How to Get Rid of a Pimple

For those that came for the instant download on how to get rid of a pimple please go to the download page at get rid of those Damn Pimples!

Everybody else please read the article below.

Let's get straight to the point. How to get rid of a pimple in two easy steps. The first step is to grab the pimple between your thumb and index finger and squeeze it until it pops. The second step is to thoroughly cleanse the broken pimple with soap and water.

Now I wouldn't recommend the above method as it tends to aggravate the pimple and the skin around the pimple. I would recommend combating acne on a daily basis.

If you are looking to stay pimple free there are a few other things you should do. Wash your face with a mild soap and warm water 2 or 3 times a day. Don't over wash your face as this will only dry out and irritate your skin any pimples you may have. If you are a woman and wear make-up use non-oil based make-up.

Oily hair can aggravate pimples so try to keep your hair out of your face. The same goes with your hands. Your hands contract lots of bacteria on a daily basis. Wash your hands regularly.

There are also a number of over the counter products that can be used to combat pimples. You can find them in the local drug store. If you choose this method you may have to try a few different products to see what works for you.

If you have a bad case of acne you may want to consult with a dermatologist or find an acne solution that is has more substance than the procedures above.

What ever method you choose find the method that works best for you and stick with it. It's your face, it's your pimple and it's your life.

A Room with a View of Mars

The launch in mid-July of the first inflatable space habitat marked another milestone in the commercialization of space, and a step closer to the dream of a space hotel to be realized next decade. This article will review the origins and development of the first space habitat, as well as plans for the first inflatable space hotel (some more space articles).

Since the start of the Apollo space program and the first moon landing in the 1960's, man has been intrigued by the possibility of space tourism where a room in space could be booked as conveniently and cheaply as one on Earth. But this scenario may no longer be purely science fiction. Approaching half a century since Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, reached orbit, man is beginning to commercialize the final frontier. Amateur astronauts have taken part in official missions on several occasions since the mid 1980's. Since the first space tourist, American multimillionaire Dennis Tito, paid in excess of $20 million for the opportunity to undergo extensive training and spend a week on the multi-billion dollar International Space Station (ISS) in 2001, three others like him - South African Mark Shuttleworth, American Gregory Olsen, and the first woman space tourist, Iranian-born American Anousheh Ansari - have followed.

Until recently, the only way to reach orbit was either the space shuttle or the Soyuz space capsule. In 2004, Scaled Composites launched the first non-government-sponsored manned spacecraft, SpaceShipOne. Though the vehicle attained only sub-orbital flight, it opened the door to a new generation of privately-funded spaceflights. Virgin Galactic is planning to launch SpaceShipTwo, capable of carrying passengers into sub-orbital altitude in late 2008, followed by a larger version capable of real orbital reach a few years later.

Scoring a parking spot for your private spaceplane in orbit is a different story. The ISS, which is still unfinished (mainly due to the Columbia disaster), is not a space hotel and, although occasional tourists have boarded the Russian part of the station, it is first and foremost a scientific laboratory that will not be used to accommodate a large number of space tourists. Seeking to launch a genuine space hotel, hotelier Robert T. Bigelow created the space tourism company, Bigelow Aerospace, in 1999. Following seven years of development, Bigelow Aerospace launched its first inflatable space structure, Genesis I, on July 12th, 2006 using a Dnepr LV missile (a converted Russian SS-18 Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile) from the Yasny Launch Base in Russia. Measuring 4.4 m (~14 ft.) in length and 1.6 m (~5 ft.) in diameter when compressed, the spacecraft successfully reached a 483 km (300 mi.) orbit, then extended its solar panels, and inflated in fifteen minutes, expanding its width to a full 2.54 m (~8 ft.) in diameter. The Genesis I prototype habitat will be followed in a few months by Genesis II, a more sophisticated habitat that will carry more cameras (18 as opposed to Gensis I's 13). The next stage will be the larger Galaxy-class of habitats with a volume of 23 cubic meters, double that of the Genesis-class. The final ambitious step will take place in about six years with the launch of the huge 330 cubic meter Nautilus habitat, approaching the ISS's 425 cubic meters of usable volume. Launching this enormous 25 ton structure into orbit is a daunting task and Bigelow Aerospace plans to use a larger booster such as the SpaceX's planned Falcon 9S rocket to launch it into Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

TransHab test at NASA (Credit: NASA) The birth of Bigelow Aerospace and its inflatable space hotel concept in 1999 was intimately connected to the conceptualization and development of a space habitat for the planed future manned Mars Mission. The so-called TransHab project was initiated around 1997 by a NASA team headed by William Schneider, a prominent NASA engineer. The 600 cubic meters required for the habitat would be too heavy and large to be lifted into orbit. Thus, Schneider and his team of engineers devised a light, inflatable module that could be loaded onto a rocket or the space shuttle, squeezed to about a third of its normal size, and inflated to its full size once in orbit. The TransHab concept was also suggested as a possible living quarters module for the ISS and, though finally cancelled by Congress in 2000, it became the basis of the Genesis-class space module.

TransHab in NASA's test facility (Credit: NASA) One of the most important design features of the TransHab is its multi-layer (nearly two dozen), foot-thick, inflatable shell made of various extremely high-strength, lightweight fibers with numerous protective features. The outer layers of the shell break up space debris and micro-meteorites that may hit the shell with speeds of up to 7 km/s (about seven-times that of a speeding bullet) and shield multiple inner "bladders", which contain the module's air, preventing it from escaping. The shell also insulates against the extreme temperatures of outer space, ranging between 121 oC (250 oF) in the sun, to -128 oC (-200 oF) in the shade.

TransHab's MMOD structure (Credit: NASA) The exterior part of the shell, called the Micro-Meteoroid/Orbital Debris (MMOD) impact shield, is composed of alternating layers of Nextel, a material commonly used as insulation, and several thick layers of foam, similar to that used for chair cushions. A particle that impacts the Nextel and foam layers shatters, losing progressively more energy as it continues to penetrate. Far inside the shell is embedded a layer of bullet-proof, lightweight Kevlar that holds the module's shape once inflated and surrounds three air-tight bladders made of Combitherm, a material commonly used in the food-packing industry. The innermost layer, forming the inside wall of the module, is Nomex cloth, which is fireproof and also protects the bladders from scratches from the inside

Though public interest in Bigelow's space hotel concept is vast, space tourism will remain a costly affair for the near future, out of reach of most people. Thus, Bigelow is building on a number of other lucrative space initiatives; chief among them will be selling space on its future habitats to countries that are unable to afford their own manned space programs (see more articles). Currently underway is the "Fly Your Stuff" program, an opportunity for paying costumers to send items (smaller than a golf ball) including pictures onboard the Genesis II. For less than $300, an engagement ring can be lofted into orbit where it will be filmed by one of the many cameras installed on the habitat, and returned along with a keepsake video. Perhaps, following a lengthy engagement, the honeymoon could be booked there as well.

Robotics competition blends math, science and sportsmanship

Take a boxful of metal parts, electronics and a computer and build a robot capable of picking up an inner tube and hanging it on a metal rack — without human control.

Sound easy?

That’s the challenge high school students in Helena and across Montana will rise to over the next six weeks. A Capital High School team, which includes one member from Helena High, began tackling the problem Saturday morning, along with students from Fort Benton, C.M. Russell, Simms, Butte, Bozeman, Darby and Billings West high schools.

Around the globe, 130,000 students took up the task as part of a competition, called For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, or FIRST.

Students and adults alike said the program is a fun, creative activity which blends math and science with good sportsmanship and teamwork. In the decade since its creation, FIRST has convinced some students to pursue career paths in engineering and technology, and taught all contestants valuable skills, Capital High physics and biology teacher John Miller said.

“Kids learn … how to solve a problem with a limited budget and limited time, working with others,” he said.
“It’s engineering, science and math, but it’s very creative,” said Donna Minton, the deputy director at Montana State University’s Space Grant Consortium. She’s also FIRST’s assistant regional director. “There’s not a right answer.”

Each team has until Feb. 19 to take their supplies and build a robot, which will then be used in round-robin tournaments this spring. Capital High’s squad will compete in Denver in late March.

Students, college-age mentors, teachers and parents gathered in the auditorium Saturday to catch their first glimpse of the challenge via a NASA telecast. At the competitions various teams will form three-member alliances, which then go head-to-head with other groups. Each team will compete multiple times, with different partners.

For the first 15 seconds, the robots must autonomously place plastic blue and red inner tubes on a large, three-level metal rack, using only information gleaned from sensors and their programming. Then students take the controls and guide more tubes onto the rack, which has eight limbs on each level, for the next two minutes.

The teams also can block their opponents’ robots with their own, and use black inner tubes to break up their opponents’ rows and columns. The objective is to score points by placing as many inner tubes as possible in succession around the circular rack. Think tic-tac-toe without the diagonals.

In the waning seconds of the contest, teams can score bonus points by getting their robots off the floor — either by driving onto another or being lifted by a teammate’s machine.

The extracurricular robotics programs at schools across the state may have limited time as well, because a three-year, $300,000 NASA grant runs out after this year’s round of contests, and an effort by former U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., to secure Montana schools $1 million is now uncertain.

Proponents like Miller and Minton hope state legislators can fill the gap.

“Statewide support would really make a difference,” Minton said.

They invited first lady Nancy Schweitzer to Saturday’s kickoff. She said she supports the program and would like to see it expanded to more and younger children, who can use Lego robot kits to learn the basics. Schweitzer was unsure whether state legislators would consider funding it this session.

Miller also said he hopes corporations in Montana will expand support for the program. Each team, he said, needs a minimum of $10,000 each year to compete.

Capital High senior Josh Kuhn, who’s in his third year of FIRST and heads the school’s science and robotics club, said he hopes legislators will remember the budding engineers and computer programmers at Montana high schools.

“It’s … awesome,” he said of FIRST. “It’s that great of an experience.”

While engineering, mechanics and computer technology may be at the core of the competition, sportsmanship and cooperation are at the heart. Kuhn regularly e-mails kids across the country he’s met at the contests and participates in online forums, where students strategize. He said teams trade tips and work together.

“The great thing about the competition is that it’s a really friendly community,” Kuhn said.

Minton said the contest’s highest award takes sportsmanship into account. At the national championship last April, she saw the blue team give the red squad a part needed to fix a robot before the final match. The red team won.

“These kids are really, really high-character and they do great things,” she said.

Miller said FIRST is an excellent way for kids to make connections with peers, and with the CEOs of major technology and engineering firms. Two years ago, one of his students sat down for a chat with a NASA space shuttle engineer.

Students said the activity is decidedly less than “geeky,” because it can involve welding and machining. Miller said team members who may never have used a power drill get a hands-on experience.

Robots attract all kinds, the kids said.

“It transcends cliques,” Billings West student Stephen Asay said.

He joined because he “thought it’d be pretty cool, a good learning experience.”

Capital senior PJ Kolnik said his wrestling coach was surprised to hear he’d be spending his Saturday thinking robotics, but it was a no-brainer for him.

“I’ve always been a real sucker for designing and building things,” he said.

Educators prepare for new requirements in math and science

Ohio Core puts tougher minimum standards into effect for high school graduation in 2014.

When Susan Bodary brings Ohio Core to Dayton on Jan. 17, she is prepared to face the area's educators who have questions and criticisms about the plan.

Their chief concerns: How will they get more math and science teachers? Who should pay for it, and how? And, why are we doing this?

Bodary will be the executive director for a newly established joint educational group tasked with following through on Ohio Core's requirements locally.

Called the P-16 Education Consortium, the group will examine every level of education from high school to college to figure out how students can meet the new graduation standards.

Wright State University, University of Dayton, Sinclair Community College and the Montgomery County Educational Service Center are helping to pay for it. Bodary will mostly operate out of the UD and the service center.

In December, legislators passed Ohio Core, which changed the minimum requirements for a high school diploma, with the goal of better preparing Ohio's students for college — particularly in science and math, an area targeted by economists as essential to the country's job growth.

Before they graduate in 2014, today's fifth-graders will have to complete the following when they hit high school:

• Four units of math, including Algebra II.

• Three units of science, including physical science, biology and one-year advanced science.

Bodary's main goal, she said, is to tighten up the pipeline, so that students' individual learning needs are addressed from one grade to the next.

"We have not done a good job of helping kids make transitions from one level to the next," Bodary said via telephone Friday from her statehouse office, where for the last year she spearheaded the crafting of Ohio Core for outgoing Gov. Bob Taft.

The result is a great divide and disconnect between high school graduation and higher education, she said.

While a system is in place for holding K-12 institutions accountable, nothing exists for college, she said.

The Ohio Board of Regents, working with the Department of Education and economic development groups, will later this month release a set of standards for what it means to be "college ready," and consequently, job-ready.

"Part of the problem is no one has said where the bar is. We currently measure preparedness to the 10th grade. If Ohio Core demands that students be 'college ready,' we need to define what that is," she said.

The bottom line, she said, is that educators from preschool through college need to better connect the system.

But Bodary hasn't figured out how that needs to happen.

The P-16 consortium is still in its infancy, but her first step will be talking to every school district in the Miami Valley to address their needs.

"We will look at how best to position schools," from identifying their teacher needs and other program support, she said. "We'll help schools figure out how to get there."


Are Ohio's graduating seniors ready for college?

41 percent of Ohio's recent college graduates enrolling in Ohio's public colleges or universities in fall 2003 took at least one remedial math or English course during their first year of college.

Of the students enrolled in remedial courses in 2003 as freshmen ...

15 percent took a complete college-prep curriculum in high school (4 years of math and English, 3 years science).

35 percent took a minimum college-prep curriculum in high school (3 years of math, 4 years English, 3 years science).

53 percent took less than the minimum college-prep curriculum.


Source: Ohio Board of Regents, "Making the Transition from High School to College in Ohio 2005," December 2005

Life On The Moon

The Moon is the closet celestial object to the Earth, it orbits the Earth as the Earth itself orbits the Sun. The Moon is the brightest object in the night sky but produces no light of its own; it instead, reflects the sunlight thus making it appear bright. The Moon goes through phases in which we see different amounts of its sunlit side over the course of a month, which is roughly how long the Moon takes to orbit the Earth.

The Moon itself is a dusty, barren and lifeless world containing no atmosphere or liquid water. It has a solid inner core, a rocky mantle and a crust of granite-like rock. No-one is certain where the Moon actually came from. It may be that the Moon formed alongside the Earth, or it may have formed elsewhere and was then captured by the Earth's gravitational pull. The most common theory is that in the early times of the solar system when the Earth was forming, a Mars-sized bodied collided with the Earth at high speed causing molten material to splash off into space, this material would eventually form the Moon.

The gravity of the Moon pulls on the earth and stretches it into a slight oval shape; this hardly affects the landmasses but causes the oceans to bulge at either side of the planet, producing tides along the world's coastlines.

In 1961, the USA set up the Apollo programme, which aimed to send astronauts to the Moon by the end of the decade. The Saturn V, a powerful rocket, was designed and built. The early Apollo missions tried it out on various parts of the intended journey. Starting with Apollo 11 in 1969, six missions landed on the Moon. Twelve astronauts explored and photographed its surface, and brought back 388kg of rock and soil back to Earth for study.


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Weather Instruments for Fun and Safety

The interest in weather instruments for the home has increased dramatically in the last several years because of shifting weather patterns and new discoveries in meteorology. Everyone from young kids to retirees has found that keeping track of various aspects of the changing weather can be both educational and fun. It can also help people ensure their own safety during a weather emergency.

There are a variety of weather instruments you can get for home use. Prices range anywhere from ten to hundreds of dollars, depending on the quality, materials and type of weather instruments you get. Some of the most popular weather instruments include:

o Barometers - these track the change in the barometric pressure in the atmosphere. Changes in this pressure reveal whether a change in the weather is coming; a drop in barometric pressure signals a low pressure front moving in.


o Thermometers - Easily the most popular of all home weather instruments, thermometers measure the temperature of the immediately surrounding air. You can get ones that measure both indoor and outdoor temperatures.


o Rain Gauges - These range from simple cylinders to complex mechanical models, but all do the same thing - measure the actual rainfall in inches during a particular time period. This is often one of the first weather instruments (after the thermometer) that children are introduced to, and they love keeping track of the rainfall in their own yard.


o Weather Stations - Weather stations are battery or electric controlled stations that track several different weather measurements you would usually need several different weather instruments for. A typical desk-top weather station might track the phases of the moon, the temperature, barometric pressure, humidity and provide forecasts for the next twenty-four hours based on the changing conditions of each reading.


o Tide Clocks - Track the timing of the ingoing and outgoing tides in coastal areas. While most weather instruments are of use everywhere, this is one that is primarily of value to mariners, surfers and other ocean coast dwellers.


Keeping Safe - the Importance of Weather Radios

One of the weather instruments that few people are familiar with, but everyone should have, is weather radios. These radios are specifically designed to pick up low frequency radio signals that are broadcast from various stations across the country providing twenty-four hour weather updates and emergency bulletins. Weather radios typically have both visual and auditory warning signals whenever there is a weather emergency in your area. These may be sirens, flashing lights, alert tones or recorded warning messages to alert you to turn up the weather radio.

The weather updates and radio broadcasts are of constantly updated information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Many weather radios can be programmed using "SAME," meaning Specific Area Message Encoding. This restricts broadcasts that are received to information pertinent to your local area.

Weather instruments are useful for any number of reasons, from knowing how much you need to water your garden (rain gauges) to knowing how to dress for the day. But weather instruments are also simply a fun and educational way to learn more about the atmosphere and the world around us. And finally, with weather instruments such as weather radios, we can rest easy knowing we will be warned of a weather emergency as quickly as possible.


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Is Pluto a Planet or Not?

Pluto was first referred to as Planet X by the astronomer Percival Lowell. He reasoned it existed because something was causing slight variations in the orbits of the planets Neptune and Uranus. He belived only another body large enough to exert a strong enough gravitational field could affect Neptune and Uranus' orbits.

Unfortunatly Percival Lowell died in 1916 without having proven the exisitence of Planet X. In 1930, astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovered "Planet X" 3.7 billion miles from our sun. He did this by using an astronomical telescope to expose a series of photographic plates. The Plates clearly showed a small object had moved against the background of distant stars.

This discovery turned out to be the result of a happy accident. The calculations that predicted the existence of a planet beyond the orbit of Neptune later proved to be in error. The Voyager 2 spacecraft was able to measure the mass of the planet Neptune more accuratly. When this new data is used the variations in the orbits of Uranus and Neptune dissappear.

None the less the new planet was dubbed Pluto. Several names were suggested including Zeus, Cronus and Minerva. But in 1930 Pluto was officially labeled the ninth planet by the International Astronomical Union and named for the Roman god of the underworld.

The axis of Pluto's poles do not point "up" and "down" out of the plane of the solar system like planet Earth's. Instead the point more inward toward the Sun. Pluto is usually farther from the Sun than any of the other planets. But due to it's eccentric orbit, it is closer to the Sun than Neptune for 20 years out of its 249 year orbit. Pluto crossed inside Neptune's orbit on January 21, 1979 and made its closest approach to the Sun on September 5, 1989. It remained within the orbit of Neptune until February 11, 1999. This will not happen again until September 2226. Pluto's odd orbit has lead some to say it is a "trans-Neptunian interloper". Which means it is more like a Kuiper belt comet than a planet.

The composition of Pluto is unknown, but its density (about 2 gm/cm3) probably indicates it is a mixture of and 30% water ice and 70% rock. The bright areas of the surface appear to be covered with ices of nitrogen and smaller amounts of methane, ethane and carbon monoxide. The composition of the darker areas on Pluto's surface is not known.

Pluto does have an atmosphere which probably consists mostly of nitrogen with some carbon monoxide and methane. It is extremely thin with a surface pressure of only a few microbars. Pluto's atmosphere probably exist as a gas only when Pluto is near the Sun. For the rest of Pluto's long orbit the atmospheric gases are frozen solid. Near the Sun it is possible that some of the atmospheric gases escape into space. NASA mission planners hope to arrive at Pluto while the atmosphere is still in gas form.

In 1978 it was discovered that pluto has a moon. Officially named Charon after the mythological figure who ferried the dead across the River Acheron into the underworld. Charon was discovered by Jim Christy and may have been named in honor of his wife Charlene. Before the discovery of Charon it was believed Pluto was much larger since the images of the two were blurred together.

Pluto and Charon are unique in that they rotate synchronously with each other. Which means they both keep the same face toward one another. It has been suggested that Charon was formed by a giant impact against Pluto similar to the one that formed Earth's Moon. In 2005 a team using the Hubble Space Telescope discovered two tiny moons orbiting around both Pluto and Charon. They have been named Nix and Hydra. They are very small with diameters between 40 and 60 kilometers.

Recently there has been considerable debate about the classification of Pluto. It was classified as the a planet just after its discovery and remained so for 75 years. But on 2006 Aug 24 the International Astronomical Union decided to change the definition of a "planet". The new definition does not include Pluto. Instead Pluto is now classified as a "dwarf planet". Personally I don't agree with taking away Pluto's status as a planet. Maybe I am being superstitious, but as any sailor worth his salt will tell you it is generally considered bad luck to change the name of a ship once she was been christend.

As of the writing of this article Pluto has not yet been explored by a space probe. On January 19, 2006 NASA launched New Horizons which will be the first spacecraft to visit Pluto in July 2015. New Horizons is equiped with remote sensing devices that include imaging instruments, a radio science tool, a spectroscopic sensor and other experiments. The tiny moons Nix and Hydra may present a certain danger as their presence indicates the possibility of ring system similiar to the one around saturn, though much smaller. Any ring system poses the threat of micrometeorite damage to the New Horizons spacecraft as it flys past.

I hope very much that all goes well and the New Horizons spaceprobe sends back a wealth of information about "Planet X" or Pluto as it is known. Perhaps then we will be able to settle the debate as to whether Pluto is really a planet or not.


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Homemade BioDiesel

Homemade Biodiesel is easy. You need a few simple supplies and they are readily available at your hardware stores. All you need to do is to gather up 1 liter of vegetable oil, antifreeze, and lye. As for the equipment, you need a blender, scales, a few plastic containers, funnels, empty water bottles, thermometer, and a duct tape.

Make sure that you clean and thoroughly dry all the equipment that you plan to use. They have to be clean and dry and you should make sure that you are careful as you handle the ingredients.

First, start by measuring out 200 ml of antifreeze and placing it in a half liter plastic container through a funnel, then quickly mix in the lye. Note that Lye absorbs water rapidly, so when you mix it with the antifreeze, work fast. If you work too slowly, it will absorb water from the air and that can definitely interfere with the biodiesel reaction. A good way is to mix the two ingredients is to cover the container and shake the contents rapidly until you feel the container getting warm. The lye will rapidly dissolve into the antifreeze, foaming up as sodium methoxide. When the sodium methoxide is clear and there are no particles floating in it, it is ready for the next step.

Using a blender, (make sure that it is strictly for the fuel, don't use it for food!) mix the vegetable oil that has been heated to 130 degrees Fahrenheit with the sodium methoxide. The cover must be tight and blend the mixture on a low speed for about twenty minutes.

As soon as you are done processing the mixture, remove the content from the blender. Take a funnel, pour it into an empty, 2 liter water or soda bottle and cap tightly. Allow the contents to settle for at least eight hours.

Once the product settles, a dark colored layer will form at the bottom of the bottle with a distinct line of separation from the pale liquid at the top of the bottle. The dark layer is glycerin, and the top layer is biodiesel. Remove the biodiesel with care to a glass jar or clean water bottle.

Now prepare two wash bottles by piercing a small hole in the corner of two cleaned water bottles and cover the holes with duct tape. Pour the newly created biodiesel into one of the wash bottles, add a half liter of fresh water and then screw the cap on tightly. Turn the bottle on its side and roll it about with your hands until oil and water are well mixed. Remove the duct tape so that you can drain out the water from the biodiesel. Make sure that when the water has drained out, you block the hole so that the biodiesel remains.

Once the biodiesel is clear, the process is complete and it is ready to use. It can take up a week for the biodiesel to clear and ready to use.


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Understanding Transformers

We must establish some basic principles of voltage before expanding into transformers. What is current, voltage or a load? Imagine a man a hauling a cart uphill. The voltage (v) is the man (120v). The current (amps) is how much work he is doing to get up the hill (2amps) and the cart is your load (a motor of some sort). Or possibly the man brings a friend creating the two of them (240v) with both of them working together they do less work (1amp) with the load staying the same (a motor of some sort).

What does a transformer do? Transformers form a way control voltage. They take voltage and either step voltage down, step voltage up or isolate voltage in one area from another. So why is it so important to control this voltage. Take for example your local power company. It uses a step up transformer to give high voltage to the power lines which creates low amperage. Then before entering your home or local business steps the voltage back down so the voltage entering is not excessive.

What parts make up a transformer? A transformer is made up of a three main components; the laminated iron core, primary and secondary windings. The primary winding is connected the power entering the transformer (input voltage). The secondary winding is connected where the power is going to (output voltage). The laminated core is used to separated the primary and secondary windings from have any physical connection.

So how do transformers work? There are no moving parts of a transformer, instead a transformer uses induction to pass electricity from the primary winding to the secondary winding. Easy way to understand what induction is it uses a electromagnetic force to take the voltage from the primary winding and move it to the secondary winding. We control induction with turn ratio.

What is a turn ratio? A turn ratio is the relationship between the primary and the secondary winding. If there was 120v entering the transformer and 24 volts leaving the transformer. Our voltage would be stepping down with a 5/1 turn ratio. Simple math is used to calculate this; voltage entering / voltage leaving the transformer. With 120 / 24 you would have 5/1 ration.

How do you size a transformer? You size a transformer for secondary winding of a transformer. The secondary winding is rated in VA (volts times amperage). An example of this would be you have a 24v control circuit thats capacity is 2amps. You would take your voltage (24v) and multiply it by your maximum amperage (2amps) which would be 24 times 2, which equals 48 or 48 va. This means you would need a transformer rated for 48va.

Do transformers need to be serviced? No, with no moving parts there is no maintenance required. Once a transformer has gone bad, which will general show on the primary windings, it will need to be replaced. Some transformers come with a fuseable link, or a safety. If a transformer has been tripped or has gone bad, it is a general rule to search for a source causing the problem. A bad transformer is never "the problem" only a symptom of the real problem.

What are the different types of transformers? There are many types of transformers you will see in the field; step up, step down, isolating, multi tap and autotransformers. There are also another type which is a three phase transformer, this transformer pertains more to voltage entering a commercial building. As a general rule the most common type of transformer you will see is a step down transformer (control voltage).

What is the difference in these types of transformers? Step up transformers take the primary winding and step the voltage up for the secondary winding. Step down transformers take the primary winding and step is down for the voltage on the secondary winding. Isolating transformers have the same voltage on the primary and secondary. A multi tap transformer is a step up or down transformer that has multi taps on either the primary winding or secondary winding. An autotransformer is a special types of transformer which does not follow common rules of transformers. It uses a continuous winding that is tapped to provide a step down or step up function.

Transformers play a key role in AC powered systems. They are a way to control voltage. There is no maintenance required to transformer though they are excellent indicators of problems. Understand these terms and principles is key to troubleshooting and designing electrical circuits.


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What memories are made of

Why is it that amnesia patients can't remember their names or addresses, but they do remember how to hold a fork? It's because memories come in many flavors, says Fred Helmstetter, professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UWM). Remembering what is not the same as remembering how.

"Different circuits in the brain are activated when you remember what you had for breakfast this morning versus when you fell off a bicycle in second grade," says Helmstetter, who researches the brain's regulation of memories, emotions and learning.

And it's those distinctive connections in the brain's communication network that differentiate between the "aware," or conscious, memories and the unconscious ones, some of which Helmstetter calls "emotional memories."

Selectivity is one of the many aspects of memory that intrigues him, and it's key to his research into the specific brain process that is responsible for making you aware of what you've learned or remembered.

Dissecting the mechanisms behind emotional memory is important because the region of the brain that governs this also controls fear and anxiety. That is why an emotional memory, such as a traumatic car accident, can activate the autonomic nervous system, causing bodily responses like an increase in heart rate, sweating and blood pressure – even if you don't realize it.

So the research has implications for a variety of illnesses, from Alzheimer's disease to anxiety disorders.

Unraveling the differences between kinds of memories, Helmstetter believes, depends on understanding the chemical changes that happen in the brain at the molecular level.

Helmstetter's work has already shown how memories are stored in certain neurons. Now he wants to know more about the molecular players that make the brain's whole network of constantly changing memory connections possible. His extramural funding has come from sources such as the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Mental Health.

Once thought to be static, the adult brain is now known to be the opposite – constantly forming or breaking neural connections and growing new cells.

It happens automatically when you exercise, take drugs or recover from certain illnesses. But it also occurs by simply thinking: The brain reroutes its communication pathways and its genetic instructions in response to experience.

"When you first learn something, such as how to ride a bike, there is an actual physical change in the brain – the cells make proteins they didn't make before," Helmstetter says.

The brain's capacity for dynamic states, called neuroplasticity, or just plasticity, makes tracking the circuitry behind memories a task of near-epic proportions. Hundreds of variables come into play.

Consider, for example, that a lot of memory formation and storage goes on simultaneously, some of it consciously and some of it unconsciously. And, in the time it takes to commit something to memory, hundreds of other experiences are being sorted and perhaps stored.

A message passed between two neurons is like person-to-person e-mail rather than a listserv. It does not trigger a global response in the brain's processing network.

Sound complicated? "That's right," says Helmstetter. "Plasticity is functionally infinite."

So how can scientists investigate under such a tempest of changing circumstances? It would be impossible to track all the neural adjustments marking every new condition, Helmstetter concedes. So he uses a mix of approaches.

One weapon in his investigative arsenal is an imaging technique that produces a 3-D picture of the parts of the human brain that are active during memory formation or recall. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), Helmstetter can "map" the anatomy of plasticity because it allows him to actually see, in real time, where cells are more active and use more energy.

But since it isn't yet possible to observe which genes turn on and off while humans call up their memories, he does the next best thing: He studies what happens in rats. He further simplifies the experiments by modifying the expression of whole families of genes at once.

"Our initial approach has been to use broad strokes," he says. "We suppress the whole compliment of genes involved in memory formation rather than chasing each individual gene and its expression."

The rat results are then compared with the information gleaned from the memory imaging in humans to see if there's a correlation. The memory circuitry is the same in both organisms, he says.

But of potentially more value is finding the exact role that genes and proteins play in the brain in response to stimuli, he says, because genes also are affected by environment.

What he's discovered suggests he is on the right track. Storage of a memory is a time-dependent endeavor. The process of making a memory involves a set of genes that are expressed or come "on" right away, he says.

"We now look at time versus structure," he says. "And we're focused on a set of proteins that appear to be required in several parts of your brain right after something important happens to you."

Why Do We Sleep?

Q. Is sleep primarily to benefit the body or the mind?
A. “Sleep has many functions, and most of us think the main functions are not for the body but for the brain,” said Dr. Arthur Spielman, a sleep expert at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell hospital and City College of New York.
“But,” he added, “you are talking to a brain scientist, and it depends on whom you ask.’’
The reason sleep occurs in the first place is tied to both mental and physiological cycles that evolved on a planet with a 24-hour cycle of light and dark, Dr. Spielman said.
The internal biological clocks that developed in living things, from single cells to humans, allow them to anticipate the transitions from light to dark and from dark to light, so that they are ready for the functions appropriate to light, like metabolism and photosynthesis, and for those suited to darkness.
“A physiologist might say sleep was to avoid wasting metabolic energy in the dark,’’ he said. “But a brain scientist would say that glycogen, the only fuel for the brain, is depleted during waking and restored during sleep.”
Sleep is useful for restoring particular parts of the brain that are quiet during sleep and return to functioning during waking, like the areas involved in attention, alertness and memory.
Sleep is also important for regulating the timing of hormones under the control of the brain, Dr. Spielman said, like cortisol, the stress-response hormone, which is suppressed at the beginning of sleep and ramps up in anticipation of waking, and growth hormone, which is secreted at night during sleep characterized by slow brain waves.


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How Human Cells Get Their Marching Orders

The human body may seem to change little over the years, but beneath this deceptive calm, cells are in constant flux as old ones are discarded and new ones appear. How do the new recruits know where they are meant to go?
Biologists at Stanford University say they have discovered a coordinate system in human cells that defines their position in the body. This seems to be the first time a cell-based positioning system has been reported for the adult body of any animal, though positioning systems that guide cells in embryogenesis are well known.
The coordinate system, if confirmed, may shed light on processes like wound healing and lend some hope to the prospect of regenerating human tissues from mature cells, as happens in animals like newts and salamanders, rather than from stem cells, the goal of cell therapy.
The Stanford team, led by Howard Chang and John L. Rinn, focused on fibroblasts, a type of cell that is the mainstay of the deep skin and the surfaces that cover the inner organs. Believing that not all fibroblasts are alike, though they may look alike, the team analyzed which genes were turned on or off in fibroblasts sampled from many body sites.
They detected different subsets of genes that were active in fibroblasts from different sites, suggesting that each cell was getting three pieces of information that together would specify a location, the team reports in the current issue of the journal Public Library of Science Genetics.
In this coordinate system, the Stanford researchers propose, one bit of information tells a cell whether it is meant to be part of the body’s inner or outer surfaces. A second directs it to the body’s top or bottom half. A third specifies whether it is at the near or far point of any body appendage, be it arm, leg or penis. The researchers believe that there are more precise positioning cues that they have not yet picked up.
Dr. Rinn said that by looking at the settings of these three coordinates he could tell where in the body a fibroblast came from — something impossible with any other kind of cell.
The fibroblasts, which secrete much of the material in which the skin’s cells are embedded, lie in the bottom layer of the skin. Above lie the five layers of the surface skin, composed of constantly shed cells known as keratinocytes.
The bottom layer of the skin is derived from an embryonic tissue different from the surface layer and is known to determine the fate of the surface cells. If surface skin cells from a chicken’s wing are transplanted to its leg, they will grow into scales, not feathers. Extending this idea to the new coordinate system, Dr. Rinn suggested that the keratinocytes, which have no positioning system, must take their cues from chemical signals emitted by the fibroblasts beneath.
When the skin is cut, how does the body gauge the size of the wound and the amount of new tissue that must be generated?
Dr. Chang said the positioning system could be of help. If two fibroblasts that should lie some distance apart come in contact with each other after wound closure, that could signal how much new tissue was needed to restore their usual distance.
The Stanford team believes that the genes primarily responsible for the fibroblast coordinate system belong to the so-called hox family of genes, which are known to shape each region of the body during the formation of the embryo.
The hox genes were thought to be switched off after development was completed, but the Stanford findings show that they are still active in adult fibroblasts. A hox gene designated HOXA13 was found to be switched on in all fibroblasts taken from the fingers, toes and foreskin, presumably because it helps shape surrounding tissue into an extremity.
Cliff Tabin, an embryologist at Harvard Medical School, said that the Stanford report was “very interesting and certainly novel,” but that he wondered if the fibroblast coordinate system might not be just an inactive leftover from embryonic life. The Stanford team has yet to show that the adult fibroblasts behaved any differently because of their different coordinate settings, he said.
Elaine Fuchs, an expert on skin cells at Rockefeller University, also questioned whether the pattern found by the Stanford researchers was “merely an evolutionary remnant of nature’s fun and fancy in creating body surfaces,” or whether it signaled a real adult-life activity of the fibroblasts.
Dr. Chang said that this was a good point and that he was addressing the issue in experiments.
Dr. Tabin also said the Stanford finding should encourage biologists who hope to make humans regenerate lost limbs. Newts do not regenerate their limbs from stem cells, but from mature cells, which are made to revert to a stemlike state. This mass of stemlike cells, known as a blastema, then builds a new limb based on the positional information in the mature cells at the wound site.
A wrist blastema builds a new wrist, even if transplanted elsewhere in the newt’s body, and a shoulder blastema builds a new shoulder-length limb.
Most vertebrate animals do not regenerate their tissues and, until now, no one knew that adult cells retained this positional information. “I’ve no idea if we’ll get vertebrate regeneration to occur in the foreseeable future, but if we have the presence of positional information in human cells, that is a good thing,” Dr. Tabin said.


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Coffee as a Health Drink? Studies Find Some Benefits

Coffee is not usually thought of as health food, but a number of recent studies suggest that it can be a highly beneficial drink. Researchers have found strong evidence that coffee reduces the risk of several serious ailments, including diabetes, heart disease and cirrhosis of the liver.
Among them is a systematic review of studies published last year in The Journal of the American Medical Association, which concluded that habitual coffee consumption was consistently associated with a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes. Exactly why is not known, but the authors offered several explanations.
Coffee contains antioxidants that help control the cell damage that can contribute to the development of the disease. It is also a source of chlorogenic acid, which has been shown in animal experiments to reduce glucose concentrations.
Caffeine, perhaps coffee’s most famous component, seems to have little to do with it; studies that looked at decaffeinated coffee alone found the same degree of risk reduction.
Larger quantities of coffee seem to be especially helpful in diabetes prevention. In a report that combined statistical data from many studies, researchers found that people who drank four to six cups of coffee a day had a 28 percent reduced risk compared with people who drank two or fewer. Those who drank more than six had a 35 percent risk reduction.
Some studies show that cardiovascular risk also decreases with coffee consumption. Using data on more than 27,000 women ages 55 to 69 in the Iowa Women’s Health Study who were followed for 15 years, Norwegian researchers found that women who drank one to three cups a day reduced their risk of cardiovascular disease by 24 percent compared with those drinking no coffee at all.
But as the quantity increased, the benefit decreased. At more than six cups a day, the risk was not significantly reduced. Still, after controlling for age, smoking and alcohol consumption, women who drank one to five cups a day — caffeinated or decaffeinated — reduced their risk of death from all causes during the study by 15 to 19 percent compared with those who drank none.
The findings, which appeared in May in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, suggest that antioxidants in coffee may dampen inflammation, reducing the risk of disorders related to it, like cardiovascular disease. Several compounds in coffee may contribute to its antioxidant capacity, including phenols, volatile aroma compounds and oxazoles that are efficiently absorbed.
In another analysis, published in July in the same journal, researchers found that a typical serving of coffee contains more antioxidants than typical servings of grape juice, blueberries, raspberries and oranges.
“We were surprised to learn that coffee quantitatively is the major contributor of antioxidants in the diet both in Norway and in the U.S.A.,” said Rune Blomhoff, the senior author of both studies and a professor of nutrition at the University of Oslo.
These same anti-inflammatory properties may explain why coffee appears to decrease the risk of alcohol-related cirrhosis and liver cancer. This effect was first observed in 1992. Recent studies,published in June in The Archives of Internal Medicine, confirmed the finding.
Still, some experts believe that coffee drinking, and particularly caffeine consumption, can have negative health consequences. A study published in January in The Journal of the American College of Cardiology, for example, suggests that the amount of caffeine in two cups of coffee significantly decreases blood flow to the heart, particularly during exercise at high altitude.
Rob van Dam, a Harvard scientist and the lead author of The Journal of the American Medical Association review, acknowledged that caffeine could increase blood pressure and slightly increase levels of the amino acid homocysteine, possibly raising the risk for heart disease.
“I wouldn’t advise people to increase their consumption of coffee in order to lower their risk of disease,” Dr. van Dam said, “but the evidence is that for most people without specific conditions, coffee is not detrimental to health. If people enjoy drinking it, it’s comforting to know that they don’t have to be afraid of negative health effects.”



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Top MBA Schools, MBA Ranking

For A Boost In Your Career, Get Into The Top MBA Schools. Use The MBA Ranking To Your Advantage And Get The Best Degree Program Available!An MBA ranking shows a list of universities or schools that offer the best MBA courses. And if you want to get into a top MBA school, then you’d better take a good look at this list.There are many reasons to want to attend top MBA schools. For one thing, they will have all the facilities you need. From extensive libraries to a wide network of external sources, you won’t have any problems with resources. This is especially important in an MBA degree program where you are expected to conduct your own researches - where self-study and discipline is a must. Without the proper tools and resources from a top MBA ranking university or school, it’s hard to do well.Another reason why an MBA from a top school will be a huge advantage is because a qualification from there will definitely do more for your career. Employers will be more impressed when you have a qualification from a highly ranked school. One of the main reasons to take up an MBA degree program is to boost your career. So what better way to do that, than to take up a program with a top ranking school? Graduates from top universities command a higher salary simply because of the university’s reputation. So don’t lose out on this side benefit. Just pick the right school to go to!It isn’t hard to find a top MBA school to go to either. All you have to do is search through the MBA rankings to find a school you’re interested in. Obviously any school or university within the top 10 of the MBA ranking system will be of top quality. Alternatively, you could always do some research on the first few universities of your choice to see how they are ranked.

A Brief History Of Dreams And Their Interpretation

The interpretation of dreams by dream experts may be almost as old as dreaming itself. We know that all humans, and many animals, dream every night, and humans have always been fascinated to learn what causes dreams and what they mean.

The interpretation of dreams dates back at least as far as 3000-4000 B.C. We know that because the interpretations of dreams were recorded in permanent form on clay tablets. It is thought that many primitive peoples were unable to initially distinguish between the real world and the dream world.

In many cases, these people looked upon the dream world as an extension of the physical world around them, and in many cases they saw the dream world as more powerful than the waking one.

Dream interpretation was such an important field to the ancient Greek and Roman world that dream interpreters often accompanied generals and other military leaders into battles. Dreams were taken extremely seriously, and the Greeks and Romans in particular often viewed dreams as messages sent by their gods.

Dreams also had a religious content in ancient Egypt, and priests their doubled as dream interpreters. Dreams were among the items recorded by the ancient Egyptians in the form of hieroglyphics.

Those whose dreams were especially vivid or significant were thought to be blessed and were given special status in these ancient societies. Likewise, people who were able to interpret dreams were thought to receive these gifts directly from the gods, and they enjoyed a special status in society as well.

There are over 700 mentions of dreams in the bible, and people in biblical times saw dreams as very significant. Dreams and their interpretations are mentioned in many of the most significant books of the bible and other holy scriptures.

In many cases, dreams were often seen as a form of prophecy. People often interpreted their dreams as omens or warnings, and adjusted their activities accordingly. Dreams were often thought of as omens from deities, as messages from spirits, or as messages from departed souls. In some cases, dreams were even seen as the work of demons, meant to confuse and trouble the dreamer.

Dreams were so important that they often dictated the actions of political and military leaders, affecting everything from the prosecution of a battle to the outcome of a political decision. Dreams were also thought to provide vital clues to healers, and they were used in the diagnosis and treatment of all manners of illness.

Dreaming was often looked upon by indigenous peoples as a way to commune directly with gods and spirits, and dreams are still used in this way by cultures around the world. Many people believed, and some still do, that during dream sleep the soul leaves the body and communes with the spirit world.

The Chinese were one culture who believed that the soul left the body each night during dream sleep. They believed that if the dreamer were suddenly awakened the soul may not be able to return to the body. That is why some Chinese are still leery about the use of alarm clocks. This is just one example of how ancient legends can linger into the modern world.

Some Mexican and Native American societies share this ancient view of the importance of dreams, and share the belief in a separate dimension that is visited during dream sleep. These people believed that their departed ancestors lived in their dreams, and that they were able to take forms like animals and plants.

Thus dreams were seen as a way for them to commune with their recent and ancient ancestors, and to gather wisdom and knowledge that would serve them in their waking lives. Dreams were also seen as ways to gather information about their purpose or mission in life.

The respect for dreams changed radically early in the 19th century, and dreams in that era were often dismissed as reactions to anxiety, outside noises or even bad food and indigestion.

During this period of time, dreams were thought to have no meaning at all, and interest in dream interpretation all but evaporated. This all changed, however, with the arrival of Sigmund Freud later in the 19th century. Sigmund Freud stunned the world of psychiatry by stressing the importance of dreams, and he revived the once dead art of dream interpretation.

Time Management - Are You a Time User or a Time Waster?

If you are like me, you've often wished there were 48 hours in a day instead of just 24. There never seems to be enough time to get everything done that you want. Since we just have about 16 hours a day not counting sleep time, it's important how we use the time we have.

On the average, people waste about 2 hours a day. This is mainly from poor planning. If a person is unorganized, they waste time trying to find things, they miss appointments, they only do one thing at a time when they could be doing two.

Good time management is a major building block to success. Oftentimes, it's not how much time we spend working but how efficiently we do the work. The key to successful time management is careful planning and setting priorities.

Plan your day, your week, and your month in advance. Know when things need to be done. A great way to "buy time" is to multi-task. Do more than one thing at a time. There are many things that do not require concentrated mental effort. These are more easily combined.

"Failing to plan is planning to fail," -unknown

Even though I am a big pro football fan, I can't justify sitting down and spending three hours watching a game. I have to be doing other things while I do it. Thank goodness for instant replay! I've found this is a good time to spend icing injuries or some other busy work. I can also record the games and watch them while exercising. I exercise about 30 minutes a day so during the football season I can watch a game during the week without wasting any time doing it.

When you run errands try to do as many as you can on one trip. If you are self-employed, you can combine personal errands that are on the way to a business errand and have the mileage written off as a business expense.

I've been fortunate to have been able to work at home for the past ten years. It's been great because I hate to waste time commuting. If you must commute, you can use the time to listen to audio self-improvement tapes, audio books or anything educational.

If you are a regular exerciser and belong to a gym, think about working out at home. If you lack the space and money for exercise equipment, try traditional body weight exercises. A little research on the Internet can show you websites devoted to this subject. Even though I lifted weights for 20 years, I've converted to body weight exercises. I've found they feel better and get the same if not better results. Of course, if you go to the gym to socialize or network, that's okay. You're doing more than one thing at a time. You can go walking with your wife. That way you're getting exercise and husband / wife interaction at the same time.

Setting priorities enables you to get the most important things done. Keep you eye on the big picture. Don't let low priority things bump off the higher priority tasks from your schedule. If you've only got so much time, it's imperative you spend your time doing the things that bring you the most benefit.

"Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least." – Goethe

Time is so precious. If you want to be successful in life you need to be spending more time being productive and doing things that are moving you forward. Spending hours a day watching TV, playing computer games, or surfing the Internet is not productive time usage. We all need downtime but you need to determine how much is really necessary. If you use your productive time efficiently then you will have more time to relax and do the fun things.

Science Homework? Speed Up Your Progress Online!

For your semester project you are required to write a biography about Albert Einstein. You need to explore his scientific achievements. Thankfully, your teacher is not making you provide the rational behind Einstein's E=MC2 equation, but you are expected to write a thorough paper about Albert Einstein. Where do you begin? Your text book only provides a few paragraphs on Einstein. The library is across town and is closed. What is a 21st century student supposed to do? You can answer this question by searching for information about Albert Einstein on the Internet.

When you have trouble with your homework your first inclination might be to give up or even skip doing your homework. Try booting up your computer and searching for homework information online before you engage in one of these drastic measures. Get out your homework assignment and you are ready to get started.

How do you search for homework information online? First, you need to determine what type of information you need. Do you need general information such as the history of Algebra? Or do you need more specific information about the Algebraic variables? To determine this information read through your homework assignment. Are there any keywords such as a name, place, or subject? Pick out keywords in your questions or topic and type them into an Internet search engine such as Yahoo or Google.


Bring up the Yahoo webpage at www.yahoo.com. Type "Albert Einstein" in the Search box. The search engine will find over six million websites about Albert Einstein. It would take you several lifetimes to sift through this information.

You have two options. Option #1 is that you can explore the first few websites listed and see if you find enough information. Option #2 is to go to a homework help website instead. Homework help websites can provide information that is geared toward students and not just fans of Albert Einstein. Go to the infoplease Homework Center at http://www.infoplease.com/homework/. You can search for information about Albert Einstein in their reference resources. Their reference resources include Almanacs, Atlases, Encyclopedias, and Biographies. The search on Albert Einstein will bring about 120 resources. A benefit of using these resources is that they are resources you would use in the library. Therefore, they are appropriate to use for academic material.

There is a vast amount of information available to you on the Internet. Take advantage of the homework websites as often as you can. The main thing is that you find credible information and not rely on homemade fan sites or websites. Use scholarly journals, encyclopedias, and other respected reference materials when doing your research. Your teacher will be impressed with your researching skills.

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