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Instructional Technology/Learning Management Systems/Learning Management Systems in Healthcare

Learning Management Systems in the Healthcare Environment
Education in the healthcare environment is essential to produce quality well-trained employees. In the past, classroom training in a face-to-face environment was the main way that employees were provided their initial and ongoing training needed to perform their job responsibilities. This required the employees to be away from their work environment, whether that be providing patient care or working in an administrative or clerical position, for a period of time. This meant that their duties were either not being done during that time or another employee would have to pick up the additional responsibilities. All of this causes an increase in costs for the corporation as well as potential safety issues if the employee is providing patient care. A learning management system can help alleviate some of the problems that hospitals face in the traditional classroom training environment.

Regulatory Agency Requirements
Implementing a learning management system, while initially can be a costly investment, over time can prove to be a well spent investment. More and more hospitals are required to provide mandatory yearly education to their employees due to regulatory agency requirements. Examples of some of the regulatory agencies that put demands on healthcare include, but are not limited to:

Regulatory Agencies:
 * [[w:Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services|CMS]
 * [http://www.jointcommission.org/ The Joint Commission
 * MPRO

CMS, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is a federally funded program that is concerned, like most other regulatory agencies with the quality of healthcare being provided to the beneficiaries of medicare and medicaid. They are involved in many programs that look at quality and confidentiality such as HIPPA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, is one example of a regulation mandated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. HIPPA is related to insurance coverage for individuals as well as confidentiality compliance that must be followed by hospitals as well as many other healthcare businesses such as physician offices, insurance companies, etc. Hospitals must provide education to their employees on how to handle electronically printed medical information about patients.

Another regulatory agency that puts demands on hospitals as far as educating their employees is The Joint Commission. The Joint Commission. JCAHO provides accreditation to healthcare facilities following a site visit and review of the institution. The Joint Commission is concerned with the care provided to patients. A current initiative of the Joint Commission is patient safety. A LMS can provide education about patient safety, initiatives the hospital is instituting to assist in patient safety and what healthcare providers can do to provide safe care to their patients.

MPRO is a state of Michigan based organization that looks at healthcare quality and ways for healthcare institutions to improve care to their patients. Based on their reviews of a hospitals services they may offer suggestions for ways to improve processes that are used in the healthcare environment. A LMS is a way to provide education to healthcare providers on how to utilize the information and suggestions made by MPRO to improve the delivery of care to their patients.

Continuing Education Requirements
According to ACGME's,Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education website; ACGME “is a private, non-profit council that evaluates and accredits medical residency programs in the United States. The mission of the ACGME is to improve the quality of health care in the United States by ensuring and improving the quality of graduate medical education for physicians in training.” Reference citation Medical residents are required to obtain a certain amount of hours worked in a teaching hospital as well as continuing medical education requirements. Physicians are also required to obtain continuing medical education credits every three years while they are in practice, in order to maintain their licensure. Each state varies as to what those requirements are. Registered nurses are also required to obtain continuing education contact hours every two years to maintain their license. This number also varies by state and may have specific requirements as to the type or content of contact hours that must be obtained. A learning management system can be used to offer courses to both physicians and nurses as well as any other category of staff that require continuing education for licensure. The LMS can also be used to track whether or not staff have the met licensure requirements

Benefits for a Healthcare Environment
For example, a large teaching hospital located in a suburb of Detroitis a 1,061 bed hospital that has approximately 13,000 employees. Based on the type of employee, there are required yearly educational programs/material that must be mastered. Many of these requirements are mandated by the outside regulatory agencies described above. Some examples of the courses are:
 * Patient Confidentiality
 * Electrical Safety
 * Fire Safety
 * Corporate Compliance
 * Emergency Management

In order for a hospital of this size to maintain records of completion and mastery of the required course/information, a LMS is an invaluable tool. It provides the hospital with an easy way to track all employee records and provide the regulatory agencies with proof of compliance.

Benefits also include:
 * Reduction of scheduling personnel to attend training programs.
 * Delivery of training anytime – day or night.
 * Access to training at home or on the job.
 * Consistent content delivery.
 * Opportunities for the EMS system to provide updated information to EMS practitioners.

Simple and easy to use. The LMS has the capability to track overall user progress, evaluate program content, score tests, and create certificates. In addition to the course content there can be:
 * An information library
 * Course tests
 * Program content surveys

Internal Links
Return to Instructional Technology. Return to Learning Management Systems.


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Cookbook:Cooking Sugar

When a sugar syrup is cooked, water boils away to yield a high-temperature sugar concentrate. As the temperature rises, so does the concentration of sugar in the solution. The highest temperature it reaches indicates its properties once cooled to room temperature. It is practical at sea level to use a candy thermometer for evaluating the sugar syrup—however other techniques exist such as the cold water test and the thread/string test used in Indian cooking.

Cold Water Test
Each test is completed by dropping a dollop of the hot candy solution in cold water, and then extracting and evaluating the candy formed. Be sure to allow for a moment for the candy to cool before handling it to avoid getting burnt.

Thread Test
The thread or string test is commonly used in Indian cooking to assess the stage of a sugar syrup. To do it, allow a few drops of the sugar syrup to cool. Place the syrup between the thumb and forefinger, and gently separate the fingers. Observe the number of unbroken threads formed.

Stages of Cooked Sugar
Note that the following temperatures are listed at sea level, as they are listed in most cookbooks. The temperatures will differ at higher elevations due to the decrease in atmospheric pressure—because of this, the cold water or thread tests can be a more reliable gauge at elevation.

Thread

 * Temperature range: 230°F-235°F
 * Sugar concentration: approximately 80%
 * Cold water test: when cooled in water it will create a liquid thread that cannot be easily collected.
 * Thread test: a single unbroken thread will form between the fingers.
 * Uses: This stage is proper for making syrup such as Chocolate Syrup but is not technically a candy.

Soft Ball
At this point, the candy cannot easily support itself and will begin to run if left out.

 * Temperature range: 235°F-240°F
 * Sugar concentration: approximately 85%
 * Cold water test: syrup can be formed into a soft and flexible ball.
 * Thread test: two single unbroken threads will form between the fingers.
 * Uses: This stage is proper for making items such as Fudge.

Firm Ball

 * Temperature range: 245°F-250°F
 * Sugar concentration: approximately 87%
 * Cold water test: syrup will create a firm chewy ball that can support its own weight and will remain chewy.
 * Thread test: two unbroken threads will form between the fingers.
 * Uses: This stage is appropriate for making candies such as Caramel, but please note this in not the same thing as Caramelizing.

Hard Ball

 * Temperature range: 250°F-255°F
 * Sugar concentration: approximately 92%
 * Cold water test: syrup will form thick ropy threads, and a hard ball will form with a larger quantity of syrup.
 * Thread test: three unbroken threads will form between the fingers.
 * Uses: This temperature is best suited for recipes such as Rock Candy.

Soft Crack
When the solution reaches this stage the bubbles will become obviously smaller and more concentrated. The candy at this stage has a low moisture point.

 * Temperature range: 270°F-290°F
 * Sugar concentration: approximately 95%
 * Cold water test: syrup will create small flexible threads.
 * Thread test: n/a
 * Uses: This stage is optimal for recipes such as Honey Taffy or salt water taffy.

Hard Crack
At this point the moisture levels are nearly non-existent. It is also the highest recipe that will be used in a standard candy recipe—after this point you enter the region of caramelizing.

 * Temperature range: 300°F-310°F
 * Sugar concentration: approximately 99%
 * Cold water test: syrup will form brittle threads and easily break when bent or dropped.
 * Thread test: n/a
 * Uses: Toffee and Hard Candy.

Caramel
At this stage the sugar will begin to caramelize and take on an amber color. Once this stage is reached, the sugar can quickly progress to burnt, and it is necessary to watch it closely. This stage can also be reached by heating sugar without water until it melts and caramelizes, but it can be tricky to ensure even heating and caramelization with this method.

 * Temperature range:
 * Cold water test: n/a
 * Thread test: n/a
 * Uses: caramel sauce, caramel shards

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Cookbook:Cooking Sugar


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Computer Animation/Getting Started

Making animations on a computer can be relatively cheap, horrendously expensive, or anywhere in between. Your requirements will depend on what exactly you want to do (more on the different types of animation in chapter 4), but it's safe to say most hobbyists can get involved with minimal outlay.

Hardware
Most of the equipment here you will already have, or can pick up cheaply. Unless you plan to make broadcast quality animation, don't worry about going for the cheaper models as the differences at the lower end of the market are negligible.

A PC

For any sort of graphics work, the faster your PC's processor the better. Also, the more memory it has in terms of RAM and hard-drive space the better. Any computer bought within the last year or two should be able to handle the majority of animation tasks comfortably however.

If you have money to burn, you might want to consider increasing the RAM in your PC to its maximum amount as this will greatly enhance your user experience when working with large files. Another upgrade which is always worthwhile if you do a lot of graphics work is a bigger hard-drive as the files you generate build up quickly.

For certain types of animation such as machinima or 3d, you may want to consider upgrading your graphics card to the best you can afford. For most animation purposes, any relatively modern graphics card will do, there is no need to go for the staggeringly expensive model on the bleeding edge.

A Digital Camera

An absolute essential. Probably the easiest way to get a source image to modify without having to worry about copyright implications.

A digital camera, as opposed to a film or video camera, uses an electronic sensor to transform images (or video) into electronic data. Modern digital cameras are typically multifunctional and the same device can take photographs, video, and/or sound.

In 2005, digital cameras are starting to push traditional film cameras out of many markets. Shrinking device sizes have recently allowed miniaturized digital cameras to be included in multifunctional devices, such as cell phones and PDAs. There is no particular need to go for the most expensive model, but it does not hurt to get the best resolution you can afford.

A Scanner

Not essential, unless you have a lot of images on paper you would like to work with on your PC. A scanner is a device which reads in an image and converts it to electronic data, and in appearance it is usually a flat panel similar to the top of a photocopier.

Those who prefer to sketch with pen and paper can find that a scanner is a useful addition to their workstation, enabling them to transfer their doodles and rough sketches to the PC for processing. Only those who need to scan intricately detailed or overlarge pieces of work should consider buying an expensive model.

A Graphics Tablet

A graphics tablet (or digitizing tablet) is a computer peripheral device that allows for a relatively simple method of inputting hand-drawn graphics or art into a computer in real time. It typically consist of a large flat surface for drawing on, and an attached "stylus" for drawing on the surface, originally as a part of the electronics, but later simply to provide an accurate but smooth "point".

Graphics tablets sometimes take a little bit of getting used to, but the fact that they are usually more sensitive and intuitive than a mouse means most serious electronic artists swear by them. Although these can be picked up pretty cheaply, it is best only using the budget models to try out tablets for the first time, and to quickly upgrade if you plan to be using one often.

Sound Hardware

Most animations require some sort of soundtrack, and you may need to create some of the sounds yourself. Sounds are input and output from a sound card or sound chip (which may be part of your PC's motherboard, or a separate card), and it is likely that the sound card which came with your computer will be suitable for your purposes.

The sound card will have an input for a microphone, a line-in, and a joypad or MIDI keyboard. A microphone is a handy thing to have for recording sound effects and voice tracks, but the budget models should be sufficient for this. The line in socket is used to record audio from an external device such as an iPod or cassette deck and requires a cable with a headphone jack at either end to use.

A MIDI keyboard can be useful if you are at-all musical and capable of creating your own music tracks. These are basically mini piano-style keyboards that interface with your PC and use the PC's software to generate sound, which is then output through the PC's speakers.

Software
This list is in no way intended to be exhaustive, and splits the required software into a few broad categories of which a few representative examples are given. Where possible, any free or Open Source Software(OSS) available is highlighted.

Image Manipulation Software

This is what you use to transform the images you work with, moulding them to fit the requirements of your animation, and modifying them to create the key elements. Any decent application will allow you to play with the size, colouring, and content of your images. It will allow you to splice them together into montages, to split them into their component parts, and much, much more. Whichever piece of software you use, taking the time to learn how to use it well will pay dividends in terms of the time it takes you to make an animation, and the animation's quality when it's done.

The market leader and industry standard is Adobe Photoshop, which can be an expensive purchase for a beginner. There are cheaper alternatives such as Paint Shop Pro available, and a reduced price version of Photoshop (with consequently reduced functionality) called Photoshop Elements is also on the market.

The leading OSS for image manipulation is The GIMP, an excellent and powerful alternative to commercial equivalents. The only problem with the GIMP is its non-standard interface which may prove daunting to beginners.

Animation Software

The leading software in 2D computer animation is Adobe Flash. This is the program that is commonly used to create animations for the Internet in SWF format, also known as "flash cartoons" or "flashtoons." It also has its own built-in programming language called Actionscript that can be applied to its animations.

3D Animation

For those looking to start in CG animation, the leading opensource alternative is Blender, frequently updated, and has an excellent user base to help newbies and pros alike. No program can be more highly recommended than Blender 3d. There are many Wikibooks on Blender.

There are many types of 3D animation software available. Some, like Maya, 3D Studio Max, and Cinema4D, are available from various sources for a commercial-size price. Maya, for example, can cost thousands for the higher-end versions - but it may be worth the money, as many professional CG companies use it.

Sound and Music Software

title: Computer Animation/Getting Started


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Wikijunior talk:Big Cats/Cheetah

the cheetah girls

Brothers or both?
The last sentence of the article says that 'brother cheetahs will sometimes form partnerships...' does this mean that only males form alliances or does it mean siblings in general?

 * Hdavis

 * Only males form alliances, and these alliances are usually brothers. Females are solitary except while breeding or raising offspring.  A rather intersting story surfaced not long ago, when an adult male who was obviously having great difficulty getting prey in a very lean time came up to an adult female who was feeding.  She at first tried to shoo him off but later accepted his "begging" and allowed him to eat with her.  Later it was established that the male was one of her sons from a previous litter.  Apparently he still loved his mother, and she still harbored a reluctant affection for him.  The whole concept of "solitary" cats is more often than not misunderstood.  John Burkitt 18:19, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

How do cheetahs raise their young?
"Females give birth to three to five cubs at a time. Many cubs are killed by a lack of food or their natural enemies (lions and hyenas). An old African legend says the tear stain marks on the cheetah's face are from the mother weeping for her lost cubs. The mother cheetah must train the young cubs to hunt food for themselves so they can survive on their own. The cubs leave their mother about one or two years later, and will usually live in groups of two or three while reaching adulthood.  Female cheetahs eventually go their separate ways, but brother cheetahs usually form lifelong partnerships and share in the hunt to survive."

I removed this raising young section (quote above for cheetahs) for all of the cats and combined them to form a single page to talk about raising young in cats. In general, much of the subject material was being repeated for each species of cat. I understand that not all cats can be generalized, however, I think that the "exceptions" to the general topic can have the information presented shortly, without the need to devote a whole section of the article to raising young, such as in the facts box. This'll also keep the pages consistent with each other. My two cents. MiltonT 05:24, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

since when is 274 metres almost a mile
Needs correcting. 2 facts to include./

Other big cats chase only a few hundred meters, the cheetah chases 3.4 miles (5500 meters) at an average speed of 45 miles per hour (72 kilometers per hour).

The top speed, 71 miles per hour (114 kilometers per hour), can usually be maintained for only 200-300 yards (274 meters).

86.166.157.223 (discuss) 18:43, 27 September 2013 (UTC)

title: Wikijunior talk:Big Cats/Cheetah


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Beekeeping/Food Recipes

There already exists a free Wiki Cookbook. At the moment there is no reason not to visit them for recipes. This however, may change in the future, as recipes may become more specialized. Wiki Cookbook Honey Page

A Few Select Recipies
A quick sampling of recipes involving honey, courtesy of the Wiki Cookbook follows:
 * Honey Taffy
 * White Bread
 * BBQ Spare Ribs

For More Recipes
For more Honey and Honey Relate recipes visit Honey related recipes on the Wiki Cookbook.

title: Beekeeping/Food Recipes


text: Wikijunior talk:Big Cats/Jaguar

title: Wikijunior talk:Big Cats/Jaguar


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User:Nbx909

 * Nbx909 is an aircraft call sign... November Bravo X-ray niner zero niner
 * Email me at nbx909@undefinedgmail.com
 * Contact me through my websites [AntiG4TechTV] [My Blog

title: User:Nbx909


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Beekeeping/Guide to Essential Oils

Essential oils are strongly scented oils that are created through the distillation of plant materials. Most commonly derived from the flowers, leaves or stems of a plant, they may also be derived from fruit or the skin of a fruit. Many of these oils have common uses in aroma theory and alternative medicine. Beekeepers however, also may have a use for a select few of these common oils Essential oils can often be found in health food stores or aromatherapy shops, the price may be high, but keep in mind that a little oil will go a long way.

Commonly Used Oils
There exist a wider variety of essential oils. In general, beekeepers are only interested in a few of them. The following is a list of some of the more common oils that may concern a beekeeper.

 * Banana:Though it is unconfirmed, reports state that banana oil seems to closely mimic the alarm pheromone of honeybees. Because of this it is advised against using banana oil, or other strong banana scented products near or around hives. It is unclear whether bananas can be safely eaten near honey bees, but it is likely that no adverse result would be seen.

 * Lemon Grass:Lemongrass works conveniently as well as the pheromone created by the honeybee's nasonov gland, also known as attractant pheromone. Because of this lemon grass oil can be used as a lure when trapping swarms or attempting to draw the attention of hived bees. Be warned, however, that lemon grass oil can cause a robbing behavior if it is used within or on a weak hive.

 * Peppermint:Peppermint oil is used as a general-purpose pheromone masking scent. It does not apparently mimic any known bee pheromones and is simply used to mask others. In theory any other strong scented essential oil would work the same.

 * Spearmint:Spearmint oil is often used in conjunction with lemon grass oil during feeding to improve hive health and work as a recruiting scent.

 * Spearmint and Lemon Grass:Spearmint oil and lemon grass oil are two essential oils that are commonly used in conjunction to complete many tasks with bees. A simple general purpose essential oil mixture can be used for many things, including avoiding the reliance on smoke when opening hives.

 * Tea Tree:Tea Tree oil is often used in grease patties for control of mites. It seems as if Tea Tree oil can be interchanged with wintergreen oil with no loss of effectiveness.

 * Wintergreen:Wintergreen oil is often used in grease patties for control of mites. It seems as if Tea Tree oil can be interchanged with wintergreen oil with no loss of effectiveness.It also helps with Small Hive Beetles.

Varroa Mites
Essential oils, in regards to mite control, have two apparent modes of operation, primarily, direct toxicity. In the case of varroa mites, once a mite comes in to direct contact with an essential oil such as wintergreen or tea tree oil mixed into a grease patty they are usually killed within a few minutes. This however, requires that the infected bee actually contact the grease patty. Due to this contact requirement, direct toxicity cannot eliminate mites, only aid in the control of mite levels. Secondly, it appears mite reproduction can be impaired when bees are fed a syrup containing essential oils. Essential oils are passed from feeding bees to other bees and larva through trophallaxis. Essential oils thereby pass to the brood and poison any female Varroa that attempt to parasitically feed on the larva.

Tracheal Mites
Similarly, essential oils appear to have an impact on the breeding and control of tracheal mites, however the effects of tracheal mites are difficult to observe and the mechanism that causes the control is in debate. It appears that the best therapy, in regards to tracheal mites and essential oils, is the usage of grease patties.

Treatment
It is recommended that that grease patties containing essential oils, and other medicaments as desired, are kept on the hives throughout the winter and any season when honey collection for human consumption is not taking place. Grease patties not containing any essential oils or medication should be kept on hives throughout the rest of the year. During times of the year that temperatures allow for flight, and honey is not to being collected for human consumption, colonies should be treated with syrup containing essential oils.

title: Beekeeping/Guide to Essential Oils


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Beekeeping/Beekeeping Clubs

The following is a partial listing of beekeeping clubs and association. Due to the nature of the list it will be constantly changing and updated.

Alberta

 * Alberta Beekeepers Association

New Brunswick

 * Central Beekeepers Alliance
 * New Brunswick Beekeepers Association

Ontario

 * Ontario Beekeepers’ Association
 * Toronto District Beekeepers Associatopn

Quebec
McGill Apicultural Association

United Kingdom

 * British Beekeepers' Association
 * Scottish Beekeepers Association
 * Welsh Beekeepers' Association

United States of America

 * American Beekeeping Federation serves the nation's beekeepers through a newsletter and annual convention.

Regional

 * Inland Empire Beekeeping Association: the Inland Empire Beekeeper's Association serves bee-keeping hobbyists and apiary professionals of the Inland Northwest from Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho

 * Eastern Apicultural Society: serves the eastern seaboard and is one of the oldest associations of its kind in North America

Alabama
http://www.alabamabeekeepers.com/

Alaska

 * AK Beekeeper:(Yahoo! group)
 * South Central Alaska beekeeper association

Arizona
https://honeyhivefarms.com/, Peoria Arizona
 * Beekeeper association of Central Arizona

Arkansas

 * Arkansas Beekeepers Association Homepage

California
Many beekeeping associations exist in California:

 * Backwards Beekeepers, Los Angeles
 * HoneyLove, Los Angeles
 * California State Beekeepers Association
 * San Francisco Area Beekeepers Association
 * Mt. Diablo Beekeepers Association
 * Los Angeles County Beekeepers Association
 * Beekeepers Association of Southern California (BASC)
 * Orange County Beekeepers Association

Some of these have very active websites. Others are not logged on.

Colorado

 * Colorado Professional Beekeeping Association
 * Colorado State Beekeepers Association
 * Northern Colorado Beekeepers Association
 * Boulder County Beekeepers’ Association
 * Mountain High Beekeepers Cooperative, Boulder Area
 * High Land Beekeeping Club, Southwestern Jefferson County
 * Pike's Peak Beekeepers Association, Colorado Springs Area
 * Denver Beekeepers Association,Denver Metro Area

Connecticut

 * Connecticut Beekeepers Association

Florida

 * Florida State Beekeepers Association
 * Kissimmee Valley Beekeepers Association

Georgia

 * The Georgia Beekeepers Association

Hawaii

 * Hawaii Beekeeper’s Association

Idaho

 * Treasure Valley Beekeepers Club for Boise, Idaho and surrounding areas.

Illinois

 * Illinois State Beekeepers Association

Indiana

 * Indiana State Beekeepers Association

Iowa

 * Iowa Honey Producers Association

Kentucky

 * Kentucky State Beekeepers Association

Louisiana

 * Louisiana Beekeepers Association

Maine
Maine State Beekeepers Association

Maryland

 * MSBA - Maryland State Beekeepers Association
 * AABA - Anne Arundel Beekeepers Association
 * BUMBA - Bowie-Upper Marlboro Beekeepers Association
 * FCBA - Frederick County Beekeeping Association

Massachusetts
Norfolk County Beekeepers Assoc

Minnesota

 * Northeastern Minnesota Beekeepers Association
 * The Minnesota Hobby Beekeepers Association
 * Tri-County Beekeepers Association
 * Honey Bee Club of Stillwater

Mississippi

 * Mississippi Beekeepers Association

Montana
http://agr.mt.gov/agr/Programs/Bees/

Nebraska
Omaha Bee Club

Nebraska Beekeepers Association

Bellevue Bee Club (Bellevue, NE)

New Hampshire

 * New Hampshire Beekeepers’ Association

 * Kearsarge Beekepers Association

New Jersey

 * The New Jersey Beekeepers Association

New Mexico

 * New Mexico Beekeepers Association

New York
CATSKILL MOUNTAIN BEEKEEPERS CLUB President: Richard J Ronconi

SOUTHERN TIER BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION A Broome County (Binghamton) area educational club
 * Southern Tier Beekeepers Association

North Carolina

 * North Carolina State Beekeepers Association

Ohio

 * Ohio’s Ease Central Beekeepers’ Association
 * Greene County Beekeepers Association (OHIO)

Oklahoma

 * Oklahoma Beekeepers’ Association

Oregon

 * Oregon State Beekeepers Association

Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania State Beekeepers Association: http://www.pastatebeekeepers.org/

Rhode Island
Rhode Island Beekeeper's Association

South Dakota

 * Wannabee Hobby Beekeepers

Tennessee

 * Tennessee Beekeepers Association

Texas

 * Houston Beekeepers Association

Utah
http://utahbeekeepers.org/

Vermont

 * Vermont Beekeeper’s Association

Virginia
http://virginiabeekeepers.org/

Washington

 * Washington State Beekeepers Association
 * Inland Empire Beekeeping Association - Spokane, WA
 * North Olympic Peninsula Beekeepers' Association - Clallam and Jefferson Counties
 * Olympia Beekeeping Association - Olympia, WA
 * Pacific Northwest Queen Rearing Club - Vancouver, Washington
 * Stanwood-Camano Beekeepers Association

title: Beekeeping/Beekeeping Clubs


text:
Ecology/Biogeochemical cycles

Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 >>

Chapter 15. Biogeochemical Cycles

In the previous chapter on environmental response, we considered the various ways that individual organisms respond to the physical, chemical and/or biological stimuli in their environment.In this chapter, we will go deeper into the interactions between the biotic and the abiotic elements of the biosphere, focusing on the nonliving components. To begin to understand this concept: the physical "home" of our biosphere, we first have to consider the physics of planet formation. From all we know about life in the universe, only planets can possibly offer conditions suitable for life. And indeed, since all life we know of occurs on just one planet, we need to develop an understanding of what is special or unique about our home planet. How is the earth constituted; what is the nature of this "stage" upon which life developed and upon which life continues to play out. Presently, the "ecology" of other planets, if such a thing exists, is a subject of study within the science of exobiology.

Nutrients move through the ecosystem in biogeochemical cycles. A biogeochemical cycle is a circuit/pathway by which a chemical element moves through the biotic and the abiotic factors of an ecosystem. It is inclusive of the biotic factors, or living organisms, rocks, air, water, and chemicals. The elements that are moving through the biotic or abiotic factors may be recycled, or they may be accumulated in a place called a sink/reservoir where they are held for a long period of time. The amount of time that a chemical is held in one place is called residence.

All the chemical elements in an organism are part of the biogeochemical cycle. The chemicals travel not only through the biotic and abiotic components of an ecosystem, but they also travel through an organism. The abiotic factors of an ecosystem include: (1) water (hydrosphere), (2) land (lithosphere), and (3) air (atmosphere). All of the living factors that are found on Earth make up the biosphere.

Nutrient Cycle Levels
Nutrient cycles are broken up into three levels. There are global nutrient cycles, which occur when ecosystems become linked on a global scale. This is now known as an Ecosphere. On a smaller scale, there are local nutrient cycles. These cycles consist of the cycling that occurs in just one ecosystem. The smallest level includes common nutrient budgets and fluxes; some examples of this are carbon, H2O, nitrogen, phosphorus, iron, and other trace elements. All of these cycles can be linked so that a community can remain at equilibrium. All of these cycles are driven by microbes. Microbes contain 350-550 giga tons of the worlds carbon. They also contain 85-130 giga tons of nitrogen, along with 9-14 giga tons of phosphorus. Nitrogen is only fixed by bacteria and archea, and they fix 85% of the 15 giga tons of nitrogen every year. Cyanobacteria are responsible for fixing 50% of the O2 in the Ecosphere. There are also huge reserves of carbon locked up in rocks. Rocks contain 81 million gig tons of carbon, which is in the form of calcium carbonate (CaCo3), commonly called limestone.

The processes that make up these cycles can be divided into two groups. The first group of processes all have an aerobic component. Through respiration, organic material can be converted into carbon dioxide. Respiration is done by animals, plants, and microbes. A second aerobic process is carbon fixation. This is the reverse of respiration where carbon dioxide is converted into organic material. The second group of processes are anaerobic processes. The first anaerobic process is fermentation. This is another way that organic material can be converted into carbon dioxide. Bacteria and fungi carry out this process when deprived of oxygen. A second form of an anaerobic process is carbon fixation. The only organisms that fix carbon anaerobically are archea. The last anaerobic process is methanogenesis. This process takes carbon dioxide and converts it into methane. This process is also only done by archea, but does not account for all methane because some methane can be made aerobically.

There are two main types of systems on Earth, a closed system and an open system. A closed system occurs when the chemicals or elements used in an ecosystem are recycled instead of being lost. An open system occurs when the sun provides Earth with energy in the form of light which is usually used and then lost in the form of heat as it travels through the various trophic levels on Earth.

Although the biogeochemical cycles are complex and differ between the needs of nutrients by heterotrophs and autotrophs, there are three shared components of nutrient cycles: inputs, internal cycling, and outputs. Precipitation is one form of input, which brings appreciable quantities of nutrients into a cycle (Patterson, 1975). Microbes recycling dead organic material back into the system to be reused is a form of internal cycling. The export of nutrients must be offset by the input of nutrients into a system if there is to be no net loss. Carbon is exported from a cycle in the form of CO2 via respiration of all living organisms.

The most important biogeochemical cycles are the carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle, oxygen cycle, phosphorus cycle, and the water cycle. The biogeochemical cycles always have a state of equilibrium. The state of equilibrium occurs when there is a balance in the cycling of the elements between compartments. Ecologists may also be interested in the sulfur cycle, the nutrient cycle, and the hydrogen cycle; however, ecologists are more interested in studying the carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and water cycles.

The term biogeochemical gets its name from the previous cycles listed above (abiotiv factors). The prefix Bio refers to the biosphere. Geo refers to the lithosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere. Chemical refers to the various chemicals that go through/travel through the biogeochemical cycles.

Biogeochemical Cycles
A biogeochemical cycle or inorganic-organic cycle is a circulating or repeatable pathway by which either a chemical element or a molecule moves through both biotic ("bio-") and abiotic ("geo-") compartments of an ecosystem. In effect, an element is chemically recycled, although in some cycles there may be places (called "sinks") where the element accumulates and is held for a long period of time. In considering a specific biogeochemical cycle, we focus on a particular element and how that element participates in chemical reactions, moving between various molecular configurations. Of the 90-odd elements known to occur in nature, some 30 or 40 are thought to be required by living organisms (Odum, 1959). We will be considering only a few of these, mainly those utilized in fairly large quantities by living organisms. The principal elements of life are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. However, a number of others are certainly important to understand as well, notably phosphorus and sulfur. Some "non-essential" elements participate in biogeochemical cycles, entering organism tissues because of chemical similarity to essential elements. For example, strontium can behave like calcium in the body.

Hydrologic Cycle (Water Cycle)
A very significant molecule (on planet Earth) that cycles through ecosystems is the water molecule (H2O). One of the reasons that life is so dependent on water is that it is the medium of chemical reactions within cells. While it generally is the case that we discuss the water cycle in terms of the various states of water, at least some water molecules are taken up by plants and split apart (photolysed) into atoms of hydrogen and oxygen; the latter is released into the atmosphere as molecular oxygen (O2). Thus, by virtue of photosynthesizing organisms (photoautotrophs), the water cycle is an important part of both the oxygen and the hydrogen cycles. Note that hydrogen ends up as part of an organic molecule, and therefore a participant in the carbon cycle.

The majority of water in the water cycle is found within the oceans and the polar ice caps, although water is present in the bodies of organisms, in freshwater lakes and rivers, frozen in glaciers, and in the ground as groundwater. Water moves more or less freely between these storage reservoirs: by evaporation, by precipitation, and by runoff from the land.

The sedimentation cycle is an extension of the hydrological cycle. The water carries materials from the land to the ocean, where they are added as sediments. The sediment cycle includes the physical and chemical erosion, nutrient transport, and sediment formation from water flows. The sediment formed from water flows is mostly responsible for the buildup of sediments at the bottom of the ocean. The sediment cycle is tied in with the flow of six important elements, which are hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur. These elements, also known as macroelements, make up 95% of all living things. The balancing of these molecules is required to sustain life. These elements have to be recycled for life to continuously regenerate.

Carbon Cycle
Carbon is required for the building of all organic compounds. Carbon in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2) is obtained from the atmosphere and transformed into a usable organic form by organisms. The reservoirs for the carbon cycle are the atmosphere, where carbon dioxide exists as a free gas, fossil organic deposits (such as oil and coal), and durable organic materials like cellulose. Mineral carbonates, such as limestone, are a significant geological sink for carbon. During the process of carbon fixation, carbon dioxide is taken up from the atmospheric reservoir (or from biocarbonates dissolved in water) by plants, photosynthetic bacteria, and algae and is "fixed" into organic substances. Animals obtain their requirements for carbon (as carbon-based molecules) by eating plants or other animals. For the biological links, the carbon cycle comes full cycle when carbon is released by either plants and animals as they respire or after life as they decompose. Organisms respire carbon dioxide as a waste product from the breakdown of organic molecules as their cells derive energy from oxidizing the molecules containing "fixed" carbon. The burning of organic material such as wood or fuels also results in the release of carbon dioxide from organic carbon.

CO2 is a trace gas and has huge effects on Earth’s heat balance by absorbing infrared radiation. During the growing season or summer, there is a decrease in atmospheric CO2 because increased sunlight and temperature helps plants increase their carbon dioxide uptake and growth. In the winter time, more CO2 enters the atmosphere than can be removed by plants. This happens because plant respirations and the death of plants happens faster than photosynthesis. [| Life and Biogeochemical Cycles]

Carbon Cycling Experiments
The impact of land-cover and land-use change on global carbon cycle has been the focus of various studies. The Brazilian Legal Amazon has been an area of particular interest because of rapid forest clearing. In determining such an impact, models are often developed and used. In a study focusing on the net carbon flux caused by deforestation and forest re-growth over the period of 1970-1998, a processed-based model of forest growth, carbon cycling, and land-cover dynamics was developed. This model was named CARLUC (for CARbon and Land-Use Change). This model, in particular, was used to estimate the size of terrestrial carbon pools in terra firme (unflooded) across the Brazilian Legal Amazon and the net flux of carbon resulting from forest disturbance and forest recovery from disturbance.

As previously mentioned, carbon cycling is driven by both abiotic and biotic factors. Net carbon fluxes can be partitioned into assimilatory and respiratory components. The complex interplay between assimilatory and respiratory sources and their responsiveness to abiotic changes such as drought and temperature are poorly understood. In a recent study, net carbon partitioning was used to disentangle abiotic and biotic drivers of all component influencing the overall sink strength of a Mediterranean ecosystem during a rapid spring to summer transition (between May and June 2006). It was ultimately determined that decreasing soil water availability rather than increasing air temperature largely affected both assimilation and respiration fluxes of understory plants and in consequence ecosystem respiration and soil respiration.

Global Carbon Cycle
Carbon is continuously cycled between the oceans, land, and the atmosphere. The atmospheric carbon is primarily carbon dioxide. Carbon on land occurs primarily in living biota and decaying organic matter. Dissolved carbon dioxide and small organisms like plankton that store carbon dioxide are major sources in the ocean. Carbon is measured in Gigatons, with the deep ocean containing almost 40,000 Gt, compared to about 2,000 Gt on land and 750 Gt in the atmosphere.

Carbon dioxide, a known "greenhouse gas," traps some of the radiation in the atmosphere that would be lost into space. This causes the atmosphere to be warmer than it would naturally be. Since pre-industrial times, man-made emissions have increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by about 30%. The increase in carbon dioxide causing global warming is important for us to understand so we can predict future implications concerning our planet.

Average global temperatures have increased this past century and are predicted to increase even more in the next century. In a study done by Parmesan et al, the distribution and population dynamics of several species of butterflies were monitored in response to the increased temperatures. Migratory patterns of each species were observed and compared to previous patterns of distribution. The butterflies showed a northern shift, which is thought to be a response to increased temperatures. Parmesan et al concluded that the current and future climate warming may be a big factor in shifting species distributions.

Nitrogen Cycle
Nitrogen is required for the manufacturing of all amino acids and nucleic acids; however, the average organism cannot use atmospheric nitrogen for these tasks and, as a result, is dependent on the nitrogen cycle to source usable nitrogen. The nitrogen cycle "begins" with nitrogen stored in the atmosphere as N2 (the largest nitrogen reservoir). Nitrogen is also stored in the soil as ammonium (NH4+), ammonia (NH3), nitrite (NO2−), and nitrate (NO3−). Nitrogen is assimilated into living organisms through three stages: nitrogen fixation, nitrification, and plant metabolism. Nitrogen fixation is a process that occurs in prokaryotes in which N2 is converted to NH4+. Atmospheric nitrogen can also undergo nitrogen fixation by lighting and UV radiation and become NO3-. Following nitrogen fixation, nitrification occurs. During nitrification, ammonia is converted into nitrite, and nitrite is converted into nitrate. Nitrification occurs in various bacteria. In the final stage, plants absorb ammonia and nitrate and incorporate it into their metabolic pathways. Once the nitrogen has entered the plant metabolic pathway, it may be transferred to animals when the plant is eaten. Nitrogen is released back into the cycle when denitrifying bacteria convert NO3- into N2 in the process of denitrification, when detrivorous bacteria convert organic compounds back into ammonia in the process of ammonification, or when animals excrete ammonia, urea, or uric acid.

A lot of environmental problems are caused by the disruption of the nitrogen cycle by human activity. Some of the problems caused range from the production of tropospheric (lower atmospheric) smog to the perturbation of stratospheric ozone and contamination of ground water. An example of one of the problems caused is the formation of greenhouse gas. Like carbon dioxide and water vapor, nitrous oxide traps heat near the earth’s surface, and it also destroys the stratospheric ozone. Nitrous oxide in the earth’s atmosphere is broken down by UV light into nitrogen dioxide and nitric oxide. These two products can reduce the ozone. Nitrogen oxides can be changed back into nitrates and nitrite compounds and recycled back into the earth’s surface.[| Environmental Biology - Ecosystems]

Phosphorus, Iron, and Trace Mineral cycles
The phosphorus cycle is one of the slowest biogeochemical cycles. Phosphorus mainly cycles through water, soil, and sediments. The little phosphorus in the atmosphere is carried by dust particles and such. Phosphate is most often in the form of phosphate salts, which are released from weathered rock and dissolved in ground water where plants take them up. Phosphorus is a limiting factor for plants on land and in water, including the ocean, because there is so little of it, and it is not very soluble in water. The cycle does speed up a little bit as it cycles through plants and animals. When the plants and animals die and decay, the phosphorus is returned to the soil and sediments and eventually locked back in the rock.

The iron cycle is similar to every other cycle. Iron is, however, much more abundant than phosphorus. One additional way iron gets cycled, besides rock weathering, is when a volcano erupts and sends an iron-rich dust into the atmosphere, where it eventually spreads to soil and water.

Other trace minerals, such as zinc, copper, and manganese, were once thought to be just as abundant as nitrogen, carbon, and oxygen. Their depletion is thought to be from water erosion of the soil and over cropping of land, so that they aren't able to replenish themselves quickly enough. To learn more about all the trace minerals essential to life visit:| Nutrients - Trace Minerals

"Perfect" Cycles
Odum (1959) describes what are called more or less "perfect" cycles: biogeochemical cycles that involve equilibrium states. That is, there exists in nature a balance in the cycling of the element between various compartments, with the element or material moving into abiotic compartments about as fast as it moves into biotic compartments. Certain ecosystems may experience "shortages," but overall, a balance exists on a global scale.

II. Deserts are characterized by their limited precipitation. Deserts have a brief rainy season, which on average produces less than 30 cm rainfall per year. Deserts are mainly located at 30 degrees North and South latitude because of their dry air resulting from the Hadley cells (please read interlink below on a Hadley cell), which stretch between the equator and 20 to 35 degrees North and South latitude.

Deserts have the capacity to be very productive climates because they are in a high energy input area of the round earth (please refer to chapter 3 about solar irradiation and the earth being round), but they are limited by their low precipitation. Desert flora or plant life is located on only 10% of desert area. They consist of mainly annuals that grow and reproduce during the brief rainy season. The main flora are succulents that store water, have waxy cuticles to prevent water loss, may have few modified small leaves or needles, and have large, shallow root systems.

III. Chaparrals are desert types located in the Mediterranean area. Chaparrals are characterized by their distinct rainy seasons and more so by their extremes. Summer temperatures can reach a high of approximately 40 degrees Celsius, and winter temperatures can reach a low of approximately -15 degrees Celsius. Plant and animal inhabitants are drought adapted to aide survival. Plant life is similar in characteristics to desert plants, with mainly shrub/brush type species.

Soil
Soilis the foundation for terrestrial systems. It is a mixture of organic (living and nonliving) and inorganic material. The organic part is contributed by plants, animals, and microbes. The inorganic part is a result of weathering.

Soil Layering
Soil is a composition of many different layers. The first(top) layer is the O Horizon which is then compsed of 2 sublayers the Oi and Oa layers. The Oi is the intact organic layer which is made up of dead organic matter and leaf litter. The Oa is contains mostly humus and is situated next to the A Horizon. The entire O Horizon is about 10cm deep. Deserts usually lack the O Horizon.

The next layer is the A Horizon. This is what most consider the topsoil, it is a mixture of weathered rock(clay, sand, and silt) from lower layers and organic material from the O Horizon. This is the area where there are the most roots, microbes, and invertebrates. This horizon usually has a high respiration rate, and has most of the nutrients leeched to lower layers by water. The top 2 layers combined (O and A Horizons) are on average about 0.5m deep.

The next layer is the E Horizon (or Eluviation Horizon). This layer has the least amount of dissolved nutrients. This layer can have a clay pan formed at the bottom which is highly compacted clay which prevents weathering of rock below. The also prevents tap roots from reaching the C Horizon. This may also cause the area above to become water-logged.

Below the E horizon is the Illuviation Horizon of B Horizon. This is the area where leechates collect, and most tap roots exist. It is usually mineral rich and contains little organic material. It is usually about 0.5m deep. Below the B Horizon is the C Horizon, which is the lowest soil, layer is commonly called the subsoil. This is mostly weathered parent material. This is usually about 0.5m deep also.

Lastly is the inorganic material of the soil or the R Horizon. This is also called bedrock which is a result of weathering from wind, water, temperature, and plants.

Particle Size

The particle size of soil is correlated to the amount of surface area of the particles and the charge of the surface area. A decrease in particle size equals an increase in surface area which in turn equals an increase in a negative charge of the surface area. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) designates types of soil by the size of the particles in the soil. Clay consists of particles smaller than 0.002mm and has the largest water capacity and highest nutrient capacity. Silt consists of particles smaller than 0.05mm and has a relatively median water capacity and a median nutrient capacity. Sand consists of particles smaller than 2mm and has the smallest water capacity and the lowest nutrient capacity.

Acidic Soil
Acidic soil is any type of soil that has a low pH. It is created whenever soil is very low in minerals and may be created by conifer needles. Amino acids also breaks down clay. The breakdown of clay is done by leeching the minerals out of the soil. This leeching of minerals is due to a high Hydronium ion [H+] concentration which results of in less productive soil. Acid rain or precipitation that is unusually acidic because of emissions of sulfur and nitrogen compounds which react with the atmosphere is widely believed to be responsible for acidifying soil.

title: Ecology/Biogeochemical cycles


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Primary Mathematics/Factors and Primes

Factors and Primes
Factors are numbers that you can multiply together to get another number. For example: 8 and 11 are factors of 88 as 8 x 11 = 88. Similarly, 10 is a factor of 100 as 10 x 10 is 100.

Prime factors are factors which are prime numbers. 55 = 5 x 11 100 = 2 x 5 x 2 x 5

Because 2, 5, and 11 cannot be divided by any number but 1 and itself, these numbers are called prime. Prime numbers are an important part of mathematics, and the problem of factoring large numbers into primes remains fundamental to the study of computer science. Factoring a number like 64 often requires more than one step:

64 = 2 x 32 (32 is not prime) or = 2 x 2 x 16 (16 is not prime) or = 2 x 2 x 2 x 8 (8 is not prime) or = 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 4 (4 is not prime) or = 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2

title: Primary Mathematics/Factors and Primes


text:
User:Sanat

Hi, I'm basically a java programmer.

Feel free to leave notes on my discussion page here or at Wikipedia:User_talk:Sanat

My Contributions
Wikibooks

 * The Complete Programming FAQ

title: User:Sanat


text:
User:RaviKris

For more information about me please visit My web page

title: User:RaviKris


text:
Theoretical Mechanics

<Cover and Inter-Wiki Mechanics is some of the essential part of our life and physics

Contents
Most of the math in mechanics involves vectors, understanding them is essential for understanding mechanics. This section covers the basics of vector math. Statics is about balance. It studies the relations between different bodies at rest.
 * /Vector Algebra/
 * /Statics/

Force
A force is an interaction between 2 objects. If there aren't 2 (or more) objects there can't be a force. The objects do not necessarily have to touch. e.g. Gravity, electromagnetic and electrostatic forces.

A force is represented by a vector: the magnitude represents the magnitude of the force; The direction represents the direction in which the force acts; the origin defines where the forces acts on the object.

Effects Of Forces
A net force acting on an object can have five effects: tension, compression, shear, translation or rotation.

Note that this translation is according to Aristotelian Physics which is founded on the belief ii that something moves, it must have a mover, i.e. force causing change in position. This is not true according to Newtonian physics in which force changes the velocity of an object.

Translation

A''' is the object translate along both axis.
 * The object moves in a direction parallel to itself.
 * The effect is defined by the magnitude and direction of the acting force.
 * A is the object at its original position.
 * A' and A'' are the object translated along respectively the X- and the Y-axis.

Rotation

 * The object rotates around a point.
 * The original rectangle (left) is rotated around its center. The result is displayed to the right. The dotted rectangle show the location of the original rectangle.
 * The object rotates around an axis.
 * E.g. A door. Imagine a line through the hinges, this is the axis. The door rotates around this axis.

Translation and Rotation

 * The object doesn't move parallel nor does it rotate around a fixed point or axle.

Kinematics
Kinematics describes the position, speed and acceleration of a point or a body and the relations between them without regard to the cause of the acceleration.

Dynamics
Dynamics connects statics with kinematics by connecting the cause (forces) with the effect (acceleration). This is where the three laws of Newton fit in.

As well as the Newtonian laws, there are other formulations of mechanics; Lagrangian mechanics and Hamiltonian mechanics. These formulations of mechanics focus more on energy than force.

title: Theoretical Mechanics


text:
Talk:X86 Assembly

List of all talk pages related to this book:

Templates
I have created a few templates for writing ASM instructions:

 * Template:x86-inst
 * Template:x86-inst-1
 * Template:x86-inst-2
 * Template:x86-inst-3

Which will display assembly instructions with 0, 1, 2 and 3 operands, respectfully.

 * Template:x86_Assembly_Page

This template goes at the top of every page in the book, for uniformity.

 * Template:x86 Assembly Stub

This template marks a page in this book as being a stub.

-- 19:08, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

 * Eatingrapunzel created the x86-inst-3 template, so I added it to the list Ziom 2.0 WB (discuss • contribs) 14:03, 30 June 2022 (UTC)

Overhaul
I've completely overhauled this page, and moved the information into neat subpages which are more manageable. I have also moved the page from "Programming:x86 Assembly" to simply x86 Assembly, and have instituted the "forward-slash" naming convention for subpages. -- 21:09, 8 December 2005 (UTC)

Ask for Help
Would someone please work on this page. It's a good quick start guide at most right now, but to a newcomer to assembly like myself, it gives little info. The the example for mov for instance is more advanced than what is previously talked about. There isn't any details about syntax before that point. I get the gist of it, but it would be better for someone to add a section before that some time which gives a very basic program and gives details of what each line does and if it's always needed or platform specific (say from Windows to Linux to 16 bit Dos even.)

--HarleyL 13:42, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC)

When I came to this book a month ago seeking to learn NASM, I didn't get much out of it. When I returned recently, I realized there is a fair bit of info here, but it's mostly in a reference book format. What do people think about turning section 2 into the big thrust -making lesson plans for each of the mentioned assemblers- and then moving the rest to the back as appendices? Gabriel Lein 15:05, 14 April 2006 (UTC)

In X86 Assembly/X86 Architecture, what is the difference between base displacement and direct offset addressing?

In section 2.2 x86 instruction set although the book mentions both styles of syntax it does not make clear which syntax the examples are using, although the comments sometimes make this clear it would be worthwhile to have a note at the start of the section or with each example stating which syntax is used.

Also in the examples the instructions are suffixed with the size of operand (l, b or w) which although improves readability it generates confusion for beginners because those features appear to be GNU (GAS) specific and may not work in their respective assembler a quick note about this would alleviate the confusion. --Petersmith131 (talk) 04:42, 20 September 2010 (UTC)

Reverse Engineering Wikibook
I have added some links from the book I've been working on, Reverse Engineering to point to this page. It would be nice if this book was beefed up a little bit, and maybe if it included at least some info on Intel syntax as well, because the RE book uses mostly Intel. If nobody else jumps on to this task, i might work on it some myself. --Whiteknight 01:27, 3 October 2005 (UTC)

Other resources
I'm not sure if anyone is interested, but there is a guide on the same topic at http://www.drpaulcarter.com/pcasm/. downloadable as PDF or POSTSCRIPT, 195 pages long. 203.51.107.3 05:29, 27 March 2006 (UTC) RiRi Weissenhower

Link Edit
added the link to the wikipedia article on processor registers --Jikanter 19:57, 6 August 2006 (UTC)

Order of second byte
I have done some study recently via ICY Hexplorer and an x86 ASM help file, and I noticed that for the second byte whoever wrote it had it somewhat reversed. It was originally Mod-Reg-R/M, whereas it's actually Mod-R/M-Reg, so I changed it to be so, as well as changed the hexadecimal representation of it. I hope nobody minds, as I just found an error and had to correct it.

Context switching?
Some information on context switching would be interesting 69.31.174.216 21:54, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

"Print this string" MBR / GNU AS?
I use GNU AS (+"objcopy -O binary" to get raw content) and because here sadly isn't any mbr examples for it here and this place feels so awkwardly quiet anyway that I just have to say something I'll bother you with this question I might solve myself too. So, I have the following:

.code16 Start:	xor %bh, %bh; mov $0xe, %ah; mov String, %si;

Print:	movb %cs:(%bp, %si), %al; cmp %al, '\0; je Infin; int $0x10; inc %si; jmp Print;

Infin:	jmp Infin;

String:	.ascii	"Insert string here\0"

The problem is that the label addresses aren't based on 0x7c00 and I don't know what to do to get them so. Also, is there some shorter way of doing this? --212.149.216.233 (talk) 15:30, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

 * You need one conditional branch to exit the loop.
 * You also need a branch at the end of the loop to return to the top of the loop.
 * Does that mean you need two branch instructions in the loop?
 * Often assembly language programmers put the conditional branch at the end of the loop -- then they only need one branch instruction in the loop, rather than two.
 * Smart assembly language programmers use subroutines that have already been written and tested.
 * Does the following example answer your questions? --DavidCary (talk) 05:54, 24 March 2009 (UTC)

Copyright of intel - amd developers manuals.
Hi. I'm writing a x86 assembly manual for el.wikibooks. I use as reference the intel-amd developer manuals and i was wondering to what extent there could be a copyright problem in using material from those manuals.

--Chomwitt (talk) 22:14, 27 April 2009 (UTC)

 * It depends on how verbatim you are referencing the original material, you can copy a phrase here and there but you best formulate your own structure and wording, it should also be appreciated if you mentioned the original sources. --Panic (talk) 23:27, 27 April 2009 (UTC)

Main page diagram
There's a large diagram on the main page that appears to be showing the effects of various shift instructions on the content of the AL register, but there's no explanatory text or even a label, so I'm wondering if it should be removed. Jfmantis (discuss • contribs) 05:55, 17 February 2011 (UTC)

Ping
Hello Folks, I have been adding content for a couple of months now and I plan on adding/editing until I run out of ideas/stop finding things that need work. I am more focused on adding now but there are some sections that need some rework eventually. Is there anyone else out there? Syaghmour (discuss • contribs) 13:10, 25 October 2012 (UTC)

Interfacing with Linux
I'm new to wikibooks and I started a new talkpage to discuss the "Interfacing with Linux" page. Talk:X86_Assembly/Interfacing_with_Linux --Luckyxxl (discuss • contribs) 16:33, 17 September 2013 (UTC)

License of the code examples?
I don't see explicit licensing statements here in this wikibook, so looks like it is the CC BY-SA? Would it be a good idea to license them more permissively? For example, OsDev.org has relicensed everything to public domain, so their code can be used without any restrictions at all.

I would like to embed the GDT setup code (in X86 Assembly/Global Descriptor Table) into my programming project, but I don't want to license my project under CC BY-SA. Or is the code example on that page so small that it can't even be considered copyrightable? (btw I personally think intellectual property is nothing but unnecessary and harmful madness.)

--130.232.38.44 (discuss) 12:43, 2 June 2016 (UTC)

title: Talk:X86 Assembly


text:
Beekeeping/The Honey Bee

Of the more than two million known species of insects, honeybees have been the subject of more studies than all of the rest combined. Man has invested many uncountable hours learning the ways of the honeybee. Much of this time was not spent in a laboratory, studying the bee as an organism for the sake of science. Rather this time was invested because honeybees, due to their products including honey and wax, were, and still are great commodities. The intertwining of the history of man and bee is rich in both lore and science. It was said by Democritus that bees could be created from the specially prepared carcass of a beaten ox. This obviously is not true, but it is a good example of the lengths people would go to create a healthy productive colony of bees. Honeybees are included as one of the few insects which are colonial, this group also includes some species of wasps, ants, and termites. Honeybees, though they have a feral counterpart, are often maintained by farmers similarly to any other product bearing livestock. Honeybees are a subset of bees which fall into the Order Hymenoptera and Suborder  Apocrita. Of the roughly 20,000 known species of bee, four are classed as honeybees including  Apis Florae,  Apis Dorsata,  Apis Cerana, and  Apis Mellifera. The Western Honeybee (Apis Mellifera) is the most commonly kept bee within Europe and the Americas.

Honey Production
Bees have become the great interest of many, almost wholly due to the fact that they produce honey. Being less than twenty percent water, honey cannot support yeast, bacteria or microorganisms and is therefore a form of sugar that is completely resistant to spoiling. Honey is created by the refinement of nectar that the bees must collect from flowers. Once created, the majority of the honey is used as the main food source for the hive. Any extra honey can be harvested by the beekeeper and used for many tasks.

Life Cycle
The life cycle of a honeybee exists in three distinct independent stages. After hatching from egg, the bee exists initial as a  larval form. Soon after the larval form, the secondary stage as pupae is reached. Finally the pupae develop into the adult bee. The adult bee may take the form of a worker, a  drone, or a  queen bee. It is common for worker bees to live up to nine days if their main task in life is heavy foraging. Conversely, workers that do menial tasks in the hive will survive for around three weeks. Losing a forager from time to time does not have a crucial impact on the overall well being of the hive. A strong beehive has between ten and twenty thousand foragers at any given time. The queen also possesses the ability to replace any lost bees by laying up to 2,000 eggs a day. Developing brood, depending on the season and race of bee, can fill up to a full third of the hive.

Tasks
Bees have the nearly unique task of keeping the world alive. Bees are the main factors within flower pollination. Without pollination, plants would be unable to reproduce and thereby would not be present for nourishing other animals within the food chain. Evolving from wasps nearly 100 million years ago, bees have become quite specialized in the tasks that they need to complete.

Apicoltura/L'ape mellifera

title: Beekeeping/The Honey Bee


text:
User:Derbeth

How to contact me

 * currently only e-mail

My links

 * /javaLatex/ - my program helping to create PDF versions of textbooks nearly automatically
 * My Sandbox
 * Print Version Creator]

de:Benutzer:Derbeth pl:Wikipedysta:Derbeth

title: User:Derbeth


text:
How to Write a Program/Architecture

Programming:How to Write a Program Back to Table of Contents

Programming architecture is an amazing thing. Some architecture forms are incredibly complex, requiring years of practice to effectively master. Other forms require little or no previous development experience, making this category the best option for beginners. Please note that this discussion centers upon general development theory and not language or platform-specific technologies. Such information is critical to your success as a developer but a foundation must be laid in the mindset of what it means to develop software as a programmer before venturing beyond the general in search of the specific language(s) of your choice, depending upon your goals, needs, and existing skill set(s). Here are a few simple concepts to remember about programming in general:

Logic
Logic is more than geometry, as that math subject is where the majority of individuals discover ancient concepts that still dominate our thought processes today. Logic is an orderly definable process that arrives at a conclusion using pre-determined rules agreed upon by all related parties. I define logic in this light as it is the center point of all development. Without logic, creating the desired software logic in a way that could be interpreted by a computer of any kind would remain an impossible task. Thus, logic lays a foundation upon which both man (humans) and machine (computers) agree to operate on the same playing field. This is one of the greatest tensions in application development, as software bugs often arise from a miscommunication in the area of logic. For example, if the developer/programmer desires X functionality, and mistaking codes the logic in a way that the computer interprets as Y functionality, the developer/programmer (I will continue to use these two terms interchangeably) must re-evaluate his code to see where his thought process (logically speaking) did not line up with the computer's interpretation of that process. One of the most frequent headaches for new developers stems from the fact that it is easier to visualize the software functionality in a creative way than it is to interpret that concept into an orderly series of commands, requests, and other functions required to build what the individual desires. I will deal with creativity next, but suffice it to say that programming is one of those few trades that will always be an artform and a science at the same time. For this reason, a programmer just beginning to develop software must learn to search out the uncommon answers (creativity) while keeping his/her feet planted firmly on the ground (logic) to make the desired functionality a reality.

Creativity
Creativity is the second-most important asset a developer can bring to the table when writing new software. It is a system of thought processes meshing together that generate new options for solving unique development challenges. No developer truly worth his salt can exist in this industry without learning to open his mind to new ways of thought, expression, and recognition. Indeed, it is the personal belief of the original author that a lack of creativity hinders the potential of every programmer who doesn't learn the power achieved in overcoming the 'box' syndrome. Simply stated, programmers are notorious for thinking inside the realm of what has been discovered, mapped, and utilized by a predecessor or associate, resulting in an imaginary space called the 'box'. It is in this box that the developer works, associates meaning, and derives solutions. The mark of a talented developer is the innate (or learned) ability to dynamically resize or reconfigure the 'box' in him/her to meet the unique programming challenge at hand. Breaking outside the barriers of the box is daunting, as it requires a perspective that may not exist within the developer himself/herself. A wise person once said, 'When you stop learning, you stop leading.' I humbly modify this statement for the purposes of software development and say, 'When you stop learning, you stop the flow of software innovation.' Achieving results in a fixed box may work for a time, perhaps even years if the box is significantly developed. However, the nature of the programming trade stipulates constant learning for the purpose of maintaining an edge in the industry. I'm focusing on the 'box' concept as it is truly impossible, I believe, to impart true learning in the area of creativity. It must be experienced for yourself, as you begin to think about your world from many different perspectives. If you choose to develop software for others as an ISV (independent software vendor) or system integrator, you will need to hold interviews with every type of user your software will service. Getting into the minds of others and discovering their wants and needs in terms of software functionality is the most rewarding, and yet oftentimes most challenging, aspect of being a programmer. Embrace alternate perspectives and alternate learning approaches to bring more mental collateral to the table that will enhance your creative edge.

Abstraction
Abstraction, simply put, is the number of layers sitting between you and the underlying hardware you’re targeting in the development cycle. For example, an ASIC developer writing software mapping for a video chipset operates at an incredibly different level of abstraction than a script developer for web-enabled applications. These are two separate worlds for many reasons, but in fact the web-enabled application developer may indirectly utilize the chipset writer’s codebase if he references a graphical component on a system having that chipset deployed. Always remember that a high level of abstraction means the software functionality sits on top of many layers of logic ‘plumbing’ in comparison to low-level abstraction that sits directly on top of the hardware in use. Developers often gravitate to the abstraction level that best fits their present skills and abilities, but don’t let complex programming at a low-level of abstraction scare you from attempting to develop software in that space. Find a beginning niche and work your way toward a desired level of expertise in the area that fits your desire and needs best.

title: How to Write a Program/Architecture


text:
Ido/Lesson I4

Colours are adjectives.

 * blanka - white
 * blua - blue
 * bruna - brown
 * flava - yellow
 * griza - grey
 * nigra - black
 * purpura - purple
 * oranjea - orange
 * reda - red
 * rozea - pink
 * verda - green
 * violea - violet

title: Ido/Lesson I4


text:
Talk:Sanskrit

Untitled
Some of the transliterations and indeed the roots themselves written in the Devanagari are incorrect. For instance, the Sanskrit word for the number nine is transliterated as "nav" although it is written in the Devanagari as "nava"; and the root for English "foot" is not written with a long 'a' as the middle vowel, as it should be. Ian R.

Let's make some progress with this page, huh?

Why not just take a public domain textbook like Macdonell's A Sanskrit Grammar for Students, and put the whole thing on-line.

Congratulations and Thanks for your efforts to preserve/create content about Sanskrit here. One of the oldest and the most scientific languages of this world, and a gateway into great literary texts. I am slightly familiar with Sanskrit (and fully with Hindi). I hope to contribute what ever I can to this text.

Congrats on again and you are doing an excellent work - Pankaj

for grammarians only?
I think some of these lessons could be made more accessible. Don't worry, i know that sanskrit is extremely complex and difficult, but as far as i can tell the lesson on nouns and 'basic grammar' just sort of throws the case terms at people (Nom., Acc., Inst., etc.) without any explanation of their uses (not to mention things like (Erg./Abs.) that only linguistics buffs and nerds like me would understand upon seeing them without a great deal of explanation). You have done a very nice job so far, however, and i'd like to extend my complements. I'd like to add explanations for the grammatical terms, but need to know how to best make it fit the format and work with somebody who knows more about their particular uses in Sanskrit, as I only know them on a general level. Good luck in expanding it. 67.180.214.99 16:32, 12 May 2007 (UTC)Spencer Lamoureux

Basic noun forms
Hello, this is my first edit. I am not too familiar with Sanskrit, however I feel that a simple set of 'vibhaktee's from more than just one gender ought to be uploaded. Also, the current verb matrix contains only the suffixes for the present. Over the next few days, I will try to add some new material. Since I have no idea how Wikibooks works, I just hope I don't break the tubes. Please bear with me.

As a final note, I am not a linguist and have no idea what datives, ablatives and genitives are. I will try to make these lessons as simple as possible, but due to my very limited Sanskrit education my lessons won't include much. --Ayj5012 (talk) 23:35, 3 June 2010 (UTC)

title: Talk:Sanskrit


text:
Beekeeping/Hive Tool

Usage

 * Hive tools can be used for
 * loosening hive bodies and  frames.
 * scraping off excess bur comb or propolis from hive parts.
 * removing a bee sting from the body

 * Hive tools, when jointly used for beekeeping, should not be used for
 * Mixing paint, varnish or chemicals

Selecting a Design
There exist multiple designs of hive tools, but in truth most any kind of pry bar with a blade will work. If you find that money is burning a hole in your pocket, feel free to invest in a high quality Teflon coated hive tool that would likely outlast any beekeeper. Hive tools generally come in 7 and 10-inch varieties. If possible, before purchasing, see how the tool fits in your hand, and buy the one you are most comfortable with. Although it may not seem like an issue, the color of your hive tool may be important. If possible, purchase a brightly colored hive tool or paint it such. A brightly colored hive tool will stand out a lot better when dropped. It is rather difficult to continue working if you lose your tool.

Purchasing
Hive tools are sold by nearly every bee keeping supply house, but similar items can be found at most every hardware store. Simply look for a quality scraper/nail puller type of tool.

Maintenance

 * It is advisable to sharpen the blade of a hive tool when needed. It is difficult to predict the intervals when such would need to be done, but most beekeepers do so at least once a year.
 * If a hive tool is used on a hive that may be infected by disease it is often advisable to clean the tool by flame.

title: Beekeeping/Hive Tool


text:
Talk:Linear Algebra/Inner product spaces

How come v*v -> is in R3?


text:
Horn/Technique/Right Hand

Origins and reasoning
The original horn had no valves. The technique for playing notes between the open partials of the harmonic series was opening and closing the throat of the bell with the hand. When valves were added to the instrument, horn players opted to keep the hand in the bell. They had three primary reasons for doing so:
 * 1) The tone is darkened significantly, recreating the timbre of the Natural Horn.
 * 2) Pitches are more easily controlled. The deeper the hand goes into the bell, the lower the pitch.
 * 3) The hand is in place to perform extended techniques like stopped and echo horn.

The American method

 * 1) Assemble right hand as though it is going to be shaking another hand.
 * 2) Bring the thumb in so it points in the same direction as the other fingers.
 * 3) Place the hand inside the bell with the metal touching the back of the hand.

Some of the weight of the horn should be held up by the thumb and possibly the index-finger.

The French method

 * 1) Hold right hand out flat with palm down and drop thumb to create a 90-degree angle with fingers.
 * 2) Place the hand inside the bell until the thumb hits the bottom wall of the bell.

Some of the weight of the horn should be held up by the first knuckles and the back of the hand.

If you experiment with both of these positions, you will quickly learn how much the placement of the hand in the bell affects the overall timbre and volume of the instrument.

Miscellaneous Information
The hand should certainly "disrupt" the sound coming out of the bell. Otherwise, there would be no point to having the hand it the bell. However, the hand should not be disturbing the sound enough to cause it to sound stuffy.

Visually depicted, one should imagine as though sound is emerging as a stream of water and the palm is carefully guiding the stream along the back of the forearm.

title: Horn/Technique/Right Hand


text:
Korean/Personal pronouns

Korean pronouns pose some difficulty to speakers of English due to their complexity. The Korean language makes extensive use of speech levels and honorifics in its grammar, and Korean pronouns also change depending on the social distinction between the speaker and the person or persons spoken to.

In general, Korean speakers avoid using second person singular pronoun, especially when using honorific forms. This is done in several ways:
 * Omit the subject if it can be implied by the context. Most English sentences need subjects, but note Korean sentences do not.
 * Use the appropriate title. For example, talking to a teacher or certain other professionals (e.g. a manager), one may use 선생님 (seonsaengnim, "teacher").
 * Use kinship terms, even to address someone who is not family:
 * 언니 (eonni, "older sister"), used by females to address a slightly elder female
 * 누나 (nuna, "older sister"), used by males to address a slightly elder female
 * 오빠 (oppa, "older brother"), used by females to address a slightly elder male
 * 형 (hyeong, "older brother"), used by males to address a slightly elder male
 * 아줌마 (ajumma, "middle aged woman")
 * 아저씨 (ajeoshi, "middle aged man")
 * 할머니 (halmeoni, "grandmother")
 * 할아버지 (harabeoji, "grandfather")
 * Use the plural 여러분 (yeoreobun, "ladies and gentlemen") where applicable.
 * If talking to someone younger than the speaker, one may use the person's name.

Pronouns
The first and second person pronouns have both an informal and a polite (humble/honorific) form. The polite form is used when speaking to someone older or of high social status. 당신 is seen as rude only use if very close(the plain second person singular pronoun) literally means "friend", but is only used as a form of address and is more polite than 친구 (chingu), the usual word for "friend". 당신 is also sometimes used as the Korean equivalent of "dear" as a form of address. Also, whereas uses of other humble forms are straightforward, 당신 must be used only in specific social contexts, such as between two married couples. In that way it can be used in an ironic sense when used between strangers.

Of the third person pronouns, the feminine forms sound awkward and are mostly used when translating texts from other languages. 그 was originally used for both genders and still is in conversation.

title: Korean/Personal pronouns


text:
Beekeeping/Smoker

Usage
Smokers are likely one of the most important tools that a beekeeper should have with them. A smoker has two main purposes. Primarily a smoker will encourage bees to engorge on honey. Encouraging honey engorging is beneficial as bees with stomachs filled with honey (or nectar) are unable to easily sting. The exact reasoning for this engorging behavior is unknown, though it likely evolved as a means of saving as much of the viable hive products by moving them in the case of a forest fire. Secondly the smoke produced from a smoker can mask scents and pheromones. Most importantly it hides the alarm scent administered by guard bees and the alarm scent present during a sting.

Lighting a Smoker

 * 1) Open the smoker and clear it of any debris.
 * 2) Insert a loosely crumbled piece of newspaper or similar kindling. If necessary push it to the bottom of the smoker with your hive tool.
 * 3) With a long nosed lighter or long match ignite the kindling.
 * 4) Be sure the kindling is sufficiently in flame with a few long slow bellows pumps.
 * 5) Slowly add your larger kindling or smoker fuel and pump the bellows to ignite. If necessary, stoke the fire with your hive tool.
 * 6) After the kindling is properly on fire, which may take 5 or 10 minutes, begin slowly adding your smoker fuel.
 * 7) Continue pumping the bellows as you add fuel no more than 2/3 the maximum capacity of the smoker. Over filling the smoker only insures that you will spit ash and ember as you work the hive.

 * Proper smoker fuels
 * burlap rags, cotton rags, cotton string or twine
 * Woodchips, pine needles, twigs, sticks, dried leaves and grass
 * Stove pellets
 * Charcoal (burns long and hot, may be best to use with other fuel)
 * Tobacco

 * Improper smoker fuels
 * poison ivy, poison sumac, etc
 * insulation material
 * plastic or rubber
 * newspaper (as sole fuel source)
 * greasy rags

Selecting a Smoker
Smokers commonly come in tin and stainless steel varieties in the sizes of 4x7 inches, 4x10 inches. Often options such as shields, finger guards and bellow material are also available. As a rule, steel smokers last longer than tin when well cared for. Shields and finger guards are not necessary, though they do tend to be helpful in preventing minor burns. Guarded smokers often also have a hook to allow the smoker to be hung from an open hive. Bellow material also does not matter much, most commonly there are options for leather and wood or plastic and rubber, both function the same, the rubber is simply less authentic.

Purchasing
When purchasing a smoker buy the largest you can afford, preferably made of steel. Smaller smokers by virtue of their size have a smaller reservoir and thereby don’t burn as long or with as much smoke as their larger cousins.

Maintenance

 * Steel smokers can occasionally be scoured with steel wool to remove cooked on soot and tar. If you would prefer you can also clean a smoker with a torch by simply burning the stuck on tar until it becomes ash.

Tips

 * If a bee stings you or your gear apply a liberal amount of smoke to the area (after removing the stinger) to mask the alarm odor.
 * Practice with a smoker before actually needing to use it, you will appreciate the ability to create a large masking cloud of smoke for a quick get away when things become difficult.
 * By placing a properly sized, heavily perforated tin can, such as one which soup or fruit comes in, in side the smoker you can create a nice fire pan. The perforations allow for better air intake and easier lighting.

title: Beekeeping/Smoker


text:
Ruby Programming/Syntax/Operators

Complete List and Precedence
Higher precedence (lower number in the above table) operators have their immediate arguments evaluated first. Precedence order can be altered with blocks. For example, because  has higher precedence than +, then:

Association direction controls which operators have their arguments evaluated first when multiple operators with the same precedence appear in a row. For example, because  has left association:

1 – 2 – 3 == (1 – 2) – 3 == -1 – 3 == -4

instead of:

1 – 2 – 3 == 1 – (2 – 3) == 1 - -1 == 0

Because  has right association:

2 ** 3 ** 2 == 2 ** (3 ** 2) == 2 ** 9 == 512

instead of:

2 ** 3 ** 2 == (2 ** 3) ** 2 == 8 ** 2 == 64

{} blocks have lower precedence than the above operators, followed by do/end blocks. Array accesses with [] can be thought of as having a higher precedence than any above operator.

The operators ** through !~ can be overridden (defined for new classes, or redefined for existing operations).

Note that rescue, if, unless, while, and until are operators when used as modifiers in one-liners (as in the above examples) but can also be used as keywords.

Other operators
The dot operator  is used for calling methods on objects, also known as passing a message to the object.

Ruby 2.3.0 introduced the safe navigation operator, also known as the "lonely operator". This allows replacing

with

An equivalent  method was introduced for hashes and arrays: are safer versions of:

The safe navigation operator will raise an error if a requested method, key, or index is not available; unlike the technique of using try for this purpose, which will return nil.

Yukihiro Matsumoto considered    and   before settling on   because:
 * ?. conflicts with *?
 * ?. is used by other languages, thus .? is confusingly similar but different
 * ! conflicts with "not" logic
 * ? is already used by convention for functions that return booleans
 * &. is reminiscent of the && syntax the operator is replacing

is sometimes seen, but this is simply the  operator twice. It is used to force the following expression to evaluate to a boolean. This technique is considered non-idiomatic and poor programming practice, because there are more explicit ways to force such a conversion (which is rarely needed to begin with).

Assignment
Assignment in Ruby is done using the equal operator "=". This is both for variables and objects, but since strings, floats, and integers are actually objects in Ruby, you're always assigning objects.

Examples:

Self assignment

A frequent question from C and C++ types is "How do you increment a variable? Where are ++ and -- operators?" In Ruby, one should use x+=1 and x-=1 to increment or decrement a variable.

Multiple assignments

Examples:

Conditional assignment

Operator ||= is a shorthand form that closely resembles the expression:

Operator ||= can be shorthand for code like:

In same way &&= operator works:

Operator &&= is a shorthand form of the expression:

Scope
In Ruby there's a local scope, a global scope, an instance scope, and a class scope.

Local Scope
Example: var = 2 4.times do |x| puts x = x*var end #=> 0  2  4  6   puts x  #=> undefined local variable or method `x' for main:Object (NameError)

This error appears because this x(toplevel) is not the x(local) inside the do..end block the x(local) is a local variable to the block, whereas when trying the puts x(toplevel) we're calling a x variable that is in the top level scope, and since there's not one, Ruby protests.

Global scope
$global = 0 4.times do |var| $global = $global + var puts "var #{var} global #{$global}" end #=> var 0  global 0 var 1 global 1 var 2 global 3 var 3 global 6 puts $global #=> 6

This output is given because prefixing a variable with a dollar sign makes the variable a global.

Instance scope
Within methods of a class, you can share variables by prefixing them with an @.

class A   def setup @instvar = 1 end def go     @instvar = @instvar*2 puts @instvar end end instance = A.new instance.setup instance.go #=> 2 instance.go #=> 4

Class scope
A class variable is one that is like a "static" variable in Java. It is shared by all instances of a class.

class A   @@classvar = 1 def go     @@classvar = @@classvar*2 puts @@classvar end end instance = A.new instance.go #=> 2 instance = A.new instance.go #=> 4 -- variable is shared across instances

Here's a demo showing the various types:

$variable class Test def initialize(arg1='kiwi') @instvar=arg1 @@classvar=@instvar+' told you so!!' localvar=@instvar end def print_instvar puts @instvar end def print_localvar puts @@classvar puts localvar end end var=Test.new var.print_instvar             #=>"kiwi", it works because a @instance_var can be accessed inside the class var.print_localvar            #=>undefined local variable or method 'localvar' for # (NameError). This will print the two lines "kiwi" and "kiwi told you so!!", then fail with a undefined local variable or method 'localvar' for # (NameError). Why? Well, in the scope of the method print_localvar there doesn't exists localvar, it exists in method initialize(until GC kicks it out). On the other hand, class variables '@@classvar' and '@instvar' are in scope across the entire class and, in the case of @@class variables, across the children classes.

class SubTest < Test def print_classvar puts @@classvar end end newvar=SubTest.new             #newvar is created and it has @@classvar with the same value as the var  instance of Test!! newvar.print_classvar          #=>kiwi told you so!! Class variables have the scope of parent class AND children, these variables can live across classes, and can be affected by the children actions ;-)

class SubSubTest < Test def print_classvar puts @@classvar end def modify_classvar @@classvar='kiwi kiwi waaai!!' end end subtest=SubSubTest.new subtest.modify_classvar         #lets add a method that modifies the contents of @@classvar in  SubSubTest subtest.print_classvar This new child of Test also has @@classvar with the original value newvar.print_classvar. The value of @@classvar has been changed to 'kiwi kiwi waaai!!' This shows that @@classvar is "shared" across parent and child classes.

Default scope
When you don't enclose your code in any scope specifier, ex:

@a = 33

it affects the default scope, which is an object called "main".

For example, if you had one script that says

@a = 33 require 'other_script.rb'

and other_script.rb says

puts @a #=> 33

They could share variables.

Note however, that the two scripts don't share local variables.

Local scope gotchas
Typically when you are within a class, you can do as you'd like for definitions, like.

class A a = 3 if a == 3

def go      3 end else def go      4 end end

end

And also, procs "bind" to their surrounding scope, like

a = 3 b = proc { a } b.call # 3 -- it remembered what a was

However, the "class" and "def" keywords cause an *entirely new* scope.

class A a = 3 def go    return a # this won't work! end end

You can get around this limitation by using define_method, which takes a block and thus keeps the outer scope (note that you can use any block you want, to, too, but here's an example).

class A  a = 3 define_method(:go) { a } end

Here's using an arbitrary block

a = 3 PROC = proc { a } # gotta use something besides a local
 * 1) variable because that "class" makes us lose scope.

class A define_method(:go, &PROC) end

or here class A end a = 3 A.class_eval do  define_method(:go) do       puts a   end end

Logical And
The binary "and" operator will return the logical conjunction of its two operands. It is the same as "&&" but with a lower precedence. Example: a = 1 b = 2 c = nil puts "yay all my arguments are true" if a and b puts "oh no, one of my argument is false" if a and c

Logical Or
The binary "or" operator will return the logical disjunction of its two operands. It is the same as "||" but with a lower precedence. Example: a = nil b = "foo" c = a || b # c is set to "foo" it's the same as saying c = (a || b) c = a or b  # c is set to nil   it's the same as saying (c = a) || b which is not what you want.

title: Ruby Programming/Syntax/Operators


text:
J2ME Programming/MIDP Device Databases

Becoming aware of the capabilities of MIDP devices is always an adventure. The following information should help you on your quest for this information.

Non Membership, Free Access
The following device databases can be viewed and downloaded without signing up for a developer membership:test
 * Devices by Vendor collated by the J2ME Polish Project
 * Devices collated by Sun's Authorized Licensee of J2ME

Membership, Free
The following developer sites require free membership to view their device database listing of device capabilities:
 * OEM Developer Sites
 * Forum Nokia
 * Siemens Communications Group Developers Portal
 * Sony Ericsson Developer World
 * Samsung Developers Club
 * Motorola PCS Motocoder
 * Motorola iDEN Developer Community
 * BlackBerry Developers
 * Danger Developer Zone
 * OS Developer Sites
 * palmOne PluggedIn
 * Qualcomm Developer Resources
 * Mobile Operator Developer Sites
 * source O2 Developer Zone
 * Orange Partner
 * Nextel Developer Program
 * Sprint PCS Developer *OEM Developer Sites
 * T-Mobile US Developer Center
 * Velocita Wireless(Cingular)
 * ATT Wireless devCentral
 * DoJa Developer Network(i-mode)
 * Independent Developer Sites

WURFL
The WURFL project, which compiles a device database of enabled WAP devices, also includes most J2ME MIDP details. The WURFL XML configuration file can be found at: Be careful, the database is a large download in XML format with a DTD you can use to write scripts to pull the information you need from the devices you are targeting in your development. To view and query this large XML configuration file with the device capabilities, use the legacy MyWURFL desktop swing application:
 * WURFL
 * MyWURFL

Performance, Benchmark
The best performance database of the graphical capabilities is:
 * JBenchmark Results

Conclusion
By viewing the above device databases and developer sites, you will be able to determine the J2ME device characteristics of the devices.

Trademark Notices
J2ME, Java and all Java-based marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. All other Trademarks are property of their respective owners.

title: J2ME Programming/MIDP Device Databases


text:
J2ME Programming/ZRRT UniJa-VM

Introduction
Beijing ZRRT Communications Technology supplies the UniJa-VM for the UniJa content services on China Unicom's network.

UniJa VM 1.0

 * MIDP 2.0
 * CLDC 1.0
 * JTWI 1.0 compliant

Deployed Devices

 * Samsung
 * Brew

Conclusion
With this information you can determine the j2me apis that you have access to on devices using China Unicom UniJa service.

Trademark Notices
J2ME, Java and all Java-based marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. All other Trademarks are property of their respective owners.

title: J2ME Programming/ZRRT UniJa-VM