Become Valuable in Your Career

When dealing with an extremely difficult economic climate where thousands of people lost their jobs, it’s important to try and put yourself in the strongest position possible to remain in employment in such a situation.

Here are a few powerful ways to make you indispensable at work. Next time there is a restructuring; you want to make yourself “restructure-proof” to ensure that you keep your job.

Focus on developing yourself

Managers love it when they can see that a member of their team is constantly developing and learning new skills. Those who are able to rise in the midst of a crisis and can be lent on heavily often become invaluable.

We live in a digital age and there are literally thousands of blogs and resources that you can read to help widen your understanding on particular areas. A good habit to get into is to set aside an hour each day to keep up to date with the latest industry news. You’ll find that you start to develop new skills in no time!

If, through continued development, you can establish yourself as someone that your manager can rely on, you’ll find that you’ll become indispensable should the company have to go through a restructuring.

Build strong relationships with key decision makers

As the old saying goes, “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” It is not unheard of for someone to be able to climb up the ladder if they have built strong relationships with higher-level management.

With this in mind, make sure you are sociable and if there is a chance to help a key decision maker within the business, grab it with both hands! It again goes back to making yourself seen as someone who can be relied on; it is through this that you can be seen as truly indispensable.

Use your initiative

One thing that many employees fail to do is use their initiative. If you can see that your manager would benefit from your help on something, don’t be afraid to use your initiative and knock on their door to present an idea.

Let’s say that your company is going through a restructuring and they need to find a new office. Why don’t you go in and suggest that they look into serviced offices. Serviced offices are fantastic if you are looking for a sociable space that comes fully furnished. Your manager won’t need to worry about having to find Internet providers or search for a maintenance man; the office is ready for your company to move into.

Treat your colleagues with respect

This could seem like an obvious one, but if you don’t show your colleagues respect and are potentially detrimental to the success of the team, you can guarantee that your name will be one of the first on the list if the company has to think about making redundancies.

No manager wants their team to be unhappy and if you are seen as the person who is causing the boat to rock, you won’t be seen as indispensable at all. Learn to show others respect while being accountable and it will come back to you in more ways than one. Treat people like they matter, what they say and do and your business relationship will improve immensely!

Show a passion for the company and what you do

If you are working in a position that can be considered more of a career than just a job, it is important to show that you are passionate about what you do and that you genuinely care about the well being of the company.

If there is the opportunity to do a bit of extra work that will benefit the company, don’t shy away from staying a little later that evening to get it done. Even if your manager doesn’t come over and tell you, they will notice that you are staying late and appreciate the extra input. Good people who are genuinely passionate about the company they work for are hard to come by, and your manager will know it. Therefore, it is essential that you show your boss how motivated and passionate are, it will certainly help you in your goal to become indispensable.

If you make a conscious effort to implement the things mentioned within this page, you’ll put yourself in a strong position to become indispensable in the workplace.

Expand your knowledge and enlighten your mind with tools to help you excel in life. Complimentary Coaching Session at:

New Years Resolution: Embrace Stillness!

People everywhere will tell you, the pace of modern life seems to be constantly accelerating. We seem to be always rushing -- to our next appointment, our next business meeting, our next errand etc. When we have a few precious minutes of downtime, we fill it on our phones, swiping from email to social media and back.

It is hard for us to slow down, unplug and to try to sit alone quietly with our thoughts. So many of us are racing around these days, from text to phone call to Twitter to breaking-news update, that we never have time to collect ourselves, to direct ourselves towards what we love.

Stillness is a cousin of mindfulness, another concept that encourages people to live in the moment. But where mindfulness focuses mostly on calming stress, stillness seeks to bring insight and perspective by stepping back from one's daily existence.

It can restore our sanity and balance; it can remind us of what we really want to be doing -- and what we care most about. People should take a few minutes every day, or at least every week, to be alone without distractions and let their mind wander.

Of course, this can be difficult in 2015, when digital devices are constantly competing for our attention. But we don’t have to give up our phones and laptops or go backwards away from the technology that has made our lives so much brighter and more fun. Instead, it's up to us to take conscious measures to make sure we're not lost in the rush.

These ideas are also catching on in the corporate world as tech workers are unplugging with Internet Sabbaths, companies are adding stress-reduction programs for their employees, and mindful practices such as yoga and meditation.

This concept of detachment has struck a chord with people who feel overwhelmed by the demands of the digital age. People are drowning in information and running around so much that they often times get nothing done.

By stepping back to ensure that you're making a life, as well as a living one will help you lead a fulfilling existence. Stillness can restore our sanity and balance; it can remind us of what we really want to be doing.

True intelligence operates silently. Stillness is where creativity and solutions to problems are found. ~ Eckhart Tolle

Start the New Year right…. Learn how to Practice Stillness in 2015 and open the door to your mind.

Get on the right path to achieve your full potential! Focus on personal development to improve your life. Book a complimentary session at

The Road To Happiness

Professional Development is a Lifelong Activity.

How often do you set aside time to learn new skills? Chances are, not as often as you'd like! If you're like many people, you're keen to learn, but you struggle to find the time. So, how can you make this time, develop your knowledge, and increase your value, both to your organization and to future employers?

Why Make Time for Professional Development?
If you're a manager, you'll know how important it is to ensure that your team members are given plenty of training and development opportunities. However, it's just as important to focus on your own learning and development. To do this, it's essential to set aside enough time.

There are several reasons why you might not make learning a priority. Volume of work is the most obvious reason: with work and personal responsibilities competing for your attention, it can feel impossible to find room in your schedule for learning.

As well as this, you may feel guilty about taking time out for personal and professional development; after all, this could be used to work on urgent or important tasks, or even to be with your family.

It can also be difficult to make learning part of your routine. In the course of a busy, hectic day, tasks like "Read leadership book," and "Complete online course" can easily slip to the bottom of your To-Do List.

This can lead you to feel disappointed about not living up to your own expectations, which can affect your self-confidence and make you feel less positive about your career. You can also suffer if you don't stay up-to-date with changes to your industry or profession. For instance, you might miss opportunities to make a greater contribution to your team or organization, and other people may become more effective than you in the workplace.

However, when you make learning a priority, you increase your value to your organization. You're more marketable as a professional, and you're in a better position when you apply for a challenging project or seek a promotion.
Continuous learning can also help you develop expert power. If your boss, team members, or clients see you as an expert, they're far more willing to respect your opinion and follow your lead. This can make it easier to win support for your projects, negotiate a contract, or manage change.

Personal Learning Strategies
There's no doubt that it's important to make your own professional development a priority. But how do you find time to do it?

1. Set Learning Goals
If you don't recognize the importance of what you're doing, it will be easy to give self-development up whenever you're pressed for time or lacking energy and motivation.

So, your first step is to identify your learning objectives, and visualize how these will help you achieve the other professional goals that you've set. So, what do you want to get from your learning? And why are you making time to learn?

It's important to set smart, realistic goals from the beginning, and to break these down into long- and short-term goals that you can add to your daily to do list.

Then, write down why you are devoting time to this activity and how these learning activities are going to make your life better.

2. Identify Obstacles
Next, identify possible obstacles that might make it difficult to stick to a learning schedule, and come up with strategies to overcome them.

For instance, imagine that, over the coming week, you've committed to spending half an hour reading a book when you get home. One possible obstacle is that your kids may want to play with you as soon as you walk in the door. To overcome this, you'll need to explain to them why you need time to study alone. Promise them time as soon as you're finished, and then sit in a quiet room, so you won't be disturbed.

Go through the possible obstacles that might prevent you from spending time on your learning, and write down the strategies that you'll use to overcome each one.

3. Think Small
Many of us assume that we'll need large chunks of time to devote to learning. However, short blocks of time can be just as effective, if you focus.

The key to learning effectively is to maximize the impact of every moment that you have available. Look at your To-Do List, and see what you can achieve in the time available. Make sure that you minimize distractions, even if you only have just 10 minutes free, and concentrate on what you're reading or learning.

Think about how you can use your mobile device to learn when you're on the move – by using appropriate apps, by listening to podcasts, or by storing information that you want to memorize on the device's notepad.

4. Learn at Your Best
Many people schedule their learning for a time when they've completed everything else. However tempting this may be, think about how you feel when you've accomplished everything on your to-do list. You're usually exhausted, right?

Everyone has different peaks and valleys in their energy levels. It's important not to schedule learning, which requires a fresh, open mind, for the time of day when you have the smallest amount of energy. Explore how you can better schedule learning to take advantage of the changes in your energy throughout the day.

5. Make Learning a Habit
You'll only be able to sustain your learning if you make it a habit. Developing any habit takes work and self-discipline.

To build a habit, look at your schedule and see how you can work time for learning in every day. Could you get up an hour earlier, or learn on your lunch break? Could you study after everyone else has gone to bed? Take into account the energy levels we mentioned earlier.

Think of a reward that you can use to motivate yourself through, say, the next two weeks. This will help to keep you going when you don't feel like studying, or when you're tempted to skip a day because you want to do something else instead.

Once you've made it through the first two weeks, take time to congratulate yourself! That first step is always the hardest. Next, commit to spending the next 30 days learning every day. Reassess the time slots you've carved out for yourself: are they working? If not, what tasks could you move around to make learning more practical?

Remember, habits start out as little daily activities that you force yourself to do. They only become habits with time and persistence.

6. Choose the Right Learning Style
Do know how you learn best? For instance, some people learn and retain information best when they can read and take notes. Others are active learners; they need to learn by doing something themselves. Still others learn best when they're presented only with the facts and with none of the theory.
It's important to identify your personal learning style so that you can tailor your learning to fit what works best for you.

7. Collaborate
It's often easiest to learn in collaboration with others; after all, if you know that there are people who are always available if you need help or advice, you're more likely to turn to them instead of giving up. When you join a community that makes learning a priority, these people can also hold you accountable for your learning goals.

One of the best ways to do this is by joining a class or doing a course with others. However, you can also network on LinkedIn and Twitter to find other professionals in your industry who are interested in learning. You can also talk to colleagues to see if they routinely devote time to learning. If so, perhaps you could form a study group, or simply spend time reading or learning together?

8. Delegate Tasks
Your day is likely full of tasks that you're responsible for. So, how are you going to fit learning in?

Look at your professional and personal responsibilities to see if you can delegate any tasks to someone else, for example by giving new tasks to team members, or by hiring someone to clean your house. If you can clear even a half hour from your schedule, you can use this time to work on your learning goals.

See this time management article for tips on managing your time.

Key Points
Lifelong learning is essential if you want to stay "in demand" in a changing business world. However, many of us feel that we don't have time to devote to regular learning, in spite of the many benefits it offers.
Start by setting small goals with your learning; commit to devoting time daily for the next two weeks. Identify your learning goals, so that you know why and what you want to learn.

Try to delegate activities to open up your schedule, if you can. And consider forming a support group with others who are also interested in learning.

Get on the right path to achieve your full potential! Focus on professional and personal development to improve your life. Book a free strategy session at


Statistical Genetics—Research

Statistical genetics is the use of statistical methods to find the genetic basis for complex diseases. Michigan Tech faculty have analyzed data sets related to such diseases as Type II Diabetes, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Because of the size of the human genome, identifying specific genes that contribute to a disease requires extensive computational power.

Faculty                          Areas of Interests

Statistical Genetics; Statistics, especially smoothing techniques, analysis of contingency tables, and density estimation
Statistical genetics, especially wavelet-based methods; Combinatorial group theory; Low dimensional topology
Statistical Genetics; Applied Statistics
Statistical genetics; Bioinformatics; Theoretical Statistics


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What Is Pulmonary Embolism?

Pulmonary embolism (PULL-mun-ary EM-bo-lizm), or PE, is a sudden blockage in a lung artery. The blockage usually is caused by a blood clot that travels to the lung from a vein in the leg.

A clot that forms in one part of the body and travels in the bloodstream to another part of the body is called an embolus (EM-bo-lus).

PE is a serious condition that can:

  • Cause low oxygen levels in your blood.

Deep vein clots are not like clots in veins close to the skin's surface. Those clots remain in place and do not cause PE.

The exact number of people affected by DVT and PE isn't known. Estimates suggest these conditions affect 300,000 to 600,000 people in the United States each year.

If left untreated, about 30 percent of patients who have PE will die. Most of those who die do so within the first few hours of the event.

The good news is that a prompt diagnosis and proper treatment can save lives and help prevent the complications of PE.

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July 1, 2011


DNA And The Microwave Effect

 UPDATE:2014 Scientists End 13 Year Debate Proving Non-ionizing RF Microwave Effect Causes Cell Phone Radiation DNA Damage

The prevailing view that non-ionizing cell phone radiation can not cause DNA damage was first challenged academically with a theory Penn State published titled, DNA and the Microwave Effect, January 20, 2001. New studies on (ROS) Oxygen Species Production and RF, proves Penn State theory correct and cell phone radiation does cause DNA damage in two-stage process.

 Penn State University

January 20, 2001

Can microwaves disrupt the covalent bonds of DNA? The fundamentals of thermodynamics and physics indicate this is impossible. Numerous studies have concluded that there is no evidence to support the existence of the ‘Microwave Effect’, and yet, some recent studies have demonstrated that microwaves are capable of breaking the covalent bonds of DNA. The exact nature of this phenomenon is not well understood, and no theory currently exists to explain it. This report summarizes the history of the controversy surrounding the microwave effect, and the latest research results.

The effectiveness of microwaves for sterilization has been well established by numerous studies over the previous decades (Latimer 1977, Sanborn 1982, Brown 1978, Goldblith 1967). The exact nature of the sterilization effect and whether it is due solely to thermal effects or to the ‘microwave effect’ has been a matter of controversy for decades.

The dielectric effect on polar molecules has been known since 1912 (DeBye 1929). Polar molecules are those which possess an uneven charge distribution and respond to an electromagnetic field by rotating. The angular momentum developed by these molecules results in friction with neighboring molecules and converts thereby to linear momentum, the definition of heat in liquids and gases. Because the molecules are forced to rotate first, there is a slight delay between the absorption of microwave energy and the development of linear momentum, or heat. There are some minor secondary effects of microwaves, including ionic conduction, which are negligible in external heating. Microwave heating is, therefore, not identical to external heating, at least at the molecular level, and the existence of a microwave effect is not precluded simply because the macroscopic heating effects of microwaves are indistinguishable from those of external heating.

During the 1930s the effects of low frequency electromagnetic waves on biological materials were studied in depth by physicists, engineers and biologists. Studies of the effects of microwaves on bacteria, viruses and DNA were performed in the 1960s and included research on heating, biocidal effects, dielectric dispersion, mutagenic effects and induced sonic resonance. Some of the early biophysicists investigating microwave absorption claimed evidence of a ‘microwave effect’ which was distinct in its biocidal effects from the effects of external heating (Barnes 1977, Cope 1976, Furia 1986). Most biologists in turn claimed there was no evidence of a microwave effect and that the biocidal effects of microwaves were either due entirely to heating or were indistinguishable from external heating (Goldblith 1967, Lechowich 1969, Vela 1978, Jeng 1987, Fujikawa 1991, Welt 1994). These experiments were repeated with increased sophistication right up to the present with the majority consensus being that the microwave effect did not exist.

These experiments typically fell into two categories, ‘controlled temperature’ experiments and ‘dry’ experiments. In the controlled temperature experiments the researchers controlled the temperature of the irradiated specimen through various timing, pulsing or cooling techniques (Welt 1994, Lechowich 1968).

For example, Welt (1994) investigated the effects of microwave irradiation on Clostridium spores and found no additional lethality caused by microwaves that could not be accounted for by conventional heating. However, spores may not be representative of microwave irradiation effects on active growing bacterial cells. The results of this and other experiments showed that controlling the temperature prevented biocidal effects, and this was taken as conclusive evidence that the microwave effect did not exist. However, the assumption that the microwave effect is independent of, and separable from, temperature was always implicit in these studies, but was never acknowledged.

The second type of experiment, the dry experiment, also contains unacknowledged assumptions. Studies have shown that in the absence of water or moisture, biocidal effects of microwaves are severely diminished, or require considerably longer exposures (Jeng 1987, Vela 1979). This was typically taken as evidence that nonthermal microwave effects did not exist, however, since water is the primary medium by which microwaves are converted to heat, the absence of biocidal effects in the absence of water would only indicate that water is necessary for sterilization whether or not heating is the cause. Furthermore, the possibility that the specific frequency used, 2450 MHz, only affects water and not bacteria or spores was overlooked. DNA has a dielectric dispersion, where microwaves are readily absorbed, at much lower frequencies than water (Takashima 1984). The experiments may simply be indicating that the wrong frequency is being used for targeting ‘dry’ bacteria and spores.

Most of the studies mentioned above concluded that the microwave effect, if it existed, was indistinguishable from the effects of external heating. However, it was recently demonstrated (Kakita 1995) that the microwave effect is distinguishable from external heating by the fact that it is capable of extensively fragmenting viral DNA, something that heating to the same temperature did not accomplish. This experiment consisted of irradiating a bacteriophage PL-1 culture at 2450 MHz and comparing this with a separate culture heated to the same temperature.  The DNA was mostly destroyed, a result that does not occur from heating alone. These photos are borrowed from Kakita et al (1995), permission pending.

In the Kakita experiment the survival percentage was approximately the same whether the samples were heated or irradiated with microwaves, but evaluation by electrophoresis and electron microscopy showed that the DNA of the microwaved samples had mostly disappeared. In spite of the evolving complexity of all the previous experiments, electrophoresis had not been used to compare irradiated and externally heated samples prior to this. Electron microscopy had been used to study the bacteriocidal effects of microwaves (Rosaspina 1993, 1994) and these results also showed that microwaves had effects that were distinguishable from those of external heating.

The energy level of a microwave photon is only 10-5 eV, whereas the energy required to break a covalent bond is 10 eV, or a million times greater. Based on this fact, it has been stated in the literature that “microwaves are incapable of breaking the covalent bonds of DNA” (Fujikawa 1992, Jeng 1987), but this has apparently occurred in the Kakita experiment, even though this may be only an indirect effect of the microwaves.

There is, in fact, plenty of evidence to indicate that there are alternate mechanisms for causing DNA covalent bond breakage without invoking the energy levels of ionizing radiation (Watanabe 1985, 1989, Ishibashi 1982, Kakita 1995, Kashige 1995, Kashige 1990, 1994). Still, no theory currently exists to explain the phenomenon of DNA fragmentation by microwaves although research is ongoing which may elucidate the mechanism (Watanabe 1996).

The results of microwave irradiation affected two bacteria, S. aureus and E. coli. The death curves exhibited classic exponential decay with ab appararent shoulder, as well as a possible second stage. These curves are based on data from Kakita etal (1999).

The microwave frequency used in the Kakita study was the standard 2450 MHz used in conventional microwave ovens. This is the same frequency that was used in essentially all prior studies, except for the earliest studies (which looked at lower frequencies), and sonic resonant studies, which looked at much higher frequencies. The early studies showed that DNA tended to absorb microwave radiation “in the kilocycle range” (Takashima 1963, 1966, Grant 1978, Grandolfo 1983), but no biocidal effects in the range of 1 MHz to 60 MHz were observed.

One notable exception, however, was an early experiment which found that frequencies between 11 and 350 MHz had lethal effects on bacteria, with a peak at 60 MHz (Fleming 1944). As far as could be determined, the contradiction between the results of Fleming and those of Takashima has never been resolved or re-addressed. In any event, there is no evidence in these studies to indicate any undue attention was paid to control the actual absorbed dose or the precise geometry of the irradiation cell, and therefore the differences in the results of these investigators may reflect differences in their cell geometries, among other things.

In summary, it would seem there is reason to believe that the microwave effect does indeed exist, even if it cannot yet be adequately explained. What we know at present is somewhat limited, but there may be enough information already available to form a viable hypothesis. The possibility that electromagnetic radiation in the non-ionizing frequency range can cause genetic damage may have profound implications on the current controversy involving EM antennae, power lines, and cell phones.

A Theory of Microwave Induced DNA Covalent Bond Breakage A review of the data from the various referenced experiments shows a common pattern — for the first few minutes of irradiation there is no pronounced effect, and then a cascade of microbial destruction occurs. The data pattern greatly resembles the dynamics of a capacitor; first there is an accumulation of energy, and then a catastrophic release. It may simply indicate a threshhold temperature has been reached, or it may indicate a two-stage process is at work.

The second stage of this process may very well be the accumulation of oxygen radicals, which would certainly seem to be primary suspects as they have a considerable propensity for dissociating the covalent bonds of DNA. Oxygen radicals can be generated by the disruption of a hydrogen bond on a water molecule. Water molecules exist alongside DNA molecules as “bound” water, two or three layers thick. These water molecules share a hydrogen bond with component atoms of the DNA backbone, including carbon, nitrogen and other oxygen atoms. At any given point in time one of the hydrogen atoms may be primarilly bonded to either an oxygen atom on the water molecule, or to an oxygen (or other) atom on the DNA backbone.

The fluctuating character of these shared and exchanged bonds is enhanced by temperature and by the dynamics induced by microwaves. Although the amount of oxygen radicals which may be produced by this process cannot presently be determined, the production of some number of oxygen radicals is inevitable in these circumstances. It must be noted here though, that most of the oxygen radicals produced in this manner would exist only briefly, as they would almost immediately bond to the nearest available site. If this site is an oxygen atom on the DNA backbone, we get a covalent bond break, albeit probably only a brief one. Although DNA tends to repair itself naturally, the simultaneous breakage of a sufficient number of covalent bonds would lead to a catastrophic failure of the entire DNA molecule.

Due to the exceedingly large number of bonds involved, the matter boils down to a reproducible function of pure probabilities. In other words, after a set and reproducible amount of time determined by probability functions, you would expect to see DNA disintegration. And so, what we have is a two-stage process of DNA covalent bond breakage resulting from oxygen radicals generated by microwave irradiation. This is one theory, and it awaits experimental verification.

An alternate theory comes from investigators at Fukuoka University in Japan. In a series of studies not specifically involving microwaves, these investigators established that certain ions can stimulate DNA breakage and OH radical production (Kashige eta al 1990, Kashige et al 1994). They also determined that amino sugars and derivatives could induce DNA strand breakage (Kashige et al 1991). It is possible that microwaves may be causing generation of cupric ions and hydroxyl radicals, and that auto-oxidation of aminosugars in solution are involved in DNA strand breakage (Watanabe et al 1990, Watanabe et al 1986). The link between microwaves and these secondary products remains to be established.

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Cope, F. W. (1976). “Superconductivity – a possible mechanism for non-thermal biological effects of microwaves.” J. of Microwave Power 11: 267-270.

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Debye, P. (1929). Polar Molecules. Lancaster, Lancaster Press.

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Furia, L., D. W. Hill and O. P. Gandhi (1986). “Effect of millimeter-wave radiation on growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.” IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng. 33: 993-999.

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Kakita, Y., M. Funatso, F. Miake, K. Watanabe (1999).”Effects of microwave irradiation on bacteria attached to the hospiral white coats.” International J. of Occup. Med. & Environ. Health, 12(2):123-126.

Kashige, N., M. Kojima, et al. (1990). “Function of cupric ion in the breakage of pBR322 ccc-DNA by D-Glucosamine.” Agric. Biol. Chem. 54: 677-684.

Kashige, N., M. Kojima and K. Watanabe (1990). “Correlation between DNA-breaking activity of aminosugars and the amounts of active oxygen molecules generated in their aqueous solutions.” Agric. Biol. Chem. 55: 1497-1505.

Kashige, N., T. Yamaguchi, A. Ohtakara, M. Mitsutomi, J. S. Brimacombe, F. Miake and K. Watanabe (1994). “Structure-activity relationships in the induction of single-strand breakage in plasmid pBR322 DNA by amino sugars and derivatives.” Carbohydrate Research 257: 285-291.

Latimer, J. M. and J. M. Matsen (1977). “Microwave oven irradiation as a method for bacterial decontamination in a clinical microbiology laboratory.” J. of Clinical Microbiol. 4: 340-342.

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Rosaspina, S., D. Anzanel and G. Salvatorelli (1993). “Microwave sterilization of enterobacteria.” Microbios. 76: 263-270.

Rosaspina, S., G. Salvatorelli, D. Anazanel and R. Bovolenta (1994). “Effect of microwave radiation on Candida albicans.” Microbios. 78: 55-59.

Sanborn, M. R., S. K. Wan and R. Bulard (1982). “Microwave sterilization of plastic tissue culture vessels for reuse.” Applied and Environ. Microbiol. 44: 960-964.

Stuerga, D. A. C. and P. Gaillard (1996). “Microwave athermal effects in chemistry: A myth’s autopsy. Part I: Historical background and fundamentals of wave-matter interaction.” Intl. Microwave Power Inst. 31(2): 87-100.

Stuerga, D. A. C. and P. Gaillard (1996). “Microwave athermal effects in chemistry: A myth’s autopsy. Part II: Orienting effects and thermodynamic consequences of electric field.” Intl. Microwave Power Inst. 31(2): 101-113.

Takashima, S. (1963). “Dielectric dispersion of DNA.” J. of Molecular Biology 7: 455-467.

Takashima, S. (1966). “Studies on the effect of radio-frequency waves on biological macromolecules.” IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering 13: 28-31.

Takashima, S., C. Gabriel, R. J. Sheppard and E. H. Grant (1984). “Dielectric behaviour of DNA solution at radio frequency and microwave frequencies.” J. of Biophysics 46: 29-34.

Taylor, A. R. (1960). “Effects of nonionizing radiations of animal viruses.” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 82: 670-683.

Vela, G. R. and J. F. Wu (1979). “Mechanism of lethal action of 2450 MHz radiation on microorganisms.” Applied and Environ. Microbiol. 37: 550-553.

Watanabe, K., N. Kashige, M. Kojima, Y. Nakashima, M. Hayashida and K. Sumoto (1985). “DNA strand scission by d-glucosamine and its phosphates in plasmid pBR322.” Agric. Biol. Chem. 50: 1459-1465.

Watanabe, K., N. Kashige, M. Kojima and Y. Nakashima (1989). “Specificity of nucleotide sequence in DNA cleavage induced by d-glucosamine and d-glucosamine-6-phosphate in the presence of Cu2+.” Agric. Biol. Chem. 54: 519-525.

Watanabe, K. (1996). “Personal communication with W. J. Kowalski.” 4-1-96.

Webb, S. J. and A. D. Booth (1969). “Absorption of microwaves by microorganisms.” Nature 222(June): 1199-1200.

Welt, B. A., C. H. Tong, J. L. Rossen and D. B. Lund (1994). “Effect of microwave radiation on inactivation of Clostridium sporogenes spores.” Applied and Environ. Microbiol. 60: 482-488.

DNA Damage – Atomic Structure Cell Division

Whats RF? DNA Topic Navigation
[Full DNA Report] [Non-Thermal RF Hazards][ SAR Testing] [Exposure Models][Birth Defects] [The microwave effect]


Finally in the coffee area.

I left Oakland California Friday at 9 pm, arrived Lae Papua New Guinea Sunday at 8 pm, a long trip with 4 flights, and 17 hours in the future. We visited the Colbran family in the Eastern Highlands, and their Baroida farm (original spelling Baro-ida, a local name). . Eastern Highlands, Papua New Guinea. Sweet Maria's

This image is part of the following galleries:


Playtime and toys have many purposes for children. Not only do they provide a great source of entertainment but they also perform an educational role. Toys are designed to help your child?s development, whether it be to stimulate their creativity, enhance their memory and mental ability or to develop their physical and behavioural skills. Toys have advanced immensely over the years and have progressed from wooden blocks and marbles to electronic robots and life-like animals (although wooden blocks are still just as popular!).

1066 Items 19 Stores
£2.25 to £265.00
Ben 10
713 Items 13 Stores
£2.03 to £507.00
Bob the Builder
152 Items 11 Stores
£2.02 to £123.99
Bouncy Castle
33 Items 6 Stores
£11.88 to £550.00
2 Items 2 Stores
£4.04 to £13.99

There is a vast range of toys available with more products being added with every passing year. Ranges include outdoor toys such as sand pits and slides; role play toys such as baby dolls and action figures; creative toys such as PlayDoh and art products; and table top toys such as board games and puzzles.

92 Items 13 Stores
£3.44 to £44.49
Charlie and Lola
5 Items 2 Stores
£7.99 to £17.95
521 Items 13 Stores
£2.99 to £399.99
8 Items 4 Stores
£4.62 to £17.51
298 Items 8 Stores
£3.00 to £90.00

Toys and games are often sold, and always labelled, by their suitability for various ages. This not only enables you to find an appropriate item for a particular child but also ensures that what you are buying has been tested and judged as safe for a specific age group.

Climbing Frame
31 Items 4 Stores
£4.79 to £2988.00
135 Items 14 Stores
£2.25 to £68.85
422 Items 28 Stores
£2.24 to £220.00
Disney Frozen
1632 Items 16 Stores
£2.10 to £920.00
218 Items 14 Stores
£2.50 to £59.99

Gone are the days when you had to go trawling around the shops to find the right item at the best price. The majority of toy stores have their own websites, as well as a home delivery service, which allows you to shop from the comfort of your own home and have the items delivered straight to your door. UK Toy Stores not only helps you to find the right item but will also help you find it at a low price and take you directly to the suppliers site where you can check stock levels and make your purchase.

73 Items 21 Stores
£3.00 to £49.99
DSi Console
0 Items 0 Stores
£ to £
DSi XL Console
0 Items 0 Stores
£ to £
106 Items 13 Stores
£2.50 to £32.89
389 Items 31 Stores
£2.15 to £779.00


Tom Monaghan, founder and former owner of Domino’s Pizza, is the latest business owner to file a lawsuit challenging Obamacare’s Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate requiring employers to cover abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, and sterilization as “preventive services” in their health care plans.

The Catholic, pro-life advocate and philanthropist filed suit in a Michigan federal district court late Friday on behalf of himself and his property management company, Domino’s Farms Corporation, which operates an office park. Monaghan argues that his religious beliefs require him to provide health insurance for his employees and their families, and to do so in a manner consistent with Catholic teaching regarding the sanctity of human life.

For-profit employers like Monaghan with religious or moral objections to providing drugs and services that violate their consciences have no way out of Obamacare’s conscience-crushing HHS mandate. They face fines of $100 per day per employee if they stay true to their consciences and operate health care plans that do not comply with the mandate. Alternatively, they face fines of up to $2000 per employee per year for dropping health insurance coverage to avoid having to comply with the mandate. For Monaghan, neither is a viable option.

Monaghan’s plight is a dramatic illustration of the coercive “incentives” built into Obamacare, which has concentrated broad powers in the hands of the federal government. This gross government overreach even extends to commandeering religious employers into directly paying for drugs and services that violate their faith despite conscientious objections.

An extremely narrow exemption effectively only protects houses of worship. Business owners’ ability to run their businesses consistent with their religious and moral convictions is not protected. Accepting the Administration’s logic would limit the application of religious freedom to individuals acting within their houses of worship on weekends. It would further erode the free exercise of religion, restricting religious believers’ ability to live out their faiths in their day-to-day lives.

The case is yet another reminder of the necessity of repealing Obamacare and the assault on religious freedom and limited government it represents.

Monaghan joins over 110 plaintiffs in over 40 lawsuits around the country challenging the mandate. His lawsuit was filed just one week after Conestoga Wood Specialties, a Mennonite-owned cabinet manufacturer based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with 950 employees and plants around the country, challenged the HHS mandate based on its owners’ belief that it would be “sinful and immoral for the company to participate in, pay for, facilitate, or otherwise support” abortion-inducing drugs.

For-profit religious employers are not the only victims of Obamacare’s bureaucratic overreach. On the same day Monaghan’s lawsuit was filed, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty argued in a federal appeals court on behalf of two non-profit religious colleges that the government’s temporary enforcement suspension against some religious employers, which the Administration misleadingly labels a “safe harbor,” is insufficient to protect religious employers like Belmont Abbey College and Wheaton College from the abortion-drug mandate.


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Biology  Suberin  Substrate

Substitution is a type of mutation where one base pair is replaced by a different base pair. The term also refers to the replacement of one amino acid in a protein with a different amino acid.
Narration Transcription ...

base-pair substitution
a mutational event in which one base pair substitutes for another
Source: Jenkins, John B. 1990. Human Genetics, 2nd Edition. New York: Harper & Row ...

Substitution Editing: chemical alteration of individual nucleotides (the equivalent of point mutations).
These alterations are catalyzed by enzymes that recognize a specific target sequence of nucleotides (much like restriction enzymes): ...

substitution A type of mutation in which one base is substituted for another.
substrate feeders Animals such as earthworms or termites that eat the soil or wood through which they burrow.

substitution n. See: base-pair substitution.
substrate n. (1) an artificial medium on which a microorganism is grown; (2) the molecule on which an enzyme acts.
Online Biology Dictionary (SUCR-) ...

substitution Replacement of one nucleotide sequence by another nucleotide or one amino acid in a protein by another amino acid. Also known as a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP).

In genetics, a type of mutation due to replacement of one nucleotide in a DNA sequence by another nucleotide or replacement of one amino acid in a protein by another amino acid.
See also: mutation
Suppressor gene ...

Base substitution mutation
A mutation resulting in the replacement of one base for a different base.

Base Substitutions Mutations
Base substitutions can have a variety of effects. The silent mutation cited above is an example of a base substitution, where the change in nucleotide base has no outward effect.

The substitution of one amino acid (valine) for the normal one (glutamic acid) at a particular position in the primary structure of hemoglobin, the protein that carries oxygen in red blood cells, can cause sickle-cell disease, ...

A procedure in which, at low temperature, the cellular water of, for example, cryofixed material is replaced by a series of organic solvents, including chemical fixative.

Amino acid substitution (e.g. D111E) - The first letter is the one letter code of the wild type amino acid, the number is the position of the amino acid from the N-terminus, ...

base-pair substitution
A point mutation; the replacement of one nucleotide and its partner from the complementary DNA strand by another pair of nucleotides.
base-pairing principle ...

Nucleophilic substitution of haloalkanes [1]. Primary amines can also be synthesized by alkylaton of ammonia. Haloalkanes react with amines to give a corresponding alkyl-substituted amine, with the release of a halogen acid.

- A base-pair substitution mutation resulting in the replacement of one purine by another purine or of one pyrimidine by another pyrimidine
- The process of biosynthesis of a polypeptide chain using genetic instructions from the mRNA ...

The presence of a non-identical amino acid at a given position in an alignment. If the aligned residues have similar physico-chemical properties the substitution is said to be "conservative". (NCBI)
Substitution ...

Now one kind of substitution is something called a silent mutation and this is one reason why a lot of mutations seem relatively benign they don't have any real bad effects because of something called redundancy within the genetic code.

On the horizontal axis the amino acid substitutions for each of these positions is indicated.

This is called a base substitution mutation as adenine (A) is replaced by thymine (T). This means that when the mutated gene is transcribed, a codon in the messenger RNA will be different.

The lipid binding properties of apolipoprotein (apo) AIMilano, a molecular variant of human apolipoprotein AI, characterized by the Arg173----Cys substitution, was investigated by the use of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine liposomes.

dn/ds ratio: In molecular phylogenetic studies, the ratio of the number of non-synonymous nucleotide substitutions to the number of synonymous nucleotide substitutions.

The most common types of altered activity are single base substitutions, truncation of the outer bases in the recognition sequence, and single-strand nicking (10). Early studies with EcoR I by Polisky et al.

The OH group is not a good leaving group for nucleophilic substitution reactions, so neutral alcohols do not react in such reactions.

The term proposed by Freese (1959) for a mutation caused by the substitution in DNA or RNA of one purine by the other, and similarly with the pyrimidines. (Cf. transversion.)
Related Terms:
Mutation ...

Example for a single nucleotide substitution:
Rice cultivars with 18% or less amylose had the sequence AGTTATA at the putative leader intron 5' splice site, while all cultivars with ahigher proportion of amylose had AGGTATA.

(Science: chemistry) Containing substitutions or replacements; having been subjected to the process of substitution, or having some of its parts replaced; as, alcohol is a substituted water; methyl amine is a substituted ammonia.

The estimate is based on the number of allelic substitutions per locus that have occurred during the separate evolution of two populations. Link to a lecture on Estimating Genetic Distance and GeneDist: Online Calculator of Genetic Distance.

Deletion, reading frame shifts
Substitution, one base replaced by another
Duplication, repetition of part of the sequence
Addition, Addition extra base
Change in one or more nucleotide bases in the DNA
Change in the genotype (may be inherited) ...

A mutation that results in an amino acid substitution is called a missense mutation.
A mutation that results in a stop codon so that incomplete proteins are produced, it is called a nonsense mutation.

mutation Any heritable change in the nucleotide sequence of DNA; can involve substitutions, insertions, or deletions of one or more nucleotides.
mutation rate The average occurrence of mutations in a species per a given unit of time.

This is called a synonymous mutation or silent mutation; non-synonymous substitutions do cause a change in the amino acid. About half of all SNPs in genes are non-synonymous and therefore can account for diversity between individuals or populations.

point mutations A change in the structure of a gene that usually arises from the addition, deletion, or substitution of one or more nitrogenous bases.

are ignored on the twin grounds of simple practicality, and genetic similarity: if two population groups are so close that the distinction between them rests on an obscure and microscopic difference in morphology, or a single base substitution in a ...

GAA codes for a glutamic acid, and GUA codes for a valine. These two amino acids differ greatly in their side chains, so the substitution has a dramatic affect on the overall structure of haemoglobin.

See also: See also: Sequence, DNA, Protein, Organ, Trans

Biology  Suberin  Substrate

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Red Marble: Unreal Portrait of the Sun Eclipsed By Earth

This beautiful, unreal portrait of the Sun was taken by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory as it was moving into its eclipse season:

Twice a year, for three weeks near the vernal and autumnal equinox, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) spacecraft moves into its eclipse season-a brief spell when Earth blocks its view of the sun for a period of time each day. Any spacecraft observing the sun from an orbit around Earth has to contend with such eclipses. But SDO's orbit is designed to minimize their occurrence as they also cause a temporary blurring of images in one of its instruments. The most recent eclipse season took place September 6-29, 2012. As Earth entered and exited SDO's field of vision, its advanced imaging instruments captured partial views of the sun at multiple wavelengths. Solar scientists do not get much use from these images, though atmospheric researchers may be able to gain some insights by observing the sun's light as it moves through Earth's atmosphere. Watch the video to see images of Earth passing between the sun and SDO.

Watch the video of Earth getting in and out of frame. It's amazing that we can be looking at things like this. Just think about that fusion furnace with a diameter more than 100 times bigger than Earth floating out there. [NASA]


Usotsuki Lily
Rating Average 9.3 / 10 out of 702161 total votes.
Rank 213th, it has 12205 monthly views.
Alternative うそつきリリィ ; Liar Lily ; Usotsuki Riri ; Usotsuki Ririi ; Лъжлива лилия (bulgarian) ; Лживая Лили(russian) ; Vale Lilja (Finnish) ; Melagė Lelija (Lithuanian) ; Yalancı Lily ( Zambak Çiçeği ) (Turkish) ; الكاذبة ليلي (Arabic) ; lily mentirosa (Spanish) ; Sinungaling Lily (tagalog) ; Lily la menteuse (French)
Author(s) Komura Ayumi
Artist(s) Komura Ayumi
Genre(s) Comedy ; Gender bender ; Romance ; School life ; Shoujo
Type Japanese Manga - Read from right to left.
Release 2009
Status Completed

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From Manga Updates

Hinata Saotome is suddenly asked out by En Shinohara, a gorgeous boy in her grade. What she doesn’t know, though, is that his hobby is cross-dressing! En has always hated men, and whenever he sees his own reflection, he punches out whatever is doing the reflecting (windows, mirrors…). To combat this hatred, he dresses up as a girl. Hinata decides to go out with him anyway, despite his weird hobby.

Volume 17Chapter 105 - 105.5

Volume 16Chapter 99 - 104


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Computation of radiowave attenuation in the atmosphere

Computation of radiowave attenuation in the atmosphere

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One of the causes of attenuation of radio propagation
Radio propagation
Radio propagation is the behavior of radio waves when they are transmitted, or propagated from one point on the Earth to another, or into various parts of the atmosphere...

 is the absorption
Absorption may refer to:- Chemistry and biology :* Absorption , absorption of particles of gas or liquid in liquid or solid material* Absorption , a route by which substances can enter the body through the skin...

 by the atmosphere
An atmosphere is a layer of gases that may surround a material body of sufficient mass, and that is held in place by the gravity of the body. An atmosphere may be retained for a longer duration, if the gravity is high and the atmosphere's temperature is low...

. There are many well known facts on the phenomenon and qualitative treatments in textbook
A textbook or coursebook is a manual of instruction in any branch of study. Textbooks are produced according to the demands of educational institutions...

s. A document published by the International Telecommunication Union
International Telecommunication Union
The International Telecommunication Union is the specialized agency of the United Nations which is responsible for information and communication technologies...

provides some basis for a quantitative assessment of the attenuation. That document describes a simplified model along with semi-empirical formulas based on data fitting. It also recommended an algorithm

 to compute the attenuation of radiowave propagation in the atmosphere. NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

 also published a study on a related subject. Free software based on ITU-R recommendations of the French Spatial Reasearches Institute CNES for download is also available to the public.

The model and the ITU recommendation

The document ITU-R P.676-8 of the ITU-R
The ITU Radiocommunication Sector is one of the three sectors of the International Telecommunication Union and is responsible for radio communication....

 section considers the atmosphere as being divided into spherical homogeneous layers; each layer has a constant refraction index. By the use of trigonometry
Trigonometry is a branch of mathematics that studies triangles and the relationships between their sides and the angles between these sides. Trigonometry defines the trigonometric functions, which describe those relationships and have applicability to cyclical phenomena, such as waves...

, a couple of formulas and an algorithm were derived.

Through the use of an invariant
Invariant and invariance may have several meanings, among which are:- Computer science :* Invariant , an Expression whose value doesn't change during program execution* A type in overriding that is neither covariant nor contravariant...

, the same results can be directly derived:
An incident ray at A under the angle Φ hits the layer B at the angle θ. From basic Euclidean geometry
Euclidean geometry
Euclidean geometry is a mathematical system attributed to the Alexandrian Greek mathematician Euclid, which he described in his textbook on geometry: the Elements. Euclid's method consists in assuming a small set of intuitively appealing axioms, and deducing many other propositions from these...

By Snell's law
Snell's law
In optics and physics, Snell's law is a formula used to describe the relationship between the angles of incidence and refraction, when referring to light or other waves passing through a boundary between two different isotropic media, such as water and glass...

 (or René Descartes
René Descartes
René Descartes ; was a French philosopher and writer who spent most of his adult life in the Dutch Republic. He has been dubbed the 'Father of Modern Philosophy', and much subsequent Western philosophy is a response to his writings, which are studied closely to this day...

' law from the French point of view!) :

so that

  • One proof starts from the Fermat's principle
    Fermat's principle
    In optics, Fermat's principle or the principle of least time is the principle that the path taken between two points by a ray of light is the path that can be traversed in the least time. This principle is sometimes taken as the definition of a ray of light...

    . As a result one gets the proof of the Snell’s law along with this invariance. This invariant is valid in a more general situation; the spherical radius is then replaced by the Radius of curvature
    Radius of curvature (mathematics)
    In geometry, the radius of curvature, R, of a curve at a point is a measure of the radius of the circular arc which best approximates the curve at that point. If this value taken to be positive when the curve turns anticlockwise and negative when the curve turns clockwise...

     at points along the ray. It is also used in equation (4) of the 2005 NASA's report in an application of satellite tracking.

  • The assumption of the refraction index varying with the latitude is not strictly compatible with the notion of layers. However the variation of the index is very small, this point is usually ignored in practice.

The ITU recommended algorithm consists of launching a ray from a radio source
Radio source
Radio sources are objects in outer space that emit strong radio waves. Radio emission comes from a wide variety of sources. Such objects represent some of the most extreme and energetic physical processes in the universe.-History:...

, then at each step, a layer is chosen and a new incidence angle is then computed. The process is iterated until the altitude of the target is reached. At each step, the covered distance dL is multiplied by a specific attenuation coefficient
In mathematics, a coefficient is a multiplicative factor in some term of an expression ; it is usually a number, but in any case does not involve any variables of the expression...

 g expressed in dB/km. All the increments g dL are added to provide the total attenuation.

Note that the algorithm does not guaranty that the target is actually reached. For this, a much harder boundary value problem
Boundary value problem
In mathematics, in the field of differential equations, a boundary value problem is a differential equation together with a set of additional restraints, called the boundary conditions...

 would have to be solved.

The eikonal equation

This equation is discussed in the references. The equation is highly non-linear. Given that a smooth data fitting curve n(altitude) is provided by the ITU for the refraction index n, and that the values of n differs from 1 only by something of the order 10−4, a numerical solution of the eikonal equation
Eikonal equation
The eikonal equation is a non-linear partial differential equation encountered in problems of wave propagation, when the wave equation is approximated using the WKB theory...

 can be considered. Usually the equation is presented under the self-adjoint form, a more tractable equation for the ray head position vector r is given in generic parametric form:

Three implementations to compute the attenuations exist:
  • Take the ray to be a straight line.
  • Use the optical invariant and apply the ITU recommendationITU.
  • Solve the eikonal equation.

The first two are only of 1st order approximation (see Orders of approximation
Orders of approximation
In science, engineering, and other quantitative disciplines, orders of approximation refer to formal or informal terms for how precise an approximation is, and to indicate progressively more refined approximations: in increasing order of precision, a zeroth order approximation, a first order...

). For the eikonal equation
Eikonal equation

, many numerical schemes are available. Here only a simple second order scheme was chosen. For most standard configurations of source-target, the three methods differ little from each other. It is only in the case of rays grazing the ground that the differences are meaningful. The following was used for testing:

At the latitude of 10o, when a ray starts at 5 km altitude with an elevation angle of −1o to hit a target at the same longitude but at latitude 8.84o and altitude 30 km. At 22.5 GHz, the results are:
Note that 22.5 GHz is not a practical frequency but it is the most suitable for algorithms comparison. In the table, the first column gives the results in dB, the third gives the distance covered and the last gives the final altitude. Distances are in km. From the altitude 30 km up, the attenuation is negligible. The paths of the three are plotted:
The linear path is the highest on the figure, the eikonal is the lowest.

 version for the uplink (Telecommunications link) is available from the ITU

The boundary value problem

When a point S communicates with a point T, the orientation of the ray is specified by an elevation angle. In a naïve way, the angle can be given by tracing a straight line from S to T. This specification does not guaranty that the ray will reach T: the variation of refraction index bends the ray trajectory. The elevation angle has to be modified to take into account the bending effect.

For the Eikonal equation, this correction can be done by solving a boundary value problem
Boundary value problem

. As the equation is of second order, the problem is well defined. In spite of the lack of a firm theoretical basis for the ITU method, a trial-error by dichotomy (or binary search
Binary search algorithm
In computer science, a binary search or half-interval search algorithm finds the position of a specified value within a sorted array. At each stage, the algorithm compares the input key value with the key value of the middle element of the array. If the keys match, then a matching element has been...

) can also be used. The next figure shows the results of numerical simulations.
The curve labeled as bvp is the trajectory found by correcting the elevation angle. The other two are from a fix step and a variable steps (chosen in accordance to the ITU recommendations) solutions without the elevation angle correction. The nominal elevation angle for this case is -0.5 degree. The numerical results obtained at 22.5 GHz were:

Note the way the solution bvp bents over the straight line. A consequence of this property is that the ray can reach locations situated below the horizon of S. This is consistent with observations. The trajectory is a Concave function
Concave function
In mathematics, a concave function is the negative of a convex function. A concave function is also synonymously called concave downwards, concave down, convex upwards, convex cap or upper convex.-Definition:...

 is a consequence of the fact that the gradient of the refraction index is negative, so the Eikonal equation implies that the second derivative of the trajectory is negative. From the point where the ray is parallel to ground, relative to the chosen coordinates, the ray goes down but relative to ground level, the ray goes up.

Often engineers are interested in finding the limits of a system. In this case, a simple idea is to try some low elevation angle and let the ray reach the desired altitude. This point of view has a problem: if suffice to take the angle for which the ray has a tangent point of lowest altitude. For instance with the case of a source at 5 km altitude, of nominal elevation angle -0.5 degree and the target is at 30 km altitude; the attenuation found by the boundary value method is 11.33 dB. The previous point of view of worst case leads to an elevation angle of -1.87 degree and an attenuation of 170.77 dB. With this kind of attenuation, every system would be unusable! It was found also for this case that with the nominal elevation angle, the distance of the tangent point to ground is 5.84 km; that of the worst case is 2.69 km. The nominal distance from source to target is 6383.84 km; for the worst case, it is 990.36 km.

There are many numerical methods to solve boundary value problems. For the Eikonal equation, due the good behavior of the refraction index just a simple Shooting method
Shooting method
In numerical analysis, the shooting method is a method for solving a boundary value problem by reducing it to the solution of an initial value problem...

 can be used.

Of the three methods, the linear and the ITU methods require some coding since they are not presented as differential equations. These methods do not benefit from the help of standard numerical packages; however, only high school mathematics are required to understand the methods. The more technical eikonal equation can be solved using standard differential equations solvers offered by a few numerical software packages mentioned in the Wikipedia List of numerical analysis software and it offers a higher precision order.

The attenuation mechanism as described here is only one amongst many others others. The full problem is much more complex.

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Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Protecting Your Freedom to Fly

Safety Publications/Articles

CFI Tips

Your Student's Style

Most teaching books tell instructors to be consistent and treat all students equally. While the theory is valid, don't be surprised when only part of it works. You must treat all students fairly, but you can't treat them all the same. Since students' learning capabilities vary, you must vary how you teach, how you present information, and how you evaluate progress. Students do not learn at the same rate, nor do they all have the same learning styles. They all have variables in personality, abilities, skills, experience, education, and in how they learn.

Being consistent requires that variables be eliminated or at least kept under control. When teaching people, eliminating variables is almost impossible. Controlling them is no easy task either. A single instructional method that fits all just doesn't exist because there are too many individual personality characteristics that have to be taken into account. The best that you can do is to understand what the variables are and adapt your teaching styles to accommodate them.

Each stage of learning contains variables that compound, so the total number of learning combinations is astronomical. To add to the situation, psychologists may identify similar characteristics but interpret them differently, which means that there may be several methods or theories on how to deal with one particular personality trait.

Another problem with theories is that some researchers tend to treat their results as completely correct and all-inclusive. Some of the best theories are mostly true all of the time, but even these occasionally have an exception. A few theories are completely wrong. It's your job to determine which ones are best for the situation and which should be avoided.

There is little aviation training literature that discusses the fundamental differences between learning theories of behavioral, cognitive, developmental, and social psychologists. The FAA has ingeniously solved this problem by using only the ideas of behavioral educators that evolved from theories popular in the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries. While the techniques are not incorrect, they are not complete.

To develop teaching methods that will work for you and for your students, it helps to understand some of the basic concepts of learning. Two key stages of learning are information acquisition and information processing.

People obtain information through their senses. How they interpret and assimilate information is a function of their personality and which side of the brain they prefer to use. The acquisition styles of the senses are labeled as visual, aural, tactile, olfactory, and gustatory. If you acquire information through sight, you are a visual learner. If you acquire by listening, you are an aural learner. Touchers are tactile learners, smellers are olfactory learners, and tasters are gustatory learners. This does not mean that your preferential style excludes all other senses.

Most people are visual learners. The number could be as high as 75 per-cent. The next largest group is the aural learners, and then tactile learners. Regardless of which learning preference is dominant in your student, all three are required for flight training. Flying is a perceptual motor skill. You need sight to observe inside and outside references, sound for engine and wind noise and radio communications, and touch to feel what the aircraft is doing (i.e., control feedback and gravity forces). Ground training is different. Most ground school training systems use sight and sound and generally ignore touch. This makes it more difficult for the tactile learner.

It's important to understand not only your student's dominant learning style, but also your dominant learning style. Humans have a tendency to use their own dominant style for communication. If your style is different from your student's, the two of you may have trouble communicating effectively. It can be difficult to understand how to present information to a tactile learner if you are an aural or visual learner. You must be able to adjust your presentation methods to adapt to the student's preferred style.

There are many ways to determine dominant information acquisition styles. You can use a learning style inventory (test). Unfortunately, you probably can't pick one up at your local bookstore. Often, the best way to find one is to contact an educational psychology department at a local college, but this may not be practical. Information is also available on the Internet. Conduct a search of "learning styles" using several of the common search engines. Even then, it may be difficult to find one that suits your needs. It's also possible that diagnostic testing may not be appropriate to your training situation.

A simpler way to determine your student's preferred style (and yours) is to observe how you present materials, how you ask questions, and how your student responds.

Listen to the words you and your student choose when talking. For example, if you use a term such as "do you see what I mean?" you are probably a visual learner. The word see is the clue indicating that you think in visual terms. If you start to read something to your student and he or she responds with "let me look at it," then you are dealing with a visual learner. He does not want to hear the words, he wants to see them. If your student makes a comment to the effect of "getting the picture," he's probably a visual learner. Visual learners readily absorb information from videos rather than lectures. To a visual learner, "a picture is worth a thousand words."

Aural learners generally prefer to listen to explanations. They learn from narrated videos, audiotapes, and lectures. Pictures without explanations are not worth a thousand words to these learners. Aural learners may read aloud because they're listening to what they're reading.

Tactile learners learn by touch or by doing. It's easier for them to learn aircraft control and flight procedures than it is to learn the academic concepts. Training aids such as actual aircraft parts - instruments, pumps, cut-away engines, propellers, etc. - will help with ground training.

When dealing with a class, you should cover all bases. Use visual aids with written labels and then describe the aid. Create activities such as written homework. Use diagrams that students can label. Flight computers and plotters are also good tactile exercises. The drawback to the multiple input approach is that it presents information through channels that students may ignore. When giving individual instruction, tailor your instructional technique to the individual student.

Personal computer-based aviation training devices (PCATDs) can be extremely effective tools when teaching all three types of learners. If they are programmed correctly, they can present information that makes sense to all three. Unfortunately, many PCATDs are only concerned with flight procedures and satisfying FAA requirements. They do not present a training platform that is as efficient as it could be.

Once information is acquired, it is analyzed and processed into long-term memory. Infants and small children quickly learn how to process information. Their brains develop methods and techniques for assimilating what they are taught. Each side of the brain uses a different fundamental process, and by late childhood most individuals have established a preference for which side of the brain will control most information processing. Generally, this preference stays with them throughout their lives. Now you have another two variables to deal with - the left-brain dominant person and the right-brain dominant person.

Most of the research on the two brain hemispheres describes completely opposite characteristics. Most students will fall somewhere between the two extremes. This is good because a person who is only capable of using one side of his brain will have significant trouble learning. Since flying requires using the entire brain, it's your job to get your students to use the whole thing.

Left-brain-dominant individuals tend to think in a linear, analytical fashion. This means that they like to work things out logically. They're generally rational and think things through before making a decision. Initially, this might appear to be the ideal person for flight training. These people will learn and apply the required knowledge efficiently. They have their drawbacks, however. They generally focus on specific procedures and are often too rigid. Aviation is very flexible and requires the ability to adjust quickly. This creates problems for rigid learners. You have to teach them how to adjust to dynamic situations quickly. They need to learn how to respond to a changing situation without spending too much time thinking about it - such as when they encounter a wind shear on final approach.

The right brain controls spatial dimension and imagination, which are essential to feeling the aircraft. Right-brained persons seem to know just how much pressure is required to roundout and flare when landing without thinking about it. They just do it. They can feel when the aircraft is about to stall without watching the airspeed. A right-brained person tends to adjust to change more readily than a left-brained person. When the situation changes, so do they. To a left-brainer, this often looks like "jumping to conclusions" without thinking. It's not. It's just the way in which right-brain-dominant people process information and respond.

Each side of the brain talks to the other side through a nerve bundle called the corpus callosum. Just how much of one-sided brain characteristics shows up in a student is dependent on how actively each side talks to the other. With little cross activity, the general characteristics of each side will dominate the personality. With constant interaction between the two sides, a person is more likely to use the appropriate side when learning something new. A left-brained individual will allow the right brain to take over and "feel" the aircraft and respond accordingly. A right-brained individual will ignore the normal gut feeling and allow the left brain to use logic when making a critical flight decision.

As an instructor, you should be aware of your dominant side and accept that students who may be the opposite are not ignorant, stupid, or dumb. They're just different. You need to adjust your teaching style to compensate for these differences. Most larger bookstores have books that discuss hemispherical brain research and how to deal with each type of person.

By Jeff Falkner

Back to the Index of Instructor Reports


Home |Life | News

Sleep success: How to make ZZZs = memory

Sounds played as you sleep can reinforce memories, suggest Ken Paller and his colleagues at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

They asked people to memorise which images and their associated sounds – such as a picture of a cat and a miaow – were associated with a certain area on a computer screen and then to take a nap. They played half the group the sounds in their sleep, and these people were better at remembering the associations than the rest when they woke up.

Paller hopes sounds can be used to improve all kinds of memory and next he'll be figuring out if we can learn languages while we snooze. But before you nod off, New Scientist helps you get the most out of your shut-eye.

How can you boost your sleep learning capacity?

As a rule, hit the hay after learning something new – late-night TV and Xbox marathons are a no-no.

That is, of course, unless the skill you hope to learn is a computer game: when Sidarta Ribeiro of the Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neuroscience in Natal, Brazil, got people to play shoot-'em-up video game Doom before bed, those who dreamed about the game during their sleep were better players the next day.

Once asleep, playing sound cues (see above) may work for some, but if you like to slumber in silence, try smells instead. A couple of years ago, Björn Rasch and his colleagues at the University of Lübeck in Germany found that people were better at remembering where objects belonged on a computer screen when they were reminded with the scent of a rose, which they had smelled during the learning task, and again during their sleep.

What's better – one long sleep or lots of short naps?

Take a leaf out of granny's book – afternoon naps are good for you. Jim Horne, who researches sleep at Loughborough University, UK, thinks that even a 10-minute kip can improve performance, and that this could be lifesaving in the case of overtired drivers and nurses. Such short shut-eye means that you won't fall into a deep sleep, so you can easily recover without experiencing "sleep inertia" (see below).

In fact, others claim that it is the process of drifting off, rather than the deep sleep itself, that is good for you. Olaf Lahl's students at the University of Düsseldorf, Germany, performed better in memory tests only 5 minutes after falling asleep.

However, don't give up on long sleep: rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep, which occurs later in sleep, is thought to be important for memory processing.

What's this about people who don't sleep enough getting fat?

Our hectic modern lifestyles and shorter visits to the land of nod have been linked by some to expanding waistlines. Sanjay Patel (PDF) and his colleagues at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, put the theory to the test in 2006 and found that short-sleeping women were 15 per cent more likely to become obese than their well-rested counterparts.

Jim Horne, on the other hand, reckons such effects might be overblown. In Patel's study, the average difference in weight gain between the two groups was a measly 700 grams over 10 years. Besides, Horne says, we're probably getting about the same amount of sleep as we ever did – around seven and a quarter hours.

Why does lack of sleep make you grumpy and groggy?

Even the best of us has woken up confused and disorientated, usually when we're awoken during a deep sleep, known as "slow-wave sleep". David Dinges of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia found that people who were woken up during this deep sleep couldn't do simple arithmetic, a phenomenon called "sleep inertia".

But the grumpiness associated with a lack of sleep could be due to a different point in the sleep cycle, REM sleep. This is when we do most of our dreaming, and some think dreams are important for processing the emotions we experience during the day. Matt Walker, a psychologist at the University of Berkeley, California, has even described this process as "overnight therapy".

How does sleeping improve your memory?

Deszo Nemeth, a psychologist at the University of Szeged in Hungary, suggests that while we sleep, short-term "working memories" are transferred from the hippocampus of the brain to the cortex, where they become more stable, long-term memories.

Meanwhile, Catherine Siengsukon of the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City reviewed the evidence for "offline practice" – practising skills during sleep – earlier this year. She reckons that motor learning – training brain areas that control muscles - during sleep could help rehabilitate young, brain-damaged patients.

When does sleep learning take place?

Different stages in the sleep cycle are important for different types of memory. REM sleep seems to be important for perceptual memory, "like when you're learning to play darts", says Paller, while the consolidation of "declarative" memories – facts and events – happens during deep slow-wave sleep.

Is there any way of controlling which stage of sleep you're in?

Jan Born and his team at the University of Lübeck managed to prolong slow-wave sleep in a group of people by applying an electric current to their scalps while they slept. Sure enough, these people performed better on a word-association task the following day.

REM sleep, however, is still something of a mystery: some anti-depressants reduce it, but we don't know how to stimulate it, says Paller. "We do know that REM sleep tends to happen early in the morning, so perhaps a lie in would help," he suggests.

Journal references: Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.1179013

Get the most from your shut-eye (Image: Susanne Walstrom/Getty)

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Statistics for occurrence #1 of “James River” in chapter 80 of Rebellion Record: a Diary of American Events: Documents and Narratives, Volume 5.:

...communicated to me in person that it was his desire that my division should cover what is called the Quaker road, over which our troops, artillery and trains were to pass in their retrograde march to James River . As Kearney's division was assigned the same duty, and as it was yet early in the morning, we mounted our horses, rode over the road we were required to defend, and examined the country and the a...

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James River (Texas, United States) 0 0 0 0 0 user votes


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Supervisory Information Technology Specialist

Vacancy ID: 802904   Announcement Number: F-NC-13-802904-DEU-SG   USAJOBS Control Number: 333519500

Occupational/Assessment Questions:

1. Please select the ONE response that BEST describes the experience that you possess that demonstrates your ability to perform as a Supervisory Information Technology Specialist, at the GS-15 level.

A. I have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-14 Federal grade level performing such duties as providing first-line supervision and/or direction to a staff engaged in the management of information technology and data processing activities; planning and managing IT projects involving innovative concepts or approaches; integrating configuration management, information technology architectures; and providing authoritative architecture solutions.
B. My experience is not reflected in the above statement.

For each task in the following group, choose the statement from the list below that best describes your experience and/or training. If faxing in the Occupational Questionnaire, Form 1203-FX, darken the oval corresponding to that statement in Section 25 of the form.

B- I have had education or training in performing the task, but have not yet performed it on the job.

2. Plans and manages agency-wide IT projects involving innovative concepts and approaches.

3. Develops and implements agency-wide IT management tools, templates, and infrastructure.

4. Directs the implementation of quality assurance processes.

5. Formulates long-range policies and develops and implements strategies and guidelines for complex and changing IT systems.

6. Provides technical guidance on new or modified policies that affect current functions and programs.

7. Directs programs, resolves conflicts, and interprets policies.

8. Plans, develops, and implements an agency-wide enterprise architecture that covers mission-critical goals.

9. Determines agency documentation standards for enterprise architecture.

10. Develops an agency-wide IT vision and directs development of setting standards that define what technologies are used within an organization.

11. Develops and establishes objectives for programs.

12. Makes recommendations to improve work methods.

13. Reviews work and provides technical advice and training to subordinate staff.

14. Communicates with agency management or individuals of other government agencies and private industry as the technical authority on difficult and controversial digital evidence problems.

15. Coordinates original or ongoing studies to resolve new problems, gains agreement on methods/ techniques for unusual problems.

16. Presents recommendations for resolving difficult digital evidence problems.

17. Is thorough when performing work and conscientious about attending to detail.

18. Administers unique projects that had a major influence on the delivery of customer support services.

19. Interprets and completes the most challenging customer support requests involving multiple resources and management consideration.

20. Provides service to systems involving a wide variety of different platforms, operating systems, applications, and desktop configurations.

21. Supplies expert analysis and creates fixes for highly complex cyber security problems.

22. Resolves critical issues with validated software/equipment and new technology/software.

23. Investigates and examines complex issues or problems where the success of the project depends on the solutions.

Past performance is one of the best indicators of your ability to perform effectively in the competency areas described for this position. Review and select the statement below that describes the PERFORMANCE RECOGNITION you have most recently received.

24. Have you received a performance appraisal in one or more of the competencies described for the position?

A. Yes
B. No

Past performance is one of the best indicators of your ability to perform effectively in the competency areas described for this position. Review and select the statement below that describes the AWARDS you have received within the last year.

25. Have you received any awards related to one or more of the competencies described for the position?

A. Yes
B. No

26. I certify that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, all of the information included in this questionnaire is true, correct, and provided in good faith. I understand that if I make an intentional false statement, or commit deception or fraud in this application and its supporting materials, or in any document or interview associated with the examination process, I may be fined or imprisoned (18 U.S.C. 1001); my eligibilities may be cancelled, I may be denied an appointment, or I may be removed and debarred from Federal service (5 C.F.R. part 731). I understand that any information I give may be investigated. I understand that I will not be considered for employment if I do not respond "Yes" to this certification item.


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Using Energy: Choices, Costs & Energy Efficiency

Using Energy: Choices, Costs & Energy Efficiency (PDF)
Presented by:  Roger Woodworth, Vice President Sustainable Energy Solutions, Avista and Bruce Folsom, Director of Energy Efficiency, Avista
People are more plugged in today than ever before, which means it’s more important that we be wise consumers of energy in order to ensure a sustainable energy future. Learn what energy efficiency really means, and find out how we meet demand without having to generate new energy and pay our customers to use less energy through rebates.

Audience Polling Questions

Q. Compared to 5 years ago, the amount of energy I use is…
a. Less
b. About the same
c. More

Answer: Most people use more energy than they did five years ago. In fact, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reports that since 1959, our national energy use has increased 14-fold, even though our population hasn’t quite doubled! We rely on many electronic devices to get us through our day that we didn’t use to – cell phones, iPods, laptops, TVs, and any number of appliances. As more new technologies that use electricity become available in the coming years, for instance hybrid and electric vehicles, it’s likely this trend will continue.

Q. When faced with a choice, my first priority is most often…
a. Environment
b. Comfort
c. Convenience

Answer: National surveys typically show 75% favor comfort or convenience, while the remaining 25% list environment as their first priority. This helps explain why conserving or being more energy efficient isn’t always top of mind.

Q. About many things do you have plugged in at your home?
a. 15
b. 30
c. 45
d. 60 or more

Answer: Today, the average U.S. home has over 35 appliances plugged in at any given time, and there are 46 appliances typically available for use in people’s homes. Even though most of these appliances don’t seem to use much energy, the little things add up. One Plasma TV can draw about 600 kilowatt hours per year if used 5.5 hours a day, and a set-top box plugged-in all the time draws at least 30 kilowatts of energy every hour of every day, all year long.

Q. One plasma TV that’s on 5-6 hours per day uses about the same energy as…
a. My old TV
b. My refrigerator
c. My refrigerator and freezer

Answer: One plasma TV that’s turned on 5-6 hours per day can use the same energy as 2.2 dishwashers (approx. 270 kwh/year each) or 1.5 refrigerators (approx. 400 kwh/year each).

Q. The most important reason to be more energy efficient is to…
a. Guard against rising future costs
b. Save money on my bill right now
c. Boost economic productivity
d. Lessen environmental impacts
e. None of the above

Answer: There are many good reasons to be more energy efficient. Managing your energy costs, creating green jobs, and lessening impacts on the environment are just a few. The bottom line is the least costly, cleanest new energy resource is the one we don’t have to build.

Q. In 2009, about how much did Avista pay its customers in rebates to be more efficient?
a. Less than $5 million
b. $5 million
c. $10 million
d. $15 million
e. $20 million

Answer: In 2009, Avista paid customers nearly $20 million in rebates for things like Energy Star appliances, heating and cooling systems and other energy efficiency improvements. Avista’s electric and natural gas customers in Washington, Idaho and Oregon participated in the company’s energy efficiency programs in near-record numbers in 2009. As a result, they saved more than 82 million kilowatt-hours of electricity and 2.3 million therms of natural gas in 2009. That’s enough energy to power over 6,800 Inland Northwest homes for a year and to serve over 3,000 homes with natural gas for a year.

Q. Which of the following Avista initiatives have you heard about? (Choose as many as you want)
a. Project Share
b. Every Little Bit
c. Wattson
d. Power Mongers
e. Senior Energy Outreach Grants
f. Power to Conserve

Answer: Avista offers all of these and other programs to help customers of all ages be more energy efficient. You can learn more about the energy efficiency programs and rebates you may qualify for by visiting There you can also learn about no- and low-cost tips for saving energy and even what home efficiency projects might qualify for Federal energy tax credits.

Q. What would most motivate you to invest in energy efficiency?
a. More financial incentives
b. A higher power bill
c. More rate increases
d. Nothing, I’m not going to

Answer: Over the past 30 years, Avista’s energy efficiency programs have helped customers save enough energy to power more than 81,000 homes for one year and provide natural gas service to almost 25,000 homes for a year. In utility terms, that’s like 110 average MW of generation we didn’t have to build. Participating customers benefit through lower usage, while all customers (even those who don’t participate and those who aren’t yet customers) benefit from Avista having acquired the lowest-cost resource in the form of energy efficiency.

Q. If you spent $5,000 on energy efficiency measures, how much would you expect your monthly bill to go down?
a. $15
b. $25
c. $50
d. $80
e. $100

Answer: Of course, how much benefit you get from an investment in energy efficiency will depend on what you do. But it’s a good question to consider. A monthly benefit of $100 a month is $1200 each year – a simple return of 24 percent on your $5,000 investment. That’s a great return – but is it a realistic expectation?

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