text:
 the question of whether there was an about five-hundred-year-long world economic and political cycle.

This question about the long cycle opens chapter 6 on how and why the West "won" in the nineteenth century, and whether this "victory" is likely to endure or to be only temporary. In previous works (Gills and Frank 1992, Frank and Gills 1993, Frank 1993a), I claim to have identified a half-millennium-long world economic system-wide cycle of alternate expansive "A" and contractive "B" phases, which were some two to three hundred years long each. I traced these back to 3000 B.C. and up to about A.D. 1450. Three separate test attempts by other scholars offer some confirmatory evidence of the existence and my dating of this alleged cycle and phases. Did this long-cycle pattern continue into early modern times? That is the first question posed in this section. The second one is that, if it did, does it reflect and help account for the continued dominance of Asia in the world economy through the seventeenth and into the eighteenth century, as well as for its decline and Europe's rise thereafter?

Chapter 6 also culminates the book's historical account and theoretical analysis of and argument for how "the Decline of the East" and "the Rise of the West" may have been systemically related and mutually promoted. To do so, one part examines the unequal regional and sectoral structure and the uneven temporal or cyclical dynamic that fueled the growth of production and of population in the single global economy. The argument is that it was not Asia's alleged weakness and Europe's alleged strength in the period of early modern world history but rather the effects of Asia's strength that led to its decline after 1750. Analogously, it was Europe's previously marginal position and weakness in the world economy that permitted its ascendance after 1800. This development also took advantage of "the Decline of Asia" after 1750, whose roots and timing are also examined in a separate section of the chapter. Moreover, I suggest that in this same continuing process of global development, the balance of economic, political, and cultural power may already have begun again to revert to Asia.

"The Rise of the West" is examined more concretely in the final part of chapter 6. My thesis—echoing but extending that of Blaut—is that the West first bought itself a third-class seat on the Asian economic train, then leased a whole railway carriage, and only in the nineteenth century managed to displace Asians from the locomotive. One section examines and cites the analysis of Adam Smith about how the Europeans managed to do so with the use of American money. They used it not only to expand their own economies, but also or even especially to buy themselves into the expanding market in Asia. Thus, the industrial revolution and its eventual use by the Europeans to achieve a position of dominance in the world economy cannot be adequately explained on the basis only of factors "internal" to Europe, not even supplemented by its accumulation of capital extracted from its colonies. We need a world economic accounting for and explanation of this global process. To do so, this section then proposes and examines a hypothesis based on worldwide and subsidiary regional demand-and-supply relations for labor-saving and power-producing technological innovation.

Since the whole is more than the sum of its parts, each part is not only influenced by other parts, but also by what happens in the whole world (system). There is no way we can understand and account for what happened in Europe or the Americas without taking account of what happened in Asia and Africa—and vice versa—nor what happened anywhere without identifying the influences that emanated from everywhere, that is from the structure and dynamic of the whole world (system) itself. In a word, we need a holistic analysis to explain any part of the system. The concluding chapter 7 reexamines the implications of this need for holistic analysis and our derivative findings and hypotheses for further research about historiography, received theory, and the possible and necessary reconstruction of both. The first part summarizes the historiographie conclusions of what not to do. The second part of this final chapter goes on to suggest better alternative theoretical directions.

Anticipating and Confronting Resistance
and Obstacles

To begin with, we are badly equipped to confront our global reality when we are misguided into thinking that our world is only just now undergoing a belated process of "globalization." Our very language and its categories reflect and in turn misguide our thinking when they lead us to suppose that the parts came first and then only combined to make a whole: examples are our _society_, my _country_, the German word _Nationaloek onomie_, or _international_ relations with or without _international_ trade. They all sound as though we long lived—and some of us would still like to live—in some social, political, economic "units" which have had some allegedly pristine existence ever since (their) Creation. It is simply not true that they only became interrelated later or even now. That allegation and terminology is just about the most literally nonsensical "perspective of the world" and rendition of its reality imaginable. But short of inventing an entirely new vocabulary that would be unfamiliar to the reader, I am obliged to make do with received terminology and try to stretch it to encompass a more global reality. However, we need more than global terminology. We also need global analysis and theory.

Yet even proposing global analysis, let alone theory, of and for the world is a hazardous task. It meets with strong resistance and can evoke ferocious counterattacks. We may anticipate and address, if not remove, at least the iceberg tips of some of the obstacles that we may encounter in the stormy analytic seas ahead. Since the present proposal is only now being launched, I will base my anticipations on some of the previous experience of both Immanuel Wallerstein and myself. His experience is relevant because the scope of my present proposal is at the same time broader, if more superficial, than his was.

The most numerous obstacles are likely to be picayune nitpickings. Other, more theoretical objections may be fewer, but larger. A particularly big obstacle is posed by Wallerstein himself.

One nitpicking objection is that I do not use (or even have the ability to use) primary sources. I reject that objection for several reasons. In 1966,1 sent the manuscript of an innovative critique of received theses about Mexican history to one of the authors of the same. He kindly wrote back but said my manuscript was not worth publishing, because it was not based on primary sources. So I left it in my desk drawer until, thirteen years later, Wallerstein invited me to publish it in a series he was editing at Cambridge University Press (Frank 1979). Then the same author wrote a review, saying my book should not have been published because by now what I was saying was old hat, further research and analysis by others having converted my earlier, oudandish-seeming world economic thesis into accepted received theory.

This experience illustrates what kind of sources are necessary and legitimate to make a historical statement, particularly a paradigmatic one. One of the problems of using a microscope to do archival research is, of course, that it affords historians no wider view, unless they bring one with them from outside the archives. Moreover, if historians wish to exit from the received paradigm and/or even to challenge the one based on microscopic analysis, they all the more require a wider perspective. Of course if historians take too big a step back to examine the material with a telescope, they are bound to miss some of the details. That leads us on to the next objection.

It might be objected that, especially for lack of sufficient or even any primary sources, I do not know enough to tackle the whole world, or even several parts of it. Even Braudel (1992: 468) doubted that it is "wise for one historian to try to bring together in a single analysis fragments of a history still insufficiently explored by research." Others will say, "Oh, but what you suggest was not quite that way in my back yard in the one-, ten-, or hundred-year period to whose study I have devoted twenty years of my life." Yet as the world historian William McNeill pointed out in his foreword to a previous book of mine (Frank and Gills 1993), it is impossible to know everything, or even "enough," about anything, no matter how narrowly the topic may be defined. Elsewhere, he argues that

macrohistorians ruthlessly by-pass most details of the available literary record.... This does not make macrohistory less exact or well attested.... Each scale of inquiry creates its own landscape of significant meanings. Smaller is not closer to reality—as minutely specialized historians sometimes assume. It is just different.... Good history results from a process of selection and criticism, picking out information from available sources that is relevant to whatever questions the historian asks—no more, no less. (McNeill 1996: 21)

Therefore, dearth of knowledge, to which I readily admit, is not really a function of the narrowness or breadth of the topic selected for study. On the contrary as chapter 5 will argue citing Joseph Fletcher, it is the all-too-common failure to do "horizontally integrative macrohistory" that results in the narrowness if not the very dearth of historical knowledge.

Some readers may object that I am looking at only one "economic" part or feature. At a combined 1996 meeting of the World History Association and the International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations, one member told me privately that "you are doing good economic history; that is why I am not interested"; another said publicly that


dataset_name: pile

text:
 conference room. Mr. Mallard is there now with the rest of the Special Studies Group." He handed Lucas a plastic card with a metal clip. "Put this on."

The guard led him to an elevator, while another guard took the desk. The first guy was older, mid-fifties, Lucas thought, with a mildly unfashionable haircut and a nose that might have been broken twice. "You ever a cop?" Lucas asked, as they got in the elevator.

The guard glanced at him. "Twenty-two years, City of St. Louis."

"You let these FBI weenies get on top of you?"

The guard smiled pleasantly, showing his eyeteeth. "That doesn't happen. You a cop, or a consultant, or what?"

"Deputy chief from Minneapolis. I've bumped into Rinker a couple of times, and Mallard thinks I can help."

"Can you?"

"I don't know," Lucas said. "She's a problem. You think these guys'll get her?"

The guard considered for a minute, and the elevator bumped to a stop one floor up. "Ah, these guys...aren't bad, for what they do," the guard said, as the door opened. They took a left down the hall. "We used to think, downtown, that they were all a bunch of yuppie assholes, but I seen some pretty good busts come out of here. What they do usually has a lot of intelligence, lot of surveillance. Patience, is what they got. They might have trouble with a street chick.... Here's your room."

The conference room was unmarked. Lucas stopped and said, "You ever have a beer when you get off? Bite to eat?"

"Usually," the guard said. "There's a late-night place up on the Hill—get together with some of my old pals."

"I don't know St. Louis."

"If you're out of here by eleven, stop at the desk. I'll give you a map. You driving?"

"Yeah."

"No problem, then."

"What's your name?" Lucas asked.

"Dan Loftus."

"Lucas Davenport." They shook hands. "See you later."

THE GUARD HEADED back to his station, and Lucas knocked once on the conference room door and stepped inside. A dozen people—seven or eight men in ties and long-sleeved shirts with the sleeves rolled up, and four or five women in slacks and jackets—were sitting around two long tables, with Mallard at the front. A white board covered the front wall, and somebody had drawn a flow chart on it with three colors of ink. Five or six laptop computers were scattered down the conference table. Malone sat in a corner, wearing a skirted suit: She lifted a hand.

"Lucas," Mallard said. He stepped over to shake hands and pointed Lucas at a chair. "This is Chief Davenport," Mallard said to the group. "Treat him well." A few of the agents nodded. Most looked him over, then turned back to Mallard.

Like that, Lucas thought. Not a member of the tribe. On the other hand, he had his own tribe. He thought of the guard and leaned back in the chair to listen.

MALLARD HAD SIX names on the whiteboard: six local crime figures who might have been tied into Rinker. They included Nanny Dichter, now dead; Paul Dallaglio, a business partner of Dichter's in the import and dope businesses; Gene Giancati, involved in sex and loan-sharking; Donny O'Brien, improbably a trustee of a half-dozen different union pension funds; Randall Ferignetti, who ran the biggest local sports books; and John Ross, who ran a liquor-distribution business, a trucking company, several lines of vending machines, and an ATM-servicing company.

"We think Rinker's most likely target is Dallaglio," Mallard was saying, tapping the white board. "He and Dichter were like Peter and Paul—the salesman and the organizer. If Dichter was involved enough with Rinker that she killed him, then Dallaglio's got to know her."

"Can we talk to him?" a blue-shirted agent asked.

"I called him this morning, but he wouldn't talk," Mallard said. "He said he'd have an attorney get back to me, but we haven't heard anything. We suspect there's some pretty heavy conferencing going on right now."

"We could put a net around him without asking," the agent said.

Malone chipped in: "We could, if we could keep it light enough that he didn't know. The problem is, he's hired private protection—Emerson Security out of Chicago. We don't know who yet, but Emerson has a whole bunch of ex–Bureau guys. If they put up their own security net, they'd spot us."

"So what?" another agent asked.

"So we want him scared," Mallard answered. "Officially, we're reluctant to get involved in this, unless we get something back. If we do it right, we might do a lot of damage to these guys."

"Maybe he'll just hire Emerson forever."

"No. Good protection from Emerson's gonna cost him between three and five thousand a day. He's got money, but he's not a rock star," Mallard said. "We're gonna let both him and Emerson know that we're watching his banking activity—that the IRS will want to know where the money's coming from, and where it's going to. Probably most of his money is offshore, and getting it back here, in big amounts, won't be easy, especially to pay off a legit company like Emerson. They won't take cash under the table, not in their business, not when they know we're watching."

"Maybe we'll eventually put a net around him," Malone said. She and Mallard were double-teaming the briefing. They were good at it, practiced, coordinated without awkwardness or deference. "Right now, though, we want to put some light tags on the other people. Keep track of them. Maybe somebody will run, and we'll want to know that."

"Do we have anybody on the street?" asked a woman in a square-shouldered, khaki-colored dress that made her look like a tomboy or an archaeologist. "She's not in any hotel within two hundred miles, she's not staying with anybody we've got in our history, her face is all over the place on TV and in the newspapers, but nobody sees her. Where is she? If we can figure that out...What do people do when they come to St. Louis but the cops are looking for them? They still got boardinghouses or something?"

They all thought about that for a few moments, then started making noises like a bunch of ducks quacking, Lucas thought—no reflection on Mallard.

"Lucas...what do you think?" Malone asked finally.

Lucas shrugged. "You guys are always putting up rewards like a million dollars for some Arab terrorist. If she's ditched underground with an old crooked friend...why not offer a hundred thousand and see if you get a phone call?"

"Rewards cause all kinds of subsidiary problems," a gray-shirted agent said. "You get multiple claims..."

"You guys got lawyers coming out of your ears, to be polite," Lucas said. "Fuck a bunch of multiple claims. Bust her first, litigate later. Once you have her chained in the basement, you can work out the small stuff."

"It's an idea," Malone said, without much enthusiasm. "We'd have to get the budget."

A guy in a white shirt said, "We know every place she ever worked here in St. Louis. What if we ran the Social Security records on every place she worked, and got a list of all her coworkers, and cross-matched them."

That idea turned their crank. Mallard made notes, and Lucas looked at his watch. When they sorted it out, one of the agents asked, "Is Gene Rinker going to be a genuine resource?"

Mallard looked at Malone, who said, "Two possibilities on that. First, we use him to talk her in. He's resisting. The second is, at some critical point, we throw him out there as a chip. Come in, we guarantee no death sentence, and your brother walks on the dope charge."

Lucas was twiddling a pencil, anxious to get going, but asked, "Where is he? Gene?"

"We're moving him here."

"How're you going to face him off to Clara? How is she even going to find out about him?"

Malone shrugged. "The press. They've been all over the Dichter thing. This is a large story here. There'll be a story on tonight's news that we're bringing Gene here to assist with the investigation, and we've let it be known that we've got him by the short hairs. Rinker'll hear about it. Unless she's in Greenland or Borneo."

Lucas blinked, and twiddled, and Malone finally asked, "What?"


text:
 highly conserved similar amino acids. These motifs are further designated into seven blocks: A to G. Among the seven blocks, A, B, F, and G (also known as N1, N2, C2, and C1, respectively) are the essential blocks and reside within the intein region ([Figure 3](#microorganisms-06-00019-f003){ref-type="fig"}).

Splicing mechanisms of different classes of inteins have been investigated in detail. However, it is hard to define a universal mechanism by which the protein-splicing reaction works. In some instance, it detours from canonical splicing pathway as some conserved functionally similar amino acids need assistance from the adjacent amino acids to complete the splicing reaction. A generalized mechanism of canonical splicing involves the following steps; Ester/thioester bond formation by N to O/S acyl rearrangement,Trans-(thio)-esterification between exteins,Asparagine cyclization, andSpontaneous hydrolysis of the amino-succinamide residue and O/S to N acyl rearrangement to form a peptide bond between exteins ([Figure 4](#microorganisms-06-00019-f004){ref-type="fig"}).

The splicing process can occasionally deviate from canonical splicing as a consequence of variation in the conserved amino acids of the N1, N2, C2, and C1 blocks (Blocks A, B, F, and G, respectively) ([Figure 3](#microorganisms-06-00019-f003){ref-type="fig"}). The lack of block-N2 or penultimate histidine in block-C1 affects the splicing process. For example, the *Thermococcus kodakaraensis* CDC21-1 (TkoCDC-21-1) intein has threonine instead of histidine at block-N2 \[[@B15-microorganisms-06-00019]\]. In this case, a lysine residue (K58) residing outside of the standard intein conserved motifs seems to catalyze the initial N-S acylation reaction \[[@B15-microorganisms-06-00019]\]. Similarly, the DnaE inteins of cyanobacteria have either serine or alanine in place of histidine at block-C1 \[[@B9-microorganisms-06-00019]\]. These histidine residues are important for initiating N to O/S acyl rearrangement and asparagine cyclization, respectively \[[@B15-microorganisms-06-00019],[@B16-microorganisms-06-00019]\]. In addition, an external nucleophilic attack (such as water and thiol) on the (thio) ester intermediate can cause N-terminal cleavage. Similarly, C-terminal cleavage could also occur if asparagine cyclization occurs during the delay or absence of transesterification.

7. Localized Distribution of Inteins and Post-Translational Regulation {#sec7-microorganisms-06-00019}
======================================================================

Inteins are distributed sporadically across all three domains of life. About 24%, 47%, and 1% of the total genome of bacteria, archaea, and lower eukaryotes, respectively, contain inteins \[[@B17-microorganisms-06-00019]\]. Intriguingly, 62% and 67% of inteins of bacteria and archaea reside in DNA replication, recombination, and repair proteins. In particular, inteins are embedded in DNA polymerases, DNA topoisomerases, DNA helicases, DNA strand exchange proteins, and ribonucleotide reductases. Inteins are often found inserted at critical functional sites such as the phosphate-binding loop (P-loop) or the catalytic or ligand binding sites of many essential DNA replication and repair proteins \[[@B18-microorganisms-06-00019]\]. Also, the insertion site is varied across the host proteins. DNA helicases (such as DnaB, PcrA, and UvrD) and DNA strand-exchange proteins (such as RecA and RadA) have inteins inserted at the P-loop, and DNA polymerases and topoisomerases have found intein insertion at catalytic or ligand binding sites \[[@B18-microorganisms-06-00019],[@B19-microorganisms-06-00019],[@B20-microorganisms-06-00019]\]. Inteins are also found in the ribonucleotide reductase large subunit of the *Chilo* iridescent virus \[[@B21-microorganisms-06-00019]\]. A list of proteins with intein insertion is given in [Table 1](#microorganisms-06-00019-t001){ref-type="table"}.

The discovery of enigmatic distribution and preferred insertion site of inteins has left scientists with more questions than answers. Why do inteins localize in DNA replication, recombination, and repair proteins, and in RNA transcription machinery?Is there any significance of intein association with particular conserved regions (like P-loop of NTPases or catalytic sites) of essential proteins?Do they have a regulatory role in DNA replication machinery under stress conditions? orIs it just a selective pressure that retains intein association with particular regions of certain functional proteins, as argued earlier \[[@B17-microorganisms-06-00019]\]?

Still, the localized distribution and preferred insertion of intein into essential genes is still a matter of debate. However, recent advances in intein biology indicate that inteins may act as environmental cues. The pathogenic bacteria such as *Mycobacterium tuberculosis* and *Mycobacterium leprae* have intein inserted in r*ecA* gene \[[@B22-microorganisms-06-00019]\]. Inteins inserted into *M. tuberculosis* and *M. leprae* are different in size, sequence, and location of insertion. Importantly, the *in-vivo* splicing of both inteins also varies. *M. tuberculosis* RecA precursor protein splice out spontaneously when expressed in *E. coli* and also, when N- and C-terminal purified fragments are provided *in-trans* in the presence of DTT \[[@B23-microorganisms-06-00019]\]. In contrast, *M. leprae* RecA precursor protein could splice out only in native cells and in *M. smegmatis,* not in *E. coli* \[[@B22-microorganisms-06-00019],[@B24-microorganisms-06-00019]\]. This observation suggests that the splicing of *M. leprae* RecA precursor protein is a host-specific reaction and requires an unknown splicing cofactor specific to *M. leprae* and *M. smegmatis*.

There is growing evidence of the existence of conditional protein splicing, in which the splicing process is regulated by many factors such as redox state, temperature, pH, and DNA. It is observed that some inteins contain two cysteines at the active splicing site and have the potential to form a disulfide bridge. In the case of the *Pyrococcus abyssi* DNA polymerase II intein precursor, these two cysteine residues form an intramolecular disulfide bond that inhibits protein splicing \[[@B25-microorganisms-06-00019]\]. It is speculated that *P. abyssi* is anaerobic and the presence of oxygen may pose oxidative stress. The oxidative stress may promote disulfide bridge formation and thus inhibit DNA polymerase II precursor splicing during oxidative stress. Similarly, the SufB intein of *M. tuberculosis* is found to act as a sensor for oxidative and nitrosative stress \[[@B26-microorganisms-06-00019]\].

Protein splicing is also regulated by temperature. An intein inserted at the ATPase domain of RadA (a DNA strand-exchange protein) of the hyperthermophilic archaeon *Pyrococcus horikoshii* seems to be regulated in a temperature-dependent manner. It is demonstrated that efficient splicing occurs only at temperatures between 65 to 85 °C and is controlled by native exteins (the host RadA protein fragments) \[[@B27-microorganisms-06-00019]\]. *P. horikoshii*, being a hyperthermophilic archaeon, temperature-dependent modulation of RadA production, may serve as a regulatory mechanism in this archaeon.

Deoxyribonucleic acids (DNA) are the essential genetic elements of living organisms. A recent study indicates that ssDNA (single-stranded DNA) and DNA damage response both seem to trigger the protein splicing of the *P. horikoshii* RadA protein. Interestingly, the stimulation is specific to ssDNA but insensitive to dsDNA (double-stranded DNA), dNTPs, and RNA \[[@B28-microorganisms-06-00019]\]. All the evidence given above points to the post-translational regulation of a protein's function through splicing. Therefore, it can be envisaged that protein splicing is a post-translational regulatory mechanism, by which biological functions are regulated to allow the individual to thrive under various stress conditions.

8. Applications of Intein Splicing in Protein Engineering and Biological Applications {#sec8-microorganisms-06-00019}
=====================================================================================

The intein-mediated way of breaking and making a peptide bond offers promising scope for protein engineering. Since the discovery of inteins and their splicing chemistry, protein chemists have been striving to adapt and develop a wide variety of bioengineering techniques for biological applications. To date, the splicing technique has been successfully employed in protein purification, protein modifications, peptide cyclization, and as intein-based biosensor and reporter systems. Inteins are also being investigated as a potential target for antimicrobial drugs.

9. Inteins in Protein Purification {#sec9-microorganisms-06-00019}
==================================

Affinity chromatography is a widely adopted technique for protein purification. It requires affinity tags such as 6XHis, FLAG octapeptide, Glutathione S-transferase (GST), Maltose-binding protein (MBP), or Chitin-


text:
 which endure to the present include the experiences of war, of droughts and flooding rains, of Aboriginality and of the railways and trucking routes which link Australia's vast distances. Isolation and loneliness of life in the Australian bush have been another theme. "Waltzing Matilda", often regarded as Australia's unofficial national anthem, is a quintessential Australian folk song, influenced by Celtic folk ballads. Country and folk artists such as Tex Morton, Slim Dusty, Rolf Harris, The Bushwackers, John Williamson, and John Schumann of the band Redgum have continued to record and popularise the old bush ballads of Australia through the 20th and into the 21st century – and contemporary artists including Sara Storer and Lee Kernaghan draw heavily on this heritage.

Australia has a unique tradition of folk music, with origins in both the indigenous music traditions of the original Australian inhabitants, as well as the introduced folk music (including sea shanties) of 18th and 19th century Europe. Celtic, English, German and Scandinavian folk traditions predominated in this first wave of European immigrant music. The Australian tradition is, in this sense, related to the traditions of other countries with similar ethnic, historical and political origins, such as New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. The Australian indigenous tradition brought to this mix of novel elements, including new instruments, some of which are now internationally familiar, such as the didgeridoo of Northern Australia. A number of British singers have spent periods in Australia and have included Australian material in their repertoires, e.g. A. L. Lloyd, Martin Wyndham-Read and Eric Bogle.

Folk revival

Notable Australian exponents of the folk revival movement included both European immigrants such as Eric Bogle, noted for his sad lament to the battle of Gallipoli "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda", and indigenous Australians like Archie Roach and Paul Kelly. Kelly's lyrics capture the vastness of the culture and landscape of Australia by chronicling life about him for over 30 years. David Fricke from Rolling Stone calls Kelly "one of the finest songwriters I have ever heard, Australian or otherwise." In the 1970s, Australian Folk Rock brought both familiar and less familiar traditional songs, as well as new compositions, to live venues and the airwaves. Notable artists include The Bushwacker Band and Redgum. Redgum are known for their 1983 anti-war protest song "I Was Only Nineteen", which peaked at No. 1 on the National singles charts. The 1990s brought Australian indigenous folk rock to the world, led by bands including Yothu Yindi. Australia's long and continuous folk tradition continues strongly to this day, with elements of folk music still present in many contemporary artists including those generally thought of as Rock, Heavy Metal and Alternative Music.

Popular music

Early pop music

Australian composers who published popular musical works (e.g. Ragtime, light ephemera) in the early twentieth century include Vince Courtney, Herbert De Pinna, Jack Lumsdaine, Joe Slater, Reginald Stoneham and Herbert Cosgrove, among others. Demand for local works declined with recording and broadcast.

Country music

Australia has a long tradition of country music, which has developed a style quite distinct from its US counterpart. The early roots of Australian country are related to traditional folk music traditions of Ireland, England, Scotland and many diverse nations. "Botany Bay" from the late 19th century is one example. "Waltzing Matilda", often regarded by foreigners as Australia's unofficial national anthem, is a quintessential Australian country song, influenced more by Celtic folk ballads than by American Country and Western music. This strain of Australian country music, with lyrics focusing on strictly Australian subjects, is generally known as "bush music" or "bush band music."  The most successful Australian bush band is Melbourne's The Bushwackers, active since the early 1970s, other well-known country singers include Reg Lindsay, bush balladeer singer Buddy Williams, and entertainers Johnny Ashcroft and Chad Morgan.

Another, more Americanized form of Australian country music was pioneered in the 1930s by such recording artists as Tex Morton, and later popularized by Slim Dusty, best remembered for his 1957 song "A Pub With No Beer", and Smoky Dawson. Dusty married singer-songwriter Joy McKean in 1951 and went on to become Australia's biggest selling domestic music artist with more than 7 million record sales. British-born country singer and yodeller, Frank Ifield, was one of the first Australian post-war performers to gain widespread international recognition. After returning to the UK in 1959 Ifield was successful in the early 1960s, becoming the first performer to have three consecutive number-one hits on the UK charts: "I Remember You", "Lovesick Blues" (both 1962) and "The Wayward Wind" (1963). "I Remember You" was also a Top 5 hit in the US.

Australian country artists including Olivia Newton-John, Sherrie Austin, and Keith Urban have achieved considerable success in the USA. In recent years local contemporary country music, featuring much crossover with popular music, had popularity in Australia; notable musicians of this genre include David Hudson, John Williamson, Gina Jeffreys, Lee Kernaghan, Troy Cassar-Daley, Sara Storer, Felicity Urquhart and Kasey Chambers. Others influenced by the genre include Nick Cave, Paul Kelly, The John Butler Trio, Jagged Stone and The Waifs. Popular Australian country songs include Click Go the Shears (Traditional), Lights on the Hill (1973), I Honestly Love You (1974), True Blue (1981), and Not Pretty Enough (2002).

Children's music

Children's music in Australia developed gradually over the latter half of the 20th century. The most recognised performers in that period were those associated with the long-running Australian Broadcasting Corporation series Play School, including veteran actor-musician Don Spencer and actor and singer Noni Hazlehurst. Children's music remained a relatively small segment of the Australian music industry until the emergence of groundbreaking children's group The Wiggles in the late 1990s. The multi-award-winning four-piece group rapidly gained international popularity in the early 2000s and by the end of the decade they had become one of the most popular children's groups in the world. The Wiggles now boasts a huge fanbase in many regions including Australasia, Britain, Asia, and the Americas.

In 2008 The Wiggles were named Business Review Weekly's top-earning Australian entertainers for the fourth year in a row having earned A$45 million in 2007.  They have been called "the world's biggest preschool band" and "your child's first rock band". The group has achieved worldwide success with their children's albums, videos, television series, and concert appearances. They have earned seventeen gold, twelve platinum, three double-platinum, and ten multi-platinum awards for sales of over 17 million DVDs and four million CDs.

By 2002, The Wiggles had become the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC) most successful pre-school television program. They have performed for over 1.5 million children in the US between 2005 and 2008. They have won APRA song writing awards for Best Children's Song three times and earned ADSDA's award for Highest Selling Children's Album four times. They have been nominated for ARIA's Best Children's Album award nineteen times, and won the award twelve times. In 2003, they received ARIA's Outstanding Achievement Award for their success in the U.S.

R&B and soul music

R&B soul music had a significant impact on Australian's music, although it is notable that many seminal recordings in this genre by American acts of the late 20th century were not played on Australian radio. Anecdotal evidence suggest that racism was a key factor—in his book on the history of Australian radio, author and broadcaster Wayne Mac recounts that when a local Melbourne DJ of the 1960s played the new Ike and Tina Turner single "River Deep Mountain High" it was immediately pulled from the playlist by the station's program manager for being "too noisy and too black". As a result, many local soul/R&B hits of this period were cover versions recorded by Australian acts. Despite radio's relucatance to play American soul/R&B originals, these styles were avidly adopted by local performers and covers of soul/R&B standards were staples in the setlists of many acts including Max Merritt and the Meteors, Doug Parkinson, Jeff St John, The Groop, The Groove, The Twilights, Renee Geyer and many others.

Renée Geyer is an Australian singer who came to prominence in the mid-1970s, has long been regarded as one of the finest exponents of jazz, soul and R&B idioms. She had commercial success as a solo artist in Australia, with "It's a Man's Man's World "Rock historian, Ian McFarlane described her as having a "rich, soulful, passionate and husky vocal delivery". Geyer's iconic status in the Australian music industry was recognised when she was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame on 14 July 2005.

Parallel with Geyer's success, American born vocalist Marcia Hines emerged as one of Australia's most successful solo singers. She first came to prominence in the early 1970s with critically acclaimed roles in the local stage productions of Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar (in which she was the first African-American to play


text:
 the rules. Once the founders of Pinkberry knew about the certification requirements, they quickly complied.

The timing wasn't great, as Pinkberry had already expanded to its second major market, New York City. At the same time, another competitor was entering the fray.

Red Mango had a head start on Pinkberry, opening first in South Korea in 2003. It grew to 100 locations there before opening its first American store in LA's Westwood neighborhood in July 2007, a full 18 months after Pinkberry opened. Red Mango USA founder Dan Kim shared his suspicions with the media that Shelly and Young had really gotten the idea for Pinkberry not from Italy, but from seeing Red Mango stores back in Korea. Kim told the New York Post: "Pinkberry borrowed a lot of our design elements."

Pinkberry viewed such comments as competitive sour grapes and noted that the signature design elements Pinkberry became famous for weren't present in any Red Mango stores.

The lawsuit was a major media event—"The All-Natural Taste That Wasn't," blared the New York Times—but customers didn't seem to care. Sales continued to soar. In 2008, the lawsuit was settled with Pinkberry donating $750,000 to various charities. Pinkberry won official recognition from the National Yogurt Association and the scandal was put to rest.

Pinkberry's rapid success spawned copycats—referred to by Pinkberry staff as Fakeberries—resulting in Pinkberry, too, instigating lawsuits to protect the company's trademarks. In 2008, Pinkberry sued yogurt startups Kiwiberri and Yogiberry for trademark infringement. In Yogiberry's case, the chain made changes to its logo and store décor, while Kiwiberri's case was quietly settled.

The company's focus soon returned to its products, and seasonal yogurt flavors began to be introduced, starting with pomegranate. In the years to come, additional unusual flavors would be added, including peanut butter & jelly, salted caramel, and blood orange.

Reflecting back on the company's success, Shelly says her best move was choosing the right investor who could provide not just money but expertise to help her grow her idea into a global brand. Her biggest mistake, she says, was letting the chain grow too quickly in the early days before having the infrastructure to scale the business.

Where are they now?

In April 2009 the company announced $9 million in new private financing. Shelly departed as an active manager of Pinkberry that year, but remains on the board of directors.

It turned out that parking and visibility really do matter in retail: in April 2010 the original Pinkberry store in West Hollywood was converted to a research-and-development lab, leaving neighbors in peace at last. Young left the company around the same time, ending his ties to Pinkberry in May 2010. Graves continues as CEO, implementing Maveron's global expansion strategy.

Having opened its first store in 2005, Pinkberry ended 2011 with more than 170 stores in 17 countries, with more growth ahead. More than 40 of the stores are overseas.

In the past few years, Pinkberry has faced increasing competition from another frozen yogurt trend: self-serve. While other competitors including Yogurtland allow customers to create a custom-sized serving and pay by the ounce, Pinkberry has stuck to its original model, focusing on quality yogurt products, inspirational design and customer service.

## Whole Foods Market

## A food awakening

Founder: John Mackey

Age of founder: 26

Background: College dropout living in a vegetarian commune

Founded in: 1980

Headquarters: Austin, Texas

Business type: Natural and organic foods supermarkets

Texas in the late 1970s and early 1980s wouldn't seem like the best place to start a business dedicated to natural and organic foods. A state dominated by the beef industry and famous for its barbecued ribs, it was hardly the place where an innovative, organic grocery store like Whole Foods Market would spring to life. Its founder, John Mackey, tough and combative, championed a brand and a direction that few would contemplate anywhere, let alone in a state where meat counts so much toward the local economy. Yet today the company has more than 300 outlets and has spread as far as Europe, boasting $10.1 billion in revenues for the full year to September 2011.

John and his then-girlfriend Renee Lawson Hardy went through a rollercoaster ride before attaining their success. Not only did they survive a tough recession and a skeptical consumer base, but also a flood, an eviction, and battles of conscience—not to mention many of the other challenges that can hit any business—before making a success of their natural food vision.

## An organic awakening

John had no training in business; indeed, there was very little on his résumé prior to Whole Foods that would have foretold his huge future success. By the time he set up in business in 1978, he had dropped out of no fewer than three colleges across Texas. John was a hippie: just before establishing his first company, he was living in a vegetarian co-op that was essentially a hippie commune.

He wasn't really interested in business and spent a lot of his time reading philosophy, cooking natural foods, and being outdoors. "I got interested in food when I was in my early 20s and moved into this vegetarian co-op. I wasn't a vegetarian, but I figured the co-op would have a lot of interesting women living there," he laughs in retrospect.

One of the interesting women he met there was Renee Lawson Hardy, who soon became his girlfriend, and sometime later helped co-found Whole Foods Market. John remembers that his time at the co-op was very important to him: "I learned how to cook and I became the food buyer. I got very interested in food; I sort of had an awakening about what's happened to our food over the years," he says.

John became increasingly dissatisfied by what modern culture had to offer in terms of food and the way it was produced. He found himself at odds with the high-yield, low-cost approach that most US food producers adopted. He became concerned about health and the impact that food has on a person's well-being. Also, he was troubled by the way animals were treated and became a vegetarian as a result. Later in life he would go even further and restrict himself to a vegan diet.

## Garage business

In 1978, John and Renee were just 25 and 21, respectively. John's "food awakening" had a profound effect on him. He went to work for a small natural foods store, which was his first taste of working in a retail environment, and he loved it so much he eventually decided to open a similar store himself.

John remembers, "I pitched the idea to my girlfriend: 'Hey, why don't we go do our own small store?' She loved it, and we went out and hustled everybody we knew and raised $45,000 and opened the first store."

To raise the money, John and Renee approached family, friends and acquaintances at the co-op—many of whom were hippies and were lured by John's energy and passion for natural foods but still expected a modest return for their cash.

John's biggest benefactor was his father, from whom he borrowed a crucial $10,000 that gave him a foundation. Later that same year, he was able to raise an additional $35,000 of equity investment with which he and Renee were able to officially co-found their first store, SaferWay Natural Foods (a pun on ubiquitous supermarket chain Safeway). The first SaferWay store opened its doors in Austin, Texas, in 1978 and was little more than a small shop in a garage.

Two years later, in 1980, he and Renee would team up with two other young entrepreneurs to create Whole Foods Market, launching their first store, a 10,000-square-foot outlet on Lamar Boulevard in Austin. As one of the very first supermarket-style natural foods stores in the country, the store thrived from its opening day.

"I pitched the idea to my girlfriend: 'Hey, why don't we go do our own small store.' She loved it and we went out and hustled everybody we knew and raised $45,000 and opened the first store."

Nevertheless, it was a big gamble. At the time there were just a handful of supermarkets in the US only selling organic foodstuffs. At the time, the term "organic" hadn't even been properly defined or regulated by the US Department of Agriculture (and wasn't until 2002, with the help of Whole Foods). John and Renee were pioneering a new concept of food, focused on production methods that emphasized the use of renewable resources, treated animals humanely, and didn't use genetically engineered pesticides or genetically modified ingredients or synthetic preservatives.

It was fun: local farmers would drop off produce in old pickup trucks, and John would buy nut loaves and muffins from hippie bakers. The shop was strictly vegetarian like its founders and achieved some $300,000 in sales in its first year. This didn't equate to making a profit, however.

"We didn't know what we were doing; we managed to lose $23,000," John says. "We lost half of the money which was invested in the first year. But I'm a quick learner, so we made a small profit in the second year. The first thing I realized was that the store was too small and we needed to


text:
-Chalkville

247Sports Composite ranking: 4-star (2019)

- No. 254 nationally

- No. 18 defensive tackle

- No. 9 in state of Alabama

2019 OUTLOOK

Dale joined Alabama’s football program during the Crimson Tide’s preparation for the College Football Playoff and was one of 15 early enrollees on campus for spring practice. And it didn’t take long for the true freshman to impress his teammates and coaches and work his way up to playing with the first-team defense following the first of three scrimmages for the rest of the spring.

Dale was seen working at nose tackle in between senior Raekwon Davis and junior LaBryan Ray ahead of scrimmage No. 2 and ended up starting in the A-Day Game to cap the 15-practice slate. The newcomer filled in at a spot left vacant by No. 3 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft Quinnen Williams -- replacing redshirt sophomore Phidarian Mathis, who started the spring at nose.

But the young Dale didn’t look like a player that had only been in college a couple of months.

“For a young guy, he plays like he’s been here for a while,” Davis said of Dale. “He’s great. He’s a great learner. You can teach him quick. I mean, he came in good, like good with his technique. … (His maturity) shows a lot. It shows that if a hard game’s on the line, I would trust him on my side. It tells me a lot about him. He’s just a hard-working kid. He came in just grinding.”

Davis also went as far to say Dale reminds him of former Alabama nose tackle Daron Payne.

WHY NO. 20?

Dale was one of the surprises of the spring, coming in and earning first-team reps before the A-Day Game kicked off. Mathis was a player that saw the field as a key reserve last year and has the size (6-foot-4, 317 pounds) to man the middle. Many believed he could replace the void left behind by Williams. And then there were two other freshmen -- Antonio Alfano and Justin Eboigbe -- that arrived at UA as higher-rated recruits and with more buzz surrounding their names.

But it was Dale that climbed to the top of the pecking order this spring. But now the question entering preseason camp will be can he hold onto that spot until the season starts? Mathis will have an entire summer to work on his craft, and there are three other freshmen that joined the program late last month that could find their way onto the field early -- two of which that can play inside in Ishmael Sopsher and Byron Young. They will look to compete as soon as fall practices begin.

So, why No. 20 for Dale? Because of the competition he will face in the coming months. There is a lot of football between now and the Aug. 31 opener against Duke, and with replenished depth along the defensive line, the Tide has options. Do I think Dale can hold onto the spot in the middle of that D-line until kickoff? Absolutely. I’m not questioning him anymore after what he was able to do in the spring. But simply put, he will be facing some worthy challengers come August.

WHAT SAY YOU?

*** Below are the players that are ranked below Dale at No. 20.

25. PKs Joseph Bulovas and Will Reichard

24. QBs Mac Jones and Taulia Tagovailoa

23. OL Matt Womack

22. WR DeVonta Smith

21. S Jared Mayden

Contact Charlie Potter by 247Sports' personal messaging or on Twitter (@Charlie_Potter).

*** Take advantage of 30% OFF our Annual VIP Pass for the first year ***<|endoftext|>How good are your Pokémon Go photography skills? We're asking, because Niantic is holding an in-app augmented reality photography contest for all players where Pokémon Go has been officially released. Yep, it's not limited to US residents only, and the winner will get a sweet swag bag containing a poster autographed by the team, a pair of wireless Bluetooth earbuds and -- this is the best part if you still avidly play the mobile game -- a Go Plus accessory.<|endoftext|>Lasers have a wide variety of uses, and the number of uses expands as the benefits of lasers are tested in new markets. Such expanded uses often require significant innovation to meet the demands of new uses. Availability of new types of lasers is important in this process. Presently, many new wavelengths of inexpensive laser diodes are now available, and their properties have potential for broadening the use of lasers in industry, medicine and home uses, by opening up applications that require higher power lasers for high volume low cost applications.
To make such projects practical, it is necessary to solve key problems. In particular, higher power requires improvements in numerous areas, including heat dissipation, size, cost, and safety. It is especially important to be careful to minimize costs for laser systems intended for home use and other consumer or non-traditional laser markets. In such markets, there is a need for efficient manufacturing, to obtain costs suitable for mass marketing.
Cost minimization requires not only large volume production of components, but minimization of complexity and associated assembly labor. In particular, rework or manual adjustment of alignment should be avoided. Such problems have been solved for low power semiconductor optical devices, such as LEDs (light emitting diodes) used in reading optical discs and the like. In these systems the semiconductor LEDs need to have certain power levels, but precise optical alignment and focus are not required, because emission is close to the disc, and detection of signal does not require precise focusing. The absence of a requirement for focusing or re-focusing is typical of current large-volume laser chip applications.
However, emerging uses for low cost high power lasers, for example as described in our application PCT/US2009/001350, published as WO 2009/111010 A1, require precise optical alignment of a laser with an instrument, and in some cases a sharp focus. Yet in consumer uses, the cost of the laser components of a system must be minimized. The production cost of such systems comprises the production of the laser semiconductor chips; the mounting of the chips in a device; and the alignment and testing of the device.<|endoftext|>9th AVN Awards

The 9th AVN Awards ceremony, presented by Adult Video News (AVN), honored pornographic films released in 1991 in the United States and took place in January 1992, at Bally’s Hotel and Casino in Paradise, Nevada. During the ceremony, AVN presented AVN Awards in 59 categories. The ceremony was produced by Anthony Devon and directed by Steven Austin. Actor Randy West hosted the show for the first time, with actresses Angela Summers and Hyapatia Lee as co-hosts.

On Trial 1: In Defense of Savannah won the most awards with five, but tied for Best Film with Wild Goose Chase, which won four awards. Fetish was the gay movie with the most awards, also winning four.

Winners and nominees

The winners were announced during the awards ceremony in January 1992.

Major awards

Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger ().

Additional award winners

These awards were also announced at the awards show.

 Best Actor—Gay Video: Ryan Yeager, Jumper
 Best All-Girl Feature: Buttwoman
 Best All-Sex Feature: Buttman's European Vacation
 Best Alternative Adult Release: Love Scenes, Volume One
 Best Amateur Tape: The Hard Drive
 Best Anal-Themed Feature: Dr. Butts
 Best Art Direction—Video: Hunchback of Notre Dame
 Best Bisexual Video: Innocence Found
 Best Boxcover Concept: Derrier, Coast to Coast
 Best Boxcover Concept—Gay Video: Behind the Eight Ball, Vivid Video
 Best Cinematography: John Stagliano, Wild Goose Chase
 Best Compilation Tape: Best of Buttman
 Best Director—Bisexual Video: Paul Norman, Innocence Found
 Best Director—Gay Video: Jean-Daniel Cadinot, The Traveling Journeyman
 Best Editing—Film: On Trial 1: In Defense of Savannah
 Best Editing, Gay Video: Mark Tomas, Brad Braverman; Fetish
 Best Editing—Video: Curse Of The Cat Woman
 Best Featurette Tape: Scarlet Fantasy

 Best Gay Solo Tape: Men Who Work It Alone
 Best Gay Video Feature: Jumper
 Best Music: Wild Goose Chase
 Best Music, Gay Video: “Rude Boy”, Fetish
 Best Newcomer, Gay Video: Danny Sommers
 Best Non-Sexual Performance: Carl Esser, On Trial 1: In Defense of Savannah
 Best Non-Sexual Performance, Gay Video: Sharon Kane, Majestic Knights
 Best Overall Marketing Campaign (tie): Blow Out, Infinity Video; Mr. Peepers, the series; LBO Entertainment
 Best Packaging—Film: New Wave Hookers 2, VCA Platinum
 Best Packaging—Gay Video: Behind the Eight Ball, Vivid Video
 Best Packaging—Video: Obsession, CDI Home Video
 Best Pro-Amateur Tape: Mr. Peepers Volume 25
 Best Screenplay—Film: Carl Esser, On Trial 1: In Defense of Savannah
 Best Screen


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, -1, 0?
-5
What is the closest to 4 in -5, -1, 72, 3/5?
3/5
Which is the nearest to 1/3?  (a) -22  (b) 1  (c) -1  (d) -0.1
d
What is the nearest to 2/3 in 1/4, 51/4, 0.5?
0.5
Which is the nearest to 0?  (a) 0.43  (b) -3/7  (c) 0.2  (d) 5/6
c
What is the closest to 2/5 in 0.4, -2, 0.016, 7?
0.4
Which is the nearest to 0.5?  (a) 7/6  (b) 1  (c) -36
b
Which is the closest to -1?  (a) 0.1  (b) 2/9  (c) 165.88
a
What is the closest to 4 in 0.02, 2, -0.1?
2
Which is the closest to 17?  (a) -0.3  (b) 1  (c) -3/4  (d) 0.4
b
Which is the closest to 2?  (a) 30  (b) 0.1  (c) 1/3  (d) -3
c
What is the closest to -260 in -0.2, -3, -5?
-5
What is the nearest to 0.1 in -2, -2/7, -8/5?
-2/7
Which is the closest to 0?  (a) -2.5  (b) 1/6  (c) 4
b
What is the closest to -1 in 1/2, 5, 2/7, -11?
2/7
What is the closest to -0.1 in 2/9, 4/7, -2, -4?
2/9
What is the closest to -1/4 in 1/3, 4, 1/98?
1/98
Which is the closest to 9.3?  (a) 0.1  (b) 0.3  (c) 4
c
Which is the nearest to 0?  (a) 2  (b) 0.1  (c) -1/23
c
What is the closest to 2/3 in -0.4, 113, -4/7, 0.5?
0.5
What is the closest to 7/9 in 0.4, -0.3, -0.4, -3/11?
0.4
What is the nearest to 1 in -3/4, 7, 0.3, -0.3?
0.3
Which is the closest to 0?  (a) 5  (b) -6  (c) -2/5  (d) -4
c
Which is the nearest to 129?  (a) 0.058  (b) 4  (c) -2/3
b
What is the nearest to -0.2 in -0.11, -5, -2, 0.3?
-0.11
Which is the closest to 0.19?  (a) 0.2  (b) -1  (c) -0.4
a
What is the nearest to -1/4 in -0.1, -0.3, 2/1887?
-0.3
Which is the nearest to 1?  (a) -2/9  (b) -2  (c) 2  (d) -15
c
Which is the nearest to -0.33?  (a) 0  (b) 0.3  (c) -0.14
c
Which is the nearest to 2/21?  (a) 2  (b) 0.4  (c) -42  (d) -2/9
b
What is the nearest to -1 in -3, -25/12, 5?
-25/12
What is the closest to 0 in -2, 86, -0.5, -0.4?
-0.4
What is the nearest to -5 in -0.4, 3, -1/23, -0.1?
-0.4
Which is the nearest to 2?  (a) -2  (b) 0.3  (c) 0.4
c
What is the closest to 0 in 1/2, -2/7, 0.6?
-2/7
Which is the nearest to 1?  (a) 3  (b) 2  (c) -1/4
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Which is the nearest to -0.2?  (a) -2.2  (b) -1  (c) 24  (d) 1
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What is the closest to -1 in 139, 1/7, 1/5?
1/7
Which is the closest to 0?  (a) -5  (b) -112  (c) 0.5
c
What is the nearest to 0.1 in 7, 0.4, -27, -5?
0.4
Which is the closest to 0?  (a) -1  (b) 3/5  (c) -2  (d) -58
b
What is the closest to -2/7 in -5, 1/6, 0.5, -251?
1/6
Which is the closest to -1?  (a) -3.5  (b) 1  (c) -4
b
What is the nearest to -0.1 in 2/3, -0.4, -0.5, -3.82?
-0.4
What is the closest to 1 in 3, 0.2, -48?
0.2
Which is the nearest to -13?  (a) 0  (b) -2/9  (c) -1  (d) 20
c
Which is the nearest to 16/7?  (a) 2  (b) -0.2  (c) 1/3
a
Which is the closest to -0.9?  (a) 0.5  (b) -3  (c) 3  (d) -0.4
d
Which is the nearest to 5?  (a) -0.2  (b) -4.8  (c) 0.5
c
Which is the nearest to -0.1?  (a) -3  (b) -0.3  (c) 4  (d) 3/2
b
What is the closest to -6 in 0.2, -0.4, 5, -47.2?
-0.4
What is the closest to 0.08 in 2, -2/11, 0.02, -3?
0.02
Which is the nearest to 70?  (a) -0.4  (b) -5  (c) -1/50
c
Which is the closest to -1?  (a) -3/2  (b) -2/7  (c) 2/7  (d) -11
a
What is the closest to 5 in 10/3, 4, -0.5?
4
What is the nearest to 0.1 in -1.701, -2/9, 1/4, 1/5?
1/5
What is the closest to 9 in 0, -2, 1/4, -1/9?
1/4
What is the nearest to -0.1 in 1, 0.3, -3/2, -4?
0.3
What is the nearest to -1 in 0.09, 0, -1.2?
-1.2
Which is the nearest to -1/3?  (a) 5  (b) -13  (c) -1/29
c
What is the nearest to 4/3 in -89, 0.2, -1/10?
0.2
What is the closest to -0.4 in -3/2, 2, 1, -8?
-3/2
What is the closest to 4/5 in -0.4, 1/4, 0.5, -0.076?
0.5
What is the closest to -0.09 in -5, 5, 8, 3?
3
What is the nearest to -1/2 in -0.3, -3, -1/8, 0.4?
-0.3
Which is the nearest to 4/5?  (a) 1  (b) 2/5  (c) 0.01
a
Which is the closest to -17.9?  (a) 4  (b) -1/2  (c) -6
c
What is the closest to 1 in 5, -1, 984?
-1
What is the nearest to -0.1 in -3/7, -4, 2, 6?


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 cooling. If they are fueled by coal, or, to a lesser degree, natural gas, they also emit vast amounts of carbon—the Carlsbad desalination plant, the largest in the United States, may get most of its energy from coal; it will then emit 97,000 metric tons carbon emissions a year, that is more than a dozen island nations. Carbon furthers warming, warming furthers drought, and desalination begins to resemble a snake eating its own tail.

As much as snowmaking won’t save the mountain glaciers, desalination will not save the world. If anything, it can only save the rich parts from the fate befalling the rest.

Ashkelon, IsraelOn the hunt for potable water, Israeli desalination engineers invented the world’s greatest snowmaker, a product now in use in the melting Alps.Source: McKenzie Funk

Sea-level rise

Experts in flooding, the Dutch are not especially worried about climate change—and would gladly sell you a seawall. Their faith in techno-fixes is grounded in a landscape that has become almost entirely man-made. Two-thirds of its population lives and 70 percent of its GDP is generated below sea level. In a testament to its seawalls, the Netherlands lie at the bottom of Maplecroft’s Climate Change Vulnerability Index, near northerly Iceland, Denmark, Finland, and Norway: 160th out of 170 countries surveyed.

As the rest of the planet began worrying about the sea, the Netherlands started aggressively promoting its water management expertise abroad, from dredging and engineering firms to amphibious architects. It does not lack prominent international success stories: Manhattan looks the way it does partly thanks to land reclamation by early Dutch settlers in what was then New Amsterdam, and the Netherlands’ continued existence itself is its best advertising.

Artificial islands

“We can transform you from climate refugees to climate innovators”Dutch Docklands’ Paul van de Camp addressing the president of the Maldives

Rather than erecting barriers to keep the water out, development company Dutch Docklands intends to build a floating world on top of the water. It designs not houseboats but islands and infrastructure: highways, apartment buildings, parks, airports, churches, and mosques, envisioning floating and hybrid cities as big as 100,000-person Delft. Their IP-protected designs are eminently exportable, mainly aimed at low-level, sinking islands, like Tuvalu and Kiribati. These islands can’t expect to save themselves by ringing their various atolls with seawalls—the scale and cost of it is inconceivable, but artificial islands hold more promise.

Maldives, the lowest-lying country in the world, a relatively wealthy tourism destination for the rich and famous, has already been feeling the effects of climate change: hotel chains cannot make long-term investments into beach resorts whose beaches are eroding away. Dutch Docklands’ website stated they would soon ink agreements with the Maldives for everything from floating villas to a floating marina. Greenstar, a two-million-square-foot floating garden island with shops, restaurants, and a conference center that was originally designed for Dubai, would be recycled and rebranded as a Maldivian national icon. “The green-covered, star-shape building symbolizes Maldivians’ innovative route to conquer climate change,” read the ad copy. “This will become the Number 1 location for conferences about climate change, water management, and sustainability.”

Protecting from the flood

“The consequence of ‘New Orleans’ is that the Americans have placed orders with a number of Dutch companies to the value of 200 million dollars”Piet Dircke, director of Dutch multinational Arcadis’ international water program

At a cost of $7.5 billion, in 1997 Netherlands completed its Delta Works: dikes, dams, and tidal barriers that make up the world’s greatest coastal defense network. The Maeslantkering is the crown jewel of the Delta Works, an enormous storm-surge barrier at the mouth of the port in Rotterdam, one of the largest moving structures on the planet. The barrier consists of two curved, floating gates, each one twice as long as the Statue of Liberty is tall, that swing closed when there is a storm surge of at least three meters high. Built to withstand all but a one-in-ten-thousand-year storm (even though climate change could muddy the math), the Maeslant barrier took six years and $500 million to build and install. Since then, it has been used only once, in 2007.

When it comes to seawalls, storm-surge barriers, and other city-scale defenses, Dutch firms are confident their services will be needed. After helping build storm-surge barriers for Venice, New Orleans, London, and St. Petersburg—metropolises that could afford to pay much more than any island nation could—, Dutch companies would target New York City. Dutch multinational Arcadis, a $3.3 billion, twenty-two-thousand-employee engineering firm, offered a proposal to safeguard the city. “You can’t seal off New York with just one barrier,” Arcadis’ international water program director Piet Dircke said. “You need an East River gate. On the New Jersey side you need a gate. At the Verrazano Narrows you need a gate. And you need a gate near Jamaica Bay if you also want to protect JFK airport. There are four holes, luckily not more than that.” The task would be lucrative: the Narrows gate alone would come at a cost roughly estimated at $6.5 billion.

Dircke’s proposal for the Narrows would protect Manhattan from a twenty-two-foot surge. However, it comes with one downside, one unavoidable evil: when water from the storm surge is blocked, it doesn’t just disappear, it flows elsewhere. If a surge came barreling toward a Verrazano barrier, it would do the hydrological equivalent of a bounce, landing instead somewhere else. Wall Street, the most moneyed place in the world, would be saved. But Arrochar and Midland Beach on Staten Island, Bath Beach and Gravesend in Brooklyn—these and other immigrant-heavy neighborhoods, just outside the Narrows, poorer than the core, just above sea level, would be destined for an even bigger surge, and they would likely be underwater.

When Hurricane Sandy hit New York City in late October 2012, there was not yet a barrier, just a hint of what was to come. Water flooded subway tunnels and power stations, and the cityscape went dark. Across the stormy Atlantic, in the Netherlands, Arcadis’ stock jumped 5.6 percent, capping a 43 percent rise for the year.

Rotterdam Harbor, the NetherlandsThe Netherlands, protected from storm surges by massive barriers like the Maeslant, pictured here, is selling its flood-fighting expertise to a worried world.Source: McKenzie Funk

Climate genetics

Genetic modification is the logic of climate adaptation taken one step further: instead of changing how and where life is lived, it changes, however modestly, what life is.

Dengue

The yellow-fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, is better known as the primary carrier of dengue fever, for which there is still no vaccine. Urbanization, globalized trade, and increasing air travel have helped grow dengue into a global epidemic three thousand times more prevalent than it was in the 1960s, causing as many as a hundred million infections and twenty-two thousand deaths in more than a hundred countries each year. Aedes like it hot, and they prefer humans to any other animal. They are attracted by the CO2 we exhale with every breath, and their potential range expands, many scientists believe, with every ton of CO2 our industries emit.

In 2009, the first dengue outbreak in the United States in seventy-five years took place in Florida. To battle it, the Mosquito Control District would dispatch sprayer-equipped helicopters, raining insecticide over the city. Because the Florida legislature had limited local governments’ taxing authority, the district was burning through its cash reserves. So it wanted genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes approved, and released into the city. The flagship product of British company Oxitec, the patent-protected Aedes aegypti OX513A carries a suicide gene that would theoretically doom the next generation to an early death. Sent out by the millions to breed with native Aedes, it would make dengue transmission impossible. After “sterile” Oxitec mosquitoes were released every week for six months, native Aedes aegypti population would be reduced “to zero or near zero.”

Finding cure to mosquito-borne illnesses is among the top priorities to the world’s largest charitable organization, the $33.5 billion Gates Foundation. The foundation has given:

a $19.7 million grant to a mosquito-modding consortium that included Oxitec and a number of public universities (geared toward open-source mosquito varieties, not OX513A.)

$13 million to a group in Asia and Australia trying to infect Aedes with a dengue-zapping bacteria

$62 million to the long-stalled international Dengue Vaccine Initiative

half a billion dollars and counting to a partnership with pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to hasten a long-awaited malaria vaccine

Some people are worried about transgenic mosquitos released in the wild. If Aedes aegypti is wiped out, might not Aedes albop


text:
, or is too old to be accepted and defined as a marginal donor. However, with proper screening the donor pool can be increased by accepting these marginal donors and treating the benign diseases which is beneficial to the donor. We evaluate the outcome of grafts from marginal donors. From July 1988 to August 1997, 581 live related transplantations were performed. Of the donors 52 were older than 60 years and 34 had associated benign renal or nonrenal anomaly or disease. These donors were accepted after thorough questioning and consultation with family members. The recipients of graft from elderly donors were evaluated for the number of rejections, serum creatinine at last followup and graft survival. Of the recipients 52 received grafts from elderly donors with a mean age of 62.6+/-3.7 years. Mean followup was 34.14+/-0.7 months. The 2 and 5-year actuarial graft survival was 96% and 74%, respectively. Creatinine was normal (less than 1.5) in 37% of recipients and 1.5 to 2.5 mg.% in 46%. The rejection rate in postoperative month 1 was 29%. All donors underwent simultaneous surgery to treat the benign disease, and all did well after surgery. By accepting these marginal donors a 14.6% increase in the living related donor pool was achieved without compromising recipient or donor safety. Otherwise these recipients would have been forced to undergo unrelated transplantation or be maintained on dialysis, which is particularly difficult in a developing country. Donors with associated disease benefited from cure.<|endoftext|>Q:

At what point does activation of services happen in Ninject when requesting IEnumerable

We are using Ninject in work as part of a modification to our legacy system. In some parts of the application we have opted to use a static Service Locator that wraps around Ninject. This is really only a static adapter.
When I request IEnumerable<IFoo> via our Service Locator it simply requests the same via Ninject's GetAll method. What I wanted to know is since I haven't actually enumerated the list, will all services remain inactive.
The reason I am asking is we are using Ninject to replace an old controller locator in a WinForms app. Some of these controllers are hairy so I don't want them activating until I have filtered to the one I want. How we are doing this is applying a Where clause to the collection on the service locator and then using FirstOrDefault to pick the correct one.
My understanding is that the activation will happen on enumeration (in our case at FirstOrDefault) is this correct?

A:

You are correct that the GetAll doesn't actually do anything until you enumerate it in some manner. When you ask for an IEnumerable, each item pulled brings it to life - even if it's about to be filtered by a Where (the only way it could is if IQueryable were involved).
Each item Activated, will be Deactivated in line with the normal scoping rules.
The best way to avoid this is by having a.When... or other condition dictating the filtering.

DO NOT READ PAST THIS POINT - BAD ADVICE FOLLOWS.
A mad Hack is to request an IEnumerable<Lazy<T>> (which will require Ninject.Extensions.Factory). Good related article.

<|endoftext|>Let z = -5.3 + 8.3. Which is the fourth smallest value?  (a) -3/7  (b) z  (c) 0.13  (d) 0.4
b
Let h = -124 - -123.959. Which is the second biggest value?  (a) 4  (b) 0.5  (c) h
b
Let u = 4 + -9. Let j = -4 - -11. Let i = 1071 + -1071. Which is the second smallest value?  (a) i  (b) j  (c) u
a
Let r = 16 - 14.4. Let c = r - 1.5. Suppose 0 = 2*i - 2 + 4. What is the second smallest value in i, -1/4, c?
-1/4
Let s be 1210/(-363)*4/((-16)/3). Which is the third biggest value?  (a) -12  (b) 3  (c) s
a
Let r be (-220)/(-140) + (-6)/(-14). Suppose 3*i + r*i + 5 = 0. Let y = -136/3 - -46. What is the second smallest value in i, -5/6, y?
-5/6
Let u(r) = -3*r - 5. Let s be u(-6). Suppose 0 = 3*k - 2*n + s, n + 0*n = k + 5. Suppose 0 = z + 3*z + 24. What is the second biggest value in k, -5, z?
-5
Let k(r) = -39*r**2 - r - 2. Let g be k(2). Let x = g + 1442/9. Which is the third biggest value?  (a) x  (b) -0.3  (c) 5
b
Let v be (348/40 + -7)/((-4)/8). What is the second smallest value in v, 1/7, 2/5?
1/7
Suppose -192 = 18*f - 24*f. Suppose -6 = 4*k + 10, 3*w - 5*k - f = 0. Which is the second smallest value?  (a) w  (b) 0  (c) -3
b
Let p be ((-645)/(-65) + -10)*(3 - 1). What is the third smallest value in 9, p, -4?
9
Let u be (1 - 3) + (-15 - -14). Let k(h) = -h - 4. Let r be k(0). Let y be (-2)/56 - (-2)/(-8). Which is the third smallest value?  (a) y  (b) u  (c) r
a
Let k = -150.6 + 145.6. Let z = 688004 + -478162492/695. Let o = -2/139 + z. Which is the biggest value?  (a) o  (b) k  (c) 2/31
a
Let x = 8 + -13. Let q = -7 + 3. Let o(s) = 3*s + 8. Let l be o(q). Which is the second biggest value?  (a) 1/3  (b) x  (c) l
c
Let r be (-6)/4*12/(-81). Let a = 94 - 284/3. What is the smallest value in -1, a, -2, r?
-2
Let i = 0.04 + 0.16. Let d = 26 + -26.065. Let m = d + 2.065. What is the second biggest value in m, 2/3, i?
2/3
Let n = 23 + -22.7. Let b = n - 3.3. What is the third biggest value in 3/4, -0.02, b?
b
Let h = -43.94 - 15.06. Which is the second biggest value?  (a) -0.07  (b) 0.3  (c) h
a
Let x = 0.92 + -0.94. Let l = 0.22 + x. Which is the third biggest value?  (a) 6/7  (b) l  (c) 4
b
Let l be (11 + 4)*(16/10 + -2). Let d be (-12)/4 - -3 - (-3)/l. What is the smallest value in 8/3, d, 2/5, 0?
d
Suppose 2*w = 4*c + 8, 3*w - c - 2 = -w. Let h be (28/(-18))/(-7) - w. What is the biggest value in 15, 0.1, h?
15
Let y = -4 - -78. Let k = y - 57. What is the third smallest value in k, -1, -3?
k
Let f = 10/9 - 32/45. Let d = 62 + -61.73. Let j = d - 3.27. What is the third biggest value in f, j, 4/7?
j
Let r = 245.9 + -246. What is the smallest value in -52, -4, r?
-52
Let x be ((-185)/(-259))/(15/6). Which is the third smallest value?  (a) 0.1  (b) x  (c) 40
c
Let i = 14.0153 - -0.0047. Let r = -14 + i. Which is the smallest value?  (a) 2  (b) r  (c) -0.2
c
Let n be (3/(-30)*-5)/2. What is the fourth smallest value in n, 4, -5, -3/4?
4
Let j = 0.4323 - -0.0677. Let v = 5 - 3. Which is the biggest value?  (a) v  (b) 4  (c) j
b
Suppose 3*y - 2*y = 22. Let


text:
 specificity. On subsequent insertions, the SIBS showed 95.7% sensitivity and 100% specificity, while the colorimetric device exhibited 97.8% sensitivity and 100% specificity. The colorimetric device was eight times more expensive than the SIBS. The SIBS and the colorimetric CO2 detector are very good at detecting NG tube malpositioning into the airway, although the colorimetric device is slightly more sensitive and specific. Neither method adds substantial time or difficulty to the insertion process. The colorimetric device is substantially more expensive. The decision as to which method to use may be based on local institutional factors, such as expense.<|endoftext|>Preoperative vitamin D status of adults undergoing surgical spinal fusion.
Retrospective investigation of cross-sectional data. To define the prevalence and determinants of preoperative vitamin D deficiency among adults undergoing spinal fusion. Vitamin D plays a critical role in establishing optimal bone health, which, in turn, is vital to the success of spinal arthrodesis. Recently, hypovitaminosis D was documented in 43% of adults undergoing any orthopedic surgery. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were routinely measured in adults undergoing spinal fusion at a single institution. Between January 2010 and March 2011, 313 patients were retrospectively identified for inclusion. Risk factors for vitamin D deficiency (<20 ng/mL) were analyzed using univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression. The rates of inadequacy (<30 ng/mL) and deficiency were 57% and 27%, respectively. Although 260 patients were diagnosed with degenerative disease (spondylosis), 99 had deformity, and there were 73 revision cases. There was a higher rate of smoking (P = 0.03) and lower age (P < 0.01) in the vitamin D-deficient subset. There was no sex difference. Increasing body mass index (P < 0.01), increasing Neck and Oswestry Disability Index scores (P = 0.03), and lack of vitamin D and/or multivitamin supplementation (P < 0.01) remained predictors of deficiency after multivariate analysis. Those with previous supplementation were older (P < 0.01) and more likely to be at least 50 years old than those without repletion (P < 0.01). Our investigation revealed a substantially high prevalence of vitamin D abnormality in the analyzed population. Although advanced age is a well-established risk factor for hypovitaminosis, young adults undergoing fusion should not be overlooked with regard to vitamin D screening; this age bracket is less likely to have been previously supplemented. In the absence of better-recognized determinants, spinal disability indices may also be useful in identifying those with deficiency.<|endoftext|>---
abstract: 'I give a brief introduction to Luttinger liquids. Luttinger liquids are paramagnetic one-dimensional metals without Landau quasi-particle excitations. The elementary excitations are collective charge and spin modes, leading to charge-spin separation. Correlation functions exhibit power-law behavior. All physical properties can be calculated, e.g. by bosonization, and depend on three parameters only: the renormalized coupling constant $K_{\rho}$, and the charge and spin velocities. I also discuss the stability of Luttinger liquids with respect to temperature, interchain coupling, lattice effects and phonons, and list important open problems.'
address: 'Theoretische Physik 1, Universität Bayreuth, D-95440 Bayreuth (Germany) '
author:
- Johannes Voit
title: A brief introduction to Luttinger liquids
---

What is a Luttinger liquid anyway? {#moti.unnumbered}
==================================

Ordinary, three-dimensional metals are described by Fermi liquid theory. Fermi liquid theory is about the importance of electron-electron interactions in metals. It states that there is a 1:1-correspondence between the low-energy excitations of a free Fermi gas, and those of an interacting electron liquid which are termed “quasi-particles” [@fermi]. Roughly speaking, the combination of the Pauli principle with low excitation energy (e.g. $T \ll E_F$) and the large phase space available in 3D, produces a *very dilute gas of excitations where interactions are sufficiently harmless so as to preserve the correspondence to the free-electron excitations. Three key elements are: (i) The elementary excitations of the Fermi liquid are quasi-particles. They lead to a pole structure (with residue $Z$ – the overlap of a Fermi surface electron with free electrons) in the electronic Green’s function which can be – and has been – observed by photoemission spectroscopy [@claess]. (ii) Transport is described by the Boltzmann equation which, in favorable cases, can be quantitatively linked to the photoemission response [@claess]. (iii) The low-energy physics is parameterized by a set of Landau parameters $F_{s,a}^{\ell}$ which contain the residual interaction effects in the angular momentum charge and spin channels. *The correlations in the electron system are weak, although the interactions may be very strong.**

Fermi liquid theory breaks down for one-dimensional (1D) metals. Technically, this happens because some vertices Fermi liquid theory assumes finite (those involving a $2k_F$ momentum transfer) actually diverge because of the Peierls effect. An equivalent intuitive argument is that in 1D, perturbation theory never can work even for arbitrarily small but finite interactions: when degenerate perturbation theory is applied to the coupling of the all-important electron states at the Fermi *points $\pm k_F$, it will split them and therefore remove the entire Fermi surface! A free-electron-like metal will therefore not be stable in 1D. The underlying physical picture is that the coupling of quasi-particles to collective excitations is small in 3D but large in 1D, no matter how small the interaction. *Correlations are strong even for weak interactions!**

1D metals are described as Luttinger liquids [@Haldane; @myrev]. *A Luttinger liquid is a paramagnetic one-dimensional metal without Landau quasi-particle excitations. “Paramagnetic” and “metal” require that the spin and charge excitations are gapless, more precisely with dispersions $\omega_{\nu} \approx v_{\nu} |q|$ ($\nu=\rho,\sigma$ for charge and spin). Only when this requirement is fulfilled, a Luttinger liquid can form. The charge and spin modes (holons and spinons) possess different excitation energies $v_{\rho}
\neq v_{\sigma}$ and are bosons. This leads to the separation of charge and spin of an electron (or hole) added to the Fermi sea, in space-time, or $q-\omega$-space. Charge-spin separation prohibits quasi-particles: The pole structure of the Green’s function is changed to branch cuts, and therefore the quasi-particle residue $Z$ is zero. Charge-spin separation in space-time can be nicely observed in computer simulations [@jagla].*

The bosonic nature of charge and spin excitations, together with the reduced dimensionality leads to a peculiar kind of short-range order at $T=0$. The system is at a (quantum) critical point, with power-law correlations, and the scaling relations between the exponents of its correlation functions are parameterized by renormalized coupling constants $K_{\nu}$. The individual exponents are non-universal, i.e. depend on the interactions. For Luttinger liquids, $K_{\nu}$ is the equivalent of the Landau parameters. As an example, the momentum distribution function $n(k) \sim (k_F-k)^{\alpha}$ for $k \approx k_F$ with $\alpha = (K_{\rho}
+ K_{\rho}^{-1}-2)/4$. This directly illustrates the absence of quasi-particles: In a Fermi liquid, $n(k)$ has a jump at $k_F$ with amplitude $Z$.

Bosonization, or how to solve the 1D many-\
body problem by harmonic oscillators {#lemodel.unnumbered}
===========================================

The appearance of charge and spin modes as stable, elementary excitations in 1D fermion systems can be rationalized from the spectrum of allowed particle-hole excitations. In 1D, low-energy particle-hole pairs with momenta between $0$ and $2k_F$ are not allowed, and for $q \rightarrow 0$, the range of allowed excitations shrinks to a one-parameter spectrum $\omega_{\nu} \approx v_{\nu} |q|$, indicating stable particles (cf. Fig. \[fig1\]).

True bosons are then obtained as linear combinations of these particle-hole excitations with a definite momentum $q$. Most importantly, we now can rewrite any interacting fermion Hamiltonian, provided its charge and spin excitations are gapless, as a harmonic oscillator and find an operator identity allowing to express fermion operators as functions of these bosons. This is the complete bosonization program.

For free fermions, the Hamiltonian describing the *excitations out of the ground state (the Fermi sea), a can be expressed as a bilinear in the bosons, $$H = \sum_{\nu = \rho, \sigma} \sum_q v_{\nu} |q| \left( b_{\nu,q}^{\dag}
b_{\nu,q} + 1/2 \right) \;,$$ with $v_{\nu} = v_F$, the Fermi velocity. Both the spectrum and the multiplicities of the states, i.e. the Hilbert space, of the fermion and boson forms are identical [@Haldane].*

What happens in the presence of interactions? One possibility is that the interactions open a gap in the spin and/or charge excitation spectrum. The system then no longer is paramagnetic and/or metallic. With a charge gap, we have a 1D Mott insulator,


text:
ell ein SARS-CoV-2-Impfstoff zur Verfügung steht. „Nutzen wir sie!"

Unterschiedliche Zustimmungsraten {#Sec2}
=================================

Die Zustimmungsraten zu einer potenziellen SARS-CoV-2-Impfung sind derzeit regional sehr verschieden. Laut einer weltweiten Umfrage von Emerson Polling im Juni 2020 würden in China 87% der Bevölkerung diese Impfung nutzen, in Russland dagegen nur 55%. Deutschland liegt mit 69% im Mittelfeld. Larson sprach sich dafür aus, das „emotionale Klima" in der Bevölkerung regelmäßig zu messen. „Wir müssen mehr zuhören!" Die Kommunikation zu dem Thema werde wesentlich von öffentlichen Schlüsselfiguren bestimmt, ggf. auch von Unternehmen und Arbeitgebern.

Stanley mahnte vor allem eine gute Planung an, bevor ein Impfprogramm startet. Dabei gehe es um Kommunikation auf Augenhöhe. Die Medien sollten konstant mit Informationen zu Effektivität und Sicherheit versorgt werden. Zugleich gelte es, auf das Verbreiten von Gerüchten vorbereitet zu sein.
<|endoftext|>Introduction {#sec001}
============

Both the scientific community and the general public stand to benefit from improved communication of basic scientific research \[[@pbio.1002368.ref001]--[@pbio.1002368.ref003]\]. Having a science-literate, or even sympathetic, public has major implications for both the health of our society and for the climate for public funding of research. There is also a need to draw scientists into education outreach and provide for their professional development in science communication and education \[[@pbio.1002368.ref004]--[@pbio.1002368.ref006]\]. Experience teaching science has been shown to improve skills in generating testable hypotheses and in designing experiments \[[@pbio.1002368.ref007]\], and it correlates with higher rates of publication \[[@pbio.1002368.ref008]\]. The National Science Foundation (NSF) explicitly supports science communication efforts through its Broader Impacts, a mandatory section of all grant proposals, which requires that each project have, in some way, the "potential to benefit society and contribute to the achievement of specific, desired societal outcomes," which includes encouraging science education outreach (NSF Grant Proposal Guide, Office of Management and Budget \[OMB\] Control Number 3145--0058). Despite this NSF mandate, there still are very few cost-effective models that provide training in science communication to graduate students and research scientists while benefiting the community \[[@pbio.1002368.ref009]--[@pbio.1002368.ref011]\].

Engaging graduate students and research scientists in outreach activities that provide science education for students between the ages of 5 and 18 years old (K--12) is a direct way of increasing young students' awareness of ongoing scientific research. It is also a valuable opportunity for scientists to improve their science communication skills. Inquiry-based (as opposed to content-based) teaching in particular has been shown to result in both higher content retention and more positive attitudes toward the subject matter on the part of the students \[[@pbio.1002368.ref012],[@pbio.1002368.ref013]\]. Graduate students and research scientists at the University of Texas at Austin initiated two novel educational outreach programs that combine training in science communication with outreach to area middle schools: "Present Your PhD Thesis to a 12-Year-Old" and "Shadow a Scientist." Both programs provide a venue and structure for scientists to convey their current research to middle school students through direct interaction and mentorship. Both also emphasize an inquiry-based approach to science by providing actual examples of generating and testing hypotheses (in the case of "Present Your PhD Thesis to a 12-Year-Old") and open-ended hands-on explorations ("Shadow a Scientist"). By participating in these programs, scientists become more involved in community outreach and gain experience in communicating the basic concepts and importance of their research to a general audience.

Both programs communicate current research to middle school students. Our assessment of these programs revealed a 2-fold benefit: the scientists improve their communication skills by explaining basic science research to a general audience, and the students' enthusiasm for science and their scientific knowledge are increased. Here we describe these two relatively small, scientist-initiated and scientist-operated programs, present the results from our assessment of the programs, and discuss the feasibility of exporting them to other universities.

Shadow a Scientist {#sec002}
==================

The Shadow a Scientist program matches two middle school students with a scientist for a 2-hour tour of the scientist's lab and experiments in progress. The Freshman Research Initiative, a program at the University of Texas at Austin that engages undergraduates in real research during their freshman year (<http://cns.utexas.edu/fri>), sponsors this outreach program. Shadowing a scientist gives middle school students the opportunity to visit laboratories on a university campus and interact with scientists. The middle school students---who have come from private, public, and home schools---visit one scientist who is selected based on their personal interests. On a typical visit, the students meet with the scientist and are introduced to his or her research. The students ask questions about research, do hands-on tasks in the lab, and are shown lab equipment.

The goals of the program include providing the opportunity for young students to cultivate their interest in science, allowing them to experience firsthand what a scientist does on a daily basis and providing graduate students and scientists the opportunity to explain their research and practice and improve their science communication skills. The logistics for this program are the responsibility of the program director and involve recruiting students by contacting administrators or teachers at local middle schools as well as coordinating with both parents and scientists to find a specific date that a student will shadow a particular scientist. Middle school students complete an application, which is used to schedule the student's visit to the university on a first-come, first-served basis and to match students with scientists in an area of research that interests them. Because 10--18 students participate on any given day, undergraduate students engaged in research participate as volunteers to be student escorts, providing an additional outlet for undergraduate students to participate in educational outreach. To ensure participant safety, students are required to wear appropriate lab clothing, i.e., long pants or a long skirt and closed-toed shoes. Each student must also complete a liability form before the shadowing day. Additional information, as well as a sample PDF application and liability form, can be found at <http://cns.utexas.edu/fri/outreach/164-freshman-research-initiative/outreach/633-shadow-a-scientist-program>.

In addition to providing scientists with the opportunity to hone their science education outreach skills, short-duration summer science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) projects have other documented positive outcomes for participating students and scientists \[[@pbio.1002368.ref014],[@pbio.1002368.ref015]\]. Since 2011, Shadow a Scientist has hosted a total of 503 middle school students at no charge. Forty-seven scientists, including graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and professors from diverse disciplines, have hosted students. In addition to these traditional types of scientists, many of the scientists participating in the program have been "research educators," a position for PhD research scientists teaching Freshman Research Initiative undergraduate research courses. This program provides the opportunity for research scientists to improve their science communication skills while sharing their research interests with young students and engaging in community outreach.

Present Your PhD Thesis to a 12-Year-Old {#sec003}
========================================

In "Present Your PhD Thesis to a 12-Year-Old," graduate student researchers in STEM fields present a simplified version of their PhD thesis in middle school classrooms or community centers. This program gives emerging scientists the opportunity to communicate their discoveries to middle school students and fuel students' curiosity and enthusiasm for science. Importantly, the program provides a framework for graduate students to participate in community outreach and develop their science communication skills at an early stage in their science careers.

Thus, a key goal of this program is to provide an avenue for graduate students to improve their science communication skills. Graduate students who join this program start out as "presenters" and initially learn how to present their PhD thesis to a broad audience. Presenters develop a visual, interactive presentation on their PhD thesis that can be easily understood by middle school students. Each presentation is approximately 20 minutes, and an engaging, interactive format is encouraged. Previous exemplary presentation samples are available for viewing, and new presentations are carefully vetted during practice sessions aimed at helping the new presenter develop a high-quality presentation. During practice talks for each new presenter, there is an audience of three or more experienced graduate student presenters from the program. This setting provides ample opportunities for the new presenters to meet the outreach group and to benefit from feedback from more experienced presenters with multiple perspectives based on lessons they have learned and feedback from their previous presentations.

Another goal of this outreach program is to provide a structure that enables graduate students to gain experience in initiating and developing ongoing relationships in their community. Therefore, the program relies on some "presenters" becoming "organizers" who initiate and facilitate presentation series within their communities. Organizers are autonomous and are each free to develop a lecture series with local educators in a manner that fits their schedules. Thus, one organizer might visit their community venue(s) several times a