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NEW YORK, United States, Wednesday March 22, 2017 – Fans not only saw pop star Rihanna as she made her debut on US TV series Bates Motel this week, but they got to watch her watching it too.
During the airing of the fifth episode of the show, in its fifth and final season, Rihanna filmed herself and her friends on Instagram Live watching her performance as Marion Crane.
"Eww, I can't bear the sound of that kiss, it's disgusting," Rihanna, who smooched costar Austin Nichols said at one point as she watched the episode. "It's weirding me out."
She and her pals also played a drinking game, taking a shot any time the names "Norman" or "Sam" were mentioned, although Rihanna did warn, "Don't try this at home, kids."
The 29-year-old superstar's live stream had upwards of 50,000 views, with fans from all over the world sending Instagram "likes" and commenting on how much they enjoyed seeing her live while watching the show.
Rihanna will feature again in next week's episode of Bates Motel which airs on A&E.
She is set to appear in more films this year, including Manolo, a look into the life of fashion designer Manolo Blahnik; Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, which is set to be released on July 21; and her most anticipated film, Ocean's Eight, alongside Sandra Bullock and other leading actresses.
Read more: http://www.caribbean360.com/celebrity/rihanna-shares-bates-motel-debut-fans#ixzz4cC62ZF2K


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One of the quesitons I get asked frequently when it comes to saving money on your grocery bill, is how do you do that for organic and natural products?
There are a few online places where you can find printable coupons, like Commonkindness.com. Or if you shop at Wegmans, there are always coupons in their Nature's Market magazine. But I realized these are for only a few products, and the savings is limited. I recently found a website though, that saves you money on organic and natural products, and no coupons are needed! It's called Thrive Market.
How it works:
First, register for free to browse the Thrive catalog, and start to see the member savings prices. Some have compared them to an online version of Whole Foods – but with Costco/Sam's Club prices. The first time you order you will receive 15% off your purchase. With your first purchase on Thrive, you'll start a free 30-day membership trial. You can cancel any time. Join Thrive for just $59.95 a year (Just $5 per month) and save on the world's best healthy products for a full year. With your membership, Thrive will also sponsor a low-income family!
When I made my first order (you can see what I ordered in the picture above) and I did a price comparison to Wegmans in the Nature's Market section (if there is not an identical product comparison, that is because Wegmans doesn't carry it, so I compared it to the closest item I could find.):
Simply Organic Ground Ginger Root, 1.64 oz for $3.95 Thrive Market price
vs. Wegmans: McCormick Gourmet Collected Ground Ginger, 1.25 oz – $5.99
Avalon Organics Hand and Body Lotion, 32 oz – $12.95 Thrive Market Price (you get almost 3 times as much for just $4 more!)
vs. Wegmans: Avalon Organics Hand and Body Lotion, 12 oz – $8.99
vs. Wegmans: Earth's Best Organic Shampoo and Body Wash, Gentle Tear-Free Formula, Lavender, 8.5 fl oz for $6.99
Aura Cacia Organic Argan Oil, 1 fl oz – $8.95 Thrive Market Price
vs. Wegmans: Aura Cacia Organic Argan Oil, 1 fl oz – $11.99
Dr. Bronner's Organic Fair Trade Virgin Coconut Oil, 30 oz jar for $14.95 – Thrive Market Price
vs. to Wegmans: Nutiva Coconut Oil, Organic Extra Virgin, 23 oz – $11.99
Meyer's Dish Soap, 16 fl oz – $3.45 – Thrive Market Price
vs. Wegmans Meyer's Dish Soap, 16 fl oz – $3.79
One Response to A Great Way to Save on Organic & Natural Products – Without Hunting For Coupons!!
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subset: commoncrawl


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Custom installed, accented with each homeowner's unique touch yet lasting longer than commonly marketed floor coverings, epoxy floors exceed your floor traffic standards by bringing an added dimension of longevity which amasses any other floor covering sold today.
More importantly, epoxy floor coverings have resounding benefits unsurpassed by your current floor covering, not to mention you can spend far less coating your floors than replacing rooms of carpeting.
Technology Innovated Epoxy
While consumerists blog about new gadgetry, science quietly works behind the scenes to continually evolve epoxy flooring. Since home owners seek ways to 'spend once and be done', per se, flooring seems the most logical starting point for these long-term savings to commence. Since epoxies of today are specifically formulated to meet high residential demands, you'll find a plethora of available epoxy options, from recycled glass to quartz and virtually any color conceivable in between.
Yes, Epoxy Has Benefits
Like many other floor coverings you'll encounter while shopping, epoxy floors have a mile long list of benefits, although we'll touch specifically on some which may be of interest to couples with young children:
- Antimicrobial – For parents who fear their children will fester with germs after eating crackers off the floor, fear not: most good epoxies are EPA rated to impede the growth of microorganisms.
- Easy to clean – Swiffer your floor a few times, run a sponge mop or however you 'get down' on cleaning your floors, epoxy surfaces are traditionally easy to clean and won't mar as easily as some vinyl or linoleum surfaces.
- Slip resistant – Running through your home chasing the 'bad guys' won't be problematic for your little soldier as epoxy coatings can be mixed with resins to make your floors slip resistant.
- Ecofriendly – Peace, earthly beings; newer epoxy floors are rated green by EPA standards, meaning they're manufactured, processed and contain no animals, trees or wildlife in general while minimizing the harshness of chemicals used.
Add odorless, seamless, temperature containing and vast assortment of designs to the growing list of reasons that single-family homes, commercial properties and garages around the U.S. have opted for epoxy floors over traditional carpeting.


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Habitat Groups and Island-Mainland Distribution of Kelp-bed Fishes off Santa Barbara, CA
The islands off southern California diversify the coastal environment by doubling the length of shoreline and extending coastal habitats (Horn 1974). Geologically, and perhaps biologically, these islands may be classified into northern (bordering the Santa Barbara Channel) and southern groups (Hewatt 1946, Valentine and Lipps 1967, Weaver and Doerner 1967). Yet classification of the insular shore fish fauna is more complex. On a broad scale, distributions of shore fishes are influenced by water temperature and associated currents: the cool, southerly-flowing California Current offshore, and the warmer, inshore countercurrent and eddy (Hubbs 1967, 1974, Neushul et al. 1967). Also, the specific assemblage of fishes in a given area will depend very strongly on the habitat structure there. And finally, isolation at islands may be brought about either by differential transport of species having planktonic larvae (Kanter 1980, Seapy and Littler 1980) or by chance transport of species that have no planktonic dispersal stage (cf. Haldorson 1980). Our study analyzes the effects of habitat on the composition of one element of the inshore fish fauna, the kelp-bed Fishes, and applies this analysis to compare the kelp-bed fish assemblages at Santa Cruz Island with those from the adjacent Santa Barbara mainland. Some papers in this symposium dealt with large-scale biogeography of inshore organisms on the California Islands (Seapy and Littler 1980, Silva 1978). Even though we do not address this problem directly, we realize that interpretations of habitat effects must consider geographic affinities of the fauna. On the other hand, habitat effects may confound broad-scale geographic effects (cf. Kanter 1980, Littler 1980). Our objective, therefore, is to show how assemblages of kelp-bed fishes may be classified into particular habitat groups, and how differences in structural habitat affect the composition of fish assemblages making up such groups. We did our study off Santa Barbara, at the southern end of a transitional zone between a warm-temperate biota to the southeast and a cool-temperate biota at San Miguel Island and north of Point Conception (cf. Hewatt 1946, Hubbs 1948, 1960, 1974. Neushul et al. 1967, Quasi 1968b. Ebeling et al. 1971). The mixed composition of the fauna reflects water tempera-lure and exposure to currents. The California Current carries cool water seaward past Point Conception, although a small branch of this current feeds a counterclockwise eddy in the western part of the Santa Barbara Channel (Reid 1965, Kolpack 1971). This eddy meets warmer currents from the southeast at the eastern end of the Channel, near Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz Island (Kolpack 1971). Therefore, even though oceanographically complex, our study areas are warmer and more exposed to southern currents than is San Miguel Island at the western end of the channel. Given the geographic affinities of the fish fauna in our study areas, we investigated the influence of structural habitat on the composition of fish assemblages in and about beds of giantkelp(Macrocystis). In this way, we hoped to explain any "island effect" on these assemblages. as expressed by differences in species abundance and composition between Santa Cruz Island.. and the Santa Barbara mainland. Inshore habitats vary along several environmental gradient (Limbaugh 1955, North 1963, Quast 1968a, Frey 1971). For example, density of giant kelp varies with depth and several other factors (Neushul et al. 1967, North 1963, 1971, Quast 1968a. Pearse and Lowry 1974). A depth-related gradient in dominant plants extends from surfgrass, boa kelp, or Pterygophora-Eisenia communities inshore, through giant kelp and red algae at intermediate depths, to depauperate plant communities in deeper water (Clarke and Neushul 1967, Neushul et al. 1967). Such biotic gradients follow abiotic gradients in temperature, light, wave surge, and productivity (Quast 1968a, Pequegnat 1964). A gradient in substrate type extends from flat and soft bottoms of sand and/or mud, through flat and hard bottoms, to high-relief rocky reefs; the "turf" of sessile animals and plants that covers these reefs varies with degree of water movement, silting, scouring, light penetration, and grazing (McLean 1962, Pequegnat 1964, Turner et al. 1965, 1968, Clarke and Neushul 1967, North 1971, Pearse and Lowry 1974, Neushul et al. 1976). Much like a forest, giant kelp provides a vertical gradient along which animals tend to stratify in the water column. Kelp stipes in midwater and the dense canopy near the surface provide shelter, food, and landmarks for a variety of fishes (Hobson 1965, Quast 1968b, Feder et al. 1974, Alevizon 1976). Limbaugh (1955) and Quast (1968b, 1968c) analyzed kelp-bed fish assemblages mainly in the San Diego area of southern California. Miller and Geibel (1973) and Burge and Schultz (1973) analyzed such assemblages off central California, north of Point Conception. These investigators evaluated specific responses of individual species to their natural environment and were concerned with how assemblages may respond to changes in structural habitat. Excepting a few fragmentary observations and species lists (Hewatt 1946, Clarke and Neushul 1967, Neushul et al. 1967, Quast 1968c), however, there was almost no published information from the Santa Barbara area. We supplement these seminal studies of southern and northern regions by taking a more synthetic approach to analyzing species assemblages in the less well-known transitional region off Santa Barbara. Thus, although we must interpret our results in terms of behavior of particular species, our results provide an overall view of changing fish assemblages. Hopefully, our synecological approach reveals general trends not immediately obvious from autecological studies. We compared kelp-bed fish assemblages sampled at different localities along Santa Cruz Island with assemblages sampled at different localities along the Santa Barbara mainland. We first determined the structure of assemblages by identifying subgroups of species ("habitat groups") that tend to associate with different positions on environmental gradients in and about areas of reef and kelp. We then compared the density, diversity, and composition of assemblages among localities, between mainland and island, and between seasons. With this information, we were better able to distinguish and explain any island effect on the assemblages, in light of the faunal complexity of the region.
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Indie-curious attendees of this week's PAX East gaming show in Boston can get a "passport" stamped for every game they check out in the show's indie mega-booth. They can't just stop by the booth. They have to do something.
At the Drinkbox Studios part of the booth, where smart attendees wil check out a game called Guacamelee, you get the stamp if you can play through the first level of Super Mario Bros. with the controller upside down.
I tried it, as you can see in the video here.


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Today I have two plastic stegasauruses, one made from one of those tiny models you punch out of a credit card, and the other that I knit from acrylic (it's plastic right?).
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The Land of Sandy Autos: A Fable
People in the Land of Sandy Autos (LSA) start each morning taking care of their cars. The usual routine, which 99% of men and women embrace, is to mix a teaspoon of sand into a car's fluids.
Each person has their own opinion of the best method to use, and the media buzz with experts. Some pour the sand directly into engine oil. Others swear it's better to put the sand into the fuel tank, the brake fluid, transmission fluid, or some other target. A common strategy is to vary each day where to put the sand.
Car repair costs in LSA are out-of-control, increasing at a rate far higher than salary increases. As you are reading this, car repair absorbs fully 17% of the Gross Domestic Product in LSA. The country's infrastructure is crumbling, schools are going downhill, and homeless people shiver on the streets. LSA cannot effectively address any of these problems because one in six dollars has to be spent on auto repair.
In fact, auto repair is an entrenched industry, the only growth area in a bleak economy. Massive car hospitals revive the sickest vehicles. College students compete for spots in mechanics training institutes, knowing they have a secure future in that career. Auto parts makers thrive. Car scientists invent ever more sophisticated fluid additives to keep the cars running longer with their sandy engines and gas tanks.
A few dissenters try to get their neighbors to wake up. "Just don't dump sand into your cars," they say. These dissenters never use sand in their cars, and can go tens of thousands of trouble-free miles with simple preventive oil changes and routine maintenance procedures.
Forget the government of LSA. The elected officials
Read the rest of this fable here


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Memory Monday – Week 50
This verse, Psalm 126:5, is just the opposite of what the world tells us. So many people think that if you go through a trial or face a hardship you are doomed forever, but that is not the case. No present situation or trial will ruin your life forever, unless by choice you let it. In order to reap, you must sow, right? It may take a farmer a long time to sow their farm land. They commit a lot of time, energy, and hard work to their lands. In the dry months and winter it might seem dead and full of tears, but they don't give up. They keep working. Then the sun and rain come, and they joyfully celebrate a full harvest.
We can't let our tears hold us back from the day to day things we are called to accomplish as well as the larger call on our life. There is work to be done whether you are crying or not. Instead of saying, 'I can't do this I'm going to sit in bed and cry' say 'I will sow the field despite of how I feel'. Joy will come because of your perseverance.
I have repeated this so many times, but just like the farmers, believers will face trials. But, we can persevere with hope. Our tears are not wasted. Our tears water the seed that brings the joy. What are you sowing today? Are you experiencing a lot of grief or have you been waiting on something forever, yet you haven't seen the harvest? Don't give up. Even though you feel tears now, there will be a joyful outcome soon. We might sow sorrow, but we will reap rejoicing.
- This is the last day to enter the devotional giveaway!!!!
- Come back tonight at 6:30 ET for a $750 Amazon giveaway!!!!


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research papers
High-efficiency zone-plate optics for multi-keV X-ray focusing
aPaul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland, and bSynchrotron SOLEIL, L'Orme des Merisiers, Saint-Aubin, 91192 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
*Correspondence e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
High-efficiency nanofocusing of hard X-rays using stacked multilevel Fresnel zone plates with a smallest zone width of 200 nm is demonstrated. The approach is to approximate the ideal parabolic lens profile with two-, three-, four- and six-level zone plates. By stacking binary and three-level zone plates with an additional binary zone plate, the number of levels in the optical transmission function was doubled, resulting in four- and six-level profiles, respectively. Efficiencies up to 53.7% focusing were experimentally obtained with 6.5 keV photons using a compact alignment apparatus based on piezoelectric actuators. The measurements have also been compared with numerical simulations to study the misalignment of the two zone plates.
Keywords: Fresnel zone plates; zone-plate stacking; X-ray nanofocusing.
1. Introduction
Most scanning X-ray microscopy methods at synchrotron radiation facilities rely on focusing X-ray optics to obtain high spatial resolution (Kaulich et al., 2011). Furthermore, the flux density in the focal spot may reach up to 105–106 times that of the incident beam's density. The gain in the available photon flux to user experiments improves the measurement speed and analytical sensitivity and allows more efficient use of the available beam time. Amongst the different focusing methods, Kirkpatrick–Baez (KB) mirror systems (Kirkpatrick & Baez, 1948) have gained large popularity due to their high focusing efficiency, small achievable spot size and achromatic behavior. However, these systems are bulky and can be challenging to align, especially when a large aperture size (hundreds of micrometers) is required. Conventional binary diffractive X-ray optics, including Fresnel zone plates (Soret, 1875), serve as compact easy-to-align focusing elements that allow for a straight optical axis and aperture sizes up to millimeters. Their main drawback is their relatively low efficiency, fundamentally limiting the intensity of the first-order focus up to 40.5% of the incident intensity for an ideal non-absorbing binary zone plate. The symmetric cross section of the binary line profile leads to the symmetry of the focusing positive and the defocusing negative diffraction orders. Consequently, half of the intensity is diffracted into the divergent orders and is blocked by the order-sorting aperture. As the phase shift is directly proportional to the structure height, the fabrication of structures with the optimal phase shift requires up to several micrometers high structures in the multi-keV energy range. This becomes an issue when a small spot size is needed, as the numerical aperture and thus the diffraction-limited spot size is defined by the smallest zone width (Kirz, 1974). Therefore, the fabrication of high-resolution diffractive X-ray optics requires the fabrication of high-aspect-ratio nanostructures.
A method has been proposed (Maser et al., 1999) to increase the structure height of Fresnel zone plates by stacking two identical binary zone plates on the same optical axis in each others optical near-field, to act as a single zone plate with added zone heights. This approach indeed relaxes the required aspect ratios; however, it can still only provide binary zone plates and hence it is limited by the equal positive and negative diffraction orders. In the following paragraph we will briefly discuss that, by using asymmetric multilevel structures, the focusing efficiency of Fresnel zone plates can break the fundamental limit of binary zone plates.
Originally, refractive Fresnel lenses were developed as large aperture and short focal length lenses, specifically designed for lighthouses (Watson & Scott, 2003). The aim was to reduce the weight of the required glass in comparison with traditional lenses. Using less lens material is also important in the X-ray range, although for a different reason: the applied high phase shifter materials are not completely transparent in the X-ray range, resulting in absorption losses within the lens material. Therefore, X-ray lenses must minimize the optical path within the lens due to absorption in the lens material. As Fresnel zone plate lenses in the X-ray range have small numerical apertures, within the paraxial approximation, they must provide a similar phase shift profile as their equivalent refractive counterpart with parabolic phase shift profile (Fig. 1a). Since in the case of a diffractive lens the complex phase of the electromagnetic radiation has a redundant 2π periodicity, lenses can be wrapped modulo 2π, while giving the same wavefront resulting in a similar design as the Fresnel lens (Fig. 1b).
However, the nanofabrication of the required quasi-triangular structures with small lateral dimensions is impossible using conventional lithographic tools. Therefore, in practice, X-ray lenses are designed to be the discrete (`staircase') approximation of the phase-wrapped ideal lens profile with a given number of steps (Figs. 1c–1f). In these terms, the binary zone plates represent the most basic two-level approximations and, once the π phase shift is reached, the approximation can only be improved by adding additional levels. Such multilevel zone plates have been previously demonstrated (DiFabrizio et al., 1999) to reach diffraction efficiencies up to 55%, but this required the compromise of 1 µm effective smallest zone width (the smallest zone width of multilevel zone plates is the half-pitch).
The concepts of multilevel and stacked zone plates have been combined (Chen et al., 2009) by stacking two different binary zone plates, a `coarse' zone plate with π phase shift and a double density `fine' zone plate with π/2 phase shift in each others optical near-field. This geometry provides an effective four-level staircase profile (Fig. 2a), resulting in a theoretical diffraction efficiency of up to 81% for an ideal non-absorbing stack. However, the pioneering authors only achieved a diffraction efficiency of 29%, which is even achievable by binary zone plates.
In this paper, we demonstrate the viability of the concept to use blazed stacking (Fig. 2a) in order to surpass the limitations of binary zone plates. Furthermore, we expand the concept by showing that a suitable binary dense zone plate can be stacked with either a binary or a multilevel coarse zone plate in order to double the effective number of steps and obtain higher focusing efficiency. For any n-level zone plate, the width and height of each step should correspond to λ/n path length difference to the focus. A good approximation in the non-absorbing and weakly absorbing case is to subdivide the δ pitch into n equally wide steps of δ/n width and 2π/n phase shift (Nöhammer et al., 2003). The resulting zone placement error rapidly decreases with the increasing number of zones. This approximation gives a binary zone plate when n = 2 and a multilevel zone plate if n > 2. The smallest zone width is always determined as the smallest half-pitch. Any n-level single zone plate can be stacked with an n-times denser binary zone plate of π/n phase shift to double the effective number of steps for improved focusing efficiency. In order to demonstrate the concept, we designed two experimental set-ups: the first set-up was based on the stacking of two different binary zone plates to create an effective four-level profile (Fig. 2c), while the second set-up used a monolithic three-level zone plate as a coarse zone plate combined with a triple-density binary zone plate to double the number of steps and achieve an effective six-level profile (Fig. 2c).
2. Sample fabrication
The aim of our experiment was to provide high-efficiency focusing optics for X-rays in the 5–8.5 keV energy range. In this range nickel was chosen as a low-absorbing strong-phase-shifting material for fabrication of up to 500 µm-diameter Fresnel zone plates with effective outermost zone width of 200 nm. Owing to the low, but not negligible, absorption the fundamental efficiency limit of the fabricated zone plates is lower than that of their ideal counterparts. Nominally at 6.5 keV the efficiency of nickel zone plates is limited to 37.1% for binary, 60.7% for three-level, 70.9% for four-level and 78.5% for six-level profiles. The zone profiles were not optimized for absorption in the lens material and the zone placement of the three-step zone plates was approximated with equal steps due to the difference being below the accuracy of the manufacturing process.
Our fabrication process was based on the previously described fabrication of high-aspect-ratio gold nanostructures (Gorelick et al., 2010). This method is based on filling an electron-beam-written PMMA mold with metallic nanostructures using electroplating. The zone plates were prepared on 250 nm-thick Si3N4 membrane windows on Si frames with 20 nm gold plating base and a PMMA resist layer on top. The zone-plate patterns were exposed into the PMMA resist layer with a 100 keV Vistec EBPG 5000+ electron-beam writer. The patterns were prepared by an optimized code (Guzenko et al., 2010), which greatly reduces the overheads in the exposure time due to data fracturing and adds radial support structures to enhance mold stability. The zone-plate patterns were arranged in order to fit within a single write field of the electron-beam writer; only beam deflection (i.e. no stage movement) was used during the exposure of the zone plates. Since the sidewall slope plays an important role in zone-plate performance, exposure parameters in terms of dose and line shrinkage were carefully optimized to obtain the correct zone cross sections and to avoid non-vertical sidewalls due to scattering processes during the e-beam exposure.
The exposed samples were developed in a mixture of 2-propanol and water (7:3 by volume) cooled to 275 K for increased contrast and achievable aspect ratios (Shazia et al., 2002). The PMMA mold was filled with electroplated nickel using pulsed plating to obtain uniform structure height (Lindblom et al., 2006). For the three-level monolithic zone plates, we exposed additional alignment markers together with the first layer of zone-plate patterns. After developing and electroplating the first layer, we spin-coated an additional layer of PMMA over the filled mold and precisely aligned the second exposure over the first layer using the exposed alignment markers. After development the trenches were cleaned by oxygen plasma etching and filled with electroplated nickel. The PMMA mold was subsequently removed from all samples via ashing in oxygen plasma. Samples were pre-characterized by optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in order to select the most promising candidates for X-ray analysis (Fig. 3).
3. Simulations
We developed a numerical model to simulate stacking and alignment specific errors of zone-plate stacks to provide a better understanding of our experimental measurements. Previous simulations on the stacking of Fresnel zone plates were calculated in the case of circular symmetry (Vila-Comamala et al., 2013). To model our measurements taking into account misalignment and aberrations that break the circular symmetry, we developed an advanced model based on the free-space propagation of a two-dimensional wavefield using the angular spectrum method (Ersoy, 2006). The simulations were run on a desktop computer using GPGPU acceleration for increased speed. The presented simulations were all performed for nickel zone-plate stacks at 6.5 keV photon energy. The stacking distance between the two zone plates was assumed to be 5 µm as a typical value for our experimental set-up.
Our calculations show that zone-plate stacks indeed provide the best efficiency when they are on the same optical axis, but that their alignment around the common optical axis is tolerant to small misalignment within about one-third of the smallest zone width of the stack (Fig. 4). For larger misalignment the focal spot splits into multiple peaks and the efficiency drops to an approximately constant level with slight concentric rings around the alignment peak. The size of the focal spot follows a similar trend as the focusing efficiency; therefore, small misalignment does not increase the spot size significantly. It is also notable that the measurable focusing efficiency of finite-thickness zone plates in the vicinity of the focal spot (see experimental set-up in Fig. 5) is slightly lower than the predicted diffraction efficiency using the simple grating model.
In practice, the prepared zone-plate patterns are slightly distorted due to imperfections of the electron-beam writer, unwanted tilt of the substrate during the writing process, or by stress in the applied resist layers. These prevent the simultaneous alignment of the whole zone-plate area during stacking and reduce the focusing efficiency of the zone-plate stack, while increasing the tolerance to small misalignments around the optical axis.
4. Experimental methods and measurements
The selected sets of zone plates were tested at the cSAXS beamline of the Swiss Light Source and at the Metrology beamline of the Synchrotron SOLEIL to characterize their performance as individual and as stacked optical elements. We used 6.5 keV photon energy for all presented measurements (wavelength of 0.19 nm).
In our experimental set-up to measure the diffraction efficiency of individual zone plates, the generally used first diffraction order was selected using a 20 µm pinhole as an order-selecting aperture (OSA) and the flux was recorded with a large-area X-ray photodiode detector further downstream. We scanned the OSA across the focal plane, thereby recording the background (zeroth order, air scattering) and recording an intensity peak, when the focal spot was within the OSA. The measured intensity was converted to efficiency by subtracting the background and normalizing it with the illuminating intensity measured through a reference pinhole of equal size as the zone plate. We could not explicitly measure the diffraction-limited spot size of our lenses due to the incoherent illumination of the large (200 µm- and 500 µm-diameter) zone-plate aperture limiting our resolution to the demagnified source size. The best `coarse' zone plates were selected for stacking based on their first-order focusing efficiency. The `fine' zone plates did not have a similar obvious performance indicator, as their efficiency is heavily dependent on the structure height aside of defects and the fill factor of the zones; therefore they were chosen based on the prior SEM inspection.
Using this method we characterized monolithic binary and three-level zone plates. From the characterized 500 µm-diameter binary zone plates the best lens with 31.0% focusing efficiency was selected for stacking with a dense binary zone plate. In the case of the 200 µm-diameter three-level zone plates the best result was 40.4% focusing efficiency. Since the fundamental limit of binary nickel zone plates is 37.1%, this already demonstrates the advantage of using multilevel zone plates.
For the stacking experiments we used a special set-up aimed at the flexible stacking of our lenses (Fig. 5a). To achieve the required alignment precision a two-step alignment procedure was used. The coarse zone plate was mounted on a fixed stage with mechanical alignment allowing a large movement range. The fine zone plate was mounted on an XYZ piezo stage with a movement range of 100 µm. The mechanical pre-alignment was performed offline with the aid of an optical microscope in order to bring the two zone plates within the piezo range. We also eliminated any excessive tilt of the two zone plates by adjusting them parallel to the microscope's focal plane. The final alignment was made in the X-ray beam by scanning the alignment piezo while monitoring the diode signal. By normalizing these data, we can plot the diffraction efficiency of the stack as a function of alignment, showing that the efficiency peaks around the common optical axis (in agreement with simulations). The diffraction efficiency was determined as the height of this peak, corresponding to the best alignment of the two zone plates (see Fig. 5, bottom). We measured diffraction efficiencies up to 47.1% using binary zone plates to create a four-level profile and up to 53.7% when combining a three-level with a binary zone plate to create an effective six-level profile. We have also experimentally verified that, although the optimal energy is 6.5 keV, the focusing efficiency of the six-level stack stays beyond 40% in the whole 6–8 keV range.
It is interesting to note that the patterns are slightly distorted from their expected circular symmetry, suggesting that the zone plates are slightly distorted from their ideal circular shape. This can be caused either by stress in the resist layer or in the plated nickel, tilt of the substrate during the e-beam writing, or distortions in the e-beam writers write field. The distortions cause negligible aberrations in the wavefront of a single zone plate, but in the case of stacking it prevents the perfect overlap of the two zone plates in a stack, reducing the achievable efficiency. This is discussed comprehensively elsewhere (Mohacsi et al., 2013).
When comparing the measured efficiencies with the theoretical values it becomes evident that, while the binary zone plate achieved over 80% of the calculated value, the multilevel and stacked efficiencies are only 65–70% of the theoretical values (Fig. 6). The differences have two major contributors: on one part some degree of manufacturing errors are still present even in optimized structures and can add up during stacking; the second and possibly the dominant cause is the distortions preventing the perfect overlap of the stack. Nevertheless, the addition of further levels to the zone-plate stack helped to improve the efficiency, but the gain of adding further levels becomes lower.
5. Conclusion
We have successfully combined multilevel zone plates with zone-plate stacking to achieve both high-resolution and high-efficiency nanofocusing at 6.5 keV photon energy. By stacking two binary zone plates, forming an effective four-level profile, we achieved 47.1% diffraction efficiency over very large 500 µm aperture size, while having a 200 nm smallest zone width, corresponding to a diffraction-limited spot size of 250 nm. With the achieved high resolution and high efficiency over a large aperture size, the flux density at the focal spot is expected to be >106 times more intense than the illuminating beam. We also moved a step forward by generalizing zone-plate stacking into the step-doubling of multilevel zone plates. We have experimentally verified the concept by stacking a three-level zone plate with a binary zone plate, forming an effective six-level profile and achieving 53.7% diffraction efficiency over a 200 µm aperture, while keeping the resolution unchanged. These properties, together with the advantage of a compact size and maintaining a straight optical axis, can make stacked Fresnel zone plates an attractive alternative of KB mirrors in some applications.
The authors are grateful for A. Lücke, B. Haas, E. Deckardt and J. Lehmann for their assistance during sample preparation, and for Ana Diaz for her help during related measurements, revealing initial fabrication errors of our early lenses. This project was carried out as a joint effort between the Laboratory for Micro- and Nanotechnology (PSI) and the Nanoscopium beamline of Synchrotron SOLEIL. Part of this work was performed at the Swiss Light Source, Villigen, Switzerland. We acknowledge SOLEIL for provision of synchrotron radiation facilities (proposal ID 99130006) and we would like to thank the beamline staff for using the Metrology beamline. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/20072013) under grant agreement No. 290605 (PSI-FELLOW/COFUND).
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This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original authors and source are cited.


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BRRR it's Cold!
The last 2 days have been pretty cold here in NE Ohio. Last night the temperature was down in the 20's again, they were calling for snow on Friday but we missed it. My lettuce is doing just fine in the cold frame, it stays just warm enough for it.
I didn't work out in the garden, I stayed inside and started all of my tomato seeds and a few peppers (it takes a long time to seed 24 different kinds of tomatoes). I also was able to spend a lot of time in the office catching up on work I had put off earlier in the week while working outside.
This time of year in Ohio you never know what kind of weather you're going to get. We have a saying here, "If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes". It can be 70 one day and snowing the next. This poses quite a challenge for gardening. It's not rare to have snow in April, which isn't good for my little plants. That's one reason we put hoop houses up over our raised beds; this should help greatly with this challenge.
On the bright side it's going to be nice today and tomorrow, so I'll be spending my days in the garden again.
I've really enjoyed the compost discussions the past couple days. We'll definitely be revisiting that topic here pretty soon. I think there's a lot more knowledge for all of you to share on that topic.
Anyone else experiencing more cold weather? Any snow?Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (10)
10 Comments to "BRRR it's Cold!"
We say the same thing about Boston weather.
I bought a collapsible green house that I can pop over my seedlings in bad weather, but so far I've been okay.
Julia's last blog post.. Garden Updates – Last Day of Winter
to Julia's comment
When do you move your tomatoes outside? I'm beginning gardening again after a 25 year break and am searching the garden blogs for tips. I need a refresher course! I did do the wintersown thing that I found from your site. Thanks!
Sande's last blog post.. Helper Dogs and Indoor Gardens
to Sande's comment
Sounds like what our weather has been doing here. I don't put anything fragile out until after Mother's Day because my husband put a fuchsia in the cab of his pick up one year to surprise me and it froze!!! So much for that Mother's Day flower. ;-)
RainGardener's last blog post.. Making The Computer Understand
to RainGardener's comment
It all looks soooo wonderful! You really do inspire me, even if I have no land ;0)
Here in England it is like summer!!
Frugal Trenches's last blog post.. The weekend in bullets and photographs!
to Frugal Trenches's comment
I started tomatoes on Monday and they are up already! So excited.
Teri's last blog post.. 80/365
to Teri's comment
i saw your question about making rootbeer over at downn-to-earth. it's really simple, in fact i think it's a bit easier than the gingerbeer. here's my recipe:
1 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp rootbeer extract ( i use zatarains)
1/4 tsp baking yeast
cold water
into a 2 litre soda bottle pour in the sugar followed by the yeast. shake the bottle to mix the sugar and the yeast the, when well mixed, swirl it a bit to make a hollowed out spot in the center of the mixture. add the rootbeer extract. fill the bottle half way with cold water (the less chlorine the better). swirl the bottle to dissolve the sugar/yeast/rootbeer combo. fill the bottle the remainder of the way with cold water leaving about an inch of headspace. mix well to completely dissolve the sugar/yeast/extract. leave the bottle at room temperature for 3-4 days until the bottle feels tight and hard. place the bottle in the fridge to stop fermentation. a word of warning: open it sloooooowly the first time…unless you like rootbeer showers :)
i read somewhere that the alcohol content of homemade gingerbeer and rootbeer is somewhere around 0.35-0.5% far less than the 6% found in beer.
hope you enjoy it
to debra's comment
We are hearing it might snow here in Seattle tomorrow. Crazy weather! We rarely have snow and even more rarely do we have snow in spring.
Sandy's last blog post.. Animal smackdown: Harry the goat vs. new neighbor dog
to Sandy's comment


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Men's Security Sweatshirt Distressed Front Back Print Neon & Black
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SKU: sec-dcc-crewneck-neon-xl
Men's Security sweatshirt in black or neon. Screenprinted in distressed letters front & back. This is an authentic NYC Factory Product with serial numbered tags. Shirt is a comfortable medium light material soft cotton / polyester blend. Excellent for any kind of event / business that require security personnel. Shirt is standard US sizing. Thanks for your interest!
- Cotton blend
- Authentic NYC Factory Product
- Designed & Printed in New Jersey, USA
- Front & Back Print - Screenprinted - Will Not Fade!!
- 50% cotton / Polyester blend. Very soft and comfortable.
- Machine Washable


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Portrait of Catherine Dickens is confirmed to be a genuine work by Maclise!
Image courtesy of the Hamilton Kerr Institute
We are delighted to announce that our much loved portrait of Catherine Dickens has been identified as a genuine Maclise painting.
In May this year our collections intern (kindly funded by NADFAS), Denis Moiseev, undertook an extensive cataloguing of the Museum's art collection. During this project some questions about the provenance of the Catherine Dickens portrait were raised, as the handling of paint appears surprisingly amateurish in places for an accomplished artist such as Maclise.
Further investigation revealed that the work has been heavily overpainted, with up to 70% of the surface not original. This amount of overpainting raised serious questions over the work, in spite of the fact that there are clear areas of the surface where the skilful application of paint can be seen.
In September, the whole of the painting was given an infrared scan and a single x-ray at the Hamilton Kerr Institute at the Fitzwilliam Museum in order to determine whether the original Maclise portrait lies beneath.
And it does!
The new scans and examinations were made possible by an Arts Council-funded, London Museum Development and Regional Collection Care grant.


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Quality, knowledge based professional recruitment delivered by committed and dependable specialists.Our client services
Experts in delivering talent
We are genuine specialists in our chosen markets. Our dedicated, multi-national team of Consultants operate across international borders, languages and cultures, with one clear focus: to identify, source and secure the very best talent for our clients around the globe.
We are a recruitment consultancy committed to delivering the highest quality of service along with successful hiring outcomes.
Access to a raft of active candidates registered with us and looking for their next move.
A true partnership approach with depth and reach. We work exclusively with you on a key, particular hire.
Complexity of role, geographic challenge or sensitivity around hiring. Our most comprehensive service.
Working with Danielle has honestly been an absolute pleasure. She is attentive, understanding, hard-working, insightful, and is a great communicator. She was on the journey with me from start to finish and still checks in to see how everything is going. I would undoubtedly recommend working with Danielle if you are in the process of looking for employment. She makes you feel like family and is with you every step of the way. Working with Foundation Recruitment has been a great experience. The sector knowledge they possess really helps with your search from start to finish. An amazing team, willing to go the extra mile to ensure you are as successful as possible. 10 out of 10!
Alex has been great from day one. Her assistance and communication have been second to none. Her regular updates on developments throughout a challenging period have been exceptional. The flexibility around interview arrangements and availability was invaluable throughout the process. Her personable but professional approach has been a breath of fresh air and cannot speak highly enough of her. I would gladly recommend Alex as she is a credit to Foundation Recruitment. Foundation was ideal in the posts that I was recommended for and they were always in the arena that I was seeking. The communication was always prompt as well as relevant to the situation, whether it was follow up, updates, or confirmation.
Shaunagh has excellent communication with a considered professional approach. There was good follow up and she was always available for conversations throughout the process. Foundation Recruitment has been supportive and thorough throughout the process. As a result, I have recommended Foundation Recruitment to some colleagues.
From the beginning Alex has been a great consultant to work with. Not only did she offer professional support in relation to my experience and tailoring my CV for different positions but also offered advice on taking roles that might not at first have occurred to me to look int but still related to my experience in the facilities management industry. Alongside the above, her friendly demeanor and her enthusiasm made working with her a real pleasure. Her passion for her works really shows in every conversation that you have with her. I would recommend Alex to anyone looking for work or an employer looking to find the right person to fit into their team.
Regional Facilities Manager
From the very first telephone phone-call I had with Holly Allason, I was made to feel listened to, her communication style was both personal and professional, instantly making me comfortable and able to be myself. Throughout she helped, supported and guided me through a seam-free interview experience. I have worked with other recruiters in the past none of which have given me as much attention as Holly did, and more importantly, her interest in me was genuine. Holly built trust with me effortlessly, and I can honestly say, negotiated a brilliant career package for me, more than I even expected in the end. I loved her positive spirit, and it compelled me to be the best I could be, to a successful conclusion. Thank you, are the only words I genuinely believe works in this situation, and worthy ones earned by Holly's caring endeavor to get the best for me.
Buttercrane Centre - Northern Ireland
When Danielle first contacted me about a fixed term role, I was fairly confident that I wouldn't be applying. Danielle learned about my experience and showed me the options the job and business could offer me in the long run. She was incredibly supportive and encouraging and understood any reservations I had. The day I got the call to say I had been successful she was so compassionate and I felt she was genuinely understood what this meant to my family. She has a really lovely calm and reassuring manner that made me feel at ease during what has been quite an exciting but also scary change. A great professional to work with. I also had some experience with Shaunagh who was always just as pleasant as professional. Excellent ambassadors for the business.
Regional Lifestyle Manager
Cushman & Wakefield
Danielle was exceptional throughout the entire process. She really understood what I was looking for, listened to my feedback and acted as an excellent conduit between me and my eventual employer. I've ended up with a fantastic, challenging role that I'm really looking forward to starting.
Senior Marketing Manager, Lendlease
I am very impressed with how Foundation handled my application. They acted professionally at all times, were thorough in their approach and quick to follow up after interviews with feedback. They got me my dream position with a fantastic business! Foundation Recruitment is a professional company with a keen eye for selecting the right candidates for the right positions.
Building Manager, Workman LLP
I'm extremely happy with my experience with Foundation Recruitment. My consultant was professional, friendly and had exceptional knowledge of the industry - she has definitely been the best recruitment consultant I have worked with. I would happily recommend Foundation Recruitment to anyone seeking a new opportunity.
Assistant Marketing Manager, intu


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United Stated History Atlas
The United States History Atlas is a walk through time for any student of United States History. Enjoy the color and easy-to-read detail of the 45 carefully selected 8.5" x 11" maps that coordinate with our History Wall Map series. A sampling of the colorful maps includes: Early Voyages of Exploration; European Exploration of North America, Native American Cultures, 1500s, The French and Indian War, 1754-1763; Settlement by Ethnic Groups; The first Thirteen States, 1779; The War of 1812; Slavery in the Territories, 1850-1854; World War I in Europe, 1914-1940; World War II in Europe, 1940-1945; The Balance of power after World War II; U.S. Population Change, 1950-1994; and many more. This product is ideal for public, private, parochial, and home schools.
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The Truth About Scoliosis Fusion Surgery
When scoliosis curves are severe, many doctors recommend surgery. But emerging research has led many patients to wonder if spinal fusion surgery is really the best choice.
2-3% of the U.S. population has scoliosis — that's 7 million people! In 80% of cases, the cause of scoliosis is unknown.
The infographic below includes statistics on scoliosis fusion surgery, including potential complications, risks, and alternatives.
Embed this Infographic
Want to post this infographic on your own site or blog? Copy the code below and paste it into your site's/blog's "text" or "source" editor:
Who's Affected Most?
Scoliosis most often occurs between ages 10-15.
It affects 7 girls for every 1 boy.
What Doctors Typically Recommend
- 0-10˚ - No scoliosis detected
- 10-25˚ - Regular observation
- 25-40˚ - Bracing
- 50+˚ - Spinal fusion surgery
5-10% of diagnosed scoliosis cases will progress to the surgical threshold.
38,000 patients undergo spinal fusion surgery every year.
What Does Spinal Fusion Entail?
- The surgeon dissects 5 layers of spinal muscles, surrounding ligaments and tendons, and the spine's entire posterior joint system
- 3-inch screws and hooks are inserted on both sides of the spine at every level
- Solid metal rods are run through the hooks on both sides of the spine along the entire length of the curve
Complications of Spinal Fusion Surgery
More than 50% of spinal fusion patients experience long-term complications during their life span.
In one study, 40% of patients were considered severely disabled less than 20 years following fusion surgery.
Risks include:
- Paraplegia
- Quadriplegia
- Peripheral nerve deficit
Implant Failure
Spinal fusion implants can:
- Break
- Pierce the spinal canal
- Compress nerve roots
More than 50% of treated patients experience implant failure.
In one study:
- 21% of adolescent patients required implant removal
- 22% of patients required a total of 28 additional operations
- 5-10% of patients develop deep infections a year or more after surgery
- Some patients develop infections as many as 8 years later.
Loss of Motion
Surgical patients lose 20-60% of their ability to side flex.
Low Back Pain
20-33% of patients experience low back pain within 5-7 years.
Other Spinal Surgery Risks
- Blindness
- Gastrointestinal bleeding
- Kidney failure
- Recurrent meningitis
- Chronic intermittent vomiting
- Emotional breakdown
- Severe blood loss
- Urinary infections
- Pancreatitis
- Obstructive bowel dysfunction
Does Spinal Fusion Work?
An analysis of scoliosis surgery patients found that:
- 41% felt no reduction in their pain levels
- 33% lost all correction within 1-10 years
- 19% required more surgery within 2-8 years
- 26% were unhappy with the outcome
Alternatives to Scoliosis Surgery
Physical Therapy
A combination of aerobic fitness, weight training and core strengthening can help treat the symptoms of scoliosis, but does not reduce curvature.
ScoliSMART Rehab Programs
Programs include Scoliosis BootCamp, ScoliSMART™ Activity Suit, Small Curve Camp, ScoliSMART Nutrition, and ScoliSMART Pain Management.
Scoliosis Exercises
Scoliosis indicates a breakdown in the brain's ability to regulate posture. Certain exercises can retrain the brain to maintain a more normal posture. 90% of patients who perform exercises wearing a ScoliSMART ScoliSMART™ Activity Suit reduce or stabilize their spinal curves within a year.
Nutritional Support
European studies have linked scoliosis to hormone imbalances. Amino acid supplements can help boost treatment effectiveness.
Additional Reading


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Category Archives: Moi
Tales from the Technology Trenches
I'm a big fan of electronic options. I choose ATMs over tellers and vote by mail to avoid all that nasty community at the polls. But really irritating tech is out there, and one of the strongest bastions was also the first – telephones. Herewith, two tales that both happened yesterday, one to me, one to my mom.
Notification from my smartphone:
In order to enable WIFI calling, you must provide your address for 911 calls. Please visit my.tmobile.com.
So I went to the site, where it asked me to log in. The user ID was my phone number, so I knew I had that right, but after trying all my usual passwords (and Angel Joe's), I hit the Forgot your password? option. Bing! A new, temporary password appeared in my phone messages, and I carefully typed it in: UU4ZJ4.
Website: Password must be at least eight characters long.
At possibly the same time, my mom was trying to cancel her paid subscription to a newsletter that automatically renewed. The website insisted that she get on the phone. The automated phone system was clearly designed to be obstructive. First it hung up on her when she paused too long to pick one of the options, then it had difficulty recognizing her subscriber number, no matter how slowly and clearly she read it.
Automated system: Are you Jose Martinez?
Mom: No. (reads number again)
Automated system: Are you Erin Whitehall?
Mom: No!
Finally it took the number, only to shunt her into a menu cul de sac where none of the numbered options were useful.
Mom, boiling over with frustration: Fuck you!
Automated system: That is not an option.
How about you? Any recent run-ins with terrible tech?
Grown Up Love Song
I wrote this song earlier this year. This is hosted on SoundClick.com.
Click here to listen. The lyrics are below.
Grown Up Love Song
He woke up at three o'clock from a dream about snakes and water,
Where ice had fallen out of the sky and covered the face of his daughter.
She woke up at one o'clock and poured another glass of wine.
Looked at her bills and her bank account, and told herself everything would be fine.
They meet in the usual way – photos and words on a glowing screen,
Secrets told to a stranger online, but after you tell them you want to be seen.
And they both had been alone.
Felt broken to the bone.
But they made a date by phone,
And they met.
Hope and need are powerful things, driving us to take chances.
They moved in together that spring, after months of questioning glances.
And they sold one of their beds,
Discovered they both liked red,
Put his weight bench in the shed,
Just for a while.
She wakes up at six o'clock, feeling his hand brush her hip.
He rolls onto his side in the dark and smiles as she smiles against his lips.
Fancy crappers.
It was Nikki of Obsessive Chihuahua Disorder who pointed out the Swarovski-studded toidy.
Now, this strikes me as inherently unhygienic, but the article mentions that the same maker came up with a chrome toilet, and I love that idea.
I think I'd have to make "vroom noises" while sitting on it.
Now, if your commode budget doesn't stretch to the tens of thousands, may I suggest this small chrome toilet with a clock in the seat, which is also a business card holder.
I'm trying to think of an appropriate use for this sucker… Reminder card for your gastroenterologist appointment? Sales rep for a hangover cure? Bulemia support group? Help me out here.
Sore Bridge of the Nose
No, that's not a band name, it's a serious bacterial infection called cellulitis, and I gotta go in tomorrow and get some drugs. Let me explain.
Yesterday, I woke up and had a sore spot on the bridge of my nose. We'd taken a visiting engineer on a car tour of the mountains for much of the previous day, and I figured it was because I'd worn sunglasses more than usual. So I didn't wear them. In the evening it was worse, and really seemed like an infection (red skin, swollen, tender to the touch), so I swabbed it with Tea tree oil , then covered that with Neosporin.
It wasn't any worse the next morning, and I didn't think much about it. But by evening it was worse. I could feel pain even when I wasn't touching it. So I Googled "sore bridge of nose," and that led me to this page. That page gave me a name to look up: cellulitis. Sounds like lumpy fat on the face, doesn't it? Well, it's not.
What is it?
A bacterial infection of the skin, most often occuring on the lower legs. When it appears on the face (often the bridge of the nose), it's the most serious, because it can spread to your eyes, your brain, and just generally kill you. (This is what I get for giving up caffeine about that time. Just kidding – or AM I?)
For the full story, I advise you to read this enlightening page. Essentially, I mighta got it through recent gardening or possibly by being licked in the fact by a cute little dog who eats her own poop, in addition to every piece of trash she can find.
There are no red streaks, so I'm not heading off to the emergency room. I'll call my doc in the morning and tell her she needs to fit me in asap. It's usually treated with an antibiotic called Keflex, which I need to look up next. In the meantime, I made up some ionized silver and drank that. I'd take a picture of my nose, but right now it would be hard for you to see anything. And I want to keep it that way.
Holy crap.
When I woke up this morning, everything was much better, but I called the doc anyway. They gave me an appt. for 1:00. I kept drinking ionized silver, and when I went in there really wasn't much to see. However, after I described everything, she agreed with my diagnosis and put me on the Keflex antibiotic — three times a day for 10 days. They really don't want to risk it going into your brain when it's on your face like that. Interestingly, she would have put me on a stronger drug if I had thought it came from the cat, because cats have pasteurella in their mouths, and that's some bad-ass bacteria.
Further Update:
I should mention that the drugs cleared it up completely, and I've had no new instance as of August 6, even though I continue to let Josie lick my face occasionally. Interestingly, the slight rash at the corner of my eyes came back. I stopped using a type/bottle of eye drops, and they cleared up. Could have been some contamination in the bottle or an allergic reaction to an ingredient in the drops. Could have had no relation to the drops at all.
Plumbing and puppies
Angel Joe is taking a little time off work today to finish up the plumbing in the house. I say he's "taking off," but I can hear him chiming in on a phone meeting as he plumbs. The house came with polybutyl pipe, which is prone to developing pinhole leaks (we had some). That kind of pipe was recalled later on, with the attendant class action suit. Anyway, Joe has been steadily replacing it with copper over the years. The two upstairs bathrooms were the last to do. He's very excited about the prospect of turning the water pressure up to full.
Josie went to the vet this morning for her second-to-last round of vaccinations. Dr. Bauman was impressed by both Josie's health and temperament. Apparently she has two regular Chi clients who are pains in the ass.
Josie has incredible amounts of energy. I'm so looking forward to being able to take her on walks, but that will have to wait until her last vaccinations, at the end of Feb. She and Musette are getting closer to actual contact all the time. Last night Musette let me carry her on her back through the living room, and then put her on her back in my lap and pet her. I was on one end of the couch, and Joe and Josie were on the other.
This morning I was able to squat with Josie in my lap while petting Musette, who was milling around. I was praise talking like crazy, which I'm sure they both thought was directed at them. When Musette rubbed along my thigh, Josie stuck her nose in that big plumy tail as it wafted by. Then she shook her head like, "That tickles!" I'm sure there will be ups and downs, but they're very calm in each other's presence right now. Will trim Musette's claws again. I'm thinking a nose sniff will come very soon.
Happiness is a toy cockroach
Aside from the Kindle Fire, one of the most fun gifts in our family this year was the toy cockroach I gave my Mom. We lived in Florida when I was a kid, and I knew she'd appreciate its realism. (She said it gave her goosebumps all up the backs of her legs.)
We were at my parents' house for Christmas, and I hoped their cat, Lily, would chase after it. But in the manner of most cats, she knew it wasn't alive and ignored it entirely.
It was very realistic. I was once chased the length of our Florida kitchen by a palmetto bug flying at head height, so it was difficult to stand still when the toy first came buzzing toward me.
But by the end of the day, we became pretty inured to the ick factor.


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For entry to a postgraduate taught course, you'll usually need one of the following:
- a UK Bachelor's degree
- an equivalent professional qualification
- a relevant international qualification – check specific entry requirements on our country pages.
You may need to show necessary experience to study a specific subject – details are on individual course pages. There are also English language requirements if English is not your first language.
European Credit Transfer System (ECTS)
If you're studying an undergraduate or postgraduate course in the EU, your qualification will probably be graded using ECTS – a way of transferring European higher education grades to the UK. One ECTS credit is equivalent to two BU academic credits.
Evidence of prior learning
You may be exempt from parts of your postgraduate academic programme if you can show you already have relevant qualifications in the subject area. There are two ways of doing this – Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) and UK Credit Transfer (UKCT).
You can get RPL for professional qualifications which do not carry academic credit, or for academic credit received from higher education institutions outside of the UK. If your prior learning was at a UK higher education institution, it will be considered UKCT. To find out if you're eligible for RPL or UKCT, please contact us.
Relevant experience can count towards your application. This is known as Recognition of Prior Experiential Learning (RPEL) and is a chance to show you have sufficient subject knowledge.
Usually, you'll need to write about your experience, in a similar way to an academic assignment. We'll assess this with the rest of your application. You can then be awarded RPEL credit – which may exempt you from parts of your academic programme.
International entry requirements
Entry requirements vary by course and level of study – check our course pages for specific information. If English is not your first language, you'll also need to meet our English Language Requirements. If you have any questions about your qualifications, please contact our International Admissions Team.


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Orthodontics Dictionary
Delivering impact beyond smiles.
We don't just serve patients, we serve family.
The world of orthodontics can be a little overwhelming at first. Take a moment to review these terms that you'll most likely hear throughout treatment. We're always here to answer any questions you may have.
Parts of Braces:
- Appliance: Anything your orthodontist attaches to your teeth that moves your teeth or changes the shape of your jaw.
- Archwire: The metal wire that acts as a track to guide your teeth as they move. It is changed periodically throughout treatment as your teeth move to new positions.
- Band: A metal ring that is cemented to your tooth by going completely around it. They provide a way to attach brackets to your teeth.
- Bond: The seal created by orthodontic cement that holds your appliances in place.
- Bracket: A metal or ceramic part cemented (or "bonded") to your tooth that holds your archwire in place.
- Coil Spring: A spring that fits between your brackets and over your archwire to open space between your teeth.
- Elastic (Rubber Band): A small rubber band that is hooked between different points on your appliance to provide pressure to move your teeth to a new position.
- Elastic Tie: The tiny rubber band that fits around your bracket to hold the archwire in place. They come in a variety of colors.
- Headgear: An appliance that uses an external wire apparatus known as a "facebow" to gently guide the growth of your face and jaw by moving your teeth into proper position. The force is applied to the facebow by a spring-loaded neck strap or head strap. The straps have a safety release that disconnects if the facebow is pulled or snagged.
- Headgear Tube: A round, hollow attachment on your back bands where the inner bow of your headgear fits into.
- Hook: A welded or removable arm to which elastics are attached.
- Ligature: A thin wire that holds your archwire into your bracket.
- Lip Bumper: An archwire attached to a molded piece of plastic. The lip bumper holds back the molars on your lower jaw to provide more space for your other teeth.
- Mouthguard: A device that protects your mouth from injury when you participate in sports or vigorous activities.
- Palatal Expander: A device that makes your upper jaw wider.
- Retainer: An appliance that is worn after your braces are removed that attaches to your upper and/or lower teeth to hold them in place. Some retainers are removable, while others are bonded to the tongue-side of several teeth.
- Separator or Spacer: A small rubber ring that creates space between your teeth before the bands are attached.
- Tie Wire: A fine wire that is twisted around your bracket to hold the archwire in place.
- Wax: A material that is used to stop your braces from irritating your lips.
Orthodontic Procedures
- Banding: The process of fitting and cementing orthodontic bands to your teeth.
- Bonding: The process of attaching brackets to your teeth using special orthodontic cement.
- Cephalometric X-Ray: An X-Ray of your head that shows the relative positions and growth of the face, jaws, and teeth.
- Consultation: A meeting with your orthodontist to discuss a treatment plan.
- Debanding: The process of removing cemented orthodontic bands from your teeth.
- Debonding: The process of removing cemented orthodontic brackets from your teeth.
- Impressions: The process of making a model of your teeth by biting into a soft material that hardens into a mold of your teeth. Your orthodontist will use these impressions to prepare your treatment plan.
- Invisalign®: An alternative to traditional braces that straightens your teeth with a series of clear custom-molded aligners. Invisalign can correct some, but not all, orthodontic problems.
- Ligation: The process of attaching an archwire to the brackets on your teeth.
- Panoramic X-Ray: An X-Ray that rotates around your head to take pictures of your teeth, jaw, and other facial areas.


text:
Address 1 (Farm): Hamlet 2, Cua Can ward, Phu Quoc city, Vietnam
Address 2 (Store & Showroom): 109 Lê Thị Hồng street, ward 17, Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh city.
We deliver your order to hotel or any place around Ho Chi Minh city.
Booking by Vietnamese, English or Japanese:
Hotline: (+84) 096.666.3365 ; 0903.816.368
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Trang web tiếng Việt: www.matongphuquoc.com
Look for bigger map


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The managing editor of the Clearwater Record – Ewing News took home the top sweepstakes award in the 2016 Nebraska Press Women Communications Contest. LuAnn Schindler earned 12 first-place awards on her way to the top spot. In addition to her duties for the News, she contributes to the Neligh News & Leader.
NPW Communications Contest awards were presented April 29, 2017, in North Platte during NPW's spring convention. The contest recognized top work published in 2016.
The Beel Sweepstakes awards, the highest awards given in the NPW communications competition, are named after the late Marianne Beel, a longtime NPW member and contest director. The Beel Sweepstakes awards are given to the three entrants who earned the most points. Points are awarded based on an entrant's placement in each category entered, as well as number of entrants in the respective categories.
Carla Chance of Cedar Creek, with eight first-place awards, placed second. She is the marketing and communications director for Video King in Omaha.
Lori Potter, a staff writer, photographer and columnist for the Kearney Hub, placed third with nine first-place awards.
Earning honorable mentions in the sweepstakes awards were Kamie Stephen of North Platte and Erika Pritchard of Kearney.
First-place entries in 60 categories advanced to national competition, which is sponsored by the National Federation of Press Women. Results will be announced at NFPW's annual convention in September in Birmingham, Ala.
Contest results (listed alphabetically by community):
Cedar Creek – Carla Chance of Cedar Creek, Video King: First-place awards in corporate website editing; corporate social media campaigns; advertising campaign; advertising posters, billboards or banners; corporate newsletters; corporate brochures; catalogs or manuals; and direct mail marketing; second-place awards in science or technology articles; infographics; videos for corporate website; single advertisement; and audiovisuals; third place in headlines; and honorable mentions in arts and entertainment and travel articles.
Clearwater – LuAnn Schindler of Clearwater, Clearwater Record-Ewing News and the Neligh News & Leader: First place in news story for online publications; editorial/opinion for magazines; arts and entertainment, business, health and fitness, social issues and sports articles; general and informational columns; graphics and infographics; and single advertisement; second place in personality profile, 500 words or fewer; education, environmental, hobby and religion articles; humorous columns; infrequent newspaper section editing; photo essay; corporate website editing; personal blogs; and corporate newsletters; third place in agriculture and government or political articles; personal/opinion columns; newspaper page or section editing; newspaper page design and single news or feature release; and honorable mentions in continuing covering; feature story for newspapers; personality profile, more than 500 words; science or technology articles; publication editing, newspapers; magazine page design; and sports photo.
Grand Island – Bette Pore of Grand Island, Grand Island Independent: First place in infrequent newspaper section editing, second place in editorial/opinion for newspaper, headlines; newspaper page or section editing; and newspaper page design; and honorable mention in reviews.
Grand Island – Joni Ransom of Grand Island, Central Community College: First place in news story for magazines or newsletters, and feature story for magazines or newsletters; second place in magazines; and third place in newsletters for nonprofits or educational institutions.
Osceola – Terri Hahn of Osceola, Grand Island Independent: First-place awards in headlines, newspaper page or section editing; and newspaper page design; and third place in infrequent newspaper section editing.
Kearney – Glennis Nagel of Kearney: First place in brochures for nonprofits (with Lori Potter)
Kearney – Lori Potter of Kearney, Kearney Hub: First-place awards in agriculture, education, environmental, science or technology articles; humorous columns; sports photo, photo essay, photographer/writer and brochures for nonprofits (with Glennis Nagel); second place in news story for newspapers; feature story for newspaper; personality profile, more than 500 words; government or political and history articles; general and personal/opinion columns; third place in business articles; and honorable mentions in travel articles, news or feature photos and general photos.
Kearney – Erika Pritchard of Kearney, Kearney Hub: First-place awards in feature story for newspapers; government or political articles; and general photos; second-place awards in agriculture and business articles; news or feature photos; and photographer-writer; third-place awards in news story for newspaper; continuing coverage or unfolding news; personality profile, more than 500 words; and education articles; and honorable mention in photo essay.
Kearney – Heather Riggleman of Kearney; first place for personal/opinion columns.
Lincoln – Jennifer Gjerde of Lincoln, Nebraska Tourism Commission: First-place awards in audiovisuals; non-profit newsletters; single news or feature release; and speeches; and second place in multiple news or feature releases.
North Platte – Lori Clinch of North Platte, North Platte Telegraph: Third place in humorous columns.
North Platte – Heather Johnson of North Platte, Mid-Plains Community College: First-place awards in feature story for online publications; personality profile, 500 words or fewer; personality profile, more than 500 words; magazines; and multiple news or feature releases; and second-place awards in magapapers; and single news or feature release.
North Platte – Kamie Stephen of North Platte, North Platte Telegraph: First place in continuing coverage; enterprise reporting; editorial/opinion for newspapers; news or feature photo; personal blogs; and videos for corporate websites; third place in feature story for newspapers and history articles; and honorable mention in photographer/writer.
Omaha – Sherry Thompson of Omaha, consultant: First place in social media campaign for nonprofits and reports; and second place in newsletters for nonprofits.
Seward – Jill Martin of Seward, Seward County Independent: First-place awards in news story for newspaper; and history articles; third-place awards in newspapers page design; and photographer-writer; and honorable mention in news or feature photo.
West Point – Delores Meister of West Point, freelancer: First-place awards in individual achievement and religion articles; second place in continuing coverage; third place in arts and entertainment articles; and honorable mentions in agriculture, business and history articles.
West Point – Bev Wieler of West Point, West Point News: Honorable mentions in news story for newspapers and feature story for newspapers.


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Spring must be right around the corner!
I opened my mailbox this morning and there it was—the first breath of spring—and the soft, sweet fragrance of a summer garden. Yes, the first garden catalogue of the year has arrived, and it's my favorite.
Richter's Herbs is in the middle of the Ontario countryside just outside Toronto, a stone's throw from where I grew up. When we lived in our first married home in Markham, Ontario, I used to visit the herb farm every spring. I'd wander through the greenhouses and dream of a day when I'd have a garden big enough to grow all these marvelous plants.
When my kids were born, I planted herbs in our Ottawa garden for them—things to touch and taste and smell and discover. We grew Woolly Lamb's Ear for the soft furry texture of the leaves. We planted globe thistles and teasels for the shapes. There were sunflowers for the birds, and morning glory vines, and we even dyed t-shirts with tansy flowers one summer. We nibbled mint, sage, fresh raspberries, basil, and chives, and exulted in the scent of lavender, bergamot, and roses. We planted a hedge of catnip for our cats so they could spend sultry summer days in the garden too, hidden under the shady leaves, listening to the bees and the birds in the ultimate feline happy place.
Now we live in Calgary, and I get my annual Richter's haul by mail, and count the days until it arrives each spring.
My kids are grown, and my son uses fresh herbs to cook with (he's 21, handsome, charming, and single, ladies. He speaks three languages, and he cooks delicious, wonderful things). He chooses some of the plants we order now, exotic things to experiment with, like Thai Basil, Cilantro, Mexican and Greek Oregano, Zaatar, and hot peppers.
It all sounds perfect, doesn't it? An urban oasis of scent, color and taste. In my imagination, and here in the dead of winter with a cup of tea in one hand and the Richter's Herb catalogue in the other, it is perfect, a magazine-worthy backyard landscape of sheer magnificence.
In truth, my garden doesn't look like that. The seasons here in Alberta can be wildly unpredictable, and the intense heat and dryness of the climate make it a hard place for a gardener with an Ontario-variety green thumb to make things grow. My catnip patch here is scraggly and bare most of the summer, rolled on, crushed, chewed, and much loved by five cats.
The rest of the garden suffers under the giant feet of my unruly chocolate lab. Flowers get broken in the heat of dog play, and prime canine napping spots are carved out in the warm dirt, regardless of the fact that things are trying to grow there. Squirrels eat my sunflowers, and crows nip the buds off my roses. The basil is well plucked for cooking, the chives snipped, and the black currants are stolen by birds, deer, voles, and jackrabbits. For all those creatures sake, there's no pesticides, herbicides or commercial fertilizers, so weeds abound.
Still, I wouldn't change a thing, because it's home. My garden is part of the family, and it grows and changes as our family does, and that, to me, makes for one prefect garden, a reflection of who we are, and who I am.
This year, I'm going to order a new variety or two of rose, and give up on tomato plants that never do well here, and add a new variety of mint, perhaps. Sweet Pear Mint, anyone? Or maybe I'll just make space for some extra Genovese Basil, or try growing a Chicago Fig tree, or Jasmine. Perhaps it's a good thing there's weeks yet until spring, and lots of time to pore over the catalogue before I decide.
Richter's has a wonderful on-line catalogue, and they ship across North America. For your breath of summer inspiration, Richter's web address is www.Richters.com


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This publication is available in PDF format only.
The mature and dried stem, leaves, and chaff remaining after barley and wheat are harvested is known as straw. Many farmers around Virginia harvest straw by baling in small bales, large round bales, or large square bales that range in weight from 40 to 1,000 lbs. plus per bale.
Virginia Cooperative Extension materials are available for public use, reprint, or citation without further permission, provided the use includes credit to the author and to Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech, and Virginia State University.
Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Virginia State University, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperating. Edwin J. Jones, Director, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg; M. Ray McKinnie, Administrator, 1890 Extension Program, Virginia State University, Petersburg.
Publication Date
June 19, 2015


text:
2009. 10. 2. 07:06 Social Network Services
Google News Alert for: online social network
TECH CHRONICLES NFL bans social-network updates during games
San Francisco Chronicle
The National Football League has become the latest sports body to try to tame the use of social networks. AP Sources: YouTube may offer online movie rentals ...
See all stories on this topic
This as-it-happens Google Alert is brought to you by Google.
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This shield board from DFRobot is designed to combine your Raspberry Pi computer board with an Arduino board.
Why combine a Raspberry Pi with an Arduino?
The combination of a high-performance computer board, and a microcontroller board with fast responses, offers a powerful core for your project. A Raspberry Pi and Arduino cluster opens up many more opportunities for your creativity and designs.
An example is in robotics. The Raspberry Pi board can control certain aspects wireless communications and complex algorithms. It can even provide functionality for a touchscreen interface. The Arduino then provides fast responses and obstacle avoidance.
More about the DFR0327 Shield:
Microcontroller: ATmega32u4
Arduino Leonardo Chip
Arduino Compatible pin mapping
Compatible with all Arduino standard shield and sensors
Arduino Digital I/O: 20
Arduino Analog I/O: 6
Raspberry Pi B+ Connectors: 16 x GPIO, 1 x I2C, 1 x ID_I2C, 1 x SPI, 1 x TTL UART
Voltage: 5V
Dimensions: 86mm x 61mm x 26mm (3.46" x 2.20" x 1.02")
Which Raspberry Pi boards is it compatible with?
Raspberry Pi Model B+
Raspberry Pi 2 Model B
Raspberry Pi 3 Model B
Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+
Supplied with:
Arduino Expansion Shield for Raspberry Pi B+ x1
20 cm micro USB cable x1
CR1220 button cell x1
|Product Name
|Arduino Shield for Raspberry Pi
|Accessory Category
|Interface / Bridge
|Form Factor


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POLICE have charged a man for allegedly sexually touching two girls at a home near Grafton earlier this month.
Detectives from the Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad commenced an investigation following reports two girls had been sexually touched by a man who was known to them.
Following extensive inquiries, detectives arrested a 26-year-old man at Coffs Harbour Police Station about 9am today.
The man was charged with intentionally sexually touch child (between 10 and 16 years old), intentionally sexually touch child under 10 years, and fail to comply with reporting obligations.
Police will allege in court that the man, who was known to the girls, sexually touched them at their home earlier this month.
The man was refused bail to appear at Coffs Harbour Local Court today.
The Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad is comprised of detectives who are specially trained to investigate matters against children and adults, including sexual assault, serious physical abuse, and extreme cases of neglect.
Anyone with concerns about suspected child abuse or exploitation should call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or use the Crime Stoppers online reporting page: https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au.


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§ Mr. Spring
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions he has had with the Home Office since 1 August regarding the impact of asylum seekers in seaside holiday resorts. [95909]
§ Janet Anderson
[holding answer 2 November 1999]: Officials in my Department have had a number of discussions with the Home Office on this important subject. Government policy will take proper account of the potential impact on seaside resorts and the availability of support networks locally when placing asylum seekers in available accommodation in these areas.