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Stories from the Pandemic

Listen to excerpts from this past Sunday's bulletin at St. John the Compassionate Mission, serving the most vulnerable in Toronto.




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This week's stories from the Mission, by Brother Luke

Brother Luke shares about an addict and a group of mourners he met at St. John the Compassionate Mission.




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Stories from the Mission

Brother Luke shares stories from St. John the Compassionate Mission in Toronto, Ontario.




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Stories from the Mission

Listen to stories about the people who frequent St. John the Compassionate Mission in Toronto, Ontario.




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More Stories from the Mission

Listen to stories from Brother Luke about people who frequent St. John the Compassionate Mission in Toronto, Ontario.




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Cold Winter Stories

Listen to stories about Mat and Hector enduring the cold Toronto winter, by Fr. Nicolaie.




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Stories from Fr. Nicolaie

Listen to two stories from Fr. Nicolaie about people who spend time at St. John the Compassionate Mission.




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Stories from Bright Week

Listen to stories written by Brother Luke at St. John the Compassionate Mission.




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Stories from Holy Week

Stories written by Brother Luke during Holy Week.




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Stories from Bright Week

More stories, written by Brother Luke, from St. John the Compassionate Mission.




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Some New Stories from the Mission

Brother Luke shares some new stories from the mission.




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A Handful of September Stories from the Community

Brother Luke shares three stories from community life.




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The Genesis Creation Stories




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You Tell the Best Stories, Paw Paw!




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You Tell the Best Stories, Pawpaw!




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You Tell the Best Stories, PawPaw!




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Creation and the Patriarchal Histories

Fr. Pat Reardon's newest book on Genesis is the topic of our conversation as we explore the beginnings of Salvation history. The book is entitled Creation and the Patriarchal Histories and is published by our sister ministry, Conciliar Press.




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Scottish Tories needed a new message - has Findlay found it?

Russell Findlay set out his stall in his first major speech since becoming party leader




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BBC News | Latest Published Stories | UK Edition




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Weekly round-up: Five stories you may have missed

A story about runaway raccoon sisters was among our most read in the south this week.




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Display showcases multi-coloured poppies' stories

Volunteers in Cornwall spend more than 17 months knitting poppies and 23m of simulated barbed wire.




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Virtual Computing Laboratories: A Case Study with Comparisons to Physical Computing Laboratories




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The Impact of Hands-On Simulation Laboratories on Teaching of Wireless Communications

Aim/Purpose: To prepare students with both theoretical knowledge and practical skills in the field of wireless communications. Background: Teaching wireless communications and networking is not an easy task because it involves broad subjects and abstract content. Methodology: A pedagogical method that combined lectures, labs, assignments, exams, and readings was applied in a course of wireless communications. Contribution: Five wireless networking labs, related to wireless local networks, wireless security, and wireless sensor networks, were developed for students to complete all of the required hands-on lab activities. Findings: Both development and implementation of the labs achieved a successful outcome and provided students with a very effective learning experience. Students expressed that they had a better understanding of different wireless network technologies after finishing the labs. Recommendations for Practitioners: Detailed instructional lab manuals should be developed so that students can carry out hands-on activities in a step-by-step fashion. Recommendation for Researchers: Hands-on lab exercises can not only help students understand the abstract technical terms in a meaningful way, but also provide them with hands-on learning experience in terms of wireless network configuration, implementation, and evaluation. Impact on Society: With the help of a wireless network simulator, students have successfully enhanced their practical skills and it would benefit them should they decide to pursue a career in wireless network design or implementation. Future Research: Continuous revision of the labs will be made according to the feedback from students. Based on the experience, more wireless networking labs and network issues could be studied in the future.




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Adoption and Usage of Augmented Reality-based Virtual Laboratories Tool for Engineering Studies

Aim/Purpose: The study seeks to utilize Augmented Reality (AR) in creating virtual laboratories for engineering education, focusing on enhancing teaching methodologies to facilitate student understanding of intricate and theoretical engineering principles while also assessing engineering students’ acceptance of such laboratories. Background: AR, a part of next-generation technology, has enhanced the perception of reality by overlaying virtual elements in the physical environment. The utilization of AR is prevalent across different disciplines, yet its efficacy in facilitating Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education is limited. Engineering studies, a part of STEM learning, involves complex and abstract concepts like machine simulation, structural analysis, and design optimization; these things would be easy to grasp with the help of AR. This restriction can be attributed to their innovative characteristics and disparities. Therefore, providing a comprehensive analysis of the factors influencing the acceptance of these technologies by students - the primary target demographic – and examining the impact of these factors is essential to maximize the advantages of AR while refining the implementation processes. Methodology: The primary objective of this research is to develop and evaluate a tool that enriches the educational experience within engineering laboratories. Utilizing Unity game engine libraries, digital content is meticulously crafted for this tool and subsequently integrated with geo-location functionalities. The tool’s user-friendly interface allows both faculty and non-faculty members of the academic institution to establish effortlessly the virtual laboratory. Subsequently, an assessment of the tool is conducted through the application of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) model, involving the administration of surveys to university students to gauge their level of adaptability. Contribution: The utilization of interactive augmented learning in laboratory settings enables educational establishments to realize notable savings in time and resources, thereby achieving sustainable educational outcomes. The study is of great importance due to its utilization of student behavioral intentions as the underlying framework for developing an AR tool and illustrating the impact of learner experience on various objectives and the acceptance of AR in Engineering studies. Furthermore, the research results enable educational institutions to implement AR-based virtual laboratories to improve student experiences strategically, align with learner objectives, and ultimately boost the adaptability of AR technologies. Findings: Drawing on practice-based research, the authors showcase work samples and a digital project of AR-based Virtual labs to illustrate the evaluation of the adaptability of AR technology. Adaptability is calculated by conducting a survey of 300 undergraduate university students from different engineering departments and applying an adaptability method to determine the behavioral intentions of students. Recommendations for Practitioners: Engineering institutions could leverage research findings in the implementation of AR to enhance the effectiveness of AR technology in practical education settings. Recommendation for Researchers: The authors implement a pragmatic research framework aimed at integrating AR technology into virtual AR-based labs for engineering education. This study delves into a unique perspective within the realm of engineering studies, considering students’ perspectives and discerning their behavioral intentions by drawing upon previous research on technology utilization. The research employs various objectives and learner experiences to assess their influence on students’ acceptance of AR technology. Impact on Society: The use of AR in engineering institutions, especially in laboratory practicals, has a significant impact on society, supported by the UTAUT2 model. UTAUT2 model assesses factors like performance, effort expectancy, social influence, and conditions, showing that AR in education is feasible and adaptable. This adaptability helps students and educators incorporate AR tools effectively for better educational results. AR-based labs allow students to interact with complex engineering concepts in immersive settings, enhancing understanding and knowledge retention. This interactive augmented learning for laboratories saves educational institutions significant time and resources, attaining sustainable learning. Future Research: Further research can employ a more comprehensive acceptance model to examine learners’ adaptability to AR technology and try comparing different adaptability models to determine which is more effective for engineering students.




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CLIF: Moving repositories upstream in the content lifecycle

The UK JISC-funded Content Lifecycle Integration Framework (CLIF) project has explored the management of digital content throughout its lifecycle from creation through to preservation or disposal. Whilst many individual systems offer the capability of carrying out lifecycle stages to varying degrees, CLIF recognised that only by facilitating the movement of content between systems could the full lifecycle take advantage of systems specifically geared towards different stages of the digital lifecycle. The project has also placed the digital repository at the heart of this movement and has explored this through carrying out integrations between Fedora and Sakai, and Fedora and SharePoint. This article will describe these integrations in the context of lifecycle management and highlight the issues discovered in enabling the smooth movement of content as required.




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Learning Objects, Learning Object Repositories, and Learning Theory: Preliminary Best Practices for Online Courses




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Repository 2.0: Social Dynamics to Support Community Building in Learning Object Repositories




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The Usage of Data Repositories: The Case of MAOR




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Modeling the Macro-Behavior of Learning Object Repositories




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The Use of Digital Repositories for Enhancing Teacher Pedagogical Performance




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Fast fuzzy C-means clustering and deep Q network for personalised web directories recommendation

This paper proposes an efficient solution for personalised web directories recommendation using fast FCM+DQN. At first, web directory usage file obtained from given dataset is fed into the accretion matrix computation module, where visitor chain matrix, visitor chain binary matrix, directory chain matrix and directory chain binary matrix are formulated. In this, directory grouping is accomplished based on fast FCM and matching among query and group is conducted based on Kumar Hassebrook and Kulczynski similarity. The user preferred directory is restored at this stage and at last, personalised web directories are recommended to the visitors by means of DQN. The proposed approach has received superior results with respect to maximum accuracy of 0.910, minimum mean squared error (MSE) of 0.0206 and root mean squared error (RMSE) of 0.144. Although the system offered magnificent outcomes, it failed to order web directories in the form of highly, medium and low interested directories.




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STORIES ABOUT VALUES AND VALUABLE STORIES: A FIELD EXPERIMENT OF THE POWER OF NARRATIVES TO SHAPE NEWCOMERS' ACTIONS

This study draws on social identity theories of behavioral contagion and research concerning narratives in organizations to present and test a framework for understanding how narratives embed values in organizational newcomers' actions. Employing a field experiment using 632 newly-hired employees in a large IT firm that prioritizes self-transcendent values, this study explores how narratives varying in terms of the organizational level of main characters and the values-upholding or values-violating behaviors of those characters influence newcomers' tendencies to engage in behaviors that uphold or deviate from the values. Results indicate that stories about low-level organizational characters engaging in values-upholding behaviors are more positively associated with self-transcendent, helping behaviors and negatively associated with deviant behaviors, than are similar stories about high-level members of the organization. Stories in which high-level members of the organization violate values are negatively related to newcomers' engagement in both helping and deviance more strongly than are values-violating stories about lower-level members. Content analyses of the stories suggest that they convey values in different and potentially important ways. Implications, future directions, and limitations are discussed.




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Factories warned against unsafe disposal of waste

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New inventories added

1 new set inventory

© 2024 Brickset.com. Republication prohibited without prior permission.




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Higher Ground newsletter: Pro-lifers win major victories in election

Welcome to Higher Ground, the faith-centric newsletter focused on the intersection of culture and politics from experienced journalists at The Washington Times.




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Barbershop Stories

Tales of camaraderie, mentorship, second chances, prosperity, and style, from barbershops in Baltimore and beyond.  Have a seat, grab a newspaper, and make yourself comfortable… the next available barber will take you shortly.




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Citizens’ Observatories: Five EU FP7 Projects Focused on Citizen Science

Five  projects focused on citizen science began their life in autumn 2012 as a part of the topic ENV.2012.6.5-1 "Developing community based environmental monitoring and information systems using innovative and novel earth observation applications". Their goals include developing novel technologies and applications in the domain of Earth Observation; exploiting portable devices (smartphones, tablets, etc.) and enabling effective participation by citizens in environmental stewardship based on broad stakeholder and user involvement in support of both community and policy priorities.

These projects are:

CITI-SENSE - aiming to empower citizens to both contribute towards, and participate in environmental governance, by developing up to 30 Citizens’ Observatories supporting a range of services related to environmental issues of societal concern with participatory sensing tools and methods being central.

OmniScientis - combining the active participation of the stakeholders, especially citizens, with the implementation of innovative technologies to improve the governance of odour nuisance. OMNISCIENTIS implements an odour monitoring and information system allowing feedback in real-time, based on a web-based Service Platform.

Citclops - developing an observatory based on citizens’ science applications for the bio-optical monitoring of coast and ocean. Specifically, the Citclops action develops systems to retrieve and use data on the colour, transparency and fluorescence of seawater using low-cost sensors and smart phones along with contextual information.

COBWEB - seeking to design, develop and validate the necessary software infrastructure to facilitate and make possible the opportunistic harvesting and quality control of crowdsourced environmental data.

WeSenseIt - enabling citizens to become active stakeholders in information  capturing, evaluation and communication for the water environment including flood risk.

Together these projects will enable sharing of data and information through advanced data management strategies based on open e-collaboration, addressing questions of privacy, data standards, quality and reliability. 

The Facebook  page ‘Citizens’ Observatories’ group acts as one focal point for the development and promotion of ‘Citizens' Observatories worldwide‘ as an essential tool and a common perspective to better observing, understanding, protecting and enhancing our environment.

For more information on the diferent projects, please visit the dedicated Citizens' Observatories webpage: www.citizen-obs.eu

 





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Pan-European Species-directories Infrastructure: Basis for handling big taxonomic data

Looked down on with scepticism by many taxonomists, handling big data efficiently is a huge challenge that can only be met with thorough and multi-layered efforts from both scientists and technological developers. Projects like the Pan-European Species-directories Infrastructure (PESI), started in 2009, prove that harmonised taxonomic reference systems and high-quality data sets are possible through dynamic, expertly created and managed online tools. The methods, results and future prospects of PESI are available in the open access Biodiversity Data Journal.

With environmental changes occurring at an unprecedented rate around the world, biological communication needs to be left off the pace at no point. Phenomena such as species' migration, extinction, intrusion; ecosystem stability; decline of pollinators and pest invasion have to be monitored closely and identified momentarily. In order to do so, proper identification based on reliable and easily accessible data is crucial.

Therefore, the three key objectives of PESI include standardisation in taxonomic reference systems, enhancement of the quality and completeness of taxonomic data sets and creation of integrated access to taxonomic information. The five pillars of biological community networks, Zoology, Botany, Marine Biota, Mycology and Phycology, have been integrated in five infrastructural components: knowledge, consensus, standards, data and dissemination.

As a result, PESI did not only merge data from a range of sources and published a total of nearly 450,000 scientific names online. It also maintains networks of outstanding experts and national focal points, so that it makes sure that the taxonomic information, it relies on, is always at its finest, while simultaneously takes care about delivering persistent standards and easily accessible up-to-date biodiversity data.

PESI results will also feed as an essential part for the advancement of relevant EU projects, such as Building the European Biodiversity Observation Network (EU BON). In the EU BON project, the PESI Backbone will be advanced to satisfy the needs of the GEO BON / GEOSS system, also serving as a taxonomic backbone for the projected EU BON Biodiversity Portal.

Aiming at standardisation and integration of taxonomic data across platforms PESI also works in close collaboration with other relevant projects including GBIFLifeWatch, the Catalogue of Life, the Encyclopedia of Life, the Global Names ArchitectureGÉANTViBRANTOpenUp!,BioVeLiMarine , EU BON and BiodiversityKnowledge .

"Scientific names are key carriers of biodiversity information. Therefore, for the efficient exploring and integration of biodiversity data, the development of a functional taxonomic resolution system, including the establishment of a shared taxonomic standard (as a core component), is essential for all sorts of biodiversity assessments. PESI provides such an infrastructure for Europe, integrating the relevant technical (informatics) and social (knowledge & users) networks into a common work program, serving a wide community of biodiversity workers," says Dr. Yde de Jong, coordinator of the Pan-European Species-directories Infrastructure (PESI) project.

"The PESI Taxonomic Backbone serves as a taxonomic data standard resource, facilitating and optimising the integration and sharing of European biodiversity data, supporting a wide range of European services, major biodiversity programs and stakeholders on nature conservation and biodiversity management," conclude their results the scientists.

Original Source:

de Jong Y, et al. (2015) PESI - a taxonomic backbone for Europe. Biodiversity Data Journal 3: e5848.doi: 10.3897/BDJ.3.e5848

Additional Information:

The Pan-European Species-directories Infrastructure (PESI) provides standardised and authoritative taxonomic information by integrating and securing Europe's taxonomically authoritative species name registers and nomenclators (name databases) and associated expert(ise) networks that underpin the management of biodiversity in Europe. PESI kicked-off as an EC-FP7 project, running from 2009 to 2011.

PESI proceeded from the EC-FP6 Networks of Excellence EDIT, on developing a European Distributed Institute of Taxonomy, and MarBEF, on Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning.

Building the European Biodiversity Observation Network (EU BON) is a European research project, financed by the 7th EU framework programme for research and development (FP7). EU BON seeks ways to better integrate biodiversity information and implement into policy and decision-making of biodiversity monitoring and management in the EU.





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The 9th International Conference on Open Repositories and DataONE workshop

The 9th International Conference on Open Repositories will be held from 9 to 13 June, 2014 in Helsinki,  Finland. It is the leading international conference in its field, and the attendance is likely to be around 400, with participants from all around the world. The main theme of the conference is "Towards Repository Ecosystems".

DataONE will host an all-day workshop at the conference on Monday, 9 June.

The full conference program is likely to published in late April, 2014, but there is a draft version of the schedule available.

Conference registration has been open since February 14, 2014. There are also sponsorship opportunities available.

The conference will be hosted by University of Helsinki‘s twin libraries: Helsinki University Library and the National Library of Finland. You can contact the organizers by e-mail: or-2014[at]helsinki.fi.

For more information and to register, please visit the conference wensite:http://or2014.helsinki.fi/





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Citizens’ Observatories: Empowering European Society - Open Conference

The European Commission Directorate-General for Research & Innovation and the European Union-funded Citizens’ Observatories projects invite you to the conference "Citizens’ Observatories: Empowering European Society", to be held on 4th December 2014 at the Management Centre Europe, Brussels.
 
This one day conference will look at the role and opportunities for active citizen participation in environmental monitoring and policy making. The event will provide opportunities to engage with experts and practitioners working across a range of European citizen science initiatives and policy making bodies, and to find out more about the work of the five Citizens’ Observatory projects.
 
The event includes two main sessions for stimulating the discussion:
  • "Citizens Observatories and their value for decision making" - talks from the Commission, from EEA, from EPAs, from local authorities and also representatives from citizens, with their own views and experiences, followed by a round table with the speakers where we can discuss about the usefulness of Citizen Science in environmental policy (suitable scenarios for first implementations, possible ways of collaboration and channels of communication, fears and expectations of policy makers and also of citizens, benefits, market exploitation, etc). Seed questions will be fine-tuned in the upcoming weeks.
  • "Panel session on Challenges of Citizens’ Observatories" -  a second round table focused on challenges these initiatives are facing (sustainability, governance, data protection, big data, legitimacy of actions by scientists, etc.) both with researchers and decision makers. 
For more information, to register and see the agenda, pleae visit: http://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/CitObsEES2014

 

 





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Citizen observatories for water management conference

From 7 to 9 June 2016 the city of Venice will host an International Conference titled: "Citizen Observatories for Water Management". The Conference will focus on the potential of Citizen Science in the European water innovation landscape, and in particular in the fields of flood risk management, environmental monitoring and meeting the challenges of the Water Framework Directive (WFD).

The Conference will be an opportunity for actors in the field of science and innovation to exchange experiences on the development, implementation and use of new technologies to bring water-related issues closer to citizens.

Introduction

Citizen observatories are emerging as a virtual and physical place where citizens and decision makers cooperate to gather and share information to promote innovative and shared solutions. Strategic decisions and policies that impact society and the environment require intensive data collection and interpretation. Such information provides an important basis for long term planning as well as short term response (e.g. to flooding, drought,  pollution events, cyanobacterial blooms).

The COWM 2016 conference will explore the role and opportunities for active citizen participation in environmental monitoring and policy making. The event will provide opportunities to engage with researchers, policy makers and practitioners actively involved in improving our understanding of citizen science initiatives. Participants will discuss the growing potential of Citizens’ Observatories in empowering the society and improving the resilience at the community scale.

The meeting will bring together social scientists, surveyors, engineers, scientists, and other professionals from many countries involved in research and development activities in a wide range of technical and management topics related to citizen observatories and their impacts on society and how to maximize the benefit of data emerging from citizen observatories.

More information available here: http://www.conwater2016.eu/index.php/en/





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The Refractories Institute Announces Three Recipients of 2024 Scholarships

The Refractories Institute announced the 2024 recipients of college scholarships for students pursuing an education related to refractory science. TRI, which is comprised of approximately 50 member-companies that operate in the refractory industry, awards scholarships annually.




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Real Stories, Real Solutions: A 2024 Cloud Security Summit Recap

Brivo and Eye Eye believe that in the near future, security integrators will no longer be selling a video management system (VMS). Instead, they will be selling a smart video system where potential problems are detected and resolved automatically.




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SGS Galson Laboratories

Booth #4224

SGS Galson Laboratories’ Personal Exposure Vest provides hassle-free sampling and monitoring. It holds up to 6 pumps/real-time instruments for noise, dust, gases, fumes and more! Try it on at Booth 4224 and receive a show discount on the PEV.

Click here for more information from SGS Galson Laboratories

Product information is provided by manufacturers. This publication has not independently tested manufacturers' products and cannot assume responsibility for the validity of product claims.




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New year brings new lineup of most popular cover stories

Food Engineering has revamped its schedule of most prominent annual features. Casey Laughman shares some of those changes as we kick off 2021.




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#StyleStories: Applying Pantone's Very Peri to Carpets

Royal Thai has taken the four unique palettes curated by Pantone for the Very Peri launch—Balancing Act, Wellspring, Star of the Show, and Amusements—and applied them to some of the company's favorite patterns. 




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Choreographing collaboratories: studios of situated improvisations.

Children's Geographies; 11/30/2021
(AN 154249885); ISSN: 14733285
Academic Search Premier




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Speculative caring collaboratories: mattering research alternatives.

Children's Geographies; 02/26/2022
(AN 155449570); ISSN: 14733285
Academic Search Premier




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Walking collaboratories: experimentations with climate and waste pedagogies.

Children's Geographies; 05/10/2022
(AN 156804675); ISSN: 14733285
Academic Search Premier




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Stories of shimmer and pollution: understanding child-environment aesthetic encounters in urban wilds.

Children's Geographies; 09/14/2022
(AN 159192657); ISSN: 14733285
Academic Search Premier