In the March Floridian weather of 2018 investigators are picking through the results of a disaster. Six are dead and ten more injured but the only question on the investigators minds is how does a new uncompleted bridge fail in such a way that no one picked it up until it was too late. This is what we'll be looking at today, the Florida International University pedestrian bridge collapse. Our story starts with a safety concern. Students crossing the 8th Street and 109th Avenue intersection. Numerous reports from students at Floridian International University have come over the years of near misses with traffic across the eight lane highway. The university concerned with the risks to their students began to put into motion a plan for a new pedestrian walkway. Finances were secured in 2013 from the Department of Transport for the bridge across the highway between the FIU and the town of Sweetwater. Sweetwater was a popular place for students to find accommodation outside of the university campus and as such the crossing of the multi-lane highway is frequently used by both students and faculty members alike. The main organisations to be involved in the project were Manila Construction Management, a Miami based construction management firm and FIGG Bridge Engineers, a Tallahassee based firm. The project was different to other similar structures in the state as the Florida Department of Transport did not oversee the design, instead this task was taken on by the university itself. But the unusual plan did on the face of it makes sense. The university was known for its expertise in accelerated bridge construction. As a side note, this is a technique that allows bridges to be installed with minimum disruption to traffic, often in the space of a few days. This is done by constructing the bridge near to its final installation location and after assembly placing the structure in its final location. The bridge was to be 320 feet long and span the roadway and a canal that runs parallel to the street. This is formed of two sections of the bridge, 175 foot long and a 99 foot long section for the roadway and canal spans respectively. To tie it all together, a faux tower and cable arrangement was intended for the structure to make the bridge look like a cable staid arrangement. The total structure length was added to further by an escalator and lift on the southern end and a lift on the northern end. The design of the bridge was intended to have a 100 year plus life expectancy and could apparently withstand a category 5 hurricane. Although looking like a cable staid bridge, the structure's strength actually came from its truss construction. The bridge had a 30 foot wide deck and a 16 foot wide canopy, 15 feet above. The canopy and deck were connected by a single row of concrete diagonal and vertical supports in the centre. The canopy and deck were designed to act like an eye beam with the concrete walkway deck acting as the horizontal bottom flange of a wide eye beam and the roof canopy was to function as also a horizontal but narrower top flange of the eye beam. Having the walkway on the bottom of the truss allowed for less steps up to the bridge and due to it only using one truss it was a non-redundant design as the whole structure's strength came from the single collection of supports. The concrete was to be a post tensioned design. This is achieved by casting the concrete with a protective sleeve or duct within it for still cable tendons. Once the concrete is cured these tendons are tensioned and held in place with a lock off wedge adding strength to the beam. The deck and canopy had tending cables which were permanently tensioned and while the mainspan was still located in the staging yard before it even got installed on the bridge. Later the diagonal truss members had two to four post tensioning rods that could be tightened or loosened allowing for alterations to be made by the engineers to allow for the extra stresses expected during installation. These were to be de-stressed after the mainspan was in place. The plan for the bridge was to have it pre-built in a staging area next to the bridge site and then lifted into situ. Construction began in 2016 but just over a year later on a Sunday in August 2017 the death of a student Alexis Dale vindicated the need for a pedestrian bridge. She was crossing the very busy intersection at South West 8th Street and 109th Avenue like many students do any day of the week. In February 2018 the mainspan of concrete including the walkway, the canopy and diagonal and horizontal members were cast. Once it had cured inspections of the mainspan showed some cracking around truss member 11 and 12 at the truss members intersection with the deck. Cracking is not uncommon in concrete casting and this was to be monitored during the installation process. Thus the mainspan was prepared for installation which would involve movement from the fabrication yard to the bridge site. In order to get the assembled bridge in place it had to be lifted to its final location using self-propelled modular transporters. And that took place on the morning of 10th March 2018. Traffic on the South West 8th Street was detoured during the planned installation period leaving the entire roadway closed. Because the whole structure was vulnerable to twisting for transport and installation a maximum tolerance of plus or minus 0.5 degree was set. Beginning at 4.30 am on the 10th March the mainspan was moved by the SPMTs and placed on the permanent pylon and south pier supports. The movement was completed by 12.30pm. During the operation the twisting tolerance was exceeded twice, occurring for about 4 minutes as the bridge came in contact with one of the bearing pads on the south pier. After it was in its final place the mainspan's diagonal members 2 and 11 were detentioned as part of the original plans. And photographs were taken of the cracks at the 11th member to see if they were active or dormant. On the 12th March more photos of the cracks around the 11th and 12th nodes were taken and were now worryingly getting larger. Manila Construction Management viewed the photos and indicated that the cracking was not a safety issue and recommended that plastic shims be placed underneath the diaphragm the part that attaches to the pier. On March the 13th and faced with growing cracks MCM and FIGG building engineers decided that retentioning the 2 and 11 supports may lessen the cracking but FIGG determined that the cracking was still not a safety issue. On the 14th March the cracks still causing concern were discussed between the contractor companies. A day later on the morning of the 15th an inspection team went to the bridge to evaluate the cracking in preparation for a 9am meeting to discuss potential remediation action. It was then decided that member 11 which at the bottom end formed the 11th and 12th node Amazon the pylon pier would be restored to its original tension pre-installation of £280,000. This was to be done in increments alternating between the top and bottom rod. The way I understand it is similar to how you install an engine sump or valve cover as to even out the load during tightening. If you've ever owned a Honda and forget to tighten the tappet lock nut properly then you'll get a lot of practice doing this on valve covers. A 6 man team was given the go ahead for the restressing and a head they went. The retightening of member 11 would begin on the 15th all while traffic still flowed below the structure. The contractors thought that the operation couldn't compromise the structural integrity of the bridge due to the contractors insistence that the structure was still safe. How wrong they were. At roughly 1345 the traffic lights changed and cars came to a stop at the south west 8th street and 109th avenue junction. At 1346 the northern end of the bridge at the joint of the 11th and 12th supports blew out under the applied tension of the tendons. Within a fraction of a second the bridge sagged at the northern pile on pier. Cars on the road below continued to wait under the stricken structure. A driver of one of the cars under the bridge would later say that small rocks had landed on her vehicle moments before the bridge failed. The bridge immediately dropped the heavy full span onto the roadway below crushing anything underneath. Five were immediately killed after the collapse and one would die later in hospital. The victims were Navarro Brown aged 37 a worker on the bridge, Alberto Arias 53, Brandon Brownfield 39, FIU student Alexa Durran 18, Ronaldo Fraga 60 and Oswaldo Gonzalez 57. A further 10 were injured including passengers of cars and workers on the bridge. In total eight cars were crushed during the collapse. Emergency 911 call handlers would be inundated with calls starting at 1347. The dispatcher sent multiple emergency responders to the bridge location with the first police officers reaching the site at 1352. Miami-Dade fire rescue was sent to the scene and assisted in transporting the injured Kendall Regional Medical Center, although one person self-transported to the hospital. What was perplexing is how could something so one of the mills of Footbridge fail so catastrophically? Well the NTSB would find out that the bridge was more complex in design than it possibly needed to prioritizing form over function. And that the warning signs seemingly were ignored during the bridge's design and installation. The NTSB dispatched a 15 person team to pick over the wreckage. On the 16th of March the bureau in a press conference stated that tensioning was being undertaken and they were aware that there had been cracks. But this did not necessarily mean it was the cause of the failure. Originally the NTSB team suggested that the investigation of the wreckage would take around a week. After this another press conference was held in which it was told that certain items of the bridge required further investigation at the Turner Fairbank Highway Research Center in McLean, Virginia. In May a preliminary report was released but investigations were still being undertaken on the failure mode of the bridge. In 2019 the NTSB released their final report and the results were mixed but at the same time all too familiar. The root cause was a miscalculation in overestimating the strength of supports 1 and 2 and 11 and 12 which was compounded by underestimating the loads which would be put on critical portions of the structure. The design was also flawed in that it was non-redundant meaning if the main portion failed then the whole thing would go. Which conjures up similarities with the silver bridge collapse. You see when compared to a more traditional truss bridge design two trusses are used and this spreads out the load across the whole structure. The design of the FIU bridge only had one truss section and thus concentrated the load on the nodes where the supports met. The NTSB discovered that when the loads on the bridge were calculated FIGG erroneously used a factor redundancy of 1. Which is commonly used for structures with redundant load paths. This hints at FIGG were assuming the bridge had a redundant design. The distressed and increased cracking of the concrete was the main indicator of the poor design of the main span. Although cracking is not uncommon in concrete just look at this path. But the location and increased severity should have provoked a more worried response than retightening the diagonal supports in the hope of it fixing itself. No one involved in the bridge's assembly not Florida International University, MCM, FIGG bridge engineers, nor Bolton, Perez and associates the consulting engineers took the responsibility for declaring that the cracks were beyond any level acceptability when discovered after casting in February disaster could have been averted even after the bridge was in situ by stopping and diverting traffic during the restressing of support 11. Multiple opportunities to catch the poor design were missed by all involved and due to the university taking the oversight of the construction Florida State Department of Transport took a back seat and did not discover any of the safety issues. The first of the legal cases were brought on March 19th 2018 against FIGG bridge engineers MCM, Bolton, Perez and associates the project's consulting engineer Lewis Berger and network engineering services for reckless negligence. Needless to say the case against the companies didn't go too well with such a damning NTSB reports and to add more evidence OSHA cited multiple contractors for safety violations. On the 1st of March 2019 Manila Construction Management the main contractor of the pedestrian bridge construction announced a chapter 11 bankruptcy petition plan of reorganization. The company reached a settlement with the victims and their families in May 2019. The remnants of the bridge's peers remained on the site as a gruesome reminder of the disaster and the risks to pedestrians continued with loads more near misses between cars and students reported. The original problem still existed and as such a bridge is still needed on site. The need will be started to be fulfilled as the remnants of the walkway were removed in September 2021. A replacement is pegged to be built by 2025 this time under the guidance of the Florida Department of Transport and the NTSB. Plain difficult videos are produced by me, John, in a currently sunny but windy suburban southeastern corner of London, UK. All videos on the channel are creative commons attribution share like license. Help the channel grow by liking commenting and subscribing. Check out my Twitter for all sorts of odds and sods as well as hints on future videos. I've got Patreon and YouTube membership as well, so check them out if you fancy supporting the channel financially. And all that's left to say is thank you for watching.


Good morning everyone and welcome to this press conference from the 47th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum here in Davos Thank you for being here in the room. Welcome to our live audience on camera. And of course a warm welcome to our panel here today This press conference is dedicated to the question of the future of humanitarian payments. What is the future of human and parent humanitarian payments? looks like and we have a wonderful panel here today that has interesting things to say from from various angles as you can imagine And while you all might know who's joining me on the panel, I'll still Introduce them to you for the sake especially of our online audience as well. To my immediate left. We're joined by Stephen O'Brien He's the Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The short version is Ocha Yes, right at the center of our panel here today. We're pleased to be joined by Arthur and cousin She's the Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Program in Rome and last but not least We're joined by Mats Granried. He's the Director General of GSMA Representing the mobile phone companies of this world Humanitarian payments without further ado Stephen. I'd like to invite you to share with us Your view on why this is an important issue and what we can gain from this technological solution, please. Well, thank you very much indeed and With my fellow panelists were delighted to be here to be with you in Putting forward the very important Principles on public private cooperation in humanitarian payments as a result of working with the World Economic Forum so We're very glad to have this chance to mark the launch of of the World Economic Forum's principles on public private cooperation in humanitarian payments Meeting growing humanitarian need around the world and reaching those worst affected by conflict and natural disasters with rapid Effective assistance to save lives and safeguard dignity is one of the greatest and most all consuming challenges we face So large that no one of us can do it alone And we have to harness all the partnerships and collaboration are possible So rising to this challenge means harnessing that collective expertise using all available Technologies and approaches and building on lessons learned from across different fields and industries Together we must be relentlessly innovative Building on what works and demanding the highest level of response for those most impacted by crisis For Humanitarians, this means reaching out to private sector actors to build strategic partnerships and learning from their great wealth of experience So I would like to thank the World Economic Forum for their leadership in drafting these principles on public private cooperation In humanitarian payments They will enable us to harness the best private sector expertise and the latest technological advances to better serve affected people They build on existing initiatives to put in place a strong framework for collective action on cash-based assistance the specialized agencies Notably the World Food Programme led by Arthur and cousin on my left and UNICEF and UNHCR In particular have led the way in our overall coordinated approach And over the past year through the World Humanitarian Summit and the Grand Bargain humanitarian actors Committed to deliver more humanitarian assistance in the form of cash Systematically considering cash-based assistance alongside more traditional response modalities and adapting our systems to enable the use of cash wherever appropriate The United Nations Secretary General's agenda for humanity recommends that and I quote Where markets and operational contexts permit cash-based programming should be the preferred and default method of support There is an overwhelming evidence for the effectiveness of cash-based assistance when used in the right contexts in Ethiopia cash-based assistance was found in one study to be up to 30 percent more efficient than traditional food aid in Lebanon an IRC study found that 80 percent of effective people preferred cash-based assistance and in Somalia two and a half times more aid reached beneficiaries through cash versus food As cash transfers become an increasingly significant component of humanitarian response We need to work with those who are experienced in delivering funds rapidly in challenging contexts in a way which empowers and protects the recipient Digital payments have the potential to deliver a wide range of benefits including speeding and scaling up implementation increasing transparency improving program cost effectiveness and reducing the potential for fraud and security incidents They can also link program participants to a range of financial services as well as to longer term national-led social safety net systems Humanitarian need has never been greater and as needs grow rapidly the resources we have to address them cannot keep up in 2017 the humanitarian system Seeks twenty two point two billion dollars to reach more than ninety three million people with life-saving assistance And last year we received just over half of the resources needed to meet these basic survival needs So it is clear that continuing with business as usual will not work and that innovation and alternative options are critically required Making progress on this front demands that humanitarian and private sector speak out a common language These principles seek a to create that common language by laying out a shared set of guidelines jointly elaborated by humanitarian and private sector actors to facilitate strategic dialogue partnership opportunities and joint ways of working and They also make clear that private sector actors are not just service providers rather They can offer technical expertise knowledge and experience to help us figure out where people in need are How best to reach them and how to address their most pressing needs coordination and dialogue between humanitarian actors and private sector payments Providers must be more systematic must begin earlier and result in real improvements for those affected by crisis and the humanitarian principles of humanity neutrality in Partiality and independence and the needs of all affected people wherever they are whoever they are However their need arose and whatever their survival and protection needs. They should all Guide or every single one of our joint endeavors So these principles on public private cooperation will help guide both humanitarian and private sector actors as we scale up principle Effective and innovative partnerships for humanitarian payments So I now call upon the humanitarian community and the private sector to put these principles into action When implementing digital payments programs so that together our efforts can have the greatest impact on those most in need And more important than that now we have to hear what it really sounds like from the ground and for people affected by crisis Thank You Stephen Ethering when we see Pictures in on television on in newspapers about the work that your organization does One sees food distribution, right? That's the traditional way. How's depict it? So How's this payment humanitarian payment the digital payment version? How's that relevant for your work? explain to us why Why you're involved? Well, thank you very much for that question because and you're absolutely right when Crisis strikes when conflict occurs and there is no and there is no food available WFP provides food and we will continue to do that because you can't eat a mobile transfer But when markets come online and food is available We provide the cash assistance that will allow those who have been affected by the crisis who do not have the financial resources To afford that available food We make that food accessible to them by providing mobile transfers But what's really exciting about this is it also becomes an opportunity for us to build what? becomes a database of information of those who are the most vulnerable in the country and I'll give you an example right now we're working with the Kenyan government to take the database that WFP has and Transfer that over to the Kenyan government so that they can use that as the basis for their social protection program and Alternately provide the financial benefits to through the government to that same population To support their food security needs for the longer term And so we need to ensure that as we are building these networks that support to mobile transfers of Money that that also Becomes the basis for supporting the country's Financial system as well because what we want to build is a country that is stronger For on a has a stronger financial footprint for reaching those who are most vulnerable Even after a crisis so imagine then the next time a crisis occurs in Kenya We can simply use the government's database to target immediately exactly whose needs allows us to serve faster more effectively more efficiently Thank You earth are in Matt's so from what earth are in is saying this sounds We're not just talking about a different way of payment But we're talking about the systems change in how we get help Humanitarian help to the people who need it most Talk to us a little bit about the role of connectivity and how that can help to make these payments faster and more secure Yeah, so GSMA then is an organization an umbrella organization for all Mobile operators globally and it's roughly 800 mobile operators on this planet and The reach that these 800 mobile operators have collectively is quite impressive almost five billion unique subscribers Subscribes to the services from these mobile operators So mobile operators certainly plays a an important role in daily life But also plays a huge important role in times of disasters We know from research that we have done that refugees which is not very difficult to understand refugees Prioritize connectivity sometimes before food because it is so important to understand where are my relatives What's happening in the planet? Where can I go? Where should I not go? So finding Wi-Fi spots finding connectivity finding charging stations is really critical And I think the mobile industry we take this very very serious especially at this day and age We launched last year something called the the humanitarian connectivity charter, which is a Charter that aligns the industry We have today hundred mobile operators in 75 different countries that have signed up to this charter and it's alignment It is a preparedness. It's sharing best practice. So when disaster strikes, we will be a little bit more prepared We will know in advance what we should be doing and of course mobile payment is is one part of that as well We have a mobile money initiative in many parts of the world and that is certainly one area What can we that we can contribute? If I may when when we talk about connectivity it as a baseline a basis a base tool that is required for us to transfer through mobile technology the other Requirement is the policy environment a regulatory environment enabling environment that allows those mobile operators To provide data to the humanitarian operators to ensure that we can use their access To meet the needs of those we serve so it is it is critical that we In in partnership with the mobile operators the humanitarian community is working together to not only develop the connectivity to the To the last mile to ensure we can serve those but that we're also working with the governments to provide the appropriate regulation Regulation so that the enabling environment is in place at the time the crisis occurs to allow us to Maximize the opportunity that these relationships create. Thank you So let me put you on the spot there at the end because we do have 40 50 heads of state and government here We have more than 300 ministers here and maybe Steven will chip in and help you there What is it that the governments need to do most urgently? Most urgently is exactly that we need to have governments that recognize the opportunity that This tool this connectivity and regulation regulatory environment together can provide for disaster preparation Every government is looking to mitigate the impact of disaster Regulate having the appropriate regulatory environment in place is one of those tools That's often forgotten when you think about what is necessary to allow a government to effectively support the needs of their people after a crisis And I just add that one of the most difficult things that governments Find to be able to persuade their own people to invest in with their taxpayers money is in preparation in prevention in advance of the facts of a crisis occurring and That's where this becomes so important because you heard from earthlands very real example how Tapping into the regulatory framework tapping into the technological expertise already proven by the industry Means that so much of the work that you need to have done in order to be most effective to create the biggest impact for people In need in a crisis is in place. It's simply too late to invent it when the crisis is Thank you Steven and Matt's you would be the first private sector representative in Davos who doesn't say Governments need to move faster and go further. So I see you want to add to that, please? Governments need to move faster But I was also going to say back to the earthlands comment on on the governments, but I When disaster strikes, it's too late. That's exactly what Steven said big data Will of course play a huge role going forward on collecting Whereabouts of people Ebola for instance if we would have had a better preparedness, we would have avoided a bit of that crisis So I would urge governments and regulatory bodies to make sure that we have policies in place So when disaster strikes that we can share data across border sometimes between mobile operators Sometimes we don't want to share data between different operators. That is our problem But sharing data between one country another country is very difficult It is very sensitive and I think that now is the time to come together and solve that issue before we have a next pandemic and one line when preparedness does cost money, but Preparedness is a down payment on a response and it provides a discount on recovery And so having governments Prioritized preparedness whether it's through regulation or providing the type of code and support for connectivity Will provide an opportunity for them to reduce the cost of actually responding when a disaster or crisis occurs Thank you So that actually built a good bridge because we asked our audience on social media before for questions And one question that that came in was about data protection And you breeze breeze on that and that's because they say okay These are the most vulnerable people and we're collecting their data and potentially you can locate them in these crisis areas So what can be done to limit the risks associated with that? Well, I think that the mobile operator community. We are heavily regulated and In literally all countries across the globe I I feel Very comfortable in knowing that my data is being sort of saved and stored with my carrier And I know that that is protected I would be less comfortable if I would use a so-called over-the-top player an internet player Where I do not know where that data will be ending up So I think from from a mobile operator perspective I feel very confident that we know where the data is and we are bound by regulation We're bound by having a continuous customer relationship. So we take these privacy Issues extraordinarily serious extraordinarily serious and when it comes to The whereabouts of individuals I think it is the important thing here is to make sure it's an anonymized So you cannot you just look at the big pictures not looking at what where is nuts and where is Stephen etc But it's the big picture that we need to look at it needs to be anonymized Mobile operators are heavily regulated. So I feel very comfortable in that side But we take it serious exactly what to say. These are people that are most vulnerable And we don't want to come across as naive or anything like that. But we know what's what what is at stake here? Thank you Can I just add that we know from experience that even some people who are moving across borders can sometimes be very Nervous about registering because they're worried about where that data will end up and as 80% of Humanitarian need across our planet today is being generated by man-made and protracted crisis of conflict Then you have even more potential for people being nervous about where they could be identified because of perceptions not necessarily reality perceptions of Being partisan to to some side of a conflict or another And so I think the fact that this is already so heavily invested in by the industry and that it is not something which the Public realm has been given the donated amounts in order to reinvent that all of its own We have this partnership where we can tap into what has already been a very strongly Regulated position and particularly where you get this anonymization So we get the benefit of all that data which earthen is so rightly Said is so powerful in projecting where you can get to meet people's needs But at the same time without the risk of privacy And we need to continue to have that debate and to assure people that that's the case to give them Confidence in the way that this is utilized So how many years do I have to wait before I can invite the three of you back to this panel? And do you answer the question and say yes digital humanitarian payments are the norm? Well, I can tell you that between 2010 and 2016 we have had a three-fold increase in the amount of cash-based transfers at WFP And we are the largest providers of cash-based transfers in the humanitarian system And so if you look at every 18 months you have exponential change in with technology I would expect that as within the next 18 months to two and a half to three years that you will see Significant changes in how we operate as humanitarians in the disposition of assistance I may say that it is WFP Which has been the the lead on this because as the from the coordinators perspective looking across the piece It's been that huge six year Exponential experience just helped to accumulate into where we are today And that's why we're we're here because you you don't get to this confidence of having a charter having An ability to have this public-private partnerships set out in a in a confident way Unless you're building upon the reality of the experience on the ground Which is what in particular WFP with its reach and its enormous scale has been able to help lead as we coordinate This of something as a tool for us all to be able to have access to right and what makes it great is that What we're seeing is then Stephen mentioned this in his opening comment is that across the UN We are looking at interoperability across our systems and in Conversation with the international NGOs as well It's how do we share that interoperability with them while protecting the data of those that we serve to ensure That as a community of actors all of the exponential changes that provide us with the With the ability to perform more effectively is shared and to the benefit of those who need our services Okay, thank you. Do we have any questions from the room? if not Yes, the gentleman in the back. There's a microphone if you could state your name and organization for the sake of our online audience Please my name is Ken Choi. I'm from my journalist from chosen daily newspaper Korea I presume that this payment you're talking about is giving Age to these these refugees or these people were displaced. Is that correct? This this payment that yes, that's that's one group of recipients of support. We also provide cash-based transfers and to through mobile technology in In drought situations in Madagascar, for example, where there's no access to food because of El Nino We're providing a cash-based transfer. So it is becoming more of a tool that we use where there are markets that are working That allow us to provide the provision of humanitarian assistance through cash allowing the beneficiary then to Prioritize what foods they want as opposed to us bringing in food And the question I try to ask is like there are a lot of North Korean refugees in China And I mean Chinese market is perfectly functioning. They have all these financial assistance You know systems and and phone systems and mobile operators and so on but Most of these hundred thousand North Korean refugees. They use someone else's phone You know, they don't have their own back and count. They don't have you know any registry They don't have anything at all. They're using all these things off the market So I'm just wondering how you would be able to reach these people to give the actual benefits of these digital payments and so on So I'm presumed this will be the case with in many other parts of the world as well Thank you Ken. So the question is how do you reach people who don't have? Well, I think again, earthworms should answer But they be absolutely clear. This is where appropriate. It's context specific and that's exactly And and earthworm makes the point very powerfully, which I'd like to emphasize You have to have functioning markets So where you do as you've pointed out then it would be up to earthworm and all her expert team to make an assessment Where the cash is an appropriate response to meet those needs That's an interesting question about the when they don't have Their own phones and what we find ourselves doing working with the mobile technology community is We have chips the phone That's what they're called, right? Well sim cards sim cards. Thank you I use a blackberry But you still have a sim card I still have a sim card and what we do is we distribute the sim card and the sim card has a unique identifier on it That we can record the beneficiary information on to relate it to that sim card number And then they can use that sim card in anyone's phone to access their benefits Without the phone number It's the actually the sim card that we load the data on to that we load the cash on to and you can Do the technical part but you're absolutely right that that you know the sim card has a unique number But it's also linked to the it's also linked to the phone number itself So I think the mobile carriers here we play the enabling role We have you know a vast amount of different solutions And I think what you are describing is a very intelligent way of handing out sim cards Because then we don't need to know necessarily what your name is we just need to know your phone number And that is another way of reaching you, right? But that phone the sim card is probably embedded at the phone number of the local mobile operator Well, it could be any mobile operator that that is sort of the beauty of it Again, we're just an enabler in in this case So this sim card if they have it in china or korea it works anywhere It works anywhere Yeah, if it is on the sort of prevailing technology standard Which is now becoming unanimous over the global Thank you very much. We have time for one last question and I'd Kindly ask my panelists for short answers as we are already a bit running over time, but please This is thomas eifert from we not site on yena austria This question is for the wfp because i'm wondering Governments and donors more reluctant to hand over cash to you that the ultimate list of you then let's say Wheat or sugar or flour anything that they might have easy more easy access that they were willing to part with more readily than with cash well while The majority of our donors today provide us with cash And they provide us with cash contributions as opposed to food contributions. We still have Countries that provide in kind contributions, but the majority of of The resources that we receive from donor countries is in cash And then the expectation is that we are going to make the right decision about what is the appropriate modality for the assistance that we provide and the governments have given us that authority But what they require from us is that we have the systems in place to protect whatever the intervention is The cash or the food that it is not used for inappropriately and that is received by the person who is actually the target In person in need of those benefits Quick one, please. Yes, of course So because I think what I've seen in lebanon is that you have all experienced A beneficial situation for the local economy, right? So can you elaborate on that maybe very much? So thank you very much for that opportunity the you're absolutely right And we have a card in in lebanon that We load benefits on not just for wfp Education benefits from unicef the world bank puts on cash support benefits onto one card And what it does is it allows the the refugee who receives that card to purchase what they need from the local market And they all live in host communities and the host communities that they live in are also poor communities and when we talk to store owners and Storekeepers and those areas they say that they are able to increase the number of people that they hire Both from for as refugees as well as local local hires That because of the significant financial impact that our contributions have On the local economy and that makes the The acceptance of the refugees ever more possible because they are not seen as a burden on the community But an opportunity for that community Thank you very much author and thank you to all my panelists here today. Thank you for watching and thank you for being here Uh, I think it's a very important topic and we'll report back In uh at next stables. Thank you very much. Thank you Thank you


In this video, we provide the solution to question number nine from practice exam number three for math 1210 We're asked to evaluate the limit as x approaches infinity of hyperbolic secant of x There's kind of two ways you could approach this one is just by remembering the graph of hyperbolic secant Hyperbolic secant has this bump shape to it in particular as x approaches infinity We see that y will approach zero from above so that would indicate to us that the correct answer is in fact f So if you know the graph you can then use that to help us out here Another way of approaching that is just to rely on the definitions and identities of these hyperbolic functions So if we're trying to look for the limit of hyperbolic secant of x That's the same thing as taking the limit as x approaches infinity of 1 over cosh Right, which hyperbolic cosine we know its formula which we should know is gonna be 2 over e to the x plus e to the negative x As x approaches infinity here, so then if we do some arithmetic as x goes to infinity here We're gonna get 2 over e to the infinity Plus e to the negative infinity for which e to the infinity will be infinite e to the negative infinity will be zero Which case you get 2 over infinity which that tells us we get zero as well again We're approaching from above but that extra detail is not necessary here. We get the limit is going to be zero


Welcome to the Athens Politics Nerd podcast where we break down Mayor and Commission meetings into short informative clips. Let's do it. As you may have heard, Commissioner Mariah Parker stepped down from their post, so we only had nine commissioners at the September voting meeting last Tuesday. There were many items on the agenda like normal, so I'm going to focus on just homelessness, transit funding, and the debate over lowering quorum at commission meetings, which was a fun one. But first, homelessness. Athens has had increasing problems with keeping housing affordable and with homelessness, and that's only gotten worse as prosperity capital partners bought up dozens of duplexes a few months ago and jacked up the rent, displacing many people from their homes. Residents of Lexington Heights held a press conference to protest these rent hikes on August 31st. There is a current shortage of affordable housing in Athens-Corten County. Even though the residents that have accepted to leave have nowhere to go, the actions decided on by the ownership and management will have a significant adverse impact on the entire community. The entire community here in Athens, Georgia will be affected if everybody lose their residents. And we are homeless. A lot of us do not have nowhere to go. And we cannot pass way, way extremely too high. Since this has been a growing problem for a while, it's kind of shocking that the ACC government doesn't have a long-term plan to address the situation. But hopefully soon, we will. The commission voted 8-1 to approve the creation of such a plan at their September meeting. Yes, you heard that right. Someone voted no. That was Commissioner Oveda Thornton. Here's your reasoning. We do too many studies and surveys and we still have a problem. We give money to certain groups and organizations and we don't have no accountability. We don't even question some of the things that we spend our money on. This is not no new issue. Again, I'm not going to vote for any more plans and studies and questionnaires. Give me something hardcore action where people can pull up their sleeves, make it happen, and move on. But as Commissioner Carol Meyers pointed out, this plan is actually very important for us to secure additional funding in the future to help us tackle this problem. I think this group has a proven track record and I think it gives us something to move forward with. And what I'm seeing consistently is that there's a lot of federal money to address some of these issues and we have to address homelessness. This is not something we can take, we can solve out of our general budget. We have to be using the monies we have to leverage other monies at the state and at the federal level. When those granting agencies are looking where to put their funds, they're looking at who's most prepared, who has a plan in place, and I think this will get us there. So I'm happy to support this. The plan will also help to coordinate the actions of many different nonprofits and government agencies we have in town working on the problem of homelessness. I'll certainly be reporting on this plan once it's completed. The Mayor and Commission also approved about $800,000 of Community Development Block Grant funding to help fight this problem. Community Development Block Grant funding comes from the federal government and it's intended to help us improve housing and to help provide economic opportunities. This year, as $800,000 was ready to be dispersed to nonprofits like Project Safe, The Arc, and Advantage Behavioral, our story on prosperity capital partners broke. And thanks to some help from Commissioner Tim Denson, it caused the local government to switch focus from the long-term problem to this immediate need that dozens of people are facing right now in Athens. Moving on to transit funding. Athens Transit needed an extra $225,000 this year to tide them over until some federal money comes in. We found out in June that the federal grant would be arriving later than anticipated. And so that's the reason for this extra funding need this year. It also means that less money will be needed for transit next year. So while approving the extra funding was a no-brainer for commissioners, they used the opportunity to have a discussion about transit funding in general. Here's what Commissioner Russell Edwards had to say about it. I'm disappointed in the way transit has been managed by this county. How is somebody going to wait an hour on Atlanta Highway to ride the bus in the rain?  You know, why don't people ride the bus? Well, they don't like to stand in the rain for an hour. Maybe we could have a bus-only lane on Atlanta Highway. I think those are really some of the solutions that I'm trying to wrap my head around to make the bus a place where everyone rides. I think Fair Free has been a program with a good intent. I mean, I look at it as an anti-poverty program. And that's good. I think that's what I see it accomplishing. But I'm really interested when we're talking about transit, how do we enhance the quality of service of transit? How does Fair Free work in there? I'm not convinced how right now, based on the information in front of me, but I look forward to the study. I'm going to support this. But Denson pushed back on the idea that it's Fair Free that's preventing Athens transit from expanding routes or increasing frequency. We actually have, to my understanding, the most expansive service that we've ever had before while we have zero fare. We go further into the northern parts of the county. We now have Uber trips plugged into it. We now have microtransit involved in it also. And pretty soon here, more frequency, the most frequency we've ever had on Prince Avenue and North Avenue. But our fare boxes, people get really, I think confused by how much money came in those fare boxes. UGA students, of course, didn't pay a fare directly. So the people who actually were using the fare boxes, they only collected $400,000 roughly a year. And that was mainly on the backs of low-income folks who had to use, and actually the largest purchaser of fares after UGA was Clark County School District. And the next purchaser after that was Athens Area Homeless Shelter and other homeless shelter providers. Money that we were giving to those providers, they were having to use that money to give it back to us to buy fares. Very ineffective use of funds. Farefree transit is funded in Athens through Teesblast until 2027. Okay, now what we've all been waiting for, the great quorum debate. Most people who follow the commission know that not all commissioners see eye to eye on all issues. That's putting it mildly. But not as many people realize that the minority faction of moderate commissioners has almost given up on governing completely over the past few years. They usually show up to vote against progressive proposals, yes, but their attendance at work sessions, retreats, and even executive sessions has been somewhat subpar. And sometimes they're late to voting sessions, which can delay the start of meetings. That's why Mayor Gertz is asking the commission to lower quorum requirements from seven commissioners down to six. If they did this, they'd only need six commissioners to be present before they could start a meeting or vote on something. But it seems like there aren't many commissioners in favor of doing this. Here's Commissioner Allison Wright. I'm not real sure where the motivation is on this. I did check with the clerk and she confirmed that we have had no regular scheduled voting meetings that did not have a quorum. Maybe somebody was tardy and we had to start a little bit later. But the regular scheduled meeting, which provides transparency to the community on our votes has not missed a quorum. So that was an important thing for me. I'm against this in many ways. Commissioner Denson says he's on the fence. And yeah, I do believe that's true that we have not had any called voting meetings. But I do know for a fact that we have had called executive meetings that have not had quorum that we were not able to hold those meetings. So I know those times I came here to City Hall, sat here in City Hall, and then wasted my time because we didn't have enough commissioners showing up. So I had to go home and we had to reschedule that meeting. So I do think so the business of a lot as we all know, a lot of things have to happen in the executive session. Those are those those meanings are extremely important. I think we all know that and that has been I think that is what led us to having this on the agenda. That's correct. Another hand, Commissioner Jesse Huell is strongly opposed. So my current feeling is that I'm opposed to making this change. I believe that it's important that we have a high bar for quorum. I think it's important that the people who are elected to this body do show up and do show up regularly and that a super majority of us are present in making decisions. I believe in the value of that. I'm inclined to want to keep quorum at seven. But that said, you know, I've sat here too many times and waited to achieve quorum or never gotten it and had to go home. And I hate that it's an agenda item like this that is drawing that conversation into the light. I know that the press hasn't found it newsworthy enough to report on, but we've had real attendance issues. The other thing is that we've had real attendance issues with things where quorum isn't relevant. We have attendance issues that are retreats. We have attendance issues at our work sessions. We have attendance issues at our agenda settings. Things where we don't need quorum to do business because no decisions are being made as what's legally defined as business. But certainly discussions are happening that are very fundamental and germane to the decisions we will make. Commissioner Mike Canby also opposes lowering quorum. But he says he'll still probably not show up to some work sessions and definitely not retreats. You know, I think a lot of this has to do with scheduling too. When we get a notice that there's an executive session 24 hours before the next day in the executive session, you know, if there's decisions being made in executive session or a vote being determined in executive session, that should not be happening either there or at the retreats. You know, if you want a presence of this commission at the retreat, let's have a substantive retreat. I personally don't need to be playing games for your passive watermelons or whatever else it is to build to build a team. If we're going to talk about the issues, I'll be there and I am there. But but I don't I don't need I don't need that sort of retreat.  The onus is on us to show up at the thing we don't think is useful and voice that concern. The onus is on us to show up at the meeting and and vote against going into executive session if that's what we disagree with. But just not showing up is an is an unclear, I think negligence of duty. And the other thing that I think is important to recognize is that things that are being devalued like part of our staff morale issues is that they get us together for a work session or a retreat. And there's three of us there. And I'm tired of hearing our staff get praised in these meetings when the cameras are rolling, but have no one in the retreat or in the work session to hear them out.  And it's not just executive sessions that are announced last minute. These are executive sessions that have been announced far in advance and been scheduled at the end of agenda setting or voting meetings. And then people have left our meetings early, including meetings that didn't go very late, instead of sticking around for that. I don't think we need any lecturing tonight. I mean, a lot of us behind the table graphs the issues. We have the capacity to understand what's going on and what's happening at these work sessions and what's happening at the manager's office, send us materials that we read and reread and the public has these materials as well. So what I'm saying is this, I appreciate you not wanting to take hasty action and change in the charter. I think that's important because the folks in this community voted on this charter 30 years ago and it's lasted for that for that long. All I'm saying is that perhaps we need to be a little bit more mindful of the public's time and our time and how we're scheduling these meetings and what's being discussed at these retreats, what's being discussed at these work sessions. When these work sessions last until 11 o'clock at night, what public is benefiting from that? What are we benefiting from that? And that's all I'm saying is let's do a better job of scheduling. As an example, next week we've got two work sessions scheduled and that's a lot for the public and one of them was a special session. So that's a lot for the public and it's a lot for this commission and a lot of these subjects are subjects that you want on the work session commissioner role and only you. The commission will continue discussing the idea of lowering quorum next month. Yay! Okay, last thing are two zoning change proposals, one for a townhouse development on Olympic Drive and the other for a temporary frat house on West Hancock that were withdrawn by the applicants. So those aren't happening anymore, don't worry. And that about wraps it up. We'll have more exciting commission meeting coverage in future episodes. And if you want to help me keep making these podcasts, please become an APN member at AthensPoliticsNerd.com slash join. I'll see you on the next one.


Hello everyone, welcome to the next lecture in the topic active microwave remote sensing where we are discussing about the imaging radar. The last lecture we discussed about the resolution concepts of imaging radar system especially the real aperture radar, what are the limitations with it and briefly got introduced to the concept of synthetic aperture radar. So, in this lecture we will discuss about the geometrical characteristics of the images acquired by synthetic aperture radar systems. So, geometrical characteristics of image basically means what sort of distortions may occur, how features may appear. So, we are going to discuss briefly about that. So, consider this in analogy with the distortions we discussed in the optical remote sensing when we discussed about the scanner elements like we discussed about visc broom scanners, push broom sensors and all, there I told for visc broom sensors like the JFOV will be keep on increasing and it will become coarser and coarser as the scanning angle increases which will cause image distortions all these things we discussed right. Similar concepts apply to radar remote sensing also, but here it will be occurring in a difference since we will see how it happens. So, I told you that radar measures distance in the slant range. So, the slant range distance can be converted to ground range distance easily if the surface is flat, but most of the surfaces are not flat they will have some sort of topography. So, presence of such topographic features say there may be like a small hill. So, presence of such features will change how land surface feature appears in the radar images. So, that is what we are going to discuss now. Here in this slide I have marked 3 concepts or 3 ways in which images or features will appear distorted in radar images. First thing is foreshortening, then it is layover, then it is shadow. What exactly foreshortening is let us say we have a mountain or hill like this. So, the radar system is somewhere here. So, this slope let us say this point is I will say this as like B double dash okay. So, the ground point here is A, the ground point here is B, the ground point here is C, the top of the hill is labeled as B double dash. Let us say this line the length AB double dash is the slope is same as B double dash C. Similarly, the horizontal distance is also the same that is horizontal distance AB is equal to BC. Similarly, even the sloping distance AB double dash is equal to B double dash C. So, it is like symmetrical mountain, symmetrical hill let us assume okay. So, this is also same, this is also same. Now, if the radar system is here, this slope is phasing the radar antenna, this like AB double dash is phasing the radar antenna and B double dash C is phasing away from the antenna. That length of these two things, these two slopes AB double dash, B double dash C are same. So, naturally we will think in the image they appear symmetrical that is if we look from the top let us say this is like one pixel in optical image. How this will appear? This will be one point say point A then comes point B say I will just draw it in a magnified manner. So, let us say this is point A, this is that point B double dash, this is that point C and the distance between these two even in the image should be equal then only the image is correctly representing the topographic feature even in image point AB double dash should be equal to B double dash C, image distance. In radar images, this will not be the case. Due to the slant range image acquisition what will happen is the radar signal that is coming in will make sure or will compress the four slope that is this is the image of the four slope. Four slope means the slope facing the antenna. So, the length of the slope, four slope will become shorter than the slope that is facing away from the antenna. So, the slope distances that normally we will see in radar images they will it will not be the same even though the hill is like symmetrically in our example the distance image distance A dash B dash will be much shorter than B dash C dash. So, this concept of shortening the length of the slope facing the antenna is what is called four shortening. So, this four shortening effect decrease with increasing look angle I will like expand further in the next slide. So, four shortening is in image in radar image the length of the topographic features having slope facing the radar antenna will appear shorter than the length of the slope facing away from the antenna. This is one thing. The next concept is layover. Here there is like a gentle slope like AB double dash. Let us say there is another hill which is relatively steeper. So, this maybe I will label this particular point as C double dash. So, B this angle is like a much steeper angle. If that is the case if this angle is steeper what will happen is when the radar signal is coming in for the radar pulse the slant range distance between the top point C will be shorter than this ground point B or C double dash. So, that is the slant range distance for point C double dash will be less than the slant range distance measured for point B. Then what the radar image will think or what the radar system will image the radar system will image as if point C is near to the system than point B. So, when the image is formed say if this is like the azimuth direction when the image is formed first this point C double dash will be map then point B will be map. So, that is rather than mapping image like this. Essentially, if you look at in the horizontal direction if you walk in this particular direction from ladder to the hill we will first encounter the ground point B then only we will be able to enter encounter this point C right. So, essentially the image also will should look something like this. If this is the direction in which flight is moving image point B should be nearer to the system C double dash should be nearer to the system and this is the reality in terms of horizontal direction. But for radar since the slant range distance of C double dash is smaller than slant range distance of B C double dash or the top of the hill will be image first then the bottom of the hill will be image later. So, in the image when you look it will appear as if the top is laying over the bottom. So, the image will look something like this the mountain will be sloping like this rather than looking like this. So, this is what we call it as layover mountain top overlaying on ground ahead of mountain like the base. So, it will be image like this. So, this is called layover effect the top will be appearing in front of the bottom then shadow. Shadow effect will occur if this back slope is actually much steeper. Let us say the back slope is here like the slope facing away from the antenna. If this is like steeper than this particular depression angle then what will happen is the slope facing away from the radar may not get illuminated by the radar pulse and hence whatever the portion that does not get eliminated by radar pulse will appear much darker in the radar image like it will appear black in the radar image. So, this is called radar shadow. So, the three types of relief displacement foreshortening layover and shadow foreshortening means if there is kind of like a topographic feature on the surface the slope that is facing the antenna the length of the slope will appear shorter than the length of the slope that is facing away from the antenna. This is called foreshortening shortening of the length of the foreslope. Foreslope here means the slope facing the antenna. Layover means layover is kind of like an extreme case of foreshortening that is the top will appear in front of the bottom of a topographic feature. Then shadow is for slopes facing away from the radar antenna in the direction opposite to it some parts of the slope may not be illuminated properly by the radar signal and they may produce like a black portion in the image without any radar input. So, some portions will appear completely dark this is called shadow. We will just look a little bit deeper into this. See again like the concept is explained in detail in these three figures. So, for foreshortening naturally will happen when the slopes are gentle like the foreslope is like kind of like a gentle slope not like a very steep slope when we compare this with this instant angle or I will call it as like a look angle. When we compare with this with look angle the slope is like gentle in such cases foreshortening will happen. This point AB will be imaged as will appear like a short steep slope and it will produce like a bright signal because let us say whatever features are present within the slope everything will be compressed within like a very short distance in the image. So, this will produce like a bright signal but for like a shorter length. So, this is called foreshortening. In case of layover the foreslope facing the antenna is steeper than when we compare with the look angle of the system. Under such circumstances the shot the top will be imaged first and then the bottom will be imaged giving an impression that top is laying over the bottom. This is layover. So, here comes shadow that is here the slope facing away from the antenna. The backward slope is much steeper when we compare this with the depression angle of the system. If that is the case whatever the portion that is lying between this depression angle point and the ground point will not receive any radar signals and hence will produce like a completely dark signal in the image. So, image this particular portion will appear completely dark. So, some characteristics of the foreshortening are like the foreshortening depends on object height first thing. Taller the object or taller the top of the object when compared with the bottom foreshortening effect will be severe and if it crosses a certain threshold then it will translate into layover that is layover is kind of like an extreme case of foreshortening. So, if the top height is much if the top is much taller than the bottom of the topographic features say there is like a huge tower standing if that if this angle is much steeper. So, the angle or the slope of the line covering the top and the bottom will be much steeper. Under such circumstances foreshortening will become very extreme and gets converted to layover. Then look angle with respect to look angle the foreshortening and the layover effects will be severe in the near range than in the far range. Actually this was like look described in the previous slide. So, the foreshortening effects decrease with increasing look angle that is in near range when the look angle is shorter the foreshortening effects will be much stronger that is slopes that are slopes will be foreshortened to a greater extent in the near range than slopes that are in the far range. So, the look angle and the location of the objects will affect foreshortening and layover. So, both foreshortening and layover depends on these factors. Then some characteristics of radar shadows. For radar shadows they will be completely dark. So, radar shadows will not have any kind of signal it will be pitch black because this is because like just think it in analogy with our optical remote sensing. When we discussed optical remote sensing we saw that even when direct sunlight is not falling on an object the diffuse skylight can irradiate like there is a building there is like some other object here say the sun is shining from this direction. So, this building will obscure the direct sunlight falling on objects here. But still the diffuse skylight present in the atmosphere will illuminate whatever features present there right. So, we will get some image of objects that are present within the shadow in optical remote sensing that is not the case in radar remote sensing. Radar remote sensing we are not receiving or measuring any outside signals whatever we send only we will receive it back. So, if the objects are not eliminated by the microwave pulses that were transmitted by the radar antenna they will not reflect anything back and hence whatever portions that do not receive any radar elimination they will appear completely dark no other external source of energy is present it will be the radar shadows will be pitch dark. And also the radar shadows appear only in the range direction that is say if the flight is flying like this shadows will be cast only in this direction in the range direction. This is because in the azimuth direction there is no concept of shadow if there is like a topographic feature standing here when the flight is flying like this then the shadows will fall only in range direction. So, by looking in the direction in which the shadows were aligned we will be able to get some information about the flight direction that is possible. And also the shadows the shadow effect will become very severe in the far range. That is if there is like a slope in the near range there are chances that the back slope will get illuminated shadows may not be there but in far range shadow effect will be very severe. This is like opposite to this foreshortening effect foreshortening effect will be very severe in the near range will decrease in the far range shadow is exactly opposite shadows will be occurring to a less extent in the near range it will be occurring to a larger extent in the far range. So, these are some characteristics of radar images. So, this particular slide tells us like an interesting picture of like an example like all these hills A, B, C, D are like almost identical and they are aligned positioned in different positions in the range direction A is very near to the antenna and B, C, D are like farther away from the antenna. So, just look at this what is happening here at point A there is like a layover effect that is extreme case of foreshortening. So, here the effect is much larger A will be imaged first that is the top will be imaged first then the bottom will be imaged. So, this will be like the top point this will be like the bottom point. So, the layover is much and the image will look something like this like it will appear as if the top is much farther away from the bottom. When you slightly move away from the move away in the range direction when we come to this hill B this effect will become little this effect will become slightly reduced say the top may appear something like this rather than appearing very steep it may appear like slightly as if both of them are in both of them are in almost like straight line. So, this is for hill A this is like hill B. So, slightly reduced effect of layover at point C the layover effect is further reduced. So, the top and bottom will appear as if they are at one single exact point that is the slanted in distance of top and bottom are one and the same that means both the points will appear exactly same thing it will appear as if there is no top and no bottom it is like a single dot it will appear as something like this then in the far range some foreshortening because foreshortening is like layover is translating into foreshortening. So, your extreme effect is translating into something if layover has not occurred here if the slope is much shallow here itself then there will be layover here and the layover effect may vanish in the far range. So, that is the concept. So, the layover effect which is like in very extreme case of foreshortening it is like slowly decreasing as we move away in the range direction whereas look at the shadow this backward slope here there is some sort of return for the radar signal there is some weak return whereas from this mountain B itself the shadows will be like dominating and the length of the shadow is keep on increasing as we move away in the range direction. So, the layover or foreshortening effects they are like they will move together. So, they will the effect will decrease in the range direction for layover and foreshortening whereas shadow effect will increase the length of the shadow will increase as we move away from the the nadir point as we move away in the range direction. So, these are essentially the characteristics of geometrical characteristics of radar image. So, we have to be really careful and this effects the geometric characteristics will be clearly visible in image acquired by aircraft systems because normally in aircraft systems due to like the shallower flying height what will happen is the look angle will vary a lot the aircraft has to have like a what in order to cover like a large area there will be like a large variation in the look angle leading to a drastic change in the surface images in the surface with there will be like a drastic change in the image acquired. So, these effects layover or foreshortening will be clearly seen. When we move to satellite systems the look angle will not be varying to a large extent because of the very large flying heights involved due to which the effects may be slightly reduced like visual appearance the image may look okay to our eyes. So, whenever we work with like aircraft based radar images we have to really take this into account. So, that is why like in radar image processing there are like certain tools to process SAR images even open source tools are available for example, SNAP by this ESA and Copernicus team. So, those tools will have like an inbuilt terrain correction feature like there will be we will be using like a digital elevation model in order to correct like the effects of this terrain due to this layover and foreshortening effects in order to get like a more true representation because like a top should not come before the bottom these are like really like a large scale distortion right. So, those distortions has to be removed. So, terrain correction has to be performed in radar images whenever the images are acquired over land surfaces having very large variation in surface topography. The next important feature of SAR images are radar spickle. So, what exactly radar spickle? So, when I briefly discussed about the SAR systems I said like it works based on measuring the phase relationship right between the waves that got transmitted and between the waves that got received. So, the phase information is also getting stored and the phase information is being used to process the data to produce one image and in order to improve the azimuth resolution. When phase information are used to add several waves let us say like there is like one single element this is like one pixel in the radar image. There can be many different features present right because even though if you assume this is like 10 meter by 10 meter, but still within this 10 meter by 10 meter there can be different different features present within this pixel. So, when radar interacts with these objects based on the object characteristics the reflected signals or the we call it as backscattered signals the backscattered signals will have differing phases like phase relationship can be the same or it can be different based on the features present. All these things will be processed together by the radar system to produce this one particular pixel. So, when all these are combined together along with the phase information what can happen is the phase of each of this returned signal may add up constructively or they may add up destructively. Like if they still like microwave pulses that got transmitted are coherent. So, if even after reflection if this coherency is maintained then what will happen is the radar system will or the reflected backscattered radar signal will interfere with each other and this interference will either can add up constructively or destructively. If the different reflected microwave signals if they add up then essentially they will produce like a very bright patch in the image for that particular pixel like schematically I have represented if there are like 2 waves and if there are like sorry if there are like 2 waves and if they are like in phase with each other then these 2 will add up and the net resultant wave will have like kind of a increased amplitude. So, this will appear like a brighter image.  So, that is like these patches basically which are like really dark. So, the waves within like each resolution element of radar pixel can add up during this data processing radar data processing and they can add up in either constructive manner or in destructive manner leading to bright and dark spots in radar image. We call this as radar speckle.  So, on a colloquial note we call this as a salt and pepper pattern bright dark bright dark randomly appearing bright and dark patches. Image with this kind of characteristics will not be helpful for us like they may not be pleasant to look we will be having like random patterns or random patches of bright and dark patches which may not look good. So, the speckle has to be kind of reduced. So, this is like a characteristic of SAR image not like real aperture radar. It is a characteristic of synthetic aperture radar because in synthetic aperture radar the phase information is also recorded and used in data processing thereby enabling the addition of 2 different waves or super imposition of 2 different waves. So, this is due to radar data processing. So, this speckle effect has to be reduced. So, there are like plenty of ways in which this radar speckle can be reduced we are not going to discuss everything in detail. But one of the simple ways that people use in radar processing is multi look that is even when the radar system is acquiring images like what I told you in for synthetic aperture radar processing is the same object will be appearing in the radar system for a long distance much longer than the physical length of the antenna. So, all the distance for which the object is visible will be combined together in order to synthesize a very long antenna length that is what I said conceptually. So, let us say one particular object is visible for like several kilometers of distance for several kilometers distance they will be broken up all the things will not be combined together. So, they will be broken up into small small patches say 3 or 4 different let us say it is broken into 4 patches each patch will be processed separately and then they will be added together we call this multi look. So, each broken up let us say this is like the entire sorry this is like the entire length for which an object here is being image by the radar system instead of taking this entire length L let us say this is broken to small small chains. This is 1, 2, 3, 4 for this 4 it is broken to small small chains and these are these will be processed separately. So, what exactly is happening is conceptually speaking the phase information is just added for a small amount of distance covered rather than adding up all the phase for this entire length. So, the each of this thing we call it as one look ok. So, then all these looks will be added together to produce what is known as a multi look image. So, essentially a multi look means rather than synthesizing a very long antenna the antenna length will be broken during data processing itself in order to reduce this spical effect. So, here essentially we are sacrificing the azimuth resolution because as the antenna length decreases azimuth resolution will become coarser and coarser. So, we are sacrificing the azimuth resolution in order to reduce the spical effect. So, here this is like a one look image, but here it is like a four look image ok. So, you can see like the spical effect is reducing. Apart from this multi look there are different ways different kind of filters available in image processing chain in order to reduce this spical effect. Anyway in this course we will not see everything we will just get introduced to what is radar spacal. So, radar spacal is like salt and pepper pattern that is appearing in synthetic aperture radar images which will produce like a random pattern of bright and dull spots. And in order to reduce this radar image processing system itself will do what is known as multi look processing for reducing this effect. Apart from this we can use some sort of image processing filters to reduce this effect further. So, in this lecture as a summary we have discussed about the image characteristics or relief displacement features of radar images. And also we have discussed about the radar spacal which is a characteristics of image acquired by synthetic aperture radar system. With this we end this lecture. Thank you very much.


I don't think I'm going to vote because I'm not informed on anything. I haven't done any research, so I feel like my vote's going to be wasted. I feel like being young and voting, people will judge you for it because you're not educated enough about the whole voting process. I don't think my vote matters. I think the whole thing is predetermined. The idea of voting is kind of like a scheme. Most of my friends aren't going to vote because they have the same opinion as me. They don't really see politics as something that's important to them. I'm Antonio Valdovinos de la Mora. I was born in Colima, Mexico, and we immigrated when I was two years old. We grew up with very little. I felt that I could become a man by joining the Marines when I was 18. The Marine recruiter came by, and at some point he's like, So, are you a U.S. citizen? And I was like, no. Then he goes, get out of the vehicle. You're wasting my time. It was shattering to me to be told to leave because I was from Mexico.  Who's not voting is folks that have been disengaged for so long. We want to make sure that everybody knows who's running, why they're running, and why we're talking to them. What we wanted to visit today, again, as we always come every year to talk about who's running and who represents them. In 2011, the precincts we were walking had 300 votes participating, and the northern precincts, the ones that had the clean park, the brand new asphalt, had almost over 3,000 participating voters. And so it was clear that if our folks weren't voting, we were not getting any resources from the city of Phoenix. We just kept knocking on doors, knocking on doors, and by the end of that year, we took the victory. We elected the first Latino for city council in a 67% Latino district. And so it became a big story when Time Magazine picked it up, and they're like, how did Phoenix just elect the first Latino? I remember holding the magazine and thinking, Mom, look, we made it on Time Magazine. Knocking on doors, talking to Latinos about participating. Every year we have to come out here and talk to our community to make sure that they're as informed as possible. Alright guys, welcome, welcome, welcome, and thank you so much for coming. Our city is in better shape, and it's literally because of every single one of you. Every single door that you talk to, every time that you use your Spanish to help somebody understand why it's critical for them to participate. My peers, they don't think their voices count, and so my job is to explain to them that their vote does matter. I've had firsthand experience with politics affecting my life, like the deportation of my father. That is one reason I stepped forward, to be able to make sure that people are voting for the right people. All of the 18-year-olds that are graduating high school spend zero amount of time being educated on the importance of voting. We're really, really working hard to help people understand the bridge between voting and representation.


Hello, my name is Diane Mizrachi, and I'm the librarian for Jewish and Israel Studies at UCLA. Thank you for joining me today. This is the story of six books from the Jewish Community Library in Prague that were looted by Nazis during World War II and recently discovered in the UCLA library. We did not find any scholarly literature describing similar experiences in North American academic libraries, nor did we find any professional guidelines for repatriating library materials. Today I share with you our processes and our efforts to correct past injustices. We are familiar with the Nazis' public bonfires of confiscated books, both Jewish and non-Jewish, but they also developed an idea to build institutes into the research of the Jewish question. Their scholars would study Jewish texts from Nazi perspectives in order to prove scientifically their racial superiority and thus justify their campaign to annihilate the Jews. To provide resources for these institutions, they created up their stolen books and sent them to various sorting centers where Jewish prisoners were forced to classify them. After the war, hundreds of thousands of crates of books were discovered throughout the former rife. The Allies developed policies to return or distribute these books either to their original owners or to Jewish institutions worldwide, and thousands more were sold or traded to book dealers. The collection owned by the Jewish Religious Community Library in Prague was one of the hundreds of thousands that were looted and dispersed. Today, under the administration of the Jewish Museum, they are trying to rebuild their collection based on their 1939 catalogue. In searching through HathiTrust, a full-text online database, they discovered six items from their catalogue in the UCLA library and asked for their return. Apparently, UCLA acquired these books from book dealers in the 1960s. We did not find any professional guidelines or policies for addressing material of questionable provenance in existing collections, and therefore developed our own. They consist of verifying the ownership markings of the claimant, ensuring the item is digitized in the highest quality possible, updating our catalogue to reflect the book's story and why the physical copy was removed, checking and repairing any damage is relevant, and ensuring the return of the items. But we decided that the provenance issue was too important to keep quiet. We want to publicize our efforts and to start dialogues with other academic libraries on this issue. European libraries have been addressing it for years, but we found no evidence of discussion among North American libraries. We have engaged in several activities to bring attention to our efforts. For example, we held a handover event in which we symbolically returned the six books to the Czech ambassador and publicized it in various library and campus newsletters and social media. My colleagues created a digital exhibit describing the story of the Prague books. In May 2022, we held a four-part online symposium in which speakers addressed this and related topics such as colonial history and cultural sovereignty. You can view the recorded sessions on YouTube. We have published two articles so far, one in Judaica librarianship and another scheduled for publication in CNRL. And we are alerting our staff to be on the lookout for previous ownership markings and to contact the relevant subject librarian. But we are still finding material from Prague and elsewhere in our collection. Not every item is a candidate for repatriation. Some institutions no longer exist, so to whom do they belong? One idea is to recreate historical collections digitally. Libraries worldwide who find items would digitize them and note the provenance and backstories in their catalogs. The records would then be uploaded into a unified catalog for that historical collection. Thus, scholars could locate and study dispersed books, either digitally or physically, but the holding libraries would keep their contributions. As the digitization of library holdings worldwide progresses, the probability of uncovering more material of questionable provenance increases. I'm convinced there are many more academic libraries with such items in their collections, and this case study can open a dialogue on the issue. It is time for us to start talking. Thank you. These are the two articles. The first one was published in Judea Caliberianship in January of 2023, and the next one is scheduled for publication in November 2023 in C and RL. Thank you.


Hey, it's Michael here from Township Chevrolet in Summerside. I want to show you this beautiful new redesigned Chevrolet Custom Trail Boss 2019. As you can see, they rode out Chevrolet just in case you didn't know how to spell it. It's right there. You can look at it. Beautiful look. The grille and the bumper, both black, all blacked out. Give it a really mean look. You also notice we have red tow hooks down here. This is an off-road machine. So if you ever get covered in mud, you can guarantee you're going to be able to see those and get yourself out. But you shouldn't get stuck, because look at that badge. Z71 package. That's our off-road suspension package. Combine that with the 355 horsepower in this, baby. You won't be getting stuck. Forget about it. Look at those black rims. Don't those match that black front real nice? They sure do. Because that's exactly what you said. Move on. Nice sleek lines. Really helps with the aerodynamics of the vehicle. So this baby's going to cut right through the wind. It's going to save you a lot of money at the pumps. Another awesome feature they put in this year, 2019, we have a deep corner step. So my boots aren't that big, but even if they were, I'd be able to step up in there, no problem with all. And for your vertically challenged friends, it's a lot easier to step up to here than it is to there. Come here on the back here. Again, just in case you forgot how to spell Chevrolet from the front, it's written there again. C-H-E-V-R-O-L-E-T Chevrolet. With the press of a button, the tailgate drops down to meet you. So if you've got grocery or lumber in your hands, you can just press that button and throw it in the back. You're all good to go. And look at this. I might have a really strong finger, but that's pretty easy to lift. All right, Spencer. What do you think of these dual exhausts? They look pretty sexy. They are pretty sexy, aren't they? Chrome-tipped dual exhaust. You don't even got to pay extra for it. We just put it right on there anyway. Meet me around in the cab there, buddy. So in here, as you can tell, we've got lots of room for you and your friends. An increased four-inch wheelbase on this baby gives it a whole bunch more cargo room in these 2019s. Inside the cab, we have features such as Bluetooth, cruise control, hill to sand cruise control, traffic control, and for extra safety, just in case you don't want to back over your buddy whenever he's loading up his four-wheeler, you got a backup camera. So that's pretty awesome, I'd say. Oh, look at this. I forgot my Tim Horton's double-double in here. Actually speaking of that, roll up the rim to win. Forget about it. Come in here, test drive one of these babies. You're going to win 100% of the time. Think about it.


Today we conducted some live fire shoots in the house here in Rotas, Spain working with Fastcom New Europe and some explosive ordnance disposal technicians who are attached with special-purpose marine air ground task force crisis response Africa We had them attached with our squads within the platoon and made some runs through the house for considerations for both units to work together proficiently so the main reason behind this training and the importance of it is You know so when we do have a mission and for our capabilities we can train to a standard and Sustain and so whenever we do have something that we have to act on We're not going into something and trying to consider things on the fly We are already proficient and everybody is on the same page training with outside units get you on the same page as far as standard operating procedures and Just considerations for other units because how we would operate in certain environments with those You know improvised explosive devices and potential You know threats inside it's good to train with us So we're all moving in the same direction and we're all you know working together any environment like this with a lot fire shoot house When it is a close-quarters environment and live rounds from the M4 and the non-millimeter You know you always want to maintain that security so ensuring that we are doing things properly and safely for me personally Like I did get a lot out of this training It provides different aspects of how I would work with explosive ordnance disposal attachments in a battle with battle space like Afghanistan verse crisis response now So it helps me in the squad leaders and the small unit leaders to understand the different types of missions that the Explosive ordnance disposal teams can assist us in


This is Dr. Sanjay Prasad Higde, Senior Consultant of Orthopedics at Columbia I-Shows in Whitefield, Bangalore. Today I am going to talk in brief about osteo naproces of our bone death in the case of COVID. This usually occurs when a steroid is given for a long duration in any patient but of late we have been observing this in COVID patients who have received steroid for shorter duration. The risk of this osteo naproces of the femoral head, that is the hip, ball and ball, increases with every 10 mg in dosage by about 3.6%. So having said this, we need more data to conclusively prove that this short term steroid prednisolone can cause an AVN in COVID patients. Thank you.