Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques -2/E.

In this revised and expanded edition of his groundbreaking THINKERTOYS, creativity expert Michael Michalko reveals life-changing tools that will help you think like a genius. From the linear to the intuitive, this comprehensive handbook details ingenious creative-thinking techniques for approaching problems in unconventional ways. Through fun and thought-provoking exercises, you’ll learn how to create original ideas that will improve your personal life and your business life. Michalko’s techniques show you how to look at the same information as everyone else and see something different. With hundreds of hints, tricks, tips, tales, and puzzles, THINKERTOYS will open your mind to a world of innovative solutions to everyday and not-so-everyday problems

The Effect of Spoken Word Poetry on the Development of Voice in Writing

The following study examines the effect of Spoken Word Poetry on the development of voice in writing. For this action research project, data was collected in a variety of ways which entailed observations, interviews, surveys, and authentic work completed by participants. This study reveals that the use of Spoken Word Poetry in the classroom impacts the development of voice in writing. As a result, teachers should incorporate Spoken Word Poetry into their writing curriculum. Spoken Word Poetry is a writing tool that will help students breed confidence and discover their self-identities through the act of performing

Blindness/sightedness: Disability studies and the defiance of di-vision

This chapter explores the potential for disability studies to counter the ongoing marginalisation of people living with vision impairment by interrogating ocular-centric and ocular-normative representations of blindness. Though a generally easy-to-define category of impairment, blindness, or vision impairment, is uniquely positioned socially, culturally, politically and theoretically. Ableist notions have a unique impact on concepts of vision, and thus on blindness, to which disability studies scholarship must respond. Both G. Kleege and M. Schillmeier insist that John Locke’s empirical project on blindness not only privileges visual perception, but also privileges sightedness as an authority to speak of blindness experiences. With specific regard to vision impairment, blindness features in the ancient Greek ‘culture of light’ at the limits of social and cultural boundaries, although paradoxically, vision-impaired people are also celebrated for having superior sight. Whether fully or partially sighted, congenitally or adventitiously blind, each person comes to know blindness in particular ways

Epiphyllous bryophytes in Arboretum Mlyňany (Slovakia)

Article Details: Received: 2019-10-28      |      Accepted: 2020-04-01      |      Available online: 2020-06-30https://doi.org/10.15414/afz.2020.23.02.51-57   In this work we screened for the diversity of epiphyllous bryophytes covering leaves of evergreen plants growing in temperate region of Arboretum Mlyňany (Slovakia). We identified five taxa of not typically epiphyllous bryophytes, all belonging to mosses: Brachythecium salebrosum (Hoffm. ex F. Weber & D. Mohr) Schimp, Hypnum cupressiforme Hedw., Hypnum cupressiforme var. filiforme Brid., Platygyrium repens (Brid.) Schimp., Pylaisia polyantha (Hedw.) Schimp. All these taxa are considered as obligate members of bryoflora of Slovakia at low risk of extinction. The most abundant was the generalist H. cupressiforme, while the rarest was the typical epiphyte P. polyantha. All identified epiphylls occurred on nine species of evergreen angiosperm phorophytes: Prunus laurocerasus L., Hedera helix L., Mahonia aquifolium (Pursh) Nutt., Ilex aquifolium L., Rubus caesius L., Viburnum × burkwoodii auct., Rhododendron catawbiense Michx., Viburnum rhytidophyllum Hemsl., Aucuba japonica Thunb.; on one gymnosperm phorophyte Cephalotaxus harringtonii var. drupacea (Siebold. & Zucc.) Koidz; and on one fern Asplenium scolopendrium L. The most often species of phorophyte for epiphyllous bryophytes was P. laurocerasus, while the rarest taxa were R. caesius, V. rhytidophyllum, R. catawbiense, A. japonica, V. × burkwoodii.Keywords: epiphyllous bryophytes, epiphylls, epiphytes, phorophytesReferencesATHERTON, I. et al. (2010). Mosses and Liverworts of Britain and Ireland: A Field Guide. Plymouth: Latimer Trend & Co. Ltd. Retrieved November 3, 2019 from http://www.britishbryologicalsociety.org.uk/BENNICI, A. (2008). Origin and early evolution of land plants Problems and considerations. Communicative & Integrative Biology, 1(2), 212–218.BERRIE, G. K. and EZE, J. M. O. (1975). The Relationship between an Epiphyllous Liverwort and Host Leaves. Annals of Botany, 39 (163), 955–963.BLAGNYTĖ, R. and PALIULIS, D. (2010). Research into Heavy Metals Pollution of Atmosphere Applying Moss as Bioindicator: a Literature Review. Environmental Research, Engineering and Management, 4(54), 26–33.BOWMAN, J. L. et. al., (2017). Insights into Land Plant Evolution Garnered from the Marchantia Polymorpha Genome. Cell, 171(2), 287–304.BURKHARDT, J. and HUNSCHE, M. (2013). “Breath figures” on leaf surfaces-formation and effects of microscopic leaf wetness. Front Plant Sci., 4, 422.DANYLKIV, I. et al. (2002). Bryophytes of Ukrainian Roztochia. Lviv: Institute of Ecology of Carpathians.FRAHM, J. (2009). A preliminary study of the infraspecific taxa of Hypnum cupressiforme in Europe. Archive for Bryology, 40(1), 1–10.GLIME, J. M. (1982). Bryophyte Ecology. Michigan: The International Association of Bryologists. Retrieved November 1, 2019 from https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/ bryophyte-ecology4/GRADSTEIN, S. R. (1997). The taxonomic diversity of epiphyllous bryophytes. Abstracta Botanica, 21(1), 15–9.GUNATHILAKA, M. D. (2019). A Review of Bryophytes; Evolution, Value and Threats. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 9, 384–398.HOŤKA, P. and BARTA, M. (2012). Inventory of Living Collections of the Mlyňany Arboretum. Bratislava: SAS.KIRÁLY, I. and ÓDOR, P. (2010). The effect of stand structure and tree species composition on epiphytic bryophytes in mixed deciduous-coniferous forests of Western Hungary. Biological Conservation, 143, 2063–2069.LEPP, H. (2012). Epiphyllous Bryophytes. Australian National Botanic Gardens and Australian National Herbarium. Retrieved October 28, 2019 from https://www.anbg.gov.au/bryophyte/ ecology-epiphyllous.htmlLIGRONE, R. et al. (2012) Major transitions in the evolution of early land plants: a bryological perspective. Annals of Botany, 109, 851–871.MALOMBE, I. (2016). The ecological response of epiphyllous bryophytes to human-induced edges in Afromontane fragmented forests. Journal of Bryology, 38(1), 1–47.MIŠÍKOVÁ, K. et al. (2015). Bryophytes of selected villages in Slovakia. Acta Botanica Universitatis Comenianae, 50, 25–33.MIŠÍKOVÁ, K. et al. (2020). Checklist and red list of mosses (Bryophyta) of Slovakia. Biologia, 75, 21–37.MORRISA, J. L. et al. (2018). The timescale of early land plant evolution. PNAS, 115, E2274–E2283.NOWIŃSKA, R. et al. (2009). Species diversity of plants and fungi on logs of fallen trees of different species in oak‐hornbeam forests. Botanika-Steciana, 13, 109–124.PÓCS, T. (1989). A preliminary study of the undergrowth of primary and secondary submontane rainforests in the East Usambara Mountains, with notes on epiphytes. In: Hamilton, A.C. & Benstead-Smith, R. (eds.) Forest Conservation in the East Usambara Mountains. Tanzania: IUCN, Gland and Cambridge, pp. 301–306.PÓCS, T. (1996). Epiphyllous liverwort diversity at worldwide level and its threat and conservation. Anales. Inst. Biol. Univ. Nac. Auton. Mexico, Ser. Bot., 67(1), 109–127.PORLEY, R. D. (1996). Foliicolous Metzgeria fruticulosa on Box leaves in the Chiltern Hills, England. Journal of Bryology, 19(1), 188–189.RISK, A. C. et al. (2011). Epiphyllous bryophytes in the Appalachian Plateau of Kentucky and Tennessee, U.S.A. The Bryologist, 114(2), 289–297.SHAW, A. J. et al. (2011) Bryophyte diversity and evolution. Window into the early evolution of land plants. American Journal of Botany, 98(3), 352–69.SMITH, A. J. E. (ed.) (1982) Bryophyte Ecology. London, New York: Chapman and Hall. DOI: https://doi. org/10.1007/978-94009-5891-3VITT, D. H. et al. (1973) Foliicolous bryophytes and lichens of Thuja plicata in western British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Botany, 51(3), 571–580.WIERZGOŃ, M. and FOJCIK, B. (2014). Dead wood as a mainstay of bryophytes diversity in managed forest. Studia i Materiały CEPL w Rogowie, 41(2), 212–222.ZHOU, L. et al. (2014). Differential Effects of Lichens versus Liverworts Epiphylls on Host Leaf Traits in the Tropical Montane Rainforest, Hainan Island, China. Scientific World Journal. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/68136

Oxygen Isotopes in Different Recession Subregimes of Karst Springs in the Brezovské Karpaty Mts. (Slovakia)

Karst spring hydrograph separation method based on quick iterative solution of several simple exponential and linear equations, was developed for linking small datasets of sam­ples to various hydrologic situations. The method is based on a presumption, that a spring’s discharge depends on the level of aquifer saturation by groundwater, and that the same dis­charge reflects the same groundwater saturation (piezometric level) in the aquifer. Every spring can be described by unique sets of constant starting discharges, Q0 values, recession coef­ficients α (laminar flow components in exponential equations), and β (turbulent flow components in linear equations). Eachsubregime can be detected by recession curve analyses of the complete spring’s discharge time series. In this hydrographseparation, every measured discharge value, Qt, is then deter­mined by a representative time, t; i.e., theoretical elapsed time t from the total maximum discharge value Qmax. The aim of the iteration process is to obtain this representative time t for eachdischarge. The individual flow components are calculated us­ing the same t value. These variances in subregime discharges in a certain moment can be linked to the components analysed in the same moment, in order to obtain the end members of the theoretical mixture. This technique was developed and ap­plied on the discharge time series of the four karstic springs in the Brezovské Karpaty Mts. (Slovakia), built mainly by karsti­fied Middle and Upper Triassic dolomites and limestones. Groundwater of individual springs were characterised by δ18O (SMOW) and groundwater temperature values and end mem­bers of two laminar and one turbulent subregimes were calcu­lated. Results were based on sparsely populated datasets and manual discharge records, but represent a perspective method for future development and interpretations on limited dataset results

Cross-border Shopping in Hungary: Causes and Effects

Shopping tourism in Eastern Europe has grown enormously since the 1970s, and the geopolitical changes that occurred in the late 1980s and early 90s had a major bearing on its development. Within the context of shopping tourism, this paper examines cross-border shopping trends in Hungary, which is one of the most prominent shopping destinations in the former communist bloc. After a description. of the phenomenon and its magnitude in Hungary, spatial patterns in the borderlands are considered and the probable impacts of Hungary\u27s future admission into the European Union are explained

Liming alters body size distribution in a community of epigeic spiders in birch forest (Betula pendula Roth)

International audienceAbstractKey messageLiming, an ameliorative method for acidified forest soils, affected the relative abundance of prey of ground-hunting spiders and consequently reduced densities of functionally similar species of these predators.ContextLiming, an ameliorative method for acidified forest soils, may modify the structure of an arthropod community by altering the soil characteristics and/or the availability of food resources.AimsWe investigated the effect of liming on the community structure of ground-hunting spiders in a birch forest.MethodsWe established six experimental birch stand plots. Each stand was exposed to one of three experimental treatments: control, 1.5 t/ha, or 3 t/ha of dolomitic limestone. We collected spiders using pitfall traps during 5 years. We characterized the community in terms of activity density, species richness, community-weighted mean body size, and functional diversity and evenness in body size. We further investigated the potential links through which the liming might affect spiders, namely soil characteristics, effect of liming on birch, and densities of potential prey.ResultsThe commonly used dosage of 3 t/ha reduced densities of functionally similar species which led to the reduced functional evenness in body size and increased functional divergence in body size. Liming increased soil pH only slightly but decreased the densities of spiders’ preferred prey.ConclusionThe liming affected the community of ground-hunting spiders, at least partially, through reduced densities of their preferred prey

Demographic Characteristics Influencing Religious Tourism Behaviour: Evidence form a Central-Eastern-European country

Although religious tourism and pilgrimage have been widely studied there is very limited research that explores the peculiarities in attitude and behaviour among tourists with different demographic factors. The present exploratory study enhances the discussion on perception of religious tourism behaviour. Specifically, eleven statements on attitude and behaviour were explored among 345 Hungarians with different socio-demographic backgrounds. The results show that there are significant variations between senior and young travellers: seniors see as important, the educational purposes and feelings of national identity related to sacred sites while these are less motivating for the young. The frequency of participating in religious tourism is also a determining factor: frequent travellers donate more and are more willing to purchase ‘sacred’ souvenirs. The findings provide inputs for developing a new scale to measure attitude and related behaviour in religious tourism. Furthermore, practical implications of the research are relevant to managers of sacred sites because a better understanding of visitors’ behaviour would enhance market segmentation and marketing to target groups

Efficiency of pitfall traps and snap traps in small terrestrial mammals depends on their diet composition

We compared the monitoring of small terrestrial mammals among forest stands by pitfalls and snap traps. The captures took place in the Czech Republic in the Moravskoslezske Beskydy Mts. (2007-2012) on 16 plots in adult beech and spruce stands between 910 and 1220 m a.s.l. In total, 14 species of small mammals were captured (12 in the snap traps and 10 in the pitfalls). Snap traps captured the broader species spectrum and they were more successful in capturing larger species of small terrestrial mammals consuming a higher proportion of plant food (mice, and in particular voles). The pitfalls were more effective in capturing smaller species with a predominance of animal food (shrews). To cover the widest species spectrum of small mammals, it is appropriate to use both types of traps. To observe the functional diversity of the community in terms of food composition, it is sufficient to use snap traps.O

An application of computing methods to maximize the performance of money management systems

Cílem této bakalářské práce je návrh aplikace na podporu investorů obchodujících na akciových a komoditních burzách. Práce je primárně určena pro individuální investory, ale může být využitá i jinými mikroekonomickými subjekty a širokou veřejností. Aplikace bude obsahovat soubor nejdůležitějších a nejpoužívanějších nástrojů Money-managmentu a statistiky, pomocí kterých bude možné identifikovat silné a slabé stránky obchodní strategie. Investor získá možnost modifikovat svoji strategii v zájmu zvýšení úspěšnosti obchodů, snížení volantility výsledků a v neposlední řadě navýšení celkové ziskovosti obchodního systému.This bachelor work is concerned with the development of Windows application for stock and futures traders that is designed to help maximize the performance of trading systems and discretionary trading methods. The application is suggested primarily for individual traders but can be used by small businesses as well as general public. With the application investor will be able to gain confidence in his trading by identifying the unique strengths and weaknesses of trading system or method and adapting his trading accordingly. The result is a higher percentage of winning trades, lower drawdown, more consistent returns and greater profitability.