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About this event
Tuesday 18 November 2014 – Monday 5 January 2015
enter is Watermans’ annual exhibition showcasing the emerging talent in the field of new media art and design. The exhibiting artists have been handpicked from some of the country’s leading Academic institutions that offer unique opportunities in exploring art, design and technology. The selected artists take different approaches to the use of technologies in their practice in order to address and articulate their responses to contemporary issues.
Participating artists and work displayed:
In Blanket Party and V is for Volition Motha!, the foremost concerns within the work are the aesthetics of disappearance in contemporary warfare,interconnectedness of labour and commodities, repetitive action…as traumatic neurosis, the visible and invisible, the externalization and transformation of memory within the realm of conflict and how these processes affect our notions as political beings in a wider social/virtual spectrum.
Sara Umar (b. December 1978, Karachi, Pakistan) completed her BFA in Graphic Design from Bilkent University, Turkey. After years of working in the advertising sector, she unravelled herself from the corporate fabric and on to completing her MFA in Fine Arts from Goldsmiths University, London. Her practice investigates the complexities of the information illusion, visible political/ historical constructs and hidden violence, traumatic memory and fictitious narrative in contemporary war and conflict. Through her work she reconfigures materials/ objects and their symbolic meanings so that they operate in contradiction to one another whilst forming newer contexts.
Anuradha Reddy & Samantha Miller
On a daily basis, we give away large amounts of personal data to online companies and services. Yet, we rarely think about where our data is located, where does it travel to and where is it stored? Our use of and reliance on ‘the cloud’ can make it seem as though our data is floating and abstract, but there are vast physical centres around the globe that are responsible for the safekeeping of our personal data. The Wired Eye attempts to highlight this and draw our attention to these physical locations of data storage. Using information from our internet browsing history, the device retrieves the IP addresses of recently visited websites. From these IP addresses, it finds the associated data centres used by these companies and pulls an aerial image of the centre using satellite imagery.
The Wired Eye displays a slideshow of these images through a kaleidoscopic lens, inviting play and wonder around visuals that are both strange and beautiful. The optical distortion comments on the blurry nature of our knowledge of our data’s whereabouts at any given moment, as it is constantly moving, shifting between servers and travelling across the world in a span of milliseconds. The Wired Eye aims to provoke curiosity in further exploring the complex relationship between our online data and geographical sites of storage.
Anuradha Reddy is an Interaction Designer with an interest in critically exploring the relationship between people and technology. She is currently investigating the human component in machine learning and intelligent systems, and exploring ways to unravel what such machines are capable of and how we may converse with systems that learn. She currently lives in London where she is pursuing a masters degree in Interaction Research at Goldsmiths. She holds a post-graduate degree in New Media Design from NID, Ahmedabad and a bachelors of engineering degree in Electronics and Instrumentation from BITS, Pilani. She recently interned at Microsoft Research and Superflux Ltd as an Interaction Designer. Her work has been exhibited internationally at the Microsoft Design Expo and the Yahoo! USID Academic Showcase.anuradhareddy.com
Samantha Miller is a designer and researcher, combining design and sociology for meaningful, thought-provoking, and playful projects. Her current work includes material-led design research into graphene and exploring the use of photography as a design research method.
Sam holds a BA in Sociology from New York University, and is currently pursuing an MA in Design: Interaction Research at Goldsmiths, University of London. She recently was a Design Research Intern at STBY, specialising in early-stage design research for service innovation. Her work has been presented at the Microsoft Research Design Expo in Seattle, WA.
Lessons from a machine: A critical look at machines teaching children
This project looks critically at the ethical issues involved if we were to invite machines to teach children. The primary objective is to speculate on a future where machines are already instructing our children and have become part of daily life.
As part of school and home education, the system uses traditional social psychology experiments to understand, evaluate and teach complex human emotions. These include lessons on morals, building character, concepts of gratification and ethics.
The work on display showcases psychological experiments the artist conducted to test out how a child and machine might interact – could the machine engage with and influence childrens’ development? With this work, she wanted to raise concerns over the extent to which we are willing to introduce machines and technological solutions into children’s lives.
Could an algorithmic model that has earned society’s trust through teaching also gain persuasive control over individuals?
Promila Roychoudhury is an interaction designer/ researcher based in London, who specialises in speculating implications of design and technologies in our society. She graduated from the Royal College of Art, studying Design Interactions in 2014. Her recent works are on future of play, which tries to critically assess the concepts of playfulness and games in our society. She is focusing on understanding and speculating how play might evolve in the future with new technologies.
Current smart device platforms increasingly encourage instantaneous cloud based image syncing and sharing. There is certain nonchalance towards the idea of intimate memories residing in remote cloud servers. Meanwhile, Facebook’s new deep face learning algorithm (accurate to 97.7%) is closing the gap to human level performance in identity verification.
The increased societal acceptance towards cloud storage coupled with the recent advances in computer vision technology, affords a vision for a solution for arising identity privacy concerns in public spaces.
‘Pixel Currency’ addresses the issue of identity privacy arising from the rise of public imaging devices in the near-future. It proposes the implementation of a central screening mechanism for all captured image data. This mechanism, governed by rules defined at the state level, would operate at two levels:
That of the individual; Allowing a citizen to define the settings for the viewership rights of his captured form. They may choose to commoditize their form or protect it.
That of the Volumetric Estate owners; Allowing entities to own set XYZ co-ordinates, traded according to value and popularity. The price of image capturing these ‘Volumes’ is dictated by the underlying intent of the image capturer.
The individual settings of a citizen, coupled with the tariff model of the ‘Volume’ would dictate the materialization and the price of the digital image. Images might be free, free (sponsored), with limited licensing, full licensing or silenced.
The project hints at possible ways of commodification of identities and spaces when an image screening mechanism is implemented at the network level. Thus aims to show both the positive and negative implications of a technology, which is created with the intent of addressing the issue of identity privacy in the ubiquitous imaging paradigm.
‘Beyond Blood’ imagines a legal system where algorithms take over the inheritance process during intestacy situations where the deceased has not left a will and the state has to distribute the estates.
In his book Shaping Things, science fiction writer Bruce Sterling predicts that in the near-future every object will be tracked and logged by a computer system. He called these objects SPIMES. This project builds on this theory to suggest that by tracking people and objects over a number of years, computers will be able to infer the significance of an object to a particular individual. It can then designate assets based on different parameters, which can be altered by the policy makers.
The project explores this through an examination of the life and death of Howard Hughes, an American aviator and movie maker who passed in 1976 without leaving a will. Unmarried and without children at the time of his death, Hughes’ US$2.5 billion estate was eventually split in 1983 among 22 cousins whom he had never visited, and never liked.
‘Beyond Blood’ uses the film “Aviator”, which depicts the life of Howard Hughes, to create a fictional computational model for generating a will on Hughes’ behalf. In this alternative history of the life of Howard Hughes, every asset and object is a “spime” that senses human interactions and is tracked and logged by computer systems.
Sures Kumar is a speculative designer interested in the implications of technology in our society. He focuses on algorithms and their applications in sentimental decision-making processes. His prior works falls under the domain of interaction design and digital art. Sures Kumar’s work has been published in Wired, FastCoDesign, Core77, Arduino Blog, CNN, CreativeApplications, Animal Newyork, PSFK, PitaPixels, Complex etc. and also has been exhibited internationally at the ACM Siggraph and Yahoo! USID Academic Showcase.
He currently lives in London and is working for Google. He recently graduated from the Royal College of Art, London and earlier from the National Institute of Design, India. He gives workshops and teaches creative coding and projection mapping techniques at various universities. He has worked for Microsoft Inc and has interned at Local Projects, NYC where his works include developing several interactive solutions for Cleveland Museum of Art, Civil Debate Interactive Wall at the Bob Graham Centre for Public Service, University of Florida and the National September 11th Memorial Museum at Ground Zero.
Loop d’ Loop
A performative co design project
Loop d’ Loop is a DIY kit of parts designed for British-born teenagers aged 13 -18 years old in the recreation hall of the New Choice for Youth Centre, East London. The parts when assembled, results in inflatable seating that twists, customized with visuals. The seating comes in modules, which when attached to one another forms variety permutations and combinations as per functions. The project was focused to intervene in NCY center to collaboratively produce a set of modular seating representing each individual. The aim was to explore the potentials of community space as a place for freedom in expression, informal meeting and a new imagination. Exploring the relation of body, space and time through weekly workshops of two hours per session, the New Choice Centre youth participated in four sets of theatre exercises, brainstorming sessions, reflections and model making workshops using design methods. The methods were categorized into, mapping the space – understanding of space, model making – imagined space, art it out- expressing feeling and motivation on the seating, Matrix – creating connections by attaching the modules to create different layouts. As a result, fifteen teenagers ended up expressing their understanding of tolerance, collaboration and co-creation, by developing a modular seating system based on their new ideas of space, place and people.
Gillian Hipp, Movement Psychotherapy
Luca Pons, Graphic Design
James Corp, Carpentry
Farida Alhusseini, Manasi Pophale; Text
Kristian Bridge (head), Omar, Hassan, Nathan; NCY Trust
Anuj Anjaria, Interior Design & Kinetic Sculpture
Bran Whitwell- Mak, Video
Erwin Bo Yi, Multimedia Design
Marie Durand Yamamoto, Fabric
Kasse wong, Volunteer Help
Soumya Basnet is a Designer from Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design, UAL, London, in MA Creative Practice for Narrative Environments. Originally from Sikkim, India, her background is in Space Design/ Interior Architecture. She graduated from the School of Interior Design, CEPT University, Gujarat, India. Recently she collaborated with scientists at KAIST, Daejeon, South Korea to develop a product used for detecting and healing mental health. Her keen interest to combine design and theatre focused into highly experiential environments for the public, led to her bachelors thesis on Scenography. Ever since then she has been involved in creating immersive environments based on user experience and a strong body of research work. Exposure to nature right from her childhood helped her develop a very strong sensitivity towards environment, situation and details.
Dreaming in CMYK
This project challenges the way designers normally apply colour to interior and exterior spaces, through a return to a more playful, instinctive and elemental application. Combining two independent process, wood charring as a finish and processed CMYK printing as a means to colour, CMYK pigment is melted on wood to create vibrant finishes. Designers are used to picking colours in a clinical fashion – chemically mixed CMYK, added through a precise mechanical method such as printing, or powder coating. Studying the way Indian culture celebrates colour, Avantika looks at the application of CMYK to colour our architectural environments in a completely unexpected manner. In the ancient Indian tradition of Rangoli, the women of the home would every morning draw patterns using pure colour powders in the entranceway as a welcome and blessing, taking pride in this daily ritual of ornamentation. Inspired by this intuitive and natural application of colour in homes, Avantika started powdering pigments to create patterns on surfaces. Experimentation with solid CMYK toner pigment, lead to her discovery of the toner as a wood finish due to it’s waxy nature. As with Rangoli, a primitive and unpretentious celebration of colour, here colour finds purpose through application. Colour is no longer a cosmetic after thought, it is the central element. Its significance is literally seared into the design.
In collaboration with Louie Rigano (www.louierigano.com )
Building on a previous project, Dreaming in CMYK, the char-colour furniture is coloured through burning CMYK pigment on wood to create vibrant and animated waxed finishes. Just as cyan, magenta, yellow and black are the primary units of the colour spectrum, simple forms are used in various combinations to create a dynamic range of furniture. Two independent processes, wood charring as a finish and processed CMYK printing as a means to colour, are combined in a collection of modular furniture which highlight the analog gradation made possible by this method of manual colour application. The combination of synthetic pigments (which allow the full color spectrum to be procured with utmost ease and consistency) and a bespoke traditional finishing technique (which uses fire as a primal tool to protect wood) is simultaneously recollective and forward-thinking.
Reweave is a project that explores India’s rich history of resist dyed fabrics. Ikat weaving involves resist dying yarn prior to weaving. When hand woven, this produces intricate fabrics with multi-layered abstracted patterns. Due to the time consuming nature of the craft, however, its modern evolution has seen digital reproduction as a means to preserve ikat’s aesthetics, and the role of the craftsmen has diminished. Through collaborating with craftsmen and introducing digital techniques into the process the project creates new and unexpected textile patterns.
While the traditional geometric patterns are beautiful in their own right, Reweave takes the notion of pattern abstraction to the extreme, using digital printers to print photographs on to yarn as a means of dying the thread. The photos are then unravelled and hand-woven, creating new abstracted textiles.
This technique introduces a new way for us to perceive images and colour by using digital methods capture exact visuals and then using a very handcrafted method to pixelate them.
Avantika chose photographs of urban Indian landscapes as her source material as she saw a unique chance to celebrate the unbridled appearance of colour in India through richly abstracted colour studies. The idea of India as colourful is a case of truth exceeding cliché, but people generally don’t realize the extent of it. Freed from the straitjacket of figurative representation, the colours, when abstracted through the weaving process, are allowed to take on a life if their own, merging in the textiles to form new colour landscapes.
Avantika Agarwal is a (product) designer currently based in London and India. She grew up in India, then flew across the ocean to California to pursue a degree in product design at Stanford (’12), and finally moved to London to complete an MA at the RCA (’14).
She enjoys working with craft, and exploring its evolution, finding ways to blend eastern and western cultures. She blames the Bay Area for her interest in business and strategy. She is a synesthete and so is pretty obsessed with colour. As a synesthete Avantika is particularly sensitive to colour and so has always had a tendency to be very bold in her choices – and she is beginning to realise that this tendency comes largely from her Indian upbringing. Colour and decoration spill everywhere in an unapologetic, unbridled exuberance that’s chaotic and all encompassing yet, somewhere, there’s an underlying logic. Bringing this attitude towards colour and ornamentation to a western environment, she started questioning the application of what is usually considered a final cosmetic skin. Her work uses CMYK, but in a completely unexpected manner to create products and experiences that are centrally focussed upon the choice and application of colour.
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A-A+ D12 – Fight music 2019-10-08 Chinese Music Comment 46 Take Control Of Your Health RECLAIM YOUR HEALTH DAYS! Try now for a limited time! The full version of the battle music video. Click here!Instantly Slow Down Guitar Solos Or Riffs While Still Retaining The Original Pitch. A Perfect Cross Promo For Any Music Learning.


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Georgia DUI/Drug Court Sets Good Example
LaGrange – Graduates of the DUI/Drug Court are being encouraged to find their salvation in support from others in their life. Eleven people were sent on their way after graduating the program last Thursday. The graduates were praised for their efforts by Georgia Supreme Court Justice Robert Benham, one of the officials who helped start the drug courts in the state.
According to Benham, through completion of the program, graduates are saved, as are their families, the community and their friends. Instead of reverting to their previous behaviors, these people are poised to make a positive impact on society.
For every dollar spent on the program, $27 is saved when compared with the traditional system. By helping people beat their addictions, the courts are helping to ensure that they are not seen again, wasting the taxpayers’ money and the courts’ time.
Thanks to the success of the drug courts, other spin-off courts have taken shape. Mental health and veterans courts aim to assist people in their time of need rather than punish them for a mistake or poor decision. All people who move successfully through these programs are encouraged to create a better system. They are told a simple truth: They can’t do it by themselves. Everyone needs support, and everyone should accept it. Graduating from drug court is just a step in the process of healing. The rest of the work will be up to the individual.
“I want to congratulate you for all you’ve done, for the sacrifices you’ve made and the commitment you’ve made to see this through to the end,” Benham told the graduates. “I want to congratulate your family for tolerating you during this long period of time.”
The success of the drug courts in Georgia has been noticed throughout the country. Whether or not other states will follow Georgia’s lead remains to be seen, but current thought is that at least some of the remaining states will be following suit.

domain: law


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Hello and welcome to Fairy Tail Online! We are an active, non cannon site with great, open minded staff. Join us as we embark on a Fairy Tail adventure! ~
Free forum : Group For Pigeon Fanciers
If you love Anime and want to meet fellow OTAKU, this is the right place for you! Join us and chat with us!
Free forum : The Home of Ruffians Leagues
Free forum : ZombZ Gaming is an online community currently focused on Arma2 DayZ mod
An online Fate/stay night RP for me and my friends.
The GM Connected Hockey League for Playstation 3 (PS3)
Deadman Lines is a faction associated with an online MMORPG Star Wars Combine.
Accelerate with your own character into Brain Burst!
Discussions for private security officers and management, everything related to contract or full-time guard services. World Input!
A 3d role playing game using the open source code from the previously hit game Impressive Title. With more customization, better map system, but no items or hunting.
Some dusty old forums managed by a big nerd.
forum : Radiator Springs Racing
Reach out & get better now
An online community of Scorpion Enthusiasts.
Free forum : EMS, A Vendetta Online Guild
Hello! This is a Tanki Online Help Forum. It is not offical. Offical Tanki Online Forum: en. tankiforum. com Offical Tanki Online Game: tankionline. com
Online Open Wheel racing series. Currently hosting a league on Project Carso for Playstation 4.
Free forum : FORUM ONLINE ONLY FOR NIMBUZZER
The Order is a Herosmash clan made up of the most skilled PvPers. We're dedicated to staying on top, while being team players and a good example to others. Check the Joining topic if you want to apply.
A haven for the Hunters of Phantasy Star Online Versions 1 and 2.
We talk about Newgrounds, Flash, Music, Video Games, and pretty much everything else.
A place for guildies to gather and share.
Check here for dates of online and pen-and-paper gaming runs, as well as other vital info and activities, for the CHOAM and CO gaming groups.
This site is for those part of the Hero clan on Pokémon Online.

domain: entertainment


Scientists are watching a big part of Antarctica that has become unstable. If a large section breaks off the sea rise would come without warning. A 6 foot rise could hit Louisiana.
13:44 min mark he talks about Louisiana –
LINK – https://youtu.be/s-GzPF_ff3g
He is reading from this article – An Unforeseen Climate Beast Awakens! by Robert Hunziker
” . . . The Totten Glacier in East Antarctica is destabilizing. It alone carries enough ice melt (16 feet) to flood NYC and Tokyo, forget Miami, it’s already a goner. Totten is less than 10% of the mass of East Antarctica. Still, Totten brings more potential sea level rise than all of West Antarctica, where major destabilization of glaciers continues ongoing with gusto.
According to a recent telling article in Geophysical Research Letters: Yara Mohajerani, Isabella Velicogna, and Eric Rignot, “Mass Loss of Totten and Moscow University Glaciers, East Antarctica, Using Regionally Optimized GRACE Mascons,” https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL078173, July 25, 2018: Totten lost 18B tons of ice every single year from 2002-2016, a clear signal that risk of inordinate sea level rise is now officially “on the move.”“
charts from the pay-to-view science paper: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/downloadSupplement?doi=10.1029%2F2018GL078173&file=grl57517-sup-0001-supplementary.pdf
Would an event like that put so much water weight on the thin shelf that makes up the Gulf Coast as to break it off? Keep in mind from Louisiana to Texas the ground is full of holes from well digging.
A computer-enhanced multibeam bathymetry map of the northwestern and northern Gulf of Mexico continental shelf and slope.
2016 – Louisiana Shares Texas’ Abandon Well Problem
New Sea Floor Maps
2013 – Dire Warning for Louisiana! Gulf of Mexico Collapse Scenario.


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Steven Pemberton’s presentation on the printing press, the internet, Moore’s Law, and exponential growth.
Friday, March 22nd, 2019
Thursday, November 22nd, 2018
I just binge-listened to the six episodes of the first season of this podcast from Stephen Fry—it’s excellent!
It covers the history of communication from the emergence of language to the modern day. At first I was worried that it was going to rehash some of the more questionable ideas in the risible Sapiens, but it turned out to be far more like James Gleick’s The Information or Tom Standage’s The Victorian Internet (two of my favourite books on the history of technology).
There’s no annoying sponsorship interruptions and the whole series feels more like an audiobook than a podcast—an audiobook researched, written and read by Stephen Fry!
Monday, January 9th, 2017
A wonderfully thoughtful piece from Robin, ranging from the printing technologies of the 15th century right up to the latest web technologies. It’s got all my favourite things in there: typography, digital preservation, and service workers. Marvellous!
Monday, March 11th, 2013
Just like in the Borges short story, you can now see everything at once …from Project Gutenberg, or from Twitter, or from both.
This may be the only legitimate use case for (truly) infinite scrolling.
Thursday, November 5th, 2009
In praise of Gutenberg's contribution to typography.
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009
Help keep your culture error-free by proof-reading small pieces of literature from Project Gutenberg.

domain: literature


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Residents hire tankers to dispose off waste water
City residents have been facing sewerage problem for long with no solution in sight. In order to get rid of the problem, the residents have started hiring tankers to dispose of the sewage water. Leena Dhankar reports.india Updated: Dec 08, 2011 01:24 IST
City residents have been facing sewerage problem for long with no solution in sight. In order to get rid of the problem, the residents have started hiring tankers to dispose of the sewage water. Private tankers dump wastewater into the nearby areas, polluting the environment and posing health hazards. The authorities have turned a blind eye to the problem.
Residents of Sushant Lok 1,2 and 3, Rose Wood City, South End Floors, South End Uppals, South City 1 and 2, M2K, Malibu Town, Sector 39, 56 and 57 and Mayfield Garden are facing this problem. Now, the residents are up in arms against the authorities.
With each passing day, the stinking sewage water is increasing and clogging the roads. Builders have plugged off water harvesting system and using storm water pipeline for pumping sewage into the storm water drainage system.
The sewage water is collected in artificial ponds in different areas of Sohna Road, which may contaminate drinking water pipelines at different place.
Master sewage treatment plant in Dhanwapur village, is ready but is yet to be connected with the sewer lines in the city.
Even after so many years, MCG is unable to provide proper sewage and storm water drainage system in the city.
First Published: Dec 08, 2011 01:22 IST

domain: news


text: I am correct in my thinking that there are THREE molts from hatch to adulthood? Seems my ducks are starting to drop feathers again at 4.5 months old. At least the two welsh harlequins seem to be starting. First fluffy down then baby feathers(?) and as soon as I got used to them they dropped those and then got darker more true color (as in the buffs)juvenile feathers and now starting to get adult feathers?

domain: pet


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Names the output hot folder for the external program. Ricoh ProcessDirector looks in the retrieval folder for the retrieved file using the retrieval pattern.
- Database name
Usage note: Retrieval folder is a positional job property. For information about using positional job properties, refer to the Information Center.

domain: library


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domain: economics


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*Says current birth rate now stands at 8m yearly
*Seeks strengthening of primary health care
By Joseph Erunke
The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has disclosed that no fewer than 82,000 Nigerian women are now dying yearly from pregnancy-related complications.
The organisation said 225 women are dying every day from maternal mortality, seeking urgent action by authorities to halt the ugly development.
On the other hand, the global humanitarian intervention agency revealed that the country was now witnessing 8 million childbirth yearly, expressing worry that the situation was not commensurate with healthcare care indices in the country.
UNICEF Chief of Health in Nigeria, Eduardo Celades, disclosed these in Lagos on Tuesday, at a Media Dialogue on COVID19 and Routine Immunization, hosted by UNICEF Nigeria.
The new death rate arising from pregnancy-related complications doubled the figure released by the Federal Ministry of Health, just in March 2022.
Recall that the ministry had through its Director of Family Health, Salma Kolo,said at least 40,000 women in Nigeria lose their lives to pregnancy -related issues annually.
She noted that over one million children under the age of five also die as a result of losing their mothers to pregnancy delivery complications.
But speaking at the media dialogue, UNICEF Chief of Health, Eduardo Celades,said the figure of deaths arising from pregnancy-related complications had reached 82,000 in 2023 just as he said 225 women die yearly in the country as a result of the development.
The UNICEF representative,who said Nigeria has a very high rate of maternal mortality at the moment,cited global maternal mortality report from 2000 to 2020, recently launched as the source.
The new figures which he said was gotten , would help UNICEF in its response to health challenges in the country.
He said:” In the last few months and weeks,we got new data. The report is telling us that still, the number of women dying from pregnancy related causes is very high. About 82,000 are estimated to die every year from maternal mortality.
“What we doing is to strengthen primary health care in the country.
“We hope that the data would help us in our response and the response with the government in Nigeria.
“The other one is the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, MICS,an analysis where there are the main issue and how we can face them.
And the other new data is the global maternal mortality trends,2000 to 2020. This is a new report that was launched a couple of weeks ago and we wanted to share that with you,because we think this could influence how we work and to define how we work with government,so that we can all align and we can have a common narrative .
“We think that this is the new way of working. We are learning and we are trying to innovate. Nigeria is one of the most complex countries in the world in terms of the public health issues that it is facing.
“It is the second country in the world with more zero dose children–the ones that have not had any single vaccine. It is the country in the world with high maternal mortality.
“Last year was the biggest outbreak in the world and Nigeria has extreme weak health system. So, we are trying to think from different angles because we at UNICEF and the UN cannot move alone. To do that, we need the government to work with journalists and social media influencers to make the change that is needed.”
The UNICEF representative disclosed that his organisation was planning to launch
antigenes virus vaccines in the country soon, saying the vaccine would immunized children from some childhood diseases.
Noting that Nigeria was progressing towards the attainment of SDG three, he said the nation’s current progress pace was insufficient to meet the targets.
“Maternal mortality is not going down. Maternal mortality is the same. We have seen that it has reduced about 12% in the last 20 years but it is not enough if we want to achieve the target.
So, from UNICEF ,our main approach is to try to accelerate interventions to make an impact. Now, we have seven years up to 2030 and we are half way. If we continue like this, some donors will leave in the next few years, so we have a window of opportunities.
He said the organisation’s call to action in respect to maternal mortality rate in the country was the “need to increase effective investments in primary healthcare, at the state level as well as the Basic Health Care Provision Fund BHCPF.”
“The second one is that now,we have a very powerful tool to get Universal Health Coverage,UHC.To reduce maternal mortality,we must focus on National Health Insurance. So I appeal for expansion of the National Health Insurance as much as we can.
We must invest in the most vulnerable. We appeal to state government to allocate resources to that as well as partners to allocate resoruces to that .
“Our third appeal is to target the most most vulnerable, those women who don’t have acces in the most hard- to-reach areas and in the more inaccessible places. We need to invest in getting into these areas.
He disclosed that UNICEF was working in collaboration with the Nigerian Governors Forum and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to launch what he described as Leadership Challenge.
“The challenge is called the Primary Healthcare Leadership Challenge and the idea is to recognize and award the state governments that are really investing more in the primary health care.
The event,he said, would attract different categories of awards with $200 million as the highest to states that will win from the six geopolitical zones of the country.
Earlier,UNICEF Nigeria Communications Officer,Safiya Akau, while noting that “the importance of journalists and the media in battling false information concerning COVID-19 and routine immunization cannot be emphasized”, said that:”For the public to receive correct and timely information, to combat false information, and to foster a sense of community and solidarity in the face of any epidemic, journalists have a critical role to play.”
“UNICEF has been at the forefront of the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and other preventable diseases, promoting social behavior change, covid-19 vaccination, systemic health system strengthening, and routine immunization. To effectively communicate messages on these important issues, it is important to make the most of this media dialogue,”she said.
She named the objectives of the media dialogue to include:”Identify and discuss the sources of misinformation about COVID-19 and polio, and its associated risks;Examine different strategies for reporting COVID-19 misinformation and polio vaccination, and dispelling myths and Provide guidance on how to use evidence-based resources and best practices when reporting on COVID-19, polio response, and routine immunization.”
Comments expressed here do not reflect the opinions of Vanguard newspapers or any employee thereof.

domain: medical


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CANCÚN — A violent attack early Sunday April 2 resulted in three men shot dead, a security guard wounded and another person injured from a shooting that took place in the bar Santino, located on Coba avenue, a block away from Cancún’s city hall.
At approximately 7:30 a.m. there were reports of people injured by firearms in Santino’s bar.
When police and emergency agents arrived, they found several people with gunshot wounds, who claimed that they had been attacked in the nightclub.
The attack left a total of five bar patrons and a security guard injured by gunfire, three of which have already died.
In the incident at Santino’s bar police found a “narcomanta” or warning banner from the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación with the words, “We come for the plaza CJNG”.
Witnesses said at least five armed men entered the bar, threatened customers and shot a man in the head in an execution-style killing. He was believed to be the manager or owner.
As they were leaving the bar, the presumed hit men also fired on a group of taxi drivers stationed outside the establishment. One of the drivers was shot dead in his vehicle and another died on the way to the hospital, according to regional daily La Jornada Maya.
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text:
Exquemelin's book of adventure and swashbuckling tells the true stories of distinguished pirates such as Captain Henry Morgan.
First published in 1678 just a few years after the described incidents took place, The Buccaneers of America is also known by the title The Pirates of Panama. For its unabashed description of adventure and thievery on the high seas, the text has captivated audiences for centuries with its frank and reasonably accurate accounts of piracy in the waters of the Caribbean and Central America.
The main focus of the book is Captain Henry Morgan, an English pirate whose skills at coastal raiding resulted in his gaining great fame and fortune. Rare for a pirate in that his raids were for the most part consistently successful and lucrative, Morgan would eventually retire and be granted the governorship of Jamaica by a British government grateful for work he performed for the Crown.
This edition of the book is derived from a version of the text which first appeared in 1914. The text is generally faithful to Alexander Exquemelin's first-hand descriptions of his adventures, sailing with some of the most notorious pirates to ever venture upon the seas. Although divided into chapters, the book is written as a detailed but engaging log of the various escapades the pirates embarked upon, and is a text worthy of any enthusiast of piracy.


text:
Galaxy Blue Tail Guppy Fish
Galaxy Blue Tail Guppy Fish Breeding Pair (Male and Female)
You will get a pair (Male and Female) of Galaxy Blue Tail guppy fish. The packet is fully sealed with pure oxygen and it is safe to travel long distances for 5-7 days. Buying Galaxy Blue Tail guppy fishes online from aquastore is totally safe, we are delivering you with 100% satisfaction.


|Publication number||US5434511 A|
|Application number||US 08/066,534|
|Publication date||Jul 18, 1995|
|Filing date||May 24, 1993|
|Priority date||May 24, 1993|
|Publication number||066534, 08066534, US 5434511 A, US 5434511A, US-A-5434511, US5434511 A, US5434511A|
|Inventors||Vahe A. Adamian, Michael T. Falcinelli, Peter V. Phillips|
|Original Assignee||Atn Microwave, Inc.|
|Export Citation||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Patent Citations (16), Non-Patent Citations (17), Referenced by (48), Classifications (6), Legal Events (7)|
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet|
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for automatically producing a plurality of complex reflection coefficients, a low-loss transmission coefficient, and a high isolation condition at the ports of a vector network analyzer.
Measurement errors in any vector network analyzer (VNA) contribute to the uncertainty of the device being measured by the VNA. By quantifying these errors, their effects can be drastically reduced.
Measurement errors in network analysis can be separated into two categories: random errors and systematic errors. Random errors are non-repeatable measurement variations due to physical change (e.g. noise and temperature changes) and, therefore, are usually unpredictable. Systematic errors are repeatable measurement variations in the test setup itself.
In most measurements made on "devices under test" (DUT) with a VNA, the systematic errors are the most significant source of measurement uncertainty. Therefore, it is desirable to remove these errors from the VNA measurements. This is achieved through a VNA calibration.
It is known in the prior art to connect a number of well-known physical standards to each of the two ports of the VNA for the purpose of calibration. The systematic errors can be determined by computing the difference between the VNA measured response of the well-known standards and the correct response of the well-known standards.
However, before measuring the DUT, the performance of the calibration should be checked for its accuracy. It is therefore also common in the prior art to check the calibration accuracy by connecting a device with a well-known characteristics (a verification standard), which is different than that of the calibration standard, to the VNA. If the calibration of the VNA is performed properly, the measurement of the verification standard closely matches values previously obtained. However, if the measurement of the verification standard does not comply with other previous VNA measurements of the standard, then the operator knows that the calibration was not performed properly or that the VNA is not functioning properly.
Upon completion of verification of the VNA calibration, the operator can then connect the uncharacterized DUT to the VNA for measurement. The systematic error of the measurement system can then be removed mathematically from the measurement of the DUT.
A two-port DUT to be measured can have any of three possible configurations of connectors at its two ports. An "insertable" device has two connectors which are from the same connector family and of opposite sex, one connector being male and the other connector being female. An insertable two-port DUT is configured such that the calibration may be performed by connecting the two ports of a VNA together with the aid of a cable to establish a through-connection, during calibration, and without having to change the configuration of the measurement setup for the actual measurement of the DUT.
In contrast, a reversible DUT to be measured is characterized by two connectors of the same family but also of the same sex (either both male or both female). A reversible DUT is not "insertable" (e.g. "non-insertable") because the two ports of the VNA cannot be connected together to establish a through-connection during calibration without an adapter. However, the adapter is part of the calibration measurement. Therefore, it is common practice to calibrate with the adapter and to then perform the actual DUT measurement with another adapter of appropriate sex in order to try and reduce the measurement uncertainty. Alterntively, there is a second calibration technique which provides a better calibration accuracy which is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 and is described below.
A second category of a "non-insertable" DUT comprises a transitional device which has two connectors that are of different families (e.g. one connector being coaxial and the other being waveguide). Similar to the reversible DUT, the disadvantage to measurements made on a transitional DUT is that the DUT cannot be inserted into the measurement system using the identical configuration which was used to calibrate the measurement system. The characteristic variations between these adapters cause added uncertainty in the measurement of the DUT.
It is common to use a calibration kit including a set of three physical standards of an appropriate connector family and sex to determine the error coefficients of a predetermined error model of a VNA. These physical standards usually consist of a short circuit connector, a shielded open circuit connector and both a fixed or sliding matched load termination. The standards also include several phase-matched adapters for use with the reversible DUT calibration as discussed above.
Full two-port calibration using a twelve-term error correction model to determine the systematic errors of a VNA is one of the most comprehensive calibration procedures. In order to determine all twelve terms of the error correction model for an insertable DUT, to be measured, each of the three measurement standards of the appropriate sex should be connected to the appropriate VNA port and measured. In addition, the two measurement ports of the VNA should be connected together via the use of the "through" connection.
The calibration setup and required connections to physical standards for an insertable device are shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B. Thus, an insertable device requires a minimum of six one-port (short, open, load) calibration standards 100, 102, 104, 106, 108 and 110 to be connected in succession to the VNA 112 ports 114 and 116, respectively, (three for each port) and measured, and one through-connection (FIG. 1B) in order to determine the twelve terms of an error correction model.
Alternatively, a non-insertable device requires that a minimum of twelve one-port calibration standards 120, 122, 124, 126, 128 and 130 (FIG. 2A) and 132, 134, 136, 138, 140 and 142 (FIG. 3A) be connected to the VNA ports 114 and 116 and measured. Furthermore, two through-connections must be made (FIGS. 2B and 3B) in order to perform a full two-port calibration. This technique requires that an adapter 144 with the same sex and family of the DUT be alternatively connected to each port 114 and 116 of the VNA 112 and a full two-port calibration be performed with the appropriate calibration standards. Thus, a non-insertable full two-port calibration requires a minimum of twelve one-port and two through-connections. However, it is possible to make the two through-connections shown in FIGS. 2B and 3B in succession by reducing the number of through-connections to one.
In addition, for a better accuracy calibration, a sliding termination is typically used instead of a matched load termination. A disadvantage of the sliding termination is that a measurement should be performed for at least three slide positions in order to obtain reliable measurements. It is common in practice to use five slide positions for the matched load measurement at each port thereby resulting in a total of ten matched load position measurements. Thus, for an insertable DUT broadband calibration, a minimum of eighteen measurements and seven connections is standard; and for a non-insertable calibration a minimum of thirty-six measurements and thirteen connections is standard.
A disadvantage of the above-described calibration procedure is that each calibration standard must be connected and measured one at a time. This procedure involves connecting the standard to the VNA port using the appropriate hardware to ensure proper connection and once proper connection is ensured, pressing the appropriate hardware key on the VNA to make the appropriate measurement. In addition, once the measurement has been made, the standard must be disconnected and another standard must be connected using the same procedure. As discussed above, this procedure is repeated for a minimum of seven connections and eighteen measurements with a broadband insertable DUT and a minimum of thirteen connections and thirty-six measurements to measure a broadband non-insertable DUT.
As a further disadvantage, a non-trained operator may confuse the standards (which are often confusingly similar in appearance) and operate the wrong hardware key on the VNA, measuring the wrong calibration standard. If the mistake is discovered at the end of the calibration, then the entire calibration must be repeated. Alternatively, if the calibration is not verified by the operator, via the use of a verification standard, after the full two-port calibration, the operator typically does not know that the calibration is flawed and that the DUT measurements are incorrect.
Additionally, the constant connections and disconnections of the calibration standards required by the calibration procedure results in connector wear and, therefore, non-repeatability in the calibration standard measurements. This non-repeatability in measurements contributes an additional error term to the calibration measurement which cannot be corrected.
Still another disadvantage of the prior art method of calibration is that the manual calibration procedure tends to be cumbersome and slow. Thus, a significant portion of valuable testing time is spent each day calibrating the VNA. If the calibration is not done correctly, then the operator must start over. The VNA should be recalibrated, depending upon the application, at least once each day in order to ensure appropriate measurement accuracy.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a method and apparatus for calibrating a VNA which requires only one connection of the apparatus to each port of the VNA. It is a further object of this invention to provide a method and apparatus that essentially eliminates any errors resulting from connecting the wrong calibration standards to the VNA, and which allows untrained labor to calibrate the VNA while reducing the time required to perform the calibration. The calibration according to this method and apparatus can be performed automatically.
The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for providing a programmable broadband, highly stable and repeatable two-port network to be used in determining the systematic errors of a VNA.
The two-port network of the present invention is comprised of a number of semiconductor devices interconnected through transmission lines. Each semiconductor device can be forward or reverse biased by programmable digital control circuitry. A multitude of well-known reflection coefficients can, therefore, be generated at each port of the two-port network by forward or reverse biasing selected semiconductor devices via the programmable digital circuitry. In addition, all of the semiconductors can be reverse biased such that the two-port network provides a low-loss transmission through-connection between the two ports of the network. Furthermore, a high isolation can be obtained between the two ports of the network by forward biasing several or all of the semiconductor devices simultaneously.
The programmable two-port network can be connected to each port of the VNA in order to provide multiple complex reflection coefficients to each port of the VNA. These well-known multiple reflection coefficients can be used as calibration standards at each port of the VNA for a one-port calibration. In addition, a full two-port calibration can be performed by providing, with the two-port network, multiple well-known reflection coefficients to each port of the VNA, a low-loss transmission through-connection between the two VNA ports and a high isolation condition between the two ports.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more clear with reference to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments as illustrated by the drawings in which:
FIGS. 1A and 1B are schematic diagrams showing the calibration of a vector network analyzer for insertable devices to be measured according to the prior art;
FIGS. 2A and 2B and 3A and 3B are schematic diagrams illustrating the calibration of a vector network analyzer for non-insertable devices to be measured using an adapter on each of the two ports according to the prior art;
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a calibration setup according to this invention;
FIG. 5 is a more detailed schematic diagram of a two-port network circuit for use with the setup of FIG. 4 according to this invention;
FIG. 6 is a more detailed schematic diagram of a digital control circuit for operating the two-port network circuit of FIG. 5;
FIG. 7 is a flow-diagram of a two-port, twelve-term, error model for use with the two-port network according to this invention;
FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating a computer control procedure for obtaining calibration coefficients using the two-port network according to this invention;
FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a self-calibration circuit using a pair of two-port networks according to this invention; and
FIG. 10 is an alternative embodiment of a self-calibration circuit using two-port networks according to this invention.
FIG. 4 illustrates a measurement setup according to a preferred embodiment which can be used with the present invention to calibrate a VNA. The setup includes the VNA 12, a two-port network 14 according to this invention to be connected to both ports of the VNA and a computer control 16. The computer control 16 includes a data line 18 to the VNA 12 to receive the measured data from the VNA 12 and to control the VNA 12 with the aid of software stored in a local or permanent memory region 20 of the computer 16. The measurement setup also includes a control line 22 between a two-port network interface 23 and the two-port network which allows the computer or the VNA to control the two-port network in accordance with the control software stored in the memory of the computer. In addition, the computer control includes a keyboard interface 24 for interaction with an operator. Note that while a computer 16 is illustrated in this embodiment, the computer functions can be incorporated into the VNA 12 or into a microprocessor or other hardware and software device directly provided to the network 14.
FIG. 5 is a schematic of the microwave circuitry 25 contained in the two-port network 14 of the present invention. This circuitry is of a type disclosed in Applicants' U.S. Pat. No. 5,034,708 relating to a Broadband Programmable Electronic Tuner. The teachings of this patent are expressly incorporated by reference hereinto. The microwave circuitry 25 includes a number of pairs of PIN diodes D1-D16 and DC blocking capacitors C4-C19 in series which are separated according to this embodiment by various lengths of microstrip transmission line T1-T17. The series capacitor C4-C19 and PIN diode D1-D16 combinations are shunted to ground 27. The DC blocking capacitors C4-C19 establish the RF connection of the cathode side of each respective diode D1-D16 to ground. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the transmission lines T1-T17 are constructed from 10 mil thick, known dielectric substrates which are laminated with copper on both sides wherein one side is etched to the appropriate dimensions. While such transmission line is utilized, equivalent forms of transmission line that establish a given electrical length are contemplated according to this invention. Similarly, while PIN diodes are utilized, other forms of switching devices are contemplated.
Referring to FIG. 5, a DC bias current is constantly established at connection J0. This current is established by a +5 volt supply according to a preferred embodiment. This DC bias current is supplied to the anode side of any of the PIN diodes D1-D16 through the RF bypass network consisting of RF coil inductor L1 and RF shunt capacitor C2. The RF bypass network prevents the interaction of RF and DC signals. Any of the PIN diodes D1-D16 can be forward biased by providing a DC current return path to the cathode sides of any of the diodes via any of the control lines connections J1-J16. By individually controlling the connection of the control lines J1-J16, any one corresponding individual diode D1-D16 may be forward or reverse biased. Each control line connection also includes an RF bypass circuit consisting of a series RF coil L2-L17 and a shunt RF capacitor C20-C35 which prevents interaction between the RF signals and the DC bias signals.
In FIG. 5, the DC blocking capacitors C1 and C3, which are placed in series with the RF transmission lines at the input of PORT 1 and PORT 2, prevent the DC bias signals used to bias the PIN diodes from exiting the two-port network.
The two-port network allows for a multitude of conditions to be established over a broad frequency band at both of its PORTS 1 and 2. These conditions include presenting a multitude of complex impedances at each port, a low-loss through-connection between the ports and a high isolation condition. In addition, the length and width of the transmission lines T2-T16 are chosen to ensure a unique phase relationship between each of the PIN diodes D1-D16. The selection of transmission line electrical length is based on the principle of prime numbers described in Applicants' U.S. Pat. No. 5,034,708 which is expressly incorporated hereinto by reference. This principle provides for minimizing the repetition of impedance values at either port of the two-port network. Thus, employing the prime number relationship ensures that the total line length from either input port of the two-port network to each diode is not evenly divisible by the line length from the input port to any other diode. However, other length relationships can be utilized according to this invention.
In FIG. 5, the microwave circuit allows for a plurality of microwave impedances, spread across the complex reflection plane, to be presented at both ports of the two-port network by controlling the signal present at the control lines J1-J16. The microwave circuit can be thought of as being a symmetrical circuit comprised of two equal circuits. Circuit one is comprised of transmission lines T2-T8 and the corresponding shunt PIN diode D1-D8 and series capacitor C4-C10 pairs between these transmission lines. Circuit two is comprised of transmission lines T10-T16 and the corresponding shunt PIN diode D9-D16 and series capacitor C12-C19 pairs. These two circuits are joined by transmission line T9 which is fed by the DC current supply connection J0 and the RF bypass network. The circuit is designed such that the transmission lines T2-T8 and T10-T16 are symmetrical about the transmission line T9. Therefore, transmission line length T2 is equal to transmission line length T16, T3 equals T15, T4 equals T14, T5 equals T13, T6 equals T12, T7 equals T11 and T8 equals T10. The length of the transmission line T9, according to this embodiment, is chosen so that, at the lowest frequency of desired operation, the round trip electrical length between PORT 1 to PIN diode D1 and the round trip electrical length between PORT 1 and PIN diode is a minimum of 240 degrees of phase difference for the condition where each diode is alternatively forward biased and the electrical length is measured. Similarly, the same phase relationship will exist at the lowest frequency of operation when diodes D3 and D16 are forward biased one at a time and connection is made to PORT 2.
In FIG. 5, the PIN diodes can be operated in one of two states. In a forward-biased state, the PIN diodes act as very small resistors (substantially short circuits). In a reverse-biased state, the PIN diodes can be modeled as a very small capacitor, at RF frequencies, and therefore a very high impedance (substantially open circuits). Establishing a DC ground connection to any of the control lines J1-J16 ensures that the appropriate diode is forward biased. Alternatively, any of the control lines J1-J16 can be set to a positive voltage substantially larger than that at port J0 so that the appropriate PIN diode will be reverse biased. Thus, it is possible to present a number of different impedances to either port of the two-port network. In addition, when all of the control lines are connected to DC ground such that all the PIN diodes are forward biased, the two-port network acts as a large-value attenuator providing a substantial amount of isolation between PORTS 1 and 2. In contrast, when all of the control lines are set to a positive voltage so that all of the PIN diodes D1-D16 are reverse biased, the two-port network acts as a low-loss through-connection between PORTS 1 and 2.
In a preferred embodiment, each capacitor C1-C3 has a capacitance of 200 pF, C4-C9 has a capacitance of 100 pF and C20-C35 has a capacitance of 820 pF; each inductor has an inductance of 40 nH; each transmission lines has a width of 0.30" and a physical length of T1=T17=0.061", T2=T16=0.035", T3=T15=0.039", T4=T14=0.035", T5=T13=0.039", T6=T12=0.035", T7=T11=0.214", T8=T10=0.243" and T9=0.627"; and each diode has a periphery of 0.015"×0.015"×0.005" with a series resistance of 2 ohms and a junction capacitance of 0.1 pF.
FIG. 6 is a schematic of the digital circuit 29 included in the two-port network. The digital circuit 29 provides the appropriate bias to the control ports J1-J16 in accordance with the control signal 22 received from the computer control line, as best shown in FIG. 4. In FIG. 6, the computer control signal 22 is received by three commercially available Darlington transistor arrays U1, U2 and U7 (SN 75468). The Darlington transistor arrays U1, U2 and U7 are configured to receive a 16-bit TTL signal output by the computer control line 22. The word is transmitted on signal lines B0-B15 to U1 pins 1-7, U2 pins 1-7 and U7 pins 1-2 respectively. U1, U2 and U7 pins 8 are connected to ground 27. A TTL logic high on any one input line B0-B15 results in a corresponding output of the Darlington array U1, U2 or U7 providing a DC ground signal to the corresponding output control line B01 -B151. Output control lines B01 -B61 are connected to respective pins 16-10 of U1, B71 -B131 are connected to respective pins 16-10 of U2 and B141 and B151 are connected to respective pins 16 and 15 of U7. A TTL logic low input to any of the Darlington array input ports does not enable the corresponding Darlington array output and, thus, the corresponding control line B01 -B151 is pulled up to a +50 volt signal level which is presented to the corresponding PIN diode control line.
In FIG. 6, a pair of 68 ohm resistor networks U3 and U4 are placed between the output control lines B01 -B151 of the Darlington arrays U1, U2 and U7 and the corresponding output control lines B02 -B152 and are used to limit the current which can be drawn by each diode. In addition, there is provided a pair of one Mega-ohm resistor networks U5 and U6 which are placed at the outputs B02 -B152 of the 68 ohm resistor networks which are in series with a +50 volt bias supply 33 according to this embodiment. The voltage supply 33 and resistor networks U5 and U6 act as a pull-up network for each output control which is not selected by the input TTL, signal thereby ensuring that a strong reverse bias signal is maintained on each control line J1-J16 for a PIN diode which has not been selected.
FIG. 7 is a two-port, twelve-term error correction model 35 which may be used to model the systematic errors in a conventional VNA setup. In FIG. 7, the subscript notation is as follows: M stands for measurements made by the VNA which is being calibrated. A stands for actual measurements which were preformed by a VNA at a metrology laboratory; F stands for measurement in the forward direction (looking into the two-port network from Port 1) and R indicates measurements in the reverse direction (looking into Port 2 of the two-port network).
As is known in the prior art, the error correction model requires the connection of a number of known calibration standards to the ports of the VNA in order to determine the error coefficients in the twelve-term error model. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, there need only be a one-time connection to each port of the VNA. Such connections are typically made to both ports simultaneously. Thereafter, the two-port network and computer control provide a number of impedance standards, a low-loss through-connection and a high isolation to the VNA ports. These conditions are measured by the VNA and then the twelve-term error coefficients are calculated.
In addition, the accuracy of the calibration is be increased where the number of impedances presented at both ports of the two-port can be greater than that required to compute the unknown error coefficients, and therefore the additional impedance measurements may be used to improve the accuracy for the unknown coefficients. Furthermore, the random error of the measurement calibration is substantially reduced due to the fact that only one connection to the VNA ports is required. Thus, it is possible to reduce the random and systematic errors in the calibration and to improve the accuracy of the DUT measurement.
In addition, the calibration speed will be improved over that of the prior art where there is only one connection required to the VNA and because the computer control program automatically controls the calibration without the need for operator input. An additional benefit is that the connector configuration of the DUT to be characterized does not change the calibration so long as the connectors on the two-port network are compatible with the DUT. Also, the two-port network presents a verification standard to the VNA, post calibration in order to check that the calibration was performed correctly and to insure the accuracy of the calibration without the requirement of additional connections and/or disconnections to the VNA. Furthermore, the use of the computer control and elimination of multiple connections and disconnections to the VNA, substantially eliminates possibility of human error in the calibration. Note the calibration device, according to the invention can also be used as a verification or accreditation with other instruments in addition to a VNA because of its known characteristics. For example, this device can be used to verify the accuracy of a power meter.
With reference to FIG. 5, the method by which all twelve-term, error coefficients of FIG. 7 are determined will now be described. A 16-bit digital word is input to the digital circuitry of FIG. 6 such that the PIN diodes D15 and D16 are forward biased, thereby effectively presenting a short circuit impedance at PORT 2 and also isolating PORT 2 from PORT 1. Equation 1 is derived from a flow graph analysis on the two-port, twelve-term error correction model 35 of FIG. 7 to solve for the measured reflection coefficient at PORT 1 S11M. In Equation 1, the terms S11A, S22A, S21A, and S12A, are the actual scattering parameters of the impedances presented by the two port network measured by the metrology laboratory VNA. ##EQU1##
Det [SA]=S11A S22A -S21 A S12A
that S21A =S12A =0, Equation 1 reduces to Equation 2. ##EQU2## This condition is achieved practically, as described above, by forward biasing diodes D15 and D16 such that PORT 2 is isolated from PORT 1. In Equation 2, the coefficient S11A is representative of the predetermined reflection coefficients measured by a VNA at a metrology laboratory (when diodes D15 and D16 and at least one other diode D1-D14 is "on") for various impedances presented at PORT 1. Therefore, by measuring at least three known impedances at PORT 1, the three error terms forward directivity EDF, forward reflection tracking ERF and forward source match ESF in Equation 2 can be solved for mathematically. Additionally, improved accuracy in the calibration measurements may be achieved, by measuring more than three impedances at PORT 1 and performing a least sum squares fitting algorithm on the computed error terms.
Since the circuit in FIG. 5 is symmetrical, the same technique can be used at PORT 2. Equation 3 is the measured reflection coefficient S22M equation derived using a flow graph analysis at PORT 2 based on the error model of FIG. 7. ##EQU3## By forward biasing PIN diodes D1 and D2 PORT 1 of the two-port network is isolated from PORT 2. As can be seen from Equation 3, if S21A =S12A =0 then Equation 3 reduces to Equation 4. ##EQU4## A number of predetermined impedances can be presented at PORT 2 by forward biasing diodes D1 and D2 and at least one of diodes D3-D16. These impedances can be measured and used to calculate the three error terms reverse directivity EDR, reverse reflection tracking ERR and the reverse source match ESR of Equation 4. In addition, as discussed above, by measuring more than three known impedances and using a least sum squares fitting algorithm, the accuracy of the computed error terms may be increased.
Equations 5 and 6 are the measured transmission coefficients in the forward direction (looking into the two-port network from PORT 1) and the reverse direction (looking into the two-port network from PORT 2) derived using the same flow graph analysis technique on the two-port error correction model. ##EQU5## It is clear from Equations 5 and 6, that if S21A =0 then Equation 5 reduces to Equation 7.
S21M =EXF (7)
Similarly, it is clear from Equation 6, that if S12A =0 that Equation 6 reduces to Equation 8.
S12M =EXR (8)
These conditions S12A =S21A =Zero are accomplished by forward biasing all of the PIN diodes D1-D16 such that a large value of attenuation exists between PORTS 1 and 2.
By measuring the transmission coefficients S21M and S12M (see Equations 7 and 8) when all of the diodes D1-D16 are forward biased, the error terms forward isolation EXF and reverse isolation EXR can be computed.
Referring to the twelve-term, error correction model of FIG. 7, the scattering coefficients S11A, S21A, S22A, and S12A are the known scattering parameters measured at the metrology laboratory in the original characterization of the two-port network. The values are measured during the initial characterization of the two-port network for the conditions where all of the PIN diodes D1-D16 are reverse biased. In addition, the one-port error terms for PORT 1 and PORT 2 were determined previously by the method described above. Therefore, by measuring the impedances at PORT 1 and PORT 2 where all of the PIN diodes are reverse biased, the error terms forward load match ELF and reverse load match ELR can be computed from Equations 9 and 10. ##EQU6## In addition, by measuring the through-connection from PORT 1 to PORT 2 with a signal source at PORT 1 and alternatively from PORT 1 to PORT 2 with a single source at PORT 2, while PIN diodes D1-D16 are reverse biased, the error terms forward transmission tracking ETF and reverse transmission tracking ETR can be computed from Equations 11 and 12. ##EQU7## Thus, all of the twelve-term error coefficients of the two-port error model of FIG. 7 can be computed using the method described above and without requiring any connection or disconnection of the two-port network and without any human intervention.
Furthermore, after the above-described calibration, the two-port network can then simulate known transmission and reflection coefficients which have not been presented during the calibration procedure described above and can be used as a verification standard for the purpose of checking the accuracy of the calibration. This can be done immediately after the calibration, with the aid of the software and without any need for connections or disconnections of the two-port network or any human intervention.
Once the two-port network has been measured on a VNA by a metrology laboratory, then it may be used as a calibration standard by other VNAs. Accordingly, it is desirable that the two-port network continue to reproduce the same conditions at its two ports that were measured by the VNA of the metrology laboratory.
Therefore, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a heater is provided to insure the long term temperature stability of the electronic circuitry of the present invention. In accordance with the preferred embodiment, the temperature is fixed at a temperature of 41° C. using a heating element located within a box or other enclosure for the circuitry (not shown).
Referring now to FIG. 8, a flow diagram 41 of a method of controlling and calibrating the VNA is shown. First, the user inputs the frequencies to the computer (Step 28) at which a measurement of the DUT is to be performed. The frequencies are then correlated (Step 30) with the frequencies of the premeasured two-port device to determine at which frequencies the calibration should be performed. Next the VNA is set up (Step 32) by loading the frequencies into the VNA in order to perform the calibration. Then the measurement of the two-port network is performed (Step 34), according to the method described above. Once the two-port measurements are finished, the error terms of the error model are computed (Step 36). These error terms are then used to interpolate to the appropriate frequencies for the DUT to be measured (Step 38). The VNA is then restored to its initial condition (Step 40) so that the two-port network can be disconnected and the DUT can be connected for measurement.
In this embodiment, the control routine 41 is provided by a computer 16 (FIG. 4) having interconnections with the two-port network 14 and VNA 12. In the example of a Model 8510 Hewlett-Packard network analyzer, the computer is interconnected via line 18 to a standard port using a IEEE-488 standard connector. As noted above, the functions of computer 16 can be incorporated directly into the two-port network 14 or can be provided to the VNA 12.
Another application of the two-port network of the present invention is that it can be placed inside the VNA test set in order to derive a self-calibrating circuit 48 for a VNA. Referring to FIG. 9, the two essentially identical two-port microwave networks 50 and 52 are placed after the couplers 54, 55, 56 and 57 and present reflections at PORT 1 and PORT 2 of the VNA test set. With this embodiment, it is possible to calibrate the two networks once and thereafter to use the two networks as a self-calibrating VNA. Thus, it is possible to initially characterize the self-calibrating VNA, and then thereafter it is possible to self-calibrate the VNA each time that the VNA is to be used simply by making a through-connection between PORTS 1 and 2 of the self-calibrating VNA.
Referring to FIG. 9, the initial calibration procedure to characterize the self-calibrating VNA is accomplished by performing a calibration at the device reference plane 58. This is accomplished by reverse biasing all of the PIN diodes in each two-port network in order to establish a low loss through each network. The signal from signal source 68 may then be presented to PORT 1 by selecting the appropriate position of switch 62. The PIN diodes of the output two-port microwave network are forward biased in order to step through different impedances. The reflection coefficients resulting from the various impedances presented by the output two-port microwave network 52 are measured at the device reference plane 58 thereby characterizing the output two-port microwave network 52.
Similarly, the input two-port microwave network 50 is characterized by reverse biasing all of the PIN diodes of the output two-port microwave network switching the position of switch 62 to send the RF signal to PORT 2 and stepping the PIN diodes of the input two-port microwave network 50 through various impedances and measuring the reflection coefficients at the device reference plane 58.
Once the self-calibrating VNA has been initially characterized, as per the steps described above, the two-port networks can then be stepped through various impedances according to the steps described below to self-calibrate the VNA, without the need for making numerous connections or disconnections to PORTS 1 or 2 of the VNA or the need for human intervention. The steps of the self-calibration procedure of a self-calibrating VNA as initially characterized above are as follows according to one embodiment:
(1) Establish a through-connection between PORTS 1 and 2 of the VNA; (2) determine the directivity EDF, source match ESF and reflection tracking ERF error terms at PORT 1 by measuring three impedances presented by the output two-port microwave network 52 and (3) compute the error terms based upon the known initial values of these impedances S11A and utilizing Equation 2 as described above.
Then, (4) determine the directivity EDR, source match ESR and reflection tracking ERR error terms at PORT 2 by measuring the reflection coefficients presented at the device reference plane 58 by stepping the input two-port microwave network through its various known impedances as characterized initially and utilizing Equation 4 to compute the error terms as described above.
Then, (5) determine forward ELF and reverse ELR load match error terms by reverse biasing all of the PIN diodes of both the input and output microwave network and utilizing Equations 9 and 10 as discussed above. In Equations 9 and 10, S11A =S22A =0 and S21A =S12A =1 where there is now a through-connection between the ports of the VNA instead of a two-port network.
Next, (6) measure the forward S21M and reverse S12M transmission coefficients, with all of the PIN diodes in both two-port networks reverse biased. Since all the parameters in Equations 11 and 12 are known, with the exception of forward isolation EXF and reverse isolation EXR, by disconnecting the through-connection between PORTS 1 and 2 and reverse biasing, all of the PIN diodes of the input and output two-port networks, the error terms EXF and EXR can be calculated utilizing Equations 7 and 8 as discussed previously. With the error terms EXF and EXR known, forward transmission tracking ETF and reverse transmission tracking ETR can be calculated utilizing Equations 11 and 12. Thus, all of the error terms can be calculated with the embodiment as shown in FIG. 9. Since the cable between PORTS 1 and 2 should be disconnected in order to make the DUT measurements, no extra steps are needed with the technique described above.
FIG. 10 is an alternate embodiment of a self-calibrating circuit 60 for a VNA which can be utilized in the same manner as described above with respect to the embodiment in FIG. 9, except that the initial calibration utilizing the conventional calibration technique is performed with single-pole-double-throw switches 62 and 64 configured such that PORT 1 and PORT 2 are connected to the throws 63 and 65 which are connected to the cabling 67 from the signal source 68. Each of the input and output two-port microwave networks 72 and 70 respectively are connected to ground via resistor R having a value of 50 ohms. Thereafter the self-calibration routine can be performed using the steps described above where the single pole double throw switches will be connected to the two-port microwave network which is being utilized to establish the known impedances. In other words, single-pole-double-throw switch 62 is connected to the signal source 68, while single-pole-double-throw switch 64 is connected to the output two-port microwave network 70 to characterize the output two-port microwave network 70. Similarly, single-pole-double-throw switch 65 is connected to the signal source 68 while single-pole-double-throw switch 62 is connected to the input two-port microwave network 72 to characterize the input two-port microwave network 72. Thereafter, the self-calibration routine is performed utilizing the steps described above with respect to the embodiment of FIG. 9.
Having now described the foregoing embodiments of the invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that the foregoing is merely illustrative and not limiting, having been presented by way of example only. Numerous modifications and other embodiments are within the scope of one of ordinary skill in the art and are contemplated as falling within the scope of the invention as defined by the pending claims in equivalents thereto and this description should be taken only by way of example.
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|U.S. Classification||324/601, 333/18, 333/17.1|
|May 24, 1993||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: ATN MICROWAVE INC., MASSACHUSETTS
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:ADAMIAN, VAHE A.;FALCINELLI, MICHAEL T.;PHILLIPS, PETER V.;REEL/FRAME:006571/0695;SIGNING DATES FROM
|Oct 31, 1995||CC||Certificate of correction|
|Jan 20, 1999||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 4
|Jan 20, 1999||SULP||Surcharge for late payment|
|Jun 19, 2001||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC., CALIFORNIA
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text:
Just 10 lessors control 73% of Dutch market
Almost three quarters of the Dutch vehicle leasing market is controlled by just 10 lease companies, a recent study by Aumacon finds.
The fourth consecutive annual Dutch Lease Company Top 100 by Aumacon – an independent knowledge centre for the Dutch automotive industry – shows the 10 largest lessors in the Netherlands have tightened their grip on the lease market.
While LeasePlan remains the largest player on the Dutch market, ALD Automotive has produced the strongest growth – mainly thanks to its success on the private lease market.
“Lease companies are of major importance to the automotive industry. They already represent at least 45% of all new-vehicle sales and are the main customer category for the vehicle maintenance and repair sector”, says Clem Dickmann, owner/CEO of Aumacon (pictured left, handing over the first copy of this year’s Lessor Top 100 to Jeroen Kruisweg, General Manager of ALD Automotive Netherlands).
Top 10 in full
Just for comparison’s sake: the Top 10 of vehicle dealership groups in the Netherlands represents just 30% of all new-vehicle sales in the country.
Below, in full: the Top 10 of vehicle leasing companies in the Netherlands (figures as of 1 January 2018).

domain: geography


text:
Nunnelee moves to Johns Hopkins; still rehabilitating from brain surgery
Published: July 1,2014
Tags: Alan Nunnelee, brian tumor, Cancer, chemotherapy, Congress, Congressman, Johns Hopkins Hospital, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, politician, Politics, rehabilitation, surgery, TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital
BALTIMORE, Maryland — Congressman Alan Nunnelee has been moved to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, to start radiation and chemotherapy, three weeks after he underwent brain surgery in Texas.
His office said yesterday that the 55-year-old Republican also will continue rehabilitation to improve speech and left-side mobility problems that started after the surgery.
Nunnelee was hospitalized in May after experiencing nausea and fatigue. Surgeons at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston removed a small mass from his brain June 9.
Before transferring to Johns Hopkins, Nunnelee had been undergoing rehabilitation at TIRR Memorial Hermann hospital in Houston. It’s the same place then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords underwent rehab after she was shot.
Nunnelee, of Tupelo, was first elected to Congress in 2010 and is running again.
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text:
Natmag has closed Cosmogirl!, in another blow to the collapsing teen market.
The decision follows the closure of Smash Hits! and Sneak by Emap, as well as the sale of Bliss to Panini in the last year. BBC Magazines recently closed It’s Hot! but retains Top of the Pops magazine.
In a statement Natmag said it had undertaken a complete review of its portfolio and decided that the August edition of Cosmogirl will be its last. The company said it would hope to find the editorial team alternative roles within the business.
The Cosmogirl! offshoot – digimag Jellyfish – has been granted an extended test period by the company. Significantly, it will now focus on targeting a much older age group than its original 12-to-16-year-old audience. The new test period, running until September, will move the online title into parent brand, Cosmopolitan’s territory, targeting 18-to-25-year-olds.


text:
More drawings of me
Posted: November 29, 2012 Filed under: art, Body
The drawings below are from the last modeling I did for Atelier Denu. I just got these today and I think they are super killer awesome. These are drawn by Shawn Phillip Hunsdale.
On the left is one pose and on the right is my next pose.
This one is another view of the second last pose. I look a little bit less evil in this version.

domain: hobby