Travel PowersHome

The hero flies by means of a rocket-like exhaust that propels him at Power rank speed. The rocket blast is created by a thermo-chemical reaction generated by the hero's body. The Power converts whatever material is around him into fuel and oxidant, then it shapes the exhaust into a stream to propel him. If the hero is in a vacuum, the Power creates fuel out of virtual nothingness.

The Power is treated like Strength to determine the maximum thrust the Power can achieve. If the thrust is high enough, the hero can carry or push additional loads. For example, Cannonball's Rm(30) thrust can lift up to 1 ton.

The Nemesis is Gravity Manipulation.

Range: See Above.


Science Directorate Programs

The mission of the APA Science Directorate is to communicate, facilitate, promote and represent psychological science and scientists. These goals are achieved through programs that promote psychological science in academic and scientific arenas, address ongoing issues and opportunities, communicate activities, issues and opportunities to members and to the public, and advocate on behalf of scientific psychology.


Archive - Visualization RSS Feed

Late Majority: How Smartphones Matured the Mobile Market

Hitchhiker’s Guide: Mapping the Consumer Media Universe

Mapping the Media Universe as a solar system of devices

(click to enlarge the Media Universe infographic)

The media universe is constantly expanding, so as consumers adopt more devices and gadgets their usage of how they watch, shop, and connect continues to evolve; today the media universe revolves around the consumer.  As the media landscape changes, PRs, Advertisers, and Marketers must navigate this new media universe, understanding not just all the gadgets consumers own, but also how they use media across devices to form their own behaviors.

Working with Nielsen’s data to provide insights into cross-platform media usage, I helped design the 2012 Consumer Usage Report from concept through completion, including the above inforgraphic meant to help navigate the media universe just in time for CES in January 2013.  Using the common marketing metaphor of the “universe”, meaning all people in the target audience, this visualization provides a snapshot overview of the US media market.  Visualizing the media universe as a solar system of planets (devices) which revolve around the sun (consumers), this infographic maps consumer ownership of digital devices (computers, mobile, tablets, etc) and devices connected to the TV (cable/satellite, game consoles, etc).  Pulling these devices together is gravity, illustrated by how are consumers spending their media time, and some may be surprised that the overwhelming majority of time spent (150+ hours per month) is watching traditional and time-shifted TV.

At the same time consumers’ media habits are rapidly changing, and the media universe continues to expand to incorporare new devices akin to a technological big bang.  During 2012 smartphones became the majority of mobile users in the US for the first time, and nearly 1 in 5 households now owns a tablet computer.  Social media usage continues to grow, and while many more consumers are using it on the go most still connect to social networks using their home computers.  And for cord-cutters like me who get much of their viewing through online stream sites, it may be surprising to learn only 4% of households own IPTV sets, but with 56% of homes using video game consoles it seems likely at least a few are watching video on Netflix and Hulu on their TVs as well.

To learn more about the how consumers use tech and media in their daily lives, please download the full report from Nielsen’s website.  And to see more examples of infographics and data visualizations I’ve worked on, check out my portfolio on this site.

Using Timelines for Visual Storytelling

Books lined up on the library shelves

As a communications professional I see my work not just as copywriting, but ideally to tell stories through my writing. My storytelling can take many forms through the written word, including blog posts or social media, and even tactical media like press releases or fact sheets. But of course writing isn’t the only way to tell story, and as a visual storyteller I’ve created a number of infographics
and visualizations that intergrate data with images and text to help make complex stories more accessible. Not to mention my work as a film student writing and editing short stories in video.

Another kind of visualization that is helpful for telling narrative stories is a timeline, which spacially represents key events over time. In a timeline events can be as significant as a milestone/landmark developments which culminate from continuous iterative progress which is illustrated over time, or as simple as a tweet/status update that shows a conflict’s initiation/resolution. And like all narrative storytelling there are key elements like context/setting and esclating conflict which should be resolved by the end.


Black History Month

The time is always right to do what is right.
-Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., activist

-Rosa Parks, activist and "the mother of the freedom movement"

Have a vision. Be demanding.
-Colin Powell, the first African American appointed as the U.S. Secretary of State

-Coretta Scott King, activist

Never be limited by other people's limited imaginations.
-Dr. Mae Jemison, first African American female astronaut

-Jesse Owens, U.S. track and field athlete

The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression.
-W.E.B. Du Bois, author and activist

-Thurgood Marshall, first African American on the U.S. Supreme Court

-Susan L. Taylor, journalist

-Wilma Rudolph, U.S. track and field athlete

-Dr. Bill Cosby, comedian and actor

-Booker T. Washington, author and politician

-Dr. Maya Angelou, author and poet

God gives nothing to those who keep their arms crossed.
-African Proverb

Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope... and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
-Robert F. Kennedy, politician

-Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., activist

-Carter Woodson, 1926, historian

Just don?t give up what you?re trying to do. Where there is Love and inspiration, I don?t think you can go wrong.
-Ella Fitzgerald, jazz vocalist

I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.
-Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., activist

-Carol Moseley-Braun, politician and lawyer

-Mary McLeod Bethune, educator

Laundry is the only thing that should be separated by color.
-Author Unknown

-Booker T. Washington, author and politician

-William Lloyd Garrison, abolitionist

-Franklin Thomas

When I dare to be powerful ? to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.
-Audre Lorde, poet and activist

-Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., activist

-Jesse Jackson, speech at Democratic National Convention, San Francisco, 17 July 1984

-Oprah Winfrey, media proprietor

A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination. ? Nelson Mandela

Surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves, those who work hard and play hard. ? Colin Powell

One of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you can't utter. ? James Earl Jones

He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life. ? Muhammad Ali

We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated. ? Maya Angelou

One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation. ? Arthur Ashe

Greatness can be captured in one word: lifestyle. Life is God's gift to you, style is what you make of it. ? Mae Jemison, 1st African American Woman Astronaut

Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody's going to know whether you did it or not. ? Oprah Winfrey

Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted. ? Martin Luther King Jr.

Non-cooperation is a measure of discipline and sacrifice, and it demands respect for the opposite views. ? Mohandas Gandhi

In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. ? Alice Walker

There are two ways of exerting one's strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up. ? Booker T. Washington

My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together. ? Desmond Tutu

Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable. ? Kenyan Proverb

Next to God we are indebted to women, first for life itself, and then for making it worth living. ? Mary McLeod Bethune

It is easy to be brave from a safe distance. ? Aesop

We are each other's harvest; we are each other's business; we are each other's magnitude and bond. ? Gwendolyn Brooks

Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place. ? Zora Neale Hurston

The need for change bulldozed a road down the center of my mind. ? Maya Angelou

The price of hating other human beings is loving oneself less. ? Eldridge Cleaver

Where there is no vision, there is no hope. ? George Washington Carver

Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly. ? Langston Hughes

Truth is powerful and it prevails. ? Sojourner Truth

Somebody once said we never know what is enough until we know what's more than enough. ? Billie Holiday

Each person must live their life as a model for others. ? Rosa Parks

All I know is I've tried my best. ? Tiger Woods

If there is no struggle, there is no progress. ? Frederick Douglass

You really can change the world if you care enough. ? Marian Wright Edelman

There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered. ? Nelson Mandela

- Wilma Rudolph,
first American woman to win three gold medals at a single Olympic Games

- Maya Angelou, author and poet

- Michael Jordan,
 Hall of Fame shooting guard

- Venus Williams, Olympic gold medalist in tennis

-  President Barack Obama

Freedom is never given; it is won.
-  A. Philip Randolph

-  Ernest J. Gaines

-  Michael Jordan

When I found I had crossed that line, [on her first escape from slavery, 1845] I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person. There was such a glory over everything.
-  Harriet Tubman


Worldwide Locations

Worldwide Locations

Microfinance in China: Micro vs. Mandarin

To be successful, microfinance programs in China had to work within existing networks. (Deb Agrin)

The most famous microfinance institution, the Grameen Bank, grew strong in the unregulated markets of Bangladesh. Nimble and flexible, the model built by the Grameen Bank proved to be an effective agent against poverty. It cut its teeth around the world, flourishing in Egypt, Bolivia, Uganda, Pakistan, and East Timor. But China was a different matter entirely. Would microfinance achieve new heights, or perish in the seemingly inhospitable market climate of China?

The world’s most populous nation, China is home to 200 million people living in poverty. This is 17% of all the world’s poor. If people hope to solve global poverty, China cannot be ignored. However, the existing social organization in China posed steep challenges. Tight government regulations threatened to bog down microfinance’s trademark strategies. Moreover, microfinance was born entirely from a principle of capitalism: namely that wealth is grown, not distributed. This is at odds with China’s purported socialism. While China had some effective means of combating poverty, many of these strategies were not helping the poorest of the poor. How, then, did microfinance find its way through uncharted territory?

In a word, microfinance adapted. For instance, the proven practice of forming groups of five clients, a hallmark of the Grameen Bank’s strategy, was difficult in both rural and urban areas of China. In many cases, both rural and urban areas were already organized into hierarchical units under the central government. People were not used to working outside of these groups. Therefore, microfinance institutions had to create groups that more closely resembled existing organizations. In some villages for instance, there were compulsory weekly meetings for almost the entire populations. These replaced smaller leadership meetings that were seen as central to microfinance’s success elsewhere. Microfinance institutions also bent the rules and allowed relatives to be members of the same group. They also relaxed their policy of having all-male or all-female group members.

Perhaps the greatest obstacle facing microfinance in China was and remains strict governmental regulations. China prohibits non-financial institutions from offering financial services to the public.To solve this problem, governments and microfinance donors are granted temporary legal exemption for their projects. There was a price, however: these organizations are not allowed to operate as independent institutions. They receive funding from the Chinese government and must accept the strings that are attached. For instance, if the government wants to target some people with loans and not others, the institutions must comply.

Despite these obstacles, microfinance began to reach the people who needed help the most. The inconvenience of weekly meetings as well interest rates that exceed those of government loans dissuaded people who are better off from participating. Microfinance institutions could focus on their mission of improving the lives of the people who were the most poor.

With China creating a market-based economy since the 1980’s, its socialist economy, and the important safety nets that accompanied it, are disintegrating. Even as the economy has grown and many Chinese citizens have become wealthy, those in rural areas are left further behind. The government fears uprisings that threaten their power if the numbers of poor grow too large, or if their situation becomes too desperate.

Impressed by microfinance’s success in alleviating poverty, the Chinese government began its own forays around the year 2000. The People’s Bank of China established Rural Credit Cooperatives (RCC), which today are the primary source of microfinance in China. Since these cooperatives were founded by the government, they are subject to its regulations. In 2005, the People’s Bank of China continued to expand its microfinance efforts. It initiated a pilot program in six provinces to establish microfinance companies run directly by the People’s Bank of China.

While microfinance has left a successful footprint on China, microfinance practices worldwide may benefit from what was learned. For instance, while unregulated markets in Bangladesh gave microfinance room to grow, many groups are hoping that now rules and oversight can protect borrowers from practices such as high interest rates and inconsistent procedures. As microfinance in China has proven, the model is adaptable and can succeed in many climates.

Authors: Heather Clydesdale and Kajal Shah


Steven Newcomb
In Rudy Ryser’s recent article, “Governing and Demagogues,” (ICTMN, 11/10/14), Glenn Morris (Shawnee) and I are the ones being termed “demagogues.” Ryser, Executive Director for the Center for World Indigenous Studies, used that pejorative to...
Byron L. Dorgan and Joanne Shenandoah, Ph.D.
John H. Horst
On the heels of an electoral drubbing, the President and Republican leaders of the new Congress remain at odds over immigration. The Republican meme of ‘securing the border’ is beginning to skip like a scratched record. But the President’s ‘phone...
Julianne Jennings
The pursuit of family history (genealogy) and origins tends to be shaped by several motivations, including the desire to carve out a place for one's family in the larger historical picture, a sense of responsibility to preserve the past for future...
Mike Taylor
I live and sleep in the mountains. Been living this way for a year now, so I guess that technically makes me homeless. I know an Indian who was similarly homeless, but she got a PhD and now does research at MIT. So there's always hope for Indians in...
Garfield Steele
The greatest resource of a tribal nation is their people. Every elected tribal council has a responsibility to the membership that they serve but more importantly they have a sacred obligation to protect the welfare of their future generations. Over...
Peter d'Errico
A new historical and cultural novel by Larry Spotted Crow Mann (Nipmuc), The Mourning Road to Thanksgiving, challenges the stereotypical American holiday tradition. The story centers on the experiences of a 40-year-old Nipmuc man coming to terms...
Andre Cramblit
The basis of the religion of the local people relies on individual effort through ritual cleanliness and ceremonies that include the entire tribe. The Tribes of this region practice the annual World Renewal Ceremonies, such as the Karuk Pikyavish,...
Jessica Carro
If you are an American, born and raised, reading this article, than you were most likely told the same Thanksgiving fairytale story growing up. We all went through a similar rude awakening later in life when we were retaught that the Natives of this...
Rudolph C. Ryser
Reading the Glenn Morris comment in “Invader-States Hijacked UN World Conference on Indigenous Peoples” and Steven Newcomb’s “A Response to Glenn Morris’s Column” alongside Vice President Will Micklen’s “World Conference Takes Concrete Action to...
Kevin Leecy
In Germany, students in grades K-12 receive mandatory instruction about the Holocaust. In South Africa, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission bore witness to the injustices of Apartheid. These countries took such public steps because they...
My alcohol and drug counselor asked me one simple question upon our first meeting. The answer would be the turning point in my life. I had become addicted to alcohol. I had just hit rock bottom. I was unsure, scared and lost. All I wanted was a...
Dina Gilio-Whitaker
I never cease to be amazed at the intellectual brilliance that comes out of Indian country. Much of it graces the pages of this site; some of these people can be thought of Indian country’s top pundits. And just as you see in the mainstream media,...
Sami Jo Difuntorum
The cornerstone of healthy communities throughout the world is access to safe, culturally relevant and quality affordable housing. Nowhere is that more apparent than in Indian Country, where Indian housing has had a long history of challenges, from...


While not recognized as a diagnosable illness in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychiatric Disorders (a professional reference used to make diagnoses), codependence generally refers to the way past events from childhood “unknowingly affect some of our attitudes, behaviors and feelings in the present, often with destructive consequences,” according to the National Council on Codependence. Certain signs can help us identify a tendency toward codependence.

Self-worth comes from external sources

Codependent people need external sources?things or other people?to give them feelings of self-worth. Often, following destructive parental relationships, an abusive past and/or self-destructive partners, codependents learn to react to others, worry about others and depend on others to help them feel useful or alive. They put other people’s needs, wants and experiences above their own.

In fact, codependence is a relationship with one’s self that is so painful a person no longer trusts his or her own experiences. It perpetuates a continual cycle of shame, blame and self-abuse. Codependent people might feel brutally abused by the mildest criticism or suicidal when a relationship ends. In his 1999 book, Codependence: The Dance of Wounded Souls, author Robert Burney says the battle cry of codependence is: “I’ll show you! I’ll get me!”

Examples of codependency

Health professionals first identified codependence in the wives of alcoholic men. Through family treatment, they discovered that spouses and family members were codependent, or also had addictive tendencies. Co-addiction occurs when more than one person, usually a couple, has a relationship that is responsible for maintaining addictive behavior in at least one of the persons.

For example, co-addicted people might believe that, at some level, getting a partner or family member to become sober or drug-free might seem like the one goal which, if achieved, would bring them happiness. But on another level, they might realize they are behaving in a way that enables the addict with whom they live to maintain their addictions.

For instance, they might never confront the addict about her behavior. Or they might become her caretaker, spending limitless time worrying about her. They might assume it’s their responsibility to clean up after and apologize for their loved one’s behavior. They might even help her continue to use alcohol or drugs by giving her money, food or even drugs and alcohol, for fear of what would happen to her if they did things differently. Many codependents come to believe they are so unlovable and unworthy that to stay in a dysfunctional, destructive relationship is the best and safest way to live.

Codependent people who believe they can’t survive without their partners do anything they can to stay in their relationships, however painful. The fear of losing their partners and being abandoned overpowers any other feelings they might have. The thought of trying to address any of their partner’s dysfunctional behaviors makes them feel unsafe. Excusing or denying a problem like addiction means they avoid rejection by their partners.

Instead, as in the example above, co-addicted people often will try to adapt themselves and their lives to their partners’ dysfunction. They might have abandoned hope that something better is possible, instead settling for the job of maintaining the status quo. The thought of change might cause them great pain and sadness.

Codependence works the same way, whether the addiction is drugs, alcohol or something else, such as sex, gambling, verbal or physical abuse, work or a hobby. If the addicts’ behavior causes worry, forcing the partners to adjust to and deny the problem, they are at great risk of becoming codependent. Those who were abused as children face an even greater risk.


Previous Page Table of Contents Next Page

2.1 Defects due to presence of abnormal milks

These are colostral milks or pathological milks which normally should not be collected or marketed. These milks have an abnormal mineral and protein composition (high chloride content - low casein content) which gives them a characteristic salty taste. Their presence in low concentrations in the collected milk does not change the organoleptic characteristics of the mixture and therefore cannot be detected by sensory analysis. The adulteration can only be detected by specific instrument methods which are chemically or physically based.

2.2 Defects due to changes in milk constituents

The main alterations in milk taste are due to bacteriological, chemical and physical changes in the milk constituents. These three aspects will be studied in this chapter.

2.2.1 Defects of microbial origin

Milk is a highly favourable culture medium for microbial life because of its chemical composition, which is rich in various nutrients, and because of its water content. Thus it is highly vulnerable to any contamination that can occur in production, processing and marketing.

Serious taste and odour defects can appear due to an accumulation of products resulting either from cell metabolism or from the effect of complex enzyme systems on the milk constituents. Many undesirable changes in organoleptic quality are possible when environmental conditions are conducive to microbial proliferation and enzyme activity. The following list of adverse changes is not restrictive. Most frequently one speaks of milk that is sour, bitter, fruity, rancid, malty, with an off-flavour tast, and also of dirty milk, etc. These forms of spoilage are associated with the growth of yeasts, moulds and bacteria. In view of its ecological characteristics, bacterial contamination is the most frequent and the greatest, and its potential development should be feared most of all. This contamination is responsible for two main types of defects: souring and lipolysis.

The defects due to acidification are the most frequently encountered since lactic flora is one of the main natural contaminants of milk, being predominantly mesophilic in character. Presence of this flora is demonstrated by a greater or lesser rapidity of acidification depending on temperature conditions at the production, processing and distribution stages. This form of spoilage is apparent in the sour taste, due not to lactic acid (which is barely volatile because of its low vapour pressure), but to the presence in smaller quantities of organic acids (acetic acid, propionic acid, carbon dioxide).

Furthermore, the heterofermentative character of lactic flora is demonstrated by a more or less marked release into the environment of numerous different volatile compounds (aldehydes, ketones and alcohols) besides the organic acids mentioned above. These compounds, when they develop in limited quantities, are sometimes sought after since they help to form the typical aroma of many milk products. On the other hand, when they are present in high concentrations they produce an unpleasant taste and odour. A classic example is diacetyl, which in a highly diluted state is responsible for a nutty taste and in a more concentrated state results in decided bitterness. Likewise, different tastes designated as malty, grape or caramel, have been attributed to the proliferation of Streptococcus lactis maltigenes.

Lactic bacteria generally are not heat resistant and most of them are destroyed by low temperature pasteurization. However, the survivors or recontaminating bacteria can be responsible for further souring if temperature conditions are favourable to their development. The predominant lactic flora in milk is mesophilic and the natural environmental conditions in warm and hot regions are often favourable to its proliferation. The use of cold treatment at different stages of production, processing and marketing makes it possible in practice to decrease considerably the dangers of spoilage due to uncontrolled proliferation of these lactic bacteria. However, it should be noted that in these conditions even with cold techniques the multiplication of microorganisms and enzyme changes are not wholly blocked and that irreversible changes in the organoleptic quality of the product can still occur.

The defects due to uncontrolled proteolysis have their origin in bacterial flora which contaminates milk on the farm and can induce proteolysis of varying intensity depending on the species concerned, time periods and temperatures. In practice, mesophiles in the case of chilled milk and psychrotrophic bacteria in the case of refrigerated milk can be the cause of milk protein solubility of varying intensity because of their extra-cellular proteases. The protein fractions released (peptides, aminoacids and amino-ammonia) can be responsible for the development of abnormal bitter, ammonia or putrid tastes. Moreover, although most proteases are heat-sensitive, some enzymes coming from psychrotrophic bacteria are thermostable and their harmful effects can appear even in standard sterilized products. Therefore milk products, although sterile, can spoil during storage due to residual enzymes that have not been rendered inactive.

Many findings have shown that susceptibility to lipolysis is not the same for all milks. Two types of factors determine the frequency and intensity of defects, viz. enzyme activity as such and the condition of the fat substratum.

The enzymes responsible for lipolysis have two different origins. Fresh cow's milk contains several lipolytic enzymes, membrane lipase and plasma lipase. Although their isolation and characteristics have not yet been totally elucidated, it is generally recognized that these enzymes have little effect on raw milk when milk is in the resting stage and the fat globules are intact. In milk products which have been subjected to heat treatment for pasteurization (72°C for 15 seconds) or sterilization (classic or UHT), their activity is believed to be nil because they have been rendered inactive by heat treatment. However, recent studies have revealed cases of enzyme reactivation causing defects.

The second origin of lipases is associated with unsatisfactory hygienic conditions of the milk on the farm. Very many bacteria species can produce lipases. Psychrotrophic bacteria are the greatest threat because of their ability to develop at low temperature and their high extra-cellular activity.

The most active and most frequently encountered microorganisms and bacteria species have a relatively short multiplication period (4 to 24 h) at commonly applied temperatures (0 – 49C); when the temperature rises the growth rate is multiplied by 5.8 for every 10°C rise.

Correlations between bacterial density and the appearance of defects have been established. In milk, when germ concentration exceeds 106/ml off-tastes can be detected. When the fat content is partly concentrated (cream, butter, cheese and powders) defects can emerge at lower thresholds, especially during prolonged storage.

Many extra-cellular lipases of psychrotrophic bacteria are also characterized by extremely high heat resistance; they are only partly inactivated by the heat treatment used in UHT pasteurization and sterilization, although the bacteria themselves may be destroyed. Organoleptic defects may therefore appear even in properly heat-treated microfree media.

As mentioned previously, the susceptibility of milk to lipolysis is dependent on lipolytic enzymes and also on fat condition.

Frequency and intensity of lipolysis increase when the initial globular state of the fat is modified. The influence of endogenous factors traceable to the cow (effect of feeding - effect of lactation stage) which determine the synthesis of the globular membrane and the stage of lactation has been demonstrated. In most cases, however, factors extraneous to the animal have a dominant role in the development of lipolysis. Excessive shaking, addition of air, repeated thermal shocks, and homogenization, all of which can occur at different stages of production and processing adversely affect the integrity of the fat globule, modify the interfaces between the fat and non-fat phase and lead to an increase of lipolysis. In the light of many recent studies it appears that the development of milk production systems - characterized by the expansion of collection areas, increased mechanization of milking, collection and transport - leads to longer processing times. These factors have overall led to a more marked degree of spoilage of the raw material of milk than in the past and to an increase in organoleptic defects in the finished product.

To benefit fully from cold treatment, this must only be applied in environments where few psychrotrophic bacteria are present. Quality improvement of milk at the production stage, where the aim is to inhibit contaminant germs by observing strict rules of hygiene, is therefore inseparable from the rational utilization of cold treatment.

2.2.2 Defects due to fat oxidation

Oxidized flavour is a result of the effect of oxygen on the milk phospho-lipids which causes the development of various flavours - cardboard, metallic, fish or oily.

Oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids of the phosphatides of the globular membrane induces the formation of hydrogen-peroxide. The results of the reaction are the formation of alcohols, acids, aldehydes and ketones producing the above-mentioned defects.

The presence of contaminant metal traces (iron and copper) and also energy radiation exposure (light or radioactive) catalyzes oxidative reaction.

In practice, in order to reduce these oxidative defects it is advisable to decrease metal contamination by using appropriate materials made of stainless steel or glass and handling the milk in recipients providing effective protection against sunlight or artificial light. The replacement of trapped air in the product and in the space at the top of the container by an inert atmosphere (CO2 and nitrogen) or by a vacuum is also highly recommended in the case of food products with a high fat content which must be stored for lengthy periods at ambient temperatures.

In the specific case of recombination of milk products the use of iron- and coppercontaminated water should be forbidden and the addition of air during mixing and transfer operations should be prevented. Low pasteurization can intensify the emergence of defects, but stronger heat treatment has the opposite effect; it causes the release of sulfydryl (-SH) groups originating from lactoserum proteins which have an anti-oxidant effect and prevent the formation of off-taste. Chemical antioxidants have the same positive effect; however, their addition is generally forbidden by law. In some countries ascorbic acid can be added to supplement the milk which in low concentration and in the presence of copper stimulates oxidation, but at higher concentration prevents the development of oxide flavours.

Homogenization provides effective protection against oxidation. Significant changes in the globule surface and in the composition and structure of membrane proteins are probably responsible for this improvement in flavour stability. In the specific case of milk products made with recombined milk, it is essential to obtain a stable emulsion of the fatty matter in order to prevent rapid spoilage. The observance of optimum homogenization conditions is of primary importance in this case.

It should also be noted that the defects resulting from oxidation of fatty acids can develop in non-fat products when they contain trace phospho-lipids.

In all cases low-temperature storage of products containing milk fat provides an additional guarantee against oxidation spoilage.

2.2.3 Defects due to heat treatment

Most milk constituents can be physically and chemically altered by heat treatment used for preservation. The extent of the resulting changes will increase with the duration and temperature of heat treatment, but it also depends on the specific sensitivity (which can vary) to heat of the respective milk components; these can be listed, in decreasing order of importance, as free enzymes, serum lactoproteins, linked enzymes, phospho- and caseinocalcium complexes, lactose and lipids.

Heat treatment completely inactivates enzymes and destroys the most heat-resistant microorganisms but causes major changes in product characteristics, which generally decrease acceptability. For example, alteration will be slight for heat-treated and pasteurized products, slightly intensified for UHT sterilized products, and more marked for products that have been subjected to the conventional lengthy autoclave sterilization.

As a rule inactivation of most enzymes is obtained through normal heat treatment and pasteurization (60–100°C) which give a better stability to heat-treated products, and eliminate in particular organoleptic defects due to the development of uncontrolled proteolysis and lipolysis in UHT-treated long-life products. However, the inactivation of particularly heat-resistant enzymes may not be complete. This is the case, for example, of lipases and of thermolabile phosphatases when protected by the fat phase and/or the protein phase during heating which are later reactivated during storage. Freak organoleptic properties due to this type of lipolysis and proteolysis have been reported quite frequently, especially for milk products derived from milks that are initially highly contaminated with psychrotrophic bacteria.

Many changes in heated milk characteristics are the result of direct spoilage of lactoserum proteins or interactions involving soluble milk proteins following heat treatment.

Direct modifications are the development of sulfhydryl (-SH) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) groups from β - lactoglobulin, and also the formation of small quantities of free sulfides and mercaptans. These impart a burned taste, but it should be noted that these free groups also decrease the oxidation-reduction potential and give a better protection of lipids against oxidation.

Recombined milk products frequently exhibit this burned taste, which is usually considered unpleasant. Its intensity increases with the heat-induced denaturation that the milk undergoes during its transformation into powder, and also with the additional heat treatment to preserve it following recombination. The development of this taste is therefore in direct ratio with the solubility value of the powder selected and the time-temperature relation of the heat treatment applied to the recombined product to ensure its stability for the desired length of time.

Thus the taste of a pasteurized product prepared from a “low temperature” powder will be little changed. On the other hand, the change will be more marked for a milk sterilized by the autoclave process and obtained through recombination with a “high temperature” powder.

The main interaction between lactoserum proteins and casein is the formation of a complex between the β -lactoglobulin and Kappa-casein. This occurs when more than 50 percent of the lactoserum proteins are denatured. It has many consequences, but where organoleptic quality is concerned, it retards the release of the R-SH and H2S groups when additional heat treatment is applied.

Heating changes the salt balance toward insoluble forms. Changes in the composition of micella surfaces and phosphate precipitation decrease the stability of the colloidal phase but these consequences have little influence on organoleptic quality.

Lactose is generally not affected significantly by UHT pasteurization and sterilization, but the damage is greater when more drastic heat treatment is used. In this case a decomposition of the lactose occurs and acids form, in particular formic (50 to 75 percent of the newly formed acids), lactic, acetic, pyruvic, propionic and butyric acids; hydroxymethylfurfural and furfuraldehyde also develop. All these components help in forming the taste, odour and colour of milk but their respective roles have not been clearly determined.

The main change occurring from heating of milk products còntaining lactose corresponds to a non-enzymatic browning reaction or Maillard reaction. This reaction, which requires little activation energy, is self-catalyzing; in its initial phase condensation occurs between a free aminic group of the casein, especially the lysine group and the lactosereducing aldehyde functions. It leads to the formation of a Schiff base followed by the Amadori rearrangement and degradation into a brown pigment (melanoidins). The browning does not always appear during heat treatment since the Schiff bases so formed can become degraded slowly in dry, liquid or medium-moist milk products during storage. A caramel-like taste develops.

In practical terms, in order to minimize the browning reaction the amount of heat treatment must be limited and storage times and temperatures reduced. The use of certain additives like sodiumbisulfite, sulfur dioxide, and formaldehyde, or the presence of (-SH) groups in the environment can effectively help to prevent these defects.

Under the influence of intense heating the fat produces lactone and methylketone compounds which if highly concentrated can cause undesirable flavours (coconut flavour) in concentrated and dried milk. but at lower levels they are responsible for the characteristic and much sought-after flavour of food cooked in butter. In moderately heat-treated liquid milk products their contribution to the development of freak organoleptic effects appears to be less.

2.3 Defects due to transmitted flavours

Because of its high water and liquid content, milk can be a major vector of fat-soluble and water-soluble foreign substances which cause off-tastes. These substances can come from the feed given to the cow, as well as from the environment before and after the milking process. They can be transmitted either indirectly in the full udder through the respiratory and/or digestive system, or directly by contact with the product after milking.

Transmission through the respiratory system is due mainly to volatile compounds contained in the atmosphere of badly ventilated premises (gases from feed or manure; gases eructed by healthy or diseased animals and the presence of foreign chemical substances, e.g. fossil fuels, disinfectants). It has thus been possible to prove the origin of various odours or tastes of cabbage, ensilage, cow, and farm. When the source of the flavour disappears and the animals once again breathe wholesome air the foreign substances accumulated in the udder are rediffused in the bloodstream and are expelled via the lungs.

The feed consumed by the animal is another known cause of unpleasant tastes and odours. When the cow consumes fresh or preserved strongly flavoured forage (ensilage, cabbage, wild tuber plants, etc.) two to four hours before milking, their characteristic taste and odour appear in the milk and can persist until elimination or metabolization of the feed, or sometimes up to about 12 hours after ingestion. It should also be noted that the problem of undesirable flavours from feeding is often associated with sudden changes of diet -for example, the transition from dry winter feeds to rich green summer forage.

Direct absorption of substances by the milk following milking is less than formerly believed since rather more volatile compounds pass through the animal. Recent studies have shown, however, that with whole milk highly volatile and fat-soluble organic solvents were directly and primarily retained by the fat phase, since skimmed milk does not show this defect. The presence of these substances in premises for the collection, processing and storage of milk or milk products has often been the source of this occurrence and therefore their presence should be prohibited.

Another class of defects designated as “chemical flavours” can be caused by the contamination of milk by chemical agents included in the formulation of detergents and disinfectants used for cleaning recipients and equipment. For instance, alterations due to the presence of chlorinated and iodized compounds have been the most frequently reported. Less frequently, phenol compounds from disinfectants and weed-killer have been considered responsible. This applies also to the development of foreign tastes and odours of the chlorophenol type transmitted by water disinfected with chlorine. It should also be mentioned that milk receptacles that have been used occasionally to contain or transfer other products (petroleum products, pesticides, non-food disinfectants and alcohol) can remain highly impregnated and, due to the residues present when reutilized normally, cause marked adverse changes in the flavour of the milk which can persist even after it has been greatly diluted.

Most technical treatments have little effect on the elimination of transmitted tastes and odours. Only vacuum treatment (degasing and evaporation) can decrease the extent of these defects, but their effectiveness is closely linked to the type of volatility of the offending substances in the physical conditions of the treatment applied.

Previous Page Top of Page Next Page


Historic tree at Ide Adobe State Historic Park fails, causes significant damage to historic structures

At approximately 9:15 a.m., Sunday, July 13, the oak tree that shaded the adobe structure in the center of the historic area of the park lost a majority of its limbs, causing significant damage to the adobe and several of the other buildings in the park.

It was fortunate that no one was injured during the incident.

The 350 year-old oak tree has provided shade to visitors of the park for many generations and was around long before the adobe building was first built in the 1850's.

The state made several efforts throughout the years in an attempt to keep the tree as part of the park's history. It included regular inspections, cabling of the limbs, and trimming as needed. This morning, the tree faced catastrophic failure when it suddenly lost almost all of its branches.

Currently, park's staff are working on securing the site and removing the debris.

Park staff will reevaluate the situations and determine what it will take to make the buildings serviceable again.

The visitor's center and day use picnic will remain open at normal hours, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Grounds, sunrise to sunset.Please call 530-529-8599 for updates.


Anna Hazare's survival on water for the past 11 days might have won him the awe and admiration of the common man, but it has surprised those in the medical field. During his fast, the 74-year-old Gandhian, who is no stranger to fasting, has lost 7 kg while managing to remain conscious, receptive and alert.

“It is remarkable that a man his age has been able to pull off this fast on just plain water. What is even more amazing is the fact that he is alert enough to think, read and speak coherently and intelligently. His body is certainly in distress as the level of ketones in the system is rising. It is probably because of his frugal eating habits and his internal adaptation that he is able to starve himself for such long periods,'' said Fortis Hospital's Director and Head of Department (Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases) Dr. Anoop Misra.

Dr. Misra said anyone 20 years younger to Mr. Hazare with an average lifestyle would not have been able to sustain such a fast. “If any average person was to undertake this fast, he would be listless within five-seven days, organ damage would have set in, blood pressure and blood sugar would have fallen and the brain would be experiencing confusion,” he added.

Dr. Naresh Trehan, who is heading the team of doctors looking after Mr. Hazare health, said: “Clearly what Mr. Hazare has been able to do is beyond the understanding and capacity of an average person. The only explanation to how he is able to sustain the fast could be because his body is used to starvation and has developed its own defence mechanism.”

A senior physician at All-India Institute of Medical Sciences' Department of Gastroenterology and Human Nutrition said, “The fact that the level of ketones in Mr. Hazare's body is rising indicates that the kidney function may have already been compromised. If the trend continues, Mr. Hazare may need to be hospitalised soon. What is, however, clear is the fact that Mr. Hazare has moved into the very high risk zone for kidney damage. People can fast, but their bodies should be used to the fasting. A younger person may be able to carry on fasting for more than 11 days but the damage to his body maybe permanent.”

Rekha Sharma, who was the Chief Dietician at AIIMS for over two decades, said: “Mr. Hazare is drinking water and his body is not dehydrated, he is not taking in carbohydrates which means that the fats and proteins are being broken down to keep the body functioning. When the body goes into starvation mode, the metabolic rate falls and the requirement for food also goes down. The external manifestation of the starvation is weight loss. What Mr. Hazare has been able to do is difficult and not recommended for anyone.”

More In: Delhi


The transputer
of occam

INMOS Technical Note 21

David May and Roger Shepherd

January 1988

1 Introduction
2 Architecture
3 occam
4 The transputer
 4.1 Sequential processing
 4.2 Instructions
  4.2.1 Direct functions
  4.2.2 Prefix functions
  4.2.3 Indirect functions
 4.3 Expression evaluation
  4.3.1 Efficiency of encoding
 4.4 Support for concurrency
  4.4.1 Communications
  4.4.2 Internal channel communication
  4.4.3 External channel communication
  4.4.4 Timer
  4.4.5 Alternative
 4.5 Inter-transputer links
5 Summary

1 Introduction

VLSI technology allows a large number of identical devices to be manufactured cheaply. For this reason, it is attractive to implement an occam [1] program using a number of identical components, each programmed with the appropriate occam process. A transputer [2] is such a component.

A transputer is a single VLSI device with memory, processor and communications links for direct connection to other transputers. Concurrent systems can be constructed from a collection of transputers which operate concurrently and communicate through links.

The transputer can therefore be used as a building block for concurrent processing systems, with occam as the associated design formalism.

2 Architecture

An important property of VLSI technology is that communication between devices is very much slower than communication on the same device. In a computer, almost every operation that the processor performs involves the use of memory. A transputer therefore includes both processor and memory in the same integrated circuit device.

In any system constructed from integrated circuit devices, much of the physical bulk arises from connections between devices. The size of the package for an integrated circuit is determined more by the number of connection pins than by the size of the device itself. In addition, connections between devices provided by paths on a circuit board consume a considerable amount of space.

The speed of communication between electronic devices is optimised by the use of one-directional signal wires, each connecting two devices. If many devices are connected by a shared bus, electrical problems of driving the bus require that the speed is reduced. Also, additional control logic and wiring is required to control sharing of the bus.

To provide maximum speed with minimal wiring, the transputer uses point-to-point serial communication links for direct connection to other transputers.

3 occam

occam enables a system to be described as a collection of concurrent processes, which communicate with each other and with peripheral devices through channels. occam programs are built from three primitive processes:

v := eassign expression e to variable v
c ! e output expression e to channel c
c ? v input from channel c to variable v

The primitive processes are combined to form constructs:

SEQuential components executed one after another
PARallel components executed together
ALTernativecomponent first ready is executed

Conventional sequential programs can be expressed with variables and assignments, combined in sequential constructs. IF and WHILE constructs are also provided.

Concurrent programs can be expressed with channels, inputs and outputs, which are combined in parallel and alternative constructs.

Each occam channel provides a communication path between two concurrent processes. Communication is synchronised and takes place when both the inputting process and the outputting process are ready. The data to be output is then copied from the outputting process to the inputting process, and both processes continue.

An alternative process may be ready for input from any one of a number of channels. In this case, the input is taken from the channel which is first used for output by another process.

4 The transputer

A transputer system consists of a number of interconnected transputers, each executing an occam process and communicating with other transputers. As a process executed by a transputer may itself consist of a number of concurrent processes the transputer has to support the occam programming model internally. Within a transputer concurrent processing is implemented by sharing the processor time between the concurrent processes.

The most effective implementation of simple programs by a programmable computer is provided by a sequential processor. Consequently, the transputer processor is fairly conventional, except that additional hardware and microcode support the occam model of concurrent processing.

4.1 Sequential processing

The design of the transputer processor exploits the availability of fast on-chip memory by having only a small number of registers; six registers are used in the execution of a sequential process. The small number of registers, together with the simplicity of the instruction set enables the processor to have relatively simple (and fast) data-paths and control logic.

The six registers are:

Expressions are evaluated on the evaluation stack, and instructions refer to the stack implicitly. For example, the ’add’ instruction adds the top two values in the stack and places the result on the top of the stack. The use of a stack removes the need for instructions to respecify the location of their operands. Statistics gathered from a large number of programs show that three registers provide an effective balance between code compactness and implementation complexity.

No hardware mechanism is provided to detect that more than three values have been loaded onto the stack. It is easy for the compiler to ensure that this never happens.

4.2 Instructions

It was a design decision that the transputer should be programmed in a high-level language. The instruction set has, therefore, been designed for simple and efficient compilation. It contains a relatively small number of instructions, all with the same format, chosen to give a compact representation of the operations most frequently occuring in programs. The instruction set is independant of the processor wordlength, allowing the same microcode to be used for transputers with different wordlengths. Each instruction consists of a single byte divided into two 4 bit parts. The four most significant bits of the byte are a function code, and the four least significant bits are a data value.

4.2.1 Direct functions

The representation provides for sixteen functions, each with a data value ranging from 0 to 15. Thirteen of these are used to encode the most important functions performed by any computer. These include:

  load constant         add constant
  load local            store local
  load local pointer
  load non-local        store non-local
  jump                  conditional jump

The most common operations in a program are the loading of small literal values, and the loading and storing of one of a small number of variables. The ’load constant’ instruction enables values between 0 and 15 to be loaded with a single byte instruction. The ’load local’ and ’store local’ instructions access locations in memory relative to the workspace pointer. The first 16 locations can be accessed using a single byte instruction.

The ’load non-local’ and ’store non-local’ instructions behave similarly, except that they access locations in memory relative to the A register. Compact sequences of these instructions allow efficient access to data structures, and provide for simple implementations of the static links or displays used in the implementation of block structured programming languages such as occam.

4.2.2 Prefix functions

Two more of the function codes are used to allow the operand of any instruction to be extended in length. These are:

  negative prefix

All instructions are executed by loading the four data bits into the least significant four bits of the operand register, which is then used as the the instruction’s operand. All instructions except the prefix instructions end by clearing the operand register, ready for the next instruction.

The ’prefix’ instruction loads its four data bits into the operand register, and then shifts the operand register up four places. The ’negative prefix’ instruction is similar, except that it complements the operand register before shifting it up. Consequently operands can be extended to any length up to the length of the operand register by a sequence of prefix instructions. In particular, operands in the range -256 to 255 can be represented using one prefix instruction.

The use of prefix instructions has certain beneficial consequences. Firstly, they are decoded and executed in the same way as every other instruction, which simplifies and speeds instruction decoding. Secondly, they simplify language compilation, by providing a completely uniform way of allowing any instruction to take an operand of any size. Thirdly, they allow operands to be represented in a form independent of the processor wordlength.

4.2.3 Indirect functions

The remaining function code, ’operate’, causes its operand to be interpreted as an operation on the values held in the evaluation stack. This allows up to 16 such operations to be encoded in a single byte instruction. However, the prefix instructions can be used to extend the operand of an ’operate’ instruction just like any other. The instruction representation therefore provides for an indefinite number of operations.

The encoding of the indirect functions is chosen so that the most frequently occuring operations are represented without the use of a prefix instruction. These include arithmetic, logical and comparison operations such as

  exclusive or
  greater than

Less frequently occuring operations have encodings which require a single prefix operation (the transputer instruction set is not large enough to require more than 512 operations to be encoded!).

4.3 Expression evaluation

Evaluation of expressions may require the use of temporary variables in the process workspace, but the number of these can be minimised by careful choice of the evaluation order.

Let depth(e) be the number of stack locations needed for the evaluation of expression e, defined by:

  depth(constant) = 1
  depth(variable) = 1
  depth(e1 op e2) = IF depth(e1) > depth(e2) THEN
                    ELSE IF depth(e1) < depth(e2) THEN
                    ELSE depth(e1) + 1

Let commutes(operator) be true if the operator commutes, false otherwise.

Let e1 and e2 be expressions. The expression of (e1 op e2) is compiled for the 3 register stack by:

  compile(e1 op e2) =
     IF depth(e2) > depth(e1)
        IF depth(el) > 2
        THEN (compile(e2); store temp; compile(e1); load temp; op)
        ELSE IF commutes(op)
           THEN (compile(e2); compile(e1); op)
           ELSE (compile(e2); compile(e1); reverse; op)
        IF depth(e2) < 3
        THEN (compile(e1); compile(e2); op)

where (I1;I2; ... In) represents a sequence of instructions.

4.3.1 Efficiency of encoding

Measurements show that about 80% of executed instructions are encoded in a single byte (i.e. without the use of prefix instructions). Many of these instructions, such as ’load constant’ and ’add’ require just one processor cycle.

The instruction representation gives a more compact representation of high level language programs than more conventional instruction sets. Since a program requires less store to represent it, less of the memory bandwidth is taken up with fetching instructions. Furthermore, as memory is word accessed the processor will receive several instructions for every fetch.

Short instructions also improve the effectiveness of instruction prefetch, which in turn improves processor performance. There is an extra word of prefetch buffer so that the processor rarely has to wait for an instruction fetch before proceeding. Since the buffer is short, there is little time penalty when a jump instruction causes the buffer contents to be discarded.

4.4 Support for concurrency

The processor provides efficient support for the occam model of concurrency and communication. It has a microcoded scheduler which enables any number of concurrent processes to be executed together, sharing the processor time. This removes the need for a software kernel. The processor does not need to support the dynamic allocation of storage as the occam compiler is able to perform the allocation of space to concurrent processes.

At any time, a concurrent process may be

active -being executed
-on a list waiting to be executed
inactive-ready to input
-ready to output
-waiting until a specified time

The scheduler operates in such a way that inactive processes do not consume any processor time.

The active processes waiting to be executed are held on a list. This is a linked list of process workspaces, implemented using two registers, one of which points to the first process on the list, the other to the last.

In this illustration, S is executing, and P, Q and R are active, awaiting execution:

A process is executed until it is unable to proceed because it is waiting to input or output, or waiting for the timer. Whenever a process is unable to proceed, its instruction pointer is saved in its workspace and the next process is taken from the list. Actual process switch times are very small as little state needs to be saved; it is not necessary to save the evaluation stack on rescheduling.

The processor provides a number of special operations to support the process model. These include

  start process
  end process

When a parallel construct is executed, ’start process’ instructions are used to create the necessary concurrent processes. A ’start process’ instruction creates a new process by adding a new workspace to the end of the scheduling list, enabling the new concurrent process to be executed together with the ones already being executed. The correct termination of a parallel construct is assured by use of the ’end process’ instruction. This uses a workspace location as a counter of the components of the parallel construct which have still to terminate. The counter is initialised to the number of components before the processes are ’started’. Each component ends with an ’end process’ instruction which decrements and tests the counter. For all but the last component, the counter is non zero and the component is descheduled. For the last component, the counter is zero and the component continues.

4.4.1 Communications

Communication between processes is achieved by means of channels. occam communication is point-to-point, synchronised and unbuffered. As a result, a channel needs no process queue, no message queue and no message buffer.

A channel between two processes executing on the same transputer is implemented by a single word in memory; a channel between processes executing on different transputers is implemented by point-to-point links. The processor provides a number of operations to support message passing, the most important being

  input message
  output message

The ’input message’ and ’output message’ instructions use the address of the channel to determine whether the channel is internal or external. This means that the same instruction sequence can be used for both hard and soft channels, allowing a process to be written and compiled without knowledge of where its channels are connected.

As in the occam model, communication takes place when both the inputting and outputting processes are ready. Consequently, the process which first becomes ready must wait until the second one is also ready.

A process performs an input or output by loading the evaluation stack with a pointer to a message, the address of a channel, and a count of the number of bytes to be transferred, and then executing an ’input message’ or an ’output message’ instruction.

4.4.2 Internal channel communication

At any time, an internal channel (a single word in memory) either holds the identity of a process, or holds the special value ’empty’. The channel is initialised to ’empty’ before it is used.

When a message is passed using the channel, the identity of the first process to become ready is stored in the channel, and the processor starts to execute the next process from the scheduling list. When the second process to use the channel becomes ready, the message is copied, the waiting process is added to the scheduling list, and the channel reset to its initial state. It does not matter whether the inputting or the outputting process becomes ready first. In the following illustration, a process P is about to execute an output instruction on an ’empty’ channel C. The evaluation stack holds a pointer to a message, the address of channel C, and a count of the number of bytes in the message.

After executing the output instruction, the channel C holds the address of the workspace of P, and the address of the message to be transferred is stored in the workspace of P. P is descheduled, and the process starts to execute the next process from the scheduling list.

The channel C and the process P remain in this state until a second process, Q executes an input instruction on the channel.

The message is copied, the waiting process P is added to the scheduling list, and the channel C is reset to its initial ’empty’ state.

4.4.3 External channel communication

When a message is passed via an external channel the processor delegates to an autonomous link interface the job of transferring the message and deschedules the process. When the message has been transferred the link interface causes the processor to reschedule the waiting process. This allows the processor to continue the execution of other processes whilst the external message transfer is taking place.

Each link interface uses three registers:

In the following illustration, processes P and Q executed by different transputers communicate using a channel C implemented by a link connecting two transputers. P outputs, and Q inputs.

When P executes its output instruction, the registers in the link interface of the transputer executing P are initialised, and P is descheduled. Similarly, when Q executes its input instruction, the registers in the link interface of the process executing Q are initialised, and Q is descheduled.

The message is now copied through the link, after which the workspaces of P and Q are returned to the corresponding scheduling lists. The protocol used on P and Q ensures that it does not matter which of P and Q first becomes ready.

4.4.4 Timer

The transputer has a clock which ’ticks’ every microsecond. The current value of the processor clock can be read by executing a ’Read timer’ instruction.

A process can arrange to perform a ‘timer input’, in which case it will become ready to execute after a specified time has been reached.

The timer input instruction requires a time to be specified. If this time is in the ’past’ (i.e. ClockReg AFTER SpecifiedTime) then the instruction has no effect. If the time is in the ‘future’ (i.e. SpecifiedTime AFTER Clockreg or SpecifiedTime = ClockReg) then the process is descheduled. When the specified time is reached the process is scheduled again.

4.4.5 Alternative

The occam alternative construct enables a process to wait for input from any one of a number of channels, or until a specific time occurs. This requires special instructions, as the normal ’input’ instruction deschedules a process until a specific channel becomes ready, or until a specific time is reached. The instructions used are:

  enable  channel     enable  timer
  disable channel     disable timer
  alternative wait

The alternative is implemented by ’enabling’ the channel input or timer input specified in each of its components. The ’alternative wait’ is then used to deschedule the process if none of the channel or timer inputs is ready; the process will be re-scheduled when any one of them becomes ready. The channel and timer inputs are then ’disabled’. The ’disable’ instructions are also designed to select the component of the alternative to be executed; the first component found to be ready is executed.

4.5 Inter-transputer links

To provide synchronised communication, each message must be acknowledged. Consequently, a link requires at least one signal wire in each direction.

A link between two transputers is implemented by connecting a link interface on one transputer to a link interface on the other transputer by two one-directional signal lines, along which data is transmitted serially.

The two signal wires of the link can be used to provide two occam channels, one in each direction. This requires a simple protocol. Each signal line carries data and control information.

The link protocol provides the synchronised communication of occam. The use of a protocol providing for the transmission of an arbitrary sequence of bytes allows transputers of different wordlength to be connected. Each message is transmitted as a sequence of single byte communications, requiring only the presence of a single byte buffer in the receiving transputer to ensure that no information is lost. Each byte is transmitted as a start bit followed by a one bit followed by the eight data bits followed by a stop bit. After transmitting a data byte, the sender waits until an acknowledge is received; this consists of a start bit followed by a zero bit. The acknowledge signifies both that a process was able to receive the acknowledged byte, and that the receiving link is able to receive another byte. The sending link reschedules the sending process only after the acknowledge for the final byte of the message has been received.

Data bytes and acknowledges are multiplexed down each signal line. An acknowledge is transmitted as soon as reception of a data byte starts (if there is room to buffer another one). Consequently transmission may be continuous, with no delays between data bytes.

5 Summary

Experience with occam has shown that many applications naturally decompose into a large number of fairly simple processes. Once an application has been described in occam, a variety of implementations are possible. In particular, the use of occam together with the transputer enables the designer to exploit the performance and economics of VLSI technology. The concurrent processing features of occam can be efficiently implemented by a small, simple and fast processor.

The transputer therefore has two important uses. Firstly it provides a new system ’building block’ which enables occam to be used as a design formalism. In this role, occam serves both as a system description language and a programming language. Secondly, occam and the transputer can be used for prototyping highly concurrent systems in which the individual processes are ultimately intended to be implemented by dedicated hardware.

[1]   occam Programming Manual, Prentice-Hall International, 1984

[2]   IMS T414 reference manual, Inmos Limited 1985.


My Account: Log In | Join | Renew
1st Page

This article in JEQ

  1. Vol. 14 No. 2, p. 164-168
    Received: Nov 28, 1983
    Published: Apr, 1985

Release of Nutrients and Metals Following Oxidation of Freshwater and Saline Sediment1

  1. R. D. DeLaune and
  2. C. J. Smith2

Mississippi River deltaic sediments were collected from freshwater and adjacent saline environments along Louisiana's Gulf Coast to evaluate chemical changes that may develop when bottom sediment from different salinity regimes with contrasting levels of reduced S are exposed to anoxic environment. Chemical transformations of the dredged sediments were influenced by changes in the sediment-water pH and oxidation-reduction status. Sediment pH decreased as the redox potential (Eh) was increased in both the freshwater and saline sediment. Both sediments had near-neutral pH when maintained under anoxic conditions and the minimum pH developed under oxic conditions was 5.1 and 3.0 for the freshwater and saline sediment, respectively. The acidity developed in the saline sediment resulted in the release of the potentially toxic metals Pb, Cu, Ni, Cr, Cd, and Sb into solution. There was also an increase in the solution concentration of Fe, Mn, Al, and Se. The solution concentration of these elements was inversely proportional Eh (P ≤ 0.05). The freshwater sediment when exposed to oxic conditions showed no increase in the solution concentrations of these elements. Results suggest that the concentration of reduced S in anoxic dredged sediment along other areas of the Gulf Coast should be closely evaluated in relation to potential acidity before subjected to upland disposal.

Copyright © .


NCSU Libraries welcomes your feedback regarding our website. Please tell us what you think.

Describe your experiences with our site on your mobile device and/or desktop. What works well? What does not?
If you would like us to contact you, please provide information such as your name and email address.


1 Timothy 3:1 NRS

1 The saying is sure: a whoever aspires to the office of bishop b desires a noble task.

References for 1 Timothy 3:1

    • h 3:1 - Or [overseer]


Castleville Legends Walkthrough [Guide]

CastleVille Legends

The kingdom has fallen into hard times since the evil wizard’s curse, and it’s up to you to help bring it back to its former glory with Castleville Legends, the latest game from Zynga. Here, players will have to go on quests and gather resources, and they can ally themselves with heroes that can help you out on your mission.

Castleville Legends is a simulation building game where players must farm resources and explore the massive environment in order to rebuild the kingdom. There are various items that the player can interact with so that the required materials can be produced and crafted. These are then used to sell in the market or with friends, and can also be used for creating even more items for use.

The game also utilizes heroes which can be used to explore areas in exchange for items. Like most simulation building games, Castleville Legends happens in real time, and things can be sped up using premium currencies in order to circumvent wait times.

Coins and crowns are the two currencies at play within Castleville Legends. Coins can be earned by selling items in the market or by trading with friends. Coins are also often awarded when quests have been completed or when levelling up. Coins are used to purchase regular items in the market as well as for acquiring certain items such as axes.

Crowns, on the other hand, are the game’s premium currency. It can be used to purchase items that are not currently available to you, and can also be used to speed up tasks or skip certain parts of quests. Although crowns may be awarded from time to time, these are usually acquired via in-app purchases. Coins may also be bought using this method.

Levelling Up
Most actions such as selling to the market, exploring ruins, and completing quests will yield players experience. Levelling up is important as it will unlock more content within the game, and Castleville Legends may also reward players with additional resources whenever players reach a certain milestone.

At certain levels and once players have reached them, heroes can be freed from crystals and can then be used to explore ruins scattered all over the castle. Heroes are also the people who will be giving you some quests, so having them available will both give you access to more things to do as well as have more people to deploy when exploring.

Latter in the game, players will be able to encounter ruins that they can send heroes to. Different ruins will require special items before they can be explored aside from the aforementioned hero. Exploration will yield different rewards, and as there are different chances as to whether you would acquire a specific item or not, players may have to explore multiple times in order to get the resource that they want.

Exploration takes time, and players will not be able to deploy heroes that are currently exploring. This process can be sped up using crowns, and the rewards will be instantly provided to you afterwards.

There are several buildings or items that can be constructed within the kingdom, each has different purposes but mainly fall under two categories, namely functional and aesthetic. Aesthetic items are nothing but decorations that you can add into the environment, while functional buildings are actually those that can help you create more items given the required raw materials.

Buildings will take time to construct, but this can be sped up using coins. Examples of buildings that yield resources are farms, kitchens, mills, cow ranches, and many more. Also, should you run out of places to build, you can expand on the surrounding areas for as long as you meet the required criteria, such as being at a specific level or having the required amount of coins. This will allow you to place more buildings and discover more places to explore.

Resources are your lifeblood within the kingdom. These can be sold at the market, or can be used to craft even more items. Resources cannot be acquired without exchanging something for it, however. Different constructs within the game will require specific items before they can cough up resources. Examples of these are axes for wood, water for apples, wood for arrows, as well as different combinations of items for more elaborate recipes.

All resources are placed within the central storage. This area, however, has limited capacity, and players must either sell off or craft items to free up precious space. Players can also choose to upgrade the storage capacity by collecting the required items for this process.

It is also important to note that resources usually have wait times before they can be collected. These can range from a few minutes to several hours. Like most things within the game, players can speed up this process by spending crowns.

Selling items is the main way to get coins, and this can be done in one of two ways. Myra’s Market is the place where players can sell off items in differing quantities, and the prices offered for them are fixed. Another option is to connect via Facebook, where players can set quantities and prices for the specific items that they want to sell. This is the easiest way for players to get items that do not have, provided that they have enough coins to complete the purchase.

Buying and selling with Facebook friends, however, will require players to connect the game to their Facebook account, and will also require an Internet connection.

Quests are the tasks or set of tasks that players must perform in order to push the story forward. Many quests can be done at the same time, and your progress can be checked by pulling up the Quest Logs screen. Quests will provide players with coins as well as experience, and this is arguably the easiest way to level up while utilizing all items currently available to you. Prioritize the completion of quests above all else to make the most out of the game.

Comments are closed.


* This is a professional Version *

Air Pollution–Related Illness

by Lee S. Newman, MD, MA

The major components of air pollution in developed countries are nitrogen dioxide (from combustion of fossil fuels), ozone (from the effect of sunlight on nitrogen dioxide and hydrocarbons), and suspended solid or liquid particles. Indoors, passive smoking is an additional source, as is burning of biomass fuel (eg, wood, animal waste, crops) in developing countries (eg, for cooking and heating).

High levels of air pollution can adversely affect lung function and trigger asthma and COPD exacerbations. Air pollution also increases risk of acute cardiovascular events (eg, MI) and development of coronary artery disease. People living in areas with a large amount of traffic, especially when stagnant air is created by thermal inversions, are at particular risk. All of the so-called criteria air pollutants (oxides of nitrogen, oxides of sulfur, ozone, carbon monoxide, lead, particulates), except carbon monoxide and lead, cause airway hyperreactivity. Long-term exposure may increase respiratory infections and symptoms in the general population, especially in children, and can decrease lung function in children.

Air pollution data have raised concerns regarding the potential health effects of even smaller particles, so-called nanoparticles, but clinical evidence of disorders related to exposure to nanoparticles has yet to be reported.

* This is a professional Version *


Rosalba Carriera

One of the most successful women artists of any era, the Venetian-born Rosalba Carriera spent most of her life fulfilling commissions for distinguished patrons at courts across 18th-century Europe.

The daughter of a clerk and a lace maker, Carriera began her career painting miniatures—mostly portraits and allegorical subjects. Such works quickly established her reputation within the Italian artistic establishment and gained her acceptance into Rome’s Accademia di San Luca in 1704.

Carriera is best known for her innovative approach to pastels, which had previously been used for informal drawings and preparatory sketches. She is credited with popularizing their use as a medium for serious portraiture.

In 1720, Carriera spent a triumphant year in Paris, visiting art collections, meeting French artists, and creating portraits of prominent individuals, including the young Louis XV. She later worked in Modena and Austria, assisted by her sister Giovanna. Her greatest patron, Augustus III of Poland, sat for her in 1713 and amassed more than 150 of her pastels.

Carriera’s last two decades were marred by the emotional and physical traumas of her sister Giovanna’s death in 1738 and the loss of her own sight eight years later, but her work continued to influence artists, such as French portraitists Adélaïde Labille-Guiard and Elisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun.


Print|Email|Text Size: ||
Do Animals Have Emotions?

To what degree various species share this capability remains to be seen, but there is compelling evidence that humans are not alone in possessing it. Diana monkeys and chimpanzees help one another acquire food, and elephants comfort others in distress. Mirror neurons also help explain observations of rhesus monkeys who won’t accept food if another monkey suffers when they do so, and empathic mice who react more strongly to painful stimuli after they observed other mice in pain.

The borders between “them” and “us” are murky and permeable, and the study of animal emotions helps inform the big question of just who we are. Another big question for which answers are revealed by studying animal passions is, “Can animals be moral beings?” In my development of the phenomenon that I call “wild justice,” I argue that they can. Many animals know right from wrong and live according to a moral code.

When people tell me that they love animals because they’re feeling beings and then go on to abuse them, I tell them that I’m glad they don’t love me. I often ask researchers who conduct invasive work with animals or people who work on factory farms, “Would you do that to your dog?” Some are startled to hear this question, but if people won’t do something to their own dog that they do daily to other dogs or to mice, rats, cats, monkeys, pigs, cows, elephants or chimpanzees, we need to know why. There’s no doubt whatsoever that, when it comes to what we can and cannot do to other animals, it’s their emotions that should inform our discussions and our actions on their behalf.

Emotions are the gifts of our ancestors. We have them, and so do other animals. We must never forget this. When it comes to animal welfare, we can always do better. Most of the time, “good welfare” is not good enough.


This Encyclopedia constitutes a preliminary source of information on various aspects of the transnational trade in cultural objects. It comprises an inter-linked collection of short entries, grouped together and organized according to the headings Case Studies, Law, Theory & Method and Terminology. They are further sorted by Place and by Subject.

A figurine from the Cara Sucia region that is in the National Museum of El Salvador

Cara Sucia

Cara Sucia is a Salvadoran archaeological site which experienced several major episodes of looting. These inspired the United States to enter into both its first UNESCO Convention-based emergency import restrictions and its first UNESCO Convention-based cultural property bilateral agreement.

Sevso treasure return to Hungary

Hungarian claim on the Sevso Treasure

Motunui panels

Motunui Panels

Five elaborately carved panels that were smuggled, sold, (almost) used to pay a kidnapping ransom, subject to a landmark court case, and were returned to New Zealand in 2014.

Pilling Collection figurines

Pilling Collection of Fremont Culture Figurines

A Fremont Culture figurine stolen from the collection of a Utah museum and anonymously returned nearly four decades later.

Placeres Stucco Temple Facade

Aidonia 4 Anemon

Aidonia Treasure

November Collection of Maya Pottery

Seized antiquities from the Bulgerian Interior Ministry of Tourism

Illicit Antiquities

Why the use of ‘illicit’ rather than ‘illegal’ or ‘criminal’ in the literature when talking about the international market in looted antiquities?

Ubina coin from Postimees.ee news article

Ubina Hoard

Discovery of Viking-age silver, looted from a site in northern Estonia, in a German auction house, and their subsequent return, led to the first ever instance of a successful prosecution against looting and trafficking of cultural objects in Estonia.

Hoi An Shipwreck


    ASTM Committee D02
    Published: 1986

      Format Pages Price
    PDF (2.2M) $55   ADD TO CART
    Hardcopy (shipping and handling) $55   ADD TO CART
    Hardcopy + PDF Bundle - Save 25%
    (shipping and handling)
    $82.50   ADD TO CART

    Offers detailed procedures for performing the API GL-5 gear tests. The procedures are part of the technical language for describing the performance of automotive gear lubricants, which will satisfy manual transmission and axle requirements of modern passenger cars and trucks.

    Committee: D02

    DOI: 10.1520/STP512A-EB

    ISBN-EB: 978-0-8031-4958-8

    ISBN-13: 978-0-8031-0940-7

    ASTM International is a member of CrossRef.


DVD shows McCartney here, there, everywhere

Of all the Beatles, Paul McCartney was the workaholic.

He usually was the first one to arrive at the studio for a session, and was the last one to leave.

That work ethic held true long after the Beatles' split in 1970, as Sir Paul continued recording and touring.

Composing and performing have been instinctive for McCartney, who obviously is not content being the most commercially successful of his former band mates, but rather, as his impressive solo discography proves, he equally prides himself on being the most prolific.

"The McCartney Years" (Rhino) is a sprawling three-DVD travelogue of the former Beatle's solo career that gathers all of his videos that begin with 1970's "Maybe I'm Amazed" through 1995's "Fine Line."

Additionally, essential live performances from Wings' 1976 tour, MTV's Unplugged and the finale from Live Aid are among the 42 songs on this collection.

Most of these clips previously were unavailable, and not only are they seldom-seen performances, but the box set also serves as an offhanded history of the video music genre itself. The set includes a basic promotional film disguised as a commercial ("Band on the Run") and full-blown, near-embarrassing cinematic productions ("Say Say Say").

Some curious entries that may have escaped the notice of the most devoted fan: the somber "Little Willow," the late-'80s Europop of "Once Upon A Long Ago" and the melodic punch of the gritty "Off the Ground."

And sure, some videos border on cliché themes and effects, but the less dazzling visuals are more than salvaged by McCartney's magnetic melodies and ever-present charisma.

Still, the kitschy "Goodnight Tonight" and the one-man-band-goof of "Coming Up" show that McCartney was adept at devising clever visuals to match his always impressive gift for ultra-catchy pop, and those moments are what make "The McCartney Years" worth reliving.

The McCartney Years (Rhino), Paul McCartney


Citizen Reporting of DUI- Extra Eyes to Identify Impaired Driving

This report summarizes the evaluation by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE) of Montgomery County, Maryland’s citizen reporting program Operation Extra Eyes, under the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Task Order “Citizen Reporting of DUI—Extra Eyes to Identify Impaired Driving,” under Contract DTNH22-02-D-95121.

Driving Under the Influence and General Deterrence

Despite the reduction in alcohol-related traffic fatalities over the past two decades, driving under the influence (DUI) and driving while intoxicated (DWI) remain a significant problem in the United States. In 2004, 16,694 people died in alcohol-related crashes (NHTSA, 2006a), and an estimated 248,000 people were injured in crashes where police reported that alcohol was present (NHTSA, 2004). According to the Household Survey on Drug Abuse (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services, 2002), 1 in 10 Americans report driving while under the influence of alcohol.

The reduction in alcohol-related fatalities over time (from 60% of all crash fatalities in 1982 to 40% in 2004) can largely be attributed to the passage of several significant legislative pieces. These include lower per se blood alcohol concentration (BAC) laws (e.g., Hingson, Heeren, and Winter, 1994, 1996; Voas, Johnson, and Fell, 1995; Wagenaar, Zobeck, Hingson, and Williams, 1995; Shults et al., 2001), administrative license revocation (ALR) laws (Beirness, Simpson, Mayhew, and Jonah, 1997; Klein, 1989; Voas, Tippetts, and Taylor, 1999; Zador, Lund, Field, and Weinberg, 1988), minimum legal drinking age laws (U.S. General Accounting Office, 1987; Toomey, Rosenfeld, and Wagenaar, 1996), and zero-tolerance laws (Blomberg, 1992; Hingson, Heeren, and Winter 1994; Zwerling and Jones, 1999).

The arrests resulting from enforcement of these impaired driving laws do not necessarily account directly for the reduction in alcohol-related injuries. Rather, publicity and media coverage regarding enforcement, raising public awareness of the risks associated with DUI, and high-visibility enforcement (such as sobriety checkpoints) have affected alcohol- and drug-impaired driving by increasing the sense of risk among prospective impaired drivers. Much of the effectiveness of impaired driving enforcement activity is attributed to general deterrence (Ross, 1984). The awareness that quick, certain, and severe punishments result from DWI events also has contributed to the reduction in impaired driving fatalities (Edwards et al., 1994; Hingson, 1996). The most significant of these factors is the public’s perception of the risk of apprehension (Ross and Voas, 1989).

Citizen Reporting Programs

The concept of citizen reporting of impaired driving has been in place for decades in the United States but has not been carefully evaluated as a separate countermeasure. In its simplest form, citizen reporting has been merely an encouragement to citizens to report suspected impaired driving so that police may be dispatched to look for, evaluate the driving of, and apprehend suspected impaired drivers. For example, in the early 1980s, as a part of a test combining enforcement and public information to deter impaired driving, the Boise Police Department enhanced and publicized the Idaho “Report Every Drunk Driver Immediately” (REDDI) program. This program encouraged citizen reporting using a hotline to the Idaho State Police dispatcher. The

Boise program used press releases, radio public service advertisements (PSAs), and billboards to publicize the program both to encourage citizen reporting and to raise the perceived risk of detection and apprehension by potential impaired drivers. Additionally, the Boise Police Department implemented a procedure in which letters were sent to the registered owners of vehicles reported by citizens to be operated by suspected, but not apprehended, impaired drivers. These letters reported the event and urged responsible behavior in the future (Lacey et al., 1990).

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) included the adoption of the citizen reporting program among its recommendations to State governors in the early 1980s; consequently, 12 additional States adopted REDDI programs, bringing the total to 18 by August 1983. These programs reported 49,719 citizen calls, resulting in 12,070 police contacts and 7,662 DWI arrests. The board said that with such programs, “the detection capabilities of the police have been expanded and the deterrent effect of DUI enforcement programs has been increased” (NTSB, 1984).

REDDI programs still exist and provide variants of the NHTSA DUI detection cues and public reporting procedures. Typically, press releases are issued during the holiday season to remind the public to be on the look out for alcohol-impaired drivers.

Montgomery County, Maryland has adopted an additional, more focused variant of the citizen reporting concept in which private citizens are trained in detection cues and equipped with communication devices so they can report suspected impaired drivers more directly and quickly to the police on scheduled nights. They often are deployed during times of intensified enforcement, such as saturation patrols, allowing police to respond more quickly to potential violations. This activity is often supplemented by student volunteers who are stationed in police vehicles or in arrest processing areas and assist police officers in fulfilling DUI paperwork requirements.

Study Significance and Objectives

Resources for impaired driving law enforcement are diminishing, mainly due to State budget adjustments as well as officer burnout. To supplement traditional enforcement resources, the Montgomery County Police developed the Operation Extra Eyes program. This innovative program uses community volunteers, not only to provide assistance for impaired driving efforts, but also to demonstrate support to law enforcement.
Although citizen reporting programs are fairly widespread and are thought to be a “good thing,” there is little objective information to justify that opinion. NHTSA initiated a review of citizen reporting programs such as Extra Eyes to assess whether such programs are potentially effective in helping to reduce impaired driving.

This study has two main objectives: (1) document the citizen anti-impaired driving activities conducted by law enforcement agencies in Montgomery County, Maryland, and (2) assess the program’s possible effect on impaired driving.