Thursday, March 29, 2007

British coinage

Obverse and turn around of ordinary coins in current movement, £2, £1, 50p, 20p, 10p, 5p, 2p and 1pThe British currency was decimalized on February 15, 1971. The basic unit of currency – the Pound – was unchanged. Previous to decimalization there were 240 pennies in a pound, now there are 100 new pence. The new coins were noticeable with the wording "New Penny" or "New Pence" to discriminate them from the old. The word new was drop after ten years. The representation p was also adopted to tell apart the new pennies from the old, which used the sign d.

The initial pound coin was introduced in 1983 to replace the Bank of England £1 banknote which was discontinues in 1984. A circulating bimetallic £2 coin was also introduced in 1998– there had until that time been remembrance £2 coins which did not normally circulate. The total amount of coinage in exchange is approximately three and a quarter billion pounds, of which the £1 and £2 coins account for almost two billion pounds.
Every year, newly mint coins are checkered for size, weight, and work of art at a Trial of the Pyx. Fundamentally the same process has been used since the thirteenth century. Assay is now done by the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths on behalf of HM Treasury.

Friday, March 23, 2007

Cellular

A cellular network is a radio network made up of a number of radio cells (or just cells) each served by a fixed transmitter, normally known as a (base station). These cells are used to cover dissimilar areas in order to provide radio coverage over a wider area than the area of one cell. Cellular networks are naturally asymmetric with a set of fixed main transceivers each serving a cell and a set of distributed transceivers which provide services to the network's users.
Cellular networks offer a number of advantages over alternative solutions,
increased capacity
reduced power usage
better coverage
A good (and simple) example of a cellular system is an old taxi driver's radio system where a city will have some transmitters based around a city. We'll use that as an example and assume that each transmitter is handled independently by a different operator.

Monday, March 19, 2007

View camera

The view camera is a type of camera with a very long history, but they are still used today by professional and amateur photographers who want full control of their images. The view camera is essentially a light-tight assembly comprised of a flexible mid-section, or bellows, attached to a device that holds a film sheet, photo plate or digital imager at one end (the rear standard) and a similar one that holds the lens at the other end (the front standard). The front and rear standards are not fixed relative to each other (unlike most cameras). Movement of the front and rear standards allows the photographer to move the lens and film plane separately for precise control of the image's focus, depth of field and perspective.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Eye color

Eye color is a polygenic trait and is determined mainly by the amount and type of pigments present in the eye's iris. Humans and animals have many phenotypic variations in eye color. In humans, these variations in color are credited to varying ratios of eumelanin produced by melanocytes in the iris.The brightly colored eyes of many bird species are mostly determined by other pigments, such as pteridines, purines, and carotenoids.
Three main elements within the iris add to its color: the melanin content of the iris pigment epithelium, the melanin content within the iris stroma, and the cellular density of the iris stroma.In eyes of all colors, the iris pigment epithelium contains the black pigment, eumelanin.Color variations among different irises are normally attributed to the melanin content within the iris stroma.The density of cells within the stroma affects how much light is absorbed by the underlying pigment epithelium.

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Coma

In medicine, a coma (from the Greek koma, meaning deep sleep) is a profound state of unconsciousness. A comatose patient cannot be awakened, fails to respond in general to pain or light, does not contain sleep-wake cycles, and does not take voluntary actions. Coma may result from a variety of conditions, including intoxication, metabolic abnormalities, central nervous system diseases, acute neurologic injuries such as stroke, and hypoxia. It may also be intentionally induced by pharmaceutical agents in order to preserve higher brain function following another form of brain trauma.

Distinctive phases of coma
Within coma itself, there are some categories that describe the severity of impairment. Contrary to popular belief, a patient in a comatose state does not always lay still and quiet. They may talk, walk, and perform other functions that may occasionally appear to be conscious acts, yet are not.
Two scales of measurement regularly used in TBI diagnosis to determine the phase of coma are the Glasgow Coma Scale and the Ranchos Los Amigos Scale. The GCS is a simple 15-point scale used by medical professionals to assess severity of neurologic trauma, and establish a prognosis. The RLAS is a more complex scale that describes up to eight separate levels of coma, and is often used in the first few weeks or months of coma while the patient is under nearer observation, and when shifts between levels are more frequent.

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Language school

A language school is a place of education where one can study a foreign language. In most cases, classes at a language school are geared towards, but not limited to, talkative competence in a foreign language. Language learning in such schools usually supplements formal education or experience in a foreign language.
Students vary generally by, among other factors, age, educational background and work experience, as well as language ability. Teachers are likely to possess native fluency or acquired comptence in their target languages; formal qualifications to become a language teacher, however, vary by school, region or country.