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বুধবার, ৫ জুন, ২০১৩

Wildlife Conservation Pioneers Honored For Sacrifices

HARRISBURG, Pa., June 4, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Two pioneers of wildlife conservation in Pennsylvania have had their names added to a Washington, D.C. memorial that recognizes the sacrifice of law-enforcement officers who die in the line of duty.

Dr. Joseph H. Kalbfus and Elias W. "Woody" Kelly, who died together in a vehicle crash in 1919, were among 321 officers who officially had their names added to the walls of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial at a May 13 ceremony.

Kalbfus was Pennsylvania's first chief game protector and the second executive secretary of the Pennsylvania Game Commission, while Kelly was instrumental in the development of the state's game-refuge system to restore beleaguered wildlife populations in the early 20^th century.

Refuges were the precursor to the State Game Lands system, which now comprises about 1.5 million acres statewide.

Beginning his work at a time when laws to protect wildlife weren't readily followed or enforced, Kalbfus is known for his tenacity to achieve compliance in a dangerous environment, where officers were frequently fired upon. He also was instrumental in the creation of a resident hunting license to fund wildlife management, launching the game-refuge system and restocking Pennsylvania's depleted deer herd.

Meanwhile, Kelly, a game protector, quickly rose through the ranks to become the field superintendent of game refuges, working tirelessly to improve game conditions throughout the state. His achievements included reintroducing beaver, which had vanished from the state in the late 1800s.

In August 1919, Kelly and Kalbfus were among a group that set out to identify prospective game refuges west of the Allegheny Mountains, when the men met their untimely deaths at a railroad intersection. Their vehicle was struck by a train at a high rate of speed near Tiona, in Warren County.

The addition of Kalbfus and Kelly to the memorial results from recent efforts by the Game Commission to have the men honored. Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe made application to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial earlier this year.

"We take great pride in our wildlife conservation officers, past and present, and we're proud the sacrifices of these two men now have been honored eternally," Roe said.

A six-man contingent of the Game Commission's Ceremonial Unit took part in the May 13 ceremony.

A more detailed account of the ceremony, as well as the lives of Kalbfus and Kelly, will be featured in an upcoming edition of the Pennsylvania Game News.

FALLEN OFFICERS

The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. contains the names of more than 19,000 men and women who were killed in the line of duty. Seven of those officers served with the Pennsylvania Game Commission at the time of their deaths. They are:

L. Seeley Houk, fatally shot in Lawrence County in 1906
Joseph McHugh, fatally shot in Carbon County in 1915
Joseph H. Kalbfus, died in Warren County crash in 1919
Elias W. "Woody" Kelly, died in Warren County crash in 1919
John B. Ross, drowned during McKean County rescue attempt in 1942
Woodrow E. Portzline, suffered heart attack during 1973 investigation
David L. Grove, fatally shot in Adams County in 2010

Editor's note: Photographs available with this news release.

SOURCE Pennsylvania Game Commission

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wildlife-conservation-pioneers-honored-sacrifices-114200262.html

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সোমবার, ৩ জুন, ২০১৩

Orne, M.T. (1962) On the social psychology of the psychological ...

Accession Number= 00000487-196211000-00005

Finally I found an article presenting notes on social psychology studies regarding the behavior of people as test participants. Although usability tests are not generally treated as scientific or psychological experiments, many similar phenomenon as in Orne?s studies can be identified also in usability tests. For example, the test users are ready to ?perform a very wide range of actions on request without inquiring as to their purpose, and frequently without inquiring as to their durations?, as Orne mentions. Furthermore, the tasks are carried out with care even for hours until the experimenter ends the session. It is unlikely that the test users would perform with similar care and persistence in contexts outside the tests.

In Orne?s studies, test participants have been shown to be eager to validate the experimental hypothesis that they infer from various cues ranging from the reputation of the research filed, rumors of the specific study and research group to the gestures and tones of the experimenter. Even if the tasks are clearly meaningless, the participants continue to do them and rely the test to have an important purpose. As the factors affecting to test participants? expectations and behaviour cannot be eliminated, Orne recommends to identify them as systematically as possible to be able to assess their effect on the results and especially the extent to which the results can be generalized to contexts outside test situations.

Although the article is even older than me, people have not changed, so they behave much the same way in usability tests nowadays, so it is important to have at leas some idea of the numerous factors possibly influencing the test.

Posted by Sirpa

Source: https://blogs.aalto.fi/stratusreader/2013/06/02/orne-m-t-1962-on-the-social-psychology-of-the-psychological-experiment-with-particular-reference-to-demand-characteristics-and-their-implications-american-psychologist-vol-17-no-11-pp-776/

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Draghi defends bond program ahead of court hearing

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) ? European Central Bank head Mario Draghi is defending a central bank program that has been credited with calming market turmoil over the continent's debt crisis, ahead of closely watched hearings in a court challenge to the program next week.

In the text of a speech to a conference in Shanghai, China, Draghi on Monday rejected criticism of the bank's program to purchase government bonds, saying it had defused fears the eurozone might break up.

Among the critics of the program is Germany's Bundesbank central bank, which submitted a legal brief with its objections ahead of hearings in Germany's Constitutional Court June 11-12 in Karlsruhe. The Bundesbank's head, Jens Weidmann, voted against the program in his role as one of 23 member of the ECB's governing council.The court ruling is shaping up as a potential source of worry about potential new disruptions to markets in Europe.

Under the program, dubbed OMTs for outright market transactions, the ECB could buy government bonds issued by governments struggling with heavy debts. The purchases would drive down the interest costs those countries would face in the bond market when they sell new bonds to pay off old ones that are coming due, as they must constantly do. The catch is, governments that want help must apply for a bailout loan or credit line from the eurozone's financial rescue fund, and agree in writing to take steps to reduce its deficits and debt.

No bonds have been bought. But the mere offer has lowered bond-market borrowing costs for indebted countries such as Spain and Italy. That has taken financial pressure off those governments and given them time to get their finances in order without worrying about a spike in borrowing costs. High borrowing costs pushed Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Cyprus to seek bailouts in the form of loans with strict conditions attached from the other eurozone governments.

Draghi answered several of the objections that have been brought against the OMT program ? that by lowering borrowing costs it would ease pressure on governments to reform, and that it made decisions by the independent central bank dependent on what governments decide to do.

He said it did not take pressure off governments to reduce their budget deficits and debt because of the requirement to sign up for potentially painful conditions that mean giving up some of the governments' decision-making authority over spending and taxes to its creditors.

"They can either reform without OMTs and retain economic sovereignty or they can reform with OMTs but give up some of their economic sovereignty," Draghi said in the speech text. "Either way, they have to persevere in their reform efforts."

"So it is quite misleading to compare OMTs to historical episodes in which governments relied on central bank support to replace fiscal consolidation," he said.

Draghi said the bank's independence was not compromised because it did not automatically have to start bond purchases just because a government had applied for a bailout. The ECB "retains its full discretion," he said.

Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg Bank in London, said that the court was unlikely to completely reject the OMT program or bar German support for it.

"But we cannot rule out an awkward verdict in which the court may, for instance, attach conditions to any Bundesbank/German participation in ECB actions and thereby render these actions less effective or even potentially ineffective," he wrote in a research note to investors.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-06-02-European%20Central%20Bank/id-5440b37ba1b041489022ef4f2545ba7d

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Biodiversity argumentation: How to get it right

Public release date: 3-Jun-2013
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Contact: Rob Bugter
Rob.Bugter@wur.nl
31-317-486-067
Pensoft Publishers

The first stakeholder meeting of the EU FP7 project BESAFE provided important insights and recommendations on effective biodiversity argumentation

When talking about effectiveness of arguments used in biodiversity protection issues, the framing and context seem to be of primary importance. This was the main outcome of the first stakeholder meeting of the EU FP7 project BESAFE, which took place on 23-24 May 2013 in Brussels, Belgium.

The one day meeting was attended by representatives of the main groups of stakeholders - DG Environment, RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds), ETC Biodiversity (European Topic Center Biodiversity), ECAF (European Conservation Agriculture Federation), BfN (Bundesamt fr Naturschutz - German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation), INBO (Research Institute for Nature and Forest), Manchester University, UNEP, TripleEEE consultancy, county administrations and other.

The main target of the meeting was to perform a reality check on of the project's ideas and work to date, and to get qualified recommendations regarding the outcomes with usefulness to the stakeholders in mind. As the BESAFE project has an iterative approach, it aims to learn by doing and get as much feedback from the stakeholders as it can get.

In biodiversity protection, the context and framing of arguments differ enormously from case to case. This characteristic was acknowledged during the meeting, as well as the difficulties faced when trying to avoid subjective interpretations of the arguments leading to differences in the assessment of their effectiveness. The stakeholders indicated that in their experience arguments convincing people of the benefits for them, making them realise they have a share and therefore a willing to take responsibility, are the most effective ones. Being well informed about the interests and drivers of parties involved in the decision making is therefore crucial for effective argumentation. Since there are usually multiple parties involved, isolated arguments are not likely to be successful whereas using a wider range may extend their appeal to more stakeholders. A good prioritisation of arguments will however be needed.

The BESAFE project aims to create a web tool by which users are guided and assisted in their choice of effective arguments for their particular case. It was however agreed that the definition of the specific target groups should be a starting point. It should be kept in mind that each target group has a different trajectory and needs a different language to guide it quickly and efficiently to the information it requires.

BESAFE will include the recommendations from this workshop in its further work and invites interested stakeholders to express their interest in participating in the second stakeholder meeting which will be held in April 2014.

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Biodiversity argumentation: How to get it right

Public release date: 3-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail |

Share ]

Contact: Rob Bugter
Rob.Bugter@wur.nl
31-317-486-067
Pensoft Publishers

The first stakeholder meeting of the EU FP7 project BESAFE provided important insights and recommendations on effective biodiversity argumentation

###

[ | E-mail |

Share ]

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/pp-bah053113.php

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রবিবার, ২ জুন, ২০১৩

Wedding Ready with Bodyism Part II: Fitness | Plenish Cleanse ...

Check out part II of ?fitness model and director of bodywear at Bodyism Nathalie Schyllert tips on how to get wedding ready. Today she shares her fitness routine and top tips on how to keep fit and strong for the big day.?

Here are some great exercises I performed the during months leading up to my wedding that was in September last year. It made me feel confident and beautiful in my Emilia Wickstead dress. It is truly one of the best days of your life and the last thing you should need to worry about is if your bingo-wings are showing or if the dress is too tight over your waist. Try to do some kind of exercising 6 days a week and on the 7th day have a treatment or just rest. You don?t have to go to the gym on all the 6 days. Some days could be a walk, yoga or swimming

Do yoga at least twice a week

Yoga could really help you to shape up and also calm your nerves. Treat yourself to some private lessons and tell the teacher to help you to practice the breathing technique for the big day. You will need it to keep your nerves in check.

Y?s and T?s ? ?These exercises will switch on the muscles in between the shoulder blades and will improve your posture. the most important trick to make you look taller, slimmer and confident on your wedding day.

Stay in an athletic stance when you shape both letters.?*Ys- Bring the arms forward and slightly apart and shape a Y with your arms. *Ts-Bring your arms straight out with thumbs towards the ceiling .

Ballet leg extensions

These will get your legs slimmer and more toned. Perfect for the short dress for the rehearsal dinner?Lean forward on to a table on the elbows. Keep the shoulders over the elbows and tummy tucked in. Kick the leg up toward the ceiling and then open the leg and kick it to the side 20 back and 20 to the side on each leg.

Watch the video demo (look at 1.30min in to the video when I perform the exercises)

Flowing Push up

These will make you back, chest and shoulders ?picture ready? for any dress shape?Start in the the downward facing dog position. Bend your arms and lower the chest towards the ground. Just before you reach the floor, straighten out your arms and arch the back and look up towards the ceiling. Go back to the starting position and repeat 10 times, or until your perfect technique is lost.

Side Plank Star

To shape your waist and make the tummy flatter for the wedding and the honeymoon Place the elbow under your shoulder and lift the hip up with the legs straight. Keep the core tight and lift the arm and leg that is toward the ceiling very slowly and shape a star. Stay for 10 seconds on each side. Repeat 3 times (1 minute all together).

Nathalie Schyllert

Nathalie?s career in health and fitness began in Sweden as a classically trained ballerina, the pinnacle of her career performing with the Royal Ballet. Whilst she trained people at a very high level throughout Europe she continued working as a top fitness model doing campaigns for Stella McCartney Adidas, GQ, Reebok, Elle and Vogue. Her work as a model has given Nathalie an understanding of how women want to look and what it takes in order to achieve the body they want and keep it that way. Nathalie is now one of Europe?s most sought after accelerated fat loss specialists and serves as Director of Operations and Director of Bodywear, Bodyism?s new clothing range.

শনিবার, ১ জুন, ২০১৩

Friars outlast Blue Jays in 17-inning game

By BERNIE WILSON

AP Sports Writer

Associated Press Sports

updated 3:15 a.m. ET June 1, 2013

SAN DIEGO (AP) - It took 17 innings and a rare relief appearance for Clayton Richard to earn his first win of the year.

Richard pitched two scoreless innings out of the bullpen and Jesus Guzman singled home the winning run with two outs in the 17th to give the San Diego Padres a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays early Saturday.

"I was hoping I would get a win today. I was assuming it was going to be later in the day," said Richard, who had been scheduled to start Saturday night against the Blue Jays. "That's the crazy thing about baseball. You never really know what you're going to get. You come to the park thinking you've got a plan and it gets turned upside down. It was fun, though. That's part of the fun of the game is being in situations where something different happens."

Richard (1-5) came on to start the 16th. He gave up one hit and struck out two in his first relief outing since May 2009 with the Chicago White Sox.

The left-hander came in 0-5 with an 8.35 ERA in seven starts and recently spent time on the disabled list with an intestinal virus.

Padres manager Bud Black told Richard around the 13th inning that he'd probably pitch.

"We talked about it, whether to use a position player or go to one of our starters, and we felt that was the thing to do," Black said. "We wanted to win the game. We played to win the game. We took Clayton's start tomorrow out of the equation and we decided to use him tonight and go for the W. I think that's the way you have to do it."

The Padres will call up lefty Robbie Erlin from Triple-A Tucson to start Saturday night.

It was San Diego's longest game since the Padres lost to Arizona in 18 innings on June 7, 2009, when backup shortstop Josh Wilson served up a three-run homer to Mark Reynolds.

Rookie Jedd Gyorko's third hit of the night, a one-out single, caromed off third base into shallow left. Gyorko was sacrificed to second by Richard and scored when Guzman singled up the middle off Todd Redmond (0-1).

The winning hit came three innings after the 14th-inning stretch. The game lasted 4 hours, 58 minutes.

The Blue Jays and Padres weren't alone playing deep into the night, though. After nearly five hours of rain delays, the Tampa Bay-Cleveland game ended about 20 minutes before this one did - one night after the Royals beat the Cardinals in a rain-delayed game that finished at 3:14 a.m. CDT.

It was the longest game for the Blue Jays since they played the longest game in franchise history, 18 innings against the Angels on July 28, 2005.

"It's tough to watch because we couldn't get anything to fall and then couldn't get timely hitting at the end," Toronto starter Chad Jenkins said.

Each team used seven relievers, and each bullpen threw 11 2-3 innings. San Diego's allowed five hits, no walks and struck out 10. Toronto's allowed one run, six hits, walked three and also struck out 10.

"It's a tough loss for us," Blue Jays reliever Brett Cecil said. "It would be nice to have something to show for it. Unfortunately, we don't. But it doesn't take anything away from our bullpen, Redmond in particular. He got out of a lot of jams."

Four Padres relievers retired 17 Blue Jays batters in a row before Adam Lind singled leading off the 13th, his third hit.

Toronto's Colby Rasmus had a two-run homer among his season-high four hits and robbed Yonder Alonso of a solo shot.

The Blue Jays took a 3-0 lead after four innings on two home runs off Jason Marquis. Rasmus hit a two-run drive to straightaway center with one out in the second. His ninth homer came after J.P. Arencibia walked.

In the bottom of the inning, Rasmus made a leaping catch to rob Alonso of a homer. Alonso doffed his batting helmet toward Rasmus.

Edwin Encarnacion lined Marquis' first pitch of the fourth into the balcony on the second level of the Western Metal Supply Co. brick warehouse in the left-field corner, his 15th.

The Padres tied it at 3 in the fifth. Gyorko hit a two-run double to right-center with one out, went to third on the throw home and scored on Arencibia's errant throw to third. Carlos Quentin was hit by a pitch on the back of his left hand leading off the inning and Alonso followed with a single.

Toronto failed to take advantage of two bases-loaded situations. Marquis got two straight outs after allowing Encarnacion's homer but then loaded the bases on two singles and a walk before striking out Jenkins.

Marquis loaded the bases with one out in the sixth by allowing two singles and a walk before making way for Tyson Ross. Melky Cabrera then grounded into a 3-2-3 double play.

Marquis, making his 300th career start, got his second straight no-decision after a five-start winning streak. He allowed three runs and seven hits in 5 1-3 innings, struck out six and walked four.

Jenkins went five innings for the third straight start, allowing three runs, two earned, on three hits.

NOTES: Alonso, San Diego's first baseman, was hit on the right hand by a pitch from Aaron Loup in the seventh. Alonso played defense in the eighth but was replaced in the ninth. The Padres said X-rays were negative and Alonso has a bruised hand. ... Jenkins has gone five innings in five of his six career starts. ... Encarnacion is 10 for 20 with three homers and three walks against Marquis. ... This is the third time the Blue Jays have played a series at Petco Park. They won series in 2004 and 2010 by 2-1 margins. ... Jenkins was pitching on regular rest after waiting 14 days between his first and second starts. He missed the first month with shoulder inflammation. ... Mark Buehrle (2-3, 5.51 ERA) is scheduled to start Saturday night for Toronto. ... Sunday's series finale will be played at 7:10 p.m. due to the annual Rock `n' Roll Marathon. The race will finish in a parking lot outside Petco Park and a post-race concert featuring the Psychedelic Furs will be held in the ballpark, with the stage set up near the first-base line.

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