused them to receive less touch), but the experiment seemed to be done well so I highly doubt it.

But then is there any hope for those who didn’t receive much contact as they were growing up? There was a second part to the study that took the rats that were the pups in cups were stroked with a warm wet paintbrush to simulate maternal licking. The minimally stimulated pups received 45 seconds of stroking twice a day to promote urination and defecation. The maximally stimulated pups received 2 min of full-body stroking five times per day. When the pups were studied as adults and the way they mothered their own offspring was examined, it was found that full-body stroking partially rescued the behavioral deficits of isolation, with the maximally stimulated pups exhibiting maternal behaviors of durations intermediate to those of the maternally reared and minimally stimulated pups. Thus, tactile stimulation can ameliorate some of the deficits resulting from isolate rearing in rats.

So there is some home for my introverted friends after all. They probably won’t see much benefit in it since they have survived this long, but that won’t restrain me from smothering them with love from now on.

Can the Cold Give You a Cold?

With the winter months closely approaching and the annual Penn State plague finally coming to a close, people are currently hyper aware of avoiding any activity that can possibly lead them to getting sick. There have been many beliefs instilled in us as a society that tell us what we should and shouldn’t do in regards to spreading sickness that has solid scientific backing—coughing into your elbow rather than your hand, not sharing food or drink with someone infected, and keeping the area inhabited by the ill clean as to not increase the sickness duration. But there are other so-called “facts” that many people believe in. Growing up, I would hear parents tell their kids that they needed to put on their winter jackets, hats, and gloves because they would get a cold if they went out into the winter weather, and I want to know if that’s an accurate statement.

To be blunt: the immediate answer is no, you cannot get sick from just cold weather. Winter has been dubbed “the cold season” because of how many more people appear to be sick during that time of year. According to a study done by the Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, cold weather appears to stimulate the immune system. Researchers performed an observational study where they examined the immunological responses of subjects and found that acute cold exposure (like going outside without a jacket) actually appears to activate the immune system by increasing the levels of circulating norepinephrine, a hormone that works as a natural decongestant. I am skeptical of this experiment though because other than the conclusion, I can’t find more information regarding whom was being observed, the average duration of exposure time, or what they defined as “cold” in a measurable way. Without this information, it cannot be legitimately proved that the cold has these claimed affects on the immune system. Luckily in this situation, reverse causation isn’t a credible option (it is cold outside because people are producing more norepinephrine).

But this still begs the question of “If the cold doesn’t make us sick, then what does,” because from personal experience I definitely feel like I get sick much more often in the winter compared to any other time of the year. We shouldn’t completely dismiss the thought that cold weather leads to catching a cold since it is so commonplace to say—I believe that there are confounding variables that are being missed in the evaluations.

In a CNN article published this past February, Dr. Sorana Segal-Maurer, chief of the Dr. James J. Rahal Jr. Division of Infectious Disease at New York Hospital Queens, explains that it is what we do during the winter months. When it is cold, people tend to pile indoors where air is constantly being recycled, as well everything that is being breathed into the air. These dry and cold conditions can be higher-risk situations for viruses because of dry mucosa—which coats the back of the throat and sinuses. Viruses invade the mucosa and grow, causing the cold (colds are actually a cocktail of different viruses, which is why there is no definitive way to cure a cold).

So weather isn’t a direct cause to the common cold, but it has the ability to be an indirect cause. I’m am not trying to sway anyone’s opinion because even with research some people still tightly hold on to their previous thinking, but we should all practice routines that limit the spread of germs. So if you’re spending lots of time in the library or commons, make a conscious effort to clean your hands with hand sanitizer and cover your mouth when coughing and sneezing so a sweeping virus doesn’t take over the school…again.

Is Being Mixed Better Than Not?

Is Food More Addictive than Crack?

“Oh my god…this [insert delicious food] is better than crack.” Everyone from professional food critics to starving college students has used the phrase time and time again. Whether they are talking about nutella, krispy kreme donuts, or canyon pizza, everyone has experience a time where they believed they loved a food so much, that its magnitude was comparable to that of an addiction to an illicit drug—but most people aren’t serious when they make this statement because of the simple fact that most of them have not tried any illicit drugs.  I will admit myself that I have experienced desserts that left me awake at night, rapt in thought of getting up in the morning to speed off to the grocery store to buy all of them off the shelf. And when I think about it more, I began to question whether or not I was addicted to food, or if it was even possible to be.

I found two articles on Time Magazine’s website that deconstructed the idea of food addiction and what it physically looked like on a person’s brain. In the first article, Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, acknowledged that the idea is controversial since many people have rejected it, however, believes that food can be as addictive as drugs. She believes that understanding the similarities between food and drug addictions could offer insight into an array of compulsive behaviors. Volkow described a similarity found between the brains with food and drug addictions—similar dysfunctions in the areas that are connected to pleasure and self-control. The neurotransmitter involved is dopamine, which these brain areas rely on, and a reduction in the number of dopamine D2 receptors were found both in drug addiction and obesity. That is why when we eat food we tend to feel happy and more relaxed, because dopamine elicits those feelings.

The second article in Time references a study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry that suggests that there might not be a clear distinction between addictive and normal responses, adding to the evidence that all “addictions” act on the same motivational system. The study involved 48 health women ranging in weight from lean to overweight or obese. Their objective was to test the hypothesis that elevated “food addiction” scores are associated with similar patterns of neural activation as substance dependence. Their independent variable was whether or not the participate received a chocolate milkshake or tasteless substance—so the experiment was neither blind nor double-blind. The dependent variable was the neural response after beverage consumption. The study’s conclusion stated that there are similar patterns of neural activation in addictive-like eating habits and substance dependence, such as elevated activation in reward circuitry in response to food cues and reduced activation of inhibitory regions in response to food intake.

So currently, the evidence supports the hypothesis that one can actually become addicted to food. I feel like this study could go more in depth though, like whether or not some foods are more addict than others and if there are any negative side effects to food addiction similar to those of illicit drugs.

Juice Cleansing…Good or Bad?

Do Our Senses Make Sense?

We are already finished our second week of fall semester and I can already feel the physical, mental, and emotional drain from the stress and pressure of classes. I don’t want to be mistaken, I am super excited to be back and working, however, I cannot help but feel—like physically feel—how these external forces are affecting me. When I look at my schedule and see how many assignments are due within the next week, I can literally feel the weight of stress on my shoulders as if it was compressing me. Also, no matter what the weather is like—hot or cold—I feel much more relaxed and at peace when I have a hot cup of coffee in my hand.

So naturally I questioned, “Can my senses be affected by external forces—that I am either aware of or not—that can in turn change my perspective?” I was searching online if this was a possible explanation for my physically responses and found a book called Sensation: The New Science of Physical Intelligence by Professor Thalma Lobel that explores how colors, tactile sensations, scents, tastes, and visual perspectives significantly influence us, without us even realizing. So, in short, the answer to my question was yes, but my curiosity was peaked and I wanted to see what other things were affecting my perspective and even my decision making process.

Personally, I think I am most in tune with my sense of touch and sight—I have always been told I was touchy and I thoroughly enjoy the visual stimulation of art and color—so I decided to look through those chapters.

Researchers set up an experiment with two groups of participants and asked them to rate a fictional person presented to them as skillful, intelligent, determined, practical, industrious, and cautious on several other characteristics. However, right before the participant answered, the researchers asked for them to hold their cup of coffee for a moment while the researcher made a quick note—half were handed a warm cup of coffee and the other half an iced coffee. They found that participants described the fictional person similar to the drink that they were asked to hold. So those holding the hot cup of coffee said that the personal also seemed caring and generous (an overall warm personality), while those holding the cold cup said the person seemed selfish and antisocial (a generally cold personality). The only manipulated variable was the temperature of the cup they were holding. That warm sensation of touch relaxes us and makes us feel at ease, so when we meet new people—or even old friends—we see them as friendlier and more pleasant to around. With that in mind, I now try to tackle any situation that I feel might present some sort of distaste with a warm cup of tea in my hand.

The portion regarding color perception was framed around sexual attraction and if certain colors made someone more attractive. I always believed that someone could look nicer if they were wearing a color that suited them based on their skin tone or hair color, but I was skeptical about whether or not just the color could enhance attraction. In their study, men were shown pictures of the exact same woman, but in different color blouses (red, green, blue, and grey).  Consistently, the men rated the picture of the woman in the red blouse as sexier and more attractive. They also reported that they would most likely spend more money on the woman wearing red if they went on a date. The key point to note though is that the woman wasn’t perceived to be more intelligent or kind, just more alluring. Taking mote of little things like that could be vital to quick yet highly selective interactions, such as dating or interviewing.

I did not want to dive deeply into the other senses mostly because I like the mystery of not knowing how things may or may not be influencing me—alsoI might look into them for a later blog. But for now, knowing what is directly influencing my senses will allow me to better manage my stress and workload…At least for the time being.

Winch, Guy. “How Mastering All 5 Sense Can Get You What You Want.” Psychology Today, 1 May 2014. Web. 3 September 2014. <>

Lobel, Thalma. The New Science of Physical Intelligence. Atria Books, 2014. Print

Initial Post

Water_lilyHi guys, My name is Asia Grant and I am a sophomore studying Finance. I am not planning on being a science major because I was never good at the foundational science classes like chemistry, so I probably wouldn’t be able to get into a major anyways, but I did like science in high school so that’s why I am taking this class.


LESSON - Seven Steps to Effective Data Governance

By Vincent Lam, Product Marketing Director, Information Builders

Data governance connects business strategy with information policy. That means it’s not about technology—it’s about defining, implementing, and enforcing formal policies and processes for how information is generated, stored, used, and maintained across a business. Effective data governance enables organizations to rationalize information from countless systems and achieve a set of consistent, coherent views of the enterprise.

Although companies need broad-reaching data governance now more than ever, many hesitate to take the steps to achieve it. It seems like an overwhelming task, given the sophisticated nature of today’s information environments, which maintain an intricate web of internal systems and often rely on data from a variety of external and third-party sources during the course of their day-to-day operations.

Avoid the Big Bang Approach

Contrary to popular belief, data governance does not have to be a harrowing endeavor. No matter how much data there is, how many disparate systems exist, and how many people are involved in the creation and consumption of information, even companies with the most complex and geographically dispersed architectures can successfully and economically build a sustainable data governance program by employing a practical and incremental approach.

Taking small, tactical steps will not only provide fast business value, but will also enable companies to avoid the pitfalls of both over- and under-reaching in their data governance strategies. An incremental approach facilitates the successful implementation of sustainable, repeatable data governance that will meet both immediate needs and future requirements.

Taking It Step-by-Step

In working closely with customers on their data governance efforts, we’ve discovered seven key steps that can be successfully leveraged to create a repeatable technological and cultural framework to ensure information confidentiality, quality, and integrity.

Step 1: Prioritize areas for improvement. Although it may seem like a good idea to tackle all data issues at once, it’s far more effective to begin by targeting one or two specific assets. Companies must objectively assess where improved data governance can bring the most immediate benefit to the organization and establish a foothold there. This sets a firm foundation for taking data governance across other areas of the business.

Step 2: Maximize information availability. Data cannot be governed if it is not readily available and accessible. However, today’s information architectures are disparate and diverse. For example, information assets can exist in the form of EDI transactions, data warehouses, CRM and ERP applications, legacy file structures, partner systems, or other outside sources. Therefore, many companies need to leverage integration technologies and best practices, including pre-built integration components, to ensure that any and all data is easy to get to.

Step 3: Create roles, responsibilities, and rules. As a next step, the organization must determine who does what with data by creating formal roles, responsibilities, and rules for the processes people use when working with information.

The best place to start is with business users, who can provide insight into the data itself: what problems exist, how data is used, what it should look like, and what the impact will be if quality issues continue or worsen. Business users can also help suggest rules and guidelines for maintaining information integrity.

Those recommendations should then be shared with the company’s IT professionals, who can apply technology tools to cleanse the data. They must then create formalized plans for ongoing, proactive content-based or rule-based cleansing to keep the information intact.

IT teams can also enhance data by applying data standardization rules, deduplicating the data where necessary, and enriching it with any additional information before it goes to the source system. Finally, business professionals should constantly monitor and report the results to ensure that all roles, responsibilities, and rules are fully implemented and enforced.

Step 4: Ensure information integrity. One of the most crucial steps in any data governance initiative is to enhance and ensure the quality of enterprise data. We recommend using a four-phase process that includes:

  1. Profiling, to compare information to predefined quality metrics as a means of identifying “good” and “bad” data
  2. Parsing and standardization, to validate and correct industry-standard and organizational-standard attributes within the data, such as name formats or case standardization
  3. Enrichment, to extend and enhance existing data with new and complimentary information, such as geocode data
  4. Monitoring, to uncover areas in need of process improvement and guarantee data quality on an ongoing basis

Step 5: Establish an accountability infrastructure. Processes alone do not ensure the integrity of information—people do. Thus, it is important to establish an accountability infrastructure that assigns “owners” to each information asset, and define policies and workflows that hold people responsible for the state of those assets. Additionally, these owners must be provided with the technology they need to keep asset integrity high, because manual processes—no matter how well intentioned—are likely to exacerbate the problem.

Step 6: Convert to a master data–based culture. Next, an organization must transform from a transaction data–based culture to one that is master data based. Master data is composed of the essential facts that define a business, including core entities such as bill of materials, products, employees, and chart of accounts that are of high value and used repeatedly in many mission-critical business processes. (Master data tends to be the information held in the dimension tables of a dimensional data warehouse.) Most organizations today are transaction data based in their perspectives, and it prevents them from leveraging the maximum potential of their data to support the business.

By focusing on the effective management of master data, companies can foster better data governance through the facilitation of global identification, linking, and synchronization of information related to these key entities across all heterogeneous sources throughout a business. A single “system of record” is created, providing one unified, consistent, and accurate view of these entities to all stakeholders.

Step 7: Develop a feedback mechanism for process improvement. Finally, there must be a feedback mechanism built into the process that allows for continual assessment and improvement of data governance activities. Monitoring information assets over time will give a clear picture of how initiatives are performing and provide a way to identify both successes and failures in the process, so corrective action can swiftly be taken as needed. Graphical, real-time monitoring tools can be an effective way to enable this kind of feedback and enhancement cycle.

Internal and external demands to manage risk, combined with competitive pressures that call for substantial increases in productivity and cost-efficiency, make it imperative to effectively employ data governance to achieve a single version of the truth across the enterprise. Yet the proliferation of data, applications, and technology can make data governance very difficult to achieve.

By taking a practical and incremental approach using the seven steps outlined above, companies can unite business objectives, technology initiatives, and information policy—without embarking on a daunting, expensive data governance project. As a result, they can achieve immediate, measurable improvements by creating a consistent, highly correlated view of the truth for all activities in an enterprise.

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

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Last updated
.... . .
AP formatChicago formatMid-line ellipsis
apostrophe   '
brackets [ ]  ( )  { }
colon :
comma ,  ،
ellipsis   ...  . . .
exclamation mark !
full stop, period .
guillemets    « »
hyphen-minus -
question mark ?
quotation marks       ' '  " "
semicolon ;
slash, stroke, solidus /
Word dividers
interpunct ·
General typography
ampersand &
asterisk *
at sign @
backslash \
basis point
caret ^
dagger † ‡ ⹋
degree °
ditto mark ” 〃
equals sign =
inverted exclamation mark ¡
inverted question mark ¿
komejirushi, kome, reference mark
multiplication sign ×
number sign, pound, hash #
numero sign
obelus ÷
ordinal indicator º ª
percent, per mil % ‰
plus, minus + −
plus-minus, minus-plus ± ∓
section sign §
tilde ~
underscore, understrike _
vertical bar, pipe, broken bar |    ¦
Intellectual property
copyright ©
copyleft 🄯
sound-recording copyright
registered trademark ®
service mark
currency sign ¤

Uncommon typography
fleuron, hedera
index, fist
irony punctuation
In other scripts

An ellipsis (plural ellipses; from the Ancient Greek : ἔλλειψις, élleipsis, 'omission' or 'falling short') is a series of dots (typically three, such as "…") that usually indicates an intentional omission of a word, sentence, or whole section from a text without altering its original meaning. [1]

Opinions differ as to how to render ellipses in printed material. According to the Chicago Manual of Style , each dot should be separated from its neighbor by a non-breaking space. [2] Such spaces should be omitted, however, according to the Associated Press. [3] A third option, illustrated in the opening sentence of this article, is to use the precomposed Unicode character with code point U+2026, in which the gaps are not as wide as standard spaces. [4]

The Chicago Manual of Style Academic style guide by University of Chicago Press

In word processing and digital typesetting, a non-breaking space (" "), also called no-break space, non-breakable space (NBSP), hard space, or fixed space, is a space character that prevents an automatic line break at its position. In some formats, including HTML, it also prevents consecutive whitespace characters from collapsing into a single space.

Associated Press American multinational nonprofit news agency

Colloquialism or colloquial language is the linguistic style used for casual communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom normally employed in conversation and other informal contexts. Colloquialism is characterized by wide usage of interjections and other expressive devices; it makes use of non-specialist terminology, and has a rapidly changing lexicon. It can also be distinguished by its usage of formulations with incomplete logical and syntactic ordering.

In linguistics, pausa is the hiatus between prosodic units.

The most common form of an ellipsis is a row of three periods or full points (...) or a precomposed triple-dot glyph (…). The usage of the em dash (—) can overlap the usage of the ellipsis, especially in dialogue. Style guides often have their own rules governing the use of ellipses. For example, The Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago style) recommends that an ellipsis be formed by typing three periods, each with a space on both sides ( . . . ), while the Associated Press Stylebook (AP style) puts the dots together, but retains a space before and after the group. [6]

Whether an ellipsis at the end of a sentence needs a fourth dot to finish the sentence is a matter of debate; Chicago advises it, [7] as does the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA style), [8] while some other style guides do not;[ citation needed ] the Merriam-Webster Dictionary and related works treat this style as optional, saying that it "may" be used. [9] More commonly, a normal full stop (period) terminates the sentence, then a separate three-dot ellipsis is used to indicate one or more subsequent elided sentences before continuing a longer quotation. Business Insider magazine suggests this style, [10] and it is also used in many academic journals. Even the Associated Press Stylebook [11] – notably hostile to punctuation that journalists may consider optional and removable to save newsprint column width – favors this approach. It is consistent in intent if not exact form with the agreement among those in favor of a fused four-dot ellipsis that the first of them is a full stop terminating the sentence and the other three are the ellipsis.

Merriam-Webster American publisher

Business Insider Financial and business news website published by Insider Inc.

Business Insider is an American financial and business news website published by Insider Inc. It operates international editions in the UK, Australia, China, Germany, France, South Africa, India, Italy, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, Northern Europe, Poland, Spain and Singapore. Several International editions are published in local languages: Chinese, Dutch, French, Italian, German, Polish and Japanese. It is owned by the German publishing house, Axel Springer SE.

In writing

In her book on the ellipsis, Ellipsis in English Literature: Signs of Omission (Cambridge University Press, 2015), Anne Toner suggests that the first use of the punctuation in the English language dates to a 1588 translation of Terence's Andria , by Maurice Kyffin. [5] In this case, however, the ellipsis consists not of dots but of short dashes. [12] "Subpuncting" of medieval manuscripts also denotes omitted meaning and may be related. [13]

In poetry, an ellipsis is used as a thought-pause or line break at the caesura [16] or this is used to highlight sarcasm or make the reader think about the last points in the poem.

In different languages

In American English

i … jk….l…, ll, … lm…?n…!

In British English

The Oxford Style Guide recommends setting the ellipsis as a single character (…) or as a series of three (narrow) spaced dots (. . .), and surrounding it by spaces. If there is an ellipsis at the end of an incomplete sentence, the final full stop is omitted. However, it is retained if the following ellipsis represents an omission between two complete sentences. [22]

The … fox jumps …
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. … And if they have not died, they are still alive today.

Contrary to The Oxford Style Guide, the University of Oxford Style Guide demands an ellipsis not to be surrounded by spaces, except when it stands for a pause; then, a space has to be set after the ellipsis (but not before). An ellipsis is never preceded or followed by a full stop. [23]

The…fox jumps…
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog…And if they have not died, they are still alive today.
It is not cold… it is freezing cold.

In Polish

In Russian

In Japanese

In text in Japanese media, such as in manga or video games, ellipses are much more frequent than in English, and are often changed to another punctuation sign in translation. The ellipsis by itself represents speechlessness, or a "pregnant pause". Depending on the context, this could be anything from an admission of guilt to an expression of being dumbfounded at another person's words or actions. [25] As a device, the ten-ten-ten is intended to focus the reader on a character while allowing the character to not speak any dialogue. This conveys to the reader a focus of the narrative "camera" on the silent subject, implying an expectation of some motion or action. It is not unheard of to see inanimate objects "speaking" the ellipsis.

In Chinese

In Spanish

The number of dots is three and only three. [27]

In French

In French, the ellipsis is commonly used at the end of lists to represent et cetera. In French typography, the ellipsis is written close up to the preceding word but has a space after it, for example: comme ça… pas comme ceci. If, exceptionally, it begins a sentence, there is a space before and after, for example: Lui ? … vaut rien, je crois… .

However, any omitted word, phrase or line at the end of a quoted passage would be indicated like this: [...] (space before and after the square brackets but not inside), for example: … à Paris, Nice, Nantes, Toulouse […] .

In German

Example for both cases, using German style: The first el…is stands for omitted letters, the second … for an omitted word.

If the ellipsis is at the end of a sentence, the final full stop is omitted. [28]

Example: I think that …

Usage in menus

A drop-down menu of file operations Menu (computing) example.PNG
A drop-down menu of file operations

In computer menu functions or buttons, an appended ellipsis means that upon selection a dialog will be displayed, where the user can or must make a choice. [29] If the ellipsis is missing, the function is immediately executed upon selection.

E.g., the menu item "Save" indicates that the file will be overwritten without further input, whereas "Save as…" indicates that a dialog follows where the user can, for example, select another location, file name, or format.

In mathematical notation

or to mean an infinite list, as:

Sometimes, e.g. in Russian mathematical texts, normal, non-raised, ellipses are used even in repeated summations [30] .

(see termial)
(see factorial)

Another example is the set of positive zeros of the cosine function:

There are many related uses of the ellipsis in set notation.

The use of ellipses in mathematical proofs is often discouraged because the ellipsis supports no systematic rules for symbolic calculation. In recent years some authors have recommended avoiding its use in mathematics altogether. [31]

Programming languages

A two- or three-dot ellipsis is used as an operator in some programming languages. The precise meaning varies by language, but it generally involves something dealing with multiple items. One of its most common uses is in defining ranges or sequences. This is used in many languages, including Pascal, Modula, Oberon, Ada, Haskell, Perl, Python, Ruby, Bash shell and F#. It is also used to indicate so called variadic functions in the C, C++ and Java languages. See Ellipsis (programming operator) .

The CSS text-overflow property can be set to ellipsis, which cuts off text with an ellipsis when it overflows the content area. [32] [33]

On the Internet and in text messaging

Computer representations

In the Unicode standard, there are the following characters:

NameCharacterUnicodeUTF-8 HTML entity name or
Numeric character reference
Horizontal ellipsisU+20260xE2 0x80 0xA6…General
Laotian ellipsisU+0EAF0xE0 0xBA 0xAFຯGeneral
Mongolian ellipsisU+18010xE1 0xA0 0x81᠁General
Thai ellipsisU+0E2F0xE0 0xB8 0xAFฯGeneral
Vertical ellipsisU+22EE0xE2 0x8B 0xAE⋮Mathematics
Midline horizontal ellipsisU+22EF0xE2 0x8B 0xAF⋯Mathematics
Up-right diagonal ellipsisU+22F00xE2 0x8B 0xB0⋰Mathematics
Down-right diagonal ellipsisU+22F10xE2 0x8B 0xB1⋱Mathematics
Presentation form for vertical horizontal ellipsisU+FE190xEF 0xB8 0x99︙Vertical form

In Windows, the horizontal ellipsis can be inserted with Alt+0133, using the numeric keypad.

In macOS, it can be inserted with ⌥ Opt+; (on an English language keyboard).

In some Linux distributions, it can be inserted with AltGr+., or alternatively Compose .. sequence can be used.

In HTML, the horizontal ellipsis character may be represented by the entity reference … (since HTML 4.0), and the vertical ellipsis character by the entity reference ⋮ (since HTML 5.0). [40] Alternatively, in HTML, XML, and SGML, a numeric character reference such as … or … can be used.

NameGlyphTeX markup
Lower ellipsis\ldots
Centred ellipsis\cdots
Diagonal ellipsis\ddots
Vertical ellipsis\vdots

With the amsmath package from AMS-LaTeX, more specific ellipses are provided for math mode. [41]

\dotscdots with commas1, 2, \dotsc , 9
\dotsbdots with binary operators/relations1 + 2 + \dotsb + 9
\dotsmdots with multiplicationA_1 A_2 \dotsm A_9
\dotsidots with integrals\int_{A_1}\int_{A_2}\dotsi\int_{A_9}
\dotsoother dots123 \dotso 9

See also

Related Research Articles

Punctuation is the use of spacing, conventional signs and certain typographical devices as aids to the understanding and correct reading of written text whether read silently or aloud. Another description is, "It is the practice action or system of inserting points or other small marks into texts in order to aid interpretation; division of text into sentences, clauses, etc., by means of such marks."

The colon is a punctuation mark consisting of two equally sized dots centered on the same vertical line. A colon precedes an explanation or an enumeration, or list. A colon is also used with ratios, titles and subtitles of books, city and publisher in bibliographies, biblical citations between chapter and verse, and for salutations in business letters and other formal letter writing, and often to separate hours and minutes.

A bracket is a tall punctuation mark commonly used in matched pairs within text, to set apart or interject other text. The matched pair is best described as opening and closing. Less formally, in a left-to-right context, it may be described as left and right, and in a right-to-left context, as right and left.

In English writing, quotation marks or inverted commas, also known informally as quotes, talking marks, speech marks, quote marks, quotemarks or speechmarks, are punctuation marks placed on either side of a word or phrase in order to identify it as a quotation, direct speech or a literal title or name. They are also used to indicate that the meaning of the word or phrase they surround should be taken to be different from that typically associated with it ; in this way, they are often used to express irony. They also sometimes appear to be used as a means of adding emphasis, although this usage is usually considered incorrect.

The slash is an oblique slanting line punctuation mark. Once used to mark periods and commas, the slash is now most often used to represent exclusive or inclusive or, division and fractions, and as a date separator. It is called a solidus in Unicode, is sometimes known as a stroke in British English, and it has several other historical or technical names, including oblique and virgule.

An overline, overscore, or overbar, is a typographical feature of a horizontal line drawn immediately above the text. In mathematical notation, an overline has been used for a long time as a vinculum, a way of showing that certain symbols belong together. The original use in Ancient Greek was to indicate compositions of Greek letters as Greek numerals. In Latin it indicates Roman numerals multiplied by a thousand and it forms medieval abbreviations (sigla). Marking one or more words with a continuous line above the characters is sometimes called overstriking, though overstriking generally refers to printing one character on top of an already-printed character.

Ellipsis is the narrative device of omitting a portion of the sequence of events, allowing the reader to fill in the narrative gaps. Aside from its literary use, the ellipsis has a counterpart in film production. It is there to suggest an action by simply showing what happens before and after what is observed. The vast majority of films use ellipses to clear actions that add nothing to the narrative. Beyond these "convenience" ellipses, ellipses are also used to advance the story.

Japanese punctuation includes various written marks, which differ from those found in European languages, as well as some not used in formal Japanese writing but frequently found in more casual writing, such as exclamation and question marks.

Chinese punctuation uses a different set of punctuation marks from European languages, although the concept of modern standard punctuation was adapted in the written language during the 20th century from Western punctuation marks. Before that, the concept of punctuation in Chinese literature existed mainly in the form of Judou, a system of punctuation marks denoting stops and pauses, though many works of poetry and prose, as well as nearly all calligraphic works, omitted Judou marks, for in most occasions, it was not necessary to understanding meaning. The first book to be printed with modern punctuation was Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy (中國哲學史大綱) by Hu Shi (胡適), published in 1919. Traditional poetry and calligraphy maintains the punctuation-free style. The usage of punctuation is regulated by the Chinese national standard GB/T 15834–2011 "General rules for punctuation".

The dash is a punctuation mark that is similar in appearance to the hyphen and minus sign, but differs from these symbols in both length and height. The most common versions of the dash are the en dash (–), longer than a hyphen; the em dash (—), longer than the en dash; and the horizontal bar (―), whose length varies across typefaces.

Three dots can refer to:

The full point, full stop or period is a punctuation mark. It is used for several purposes, the most frequent of which is to mark the end of a declaratory sentence ; this sentence-terminal use is properly, or the precise meaning of, full stop.

Sentence spacing in digital media concerns the horizontal width of the space between sentences in computer- and web-based media. Digital media allow sentence spacing variations not possible with the typewriter. Most digital fonts permit the use of a variable space or a no-break space. Some modern font specifications, such as OpenType, have the ability to automatically add or reduce space after punctuation, and users may be able to choose sentence spacing variations.

Portuguese Braille is the braille alphabet of the Portuguese language, both in Portugal and in Brazil. It is very close to French Braille, with slight modification of the accented letters and some differences in punctuation.

Punctuation in the English language helps the reader to understand a sentence through visual means other than just the letters of the alphabet. English punctuation has always had two complementary aspects: on the one hand, phonological punctuation linked to how the sentence can be read aloud, particularly to pausing; and on the other hand, grammatical punctuation linked to the structure of the sentence. In popular discussion of language, incorrect punctuation is often seen as an indication of lack of education and of a decline of standards.

  1. "ellipsis". The Free Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2012-11-14. Retrieved 2013-01-25.
  2. "Ellipses defined". The Chicago Manual of Style Online (16th ed.). 2010.
  3. Fung, Henry (2016). "AP Style: How to Use Ellipses". Archived from the original on 2018-12-11. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
  4. Butterick, Matthew. "Butterick's Practical Typography" (2nd ed.). Archived from the original on 2018-12-14. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
  5. 1 2 Toner, Anne (2015). Ellipsis in English Literature: Signs of Omission. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. p. 151. According to Toner it is difficult to establish when the "dot-dot-dot" phrase was first used. There is an early instance, which is perhaps the first in a piece of fiction, in Virginia Woolf's short story "An Unwritten Novel" (1920).
  6. Yin, Karen (2011). "Em Dashes and Ellipses: Closed or Spaced Out?". AP vs Chicago: Edit or Die. Quiet Press. Archived from the original on 27 July 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2018.[ better source needed ]
  7. The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition (2017), §13.51–52.
  8. Summarized here: Jackson, Paige (22 April 2011). "Ellipses–When and How?". Blog.APAStyle.org. American Psychological Association. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  9. "Usage Notes: All About Ellipses – It's time to stop calling them 'dot dot dot'". Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster. 2017. Archived from the original on 31 May 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
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Further reading


Bellingham sculptor Thor Myhre turns 'junque' into art

Bellingham sculptor Thor Myhre, whose motto is "Creating Solutions with Overlooked Resources," was a prime initiator of RARE, Bellingham's annual Recycled Art and Resource Expo, in 2012.

He's currently an interactive exhibits designer and maintenance technician at Mindport Exhibits in Bellingham. Here's how he became interested in all-things junk, or as Thor prefers, "junque."

Question: How did you become interested in recycling materials for art?

Answer: We grew up on a Montana farm in a house my Dad built from of a lot of reused materials. It featured handmade doors, tiles, a wooden bathtub and shower. It was like living in a sculpture and there was an old barn post in the center with lichen and a rusty pulley looking over a pond and mountains.

Q: Who encouraged you along your career path?

A: Like Bellingham, that area of Montana had many creative types, but one person who was especially encouraging in my high school years was Andrew Precht, a movie set designer for big budget films. He even helped me start a "save the grain elevator" campaign, which was an amazing architectural space slated for demo.

A few years later, Gregory Warmack, who goes by the moniker "Mr. Imagination," became another mentor and showed me the wonderful joys of inspiring children to create sculptures with "junque."

An internationally renowned artist with work in the Smithsonian and all around the world, he was also a great confidant to talk to about art biz. Most of my collection of his work is in Mindport's display window on Holly Street for RARE (Recycled Art and Resource Expo) coming up this weekend.

Q: How did RARE get started in Bellingham?

A: In 2011 Bellingham had half a dozen recycled art events, more than Seattle or Vancouver. Having worked with all of those events, I sent out the message, if we work together we could create an event that would draw an outside audience, dollars and press, which we did. My thinking was that if we could inspire people to be green without using shame or guilt, maybe we could open some people up to the idea.

Q: How do you feel about junk?

A: Junque with a capital J is much more interesting for me than working with new materials. It's gone through a life and if you study it closely, sometimes there's a cool story.

I love old farm implements that, through wear and tear, have taken on more character, kind of like the story of the "Velveteen Rabbit."

Q: What's your role at Mindport and what's fun about it?

A: Mindport hired me about six months ago, and my job feels like I'm an artist on salary position (which is rare! these days).

The art and science exhibits are amazing, the staff is ingenious with remarkable talents, and every week I meet somebody incredible.

The first question of my job interview was, "So, what do you want to do?" Right now I'm building a sort of percussion organ that uses air to push pingpong balls through clear tubing so you can make adjustable notes and rhythms that play out visually.

Q: What are some of the projects you are most proud of?

A: My 12-foot spider puppet made for the Procession of the Species Parade, which is now crawling on The RE Store's ceiling, is one project I like.

This summer I finished a one-ton, 10-foot sculpture the clients named Satori, a word that has a similar meaning to the Buddhist's definition of nirvana.

I'm also happy with the functionality of the sculptural bike racks at Chuckanut Brewery and the Beach Store Cafe. You can roll a bicycle toward the Lummi Island rack and it will park itself!

Q: What's up next for you?

A: I'm working with the Anacortes High School welding club to build a gate for the middle school's community garden. We'll have an opening ceremony at 2:30 p.m. on Earth Day (April 22).

Also, for downtown Anacortes, we have been looking for donations of industrial scrap to build an 18-foot-long bicycle with three riders and a propeller bouquet that represents alternative energy.

Q: What's fun for you about living in the Northwest?

A: I love the saltwater sound and its surrounding beauty, and living in such a creative community!

RARE workshops and events begin during the Downtown Art Walk at 6 p.m. Friday, April 4, and run through Saturday, April 5.

Thor Myhre's art is displayed at Make.Shift Art Space during April, with an opening reception during the Art Walk on April 4.

For more about Myhre, go to thormyhre.com or find Thor Myhre on YouTube or Facebook.

RARE Facebook page: Facebook.com/RAREBellingham.

Allied Arts RARE page: alliedarts.org/rare.

Mindport's website: mindport.org.


Money, Banks and Finance in Economic Thought

Silver, money, banking and regulation in the work of Tomás de Mercado (?-1575)

Jefferies Claudia, City, University of London

Tomás de Mercado's views on transatlantic trade and the role of early modern banks in 16th- century Seville, as featured in his Suma de tratos y contratos (1571) are an important source for early modern financial history. As an authority in the area of moral theology, the main objective of Mercado in his Suma was to offer ethical advice regarding the transactions carried out by bankers and merchants on either sides of the Atlantic. Mercado grew up in Mexico (New Spain),and was therefore also familiar with the economic interactions between miners and silver merchants that took place in the Viceroyalty. Given the target audience of the Suma, Mercado's main focus was on economic issues, despite the overall normative nature of his argumentation. Although in a formal sense banks did not exist in Mexico before the 18th-century, the credit and money exchange transactions that took place in mining towns between silver merchants and miners throughout the 16th- century can be seen as the first steps towards the development of a local banking system. A discussion about the regulation of such transactions emerged already at this early stage.This paper presents Mercado's Suma alongside other primary manuscript sources found in the Archive of the Indies (Archivo de Indias) in Seville and aims to obtain an enhanced picture of Mercado's views on the trade that took place between silver merchants and miners in Mexican frontier mining towns. A better depiction of such trade relationships will reveal the ways in which frontier markets were linked to transatlantic trade and the banking system in Seville and other European financial centres.Special focus will be placed on trade regulation aspects in Mercado's writings and other contemporary manuscript sources. The aforementioned documents will be placed within an economic and social history context. Politico- philosophical aspects of Mercado's normative arguments will also be emphasised as they are an important element that shaped contemporary views on the regulation of early modern silver trade and banking.

Keywords: Silver, money, early modern trade, regulation, Scholastic monetary theory, early modern finance, credit and banking

Paper file


A Career in Cybersecurity

A Career in Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is something we read about in the news almost every day as organizations and governments around the world continue to get hacked. There is a huge demand for people trained in cybersecurity to help defend against this growing threat. In fact, it is estimated there are almost 3 million openings globally. Have you considered a career as a cybersecurity professional? It is a fast-paced, highly dynamic field with a huge number of specialties to choose from, including forensics, endpoint security, critical infrastructure, incident response, secure coding, and awareness and training. In addition, a career in cybersecurity allows you to work almost anywhere in the world, with amazing benefits and an opportunity to make a real difference.

But Do I Need a Computer Science Degree?

Absolutely not. Some of the best security professionals have non-technical backgrounds from English, pre-med, or history majors to auto mechanics, artists, and stay-at-home moms. The key is a passion to learn—cybersecurity is all about learning how things work. Once you have an understanding of how technologies work you can then better secure them.

Not sure where to start? Start exploring different technologies and see what interests you.

  • Coding: Learn the basics of programming: a good place to start is Python, HTML, or JavaScript. Not sure where to start learning?Consider an online training site or grab any beginner’s book on programming.
  • Systems: Learn the basics of administering an operating system, such as Linux or Windows. If you really want to nerd out, start with Linux.Learning how to administer a Linux system from the command line is a powerful skill that will help you no matter what path you take.
  • Applications: Learn how to configure, run,and maintain applications, such as a web server or DNS server.
  • Networking: Learn how a network functions, including how computers and devices talk to each other by capturing and analyzing network traffic. This can be great fun as yourhome is most likely already a networked environment with all sorts of devices connected to it.

A great way to learn is to set up your own lab at home. This is quite easy as you can create multiple virtual operating systems on the same physical computer, or set up a lab using Cloud resources such as Amazon’s AWS or Microsoft’s Azure. Once you get your operating systems up and running, start interacting with them and learn everything you can. Another option is to meet and work with others in cybersecurity. Consider attending a local cybersecurity conference (often called ‘con’) near you. A well-known series of cybersecurity events designed to help beginners is called BSides. Other options for learning include YouTube videos, online forums, subscribing to blogs from security professionals, or participating in online Capture the Flag (CTF) events. Finally, there are numerous programs to help you start your career, including CyberTalent Immersion Academies, Cyber Aces, and Cyber Patriot programs.

Ultimately, do not let your education or background hold you back. No matter what your background is, you bring something unique and special which cybersecurity desperately needs. The key is a passion to learn.

Heather Mahalik is Director, Forensic Engineering at ManTech CARD and a Senior In-structor/Author for the SANS Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) courses.


Sharks in the Galapagos

Hammerhead shark

The Galapagos Islands is one of the few remaining places in the world where the hammerhead shark can be spotted gathering together in large school of several hundreds.

The main purpose of their scalloped front edge of their hammer shaped head is to improve vision and to provide a larger area for the electroreceptors which the sharks employ for hunting their preys.

This species of shark can be spotted around the northern islands of Darwin and Wolf, although it has been seen swimming occasionally around Kicker rock. The best time to see the hammerhead shark is in January, and lowest in May. However they are all year round in the mentioned islands.

Sharks in the Galapagos

Black Tip shark

The blacktip shark is frequently seen in the Galapagos around the numerous reefs in the Archipelago. They can be found all year long. The blacktip shark can also be found around the world in tropical coastal waters which makes overfishing one of its most important threats, however as this species is small and it doesn’t represent much meat the risk lowers as it’s not very interesting when it comes to sell them.

Sharks in the Galapagos

Whale shark

The whale shark is the biggest species of shark and the largest fish in the world. The largest registered individual has a length of 12.65 meters, despite they are known to be able to reach a length of up to 20 meters.

As well as the hammerhead shark they are most commonly found in the northern islands of the marine reserve, which are the islands of Darwin and Wolf.

For more information about the research being carried out by the Charles Darwin Foundation to preserve one of the biggest protected shark reserves worldwide, check out the foundation’s website.

The Charles Darwin Foundation’s Underwater Research

The Galapagos Marine Reserve is one of the largest protected reserves in the world, covering a total of 138,000 square kilometres branching throughout the archipelago of 13 volcanic islands. The Charles Darwin Foundation works as a partner with the reserve’s governing body, the Galapagos National Park Directorate, providing scientific advice about the habits and highly sensitive regions below the sea.

An area of specific interest to the foundation in its research are the large schools of sharks that populate the diverse underwater landscape. Researchers are presently using new technology to conduct surveys of hammerhead, whale, black tip and Galapagos sharks to learn about their migratory patterns in the hopes of continuing to protect them by adjusting the regions that are still open to commercial fishing. While fishing for sharks has been banned since 1988, when the reserve was established, the CDF estimates that only 20% of the islands coastline is protected, with the remaining 80% open to fishing with little or no regulation.

The Charles Darwin Foundation is conducting a new survey using video cameras that are more accurate than outdated methods of counting different species manually during exploratory dives.

With the new information and that from tagging sharks to track their movements, the CDF’s goal is to present factual information to the GNPD with recommendations about how to implement new regulations which would protect the fragile eco-system that the sharks inhabit.

Galapagos Marine Reserve Attacked

galapagos shark attack endagered species chinease vessel

On Sunday, 2017 August 13 at around 7:00 a.m. a Galapagos patrol ship returning from a 2-week research mission spotted a large vessel sailing through restricted waters of the Islands marine reserve, so they radioed the vessel to learn about her activities in the area.

After a few unsuccessful attempt to establish communication with the boat, by ecologist Pelayo Salinas, and an Ecuadorian Navy officer who was aboard the expedition yacht decided to warn the vessel’s captain about the obligatory requirements to reply. However, the silence was the only answer received.

It was then when Salinas and three others urged to chase the boat with an inflatable boat donated to the Galapagos National Park. During the chase, the vessel was identified as Chinese and the suspects of her performing illegal fishing got really strong. Despite their willingness to catch up the boat, their little zodiac was not designed for hot pursuit, therefore decided to abandon the chase and report the vessel to the to the Galapagos National Park authorities

Urging to protect the marine reserve, park authorities and personnel from the Ecuadorian Navy, tracked and identified the boat in their electronic surveillance system and sprung into action. It was in almost no time that a navy helicopter and a coast guard boat were dispatched to catch the Chinese boat.

chinease vessel galapagos sharks endagered species

With the help fo Galapagos National Park rangers the boat was caught, a China-flagged vessel called Fu Yuan Yu Leng 999, when they embarked and inspected the boat, what they found was really shocking.

“There were thousands, if not tens of thousands, of sharks,” Salinas says. “This is going to be historic. The biggest seizure of sharks in the history of the Galápagos, for sure.”

After the finding, the crew of 20 was immediately arrested, and the ship handed to the Ecuadorian authorities for a complete accounting on the ship’s inventory. Fishing in the Galapagos Marine Reserve is considered as highly illegal, and even more to trade, or transport sharks there. Until further investigation, the authorities could not determine where the fish were caught, according to a statement from the Ecuadorian Ministry of Environment.

The Fu Yuan Yu Leng 999, it’s what is known as a reefer “mother ship”, meaning that it has the capability to collect fish from smaller fishing boats, therefore allowing them to stay for longer periods of time out at sea. The ship was constructed with six cargo bays of over 300 feet long, out of which some were completely full, according to statements. It was registered on the ship’s log that she was carrying over 300 tons of fish on board.

Ecologist Salinas before authorized to climb on board the vessel was able to identify in the pictures endangered scalloped hammerheads and silky sharks, as well as tuna, and some other protected species from the Enchanted Islands submarine world.

“Sadly, this is day-to-day business on the ocean,” Salinas says. “There are thousands of these ships roaming the waters.”

This incident raises the ongoing problem of illegal fishing that occurs even in the world’s most protected waters. It was a matter of luck that the boat was caught. Salinas explain that most probably because of the accident the AIS (automatic tracking system used for collision avoidance on ships and by vessel traffic services), got turned on. Most of the ships, if not all of them, engaging in illegal activities, for obvious reasons, turn this feature off. It was thanks to this “mistake” that likely lapse helped law enforcement track the vessel down.

Despite the importance of the Galapagos Islands for tourism and for the scientific world, the Archipelago faces the problem of a lack of top of the line technology to protect its fragile ecosystem.

“Resources are limited,” Salinas says. “The bad guys are every day making more money. Patrolling is expensive, especially for a country that is in economic crisis.”

The zodiac on which they began the chase is a clear example of what mentioned above. If they’d had a boat properly intended for law enforcement, they could have caught up with the vessel when they first spotted it.

After the investigation and trial held against the 20 members the court announced on the third day of trial, that the ship’s captain will serve a sentence of four years in prison for committing an environmental crime with aggravating circumstances. Meanwhile, the three top officers got three years of prison, and the resting 16 other crew members got a one-year prison sentence.

Also and as a part of the sentence, the Ecuadorian court ordered the crew to pay a total of US$5.9 million to the Galapagos National Park as compensation for the damaged made to the natural reserve. As for the ship, it will be confiscated and held in service to the Galapagos Park.