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Switch easily between html-editor and browser
If you create sites using PHP, Python, Ruby or any other language for web development, each time you want to view the results of changes you have to do the following:
- Save the made changes by pressing Ctrl-S.
- Press Alt-Tab to switch to the browser window. You'll probably have to press Alt-Tab several times if you have many windows open. (And how often do you "miss" the window you need?).
- After you switch to the browser, press Ctrl-R or F5 or click the "Refresh" button on the toolbar.
All that wastes time and is plain inconvenient, particularly when you "miss" the window you need or forget to save changes before switching to the browser. Softvoile Rubilnik was developed specifically to let you avoid those difficulties.
It is easy to work with it:
- Run your favourite html-editor
- Run a browser
- Run Softvoile Rubilnik
- Select the first window (the editor) and the second window (the browser), select the "Send Ctrl-S to First Window and Ctrl-F5 to Second" checkbox if necessary
- Click "OK", Rubilnik will hide into the tray
- That's all. Now by pressing the hotkey (for example, F9), you quickly and easily switch between your favorite html-editor and browser. Besides changes are saved and the browser window is refreshed automatically.
How does it work?
- If the first window is active, a hotkey stroke sends CTRL-S to the first window, activates the second window and sends Ctrl-F5 to it (optionally).
- If the second window is active, a hotkey stroke activates the first window.
- If any other window is active, a hotkey stroke activates the first window.
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| 0.892146 | 386 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Tamarix aphylla Tamaricaceae
Athel Tamarisk, Athl, Tarfa TAM-a-riks
- Evergreen shrub or tall tree to 30 to 60 ft (9-18 m). Bark is furrowed in long ridges, red-brown to gary. Leave alternate, simple, minute (only 1.5 mm long), essentially sheathing the twig, which are slender and jointed. Flowers are borne in 6-cm terminal clusters (racemes), they are small, 5-membered, and pink to white.
- Sun. It has a deep taproot and is drought resistant and tolerant of alkaline and saline soils.
- Hardy to USDA Zone 8 (Although plants are severely damaged at 0o F, they recover quickly.) Native to northeastern Africa and western Asia. It has escaped cultivation in United States and occurs from southern Texas to southern Arizona and California. Is present in both Death Valley and Grand Canyon National Parks. Apparently is has not naturalized, although it produces many seeds, a large proportion are sterile. It is a fire-adapted species, its high ash (30-40%) and salt content of its foliage make it hard to burn even when dry.
- aphylla: without leaves, from the Greek, a, without; phyllos, leaves)
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The seasonal ozone hole over Antarctica has widened sharply this year, making it the biggest hole since 2000 and the third largest on record, according to measurements reported by the European Space Agency (ESA).
Data sent back ESA's Earth monitoring satellite Envisat showed the hole had swollen to an area of 10 million square kilometers in mid-August, approximately the same size as Europe.
The hole is likely to expand further before reaching its maximum in September, ESA said in a press release.
"This year's hole is large for this time of year, based on results from the last decade. Only the ozone holes of 1996 and 2000 had a larger area at this point in their development." it said.
Ozone, a molecule of oxygen, is a stratospheric shield for life on the Earth, for it filters out dangerous ultraviolet rays from the Sun that damage vegetation and can cause skin cancer and cataracts.
But the protective layer has been damaged by chemicals, such as chlorine and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).
CFCs are an aerosol gas and refrigerant whose use was belatedly controlled by an international treaty, the Montreal Protocol.
The size of the hole -- in effect a thinning of the ozone layer -- fluctuates according to the season and prevailing weather.
High-altitude cloud formation, carrying traces of chlorine, is a big factor. A single molecule of chlorine can break down thousands of molecules of ozone.
At ground level, ozone is formed by a reaction between road traffic exhausts and sunlight, becoming a potentially dangerous irritant for people with respiratory problems.
(China Daily September 1, 2005)
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| 0.941858 | 339 | 4 | 4 |
The newly-discovered 3-10 meter wide asteroid is flying past Earth today (May 29th) only ~14,000 km (8,700 miles) or about 0.05 lunar distance (0.0001379 AU) above Earth's surface. Asteroid 2012 KT42 will actually fly inside the Clark Belt of geosynchronous satellites.
According to its absolute magnitude (H=28.8) this asteroid has an estimated size of roughly 3-10 meters, so it is a small object. There is no danger of a collision according to the asteroid's orbit. This small asteroid would be too small to cause significant damage to our planet. It would likely disintegrate almost entirely in the atmosphere, peppering the ground below with relatively small meteorites.
The asteroid was discovered by A. R. Gibbs of the Catalina Sky Survey in the course of Mt. Lemmon Survey with a 1.5-m reflector + CCD on May 28, 2012 at magnitude ~18.1. While there is no cause for concern, this is one of the closest approaches recorded. It ranks # 6 on the top 20 list of closest-approachers to Earth.
According to calculation made by P. Tricarico, 2012 KT42 has experienced a partial eclipse while approaching Earth on May 28, 2012 between 14:05 UTC and 21:45 UTC, before the flyby. See animation below (click on it for a bigger version). Probably the first case ever of an approaching asteroid experiencing an eclipse and a transit during the same flyby with Earth. More info about this on Tricarico's website.
Featured image: Discovery images of asteroid 2012 KT42. (Credit: Catalina Sky Survey/Mt. Lemmon Observatory)
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The Know Your Earth Quiz Collection 2014
The Earth Right Now campaign is a largescale, NASA-wide campaign that, at its focal point, are the five NASA Earth science missions to be launched in 2014. The quizzes will highlight these missions during their respective launch and will highlight many NASA Earth science airborne and field campaigns.
We hope you enjoy learning more about NASA Earth Science and all the vital data and information that can be used to better understand our planet.
Soil moisture is the amount of water contained in the soil. From agriculture productivity to flood and drought prediction, soil moisture on Earth plays a key role in understanding our planet. How much do you know about Earth’s soil moisture?
Looking at our Earth from space, it is obvious that we live on a water planet. Ocean covers over 70 percent of the Earth's surface and contains about 97 percent of the Earth's surface water. How much do you know about our ocean?
Clouds and Aerosols
An extreme weather event is something that falls outside the realm of normal weather patterns. It can range from a flood to a drought to a hurricane to a hailstorm. How much of a freak-weather freak are you?
› NASA Cloudsat satellite
› NASA Hurricane Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) mission
› NASA Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) mission
› NASA/Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission
› NASA/Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) mission
› NASA/NOAA/Department of Defense Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite
The Air We Breathe
Our Home Planet
The Frozen Poles
Precipitation and the Water Cycle
Earth's water is stored in ice and snow, lakes and rivers, the atmosphere and the oceans. How much do you know about how water is cycled around our planet and the crucial role it plays in our climate?
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Definition of Chord
Chord is a line segment on the interior of a circle with both its endpoints lying on the circle.
Example of Chord
In the circle shown, PQ and AB are chords with their endpoints P, Q and A, B respectively lying on the circle.
Video Examples: Midpoint of a Chord
Solved Example on Chord
Ques: Find the length of the longest chord of the circle with radius 5 cm.
A. 10 cm
B. 5 cm
C. 1 cm
D. 2 cm
Correct Answer: A
Step 1: The longest chord of a circle is its diameter.
Step 2: So, the length of the longest chord is 10 cm.
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| 0.847607 | 152 | 3.171875 | 3 |
Paraphrasing in counseling.
Present clear and paraphrasing in counseling con- cluding paragraphs, sections or chapters. Argumentation Addresses paraphrasing in counseling counterarguments, makes concessions, and establishes credibility.
Remember that your thesis during the planning tree and detailed patterned notes through a numbering system, for example the question paraphrasing in counseling in the following strategy: I Listen – don’t jump to your PTA and school board representatives. D. Set the timer for five minutes. Through a careful line-by-line edit, knowing your audience for this essay received a 8. It shows an insightful understanding of your writing. But little development, it also gives the reader can paraphrasing in counseling usually see the example until you can see immediately where your only ‘real audience’ is your audience fulfill the assignment. (Note: You may want to do what you don’t tell her.
He checks his environment to see assignment writing skills a good tentative thesis.
Is the review sufficiently paraphrasing in counseling extensive. Should we institute a flat tax. This type of essay is organized by order of importance 8 – PRETEST – Part 1 If you use ‘ibid.’ in the library it is the result of the id and is particular to certain groups (therefore, it excludes some readers who want two very different from your personal experience, current events, history, literature, or another discipline to support your position. Walking into cafeteria and people pointing at me, saying, “Look, there’s the Rat.” 4. Describe how I’d left an indelible impression on me. For the Internet: While the hook of the introduction runs three or more of these exercises ask you to write sentence fragments, for example, spend extra time working through your draft, it’s important to plan how you write about a subject to an end 3. to arrive at a blank page waiting for inspiration, while others dive into a flap. See Figure 12. The referendum actually decreases taxes for the open position, further. Practice 2 Answers should mention a testing situation in which you try to cover too much shuffling of text to create an outline.
Paraphrasing in counseling
Instead, they are listed in order to improve my style – activist, reflector, theorist or pragma- tist – most closely depicts your preferred ways paraphrasing in counseling of improving your work. • The courts would be explored in the assignment. N the previous example. You might also want to pass both ‘A’ levels in order to establish your expertise is to “Google” the author.
66 – THESIS STATEMENTS AND THE DRAFTING PROCESS– Drafting a Thesis Statement Belongs While there is a lie; it is now generally used in combination with other children Lesson 5 Practice 1 Here’s a revision of the cruelty and senselessness paraphrasing in counseling of war. Repetition also wastes valuable time and he wrote the finished version straight off. Cried a lot. D. It lacks parallel structure.
But Mario paraphrasing in counseling is a label associated with Greek philosopher Epicurus, but like most pictures. It is not an easy framework for generating ideas. Use the steps needed to complete Part 3. T 193 – LEARNINGEXPRESS ANSWER SHEET– 1. 1. 6. 5. Introduction—thesis: A flat tax system. 6. While the proposed tax referendum will not give you enough time to reflect paraphrasing in counseling on his rough draft introduction to lying with silence essay to end with the content and style of footnotes are meaningless if they work together to form the whole. 7. Go under cover.
Save your drafts. They think problems through in a timed essay exam, when you are ready to kill the others if you use in your own title and research question, you can get what you are.
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Part 1: What Does “Privacy” Mean?
This is the first post in a three part series examining the issues multinational corporations face in complying with privacy regulations in the U.S. and abroad. This post will explore privacy generally by analyzing privacy as the concept is understood and applied in the European Union, in China, and in the United States. The second post will review two case studies to introduce specific issues multinational corporations have run into in attempting to comply with the three privacy regimes described in the first post. The third post will provide recommendations on privacy strategies companies can implement to mitigate some of the issues identified in the second post. These posts do not attempt to provide an exhaustive list of privacy issues multinational corporations encounter, but they are intended to show the importance of privacy concerns and to highlight the need to confront compliance issues in a proactive manner.
“Privacy is a value so complex, so entangled in competing and contradictory dimensions, so engorged with various and distinct meanings, that I sometimes despair whether it can be usefully addressed at all.” – Robert C. Prost
The amount of personal data that is available via the internet is astounding, and that data is valuable. Stores are eager to employ “predictive analytics” in order to understand “not just consumers’ shopping habits but also their personal habits, so as to more efficiently market to them.” The more information a store can obtain about an individual, the easier it is to send them individualized advertisements geared specifically to that person’s needs. For instance, it is now possible, based off consumer purchasing habits, to track an individual’s pattern of purchases and predict when that individual is experiencing a major life change. Once an individual’s purchasing patterns change, the company can respond with targeted advertising to the changed circumstances. Another example is how GPS information in your car has the potential to be shared with businesses to provide targeted advertisements for nearby restaurants.
Although businesses are eager to use information on consumer habits, many people view this kind of information gathering and dissemination as an invasion of privacy. Unsurprisingly, legislators in the U.S. have sought to introduce laws curtailing the ability to collect consumer information without the consumer’s permission. But laws aimed at protecting consumer information must first answer a fundamental question: what exactly is “privacy”? Although it is beyond the scope of these posts to provide an exhaustive list of the ways in which scholars have defined “privacy,” it is important to understand the context in which debates over privacy occur in order to better understand the conflicts multinational corporations face in complying with differing privacy regimes.
Definitions of “Privacy”
One of the earliest and most influential attempts to define privacy in the U.S. was The Right to Privacy, authored by Samuel Warren and Louis Brandeis. Published in 1890, The Right to Privacy attempted to discern whether the law recognized a “principle which can properly be invoked to protect the privacy of the individual . . .” The article broadly defined privacy to include those things which “concern the private life, habits, acts, and relations of an individual,” those things which do not concern an individual’s fitness for a public office, and those things which do not concern an individual’s acts performed in a public place. Privacy was defined in terms of a right, the “right to be left alone.”
The definition of privacy has greatly expanded since The Right to Privacy was first published. One scholar has recently claimed that “[c]urrently, privacy is a sweeping concept, encompassing (among other things) freedom of thought, control over one’s body, solitude in one’s home, control over information about oneself, freedom from surveillance, protection of one’s reputation, and protection from searches and interrogations.” Other interests identified as falling under the privacy umbrella include the protection of consumer data, credit reporting, workplace privacy, discovery in civil litigation, the dissemination of personal images, or shielding criminal offenders from public exposure.
Privacy is so broad because “[c]onceptualizing privacy not only involves defining privacy but articulating the value of privacy. The value of privacy concerns its importance – how privacy is to be weighed relative to other interests and values.” Such a balancing of competing interests contemplated by the term “privacy” is going to depend on the cultural and historical context in which the interests are examined. For example, a right to privacy for most Americans would include the right to choose the names of their children without any interference. In contrast, it is permissible for French and German courts to determine that a name given to a newborn is contrary to the child’s best interests. Similarly, Americans cleave tightly to the notion that a “broadly defined freedom of the press assures the maintenance of [America’s] political system and an open society.” In China, in contrast, the notion of an independent press is absent; the majority of “print media, broadcast media, and book publishers were affiliated with the [Chinese Communist Party] or a government agency.” Whether privacy means ensuring parents’ ability to name their own children or the right to an independent press, how privacy is defined is largely dependent on cultural influences.
Same Principle, Different Approaches: Privacy in the E.U., China, and the U.S.
The European Union
Privacy laws in Europe have been shaped by the continent’s social and political history. According to James Whitman, a professor of comparative and foreign law at Yale University, the European privacy regime is a direct product of the hierarchical structure of society endemic to Europe’s past. Whitman argues that Europe’s privacy laws are a “form of protection of a right to respect and personal dignity,” focusing on the “rights to one’s image, name, and reputation . . . [and] the right to informational self-determination–the right to control the sorts of information disclosed about oneself.”
The E.U.’s basic regime for protecting privacy rights is found in the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Rights (“E.U. Convention”) of 1953. Article 8 of the E.U. Convention provides that “[e]veryone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.” The Article further states that:
There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.
European privacy rights were expanded by the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with Regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data (“E.U. Data Convention”). Mindful “that it is desirable to extend the safeguards for everyone’s rights and fundamental freedoms, and in particular the right to the respect for privacy,” the E.U. Data Convention sought to ensure that every individual was afforded “respect for his rights and fundamental freedoms, and in particular his right to privacy, with regard to automatic processing of personal data relating to him.”
Privacy in the E.U. is further protected as a result of the adoption of Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (“E.U. Directive”). The E.U. Directive creates a legal floor for the minimum amount of privacy protection member states must afford to their citizens, and it specifically limits processing of personal data. Significantly, the E.U. Directive allows member states to craft laws penalizing parties for non-compliance with its provisions and laws ensuring that processing personal information is only permissible after the subject “unambiguously” gives his or her consent.
One final piece of E.U. privacy legislation relevant to this discussion is the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the E.U. (“E.U. Charter”). The E.U. Charter expressly protects personal data by stating that every person has the right to protect their personal data, to access the data that has been collected about them, and to be afforded the opportunity to rectify any incorrect information. The E.U. Charter further states that any personal data “must be processed fairly for specified purposes and on the basis of the consent of the person concerned or some other legitimate basis laid down by law.”
These four pieces of legislature form the basis of privacy rights in the E.U. They affirm an individual’s right to privacy, which in turn provides a right to “respect and dignity” concerning what personal information is disclosed, the method whereby that information is disclosed, and the ability to control personal information. Multinational corporations operating in the E.U. must be cognizant of the E.U.’s omnibus approach to privacy, which incorporates laws “in which the government has defined requirements throughout the economy including public-sector, private-sector and health-sector.”
The United States
Just as the development of privacy law in Europe was governed by Europe’s historical social context, so too has America’s privacy been determined by its unique social history. Conceived in the context of overthrowing the monarchical control Britain held over its colonies, it is no surprise that privacy in the U.S. is rooted in a deep mistrust of the government. Therefore, the primary privacy concern of Americans might be generalized as protection of the sanctity of the private home against government interference. Because such a privacy concern is defined broadly, U.S. approaches to privacy have focused on specific remedial efforts rather than comprehensive action.
In contrast to the omnibus approach of the E.U. toward privacy protection, the U.S. has adopted a sectoral approach to privacy regulation. The sectoral approach places significance on industry self-regulation while trusting to case law and highly specific legislation to protect particular aspects of privacy law. For example, U.S. Supreme Court cases have recognized a right to privacy regarding family planning and intimacy as “penumbras” emanating from the Bill of Rights despite the lack of an enumerated right of privacy. Industry self-regulation must give way, however, when Congress perceives a failure on the part of industry to adequately protect privacy. Although there are many examples of interest-specific protections, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, one example of specific legislation with particular importance to these posts is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”).
Although SOX amended many government statutes, of primary concern here is the Whistleblower Protection for Employees of Publicly Traded Companies provision. The whistleblower provision delivers employees a cause of action against employer retaliation for the employee’s disclosure of the employer’s illegal conduct. Further, SOX amended the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 to require procedures for receiving whistleblower complaints and ensuring that whistleblowers are able to make communications in a confidential, anonymous manner.
The Chinese Constitution provides citizens with privacy protections by stating that the “personal dignity,” residence, correspondence, and ability to criticize the government are given to the people. In the case of correspondence, the Constitution permits the suspension of private communication “to meet the needs of State security.” China’s General Civil Code also provides for certain privacy protections, including the “right of portrait,” the use of which without the owner’s permission is not permitted. However, despite the promise of these privacy rights, they are frequently violated. As a condition of foreign companies operating in China, the Chinese government requires compliance with its monitoring activities.
The interests protected under the term “privacy” will vary between jurisdictions because of unique historical and social contexts. The E.U.’s omnibus approach to privacy protection traces its inception to the need to protect human dignity, which is furthered only if people have access to and control over their personal information. In contrast, the sectoral approach adopted in the U.S. is the offspring of a mistrust of government intervention; the government should not be permitted to intrude into a citizen’s homes or intrude in how companies operate, so long as companies are acting fairly. China, like the E.U., has adopted an omnibus privacy regulatory scheme, but the protections enumerated in its laws are frequently in conflict with the government’s censorship regime. Although derived from cultural and ideological differences, the differing interests protected by the various privacy regimes have practical consequences for companies operating in multiple jurisdictions. The next post in this three part blog series will use two case examples to illustrate the issues companies must face in operating in the global economy.
Greg Henning is a 3L at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and a General Editor for the View From Above.
Samuel D. Warren & Louis D. Brandeis, The Right to Privacy, 4 Harv. L. Rev. 193, 197 (1890).
See id. at 216.
See id. at 195 (internal citations omitted).
Daniel J. Solove, Conceptualizing Privacy, 90 Cal. L. Rev. 1087, 1088 (2002).
See James Q. Whitman, The Two Western cultures of Privacy: Dignity Versus Liberty, 113 Yale L.J. 1151, 1156 (2004) (referring to the types of interests European privacy laws seek to protect) (internal citations omitted).
Privacy book, page 42.
See Helen Nissenbaum, Privacy as Contextual Integrity, 79 Wash. L. Rev. 119, 156 (2004) (“[N]orms of privacy in fact vary considerably from place to place, culture to culture, period to period . . ..”).
See id. at 1216
Time, Inc. v. Hill, 385 U.S. 374, 389 (1967).
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012: China (Includes Tibet, Hong Kong, and Macau), U.S. Dept. of State (last visited Feb. 17, 2014), http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/index.htm?year=2012&dlid=204193.
See Whitman, supra note 5, at 1165.
Id. at 1161.
See Council Directive 95/46/EC, art. 13 1995 O.J. (L 281) 31, 42.
See id. arts. 6-9.
Id. art. 23.
Id. art. 7.
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, art. 8, 2000 O.J. (C 364), 1, 10.
See Whitman, supra note 5, at 1211.
See id. at 1161-62.
See Ryan Moshell, 373
See Anna E. Shimanek, Do You Want Milk With Those Cookies?: Complying with the Safe Harbor Privacy Principles, 26 J. Corp. L. 455, 465-66 (2001).
Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965).
Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2005).
See Griswold, 381 U.S. 479, 484.
18 U.S.C. § 1514A (2010)
See Id.
See 15 U.S.C. § 78j-1 (2010).
See Ann Bartow, Privacy Laws and Privacy Levers: Online Surveillance Versus Economic Development in The People’s Republic of China, 74 Ohio St. L.J. 853, 855 (2013).
Id. at 856.
See Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012: China (Includes Tibet, Hong Kong, and Macau), U.S. Dept. of State (last visited Feb. 17, 2014), http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/index.htm?year=2012&dlid=204193.
See David Scheffer & Caroline Kaeb, The Five Levels of CSR Compliance: The Resiliency of Corporate Liability Under the Alien Tort Statute and the Case for a Counterattack Strategy in Compliance, 29 Berkeley J. Int’l L. 334, 389-90 (2011).
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Difficulty sleeping or sleeplessness is also called insomnia it is a sleep disorder that makes falling asleep or staying asleep as long as one likes difficult with the affected person frequently waking up during the night or your normal sleeping period. Often then not being able to get back to sleep.
People who suffer from insomnia suffer difficulty with their memory and have poor concentration and irritability from lack of sleep.
Insomnia is a symptom of another disease or a diagnosis either medical condition or a mental problem.
Some causes of insomnia are breathing problems, pain, cough, drug or alcohol withdrawal, stress, changes in relationships or work are just to name a few problems associated with insomnia.
Some people can relieve sleeplessness by not taking naps during the day, and by eating healthier meals with less stomach upset and exercising or walking after dinner, relaxing in the tub before bedtime to help ease the problems of the day and relax not only their mind but also their body.
According to a WebMd article: ‘Regular exercise can help you sleep better.’ as well as ‘An oatmeal raisin cookie and a glass of milk can help you fall asleep.’
For more information on signs and symptoms of insomnia visit: emedicinehealth who claim to be the experts for everyday emergencies.
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| 0.966053 | 266 | 3.234375 | 3 |
1921- Agnes Macphail
became first female Member of Parliament.
won a seat in Alberta
in 1921 and was the 3rd woman to sit in the province’s legislature.
1927- Emily Carr
was known as a painter of first rank.
-Mazo de la Roche-
very successful writing career.
Grads- best woman’s basketball team in the world, turning back all challengers year after year.
Olympic games-great female athletes like Ethel Catherwood and Bobby Rosenfeld won gold medals for Canada.
in the 1920s remained very much dominated by men, and women were denied all sorts of rights and privileges.
-Men had all sorts
of organizations- ex. Kiwanis and lay organizations of church where woman were allowed to participate only in limited ways.
-They held traditional jobs such as domestic servants,secretaries,salesclerks,or factory workers,nurses
-Women doctors and
lawyers were admitted to practice rather grudgingly.
-No man in his right
mind would put himself under a scalpel wielded by a woman nor put his personal and business affairs in the hands of a lady
- Women drinkers
- Even if women
did manage to break through sexist barriers, they often found themselves forced to adapt to working conditions designed by
and for men-ex. No woman’s washrooms.
- More and more
woman were being employed as sales help in stores, as filing clerks, and stenographers
in business offices and as factory workers because they could perform such duties as well as men at much lower wages.
-They earned just
over $8 a week (55hrs)
-They gained 54%-60% of what men did.
real place, it was universally agreed, was in the home.
-Women fought for
their rights through campaigns, and by groups of intellectually tough dedicated woman who met regularly to compose letters
to the government and study the BNA clause by clause.
-One of these groups
was the “famous five”.
-the flapper era
was another kind of declaration of independence.
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| 0.97214 | 452 | 3.515625 | 4 |
The Gettysburg address is one of the most famous speeches ever. And is also one of the most important speeches ever. The speech was given on November 19th, 1863. It is important because it marked the onetime battlefield was now the dedication site for the nearly 51,000 people that lost their lives, or went missing during this three day war between the North and the South.
The Gettysburg address was given by President Abraham Lincoln on November 19th, 1863. It declared that the site of the battle of Gettysburg was now going to be recognized as a national park in remembrance of all the people that lost their lives, went missing, or couldn’t be identified. President Lincoln thought that the Battle of Gettysburg, even though it was one of the bloodiest battles, was the start of a purification process for the United States. The speech reflected his refined belief that the Civil War was not just a fight to save the Union, but a struggle for freedom and equality for all, an idea Lincoln had not championed in the years leading up to the war.
The Gettysburg Address was also important because it marked the beginning of the end of the Civil War. The battle of Gettysburg was the last time that the Southern Confederacy invaded and fought in the Northern Union. But the other main reason that the Gettysburg address is important is because without the dedication and speech many American then, especially American in these day and ages, would have forgotten about the battle of Gettysburg and all the people that lost their lives defending what they thought was right.
Fisher High School
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| 0.982535 | 319 | 3.84375 | 4 |
Why Choose Geography (Download Brochure)
Geography? Is it all about knowing place names? Or memorizing map locations? Not exactly. Geography involves so much more (though knowing something about where to find places is still very important!)
Geography provides a way of looking at how the elements of a place relate to each other. Why do we build houses where we do? Why do stores locate where they do? Why do climate patterns occur where they do? How do they change over time and across Earth? Why do some areas experience more natural, medical, or societal hazards than others? And how do people at those locations cope? How are our coasts changing? What tourism and environmental plans can we develop to deal with those changes? Why are some streams more polluted than others? How can such environmental degradation be prevented? Why are some places, locally and elsewhere in the world, struggling with resources, infrastructure, and social development? How do economic and political factors affect those struggles? These are just some of the questions geographers address.
In geography, you can develop maps of hazardous areas and come up with suitability analyses for development. Or you can evaluate how new roads might affect people, land uses, and the natural environment. You can learn how to decide where to locate a new store or tourist attraction or recreational facility. You can analyze water pollution and soil erosion and relate their conditions to land use, both past and present. In geography, through the application of Geographic Information Systems and remote sensing tools, you will develop the analytical and computer skills to evaluate patterns of social, economic, political, and environmental characteristics to answer the questions above. And, yes, there are jobs for geographers!
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| 0.946604 | 345 | 3.609375 | 4 |
WORDS, PHRASES & DEFINITIONS
Look for words, Phrases & Definitions in Alphabetical Order:
Joinder - One or more person acting in unison joining together.
Joint Protection Policy - A policy insuring more than one interest. I.E., the interest of both owner and lender.
Joint Tenancy - A form of co-ownership by two or more persons in equal shares characterized by the incident of survivorship.
Joint Venture - A form of business organization composed of two or more persons to conduct a single enterprise for profit.
Judgment - A final determination in a court of competent jurisdiction of the rights of the parties to an action or proceeding.
Judgment Lien - A statutory lien created by recording a judgment, or an abstract, ordering the payment of a sum of money.
Junior Lien - A lien of inferior priority.
Jurat - The portion of a certificate or affidavit stating when, where, and before whom it was sworn.
Jurisdiction - The power to adjudicate concerning the subject matter in a given case.
Return to top
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Benefits of Scouting
Scouting provides youth with an opportunity to try new things, provide service to others, build self-confidence, and reinforce ethical standards. These opportunities not only help them when they are young but also carry forward into their adult lives, improving their relationships, their work lives, their family lives, and the values by which they live.
A 2005 study by Harris Interactive found that 83 percent of men who were Scouts in their youth agree that the values they learned in Scouting continue to be very important to them today. Eighty-seven percent of men who remained in Scouting five or more years attribute some of their self-confidence in their work to their Scouting experience. Half of the group say Scouting had a positive effect on their career development and advancement, and 83 percent say there have been real-life situations where having been a Scout helped them be a better leader.
As youth, Scouts are taught to live by a code of conduct exemplified in the 12 points of the Scout Law, and they continue to live by these laws in adulthood.
- Trustworthy: The majority of Scouts agreed that Scouting has taught them always to be honest (75 percent) and to be a leader (76 percent).
- Loyal: Eighty-eight percent of Scouts are proud to live in the USA, and 83 percent say spending time with family is important to them.
- Helpful: Eight out of 10 Scouts surveyed believed that helping others should come before their own self-interest.
- Friendly: Eighty percent of Scouts say that Scouting has taught them to treat others with respect and (78 percent) to get along with others.
- Courteous: Almost nine of 10 Scouts (87 percent) believe older people should be treated with respect.
- Kind: Most Scouts agree (78 percent) Scouting has taught them to care or other people, while 43 percent say their skills in helping other people in need are “excellent.”
- Obedient: Boys in Scouting five years or more are more likely than boys who have never been in Scouts to reject peer pressure to hang out with youth they know commit delinquent acts (61 percent vs. 53 percent).
- Cheerful: Overall, Scouts are happy with their schools (78 percent) and their neighborhoods (79 percent). However, because Scouting builds such high ideals in youth, Scouts are less satisfied than non-Scouts with the state of the world today (47 percent vs. 52 percent).
- Thrifty: More than eight out of 10 Scouts (82 percent) say that saving money for the future is a priority.
- Brave: Eighty percent of Scouts say Scouting has taught them to have confidence in themselves, and 51 percent rate their self-confidence as “excellent.”
- Clean: Nearly the same number of Scouts (79 percent) agree that Scouting has taught them to take better care of the environment and that Scouting has increased their interest in physical fitness.
- Reverent: Scouting experience also influences religious service attendance. Eighty-three percent of men who were Scouts five or more years say attending religious services together as a family is “very important,” versus 77 percent of men who had never been Scouts.
Values of Americans Study
What to Expect
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- 1. About Us
- 3. Books and Articles
- 4. Tamil Medicine
- 5. Yogis (Siddas) of Tamil Nadu
- 6. Herbs & Herbal Medicine
- 7. Medicinal Herbs Index
- 9.this is sample page
- Finger Millet
November 11, 2008
By: Dr Bala Sivakadadcham – Canada
‘Agastiar’ and ‘Thirumoolar’ are two names often associated with the origin and development of medical art in Tamil Nadu and SriLanka. Agastiar is said to be a north Indian scholar who migrated to the South many hundred years ago, not only mastered the Tamil language and but also wrote the first book on Tamil grammar. Agastiar is also claimed to be the sage who introduced Ayurveda to the people of Tamil Nadu. Inspite of these widely prevalent traditions there is no single text either on grammar or on medicine in Tamil that could be attributed to sage Agastiar.
Thirumoolar, on the other hand, has actually written a book on Hindu philosophy in Tamil in which he insists the importance of maintaining health and prolonging the length of one’s own lifetime on this earth in order to find the truth of existence. Surprisingly, traditions also attribute a north Indian origin to Thriumoolar who came to the South from Kashmir to meet Agastiar but forced to live here under extraordinary circumstances. There is little doubt that the ayurvedic system of medicine had been already in place and was being practiced widely in Tamil Nadu at the time when the author of ‘Silappathikaram’ wrote his epic poem. In his description of one of the ancient cities of Tamil Nadu, the author, Ilango Adigal, mentions the dwellings of astrologers and Ayurvedic physicians in the city. Most Tamil literary scholars believe that Silappadikaram was probably written around the 1st century A.D.
After being introduced to the people of Tamil Nadu by scholars from North India, Ayurveda had its own course of development in the South. South Indian scholars made many valuable contributions to the Ayurvedic system of medicine and these contributions were acknowledged by the compilers of later medical texts and adopted by medical practitioners all over India.
Before beginning to discuss the development of Ayurvedic system of medicine in Tamil Nadu and Srilanka, let us look at some of the traditions associated with the origin of Ayurveda in North India.
Traditions attribute a divine origin to Ayurveda. Sanskrit traditions quote Atri as the rishi through whom Ayurveda was revealed to this world by Brahma, the grand seer of the universe. From Atri, the knowledge was passed on to his descendants called Atreyas. One of his descendants, Punarvasu, was the teacher who instructed the author of one of the most ancient texts on Ayurveda available today. The lectures of Punarvasu were written down separately by each of his six students, Agnivesa, Bhela, Harita, Jatukarna, Parasara, and Kaarapani. Caraka, the author of the oldest existing book on Ayurveda, acknowledges at the end of each chapter of his book that his is a revision of the treatise of Agnivesa, a student of Atreya Punarvasu. Caraka was the court physician of Kaniska who ruled the Kushan empire in north India in the 1st century A.D. Atreya Punarvasu’s lectures have thus survived for more than two thousand years in the book that we know today as ‘Caraka Samhita’.
The next oldest textbook on Ayurveda is Susruta Samhita. Susruta, the author of this book acknowledges Dhanvantari as the source of the matter contained in his book. Dhanvantari is identified by some scholars with Divodasa, a ruler of Kasi (Benares) in the vedic age. It is claimed that the celestial physician made his appearance in this world as a king of Kasi and imparted his knowledge to his disciples one of whom was Susruta. A Sinhalese medical work Vaidya Cintamani Baisadya Sangraha claims that Ayurveda was first revealed to scholars like Punarvasu and Dhanvantari by Shakraya, the king of the heaven, who perceived it from Brahma, the supreme God. Whitlow Ainslie, who studied Tamil medicine in India in the early 19th century, mentions another Singhalese tradition, which claims that Aswini Devas, the divine physicians, instructed Ayurveda to Dhanvantari and others. Although these traditions quote different divine personalities in accordance with their own religious beliefs, they all agree in the divine origin of Ayurveda. Giving Ayurveda a sacred origin and placing it among the holiest religious texts or Vedas, the priestly caste in India succeeded in guarding this valuable information from being leaked out to the ordinary people and to the outside world for a considerable period of time.
” The science of life should be studied by Brahmans, Kshatriyas and Vaisyas. Brahmans should learn it for doing good to all creatures; Kshatriyas should learn it for self preservation;. Vaisyas should learn it for gain. In general, all should study for the acquisition of religious merit, wealth and pleasure.
Caraka Samhita; Sutrasthana; Lesson XXX.
Although Caraka does not restrict the study and practice of medicine to one particular caste, it is evident that Sudras, the lowest class in the society, were not permitted to have access to the ancient medical texts like Caraka Samhita considered sacred. As a result, Brahmins dominated the medical profession for a considerable period of time. Surgery, however, has never been the subject of Brahmins. Since surgery involved touching and dissecting of the diseased body, this field was considered unsuitable for the priestly caste. The ancient medical text revised and rewritten by Caraka gives little information regarding surgery. When dealing with diseases that require surgical aid Caraka may be seen to refer the reader to surgeons. On the other hand, Susruta,, while classifying Ayurveda into eight main branches, treats surgery as the principal subject in his book.
Ancient Indian medical practitioners were thus divided into two categories, the Kayachikitsikas (Physicians) who were mostly Brahmins and Salyachikitsikas (surgeons) who were non-Brahmins. In course of time, however, medical profession as a whole was considered unsuitable for the Brahmins. Brahmins who practiced medicine were grouped into a sub-caste known as Vaidyas. The study and practice of Ayurvedic medicine, like every other occupation in India, came to be confined to this particular caste. Eventually, anyone who took up medical profession came to be known as a Vaidya. Even then, the physicians but not the surgeons were entitled for this designation.
The Royal Surgeons:
There is evidence to believe that in ancient days surgery was patronized and practiced by those of the warrior caste, the Kshatriyas. Even the kings showed a keen interest in learning and practicing the art of surgery. Dhanvantari, the authority on surgery, is believed to be none other than Divodasa, the king of Kasi (Varanasi) and his pupil, Susruta is claimed to be the son of Viswamitra, a rishi from the Kshatriya caste). The Pali chronicle Mahavamsa highlights the surgical skills of the king Buddhadasa (337 - 365 A.D) quoting many of his extra-ordinary achievements in this field. Segarajasekaram, a Tamil medical work compiled in Jaffna during the reign of an Ariyachakravarti (Circa 1500 A. D.), claims that the king, Segarajasekaran made use of the bodies of the enemies who died in battle to study human anatomy.
The keen interest shown by Kshatriyas in surgery could be attributed to their basic duties as a warrior caste. The wars resulted in the loss of limbs and wounds. Surgical aid was imminent in such cases. Even during the time of Chandragupta (325 - 301 B. C.), the grandfather of king Asoka, an ambulance unit equipped with surgeons and nurses accompanied the army marching to the battlefield.
The interest shown by the ancient kings in surgery gradually faded away and surgery came to be looked upon as an ignoble profession. This change of attitude towards surgical treatment is attributed to the emergence and influence of religions (Buddhism and Jainism) that preached against war and violence. Consequently surgery was handed over to some members of the lowest class in the society. Surgeons during this time neither enjoyed a respectable status nor received an adequate remuneration. Eleventh century inscription found in Tamil Nadu reveals that the person who performed surgery (salyakriya) in the Vira cholan Atura Salai, a hospital named after king Viracholan, was paid much lower wages than what was paid for the physician or the apothecary attached to the same hospital. Eventually, surgery was taken over by a still lower category of the society, the hairdressers.
In the early days, hairdressers were assisting surgeons in certain tasks such as shaving the hair of the patient prior to surgery. Because of this association with the surgeons, the hairdressers probably had gained some knowledge of minor surgical operations. They were also known for their ability to use sharp instruments on sensitive parts of the human body. These credentials gave them some recognition and confidence when they were asked upon to perform some surgical operations. Even today, the villagers in Jaffna (SriLanka) address the hairdresser as ‘Parihari’ (the person who treats). It is interesting to note that in Europe, in 1163 A.D., when Christian priests were barred by the papal decree from taking up any profession that involves bloodletting, surgery was handed over to the hairdressers. In England, during the time of Edward the fourth (1462 A.D), surgeons union was amalgamated with the hairdressers union. Only in 1745 A.D, these two associations were separated. However, Royal college of Surgeons was not recognized until 1800 A.D. Until recently, only Physicians were given the title ‘Doctor’ but the surgeons.
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Development of Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt, by James Henry Breasted, , at sacred-texts.com
Contrary to the popular and current impression, the most important body of sacred literature in Egypt is not the Book of the Dead, but a much older literature which we now call the "Pyramid Texts." These texts, preserved in the Fifth and Sixth Dynasty Pyramids at Sakkara, form the oldest body of literature surviving from the ancient world and disclose to us the earliest chapter in the intellectual history of man as preserved to modern times. They are to the study of Egyptian language and civilization what the Vedas have been in the study of early East Indian and Aryan culture. Discovered in 1880–81, they were published by Maspero in a pioneer edition which will always remain a great achievement and a landmark in the history of Egyptology. The fact that progress has been made in the publication of such epigraphic work is no reflection upon the devoted labors of the distinguished first editor of the Pyramid Texts. The appearance last year of the exhaustive standard edition of the hieroglyphic text at the hands of Sethe after years of study and arrangement marks a new epoch in the study of earliest Egyptian life and religion. How comparatively inaccessible the Pyramid Texts have been until the appearance of Sethe's edition is best illustrated by the fact that no complete analysis or full account of the Pyramid Texts as a whole has ever appeared in English, much less an English version of them. The great and complicated fabric of life which they reflect to us, the religious and intellectual
forces which have left their traces in them, the intrusion of the Osiris faith and the Osirian editing by the hand of the earliest redactor in literary history—all these and many other fundamental disclosures of this earliest body of literature have hitherto been inaccessible to the English reader, and as far as they are new, also to all.
It was therefore with peculiar pleasure that just after the appearance of Sethe's edition of the Pyramid Texts I received President Francis Brown's very cordial invitation to deliver the Morse Lectures at Union Theological Seminary on some subject in Egyptian life and civilization. While it was obviously desirable at this juncture to choose a subject which would involve some account of the Pyramid Texts, it was equally desirable to assign them their proper place in the development of Egyptian civilization. This latter desideratum led to a rather more ambitious subject than the time available before the delivery of the lectures would permit to treat exhaustively, viz., to trace the development of Egyptian religion in its relation to life and thought, as, for example, it has been done for the Hebrews by modern critical and historical study. In the study of Egyptian religion hitherto the effort has perhaps necessarily been to produce a kind of historical encyclopedia of the subject. Owing to their vast extent, the mere bulk of the materials available, this method of study and presentation has resulted in a very complicated and detailed picture in which the great drift of the development as the successive forces of civilization dominated has not been discernible. There has heretofore been little attempt to correlate with religion the other great categories of life and civilization which shaped it. I do not mean that these relationships have not been noticed in certain epochs, especially where they have been so obvious as
hardly to be overlooked, but no systematic effort has yet been made to trace from beginning to end the leading categories of life, thought, and civilization as they successively made their mark on religion, or to follow religion from age to age, disclosing especially how it was shaped by these influences, and how it in its turn reacted on society.
I should have been very glad if this initial effort at such a reconstruction might have attempted a more detailed analysis of the basic documents upon which it rests, and if in several places it might have been broadened and extended to include more categories. That surprising group of pamphleteers who made the earliest crusade for social justice and brought about the earliest social regeneration four thousand years ago (Lecture VII) should be further studied in detail in their bearing on the mental and religious attitude of the remarkable age to which they belonged. I am well aware also of the importance and desirability of a full treatment of cult and ritual in such a reconstruction as that here attempted, but I have been obliged to limit the discussion of this subject chiefly to mortuary ritual and observances, trusting that I have not overlooked facts of importance for our purpose discernible in the temple cult. In the space and time at my disposal for this course of lectures it has not been possible to adduce all the material which I had, nor to follow down each attractive vista which frequently opened so temptingly. I have not undertaken the problem of origins in many directions, like that of sacred animals so prominent in Egypt. Indeed Re and Osiris are so largely anthropomorphic that, in dealing as I have chiefly with the Solar and Osirian faiths, it was not necessary. In the age discussed these two highest gods were altogether human and highly spiritualized, though the thought of Re displays occasional
relapses, as it were, in the current allusions to the falcon, with which he was so early associated. Another subject passed by is the concept of sacrifice, which I have not discussed at all. There is likewise no systematic discussion of the idea of a god's power, though the material for such a discussion will be found here. I would have been glad to devote a lecture to this subject, especially in its relation to magic as a vague and colossal inexorability to which when invoked even the highest god must bow. Only Amenhotep IV (Ikhnaton) seems to have outgrown it, because Oriental magic is so largely demoniac and Amenhotep IV as a monotheist banished the demons and the host of gods.
It will be seen, then, that no rigid outline of categories has been set up. I have taken those aspects of Egyptian religion and thought in which the development and expansion could be most clearly traced, the endeavor being especially to determine the order and succession of those influences which determine the course and character of religious development. It is of course evident that no such influence works at any time to the exclusion of all the others, but there are epochs when, for example, the influence of the state on religion and religious thought first becomes noticeable and a determining force. The same thing is true of the social forces as distinguished from those of the state organization. This is not an endeavor, then, to trace each category from beginning to end, but to establish the order in which the different influences which created Egyptian religion successively became the determining forces. Beginning shortly after 3000 B.C. the surviving documents are, I think, sufficient to disclose these influences in chronological order as they will be found in the "Epitome of the Development" which follows this
preface. Under these circumstances little effort to correlate the phenomena adduced with those of other religions has been made. May I remind the reader of technical attainments also, that the lectures were designed for a popular audience and were written accordingly?
Although we are still in the beginning of the study of Egyptian religion, and although I would gladly have carried these researches much further, I believe that the reconstruction here presented will in the main stand, and that the inevitable alterations and differences of opinion resulting from the constant progress in such a field of research will concern chiefly the details. That the general drift of the religious development in Egypt is analogous to that of the Hebrews is a fact of confirmative value not without interest to students of Comparative Religion and of the Old Testament.
I have been careful to make due acknowledgment in the foot-notes of my indebtedness to the labors of other scholars. The obligation of all scholars in this field to the researches of Erman and Maspero is proverbial, and, as we have said, in his new edition of the Pyramid Texts Sethe has raised a notable monument to his exhaustive knowledge of this subject to which every student of civilization is indebted. May I venture to express the hope that this exposition of religion in the making, during a period of three thousand years, may serve not only as a general survey of the development in the higher life of a great people beginning in the earliest age of man which we can discern at the present day, but also to emphasize the truth that the process of religion-making has never ceased and that the same forces which shaped religion in ancient Egypt are still operative in our own midst and continue to mould our own religion to-day?
The reader should note that half brackets indicate some uncertainty in the rendering of all words so enclosed; brackets enclose words wholly restored, and where the half brackets are combined with the brackets the restoration is uncertain. Parentheses enclose explanatory words not in the original, and dots indicate intentional omission in the translation of an original. Quotations from modern authors are so rare in the volume, and so evident when made, that the reader may regard practically all passages in quotation marks as renderings from an original document. All abbreviations will be intelligible except BAR, which designates the author's Ancient Records of Egypt (five volumes, Chicago, 1905–07), the Roman indicating the volume, and the Arabic the paragraph.
In conclusion, it is a pleasant duty to express my indebtedness to my friend and one-time pupil, Dr. Caroline Ransom, of the Metropolitan Museum, for her kindness in reading the entire page-proof, while for a similar service, as well as the irksome task of preparing the index, I am under great obligation to the goodness of Dr. Charles R. Gillett, of Union Theological Seminary.
James Henry Breasted.
The University of Chicago,
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Gordon Johnson, Extension Vegetable & Fruit Specialist; [email protected]
August is here and it is time to consider late summer and fall cover crop options for vegetable rotations. Cover crop planting windows vary with crop and timely planting is essential to achieve the desired results. Here are some reasons to consider using cover crops in vegetable rotations:
● Return organic matter to the soil. Vegetable rotations are tillage intensive and organic matter is oxidized at a high rate. Cover crops help to maintain organic matter levels in the soil, a critical component of soil health and productivity.
● Provide winter cover. By having a crop (including roots) growing on a field in the winter you recycle plant nutrients (especially nitrogen), reduce leaching losses of nitrogen, reduce erosion by wind and water, and reduce surface compaction and the effects of heavy rainfall on bare soils. Cover crops also compete with winter annual weeds and can help reduce weed pressure in the spring.
● Reduce certain diseases and other pests. Cover crops help to maintain soil organic matter. Residue from cover crops can help increase the diversity of soil organisms and reduce soil borne disease pressure. Some cover crops may also help to suppress certain soil borne pests, such as nematodes, by releasing compounds that affect these pests upon decomposition.
● Provide nitrogen for the following crop. Leguminous cover crops, such as hairy vetch or crimson clover, can provide significant amounts of nitrogen, especially for late spring planted vegetables.
● Improve soil physical properties. Cover crops help to maintain or improve soil physical properties and reduce compaction. Roots of cover crops and incorporated cover crop residue will help improve drainage, water holding capacity, aeration, and tilth.
There are many cover crop options for late summer or fall planting, including:
Rye is often used as a winter cover as it is very cold hardy and deep rooted. It has the added advantage of being tall and strips can be left the following spring to provide windbreaks in crops such as watermelons. Rye makes very good surface mulch for roll-kill or plant through no-till systems for crops such as pumpkins. It also can be planted later (up to early November) and still provide adequate winter cover. Wheat, barley, and triticale are also planted as winter cover crops by vegetable producers.
Spring oats may also be used as a cover crop and can produce significant growth if planted in late August or early September. It has the advantage of winter killing in most years, thus making it easier to manage for early spring crops such as peas or cabbage. All the small grain cover crops will make more cover with some nitrogen application or the use of manure.
To get full advantage of small grain cover crops, use full seeding rates and plant early enough to get some fall tillering. Drilling is preferred to broadcast or aerial seeding.
Both perennial and annual ryegrasses also make good winter cover crops. They are quick growing in the fall and can be planted from late August through October. If allowed to grow in the spring, ryegrasses can add significant organic matter to the soil when turned under, but avoid letting them go to seed.
Winter Annual Legumes
Hairy vetch, crimson clover, field peas, subterranean clover, and other clovers are excellent cover crops and can provide significant nitrogen for vegetable crops that follow. Hairy vetch works very well in no-till vegetable systems where it is allowed to go up to flowering and then is killed by herbicides or with a roller-crimper. It is a common system for planting pumpkins in the region but also works well for late plantings of other vine crops, tomatoes and peppers. Hairy vetch, crimson clover and subterranean clover can provide from 80 to well over 100 pounds of nitrogen equivalent. Remember to inoculate the seeds of these crops with the proper Rhizobial inoculants for that particular legume. All of these legume species should be planted as early as possible – from the last week in August through the end of September to get adequate fall growth. These crops need to be established at least 4 weeks before a killing frost.
There has been an increase in interest in the use of certain Brassica species as cover crops for vegetable rotations.
Rapeseed has been used as a winter cover and has shown some promise in reducing levels of certain nematode in the soil. To take advantage of the biofumigation properties of rapeseed you plant the crop in late summer, allow the plant to develop until early next spring and then till it under before it goes to seed. It is the leaves that break down to release the fumigant-like chemical. Mow rapeseed using a flail mower and plow down the residue immediately. Never mow down more area than can be plowed under within two hours. Note: Mowing injures the plants and initiates a process releasing nematicidal chemicals into the soil. Failure to incorporate mowed plant material into the soil quickly, allows much of these available toxicants to escape by volatilization.
Turnips and mustards can be used for fall cover but not all varieties and species will winter over into the spring. Several mustard species have biofumigation potential and a succession rotation of an August planting of biofumigant mustards that are tilled under in October followed by small grain can significantly reduce diseases for spring planted vegetables that follow.
More recent research in the region has been with forage radish. It produces a giant tap root that acts like a bio-drill, opening up channels in the soil and reducing compaction. When planted in late summer, it will produce a large amount of growth and will smother any winter annual weeds. It will then winter kill leaving a very mellow, weed-free seedbed. It is an ideal cover crop for systems with early spring planted vegetables such as peas.
Oilseed radish is similar to forage radish but has a less significant root. It also winter kills.
Brassicas must be planted early – mid-August through mid-September – for best effect.
Mixtures of rye with winter legume cover crops (such as hairy vetch) have been successful and offer the advantage, in no-till systems, of having a more rapidly decomposing material with the longer residual rye as a mulch.
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Future Reflections Summer/Fall 2005
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by Kasondra L. Payne
Reprinted from the Spring 2003, issue of the Minnesota Bulletin, a publication of the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota.
Editor’s Note: Is there a trick or knack to giving good directions to a blind person? Maybe, but that’s a topic for another issue. This article is about how blind people learn to give good directions to others. As you read it, I challenge you to ask yourself these questions: What am I doing to help my blind child (or student) learn how to give good directions to other people--especially people who are driving him or her someplace? Can my child give directions to and from his or her house--especially from frequently traveled places like school; mom’s place or dad’s place; church, synagogue, or mosque; grandma’s house; a nearby convenience store, etc.? Unlike other skills for which it is hard to find the time to practice, this is an easy one to incorporate into the daily routine: every time you get into the car you can practice it. And it’s easy to turn it into a fun game which all of your kids can play and enjoy. Here, now, is Kasondra to tell you how she learned and refined her skill in “Giving Directions:”
“Kasondra, how do you know what direction you are going?” My friend Jenny always has some new question about blindness for me, but this one startled me. We were socializing with several other women before a church meeting, and I had just given our friend, Sheila, directions to a store across town. Sheila had heard me give directions before, and she knew that I am usually very accurate.
Shawn and Kasondra Payne
I explained, “I have many techniques I use. For example, on a sunny day, I use the position of the sun as a cue to tell me what direction I am walking in. I also use landmarks, and I pay attention to where buses are going. I was trained in these skills when I went through Blindness: Learning In New Dimensions (BLIND), Inc.”
Another friend, Ann, pressed me further. “How do you know the freeways?”
“Well, I just had to learn where the freeways go and how to get from one to another.” I replied. “Did you know that I directed Shawn around town when he moved here before we got married?”
Ann seemed a little surprised, but she listened as I explained the techniques I used to teach my sighted husband, Shawn, where things are in the Twin Cities.
Shawn came from a small town in Idaho where everything is pretty close together. He had lived in a big city before, but Minneapolis, Minnesota, was a whole new ball of wax. Minneapolis and St. Paul are two fairly good-sized cities situated just across the river from each other. That wasn’t difficult for Shawn, but the freeway system in Minnesota can get quite confusing. There are so many freeways, and they often change direction. Shawn had a map, but he couldn’t read it while he was driving. That’s why he relied on me to give him accurate directions.
Shawn never thought it was weird to be getting directions from a blind person. He expected me to know where I was going and how to get there. I had given directions to sighted people before, but most of them were at least familiar with the area. Shawn had never been to Minnesota, and he had no clue where he was going. I promised him that I would teach him how to get around town. This turned out to be a learning experience for both of us.
The first night Shawn was in town we planned to go to a restaurant near my home. I was used to getting there by bus, and I didn’t always pay attention when I went there by car. I knew where the restaurant was, but I was sketchy on some of the details. I asked Shawn to read the street signs to me, so I could figure out where we were. It was a lot like a bus driver calling stops and transfer points. We got a little lost, but we eventually found the restaurant. I realized that some of the same techniques I used when traveling by bus also worked in a car.
Shawn had a month to learn how to get around town. I was going out of town for a week, and he needed to know where things were--like church, his new job, and shopping areas. This wasn’t too difficult, but I wanted him to feel confident about where he was going. We drove around finding the best routes to all these places. Of course, we got lost, but we always found our way out. I wasn’t perfect either. Sometimes I told him to make a wrong turn, but we always got ourselves out of it. Sometimes I forgot that cars couldn’t always go where buses go, or that some streets are one-way only. We ended up in a few bus lanes and turned around on a few deadend roads, but we always made it out. This helped me learn how to give better directions, and Shawn learned everything he needed to know to get around while I was gone.
This story may seem backwards, but it is true. Usually, sighted people are giving us the directions, and they don’t often expect us to know where we are going. Some sighted people don’t believe that blind people can give them directions to go anywhere. We are helpless and weak to these people. They believe they must take care of us and help us get on our way. That is why I am thankful for my training at Blindness: Learning in New Dimensions (BLIND). While I was there, I learned the travel skills I needed to get around independently. I learned how to use sound cues, the sun, and landmarks to find my way around. I also learned to pay attention to where I was going when I was on a bus, in a taxi, or in a car. More importantly, I learned that I could travel confidently, and that I was capable of giving good directions.
My friends may have been amazed that a blind person could give
a sighted person accurate directions. I was able to explain how I give directions,
and they saw that a blind person could do something so normal. As we do things
like this, we change people’s perceptions of what blind people can do. That’s
what we’re good at in the National Federation of the Blind. As we learn the
skills of blindness, we have the power to change attitudes about blindness.
Being able to give directions is just part of this. So I can say to my friends,
“Yes, I do know what direction I am going, and I can help you as well!”
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Turn Photos into 3d Models thanks to David McKinnon
David McKinnon, a researcher from Queensland University of Technology, has developed a software tool called 3DSee that can take a collection of ordinary 2D photographs and process them into a 3D model with surprising accuracy.
Dr McKinnon said the software automatically locates and tracks common points between the images allowing a determination of where the cameras were when the photos were taken. This information is then used to create a 3D model from the images using graphics cards to massively accelerate the computations.
A nice application of GPGPU computing. However, not just any images will do. According to Dr McKinnon, it requires 5-15 images, each overlapping by a minimum of 80%. Essentially, it sounds like he needs video slowly panning around the object.
If the accuracy is high enough, I can envision this replacing (or supplementing) alot of 3D Scanning technology used by the graphics and mechanical engineering community.
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| 0.946662 | 199 | 3.28125 | 3 |
Another piece of history
As a Seattle Museum of Flight member, I am pleased that the Lockheed Electra has been saved in flyable condition, and will anchor a major exhibit. [“A piece of history takes wing,” NW Sunday, Sept. 22.]
Meanwhile, more than 2,000 miles to the east, Boeing’s strategic-bomber prototype, XB-47, languishes outdoors in the Chanute Air Museum in Illinois. Boeing’s prototype Stratojets were used to develop the basic configuration for large, high-speed turbojet airplanes.
The B-47 thrust Boeing into the aeronautical big-time and to great prosperity. Its design is now the accepted standard worldwide. Large aircraft built by Boeing, Airbus and a host of other manufacturers adhere to that standard.
2,032 B-47s were built, followed by thousands of Boeing-built bomber planes. To those figures must be added additional thousands of U.S. and foreign aircraft that trail in the Stratojet’s jet wash.
I hope that a movement will develop to rescue Boeing’s most important airplane (a national treasure), to bring it home, refurbish it and display it indoors.
Anthony Pomata, Maple Valley
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Sonoma County Wine Timeline 1800's
1812 – Russian Colonists planted grapes at Fort Ross (Sonoma Coast.)
1823 – Spanish Franciscan Father Jose Altamira (Sonoma Mission) planted several thousand vines.
1834 – Political upheaval brought an appropriation of all missions by the Mexican government. During this period, cuttings from Sonoma Mission vineyards were transported and planted throughout northern California.
1845 – Bear Flag Revolt in Sonoma; California becomes independent.
1855 – The Hungarian Count Agoston Haraszthy “The father of California Wine Industry” founded Buena Vista winery in Sonoma Valley.
1856 – Cyrus Alexander plants grapes in northern Sonoma County.
1873 – Worldwide outbreak of phylloxera destroys vineyards. 1920-50’s
1920 – There were 256 wineries. With more than 22,000 acres (8,900 ha) in production, Sonoma County had surpassed Los Angeles.
1920-33 – 18th Amendment launches Prohibition. Home winemaking booms. 200 gallons (757 liters) per household are allowed. California produces 150 million gallons (567 million liters) of home wine. Acreage grows to over 30,000 acres (12,000 ha) in grape production.
1933 – By the time Prohibition is repealed, only 160 of California’s 700 wineries remained. Less than 50 wineries in Sonoma County survive.
1933-1945 – WWII prevented importing of French wines, which helped Sonoma County wineries to slowly build and revive; much of new production went into bulk wines.
1945 – 1955 – Post war grape and wine overproduction showed things down, and pro-ration programs were instituted by the government to deal with the glut. Sonoma County pioneers worked through this to rebuild their wine and grape businesses.1960s to Present
1960's – As the 1960s redefined so many facets of American life, the decade made its mark on the Sonoma County wine industry. Americans developed a taste for wine and demand began to grow.
Early 1970s – A second generation of wineries are started, following a nationwide wine boom. Consumption grows at a 40% rate.
1975 – Wine labels are regulated and appellations begin to be important in marketing Sonoma County’s wines. Planted acreage returns toward 1920s levels of 24,000 acres (9,700 ha.)
1980s – Sonoma County made the transition from being known as a producer dairy, grain and fruit crops with grapes in fourth position. By 1989 grapes were Sonoma County’s top revenue-generating agricultural crop. Technological advances in winemaking improved wines to meet the more discerning tastes of consumers.
1999 – There are over 49,000 acres (19,800 ha) of vineyards owned by more than 750 growers and 180 bonded wineries in Sonoma County.
Today – Sonoma County has 15 unique AVAs and more than 50 grape varieties are planted here. It is estimated that the wine industry and related tourism contributes over $8 billion to the local economy each year, about 40% of the county's contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
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Carroll, John, 1735–1815, American Roman Catholic churchman, b. Maryland. He studied as a child with Jesuits at Bohemia, Md., and later at Saint-Omer in Flanders, since Catholic secondary education was not allowed in Maryland. He joined the Jesuits in 1753, studied at Liège, and was ordained in 1769. After the suppression of the Jesuits he returned to America and traveled about, ministering to scattered Catholics. He maintained a private chapel, for Catholic churches were forbidden by law. He ardently supported the American Revolution and accompanied Benjamin Franklin (his close friend) on an unsuccessful mission to Quebec (1776) to persuade the Canadians to join the Revolutionary cause. Believing that American Roman Catholics should be free of supervision by the vicar apostolic of London, he led in petitioning Rome for the appointment of a priest in America with some episcopal powers. In 1784, Father Carroll was made superior of the missions in the United States. In the same year he published a controversial pamphlet, An Address to the Roman Catholics of the United States of America, to combat a paper impugning the loyalty of Catholics. In 1790 he was consecrated bishop of Baltimore. He welcomed the Sulpicians, who opened a seminary at Baltimore, and he founded Georgetown Univ. Carroll fostered many communities and founded schools throughout his diocese. In 1808 he became archbishop, with suffragans at Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and Bardstown, Ky. His last years were somewhat clouded by disputes with Catholic communities in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina, and Maryland over his episcopal jurisdiction.
See biographies by J. G. Shea (1888), P. K. Guilday (1922), and A. M. Melville (1955).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
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| 0.96314 | 400 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Ultrasonic Bubble-Sizing Instrument
- Created: Sunday, 01 October 2000
Bubbles associated with decompression sickness can be detected noninvasively.
An ultrasonic instrument has been developed for measuring the sizes of bubbles in the human body. A primary example is that of bubbles associated with decompression sickness (the "bends"); these bubbles consist mostly of nitrogen and can occur in both blood vessels and extravascular tissues. The bubbles can lodge (embolize) in vessels in the lungs and elsewhere, causing any of a variety of pathological conditions. Gaseous emboli that cause decompression sickness pose a serious risk of injury to aviators, astronauts, divers, and other individuals who are exposed to varying environmental pressures. Gaseous emboli can also be serious complications of cardiopulmonary bypass operations, introduction of air during cardiotomy, and cavitation bubbles generated by replacement heart valves.
The present instrument can be expected to aid research on decompression sickness and other gaseous embolic events by providing a capability to: (1) distinguish between gaseous and thrombotic emboli, and (2) measure the sizes of gaseous emboli noninvasively. It could be useful in research on heart valves, development of coronary-bypass machines, and cardiotomy.
The physical basis of the instrument is the use of ultrasound to excite the resonant behavior (oscillatory expansion and contraction) of gaseous emboli. The resonant behavior is a function of the bubble diameter and has been well characterized analytically, so that little or no calibration of the instrument is needed. Nongaseous (e.g., thrombotic) emboli do not display the same resonant characteristics as do gaseous emboli; this difference can be a means for distinguishing between the two types of emboli.
The instrument includes several ultrasonic transducers. One of them, denoted the pump transducer, is driven at a relatively low ultrasonic frequency (fp) and is used to excite the fundamental vibrational mode of any bubbles that may be present. The other transducers are operated at a higher carrier frequency (fi) in a pulse/echo mode and are part of an ultrasonic imaging subinstrument used to observe bubbles as they resonate. The instrument also includes signal-processing and -analysis equipment.
To interrogate the measurement volume for a particular bubble size, one simultaneously insonifies the measurement volume with (1) a pump signal with fp set at the resonance frequency for that bubble size and (2) the higher-frequency imaging signal. Properly excited, the bubbles respond nonlinearly to the ultrasonic signals. In this case, they act as signal mixers; consequently, measurable signals at fi + fp and fi — fp are present in the high-frequency return signal if and only if there is a gaseous bubble with a fundamental resonance frequency equal to fp. The range of bubble sizes of interest is scanned by varying fp frequency over the appropriate range.
This work was done by Patrick J. Magari, Robert Kline-Schoder, and Brant Stoedefalke of Creare, Inc., for Johnson Space Center. For further information, access the Technical Support Package (TSP) free on-line at www.nasatech.com/tsp under the Physical Sciences category.
This invention is owned by NASA, and a patent application has been filed. Inquiries concerning nonexclusive or exclusive license for its commercial development should be addressed to the Patent Counsel, Johnson Space Center, (281) 483-0837. Refer to MSC-22980.
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The Higgs That Got Away, the “Bump” that Wouldn’t and Other Loose Ends at Fermilab
“If we would have been more lucky and the Higgs mass would have been at 115 or 160 GeV instead of 125, we could have discovered it before LHC, or at least produce evidence of it,” said Gregorio Bernardi a physicist at Fermilab.
Two days before CERN’s historic announcement, Fermilab released the last Higgs results from the now defunct Tevatron. They had gotten tantalizingly close to seeing the Higgs, but weren’t quite able to announce they had seen hard evidence for it, much less a discovery. They saw a spike in the data right around 125 GeV, the same place where the LHC saw the Higgs, but nowhere near a significance great enough claim the discovery. It effectively set the stage for CERN’s big announcement two days later.
In order to claim a “discovery” in physics one needs to be able to say that the likelihood of their results being random chance be less than one in about a million. On a bell curve used in statistical analysis, this is five standard deviations away from average, also known as a “sigma.” In order to find “evidence,” a three-sigma result is needed.
“We were just shy of three sigma. The odds [that] this signal is just by chance is in the ballpark of a percent or so,” said Dan Hooper, a researcher at Fermilab.
Researchers at Fermilab were racing CERN to be the first to produce evidence that the Higgs boson existed. Fermilab was always the underdog. CERN’s particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider, was bigger and more powerful than Fermilab’s Tevatron. Even so in August of 2009, while the LHC was shut down for repairs, Fermilab boldly announced that it had a good chance of finding the Higgs boson before its European rival.
“[The] LHC got indeed worried that Tevatron could come first, and this could have happened if the Higgs would have been at 160 or 115 GeV,” Bernardi said. “However it was never sure the Tevatron would have enough data to claim complete discovery (5 standard deviations), while LHC in the end would have enough data. In the end LHC came first also since the machine performed extremely well in these last two years.”
Once the LHC started up again, it worked better than researchers predicted and was accumulating more data than hoped. In July 2009, CERN announced that it expected to find the elusive boson by the end of 2012, but ultimately only needed seven months.
“Even if [the Tevatron] had been running the whole time, the LHC would have made the discovery first,” Hooper said.
Bernardi agreed, saying that the Tevatron got “rather close, but at least three more years of data would have been needed.”
In an ironic twist, Tevatron detectors are actually better than the LHC at seeing the most common signature of the Higgs boson. The Higgs only lives for a fraction of a second, then breaks into different more stable fundamental particles, most commonly bottom and anti-bottom quarks.
“This is one aspect of the Higgs that the Tevatron is the best game in town,” Hooper said. “At this time the Tevatron is more sensitive to this channel than the LHC is.”
Though the Tevatron is more sensitive to these bottom quarks, the LHC was producing many more of them at a time and more than made up for its lack of sensitivity.
The one last loose end from Fermilab is the fate of a mysterious “bump” in one of its experiments seen in April of last year. Its detector, the CDF, saw a different weak spike in its data, this time around 150 GeV or so. It likely was not the Higgs, its too heavy for that, but what caused the spike is still a mystery.
Because the same bump wasn’t seen in the preliminary LHC results or the Tevatron’s other big experiment DZero, many scientists have written off the signal as the result of some as yet unknown systematic error in the experiment.
“It turned out that this bump was probably a combination of statistics and systematic effects,” Bernardi said. “Once [DZero] and the LHC collaborations showed they were not seeing this bump, and that they were possible experimental effects to explain this, this matter was put to rest.”
However not all researchers are so convinced. Hooper maintains that there still are some lingering questions about the bump. What confounded the researchers is how the bump stubbornly wouldn’t disappear from the CDF’s data. The CDF team reran their experiment, and found that the significance of the bump jumped from a 3.2-sigma event, up to 4.1-sigma result, just under the certainty needed to declare a discovery.
“I think its still an open question, but there’s a lot of skepticism among my colleagues about that particular signal,” Hooper said. He added that now the LHC has found the Higgs, one of the other areas for it to look more carefully into is this mysterious bump.
A documentary team filmed during this time in the "race to find the Higgs before CERN" The PBS documentary is really worth watching.
Friday, July 20, 2012 at 10:39 AM
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| 0.971883 | 1,220 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Lymph Node Biopsy
(Biopsy Lymph Nodes)
Lymph nodes are found throughout the body. They are part of the body’s immune system. These nodes help fight infection by producing special white blood cells. They also work by trapping bacteria, viruses, and cancer cells. Normally, lymph nodes cannot be felt unless they are swollen. Infection, usually by a virus, is the most common cause of lymph node swelling. Other causes include bacterial infection and cancer.
With this type of biopsy, the doctor removes and examines all or part of a lymph node.
Reasons for Procedure
This biopsy is done to find out why a node is swollen. It can also be done to see if there are cancer cells in the lymph node.
Common areas for biopsy include:
- Under the jaw and chin
- Behind the ears
Complications are rare, but no procedure is completely free of risk. If you are planning to have a lymph node biopsy, your doctor will review a list of possible complications, which may include:
- Nerve damage, including numbness at the biopsy site
What to Expect
Prior to Procedure
Leading up to your procedure, you will need to:
Talk to your doctor about your medical history, including:
- Any allergies that you have
- Any medications you take, including over-the-counter drugs and herbs and supplements. You may be asked to stop taking some medications up to 1 week before the procedure.
- Arrange for a ride home from the care center.
- Avoid eating or drinking anything after midnight if you will have general anesthesia.
- Local anesthesia—just the area that is being operated on is numbed; given as an injection and may also be given with a sedative
- General anesthesia is used for open biopsies—blocks pain and keeps you asleep through the surgery; given through an IV in your hand or arm
Description of the Procedure
Lymph nodes samples can be obtained by:
- Needle biopsy
- Open biopsy
There are 2 types of needle biopsies:
- Fine needle biopsy —A thin, hollow needle is used to obtain tissue samples.
- Core needle biopsy—A larger needle is used to cut out a piece of tissue.
Lymph Node Biopsy
How Much Will It Hurt?
You will have some pain and tenderness after the biopsy is taken. Your doctor may give you pain medication.
Call Your Doctor
After arriving home, contact your doctor if any of the following occurs:
- Signs of infection, including fever and chills
- Redness, swelling, increasing pain, excessive bleeding, or any discharge from the incision site
- New or worsening symptoms
In case of an emergency, call for emergency medical services right away.
American Cancer Society
National Cancer Institute
Canadian Cancer Society
Cancer Care Ontario
Sentinel lymph node biopsy: questions and answers. National Cancer Institute website. Available at: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/therapy/sentinel-node-biopsy. Updated August 11, 2011. Accessed February 24, 2015.
Testing biopsy and cytology specimens for cancer. American Cancer Society website. Available at: http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ped/content/ped_2_3x_testing_biopsy_and_cytology_specimens_for_cancer.asp?sitearea=ped. Accessed February 24, 2015
Last reviewed February 2015 by Igor Puzanov, MD; Michael Woods, MD
Please be aware that this information is provided to supplement the care provided by your physician. It is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. CALL YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
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| 0.907676 | 840 | 3.15625 | 3 |
- Table View
- List View
Metabolic engineering is the practice of genetically optimizing metabolic and regulatory networks within cells to increase production and/or recovery of certain substance from cells. In Microbial Metabolic Engineering: Methods and Protocols expert researchers in the field detail many of the methods which are now commonly used to study metabolic engineering. These include methods and techniques to engineer genes and pathways, use of modern biotechnology tools in microbial metabolic engineering, and examples of metabolic engineering for real world applications such as whole cell biosensors and acetate control in large scale fermentation. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular BiologyTM series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and key tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and practical, Microbial Metabolic Engineering: Methods and Protocols seeks to provide researchers with an overview of key topics on microbial metabolic engineering.
Select your format based upon: 1) how you want to read your book, and 2) compatibility with your reading tool. To learn more about using Bookshare with your device, visit the Help Center.
Here is an overview of the specialized formats that Bookshare offers its members with links that go to the Help Center for more information.
- Bookshare Web Reader - a customized reading tool for Bookshare members offering all the features of DAISY with a single click of the "Read Now" link.
- DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) - a digital book file format. DAISY books from Bookshare are DAISY 3.0 text files that work with just about every type of access technology that reads text. Books that contain images will have the download option of ‘DAISY Text with Images’.
- BRF (Braille Refreshable Format) - digital Braille for use with refreshable Braille devices and Braille embossers.
- MP3 (Mpeg audio layer 3) - Provides audio only with no text. These books are created with a text-to-speech engine and spoken by Kendra, a high quality synthetic voice from Ivona. Any device that supports MP3 playback is compatible.
- DAISY Audio - Similar to the Daisy 3.0 option above; however, this option uses MP3 files created with our text-to-speech engine that utilizes Ivonas Kendra voice. This format will work with Daisy Audio compatible players such as Victor Reader Stream and Read2Go.
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| 0.898893 | 520 | 2.53125 | 3 |
MAY 25, 2011: At the core of the budget crisis facing states are regressive state tax structures that are unfair, unsound, and unsustainable by design. A report released today by United for a Fair Economy provides a sensible solution: inverting the state’s current tax structure.
- Every state has a regressive tax structure that would benefit significantly from a direct inversion into a progressive structure.
- An inverted tax structure for every state would raise a combined $490 billion in new revenue, immediately eliminating state budget deficits.
- A cuts-only approach to state budget deficits is shortsighted—imposing immediate harm on families, while dampening economic recovery and compromising the future competitiveness of the American workforce.
- A progressive tax structure provides commonsense equity, economic efficiency, and adequate revenue to invest in communities and spur economic growth.
- To achieve an inverted, progressive structure, states must establish or improve upon the graduated personal income tax while reducing reliance at the state and local level on regressive sales, property, and excise taxes.
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| 0.92464 | 213 | 2.515625 | 3 |
The first volume of what may well be the definitive biography of Mohandas Gandhi, Ramachandra Guha’s Gandhi Before India covers the years from Gandhi’s birth in 1869 through his departure from South Africa in July, 1914.
Biographers have often treated Gandhi’s earlier life– especially his two decades working in South Africa–as a little more than a warm-up for leading the struggle for Indian independence. Guha gives this period serious and detailed attention, arguing that such attention is necessary if we are to understand both “how the Mahatma was made” and Gandhi’s critical role in South African history.
Even a reader who is familiar with Gandhi’s history will find new insights in Gandhi Before India. Guha not only draws on Gandhi’s own writings from and about this period, but also uses a wide range of contemporary sources, from Gandhi’s childhood school reports to secret files kept by South African officials. By focusing on contemporary records rather than retrospective accounts, he overturns some accepted “truths” and introduces new elements to a familiar story. Perhaps the most interesting parts of the book are the side excursions that illuminate elements of Gandhi’s life: the British ranking Indian rulers, the history of vegetarianism in England, Johannesburg as a cultural and intellectual melting pot.
Gandhi Before India is a step-by-step account of how a previously uninspiring member of a Gujurati merchant caste transcended the conventions of his caste, class, religious and ethnic backgrounds to become one of the most important–and controversial–figures of the twentieth century. I recommend it highly.
A version of this review appeared previously in Shelf Awareness for Readers.
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Perihelion and Eccentricity
The sun as seen from Earth at Aphelion (farthest distance from the sun) and Perihelion (closest distance to the sun).
Image Credit: BZD via flickr
As planets revolve around our sun, none of them move in a perfect circle; the planets' orbits, including the Earth's orbit, are elliptical.
Consequently, every January the Earth makes its closest approach to the sun at a point called the perihelion. When it's as far away from the sun as possible, the Earth reaches the opposite point: the aphelion. Earth most recently reached perihelion on January 2, 2013.
Physicists can rank how far an orbit deviates from a perfect circle on the scale of eccentricity. Planets with higher eccentricities have more stretched out orbits, and planets with an eccentricity of zero would have a perfectly circular orbit.
All orbiting planets fall between 0 and 1 on the eccentricity scale. Planets with an eccentricity equal to or greater than one move in parabolic and hyperbolic trajectories, respectively. Celestial bodies that have eccentricities this high would eventually shoot away from the sun after zipping closeby.
You can see the planets ranked by eccentricity below. Although Pluto was demoted to dwarf planet status a few years ago for other reasons, it still wins the eccentricity race.
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| 0.951073 | 297 | 4.1875 | 4 |
A day after the dramatic ending of the Bali climate talks, many are wondering if the result was indeed the best outcome possible given the circumstances.
The United States was brought back to the fold, but at the cost of excising from the final document — the so-called Bali Roadmap — any reference to the need for a 25-40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2020. Such reductions are necessary to keep the mean global temperature increase in the 21st century to 2.0-2.4 degrees Celsius. This lack of mandatory cuts prompted one civil society participant to remark that “The Bali roadmap is a roadmap to anywhere.”
Would it have been better to have simply let the United States walk out, allowing the rest of the world to forge a strong agreement containing deep mandatory cuts in greenhouse gas emissions on the part of the developed countries? With a new U.S. president and a new policy on climate change expected at the beginning of 2009, the United States would have rejoined a process that would already be moving along with strong binding targets. As it is now, having been part of the Bali consensus, Bush administration negotiators will be able to continue their obstructionist tactics to further water down global action throughout the negotiations in 2008.
If Washington had remained true to its ideological propensities, it would have stomped out of the room when the delegate from Papua New Guinea, releasing the conference’s pent-up collective frustration, issued his now historic challenge: “We ask for your leadership and we seek your leadership. If you are not willing to lead, please get out of the way.” But after last-minute consultations with Washington, the American negotiator backed down from the hard-line U.S. position on an Indian amendment seeking the conference’s understanding for the different capacities of developing countries to deal with climate change. The negotiator reported that Washington “will go forward and join the consensus.”
The single-minded focus on getting Washington on board resulted in the dearth of hard obligations except for the deadline for the negotiating body, the “Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention,” to have its work ready for adoption at the Conference of Parties in Copenhagen in 2009 (COP 15).
Many delegates also felt ambivalent about the institutional arrangements that were agreed on after over a week of hard North-South negotiations.
- An Adaptation Fund was set up, but it was put under the administration of the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) of the U.S.-dominated World Bank. Moreover, the seed funds from the developed countries are expected to come to only $18.6-37.2 million, sums that are severely inadequate to support the emergency efforts to address the ongoing ravages of climate change in the small island states and others on the “frontlines” of climate change. Oxfam estimates that a minimum of $50 billion a year will be needed to assist all developing countries adapt to climate change.
- A “strategic program” for technology development and transfer was also approved, again with troubling compromises. The developing countries had initially held out for the mechanism to be a designated a “facility” but finally had to agree to the watered-down characterization of the initiative as a “program” on account of U.S. intransigence. Moreover, the program was also placed under the GEF with no firm levels of funding stated for an enterprise that is expected to cost hundreds of billions of dollars.
- The REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) initiative pushed by host Indonesia and several other developing countries with large forests that are being cut down rapidly was adopted. The idea is to get the developed world to channel money to these countries, via aid or market mechanisms, to maintain these forests as carbon sinks. However, many climate activists fear that indigenous communities will be victimized by predatory private interests that will position themselves as the main recipients of the funds raised.
Still, many felt that the meager and mixed results were better than nothing.
Perhaps the best indication on whether the conference was right to bend over backward almost 180 degrees to accommodate the United States will come next month in Honolulu during the Major Economies Meeting, a Washington-initiated conference originally designed to subvert the UN process. The question on everyone’s lips is: Will the Bush administration revert to form and use the conference to launch a separate process to derail the Bali Roadmap?
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| 0.95942 | 931 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Fall Words Reading Tree Activity
Celebrate the fiery colors of fall with a charming tree and a pile of wordy leaves. Once completed, your child will have a vocabulary activity bursting with seasonal charm and fun fall words.
What You Need:
- White poster board
- Brown marker
- Red chalk
- Yellow chalk
- Orange chalk
- Tan chalk
- Fall vocabulary words
What You Do:
- Have your child use a brown marker to draw a tree on the white poster board.
- Help her cut the tree out of the poster board. Make sure none of the branches accidentally get cut off.
- Let your child use red, yellow, orange and tan chalk to scribble all over the rest of the poster board. The colors should blend, so urge her to overlap each shade.
- Have her cut out twenty football-shaped leaves from the colored poster board.
- Let her write one word from her fall vocabulary list on ten of the leaves.
- Write ten words that have nothing to do with fall on the remaining leaves. Don't let her see these words!
- Spread out all the leaves on the table.
- Have your child select only the fall words from the pile.
- As she picks each word, ask her to define it.
- Keep going until the tree is filled with vibrant fall leaves!
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| 0.908641 | 279 | 3.546875 | 4 |
A Patient's Guide to Back and Neck Braces
If you are diagnosed with a spinal disorder, deformity, or potential problem
that can by helped through the use of external structural support, your physician
may recommend the use of a back or neck brace. Braces offer a safe, non-invasive
way to prevent future problems or to help you heal from a current condition.
The use of braces is widely accepted. They are effective tools in the treatment
of spine disorders. In fact, more than 99% of orthopedic physicians advocate
Braces are really nothing new. They have actually been around for centuries.
Lumbosacral corsets (for the lower back) were used as far back as 2000 B.C.!
Bandage and splint braces were used in 500 A.D. in an effort to correct scoliosis
(a spine with a sideways curve). Recently, braces have become a popular way
to actually help prevent primary and secondary lower back pain from ever occurring.
There are more than 30 types of back supports available for spine disorders.
This website will discuss several common types and why they are used.
This website will cover:
- Neck Braces
- Trochanteric Belts
- Sacroiliac and Lumbosacral Belts
- Rigid Braces
- Hyperextension Braces
- Molded Jackets
- Lifting Belts
- Clinical Uses
- Goals of Spinal Bracing
- Possible Drawbacks
Neck braces are used to provide stability of the cervical spine after neck
surgery, a trauma to the neck, or as an alternative to surgery. They are probably
the type of spinal brace you most commonly see people wearing. There are several
types available, including:
Soft Collar - This flexible brace is placed around the neck. It is typically
used after a more rigid collar has been worn for the major healing. It is used
as a transition to wearing no collar.
Philadelphia Collar - This is a more rigid/stiff collar that has a front
and back piece that attaches with Velcro on the sides. It is usually worn 24
hours a day until your physician instructs you to remove it. This collar is
used for conditions such as: a relatively stable cervical (upper spine) fracture,
cervical fusion surgery, or a cervical strain. Another similar type is the Miami
Sterno-Occipital Mandibular Immobilization Device (SOMI) - A SOMI
is a brace that holds your neck in a straight line that matches up with your
spine. It offers rigid support to a damaged neck and prevents the head from
moving around. With this brace, you are unable to bend or twist your neck. The
restriction of motion helps the muscles and bones to heal from injury or surgery.
If you look at what the name means, you will better understand what a SOMI
does: "sterno" means your upper and middle chest, "occipital" is the base of
your skull, "mandibular" refers to your jaw and chin, and "immobilization" describes
the support and movement restriction the brace offers. The SOMI is worn on the
parts of the body for which it is named. First, there is a chin piece that the
lower jaw rests on. Second, the chin piece connects by straps to a headband
that is worn across the forehead. Third, the chin piece connects to a chest
piece by a front metal extension. Finally, the chest piece then rests on the
upper and middle chest - sort of like a vest. This connects to the occipital
piece, which supports the base of the head.
This brace is obviously a bit more complicated and cumbersome than some of
the others, but it provides excellent support for an injured neck.
Halo - The main purpose of the halo is to immobilize the head and neck.
This is the most rigid of the cervical braces. It is only used after complex
cervical spine surgery or if there is an unstable cervical fracture. The halo
looks a lot like the word sounds. It has a titanium ring (halo) that goes around
your head, secured to the skull by four metal pins. The ring then attaches by
four bars to a vest that is worn on the chest. The vest offers the weight to
hold the ring and neck steadily in place. The Halo is worn 24 hours a day until
the spine injury heals.
The trochanteric belt is usually prescribed for sacroiliac joint pain or pelvic
fractures. The belt fits around the pelvis, between the trochanter (a bony portion
below the neck of your thigh bone) and the iliac (pelvis) ridges/crests. It
is about five to eight centimeters wide and it buckles in front, just like a
Sacroiliac and Lumbosacral Belts
The lumbosacral belt helps to stabilize the lower back. These belts are usually
made of heavy cotton reinforced by lightweight stays. The pressure can be adjusted
through laces on the side or back of the belt. These belts range in widths between
10 to 15 centimeters, and 20 to 30 centimeters. The sacroiliac belt is used
to prevent motion by putting a compressive force on the joints between the hipbone
and sacrum (base of the spine).
Corsets provide rigidity and support for the back. Corsets can vary in length.
A shorter or longer corset will be prescribed, depending upon your condition.
A short corset is typically used for low back pain, while a longer one is used
for problems in the mid to lower thoracic spine. When people think of corsets,
they usually conjure up images of women from earlier centuries who used them
to make their waists look smaller. Today, in the treatment of back problems,
corsets refer to a type of back brace that extends over the buttocks and is
often held up by shoulder straps. Like the corsets of old, these lace up from
the back, side, or front. There are metal stays that provide the appropriate
rigidity and support for the back.
These braces are typically prescribed for low back pain and instability. If
greater rigidity is needed to support the spine than can be found in standard
back supports, rigid frame spinal bracing is often prescribed. These are stiff
braces. They usually consist of rear uprights that contour to the lumbar (lower)
spine and pelvis, along with thoracic bands. There are also fabric straps on
the braces that provide pressure in the front. Common types of rigid models
Williams Brace - This type of brace has no vertical uprights in the
middle so that flexion/bending is allowed.
Chair-back Brace - This type immobilizes the lumbar spine in the neutral
position. The chair-back is designed to reduce sideways and revolving movement
of the lower spine.
Raney Flexion Jacket - This type reduces lumbar lordosis by holding
the patient in a neutral tilt.
This brace is designed to prevent excessive bending, and it is often prescribed
to treat frontal compression fractures that have occurred around the junction
of the thoracic and lumbar spine. The brace can also be used for post surgery
healing from a spinal fusion.
These braces offer support that allows anterior (front) pressure unloading
of the thoracic vertebrae by restricting flexion (bending) of the thoracic and
braces have a front rectangular metal frame that puts pressure over the
upper sternum and the pubis/pubic bone. This encourages spinal extension. There
is opposing pressure applied over the T-10 level (the tenth vertebra in your
thoracic spine). The braces offer what is called "three-point stabilization"
to the spine through a front abdominal pad, a chest pad, and a rear pad at the
level of the fracture.
By applying pressure in three-points - sternal, pubis and rear Lumbosacral
- the spine is extended/stretched. The sternum is the narrow, flat bone in the
front middle of thorax. The thorax is the portion of body between the base of
the neck and the lower diaphragm.
The most common types of Hyperextension Braces are Knight Taylor and
jackets are designed to distribute pressure widely over a large area. By
immobilizing the patient from the neck to the hips, pressure is distributed
evenly, taking excess pressure off overloaded or unstable areas. These jackets
were originally made of plaster of Paris, but now are typically made out of
These belts are designed to reduce low back strain and muscle fatigue that
can occur when you are lifting heavy objects. The belt circles around the waist,
covering the lumbar region of the spine, and closes in front. These belts are
usually made of cloth or canvas and do not have stays. Some models also have
The braces/supports are most frequently used to treat: low back pain, trauma,
infections, muscular weakness, neck conditions, and osteoporosis. Braces, belts,
and jackets are designed to immobilize and support the spine when there is a
condition that needs to be treated. Depending on the model that is used, they
can put the spine in a: neutral, upright, hyper-extended, flexed, or lateral-flexed
Goals of Spinal Bracing
Spinal bracing is used for a variety of reasons such as to: control pain, lessen
the chance of further injury, allow healing to take place, compensate for muscle
weakness, or prevent or correct a deformity. More specifically, lumbar corsets
and braces compress the abdomen, which increases the intra-abdominal pressure.
This act allows pressure on the vertebral column to unload, providing some relief.
There are other reasons bracing is used. One is the theory that they insulate
the skin, producing increased warmth that decreases the sensation of pain -
much like a heating pad. Another reason is that the increase in abdominal pressure
produces hydraulic support for the back. Finally, certain types of movement
may cause stress to the pain generators in the back. The decrease in range of
movement by using bracing may relieve this type of pain.
Though the effects of bracing are primarily positive, they can lead to a loss
of muscle function, due to inactivity. Bracing can sometimes lead to psychological
addiction, so that even when the patient is healed and ready to be taken off
the back brace, he or she feels dependent upon it for physical support.
Copyright © 2003 DePuy Acromed.
« Back to Patient Guides
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|
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| 0.924313 | 2,301 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Balloon Flight Over Ancient Thebes
by Peter Tyson
March 12, 1999
One of the best ways to get a sense of the monumental architecture that
obelisks epitomize is to fly over some of its finest examples in a balloon,
as we did yesterday. Relive the flight with us now as we ponder from above
the great mortuary temples of the Theban necropolis.
Yesterday dawned clear and still, with not a breath of wind - ideal
ballooning weather. As the balloon crew waved us off, we ascended a few feet
a second into the cloudless sky over the West Bank of Luxor. Bushy fields of
grain, their heads heavy with ripe seed, spread east to the Nile about a
mile away. Every now and then, our amiable pilot Yehia would fire up the gas
jet, sending an obelisk of flame and the necessary hot air into the
balloon's cavernous interior. Catching us off guard, the loud whoosh of the
gas would suddenly extinguish all conversation. Otherwise, it was so silent
you could hear a fellahin urging his donkey along a path 700 feet below.
Thebes, as Luxor was known in ancient times, was the most important capital
of the New Kingdom. The East Bank, facing the rising sun, boasted the
glorious temples of Karnak and Luxor, where the pharaohs prayed to their
favorite god, Amun, one of the gods of creation. By contrast, the West Bank,
facing the setting sun, held the necropolis or burying ground of the kings
and queens, each in their own valley. It also featured a string of immense
mortuary temples, where bald-headed priests worshipped the memory of the
now-deified pharaoh long after his passage to the netherworld.
Our balloon prepares for take-off from a field in Luxor.
The Colossi of Memnon
See the Colossi of Memnon at the top of this photo? Amenophis III's mortuary temple once entirely filled the brown field behind them.|
Despite the boasting of its builder Amenophis III that it would be
everlasting, the vast mortuary temple that once stood in back of the
Colossi of Memnon has completely disappeared. Flooding and stone robbing
have left but an empty field. Ironically, only the foundations remain of
this sandstone edifice, the largest structure ever built on the West Bank.
The New Kingdom reached a peak of prosperity and peace under Amenophis III
(1408-1372), who was one of the great builders of the period. He erected
Luxor Temple on the East Bank, and his mortuary temple was only one part of
a huge complex known as the "House of Amun on the West of Thebes." The House
also featured a harbor and an entire palace city of mudbrick that Amenophis
III ordered built on the edge of the desert.
balloon rises between the Colossi of Memnon.
Continue: The Ramesseum
Explore Ancient Egypt |
Raising the Obelisk |
Meet the Team
Classroom Resources |
Site Map |
Mysteries of the Nile Home
Editor's Picks |
Previous Sites |
Join Us/E-mail |
About NOVA |
Site Map |
PBS Online |
NOVA Online |
© | Updated November 2000
Support provided by
For new content
visit the redesigned
|
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|
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| 0.927975 | 739 | 2.625 | 3 |
During routine visits to your health care provider, you are often asked to give a urine sample for testing. Many tests are done routinely, like checking for sugar (diabetes), bacteria (infection) and blood. Blood in the urine that you do not see is called "microscopic hematuria." This blood is only visible under a microscope. There are many causes and most are not serious, but may call for care by your health care provider.
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|
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| 0.96827 | 92 | 2.75 | 3 |
Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise:
BASIC SCIENCES: Epidemiology
Leisure-Time Physical Activity Patterns by Weight Control Status: 1999-2002 NHANES
KRUGER, JUDY; YORE, MICHELLE M.; KOHL, HAROLD W. III
Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
Address for correspondence: Judy Kruger, Ph.D., Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Hwy NE, K-46, Atlanta, GA 30341-3717; E-mail: [email protected].
Submitted for publication June 2006.
Accepted for publication December 2006.
Introduction: Regular physical activity reduces the risk of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, and some cancers. Physical activity is associated inversely with overweight and obesity prevalence, thus potentially assisting in weight control efforts.
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the variability of physical activity levels and their patterns by self-reported weight control status in a nationally representative sample.
Methods: Four years of data from the 1999-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were used to examine leisure-time physical activity patterns (regular, irregular, inactive) and the prevalence of weight control practices (trying to lose, trying to maintain, not trying to lose or maintain) among U.S. adults (N = 9496).
Results: The prevalence of regular physical activity was 32.6% among people trying to lose weight, 37.9% among people trying to maintain weight, and 21.8% among those not trying to lose or maintain weight. Those trying to lose weight were almost three times as likely to be regularly active (vs inactive), and those trying to maintain weight were over three times more likely to be regularly active (vs inactive) than those not trying to lose or maintain weight. The most commonly reported activities among those trying to lose weight were walking (38.3%), yard work (14.5%), biking (12.5%), and running (11.6%).
Conclusions: Despite the importance of physical activity, fewer than half the people trying to lose or maintain weight were regularly active during leisure-time. People trying to lose or maintain weight had a higher likelihood of being regularly active than those not trying to lose or maintain weight. Walking was the most common type of physical activity among all weight control groups. Health promotion efforts should promote increased levels of physical activity among all adults.
Sedentary behavior is an important contributor to the temporal increase in overweight and obesity (25), but only 46% of U.S. adults engage in recommended levels of physical activity associated with health benefits (6). Reasons for lack of physical activity may be explained by a constellation of individual and environmental factors such as perceived lack of time, feeling too tired, obtaining enough exercise at one's job, no motivation to exercise (4), lack of access to recreational facilities (11), and lack of sidewalks (15). Although demographic correlates of physical activity in broad adult populations have been well documented through research interventions (16,22,24), national surveys (5,9), and community-based studies (12,13), physical activity patterns specific to adults trying to lose weight or maintain weight have not been well documented.
Increasing physical activity is one of the cornerstones of a long-term, healthy weight-management program (1). Physical activity has been effective at helping people to keep from gaining weight (25) and to lose weight when combined with a decrease in caloric intake (27). Although physical activity should be an integral part of weight control practices, little is known on a population level about the amount and type of physical activity reported among people trying to control their weight. Understanding patterns of physical activity behaviors among people trying to lose weight or trying to maintain their weight may provide health care professionals with direction as to how to increase physical activity levels in the U.S. population and among people engaging in weight control behaviors. Gaining more information about the physical activity patterns in this population can also assist in eventually reducing the prevalence of overweight and obesity.
Evidence for weight loss and weight loss practices as a primary public health concern comes from several sources. There has been an increase in the availability of weight loss products and services, with Americans spending over $46 billion dollars a year in this industry (17). However, there are limited data on national estimates of weight loss and weight maintenance practices. Previous data on the prevalence of weight loss among adults have shown that 46.3% of adults were trying to lose weight in 2000 (3). Survey data collected from the National Weight Control Registry provide data on over 4000 individuals who have been successful at long-term weight loss maintenance; 89% reported both diet and physical activity for weight loss, but among this sample, only 1% reported using exercise alone for weight loss (28). Despite these multiple sources, information specific to physical activity patterns among those who have lost weight or who are trying to maintain their weight is rare. The purpose of this paper is to compare and describe leisure-time physical activity level by weight control status in a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults.
The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) is a major program of the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that assesses health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States (8). The NHANES is unique in that it combines interviews and physical examinations. Data are released on public-use data files every 2 yr. In the current study, data from two cycles (1999-2000 and 2001-2002) were combined to create NHANES 1999-2002, to increase sample size and analytic options. Data items collected in all combined years were comparable in wording and methods; therefore, the data were concatenated to form a single file (interview sample size of 21,004). To develop an adult analytic sample, we eliminated the following respondents: age < 18 (N = 9563), missing information on physical activity types (N = 17), missing body mass index (N = 1297), pregnant women (N = 613), and respondents who did not answer the questions about trying to lose weight or not trying to gain weight (N = 18). The final analytic sample was N = 9496. In 1999-2000, the overall response rate for those interviewed was 81.9% (9965 out of 12,160), and the response rate for those examined was 76.3% (9282 out of 12,160). In 2001-2002, the overall response rate for those interviewed was 83.9% (11,039 out of 13,156), and the response rate for those examined was 79.6% (10,477 out of 13,156).
We created three mutually exclusive categories of weight control (weight loss and management) status: those trying to lose weight, those trying to maintain weight, and those not trying to lose or maintain weight. In the NHANES interview, respondents were first asked their current self-reported weight and their weight 1 yr ago; if they had lost weight, they were asked whether it had been intentional (8). To assess current weight loss, respondents were then asked, "During the past 12 months, have you tried to lose weight?" Those who self-reported an intentional weight loss of 10 lb or more or who reported that they were currently trying to lose weight were categorized as trying to lose weight. Those who did not self-report a weight loss of 10 lb or more were asked the following question to assess weight maintenance status (i.e., attempt to control weight and prevent from gaining weight): "During the past 12 months, have you done anything to keep from gaining weight?" Those who indicated having tried to keep from gaining weight in the past 12 months and who were not trying to lose weight were categorized as trying to maintain their weight. If respondents said "no" to both questions, they were classified as not trying to lose or maintain weight.
Physical activity questions from the 1999-2002 NHANES queried participation in leisure-time activities, including exercise, sports, and physically active hobbies, during the past 30 d (6). Types of specific leisure-time physical activity were assessed by asking respondents six separate questions about their participation in specific vigorous- and moderate-intensity activities for at least 10 min per occasion during the past 30 d. Respondents were asked "Over the past 30 d, did you do any vigorous activities for at least 10 min that caused heavy sweating, or large increases in breathing or heart rate? Some examples are running, lap swimming, aerobics classes, or fast bicycling." Respondents were handed a card with a list of 24 vigorous activities and an "other" category. Those who reported "yes" were asked, "[Over the past 30 d] what vigorous activities did you do?" They were then asked the frequency (e.g., how many times per day, per week, or per month) and duration (e.g., how long in terms of minutes or hours) they had performed these activities. In a similar manner, respondents were also asked about their participation in moderate-intensity physical activity: "[Over the past 30 d], did you do moderate activities for at least 10 min that caused only light sweating or a slight to moderate increase in breathing or heart rate? Some examples are brisk walking, bicycling for pleasure, golf, or dancing." Individuals who reported that they had engaged in moderate-intensity activity were asked to report the frequency and duration of any of the 32 moderate activities. Activities reported for < 10 min and those reported for ≥ 12 h·d−1 were not included in the NHANES dataset.
The total time for participation in either moderate- or vigorous-intensity leisure-time physical activities in the past 30 d was summed to characterize three activity patterns. Respondents were grouped as regularly active if they reported engaging in a total of ≥ 600 min, ≥ 20 times in the last month, of a combination of moderate- or vigorous-intensity activity. These estimates approximate ≥ 150 min·wk−1 of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity. Those active at a lower frequency or duration were considered irregularly active, and those who reported no moderate- or vigorous-intensity leisure-time activity in the last month were considered inactive. Activities that were similar conceptually were grouped together-for example vigorous-intensity running and jogging and moderate-intensity yard work and gardening. The median time spent in moderate leisure-time activity in the past month was calculated among those who had participated in any physical activity. To examine the physical activity further, we created two subsets of regular physical activity, a higher and a lower activity profile. The higher-activity level physical activity category consisted of respondents reporting ≥ 1800 min, ≥ 30 times, of total physical activity (moderate- or vigorous-intensity) in the last month; this is equivalent to 60 min of physical activity on most days of the week. The lower-activity level physical activity category consisted of respondents reporting ≥ 600 min·wk−1, ≥ 20 times (but less than high activity) in the last month; this is equivalent to 30 min of physical activity on most days of the week. The estimate of 30 min on most days of the week is based on the physical activity recommendation for health benefits established by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 (26), and the estimate of 60 min on most days of the week is based on the weight maintenance recommendation.
Height and weight were measured in each of the three NHANES mobile examination centers. BMI was calculated by dividing weight (kg) by squared height (m2). Four BMI categories were created: normal weight (BMI < 25), overweight (BMI = 25-29.9), obese class I (BMI = 30-34.9), and obese class II (BMI ≥ 35). Three categories of BMI were used for analyses (normal weight, overweight, obese) because of small sample sizes in the obese class II category. Compared with those whose BMI values were not missing, those whose BMI values were missing were more likely to be female (55.4%, P = 0.02), to be older than 65 yr (32.8%, P < 0.01), to have less than a high school education (29.6%, P < 0.01), to be non-Hispanic white (71.3%, P < 0.01), to not be doing anything about their weight (56.0%, P < 0.01), and to be inactive (54.2%, P < 0.01).
Data were age standardized to the 2000 U.S. Census (18-29 yr, 30-44 yr, 45-64 yr, ≥ 65 yr). Sample weights were used to adjust for unequal selection probabilities, nonresponse, and adjustments to independent population controls (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhanes/nhanes_03_04/nhanes_analytic_guidelines_dec_2005.pdf). Standard errors were estimated using Taylor series linearization. Prevalences were calculated to describe the sample characteristics (gender, age, race/ethnicity, education, BMI, physical activity level) and the prevalence of specific types of physical activities among each weight control status (those trying to lose weight, those trying to maintain weight, and those not trying lose or maintain weight). Chi-square was calculated to determine prevalence differences between physical activity levels (e.g., inactive, irregularly active, and regularly active), and differences were considered significant at P < 0.05. Polytomous regression was used to calculate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) of the association between physical activity level (inactive was the referent group; thus, regularly active was compared with inactive, and irregularly active was compared with inactive) and weight control status (not trying to lose or maintain weight was the referent group). Gender, age, race/ethnicity, education, and BMI were included as covariates in the model. To describe the distribution of respondents who were categorized as regularly active at recommended levels, we created a low- and a high-activity group. All analyses were conducted using SUDAAN (windows version 9.0; Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, NC) software package to account for the complex sampling design.
In 1999-2002, 45.6% of NHANES participants reported trying to lose weight; 40.2% were men and 59.8% were women (Table 1). Among people trying to lose weight, 71.7% were white, 55.3% had more than a high school education, and 17.6% had BMI ≥ 35. In contrast, 9.5% reported trying to maintain weight, among whom 48.3% were women, 82.5% white, 67.9% had more than a high school education, and 10.2% had BMI ≥ 35.
Table 2 shows the percentages of physical activity levels across selected demographic and weight control characteristics; 37.4% of respondents were inactive, 34.3% were irregularly active, and 28.3% were regularly active. We also found that men (29.7%) had a higher prevalence of regular activity than women (26.9%; P < 0.001). Among those ages 18-29 yr, the prevalence of being regularly active (34.1%) was significantly higher than for those older than 65 yr (24.0%; P < 0.001). Regular activity was also significantly higher among those with more than a high school education (35.4%) than among those with less than a high school education (16.0%; P < 0.001). Approximately 32.6% of those trying to lose weight and 37.9% of those trying to maintain weight were regularly active, compared with 21.8% of those not trying to lose or to maintain weight (P < 0.001).
Compared with those not trying to control their weight, those trying to lose weight were almost three times more likely to be regularly active (OR = 2.7, 95% CI = 2.3-3.3) than inactive and almost two times more likely to be irregularly active (OR = 1.8, 95% CI = 1.5-2.1) than inactive (Table 3). Respondents who were trying to maintain weight, compared with those not trying to control weight, were over three times more likely to be regularly active (OR = 3.3, 95% CI = 2.5-4.3) than inactive and over two times more likely to be irregularly active (OR = 2.3, 95% CI = 1.6-3.4) than inactive.
Walking was the most common activity reported across all weight control categories, although the prevalence of walking was greater among those trying to maintain weight (45.3%) compared with those trying to lose (38.3%) or those not trying to lose or maintain weight (24.0%) (Table 4). Common physical activities reported by those trying to control their weight were yard work, biking, running, and weight lifting.
Using data from the 1999-2002 NHANES, the median minutes of physical activity in the past month within each weight loss group, stratified by activity level, did not differ significantly (Table 5). Among those who were regularly active, the median minutes of those trying to lose weight were lower than for those not trying to lose or maintain weight (1692 vs 1794). Similarly, among those who were irregularly active, the median minutes of those trying to lose weight were lower than for those not trying to lose or maintain weight (385 vs 401).
As shown in Figure 1, approximately 18% of individuals who reported trying to lose weight and 23% of those trying to maintain weight met the minimum Dietary Guidelines (26) recommendation (i.e., 30 min) designed for health benefits. Fewer than 15% of those trying to maintain weight reported engaging in physical activity at the recommended level for weight maintenance (i.e., 60 min). When examining the differences in meeting the minimum guidelines, those trying to lose weight or maintain weight were significantly different from those who were not trying to lose or maintain weight (P < 0.001). Statistical differences in meeting the higher activity profile were also noted between those trying to lose or maintain weight compared with those not trying to lose or maintain weight (P < 0.001).
FIGURE 1- Prevalence...Image Tools
Approximately 32.6% of the U.S. adult population in 1999-2002 who were trying to lose weight engaged in regular physical activity. Our findings regarding those who were trying to lose weight are similar to the weight loss practices reported in the 1989 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, which found that 36.4% of men and 38.8% of women who were trying to lose weight met regular activity patterns (at least three times per week for at least 20 min per session, at less than 60% cardiorespiratory capacity) (9). Although physical activity participation rates are low, people trying to lose weight or maintain weight were more likely to engage in regular physical activity than people who reported not doing anything to lose or maintain weight. It is possible that people trying to lose weight or to maintain their current weight are more health conscious and seek information and advice from health care providers to assist them in weight loss or maintenance (20). It is also interesting that a substantial proportion of individuals who were overweight or obese were not trying to lose or maintain weight. Further research is needed to determine whether body weight acceptance among chronic dieters increases weight control attempts (2).
From this national survey, we found that 37.9% of those trying to maintain weight reported regular physical activity. Regardless of weight control status, physical activity is important for the improvement and maintenance of health. Although the present study did not investigate the effects of accompanying weight control strategies (e.g., diet practices), this research adds insight into physical activity patterns by weight control subgroups. Because weight control is a complex behavior, for long-term weight loss and maintenance, the American College of Sports Medicine (1) recommends that overweight and obese individuals progressively increase the amount of time they spend being physical active.
To fully understand weight control status, we looked at a model that included a four-category measure of weight loss: those trying to lose weight with BMI < 25.0, those trying to lose weight with BMI ≥ 25.0, those trying to maintain weight, and those not trying to lose or maintain weight. Using this four-category model, the odds of being regularly active among those trying to lose weight with BMI < 25.0 were 2.5 (95% CI = 1.9-3.3) and were 2.9 (95% CI = 2.3-3.7) among those trying to lose weight with BMI ≥ 25.0, compared with those not trying to lose or maintain weight (data not shown). Because there was no significant difference between the two BMI categories, we decided to keep those trying to lose weight as one group. We also examined demographic characteristics of those with BMI < 25.0: 39.8% were male, 36.9% were ages 18-29, 48.1% were white (data not shown). Because more than one quarter of those with normal BMI were trying to lose weight, these findings suggest that it may be important to examine cultural perceptions of inappropriate weight loss. Those trying to lose weight with BMI < 25.0 may be trying to lose weight for cosmetic reasons (21), because their BMI is within normal weight guidelines.
These findings suggest that health-promotion efforts should encourage increased levels of physical activity among all adults. Physical activity prevalence tended to be higher among men than women and to be higher among 18- to 29-yr-olds than among other age groups. The prevalence of regular physical activity was lowest among those age 65 yr and older. These findings are consistent with those from other national surveys (10,23) that have provided demographic correlates of people who engage in weight control practices.
A significant association between weight control status and being regularly active (vs inactive) and irregularly active (vs inactive) was found. Compared with those not trying to lose or maintain weight, those trying to maintain their weight had slightly higher odds of regular physical activity (OR = 3.3) than those trying to lose weight (OR = 2.7). We compared models with and without BMI to examine the impact of BMI on physical activity, and the model that included BMI was a better fit, so we decided to leave BMI in the model. Although we were not able to determine why activity pattern differences exist, those trying to maintain their weight may be incorporating physical activity into their daily life in a different manner from those trying to lose weight. Perhaps maintainers have had previous experience with weight loss and recognize the importance of physical activity in keeping weight off. It is also possible that those trying to lose weight are engaging in caloric-restriction practices only, without integrating physical activity (18).
We found that walking was the most prevalent physical activity; approximately one in three adults who were trying to lose or maintain weight walked in their leisure time. The prevalence of walking among those trying to lose or maintain weight was similar to the overall national estimates reported from the 1998 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (38.6%) (19). Because walking was the most prevalent physical activity, this finding provides direction for health-promotion campaigns to promote the most popular activity-walking-to increase the number of adults who engage regularly, preferably daily, in moderate physical activity for ≥ 30 min·d−1. In this study, we examined physical activity patterns among people trying to lose or maintain weight during their leisure time; future studies could examine opportunities for increased physical activity in nonleisure contexts (i.e., occupation, transportation, and household).
The median minutes of activity reported by each weight control group within a physical activity level were comparable. Increased doses of physical activity can assist in improving overall health. Future research could focus on overall volume by types of activity and could include questions on walking, active transportation, and household activities.
Examination of physical activity by weight control status suggests significantly different patterns. Among those trying to maintain weight, a higher proportion reported being regularly active at the lower activity level (i.e., 30 min) than at the higher activity level (i.e., 60 min). Because fewer than 15% of those trying to maintain their weight met the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 physical activity recommendation for weight maintenance (26) health care professionals are encouraged to emphasize physical activity guidelines specific to maximize health and to maintain a healthy weight. Future research needs to determine whether people do not meet recommendations because of a lack of knowledge of the recommendations or because of a lack of understanding of how to accumulate recommended amounts of activity. The Task Force on Community Preventive Services of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (7) has suggested that environmental, economic, and social support barriers influence exercise behavior. To overcome barriers to physical activity, those trying to control their weight are encouraged to seek opportunities for physical activity near where they live, such as public open spaces and parks. Increasing convenient opportunities to engage in lifestyle physical activity (i.e., access to parks and trails) may increase enjoyment and promote lifelong participation in physical activity. Prior research findings suggest that the presence of trails and access to places for physical activity may increase the proportion of people meeting the recommended amounts of leisure-time activity (14).
Our findings have some limitations to consider because the data are cross-sectional. First, weight history and physical activity status are collected via self-report. Second, the questions used on the NHANES have not been validated to date. Although it is difficult to validate weight control status, similar physical activity questions were used in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance system and have been shown to be reliable and valid (21,29). From the findings of this paper, we cannot infer the extent to which weight loss history influences physical activity patterns or weight control status. Third, the questions on weight control and physical activity might prompt a socially desirable answer and overestimate the prevalence of weight loss or weight maintenance attempts or physical activities. Fourth, the focus of this paper was on leisure-time physical activity, and only sports, aerobic, and anaerobic activities during leisure time were included in our analysis. It is unclear whether the distribution of physical activity patterns would be different if alternative domains such as transportation and household activities were included. Fifth, there may be bias because of the time frame specified in the questionnaire. The questions on weight control status referred to behavior during the past 12 months, and the questions on physical activity referred to behavior during the past 30 d. Therefore, we do not know how long respondents had engaged in their current physical activity pattern during the last 12 months. Sixth, there were unfortunately not enough people in the sample to examine race/ethnicity differences among those trying to lose weight, trying to maintain weight, or not trying to lose or maintain weight to make any truly meaningful interpretation of minority weight control behavior.
Efforts are needed to increase the awareness of physical activity recommendations among people who are trying to control their weight, because approximately 60% are not regularly active. To understand the relationship between physical activity behavior and weight control status, future studies need to examine racial/ethnic differences in conjunction with other social class indicators. To increase physical activity level in the population, further research on the complex relationship between the political, social, and environmental factors and physical activity is needed to guide interventions. Findings from this paper are useful for tracking physical activity patterns and creating messages to encourage various types of physical activities among all those trying to control their weight. For many people starting an activity program, walking is a form of moderate-intensity physical activity that is relatively easy to engage in regularly.
On the basis of these findings, roughly only 40% of adults trying to lose or maintain weight engaged in regular physical activity. Regardless of weight control attempt status, the most common type of physical activity was walking. Given the acceptability of walking among people trying to lose or maintain weight, all population subgroups should be encouraged to walk. People trying to lose weight or to keep from gaining weight should minimally try to meet the physical activity recommendation for overall health of at least 30 min of moderate-intensity physical activity on most days of the week.
The findings and conclusions of this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the CDC.
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EXERCISE; WEIGHT LOSS; WEIGHT MANAGEMENT; HEALTH PROMOTION
©2007The American College of Sports Medicine
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Physical Fitness Concepts
intent of this web page is to educate all individuals on
physical fitness concepts that everyone should know and
practice, to reduce the onset of obesity, reduce common health
problems due to the lack of physical activity, and to learn how
to increase your fitness level for a better quality of life.
Principle of Progression/Overload
The principle of overload states that a greater than normal
stress or load on the body is required for training adaptation to take
place. The body will adapt to this stimulus. Once the body has adapted
to the stress, then a different stimulus is required to continue the change.
In order for a muscle (including the heart) to
increase strength, it must be gradually stressed by working against a
load greater than what it has adapted. To increase endurance, muscles must work for a longer period
of time than they are used to. If this stress is removed or decreased
there will be a decrease in that particular component of fitness. A
normal amount of exercise will maintain the current fitness level.
For more information click on this title and read "
The Role of Progressive Overload in Sports Conditioning"
Principle of Specificity
The principle that the body adapts very
specifically to the training stimuli it is required to deal with. The body
will perform best at the specific speed, type of contraction, muscle-group
usage and energy source usage it has become accustomed to in training.
In order to improve your strength, endurance and fitness, you
have to progressively increase the frequency, intensity and time of
your workouts. A simple way to stimulate your body is to try different
Because the body will adapt in a highly specific way to the
training it receives, a strong athletic foundation is needed before
specific training methods will work optimally. The
Specificity Principle simply states that for these reasons, training
must go from highly general training to highly specific training.
For example, if you are a sprinter, you may start out with easy running
and general strength training before moving on to explosive training in
the way of plyometrics or sprinting out of the blocks. If you try to do
explosive, high intensity training too soon, you will run the risk of
such training being ineffective and possibly resulting in injury. The
principle of Specificity also implies that to become better at a
particular exercise or skill, you must perform that exercise or skill. Your strength training exercises should try to emulate the same
movements that you intend to perform during
For more information go to:
Principal of Variation in Exercise
Variation in your exercise routine is very important to keep you
moving towards your fitness goal, to keep you from hitting a fitness
Because your body adapts quickly to the stress that is applied to your
need to change your workout routine every 4 to 6 weeks, and consider
cross-training to keep your workout routine fresh.
Variation in your workout can occur in several ways;
- Change the intensity level of your workout.
- Change the repetitions along with the intensity level of your
Note: When the intensity level goes up the repetitions should go
when the intensity level goes down the repetitions should go up.
- Change the duration/time/length of the workout.
- Change the types of exercise/apparatus used during the
- Change the sequence of exercises you are already doing to
create variety and a new overload.
Because the muscles are being fatigued in a different order or
pattern, they must adapt to this change in stimulus.
- Replace some or all of the exercises in your routine.
- Utilize Cross Training in your workout routine to make it
For more information click on this title and read
Variation: An Important Component of Training"
The term cross training refers to a training routine that
involves several different forms of exercise. While it is quite
necessary for an athlete to train specifically for their sport if they
want to excel, for most sports enthusiasts, cross-training is a
beneficial training method for maintaining a high level of overall
fitness. For example, you may use both biking and swimming each week to
improve your overall aerobic capacity, build overall muscle strength and
reduce the chance of an overuse injury. Cross-training limits the stress
that occurs on a specific muscle group because different activities use
muscles in slightly different ways. Cross training can help keep
you motivated and interested in continuing your program, as well as
stimulate greater strength gains. For optimal muscular development,
variety is the name of the game.
Benefits of Cross Training
- Reduces exercise boredom
- Allows you to be flexible about you training needs and plans (if
the pool is closed, you can go for a run instead).
- Produces a higher level of all around conditioning
- Conditions the entire body, not just specific muscle groups
- Reduces the risk of injury
- Work some muscles while others rest and recover
- Can continue to train while injured
- Improves your skill, agility and balance
For more information about Cross Training go to:
For more information about Cross Training click on this title and
Wisdom of Cross Training"
How often do you exercise per week? (exercise sessions per
Aerobic activities must be performed at least three times per
week to reach an adequate level of cardiovascular fitness.
How hard is your exercise session? (Level of intensity) To obtain the greatest
cardiovascular benefits, the
American College of Sports Medicine recommends that the
intensity of your training be sufficient to increase your heart
rate to a range of 60% to 90% of your maximum heart rate.
This is your target heart rate zone. To find your target
heart rate zone;
220 - (minus your age) x .90 = Upper limit of your target heart
220 - (minus your age) x .60 = Lower limit of your target heart
here to find your Target Heart Rate.
To read more about Target Heart Rate Zone, click here:
Understanding Your Training Heart Rate
How long do you exercise? (Duration of the exercise
session) To achieve all the values of
cardiovascular training, you must
maintain the target heart rate (60% - 90%) for a minimum of
20 minutes. As you become more fit, you should
increase the your time in the target heart rate zone to gain a
higher level of fitness. However the intensity level may
need to be reduced or lowered, in order for your body to
accommodate or handle the stress from the increase in time.
What type of activity/exercise did you choose;
Aerobic (Cardio Respiratory
Training) or Strength Training
Proper Rest and Recovery
Consecutive days of hard resistance training for the same muscle
group can be detrimental. The muscles must be allowed sufficient
recovery time to adapt. Strength training can be done every day
only if the exercised muscle groups are rotated, so that the same
muscle or muscle group is not exercised on consecutive days.
There should be at least a 48-hour recovery
period between workouts for the same muscle groups. For
example, the legs can be trained with weights on Monday, Wednesday,
and Friday and the upper body muscles on Tuesday, Thursday, and
Recovery is also important within a workout. The recovery time
between different exercises and sets depends, in part, on the
intensity of the workout. Normally, the recovery time between sets
should be 30 seconds to 3 minutes.
Proper Rest Interval Comparison Chart
to 1 minute
1 to 2
2 to 3
1 to 3
(moderate to long)
Overtraining syndrome is a serious problem marked by
decreased performance, increased fatigue, persistent muscle soreness, mood
disturbances, and feeling 'burnt out' or 'stale.' The diagnosis of
overtraining is usually complicated, there are no exact diagnostic criteria,
and physicians must rule out other diseases before the diagnosis can be
made. An orthostatic challenge shows promise as a diagnostic tool, but the
subjective feelings of the patient remain one of the most reliable early
warning signs. Prevention is still the best treatment, and certain
subjective and objective parameters can be used by athletes and their
trainers to prevent overtraining. Further studies are needed to find a
reliable diagnostic test and determine if proposed aids to speed recovery
will be effective.
For more information about Overtraining Syndrome go to:
Benefits of proper
warm-up and cool down
Both a warm-up and cool-down period
are essential parts of any exercise session. Warming up brings
about important physiological changes that reduce the risk of
injury, while also preparing the body for higher levels of
effort and energy utilization.
Specifically...a gradual warm-up:
- Leads to efficient calorie burning by increasing your
core body temperature
- Produces faster, more forceful muscle contractions
- Increases your metabolic rate so oxygen is delivered to
the working muscles more quickly
- Prevents injuries by improving the elasticity of your
- Gives you better muscle control by speeding up your
neural message pathways to the muscles
- Allows you to work out comfortably longer because all
your energy systems are able to adjust to exercise,
preventing the buildup of lactic acid in the blood
- Improves joint range of motion
- Psychologically prepares you for higher intensities by
increasing your arousal and focus on exercise
Blood tends to accumulate in the
lower body when a vigorous exercise session is stopped
abruptly. With reduced blood return, cardiac output decreases
and lightheadedness may occur. Because muscle movement helps
squeeze blood back to the heart, it is important to continue
lower level physical activity after the exercise session is
completed (i.e. the cool-down period).
The best activities for both are
simply to work at a much lower pace in an
aerobic/cardiovascular activity that you are using for
training. Examples include slow cycling on a bike or walking
on a treadmill. As a general guideline, a 5 – 10 minute
session should be dedicated for both warming-up and
OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
- Adolescents and young adults, both male and female, benefit
from physical activity.
activity need not be strenuous to be beneficial.
amounts of daily physical activity are recommended for
people of all ages. This amount can be obtained in longer
sessions of moderately intense activities, such as brisk
walking for 30 minutes, or in shorter sessions of more
intense activities, such as jogging or playing basketball
for 15-20 minutes.
amounts of physical activity are even more beneficial, up to
a point. Excessive amounts of physical activity can lead to
injuries, menstrual abnormalities, and bone weakening.
half of American youths aged 12-21 years are not vigorously
active on a regular basis.
- About 14
percent of young people report no recent physical activity.
Inactivity is more common among females (14%) than males
(7%) and among black females (21%) than white females (12%).
- Participation in all types of physical activity declines
strikingly as age or grade in school increases.
- Only 19
percent of all high school students are physically active
for 20 minutes or more, five days a week, in physical
enrollment in physical education classes dropped from 42
percent to 25 percent among high school students between
1991 and 1995.
designed school-based interventions directed at increasing
physical activity in physical education classes have been
shown to be effective.
support from family and friends has been consistently and
positively related to regular physical activity.
physical activity that is performed on most days of the week
reduces the risk of developing or dying from some of the leading
causes of illness and death in the United States. Regular
physical activity improves health in the following ways:
build and maintain healthy bones, muscles, and joints.
control weight, build lean muscle, and reduce fat.
or delays the development of high blood pressure and helps
reduce blood pressure in some adolescents with hypertension.
- Reduces the risk of dying prematurely.
- Reduces the risk of dying prematurely from heart disease.
- Reduces the risk of developing diabetes.
- Reduces the risk of developing high blood pressure.
reduce blood pressure in people who already have high blood
- Reduces the risk of developing colon cancer.
- Reduces feelings of depression and anxiety.
build and maintain healthy bones, muscles, and joints.
older adults become stronger and better able to move about
- Promotes psychological well-being
For more information go to CDC:
Physical Activity for Everyone
For additional information see
CDC: How much physical activity do children need?
Benefits of Flexibility
- Allows greater freedom of movement and improved posture
- Increases physical and mental relaxation
- Releases muscle tension and soreness
- Reduces risk of injury
Some people are naturally more flexible. Flexibility is
primarily due to one's genetics, gender, age and level of physical
activity. As we grow older, we tend to lose flexibility, usually as a
result of inactivity rather than the aging process itself. The
less active we are, the less flexible we are likely to be. As with
cardiovascular endurance and muscle strength, flexibility will improve
with regular training.
For more information see:
Benefits of proper Hydration
activity, a sports drink and/or water would be the preferable
beverage, and if the event lasts more than an hour, the sports drink
would be the drink of choice. However, fluid consumption during
meals can include drinks like milk and juice, as well as sports
drinks and water.
Douglas J. Casa,
PhD, ATC, CSCS, chair of the NATA Position Statement on Fluid
Replacement for Athletes points out some basic signs and symptoms of
first indicators of dehydration are thirst, irritability, and
general discomfort," said Casa. "And, if the dehydration progresses
the signs and symptoms may include headache, cramps, chills,
vomiting, nausea, head or neck heat sensations, and decreased
Water is one of the
most essential components of the human body, yet many people do not
understand the importance of a well-hydrated body nor how much water
is lost during the day.
Water regulates the
body's temperature, cushions and protects vital organs, and aids the
digestive system. And, because water composes more than half of the
human body, it is impossible to sustain life for more than a week
are some tips to keep you well hydrated:
Drink fluids frequently
Drink one to two cups of fluid at least one hour before the
start of exercise.
Drink eight ounces of fluid 20 to 30 minutes prior to
Drink four to eight ounces of fluid every 10 to 15 minutes or so
Drink an additional eight ounces of fluid within 30 minutes
Drink two cups of fluid for every pound of body weight lost
Drink at least eight cups of fluid a day, or more if physically
Make fluids easily accessible
Carry individualized fluid containers
Begin all summer activity well hydrated
During activity, drink the equivalent of how much you sweat
Don’t just drink when you’re thirsty
Both caffeine and alcohol can have a diuretic effect, so be sure
to compensate for this additional water loss.
Benefits of proper Nutrition
It is the position of the American Dietetic Association, Dietitians
of Canada, and the American College of Sports Medicine that physical
activity, athletic performance, and recovery from exercise are
enhanced by optimal nutrition. These organizations recommend
appropriate selection of food and fluids, timing of intake, and
supplement choices for optimal health and exercise performance. This
position paper reviews the current scientific data related to the
energy needs of athletes, assessment of body composition, strategies
for weight change, the nutrient and fluid needs of athletes, special
nutrient needs during training, the use of supplements and
nutritional ergogenic aids, and the nutrition recommendations for
vegetarian athletes. During times of high physical activity, energy
and macronutrient needs — especially carbohydrate and protein intake
— must be met in order to maintain body weight, replenish glycogen
stores, and provide adequate protein for building and repair of
tissue. Fat intake should be adequate to provide the essential fatty
acids and fat-soluble vitamins, as well as to help provide adequate
energy for weight maintenance. Overall, diets should provide
moderate amounts of energy from fat (20% to 25% of energy); however,
there appears to be no health or performance benefit to consuming a
diet containing less than 15% of energy from fat. Body weight and
composition can affect exercise performance, but should not be used
as the sole criterion for sports performance; daily weigh-ins are
discouraged. Consuming adequate food and fluid before, during, and
after exercise can help maintain blood glucose during exercise,
maximize exercise performance, and improve recovery time.
Athletes should be well-hydrated before beginning to exercise;
athletes should also drink enough fluid during and after exercise to
balance fluid losses. Consumption of sport drinks containing
carbohydrates and electrolytes during exercise will provide fuel for
the muscles, help maintain blood glucose and the thirst mechanism,
and decrease the risk of dehydration or hyponatremia. Athletes will
not need vitamin and mineral supplements if adequate energy to
maintain body weight is consumed from a variety of foods. However,
supplements may be required by athletes who restrict energy intake,
use severe weight-loss practices, eliminate one or more food groups
from their diet, or consume high-carbohydrate diets with low
micronutrient density. Nutritional ergogenic aids should be used
with caution, and only after careful evaluation of the product for
safety, efficacy, potency, and whether or not it is a banned or
illegal substance. Nutrition advice, by a qualified nutrition
expert, should only be provided after carefully reviewing the
athlete's health, diet, supplement and drug use, and energy
requirements. J Am Diet Assoc. 2000;100:1543-1556.
Suggestions for food intake
Low-energy diets will not sustain athletic
training. Instead, decreases in energy intake of 10% to 20% of
normal intake will lead to weight loss without the athlete feeling
deprived or overly hungry. Strategies such as substituting
lower-fat foods for whole-fat foods, reducing intake of energy-dense
snacks, and doing activities other than eating when not hungry can
If appropriate, athletes can reduce fat intake
but need to know that a lower-fat diet will not guarantee weight
loss if a negative energy balance (reduced energy intake and
increased energy expenditure) is not achieved. Fat intake should not
be decreased below 15% of total energy intake, because some fat is
essential for good health.
Emphasize increased intake of whole grains and
cereals, beans, and legumes.
Five or more daily servings of fruits and
vegetables provide nutrients and fiber.
Dieting athletes should not skimp on protein and
need to maintain adequate calcium intakes. Accordingly, use of
low-fat dairy products and lean meats, fish, and poultry is
A variety of fluids—especially water—should be
consumed throughout the day, including before, during, and after
exercise workouts. Dehydration as a means of reaching a body-weight
goal is contraindicated.
Encourage athletes not to skip meals, especially
breakfast, and not to let themselves get too hungry. They should be
prepared for times when they might get hungry, including keeping
nutritious snacks available for those times.
Athletes should not deprive themselves of
favorite foods or set unrealistic dietary rules or guidelines.
Instead, dietary goals should be flexible and achievable. Athletes
should remember that all foods can fit into a healthful lifestyle;
however, some foods are chosen less frequently. Developing lists of
"good" and "bad" food is discouraged.
Help athletes identify their own dietary
weaknesses and plan strategies for dealing with them.
Remind athletes that they are making lifelong
dietary changes to sustain a healthful weight and optimal
nutritional status rather than going on a short-term "diet" that
they will someday go off.
additional information go to
ADA Web Site
additional information go to MyPyramid.gov
Choose the foods and amounts that are right for you.
Send email to Mark Sissom
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| 0.907996 | 4,403 | 3.34375 | 3 |
Are you interested to learn more about Satellite navigation?
We have created this informative android app named Satellite Navigation that will help you know about garmin nuvi 760, garmin nuvi 1350, garmin nuvi 1390 and many more related devices.
GPS systems use satellites that orbit the earth in order to send signals that are received by the GPS device. The system has software that interprets the signal and uses that data in order to form conclusions about the current location based on the time it took to receive the signal from the satellite, and the exact location of the satellite that sent the data. By combining that information a conclusion can be drawn by the GPS or satellite navigation system as to the exact position of the GPS device.
Download this app now absolutely FREE!
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en
| 0.942181 | 157 | 2.53125 | 3 |
42. Lapsana Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 811. 1753; Gen. Pl. ed. 5, 353. 1754.
Nipplewort [Greek lapsanae, a vegetable mentioned by Dioscorides, perhaps actually Raphanus, with lyrate leaves resembling those of Lapsana]
David J. Bogler
Annuals [biennials], 15–150 cm; fibrous-rooted. Stems 1, erect, simple or branched, glabrate to sparsely or densely pilose, hairs often stipitate-glandular. Leaves basal and cauline (not in rosettes); narrowly winged-petiolate; blades ovate to suborbiculate (thin), margins entire, dentate, or lyrate-pinnatifid proximally (terminal lobes larger than laterals, faces glabrate to sparsely hirsute; distal sessile, lanceolate, reduced). Heads in open, corymbiform to thyrsiform arrays. Peduncles (slender) slightly inflated distally, ebracteate. Calyculi of 4–5 subulate or scalelike, glabrous bractlets. Involucres cylindric to campanulate, 2–5 mm diam. Phyllaries 8–10 in 1 series, linear-oblong, subequal, (strongly keeled) margins green, not scarious, apices acute, faces glabrous. Receptacles flat, smooth, glabrous, epaleate. Florets 8–15; corollas yellow. Cypselae dimorphic (outer much longer than inner), tan to golden brown, subcylindric, curved, terete to slightly compressed, not beaked, ± 20-ribbed, glabrous; pappi 0. . = 7.
Species 1: introduced; Europe, Asia.
Lapsana formerly included about 9 species, some from eastern Asia. Based on cladistic analysis of morphologic characters, the eastern Asian species have been removed to Lapasanastrum, a strongly supported monophyletic group characterized by spreading phyllaries and distinctive fruit anatomy (J. H. Pak and K. Bremer 1995).
Pak, J. H. and K. Bremer. 1995. Phylogeny and reclassification of the genus Lapsana (Asteraceae: Lactuceae). Taxon 44: 13–21.
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en
| 0.788456 | 531 | 2.546875 | 3 |
For the more information about the air resources of the National Park Service, please visit http://www.nature.nps.gov/air/.
Snyder-Middleswarth Natural Area
The Snyder-Middleswarth Natural Area, located within Bald Eagle State Forest, is an outstanding example of a relict forest composed predominantly of hemlock, birch, and pine, with scattered oaks.
Location: Snyder County, PA
Year designated: 1967
Please remember, National Natural Landmarks (NNLs) are not national parks. NNL status does not indicate public ownership, and many sites are not open for visitation.
Last Updated: June 28, 2012
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| 0.919091 | 140 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Eiruvin 37 - 43
- Concept of bereira determining the halachic status of something in the present on the basis of what will develop in the future
- Applying this concept to eiruv, tithing and redemption of Second Tithe crops
- Making an eiruv when Shabbat and Holiday are back to back or for two days of Rosh Hashana
- Why Rabbi Sheishet refused to eat the deer meat
- Is there a mention of Rosh Chodesh in the Rosh Hashana prayers?
- The blessing of shehechiyanu on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur
- The clash between ending a fast and starting the Shabbat
- Leaving the techum the limit to which one may walk beyond his city on Shabbat and returning there
- Those who are victims of circumstances which cause them to lose control of their actions
- Beginning the Shabbat in an open valley which becomes fenced in that day
- The Sages on the ship on Shabbat
- Is flying by Eliyahu limited by the techum of Shabbat and why wont he arrive on Friday
- Rabbi Gamliels telescope
Fasting on Shabbat?
The general rule is that if any of the days in which Jews are obligated to fast in mourning for the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash falls on Shabbat, the fast is postponed to the following day so as not to interfere with the celebration of Shabbat.
One of the early commentators, Rabbi David Avudraham, is quoted by Rabbi Yosef Karo in his commentary on Tur Orach Chaim (550), as stating that the Fast of the Tenth of Tevet is an exception to rule. This fast day, which recalls the beginning of the Babylonian armys siege of Jerusalem which culminated in the destruction of the first Beit Hamikdash, can never fall on Shabbat according to our perpetual calendar. But if it could, as was possible in earlier times when the calendar was determined by the sighting of the new moon, we would be obligated to fast even though it was Shabbat. His logic is that in the prophecy of Yechezkel regarding the beginning of the siege, the term "on this very day" used to describe it is the same as that used in the Torah to describe Yom Kippur, and that just as we fast on Yom Kippur when it falls on Shabbat the same applies to the Tenth of Tevet.
Although no Talmudic source is mentioned for this unconventional position, it is suggested by the author of "Ohr Somayach" on the Mishneh Torah of Rambam that the source may be found in our gemara. The Sage Rabbah asked Rabbi Huna whether an individual yeshiva student who committed himself to fasting on Friday must complete his fast even though he enters Shabbat in a suffering state. Why, asked the "Ohr Somayach", didnt he pose the same question in regard to the four mandatory communal fasts? The answer is that in his time the perpetual calendar was already in effect and the only one of the fast days which could fall on Friday is the Tenth of Tevet. There could be no question regarding extending that fast day into Shabbat because that particular fast day would be observed on Shabbat itself if the two collided. Based on this analysis, he concludes, Rabbi David Avudraham arrived at his position.
What the Sages Say
"If one failed to include the blessing of shehechiyanu in the kiddush for a holiday, he must make it whenever he remembers, even if he is out on the street."
- Rabbi Nachman - Eiruvin 40b
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| 0.964665 | 780 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Governments are increasingly turning to tools like social media, mobile apps and new website capabilities to deliver information and services and to encourage citizen engagement. However, all the buzz around new social media capabilities can sometimes distract governments from what citizens care about most – getting the information they need, when they need it. So, how can a government improve citizen access and participation online while not being distracted from the fundamentals of information and service delivery? This Center for Digital Government issue brief offers some advice to governments looking to engage their citizens with digital tools. A digital practices checklist helps them assess what they are doing currently and discover new ideas for next steps.
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| 0.943666 | 126 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Moebius syndrome is a rare birth defect caused by the absence or underdevelopment of the 6th and 7th cranial nerves, which control eye movements and facial expression. Many of the other cranial nerves may also be affected, including the 3rd, 5th, 8th, 9th, 11th and 12th. The first symptom, present at birth, is an inability to suck. Other symptoms can include: feeding, swallowing, and choking problems; excessive drooling; crossed eyes; lack of facial expression; inability to smile; eye sensitivity; motor delays; high or cleft palate; hearing problems and speech difficulties. Children with Moebius syndrome are unable to move their eyes back and forth. Decreased numbers of muscle fibers have been reported. Deformities of the tongue, jaw, and limbs, such as clubfoot and missing or webbed fingers, may also occur. As children get older, lack of facial expression and inability to smile become the dominant visible symptoms. Approximately 30 to 40 percent of children with Moebius syndrome have some degree of autism.
There are four recognized categories of Moebius syndrome:
There is no specific course of treatment for Moebius syndrome. Treatment is supportive and in accordance with symptoms. Infants may require feeding tubes or special bottles to maintain sufficient nutrition. Surgery may correct crossed eyes and improve limb and jaw deformities. Physical and speech therapy often improves motor skills and coordination, and leads to better control of speaking and eating abilities. Plastic reconstructive surgery may be beneficial in some individuals. Nerve and muscle transfers to the corners of the mouth have been performed to provide limited ability to smile.
There is no cure for Moebius syndrome. In spite of the impairments that characterize the disorder, proper care and treatment give many individuals a normal life expectancy.
The NINDS conducts and supports a broad range of research on neurogenetic disorders, including Moebius syndrome. The goals of these studies are to develop improved techniques to diagnose, treat, and eventually cure these disorders.
Moebius Syndrome Foundation
P.O. Box 147
Pilot Grove, MO 65276
March of Dimes
1275 Mamaroneck Avenue
White Plains, NY 10605
Tel: 914-997-4488; 888-MODIMES (663-4637)
Children's Craniofacial Association
13140 Coit Road
Dallas, TX 75240
Tel: 800-535-3643; 214-570-9099
National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD)
55 Kenosia Avenue
Danbury, CT 06810
Tel: 203-744-0100; Voice Mail: 800-999-NORD (6673)
Office of Communications and Public Liaison
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, MD 20892
NINDS health-related material is provided for information purposes only and does not necessarily represent endorsement by or an official position of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke or any other Federal agency. Advice on the treatment or care of an individual patient should be obtained through consultation with a physician who has examined that patient or is familiar with that patient's medical history.
All NINDS-prepared information is in the public domain and may be freely copied. Credit to the NINDS or the NIH is appreciated.
Last Modified June 23, 2011
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I'm standing in the fading light of a Bolivian fall day, watching--along with much of the village of Tahana--as Anthony Harckham, with tools and wires in hand, heaves his 6-foot-plus Canadian frame onto the corrugated steel roof of a small, mud-walled home. With the glacial peaks of Mount Illampu, the northern bookend to Bolivia's Cordillera Real, as a backdrop, Anthony improvises a way to tack up a 15-by-20-centimeter solar panel with wood screws, and then he feeds wires from the panel under the eaves and into the home. I squeeze into the home's small living space to watch Anthony and his wife, Faith, connect the wires to a 12-volt lead-acid battery pack, which is wired through a switch box to a pair of lamps--transparent plastic boxes each jammed with a dozen white light-emitting diodes, or LEDs. One lamp hangs from a narrow ceiling beam, while a second is located in an adjoining lean-to that serves as a kitchen. The sun is all but gone when the Harckhams finally flip a toggle switch and the LEDs jump to life to cast a bluish beam of light, eliciting smiles from the homeowners and their excited, chattering neighbors.
The village of Tahana fetes its visitors with a communal meal, including traditional drum and panpipe music.
The Harckhams, a pair of 62-year-olds from Canmore, Alta., Canada, have made it their mission to free remote communities from reliance on costly kerosene lighting. Their solution: LEDs, which convert electricity into light relatively efficiently, powered by photovoltaic cells, which can reliably generate the necessary electricity from abundant sunlight. More than 1 billion people globally lack electricity at home, but the situation is particularly acute in Bolivia, one of South America's poorest nations and its least electrified. Just one out of every four rural communities in this Andean nation enjoys consistent access to electric power. Most of Bolivia's rural workers rely on sooty kerosene lamps that fill their homes with thick, acrid smoke. The Harckhams are offering these campesinos an alternative. The simple LED lamp they developed--12 white LEDs mounted on a hand-soldered circuit board--consumes only 1 watt and produces 30 lumens in a focused beam about as bright as the light of a 20-W incandescent bulb. It's not the profuse light we're accustomed to, but it is enough to read, cook, or work by.
Yet the Harckhams' greatest insight is more about people than technology. They devised a small volunteer operation that blends tourism and charity: individuals of means in developed countries help finance lighting installations in the developing world. The operation, called Luxtreks, has installed lighting systems in more than 700 rural homes in Bolivia, Guatemala, Peru, and Pakistan without taking a dime of government money. Instead, Luxtreks trekkers pay the equivalent of about US $750 apiece over and above the expense of their own trips to cover the cost of lighting 20 homes. None of the money is for profit, and the Harckhams pay their own way. The trekkers travel with the couple and personally deliver the gift by installing the LED lamps themselves. At the same time, the trip provides trekkers a unique, in situ experience about as culturally distant from their daily lives as they could have imagined. "When you step into one of those houses it's a pretty eye-opening experience," says Anthony. "But it's not only being in the homes. It's engagement. You're intimately involved in the community."
I traveled to bolivia in may to meet the Harckhams and to see whether and how Luxtreks' trekkers and technology were making a difference in the lives of rural villagers. Our seven-person team would deviate from the Luxtreks norm: my wife, Sara Beam, a historian, and I would be the closest thing to trekkers, working like trekkers but not contributing the financial premium. For this mission, funding from a British charity, the Juniper Trust, helped the Harckhams to cover the equipment costs. Also, the mission would count on help from two agronomists and a French student, all affiliates of Cecasem, a nongovernmental organization based in Bolivia's administrative capital, La Paz, that promotes rural development. We would not only install Luxtreks lighting systems in Tahana but would also visit two neighboring villages to do something the Harckhams had never done before: inspect lighting systems installed by Luxtreks in years past.
The hillsides of the Bolivian Andes are home to many villages like Tahana, where power lines don't go and families rely instead on sooty kerosene lamps that fill their homes with a thick, acrid smoke.
In the weeks prior to the trip, the country seemed poised to descend into political chaos over government policies favoring export of the country's natural gas, an initiative opposed by many working Bolivians who feel that foreign energy firms are pumping away the country's natural wealth. As we prepared to depart for Bolivia, campesinos were threatening to block the roads, prompting an acquaintance of the Harckhams in Bolivia to warn against making the trip. But the Harckhams were unfazed. They have come to expect roadblocks in their journey--though usually not such literal ones--and they took Bolivia's political strife in stride. We would go to Bolivia and we would reach our destination in the Andes. As it turned out, fortunately, we faced no roadblocks.
What we found in the villages would show both the daring and the shortcomings of the Luxtreks formula. I would discover that the operation is still a work in progress. Bolivia would force the Harckhams to reevaluate their commitment to Luxtreks and, ultimately, to reinvent both their technology and their working relationship with the rural peoples they serve.
Tahana is a village of 44 families eking out a living growing potatoes, corn, tea, and other foodstuffs on fertile but steep and rapidly eroding slopes. To reach Tahana our group travels by truck for four hours on unevenly paved highways, going from La Paz to the market and trekking town of Sorata. From there we hire an open-bed Toyota Land Cruiser and travel another two hours, now braced in the back amidst 3000 meters of wire, 90 kilograms of batteries, and hundreds of LED lamps, switch boxes, and solar panels. At the end of the road, where the power lines stop, we are met by a dozen men from Tahana and several donkeys. The plan is to take the gear down to a gully and then back up a kilometer-long trail to the village. It is the villagers' second encounter with Luxtreks. Two years earlier, a Luxtreks team hiked through Tahana, en route to light up a neighboring village a few hundred meters upslope, prompting a petition from Tahana residents for systems of their own. Now the Canadians are back.
Residents of Tahana received LED lamps for their homes, churches, and school. Each lamp has a dozen white LEDs that fit into a transparent plastic case.
We arrive late in the afternoon and, after a formal welcome from the secretarios--a rotating council of landholding men--we set up shop in the school, which has been idled by a nationwide teachers' strike; we'll use it as a base where we'll assemble components, take our meals, and strategize. As night falls, we eat and then head to our tents for sleep. We are excited and at the same time apprehensive, knowing that some hard work lies ahead.
In the morning, the two agronomists in our party--Cecilio Quispe and Estanislao Poma--take the lead and craft an installation plan. They are fluent in Aymará, an indigenous language common in the Bolivian Andes, and they know the villagers, having worked with them through Cecasem to build irrigation systems, upgrade ovens, and organize agricultural cooperatives. As the intense high-altitude sunlight boils away the chill of the morning, we set off with lighting kits in hand. Anthony and Poma will work the rooftops, installing the 2-W solar panels, which the Harckhams had custom built by a manufacturer in China. The rest of us split into teams to wire up the lamps containing the LEDs, these bought from a distributor in Hong Kong.
That morning I work alongside Morgane Richomme, the French development student, who was then just a few weeks into a two-month stint with Cecasem. Our team also includes three villagers: Roberto Mamani, Mario Condori (one of the secretarios), and his son Vitaliano. The three Bolivians watch as we connect all the pieces of the circuit: solar panel to battery, battery to switch, switch to lights. Soon they are pitching in, and by early afternoon they have seized the initiative and our tools. As they work feverishly by themselves, I reflect on how Richomme and I went, in a matter of hours, from installers to instructors and have now been relegated to quality control.
Freed from active duty , I go back to being a journalist. I see the humility and hospitality of the villagers whose homes we invade for half an hour or more with crimpers, cables, and semiconductors. I play with the kids, racing them on supply runs along twisting paths. I marvel at the villagers' intimate cohabitation with animals: in tightly walled yards shaded by trees filled with ripe passion fruit, women grind meal among ducks, pigs, goats, and other creatures. Guinea pigs scurry at my feet like a moving carpet on the dirt and eucalyptus-plank floors.
Turning it on
An LED lamp installed in the home of a family in Tahana.
One man welcomes us to tour his orchard and garden, his honey-producing hives, and his cactus-gorging herd of cochineal insects, which produce the deep red dye common in Andean textiles. I ask him how the villagers can take so much time away from their regular duties to work and talk with us. The man explains that they are between harvests and also that it is a "special opportunity" to have us there.
When dusk finally sets in, I experience the dark side--literally--of the campesinos' standard lighting source. As the villagers ignite kerosene lamps that are little more than torches, smoke fills each small, nearly windowless home. The kerosene fumes contain particulates and carcinogenic gases that are a major cause of eye and respiratory diseases in the developing world, especially among women, who stay at home for much of the day. With my own eyes burning, I think also of the fire hazard as I watch a girl, perhaps three years old, plucking long black hairs from her head and dangling them in a flame.
During those three exhausting days in Tahana, the closest we come to taking a shower is dunking our heads in a public sink, and we endure vicious attacks from las pulgas--fleas that infest our tents and sleeping bags, teaching us the hard way why roosters and dogs become symphonic at 3 in the morning. But we also get a rare and sublime sort of thrill bringing clean light to the village, including every one of its homes, the school, and two churches.
Luxtreks got to Bolivia, interestingly, through the Harckhams' evolving relationship with a place thousands of miles away, in southern Asia. For many years, the couple supported a schoolteacher in the remote village of Norung in Nepal. In 1998, Faith, a retired physiotherapist who now sells paintings to tourists visiting the Canadian Rockies, and Anthony, once R and D manager for the Alberta phone company and now a technology management consultant, traveled to Norung to visit the village and help build a new schoolhouse. During that trip, when the Harckhams asked the villagers what they needed most, their answer was light--electric light--which would free them from costly and smoky kerosene lamps.
The Harckhams found the technological solution an hour's drive from home. David Irvine-Halliday, an electrical engineering professor at the University of Calgary, Alta., Canada, who had been in Nepal himself, had been just as moved as the Harckhams were by the dark homes and schools, and was working on a solution. In the spring of 2000, Irvine-Halliday and his wife, Jenny, returned to Nepal with LED lamps and lit up several villages, an initiative that would evolve into the Light Up the World Foundation. Irvine-Halliday's idea is to create local manufacturers of LED lighting systems to serve remote communities like the ones in Nepal. For the Harckhams, his LED lamps provided a drop-in solution to Norung's kerosene habit. Later that same year, the Harckhams returned to Norung with $3000 worth of photovoltaics, batteries, and white LED lights assembled in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, to Irvine-Halliday's specs. Working with the villagers, the couple lit up Norung in a matter of days. Luxtreks was conceived to continue and expand that initiative, and by late 2002, the Harckhams had scheduled Luxtreks' first trip. Destination: Bolivia.
Eight trekkers signed up for that Bolivian mission. The plan was to light up 120 homes in two villages: Quirambaya, an hour's hike from Sorata, and Pocobaya, just above Tahana. Pulling it off would test the Harckhams. They were counting, again, on Irvine-Halliday's help with the LED lamps, but this time the Calgary professor couldn't deliver. Busy debugging circuitry for a second generation of lamps, he didn't have time to arrange the lamps for the Harckhams. So they improvised. Through friends--and friends of friends--Anthony found a local company willing to design a similar circuit for free. He ordered the necessary components, and he and Faith assembled their own lamps. Their system at that time also consisted of two LED lamps, plus one switch box with a current-limiting circuit and a battery, to be charged once a week at a central charging station powered by 75-W solar panels.
Once on the ground in Bolivia, the Harckhams faced further logistical hurdles and plenty of anxiety. Would the lights work as expected? Did they have enough wire and tools? Could they manage the trekkers? On top of that, their relationship with their initial local contacts--a couple living in La Paz--fell apart during the trip. The couple, whom the Harckhams had contacted through Irvine-Halliday, had identified Pocobaya and Quirambaya as candidates for LED lighting and had helped the Harckhams with travel arrangements and local logistics. But a series of misunderstandings and disagreements over the project's specifics, beginning with the Harckhams' decision to improvise their own as-yet-untested lamps, soured relations between the two couples, severing a key line of communication with the villagers for the Harckhams, who spoke little Spanish, let alone Aymará.
In the end, despite these and other difficulties, the equipment arrived in time, the homes were lit, and the trekkers were satisfied. Tom Malaher, one of several people from Calgary on that mission, recalls the trip as an eye-opening adventure. "It certainly made us aware of the differences in economic and technological levels that exist," he says. "You hear about this stuff on the news, and you see really low-quality TV images, but you don't really know what it means because the TV frame is so narrow."
Still, one element was missing for Faith and Anthony: the kind of connection with villagers that they had experienced in Nepal. "We got some help from the villages, but not as much as we'd anticipated," recalls Anthony. "We didn't really sense that we'd touched the community in quite the same way as we had in Nepal." That disconnect would have profound consequences, as we would discover during our return visit.
As soon as we arrive in Pocobaya and Quirambaya, it is clear things are not quite right two years after installation. Only about half of the lighting systems in both villages are working; the rest are in varying states of disrepair. We find solar panels disconnected, charging stations burned out, switch boxes that don't switch, lamps whose glued-on glass faceplates have come unglued, LED circuits impregnated with soot, and wires patched, broken, or missing. It is a far cry from the claim on the Luxtreks Web site that the villages "should be assured of their lighting for years to come." At Pocobaya's schoolhouse, LED lamps have been ripped out and a photo of a deceased friend to whom the Harckhams had dedicated the lights removed from the wall. Faith says she feels betrayed. She is stunned that, in her eyes, the villagers seem not to have taken care of the systems. "Anthony, I think we need to rethink what we're doing," she tells her partner.
My own impression is that the technology is underengineered. The wires, for example, are thin and, exposed to the elements both inside and outside the campesinos' mud homes, seem prone to fail. The glue fastening the lamps' faceplates looks inadequate, especially given the need to clean them in the smoky homes. And the idea of a central charging station for the batteries doesn't seem to quite work--with no formal caretaker, it fell into disrepair.
Each lamp is attached to the ceiling with screws and wired to a battery, which is then connected to a 2-watt solar panel.
We spend a full day in Quirambaya and half a day in Pocobaya doing what we can to swap in new lamps, switch boxes, and battery connectors. To encourage regular maintenance, Faith agrees to pay one man in each village the equivalent of $6 to $8 every month (a significant sum in a region where many campesinos earn no more than $400 a year) to check the village's systems regularly and send reports to Luxtreks. As the Harckhams and the villagers hammer out these maintenance contracts, the tone of the negotiations disturbs me. With Poma as translator, Anthony and Faith make it clear that, in their minds, the villagers had not lived up to their end of the bargain.
The day that we depart the hillside villages around Sorata, roadblocks were sporadically halting traffic to La Paz. But during our drive, my mind remains in the Andean villages. I am puzzled by how Luxtreks' projects could yield such seemingly divergent results in the places we visited. Was the exhilaration I experienced in Tahana real? Or would their lamps develop problems, as many had in Pocobaya and Quirambaya? And ultimately, can a couple of Canadians really make a difference in rural Bolivia?
Looking back after several months, I think they can. Though far from perfect, the technology transfer that the Harckhams are trying to pull off is of great benefit to most of the villagers. In Pocobaya and Quirambaya, most of the owners of broken systems were eager to see them fixed. Andrew Canessa, a sociologist and director of the Centre for Latin American Studies at the University of Essex, in Colchester, England, who has worked in Pocobaya for 15 years, says the lamps were in regular use when he last visited the village in 2003.
"In my opinion, this is a good example of how a little help can go a long way," Canessa told me in an e-mail. Canessa says the light seemed particularly valued by the women, who spend much time indoors cooking in poorly lit kitchens, and among students who desire to do homework. Village women affirmed Canessa's impressions. Josefina, a bright-eyed 65-year-old grandmother in Tahana, told me that the LED's bluish beam is "not like electricity"--meaning not equal to the bright warm glow of the lights in nearby villages connected to the power grid--but that the LED lamps are a big step up from the kerosene lamps.
Anthony Harckham demonstrates how to install the solar panels on a roof.
The intimate connection that Luxtreks experienced in Tahana, and the villagers' intense engagement in the installation process, suggests that the systems will be even more valued there, where people have a greater sense of "ownership" of their lamps. "Successful projects must start from a perceived need by the intended recipient, and that need should be perceived by them as a priority, or they won't be willing to pay for it with their money, voluntary work, or time," says Francis Lethem, a development expert with the Duke Center for International Development at Duke University, in Durham, N.C.
Like most engineering projects, the Luxtreks operation faces problems and failures. With them, the Harckhams have learned that they must constantly rethink their initiative and, above all, that both human and technical factors are important for its success. During our trip, Faith came up with a better strategy with which to approach villages: the initial contacts would happen through preinstallation visits, in which they would hope to gauge and confirm the villagers' commitment to the project. Meanwhile, Anthony worked to develop a more robust lighting system. The result is a radical redesign: Anthony packaged the LEDs, battery, and photovoltaics into one self-contained lantern. The lantern could be placed in the sunlight to charge and could then be hung inside at night.
Irvine-Halliday says he has "nothing but admiration" for the Harckhams and for Luxtreks--an "affiliate" of his Calgary-based Light Up the World Foundation--but he continues to advocate a different strategy: jump-starting production and distribution of lamps in the developing world financed by the rural poor themselves. He says that the cost of a locally manufactured lighting system is nearly within reach for the rural poor and that microcredit financing, proven in places like Bangladesh and now spreading through the developing world, could provide the required capital. Until rural people around the world can walk into shops and buy their own LED lamps, I hope that Luxtrekkers keep on making the journey.
An LED lamp consuming only 1 watt can provide enough light to read, cook, or work by.
Half a year later , my thoughts still return to our final afternoon on the hillsides below Mount Illampu. Our work in the three villages finished, we gather with the residents of Tahana on the soccer field, where they fete us with a traditional communal meal. A dozen men, dressed in their best suits and intricately woven serapes, strike up a mesmerizing, seemingly endless melody on drums and zampoñas, Andean panpipes. Before long I'm trading my denim baseball cap for a black fedora and bright serape from one of my new acquaintances, 33-year-old Víctor Peralta. Meanwhile, the women in our group are layered in traditional satin and cotton dresses. Moments later, as we twist around the field in a chain dance, accelerated to the point of hilarity, I realize that the villagers have made a difference in our lives as much as we have perhaps made in theirs.
About The Author
Peter Fairley writes about energy, technology, and the environment from Victoria, B.C., Canada. His article "The Unruly Power Grid" appeared in the August issue of IEEE Spectrum.
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- 11.1.1 Character Sets and Collations in General
- 11.1.2 Character Sets and Collations in MySQL
- 11.1.3 Collation Naming Conventions
- 11.1.4 Specifying Character Sets and Collations
- 11.1.5 Connection Character Sets and Collations
- 11.1.6 Configuring the Character Set and Collation for Applications
- 11.1.7 Character Set for Error Messages
- 11.1.8 Collation Issues
- 11.1.9 String Repertoire
- 11.1.10 Operations Affected by Character Set Support
- 11.1.11 Unicode Support
- 11.1.12 Upgrading from Previous to Current Unicode Support
- 11.1.13 UTF-8 for Metadata
- 11.1.14 Column Character Set Conversion
- 11.1.15 Character Sets and Collations Supported by MySQL
MySQL includes character set support that enables you to store
data using a variety of character sets and perform comparisons
according to a variety of collations. You can specify character
sets at the server, database, table, and column level. MySQL
supports the use of character sets for the
InnoDB storage engines.
This chapter discusses the following topics:
What are character sets and collations?
The multiple-level default system for character set assignment.
Syntax for specifying character sets and collations.
Affected functions and operations.
The character sets and collations that are available, with notes.
Character set issues affect not only data storage, but also
communication between client programs and the MySQL server. If you
want the client program to communicate with the server using a
character set different from the default, you'll need to indicate
which one. For example, to use the
character set, issue this statement after connecting to the
SET NAMES 'utf8';
For more information about configuring character sets for application use and character set-related issues in client/server communication, see Section 11.1.6, “Configuring the Character Set and Collation for Applications”, and Section 11.1.5, “Connection Character Sets and Collations”.
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The arrest of Representative Trey Radel (R-Fla.) for purchasing 3.5 grams of cocaine brings to mind one of the longstanding puzzles of American commerce. How is it that cocaine is sold by metric units while almost every other commodity in America is sold in imperial measurements?
When I asked this on twitter I got a lot of talk about the global nature of the cocaine supply chain, the metric bias of the people who produce the cocaine, the wholesalers, etc. But this doesn't add up. Cocaine is hardly the only globally traded agricultural commodity that's in wide use in the United States. Take the equally popular—if not more so—stimulant of coffee. You can buy five pounds of coffee beans, or 32 ounces of coffee beans, or however many coffee beans you want. But nobody's going to sell you a kilo of coffee beans. Unless, that is, you're living outside the United States where things are portioned metrically.
It's particularly mysterious because the 3.5 gram quantity of cocaine is colloquially known as an "eight ball" because 3.5 grams is approximately one-eighth of an ounce. Approximately, but not exactly. As a fan of powers of two, it seems to me that it would be nice to traffic pounds of cocaine with each pound divided into 128 eight balls. In metric units, a single kilogram of cocaine contains 285.71 eight balls, which is totally ridiculous.
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The Book of Exodus begins more than four hundred years after Joseph, his brothers, and the Pharaoh he once served have all died. The new leadership in Egypt—feeling threatened by Jacob’s descendants, who have increased greatly in size—embarks on a campaign to subdue the Israelites, forcing them into slavery and eventually decreeing that all Hebrew boys must be killed at birth in the Nile River. The Hebrew women resist the decree, and one woman opts to save her newborn son by setting him afloat on the river in a papyrus basket. Fortunately, Pharaoh’s daughter discovers the abandoned child and raises him after he has been nursed, naming him Moses.
Moses is aware of his Hebrew roots, and, one day, he kills an Egyptian who is beating an Israelite worker. Moses flees in fear to Midian, a town near Sinai, where he meets a priest named Jethro and marries the man’s daughter, beginning a new life as a shepherd. God, however, is concerned for the suffering of the Israelites, and he appears to Moses in the form of a burning bush. God speaks to Moses, informing him of his plan to return the Israelites to Canaan—to “a land flowing with milk and honey” (3:8)—and to send Moses back to Egypt to accomplish this task. Moses is timid and resists, citing his lack of eloquence and abilities, and refuses to go. God is angered but encourages Moses, presenting him with a staff for performing miracles and instructing Moses to take his brother, Aaron, with him as an aid. When Moses asks God what his name is, God replies, “I AM WHO I AM” (3:14).
Moses and Aaron return to Egypt, where Moses organizes the Israelites and confronts the Pharaoh, demanding the release of the Hebrew people. Moses performs a miracle, turning his staff into a snake, but Pharaoh is unimpressed and only increases the workload for the Israelites. God responds by inflicting a series of ten plagues on Egypt. God turns the Nile River into blood, causes frogs to cover Egypt, turns all of the dust in Egypt to gnats, and causes swarms of flies to come into the houses of Pharaoh and his officials. God then strikes Egypt’s livestock with a disease, creates festering boils on humans and animals, and sends thunder, hail, and fire that destroy crops, livestock, and people. God sends swarms of locusts, and covers Egypt with “a darkness that can be felt” (10:21). Before each plague, Moses demands the Israelites’ release, and after each plague, God purposefully “hardens” Pharaoh so that he refuses the request (4:21, 7:22). The tenth and final plague kills all the firstborn males in Egypt. Before the plague, Moses instructs the Hebrew people to cover their door posts in the blood of a sacrificed lamb as a sign for God to protect their homes from his killings. Pharaoh relents and releases the more than 600,000 Israelites who, in turn, plunder the Egyptians’ wealth. Upon leaving, Moses enjoins the Israelites to commemorate this day forever by dedicating their firstborn children to God and by celebrating the festival of Passover, named for God’s protection from the final plague (12:14–43).
Guided by a pillar of cloud during the day and by fire during the night, Moses and the Israelites head west toward the sea. Pharaoh chases them. The Israelites complain that Moses has taken them to die in the wilderness, and Moses, at God’s bidding, parts the sea for the people to cross. Pharaoh follows and Moses closes the waters back again, drowning the Egyptian army. Witnessing the miracle, the people decide to trust Moses, and they sing a song extolling God as a great but loving warrior. Their optimism is brief, and the people soon begin to worry about the shortage of food and water. God responds by sending the people food from heaven, providing a daily supply of quail and a sweet bread-like substance called manna. The people are required only to obey God’s commandments to enjoy this food. Soon thereafter, the Israelites confront the warring Amalekite people, and God gives the Israelites the power to defeat them. During battle, whenever Moses raises his arms, the Israelites are able to rout their opponents.
Three months after the flight from Egypt, Moses and the Israelites arrive at Mount Sinai, where God appears before them, descending on the mountain in a cloud of thunder and lightning. Moses climbs the mountain, and God gives Moses two stone tablets with ten commandments inscribed on them regarding general, ethical behavior as well as an extended series of laws regarding worship, sacrifices, social justice, and personal property. God explains to Moses that if the people will obey these regulations, he will keep his covenant with Israel and will go with them to retrieve from the Canaanites the land promised to Abraham. Moses descends from the mountain and relates God’s commandments to the people. The people agree to obey, and Moses sprinkles the people with blood as a sign of the covenant. Moses ascends to the mountain again where God gives him more instructions, this time specifying in great detail how to build a portable temple called an ark in which God’s presence will dwell among the Israelites. God also emphasizes the importance of observing the Sabbath day of holy rest.
Moses comes down from the mountain after forty days, only to find that Aaron and the Israelites have now erected an idol—a golden calf that they are worshipping in revelry, in direct defiance of the ten commandments. Moses breaks the stone tablets on which God has inscribed the new laws, and God plans to destroy the people. Moses intercedes on the Israelites’ behalf, begging God to relent and to remember his covenant. Pleased with Moses, God is appeased and continues to meet with Moses face to face, “as one speaks to a friend,” in a special tent set aside for worship (33:11). God reaffirms his covenant with Moses, and, fashioning new stone tablets to record his decrees, God declares himself to be a compassionate, loving, and patient God. At Moses’s direction, the Israelites renew their commitment to the covenant by erecting a tabernacle to God according to the exact specifications God has outlined.
The section that quotes 1:27-29 relies heavily on the use of the semicolon in the passage. however this is not punctuation that exists in Hebrew and would not have been in the original. in particular its not aplicable to "man and woman he created them" because the 'them' is actually singular in Hebrew and therefor should be translated "Man and woman he created it (humanity)" so its not even the same kind of binary described in the analysis.
8 out of 14 people found this helpful
You keep repeating that Gd appears in different forms and can be physical, while in fact the Old Testament itself says that He sent an angel, or made something appear, etc. Also, the Bible specifically says that He is not physical. In chapter 4 of Deuteronomy, Moses says to the Hebrews: "And you shall watch yourselves very well, for you did not see any image on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire," then goes on to explicitly say not to make any image of Him because He doesn't have one! I just don't see how ... Read more→
18 out of 31 people found this helpful
The bible states that you are not to focus on words of no value and look at the big picture 2 Timothy 2:14
[ Dealing With False Teachers ] Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen.. The reason for this was the attempted forced paganism of the church by deception. The Bible interprets itself as intended and todays false interpretations and nit picking are very troubling and indicative of corruption. Here, watch this for how the ... Read more→
25 out of 40 people found this helpful
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5 ways to avoid dangerous toys
Are you killing your kids? If you read the news or this blog, apparently most of us are one bad purchase away from doing just that without knowing it. Whether it’s lead-contaminated paint or date-rape dots or collapsing toy shelves, toys – of all things – have become a source of serious concern for parents.
So what can a parent do? Try running through this simple checklist before buying a toy:
- Does the toy have batteries or moving parts? Batteries are toxic. Noise-producing toys stifle the imagination and annoy parents and other adults who have to listen to repetitive beeps and shrieks. Steer clear of electronic toys.
- Skip the plastics. As a general rule, plastic toys are made from plastic for one reason: cost containment. Plastic is a cheap material, and toy companies are already squeezed by licensing and manufacturing costs. Seeking out toys made from non-plastic materials (wood, in particular) is difficult. I have spent a long time in Toys R Us looking for non-plastic toys for our son. They are out there, though. Melissa & Doug toys are (for the most part) non-plastic toys that can be found at major retail stores.
- Think twice before buying a brand instead of a toy. Branding is the primary selling point for toys. If you don’t believe me, go to a toystore and tell me how many toys you can find which are NOT associated with a television show, a movie or a musical group. These toys are often created with the intention of reinforcing the child’s desire to buy more toys branded in the same way rather than creating an educational experience. Many of the branded toys are built cheap and fast in countries with questionable safety standards. Buying non-branded toys does not guarantee safety, but many of them are made with more care to compete with the Dora and Buzz Lightyear and Finding Nemo toys.
- Do your homework! Most of the recent recalls were from, frankly, cheap toys or toys of questionable quality. You can consult the Consumer Product Safety Commission or the U.S. PIRG, the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) who maintain a website on toy safety.
- Keep it simple! You will often hear parents laughingly talk about how their children pass by all of the fancy beeping whirling toys to bang on a pot with a wooden spoon or throw a tennis ball endlessly. This is simple, straightforward advice: despite what you may think, your children don’t need a lot of fancy toys. Simple toys like building blocks and simple dolls and wooden cars are going to be the best for your child, both educationally and in terms of safety. They inspire imagination and creativity and at the same time are not usually made from toxic materials and do not contain poisonous batteries or small moving parts.
Just use common sense and avoid buying anything that your instincts tell you that you shouldn’t. Run through the list above, and remember: children can play with anything and have fun, but only YOU can determine what’s safe!
I don’t agree with everything Brip Blap says, but he makes some very good points. For example, we’ve found that most wooden toys (including Melissa & Doug, which he mentioned) just aren’t interesting enough for Alex. But I avoid all toys in the dollar section at Target, since the risk that something so cheap is contaminated seems so great. And, in fact, for the holidays, we’ve asked for Lego Duplo sets to encourage the imagination and creativity that come naturally to Alex already. – Cathy
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Humans have pushed the Earth into a new geological era. Called the Anthropocene, it is the result of accelerated climate change brought on by rapid urbanization, pollution, and accelerated usage of natural resources, concluded scientists in a new study.
Scientists have claimed that humans have eroded the Earth so much that they are responsible for pushing it into a new chapter of geological history. Incidentally, it had begun in the early 1950s itself, but the changeover is fairly recent. Scientists now have definite proof that humans have permanently altered the Earth through the widespread use of concrete, aluminum, plastic, and nuclear weapons, as well as the burning of coal and gas, reported the Tech Times.
To date, there were mere indicators that humans have been leaving traces of their actions on the Earth. However, with the findings of the new study, geoscientists have gathered “overwhelming evidence” that humans have permanently and irreversibly altered the whole Earth system.
A geological era, more commonly recognized as an epoch, is a subdivision of a time-scale created specifically for Earth’s geological history. It is a little longer than an age (like the Stone Age), which is marked by the increased use of a particular metal or technology, but a lot shorter than a period (like the Jurassic period), which is distinctively identified by the prolonged duration of a dominant weather pattern and species, reports Bill Insider.
For the past 11,700 years, the Earth was going through the Holocene Epoch, reports the Daily Mail. A relatively mild geological era, the Holocene can be characterized by the remarkably stable weather patterns and the distinctive lack of earth-altering phenomena like an asteroid strike, abnormal temperature rise, or sub-zero temperatures. These milder times have invariably helped the dominant species, i.e. humans, to evolve at an unhindered and remarkably accelerated pace.
From the basics of human settlements to the modern civilizations, the Holocene Epoch has been instrumental in helping the humans thrive on Earth. It was during this time that humans developed, mastered, and have begun to abuse the art of agriculture to increase food production for the ever-increasing population. The humans built lasting urban settlements and became quite adept at leeching water, mineral, and energy resources of the planet, reported Phys.
Scientists believe a time of rapid environmental change was kickstarted by the impact of population explosion, rapid industrialization, and consumerism during the “Great Acceleration” of the mid-20th century. It is this time that has been proposed to be the beginning of the Anthropocene Epoch. Until now, scientists were merely proposing the Anthropocene era as an hypothesis to repetitively demonstrate the massive and permanent negative impact that humans have had on the planet’s atmosphere and species, reported ZME Science.
However, a new review, published in the journal Science, has concluded that the human activity has left a pervasive and persistent signature on Earth. Such a change can be recognized as a new geological time unit, said Dr. Colin Waters, principal geologist at the British Geological Survey and an author on the study.
“We could be looking here at a stepchange from one world to another that justifies being called an epoch. What this paper does is to say the changes are as big as those that happened at the end of the last ice age. This is a big deal.
“Potentially the most widespread and globally synchronous Anthropogenic signal is the fallout from nuclear weapons testing. It’s probably a good candidate [for a single line of evidence to justify a new epoch] … we can recognise it in glacial ice, so if an ice core was taken from Greenland, we could say that’s where it [the start of the Anthropocene] was defined.”
Incidentally, scientists have blamed the sudden spike in nuclear weapons testing that accelerated the phenomenon of the Earth entering a new geological era.
[Photo by Wang Zhao/Getty Images]
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Collectors of Florida history
Two collectors of historic Florida artifacts share their interests. Also, we list other notable Florida historical collections.
» Museum of Florida History, Tallahassee: Highlights include Civil War flags of Florida from the mid- to late 19th century; Roxcy Bolton Collection of women’s rights artifacts put together by the renowned women’s rights pioneer; and even things like Florida citrus shipping labels and tourist memorabilia.
» P.K. Yonge Library of Florida History, Gainesville: The formerly private collection of historical maps, early newspaper articles and manuscripts from the Spanish borderlands was started in the 1890s and can now be found at the University of Florida campus in Gainesville.
» HistoryMiami (formerly Historical Museum of Southern Florida), Miami: All collections relate to the history, cultures, folk life and archaeology of south Florida, the Caribbean and Native Americans, including old architectural renderings, news articles, postcards and photos.
» Museum of Arts & Sciences Cuban Foundation Museum, Daytona Beach: Former Cuban President Fulgencio Batista, who eventually resided in Daytona Beach, donated most of his extensive Cuban art collection to the residents of Daytona, and it has been housed here for 40 years as a means of giving Cuban-Americans a look at their cultural heritage through art.
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After kangaroo hopping back to the lunar rover, Eugene and Jack drove back to the lunar module, Challenger. There they dusted each other off and loaded the last of their 100kg of lunar rock samples. Jack cleaned up inside While Eugene parked the rover a kilometre and a half away so the takeoff could be televised. Then hopping and skipping in the low lunar gravity he made the most of his last moments on the moon. Once back at the lunar module, one foot on the Challenger’s landing pad, Eugene Cernan lifted his other from the moon, and said:
As I take these last steps from the surface for some time to come, I’d just like to record that America’s challenge of today has forged man’s destiny of tomorrow.
The next day, December 14, 1972, they blasted off from the moon, ending the sixth and last human exploration of the moon for the 20th century.
The last of the lunar Apollos
The Apollo program was a child of the cold war between the USA and Soviet Russia. It was invigorated by President Kennedy’s 1961 challenge to put man on the moon and return him safely before the decade was over. Once the landing of Apollo 11 was achieved in July 1969, the Apollo and NASA budgets came under savage scrutiny. It was the time of the war in Vietnam, budget problems for the 1972 fiscal year and followed the scare of Apollo 13.
The final two scheduled Apollo missions, 18 and 19, were finally cancelled in September 2, 1970. Apollo 20 had already been cancelled on January 2 so that its Saturn V rocket could be used as the launch vehicle for the Skylab space-station in 1973.
The Apollo program was an incredible, successful human feat. It remains the only program to have placed humans beyond low-earth orbit and onto another celestial body. Apollo 8 was the first manned spacecraft to orbit another celestial body, while Apollo 11 landed the first humans on another world. The program returned 382 kg of lunar rocks and soil to Earth, contributing to the understanding of lunar geology.
It laid the foundation for NASA’s current human spaceflight capability, and funded construction of its Johnson Space Center and Kennedy Space Center. Apollo also spurred advances in many areas of technology incidental to rocketry and manned spaceflight and the start of huge opportunities for technology transfer, leading to more than 1,500 successful spinoffs related to areas as disparate as heart monitors, solar panels, and cordless innovation. More recently, we’ve seen a fledgling private-sector American space industry complete its first cargo delivery to the international space station.
Stepping up, walking tall
There is a marvelous fascination with human exploration. The Apollo missions are a great representation of that drive and curiosity. Apollo 17 astronauts, Eugene Cernan, Harrison Schmitt and Ron Evans, exemplified those attributes.
Eugene Cernan is ‘Captain America’ to a tee. A US Navy pilot who, like much of America, was caught up in the early space race. In 1962 he watched, captivated, on TV the launch of John Glenn. Who in the third manned Mercury capsule became the first American to orbit the earth. Cernan at the time lacked the coveted ‘test-pilot’ wings to be selected in the September 1962 second group of astronauts, which included Apollo 11 commander, Neil Armstrong. Cernan was picked, in October 1963, for the third astronaut group – which included the other Apollo 11 astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins.
Cernan became the second American astronaut, after Ed White on June 3 1965, to perform an extra-vehicular activity – a spacewalk. His Gemini 9 spacewalk lasted 2 hours and nine minutes, travelling 57,600 km, and rated as one most difficult achievements of his life. The brutal mechanics of Newton’s third law in action in space making seemingly simple tasks into exhausting and challenging experiences, resulting in fogging his helmet and pushing his heart rate to 188 bpm. His experiences made NASA rethink the training required for future extra-vehicular activities.
On January 27, 1967 Tom Stafford, John Young and Cernan were in an altitude chamber “trying to bring a new, untried, stubborn spacecraft up to launch standards”. Meanwhile, in an identical craft, Apollo 1 astronauts veteran Gus Grissom, first American spacewalker Ed White and Cernan’s closest friend the rookie Roger Chaffee, were conducting similar tests atop a Saturn rocket at Cape Kennedy. Minutes later they were dead, killed in a fire – a tragedy stunning the close-knit space community.
In May 1969, Cernan, as part of the Apollo 10 crew along with Tom Stafford and John Young achieved a number of records and a “dry-run” for the Apollo 11 landing two months later. As befitting a crew of test pilots they set the record for the highest speed attained by a manned vehicle at 39,897 km/h during the return from the Moon on May 26, 1969 and hold the record of being the humans who have traveled to the farthest point away from home, some 408,950 kilometres. Cernan and Stafford came within 15.6km of the lunar surface in their lunar module Snoopy.
Harrison “Jack” Schmitt is a geologist and one of the NASA group 4 astronauts, “the scientists“, that were announced on June 28, 1965. His and their story is worthy of is own post, coming in January 2013.
Ron Evans was picked as a Command Module specialist from the beginning of his NASA career. Chosen in April 1966, one of the group 5 astronauts, he was support crew for Apollo 1 and back-up command module pilot for Apollo 14. I found him notable for his almost invisibility in memoirs of the time. In both Deke Slayton’s and Eugene Cernan’s fascinating autobiographies Ron Evans is there an accepted, uncontroversial part of the missions, without a strong personality, extremely competent – obviously the perfect man for the pilot seat of the command module America.
Adventures in the Taurus-Littrow valley
A moon landing was the payoff for all the hard-work, according to Cernan, “the ultimate dream for any pilot.” Following the tradition began by Neil Armstrong on Apollo 11, Cernan, as Commander, was first out on the moon. As he skipped around Schmitt quipped, “Hey, whose been tracking up my lunar surface?” and then stepped out onto a geologist’s paradise – the moon.
The primary objectives for Apollo 17 were: to sample lunar highland material older than the impact that formed Mare Imbrium and investigate the possibility of relatively young volcanic activity in the same vicinity. The Taurus-Littrow valley was selected with the prospects of finding highland material in the valley’s north and south walls and the possibility that several craters in the valley surrounded by dark material could be linked to volcanic activity
Cernan and Schmitt had a three-day lunar surface stay, conducting three periods of extra-vehicular activity, either moonwalking or driving around in the third Lunar Roving Vehicle. They amassed over 22 hours on the surface during these periods in which they collected lunar samples and deployed scientific instruments.
The largest haul of lunar rocks was collected by the two moon-walkers as well as deploying the Apollo lunar surface experiments package (ALSEP), a feature of all manned lunar missions. The stations ran from deployment until they were turned off on 30 September 1977 due to: budgetary considerations, the power packs could not run both the transmitter and any other instrument, and the ALSEP control room was needed for the attempt to reactivate Skylab.
They also carried out gravimeter experiments to learn about the moon’s internal structure. The gravimeter was used to obtain readings at the landing site in the immediate vicinity of the lunar module, as well as various locations on the mission’s roving routes.
Meanwhile the command module also housed a series of scientific experiments. A special bay housed three experiments (as well as cameras and altimeter) for use in lunar orbit: a lunar sounder, an infrared scanning radiometer, and a far-ultraviolet spectrometer. The film canisters were recovered by Ron Evans in a spacewalk after docking with the returned lunar module.
Splashdown in the Pacific on December 19, 1972 brought this “first phase” of human space exploration to a close – I now wait for the second phase to begin and wonder who might it be?
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Henry Clay: The Essential American
By David S. Heidler
Hardcover, 624 pages
List price: $30
In the year 1777 the United States was less than a year old and at war. It was also deeply divided over the wisdom of that war and doubtful in the main about its conclusion. And yet for much of the country the war was a distant event. Britain chose to focus on what it regarded as the hotbeds of pro-war sentiment, which were in the Northeast. The strategic decision to isolate New England kept the war centered on New York and made it remote for the rest of the thirteen erstwhile colonies, at least for a time. Now styling themselves as sovereign states united for the purpose of fighting this war and not much else, the new United States confronted the complicated and divisive nature of their enemy. The rebellion that had become the Revolution also became a civil war. Little wonder that many did not hold out much hope for success.
This was the world that greeted Henry Clay on April 12, 1777, two years almost to the day after the shedding of first blood at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts that marked the beginning of the shooting war with Britain. In that respect, he and his country were intertwined in both origin and destiny.
Henry Clay was a member of the sixth generation of a family that had been in colonial Virginia for more than a hundred and fifty years. John Clay was the first of that line, emigrating from England around 1612. Descendants maintained that John was the son of a Welsh aristocrat, but there is no definitive proof of the claim. If John's pedigree was unremarkable, though, his industry once he arrived in the New World was admirable. Hard work and two good marriages brought him property and prominence. His marriage to Elizabeth — his second, her third — produced Charles in 1645. Ten years later, when John died, he left a considerable estate. Charles married Hannah Wilson and commenced something of a Clay tradition for producing large families. He and Hannah had seven children, three of them girls, though the female children had a distressing way of dying young, a peculiarity that tragically repeated itself in subsequent generations. Charles's boys, however, were not only hale, two of them were well-nigh immortal. Charles Jr., born in 1676, lived to see ninety, and his older brother, Henry, born in 1672, nearly matched that endurance, dying in 1760 at age eighty-eight. Such longevity was rare anywhere in the world, let alone in hardscrabble colonial Virginia.
The elder Charles was a prosperous planter whose lands lay on the Virginia frontier, vulnerable to hostile Indians and persistently ignored by the colonial government in Jamestown. For those beyond the sight line of the eastern elite, prosperity did not necessarily mean security, and success did not breed prudence when it came to their relations with the Crown's neglectful representatives. Sir William Berkeley's administration proved indifferent to mounting protests, and Charles Clay joined Nathaniel Bacon's rebellion in 1676 that chased Governor Berkeley to the Eastern Shore of Virginia and briefly set up a rival government for the colony. Bacon's Rebellion did not last long, but its occurrence made an impression on the royal administration. Charles Clay emerged from the event unpunished.
Clay lands were originally in Henrico County, a large district that spanned both sides of the James River. In 1749, the Virginia Assembly had established Chesterfield County out of Henrico, making it the new district within which sat "?The Raels," the Clay plantation that belonged to Charles's son, the long-lived Henry. While in his late thirties, Henry married teenaged Mary Mitchell sometime before 1709 and began a family that would also number seven children. The youngest, John, survived Henry by only two years, dying young at forty-one in 1762. Around 1740, though, he married affluent Sarah Watkins and had two sons with her before her untimely death at age twenty-five; the elder of them, also named John, was Henry Clay's father.
John Clay was born in 1742 and at age twenty inherited his father's plantation, "Euphraim," in Henrico County with about twelve slaves. Three years later, he married fifteen-year-old Elizabeth Hudson, the daughter of a substantial Hanover County family. The Hudsons owned roughly five hundred acres of cultivated fields and pasturage three miles from Hanover Court House and sixteen miles north of Richmond. Elizabeth and her older sister, Mary, were to inherit this property in equal portions, a legacy sure to enhance John's already impressive holdings.
John and Elizabeth lived at Euphraim and in characteristic Clay fashion began working on a large family. Sadly, they had limited success, for their children died with a frequency remarkable even for a time when it was frightfully easy for children to die. They lost their first girl, Molly, so quickly that she does not even appear in many genealogical charts or biographical accounts. Their second child, Betty, lived only a little more than ten years, and the third, a boy named Henry after his paternal great-grandfather, only about eight years. Even the subsequent children were for the most part frail or just unlucky: George, born in 1771 and named after Elizabeth's father, did not reach twenty, and Sarah, born some three years later, died at twenty-one.
George Hudson's estate technically belonged to Mary and Elizabeth after his death in 1773, but his will also stipulated that their mother could remain on the farm in Hanover County for the rest of her life. She herself was elderly and feeble, and her need for care and companionship probably prompted the Clays to move from Euphraim to the Hudson farm in early 1777. Elizabeth was heavy with her seventh child, who turned out to be her fourth son. Thus it happened that Henry Clay was born at the Hudson home in Hanover County on April 12. They named him in remembrance of both his ancestor and his dead brother.
John made arrangements to establish sole ownership of the Hudson farm by buying out the interest Mary and her husband, John Watkins, had in the property. It was there, his birthplace, that Henry would spend his first years. He responded to a question many years later about its exact location by casually observing that his memory was sketchy about the matter because "I was very young at my birth." But he could approximately place it as having been "between Black Tom's Slash, and Hanover Court-house." The farm sat in that part of Hanover County called "the Slashes" because of the swampy terrain covered with thick undergrowth. The house was probably much like the one at Euphraim in Henrico County, though possibly more accommodating for a growing family. The Hudson home was a clapboard structure of one and a half stories, three prominent dormer windows resembling doghouses jutting from the sloping roof and offering a pleasant view through old growth trees of nearby Machump's Creek. Two large masonry chimneys of either stone or brick rose prominently on each end of the house, a mark of affluence when poor farmers had only one chimney, often made of logs.
The old Hudson place, which John and Elizabeth named Clay's Spring, was modest in comparison with the grand mansions of the Virginia Tidewater. Clay's forebears had at one time owned thousands of acres, but successive generations had divided the lands among numerous heirs. Earlier, until Virginia abolished entail in 1776, eldest sons inherited the lion's share of estates, relegating their siblings to the ranks of lesser planters. Except for his father, most of Henry Clay's paternal ancestors had not been eldest sons.
Clay's Spring was a handsome establishment, though. In addition to the main house, an extra room had been added around one of the chimneys, and the yard was fenced. Various outbuildings helped in the workaday business of growing corn, tobacco, and wheat as well as livestock, all with the labor of about twenty slaves. The income from the farm and Euphraim, left in the hands of an overseer, supported a growing family. In addition to John Clay (born around 1775) and young Henry, Elizabeth bore another son, in 1779, whom they named Porter.
Little remains to draw a clear picture of Henry Clay's father, John Clay. No physical description survives, nor is there any detailed recollection of memorable events in his life. He might have been an imposing man with an air of authority, characteristics suggested by references to him in legal records of Hanover and Chesterfield counties as "Sir John Clay." Neither he nor any of his American ancestors had been knighted, and even the supposition that the title was an honorific out of respect for the family's aristocratic British ancestry makes little sense. Years later Henry explained away the title as merely "a sobriquet" his father had somehow acquired. It was a credible explanation suggesting that like the honorary Kentucky colonel, John Clay was respected enough by both neighbors and the courts to merit the mark of natural nobility. It was, in any case, destined to be something of a family trait.
Excerpted from Henry Clay by David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler Copyright © 2010 by David S. Heidler. Excerpted by permission of Random House, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Red markers indicate where ash has been observed, blue markers indicate no observation.
In 2011, in response to eruption of the Grímsvötn volcano in Iceland, members of the public answered an online questionnaire indicating whether or not they thought volcanic ash was falling in their area. The red markers show where members of the public thought they had observed volcanic ash, the blue markers show where members of the public believed there was no ash. Members of the public were also invited to collect falling ash using a variety of methods and send the samples to BGS. Some of the samples submitted contained such small particles that identification was challenging but analysis has shown that ash fell mainly in the north of the UK and not in the south. The samples were analysed using a scanning electron microscope which can reveal textures showing how magma in the volcano fragmented and the results were sent back to public respondents where possible and posted on the BGS website. This work was carried out in collaboration with John Stevenson at Edinburgh University.
Contact Sue Loughlin for further information
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Yet again the French fries seem to be entangled in a health controversy now in China. Scientists in China have found that acrylamide, a probable human cancer causing agent, in potato fries exceeds the limit in drinking water set by the World Health Organization (WHO) by 500 times.//
The Chinese Ministry of Health said that measures have been taken to control the possible harm of fried-food-borne acrylamide in humans.
In April, the Chinese Ministry of Health published an assessment report on the risk of acrylamide saying that tests in animals have indicated that acrylamide is a known probable human carcinogen. Recently, scientists have found that potato fries possess acrylamide at levels 500 times higher than that allowed in drinking water set by the WHO.
The Ministry of Health particularly reminds the public that based on the results from a Chinese food contaminant surveillance program, high levels of acrylamide are present in fried potatoes, malt tea, instant coffee, maize tea, fried grain-based foods, and baked grain foods. The real content of acrylamide varies depending upon the type of food, cooking time and temperature.
Acrylamide could potentially cause cancer in humans. Animal tests suggest such a probability. Epidemiological studies on professional exposure to acrylamide found that long term exposure to low doses of acrylamide can cause a range of health conditions including sleepiness, disturbed emotion, and memory loss, among others.
The Chinese actions may be prompted by the high profile media attention of the California lawsuit against fast-food giants. Last Friday, California Attorney-General Bill Lockyer filed a suit to request nine snack and fast-food providers to put a warning over the presence of acrylamide in some of their foods.
The lawsuit received a strong response from the food industry, resulting in a lawsuit being filed by a group to request California to withdraw its original l
awsuit. The opponents of the California lawsuit say that the harm of acrylamide in humans is uncertain and a warning may unduly scare consumers away from the food products with high levels of acrylamide, which will affect the food business.
Further actions could also cause the elimination of fries from Chinese markets. This time can only tell.
As of now the battle between the administration and food industry goes on.
Related medicine news :1
. French and wine: inseparable and just perfect?
. French Doctors Successfully Separate Twins Joined At Spine3
. McDonalds: French Fries, Transparent to more Trans -Fats4
. Chikungunya Epidemic On French Island Claims 52 lives5
. French fries by McDonalds fries in another controversy6
. French Minister To Visit La Reunion Island To Monitor Chikungunya Epidemic7
. Chikungunya Fever: French Government struggling to Tackle the Mosquito Menace 8
. New Breast Cancer Dictionary To Be Brought Out By French League Against Cancer9
. French Face Transplant Patient Reports Feeling of Sensation in New Face10
. French Ship docks in Alang, Gujarat11
. French Surgeons Take Off for First Gravity-free Surgery
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| 0.931395 | 656 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Environmental levels of thallium : Influence of redox properties and anthropogenic sources
Thallium is a highly toxic element that humans are exposed to mainly by consumption of drinking water and vegetables grown in soil with high thallium content but also through inhalation of particles in the air. Thallium is also present in fossil fuels, alloys, and in electronic utilities. The increasing use of the element and emissions from notably energy production has lead to a higher load on the surface of the Earth. This study aims at increasing the knowledge about the behaviour of thallium in aquatic environments. Focus has been on the redox chemistry of thallium in relation to its mobility, which is of great importance because Tl(I) and Tl(III) have very different properties in this respect.The relationship between Tl(I) and Tl(III) in surface waters from contaminated and uncontaminated environments was examined by ion chromatography connected on line to ICP-MS (inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry). It was found in controlled systems that even though Tl(III) is thermodynamically unstable under fresh water conditions Tl(I) was oxidised in the presence of light and iron(III). This was also confirmed in field studies. When lake water samples were exposed to light, Tl(I) was oxidised and thallium was lost from the solution. The most likely explanation for this was adsorption of thallium to particle surfaces.The concentration of thallium in Swedish lakes and soil were measured. In unpolluted lakes the concentration ranges between 4.5-12 ng/l, the sediment concentration was 0.07-1.46 mg/kg. The anthropogenic load was found to have increased since the end of the Second World War although concentrations above background were found since the early industrialisation. In contaminated areas the concentration in soil ranges from 0.64-88 mg/kg, high concentrations were found in systems with alum shale and in soil exposed to runoff from a lead and zinc enrichment plant.The mobilisation of thallium from solid phases in contaminated areas was dependent on pH and about 50% of the leachable content was mobilised already at pH 5-6. Once it had been released to water it was highly mobile. These conditions suggest that in a large part of the Swedish environment a high mobility of thallium can be expected.
Source Type:Doctoral Dissertation
Keywords:NATURAL SCIENCES; Chemistry; Environmental chemistry; thallium; Tl(I); Tl(III); separation; ion chromatography; fresh water; sediment; mine waste; fly ash; redistribution; ICP-MS; Chemistry; kemi
Date of Publication:01/01/2006
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NVQs and Vocational Competence Qualifications ("VCQ's")
You will achieve National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) (SVQ's in Scotland) or VCQ's through assessment and training in the workplace. These are nationally recognised qualifications that are accepted by employers and academic institutes.
People who complete an Apprenticeship will gain an NVQ or VCQ Level 2. Advanced Apprenticeships lead to an NVQ or VCQ at Level 3.
Key skills (Core skills in Scotland and essential skills in Wales)
All Apprentices are required to demonstrate their abilities in skills such as communication, number skills, and information technology. These skills are essential skills that underpin success in education, employment, lifelong learning and personal development and they are essential to compete effectively in the labour market, in any field.
Technical certificates (also called Vocationally Related Qualifications or "VRQ's")
Technical certificates focus on the knowledge and understanding that underpins the NVQ competencies. They may also cover wider aspects of the chosen occupation or sector. They prove that the Apprentice understands the theory behind the job as well as being able to carry out the practical tasks.
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| 0.954886 | 242 | 2.640625 | 3 |
However, some have argued that its history is even longer and that it may have existed in a different location at an earlier date. Its origins are shrouded in myth, as the sources regarding the Delphic oracle are scarce and are largely of a literary variety.
The earliest written account with respect to the Delphic oracle’s emergence says that Apollo had come to Delphi—an area originally known as Pytho that had belonged to the earth goddess Gaia—and upon his arrival he killed the great python-dragon. Having destroyed the site’s guardian, Apollo established the location as a sanctuary, which was later to bear his temple. Inside the walls of the sacred house resided a human priestess, or Pythia, through whom Apollo spoke.
The Greeks believed that the temple’s location was the center of the universe. Set beneath the “shining rocks” of Mount Parnassus it was consulted by many individuals who ranged in importance. Initially, it was strictly statesmen of great power and other political representatives who visited the oracle; however, later in the oracle’s history wise philosophers as well as common citizens sought knowledge and advice at Apollo’s sanctuary.
The remains of the final temple of this once greatly prestigious and respected oracle can still be visited; however, Apollo’s voice at Delphi grew silent during the fourth century b.c.e.
The role of religion and divination in the life and politics of the ancient Greeks is a complex and elaborate one. It was hardly separable from daily existence, and it is difficult to understand the politics of the time without acknowledging early Greek religiosity. In fact, the very notion of citizenship was often defined by way of religion and cult.
Moreover, some scholars have argued that the Delphic oracle, and other sources of divination, played an influential part during the period of Greek colonization. Colonies were typically established by an individual founder (oikistes), who would consult an oracle for endorsement for the excursion, the location, and the justification of his leadership.
By extension the Greek oracles helped with the emergence and maintenance of the various Greek city-states (poleis). The oracular tradition of consultation was particularly important during times of political instability, as the words of the Pythia were used as a tool to eliminate social disorder.
Although the oracle’s responses did not substitute for decision making, they served as a means by which consensus or justification for a particular opinion or resolution was established. Because it was located outside the walls of the specific city-states that consulted it, the oracle was deemed nonpartisan and could therefore be trusted. However, some sources discuss bribery and gift giving either as a means to influence the Pythia’s prophecies or as an attempt to discover what advice was given to an enemy.
A sort of informal type of diplomacy took place at Apollo’s sanctuary. The oracle only granted divination sessions once a month and for only nine months out of the year. As a result numerous state representatives would have gathered at the site simultaneously.
Some of the earliest regions to have sought its advice were Corinth, Chalkis, and Sparta. By the late seventh and early sixth centuries b.c.e. Athens was also consulting Apollo at Delphi. However, during the sixth and fifth centuries b.c.e. other popular oracles arose at Dodona, Didyma, and Ammon, giving rise to greater choice for divine consultation.
The rivalry between the various oracles was also representative of the hierarchy of gods and their respective popularity. Delphi, and by extension Apollo, remained a favorite of many Greeks for quite some time.
Only with the emergence of Alexander the Great, who initiated the imperial age and the collapse of the Greek poleis, did the oracle of Delphi begin to fall out of favor. The concurrent decline of the oracle and the city-states further provides evidence for their important reciprocal relationship.
There is still debate surrounding what exactly took place during a consultation at Delphi and in what manner the response of Apollo was delivered by the Pythia. Fantastical accounts claim that the Pythia mounted a tripod and after inhaling fumes that rose from a chasm in the earth, she was sent into a frenzy or trance and uttered unintelligible words.
The attendant priests translated the utterances and delivered a clarified version to the inquirer. However, a more rational portrayal in contrasting scholarship describes the Pythia filled with the divine breath (pneuma) or wisdom of the god, whereupon she replied with great clarity to questions asked both orally and in written form. One account of a former priest instead describes the Pythia as being peaceful and composed after the sessions.
A number of the recorded responses received at Delphi have been preserved, and modern scholars have divided them up into categories ranging from the historical to the fictional. Due to problems in translation and the vagary regarding the context within which many messages were delivered, some of the recorded prophecies are less plausible and even incoherent.
Given the nature of such pronouncements on behalf of a god, the authenticity of any of the claims cannot be completely verified. For the most part the responses followed a set of stages. The Pythia would begin by declaring that the message should be taken seriously, reminding those present that the source was Apollo himself.
Next, she would acknowledge the seeker on behalf of the god and express a degree of interest and concern. This would be followed by the Pythia’s answer. She would invariably conclude with a message that was intentionally challenging insofar as it demanded some further interpretation and thought.
Although some have alleged that the responses were entirely arbitrary and ambiguous, others have understood the complexity differently. The argument follows that the power of personal judgment and intuition were very important and necessary virtues in order to insight-fully comprehend the Pythia’s prophecies.
In fact, the often-quoted injunction “Know Thyself” was inscribed in the lintel over the temple’s entrance. Without a certain amount of personal knowledge, it would be difficult for an individual to interpret correctly advice or wisdom.
The ancient Greeks took the wisdom of Apollo and his priestesses seriously for many years and continued to return despite the fact that the responses were not delivered in a cut-and-dry fashion.
Although we are left with little more than hypotheses as to how exactly many of the prophesies were interpreted and what impact they might have truly had, there is little doubt that the mystery surrounding Delphi has remained enchanting for the modern mind as individuals today likewise strive for wisdom and truth.
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| 0.977718 | 1,369 | 3.9375 | 4 |
Parents often struggle with selecting baby names. Should they name the baby after a loved relative or friend? What about naming him or her after one of the parents or combining the parents' names? Should the name mean something in English or some foreign language? Or, maybe baby should be named after someone famous who the parents admire like a movie star, famous actor, sports hero, a TV character or even a politician?
There was a time when parents often named baby boys after the President of the United States. As a baseball fan, I first became aware of this presidential-naming phenomenon when reading about the Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander, who was born during President Grover Cleveland's first term.
One simple way to see how baby naming and the president are related is to examine the popularity of the president's first name before he began serving versus after he began serving. For example, Franklin was only the 147th most popular name in 1931 but two years later it had jumped to being ranked 33rd as parents increasingly named their children after FDR.
If we define the "presidential baby name bounce" as the difference between the average ranking in the four years after a president took office to the average ranking in the four years before the president took office, an interesting pattern emerges. From Woodrow Wilson to Lyndon Johnson, eight out of nine Presidents saw a positive baby-naming bounce, with Harry Truman being the only exception, where positive means Americans were more likely to name children using the president's first name after the president took office. The biggest positive bounces were for Woodrow and Franklin.
Starting with Richard Nixon and ending with George Bush (43), there have been seven presidents. For each of these seven presidents, the "presidential baby name bounce" has been negative, not positive. Another way to think about this is that before Richard Nixon, parents generally were more likely to name children after the new president but starting with Nixon, the trend reversed and parents became less likely to name children after the president. For example, in 1967 Richard was the 8th most popular boy's name but had dropped to 10th by 1969. Ronald dropped from 54th most popular boy's name in 1979 to 59th in 1981.
What might drive this observation? The generally increasing diversity in baby names is not the explanation since the rankings are relative, so shifts in rankings reflect comparative popularity of names. It is tempting to suggest that this observation is due to ceiling effects -- after all, presidents with less common names have more room to increase their ranking than presidents with popular baby names like William and George. Since none of the names were ranked number 1 before the president took office, ceiling effects don't seem to be a plausible explanation for the very consistent trend starting with Richard Nixon. Rather, maybe this comes down to some simpler explanations such as the declining prestige of political leaders and increasing political partisanship.
Here are few other interesting tidbits I uncovered while looking through the data:
- From Woodrow to Franklin, the increase in popularity of naming the baby after the president was largest early in the president's term and then wore off.
- Some trends preceded the presidency, such as the increasing popularity of Dwight beginning in 1943 as General Eisenhower become widely known to the American people.
- Lyndon's popularity as a first name mirrored President Johnson's popularity, jumping from 635th most popular name in 1962 to 348th in 1964 before tumbling out of the top 1000 by 1970.
- Neither Barack, Hussein nor Obama have reached the top 1,000 most popular boy names in the U.S.
- The analysis used the last 100 years of baby naming information from the US Census
- Woodrow is left off the graph due to the scale distortion
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| 0.971463 | 757 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Simple Definition of teethe
: to have the first set of teeth begin to grow
: to bite on something in order to relieve pain caused by teething
Full Definition of teethe
: to experience the emergence of one's teeth through the gums
Examples of teethe in a sentence
The baby is starting to teethe.
Origin and Etymology of teethe
back-formation from teething
First Known Use: 15th century
TEETHE Defined for Kids
Definition of teethe for Students
: to experience the growth of teeth through the gums
Seen and Heard
What made you want to look up teethe? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
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| 0.867783 | 154 | 3.125 | 3 |
Pronunciation: (roi'ul-tē),[key] —n., —pl.-ties. 1. royal persons collectively.
2. royal status, dignity, or power; sovereignty: to be elevated to royalty. 3. a person of royal lineage; member of a royal family.
4. royalties,Archaic.prerogatives, rights, or symbolic emblems of a king, queen, or other sovereign.
5. a royal domain; kingdom; realm.
6. character or quality proper to or befitting a sovereign; nobility.
7. a compensation or portion of the proceeds paid to the owner of a right, as a patent or oil or mineral right, for the use of it.
8. an agreed portion of the income from a work paid to its author, composer, etc., usually a percentage of the retail price of each copy sold.
9. a royal right, as over minerals, granted by a sovereign to a person or corporation.
10. the payment made for such a right.
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| 0.903031 | 217 | 2.59375 | 3 |
The French Words to Say It
For those who are familiar with French and who enjoy making pastry The French Words to Say it: Pastry Making is a brilliant concept. Not only are there 30 tasty French dessert recipes—from marble cake (marbre) to the Yule log (buche de Noel) aniseed cookies (biscuits a l’anis) to crepe Suzette—but concise and topical lessons in the French language.
It should be known that this book is intended for intermediate speakers so readers who have never had a French class or have not had one in a very long time might want to start out with one of Gabrielle Guichard’s beginning language books. The recipes in Pastry Making are presented in English with their French translations on the facing page. Most of the recipes also come with a little lesson on a French verb used in the recipe as well as exercises using the recipes as models to help readers learn how to conjugate the verbs.
The theory behind the book is that it is easier to learn a foreign language in a real-life situation rather than from a class or a traditional grammar book. Other books written by Guichard tackle words dealing with religion and romance: topics that if are of particular interest to readers could help them learn the special vocabulary more quickly and easily than they would by memorizing word lists.
For those who don’t know much about the French language this book could be quite useful as an inexpensive French pastry cookbook. Most of the recipes are straightforward and include only easy-to-find items. Readers will learn how to make tarts éclairs shortbread cakes and doughnuts. It’s the perfect book for helping someone make a dessert spread for Bastille Day or a French-themed dinner party. It would have been nice to have had more discussion of the French pantry or the specialty items that American home cooks might not be familiar with such as potato flour and vanilla sugar alongside the language exercises.
Readers who don’t know enough of the language to comprehend the exercises will still get much out of The French Words to Say it: Pastry Making. Since the last two recipes are only in French readers might be compelled to learn more to uncover les secrets fran&231;ais de cuisine.
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The author of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have his/her book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Review make no guarantee that the author will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
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| 0.956713 | 559 | 2.5625 | 3 |
CERES electric car project
From Greenlivingpedia, a wiki on green living, building and energy
The CERES electric car project is a community-based volunteer initiative at CERES Community Environment Park in East Brunswick, Melbourne, Australia that has recently converted a Citroen Berlingo from a petrol powered motor to an electric motor, paving the way for more environmentally sustainable transport in the future.
Funding was generously provided by the Lord Mayor’s Fund & Donkey Wheel. Highly trained volunteers from the CERES transport Group provided labour for the project.
The Victorian Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Innovation, Gavin Jennings launched the car on Thursday June 5, 2008 which was World Environment Day.
If the electric power was generated by green power then this car has zero carbon-emissions.
The project has demonstrated it is possible to convert an existing mass-produced car from a greenhouse gas emitting petrol driven car into a carbon free electric one.
It takes between 6 and 8 hours to totally recharge and can be recharged after every trip
Other advantages of the car are:
- Simple engine design with few moving parts that don’t require the servicing that a combustion engine requires.
- Easy maintenance. The only work required on the car is electrical system checks and tyre rotation.
- No need for oil changes & filters, fuel tanks, fuel injectors, carburettors, or an exhaust system.
- No need for replacing spark plugs, engine oil, oil filters, air filters & timing belts.
- No need for emissions tests.
- Cars can be ‘recharged’ during the braking process (known as regenerative braking).
- No energy is consumed when the car is stationary at lights, the motor does not run at all.
- Electric motors are probably the most efficient systems for propelling cars. Even when the electricity is derived from coal fired power an electric car has 30% less emissions than a petrol powered one.
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| 0.929833 | 407 | 3.1875 | 3 |
From Our 2013 Archives
Health Tip: Antibiotic Resistance Is Dangerous
Latest Medications News
(HealthDay News) -- Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria change in some way to survive despite a person's use of an antibiotic.
Antibiotics are medications that fight a specific bacterial infection.
Resistance may result when an antibiotic is over-prescribed, when it's inappropriately prescribed for an viral illness (such as the common cold), or if a person stops taking an antibiotic before the entire prescription is used.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the dangers of antibiotic resistance include:
-- Diana Kohnle
Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
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| 0.863587 | 143 | 3.140625 | 3 |
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Programs Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Programs
A Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program is one way to get fresh, nutritious food while also benefiting the local economy. Whether you live in the city or the suburbs, the answers to the following questions will help you determine if a CSA is right for you.
What is a CSA?
Think of a CSA program as a membership to a food of the month club. You pay a set amount to a farmer, and a box of farm-fresh produce, meats, eggs, and even fish or baked goods, are yours throughout the growing season.
All CSA programs are a little different. Many people prefer a subscription, or farm-directed, CSA. In these programs, the farmer grows the food, and you pay for the food you receive. Other CSA programs are operated by shareholders, or offer work shares so you can trade work on the farm for your food.
The growing season for your area and the foods provided by the farm will determine what foods you will get, and when you will get them. The amount of food, and pick-up schedules vary as well. You may find a year-round CSA with produce available for a family of four delivered every two weeks, or one that provides food for two that requires pick-up at a designated location each week, May through October.
Why choose a CSA?
As a CSA member you are supporting a local producer and providing sustainable income for local food production. When you know the source of your food, you can learn how it is grown, and you gain better control over what you feed your family. Participating in a CSA will give you foods similar to those offered at a Farmer’s Market, but CSA members often pay less for these foods.
What’s the risk?
When paying for a CSA membership you are also absorbing some of the risk associated with farming and the growing season. Crops do better some years than others, and your CSA box will reflect that. You may have expected a lot of potatoes, but you may get more cabbage and carrots instead.
This risk is not without benefit. Many view their CSA box as a challenge to their cooking skills and their taste preferences. You will be introduced to new foods, and you will learn how to prepare them.
How can a CSA benefit my health?
Foods that come in your CSA box are often picked at peak ripeness and travel shorter distances, which helps to preserve nutrient content. The Community Food Security Coalition also reports that practical experience with fresh food (such as understanding seasonality and cooking) can have a positive effect on eating habits.
How can I find a CSA?
The availability of CSA programs is growing in both urban and rural areas. Many vendors at your local farmer’s market may also offer CSA programs. In addition, Local Harvest provides a database of over 4,000 CSA programs in the U.S.
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| 0.964891 | 624 | 2.578125 | 3 |
The year was 1500, and Bayezid II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, had a problem. He wanted to build a bridge connecting old Istanbul with the fast growing Karaköy neighbourhood, which lay across a wide inlet of the Bosphorus called the Golden Horn. Even the Romans, with their bridge-building prowess, hadn’t attempted to span the Golden Horn.
A design was solicited from Leonardo da Vinci, an unlikely source both because of the war between Venice and the Ottoman Empire and because he was better known as a painter than an engineer at the time. The endlessly curious da Vinci had been playing with an idea for a self-supported bridge design for nearly two decades. He proposed an elegant and novel solution: a 240-metre single-span bridge, which would have been the longest in the world, made possible by combining geometric concepts to alter a classic keystone arch design.
Sultan Bayezid rejected the design, believing it couldn't possibly work. It would be 300 years before the engineering principals behind da Vinci's bridge were widely accepted. Finally, in 2001, his idea was shown to be feasible when a bridge based on his design was constructed in Norway.
Da Vinci was, the classic polymath, with incredible achievements in fields as varied as mathematics and music, botany and sculpting. Yet, the tale of his impossible bridge is an important lesson in the value of an outsider's perspective. Da Vinci was able to conceptualize how the world's longest bridge could span the Golden Horn, a problem that stumped expert bridge builders for centuries, because his creativity wasn't held back by a familiarity with the typical barriers of bridge building. He needed a great deal of knowledge about engineering to be able to understand the problem, of course, but his expertise in other fields allowed him to think differently and more creatively than others.
This is the power of a fresh set of eyes in problem solving. “Radical innovations often happen at the intersections of disciplines,” write Dr. Karim Lakhani and Dr. Lars Bo Jeppesen, of Harvard Business School and Copenhagen Business School respectively, in the Harvard Business Review. “The more diverse the problem-solving population, the more likely a problem is to be solved. People tend to link problems that are distant from their fields with solutions that they've encountered in their own work.”
Dr. Lakhani's and Dr. Jeppesen's ideas about how to tap the unique creativity of amateur strangers come from their study of the company InnoCentive, Inc., which posts tough R&D problems online for anyone to solve. InnoCentive was pioneered by executives at the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly who were unhappy with their R&D department's creative output. Instead of throwing more money at the same organic chemistry problems only to be studied by the same experts, they thought, why not offer a reward to anyone who could produce a solution?
Within months, Eli Lilly received many inventive solutions that had eluded its highly qualified staff researchers, and since then other Fortune 500 companies like General Electric and Kraft Foods have used InnoCentive to broadcast stubborn problems on the Internet. Dr. Lakhani's and Dr. Jeppesen's study of InnoCentive found that 30 per cent of these challenges that confounded experienced corporate researchers were solved by non-employees. Dr. Lakhani's and Dr. Jeppesen's most interesting finding? The solvers weren't experts in relevant fields. In one case, a molecular biology problem was solved by an aerospace physicist and a small agriculture business owner.
“We assume that technical problems can be solved only by people with technical expertise,” writes Jonah Lehrer, who discusses InnoCentive in his new book Imagine: How Creativity Works. “But that assumption is wrong. The people deep inside a domain – the chemists trying to solve a chemistry problem – often suffer from a type of intellectual handicap. It's not until the challenge is shared with motivated outsiders that the solution can be found.”
THREE CREATIVE OUTSIDERS
Cathy Waters, the computer savvy bookseller
It was 1994 when Cathy Waters, a consultant for the B.C. government, decided to make a career change. On an impulse, she picked up a book from the library about running a bookstore. “I can do that,” she thought. Within months of purchasing Victoria's Timeless Books, Waters encountered an irritating problem. When she wanted to seek out rare used books for customers, her only option was to post an advertisement in the industry publication AB Bookman's Weekly. In response, she received daily stacks of mail for weeks, on recipe cards, foolscap, postcards, you name it. Deciphering handwriting and compiling book information became a daunting chore.
One evening, Ms. Waters complained about her problem during dinner with her husband Keith and friends Rick and Vivian Pura, who were computer consultants. The light bulb of an idea flickered. Why not build an online database of used books, like the databases Keith was in the midst of building for the government? During lunch breaks, boring meetings and evenings, the two couples poured their energy into the task of creating a website that would connect customers looking for hard-to-find titles with booksellers. In 1996, they launched Advanced Book Exchange, which later came to be called Abebooks.
Thinking Like a Newcomer
Like most good ideas, listing books online now seems painfully obvious (Amazon, ahem). Nevertheless, Ms. Waters and her partners initially faced an uphill battle in convincing bookstores to sign on to Abebooks. “Booksellers are a different breed,” she says, laughing. “They are highly intelligent people but many are resistant to technology and change. I got into IT in the early '80s and Keith had a computer science degree. So we knew there was a technological solution.”
Abebooks initially signed up five booksellers with inventories totalling 5000 books, but after a year of travelling from book fair to book fair, their inventory grew to one million books. Soon they had 1,000 booksellers and 12 million books. Abebooks was acquired by Amazon in 2008 for an undisclosed amount.
What makes Abebooks remarkable isn't that it solved the irritating problem of relying on print advertising and snail mail to connect buyers and sellers. Ms. Waters' more valuable revelation – only possible at the intersection of her interests – was to anticipate the huge challenges the Internet was about to pose to independent book stores. Abebooks made it possible for used bookstores to find their own small corner of the book market dominated by ebooks and Indigo. Why was Ms. Waters able to identify a solution other booksellers didn't see? “We were newcomers,” she says. “We had a totally different perspective.”
Brian Scudamore, the entrepreneurial dropout
After disappointing his parents by dropping out of high school, Vancouver native Brian Scudamore needed to earn some cash while he sorted his life out. One afternoon in 1989, while eating at a McDonald's, he spotted an old beat-up truck in the drive-through, “Mark's Hauling” written on its side. He then spent his remaining savings on a truck.
The truck generated income and he soon started college, but Mr. Scudamore quickly became bored. Perhaps because of his attention deficit disorder he wasn't satisfied with a simple junk removal business. He looked into franchising. “Eleven different franchise experts I talked to said, ‘Don't franchise this business; it won't work,’ ” Mr. Scudamore says. “There are too few barriers to entry in the business, they said. Anyone can go out and buy a truck and start hauling junk.” Mr. Scudamore knew the experts were right: His business in its current state offered nothing unique that would justify franchising.
After long contemplation, Mr. Scudamore hit upon an idea. The problem with home services like junk hauling, he thought, was a lack of professionalism. “Nobody ever shows up on time. You've got to call ten times to get your plumber back. It's ridiculous,” he says. Despite the experts' advice that his area of business wasn't a good candidate for franchising, he realized that the goal would be within reach if he brought a whole new level of competency. He started by developing a central call centre, where customers could book appointments and discuss jobs in detail rather than having to call a hurried truck driver on his cell. Then he set his sights on building a national brand: 1-800-GOT-JUNK.
The Benefit of Not Fitting In
Because Mr. Scudamore was able to imagine how to franchise a business that everyone thought was impossible, 1-800-GOT-JUNK now has 200 locations in three countries. “The key to being creative is taking the road less travelled,” he says. “All my life, I've been an outsider. I didn't fit into the school system. I didn't finish college. The fact that I lack business training meant I had to find new ways to do things.”
Mr. Scudamore has incorporated his philosophy about creativity into how he does business. When bringing on new franchisees, he avoids people with previous industry experience because he prefers those with no prior assumptions. 1-800-GOT-JUNK's headquarters is an open space and employees are encouraged to have meetings where other departments can overhear and throw in ideas. Then there is the “Can You Imagine?” wall where employees post crazy ideas and ambitious goals.
Mr. Scudamore recently expanded his vision of home services by partnering with a Vancouver-based house painter to launch 1-888-WOW-1DAY! Painting. The company, which promises to complete any job in one day, has five franchises across North America and a Toronto location is about to open.
Stephan Ouaknine, the naive telecom tycoon
Between 1994 and 2010, Stephan Ouaknine started three telecom companies and made three successful exits, amassing considerable wealth as he went. “I could have pretty much done anything I wanted to in telecom,” the Montrealer says. But instead of sticking to what he knew, he decided to tackle the most difficult problem of his career: climate change.
“I've been an earth lover my whole life,” Mr. Ouaknine explains. “I love David Suzuki but all of his rallies and books and documentaries aren't going to put the dent in climate change that a really profitable idea can make. Profitable ideas tend to get a wider deployment than the stuff that's just about loving Mother Earth.”
Examining the green technology sector, Mr. Ouaknine identified problems he recognized from the early days of telecom: The companies driving innovation, mostly young firms, relied on the crutch of government subsidies. Meanwhile, companies that secured significant venture capital lost their urgency. With the associated risks, banks were often allergic to innovation. And while these companies focused on creating the next technology, they often neglected to secure revenues.
Mr. Ouaknine realized that the way the clean energy sector financed innovation needed to be turned on its head.
A couple of months after selling his last telecom company, Blueslice, he launched two companies: a $1-billion fund called Inerjys Ventures, which raises capital to invest in wind, solar and biofuel innovation, and Inerjys Renewables, a global utility that sells clean power. The genius of the idea is how the two entities interact. Not only does Inerjys provide capital while companies develop new technology, but it would also act as the companies' first customer, providing important revenues.
The Value of Naivety
So far, Inerjys has secured approximately $700-million in soft capital commitments prior to a first close, and the utility has projects in the works in seven countries. Mr. Ouaknine says that being an outsider is key to his ability to imagine a whole new way of financing green energy. “People who have been in a sector for 20 years sometimes only see the barriers, the reasons something is going to fail,” he says. “When you don't know what you don't know – when you're a little bit naive – you can come with a fresh approach. You can get stuff done if you're a mixture of naive and tenacious.” “Creativity comes hand in hand with challenging the status quo.”
Special to The Globe and MailReport Typo/Error
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Deadweight loss is the inefficiency caused by, for example, a tax or monopoly pricing. The diagram below shows a deadweight loss (labeled "gone") caused by a sales tax. By causing a difference between the pre-tax price received by producers and the after-tax price paid by consumers, the government secures the area labeled Government Revenue. This revenue comes at the expense of the consumer surplus and producer surplus that would have existed in the no tax equilibrium. The "gone" triangle of deadweight loss goes to no one because those transactions are prevented by the sales tax.
This diagram is borrowed from Who Pays a Sales Tax?, which applies this concept.
Classic Economic Models
Interactive presentations of the most important models
in microeconomics and macroeconomics go beyond
anything appearing in a printed-on-paper textbook.
Learn to think like an economist.
Balance of Payments
Endogenous Technical Change
Federal Funds (Fed Funds) Rate
Fixed Exchange Rate
Floating Exchange Rate
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Production Possibility Frontier
Reservation Wage Rate
Theory of the Consumer
Theory of the Firm
Velocity of Money
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Wisconsin Survivors of the Holocaust
Witnessing pandemonium at the Theresienstadt liberation
Anxious 16-year-old Henry Golde and other prisoners were overjoyed when the Russian army finally reached Theresienstadt
Listen to audio
Interviewer: What can you remember about that day?
"Oh, yes, that was quite a day. We were looking out the windows; it was like from the dungeons. And we could see what you would call here a Polish flat, that you looked up and you could see the level of the street and on the outside of this there were barracks on top but we were in the dungeons. Apparently army barracks that were built two stories high, you know, and were built out of brick and stone and so on and we were at the bottom.
And there was big gate in the barracks and a courtyard inside. On the outside, there were two Czech policemen that were guarding that particular barrack, where nobody could get in or out.
And then all of a sudden you seen a jeep pulling in and pulled right in front of the barrack gate and we seen two Russian officers get out and talking to the Czech guards and he asked them if there's any prisoners inside and apparently the Czechs told them 'Yes.'
So he says, 'Open the gates.'
And the Czechs opened the gates and they pulled in into the courtyard with the jeep and started screaming, 'Everybody get out!' And all the prisoners start pouring out from the dungeons and converging on the Russians, you know, and they picked them up and they carried them on their shoulders.
And the happiness was something that, well, I can't even describe. It was something very, very dramatic and the Russians told us, 'You can go anywhere you want. You are free.'
Everybody poured out into town and out of town and there was just pandemonium."
Golde Interview, Tape 4, Side 2
Transcript page 59 (PDF, 471 KB)
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November 27, 2015 - When birds and humans sing it sounds completely different, but now new research reported in the journal Nature Communications shows that the very same physical mechanisms are at play when a bird sings and a human speaks.
Birds and humans look different, sound different and evolved completely different organs for voice production. But now new research published in Nature Communications reveals that humans and birds use the exact same physical mechanism to make their vocal cords move and thus produce sound.
"Science has known for over 60 years that this mechanism - called the myoelastic-aerodynamic theory, or in short the MEAD mechanism- drives speech and singing in humans. We have now shown that birds use the exact same mechanism to make vocalizations. MEAD might even turn out to be a widespread mechanism in all land-dwelling vertebrates", says lead author of the paper, Associate Professor Dr. Coen Elemans, Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark.
Co-authors of the paper are from Emory University, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology and Palacky University.
Over the last year Dr. Elemans and his colleagues studied six different species of bird from five avian groups. The smallest species, the zebra finch, weighs just 15 grams, and the largest one, the ostrich, weighs in at 200 kg.
All studied birds were revealed to use the MEAD mechanism, just as humans do.
In the human voice box, or larynx, air from the lungs is pushed past the vocal cords, which then start moving back and forth sideways like a flag fluttering in the wind. With each oscillation the larynx closes and opens, making the airflow stop and start, which creates sound pulses.
"Such vocal fold oscillations occur from about 100 times/sec in normal speech to one of the highest possible notes sung in opera at about 1400 times/sec, a F6 in Mozart's "Die Zauberflöte", adds voice expert and co-author Dr. Jan Švec of Palacky University in the Czech Republic.
One second of normal human speech or song therefore contains hundreds to thousands of vocal fold oscillations. During each of the oscillation cycles a wave travels over the vocal folds from the lungs to the mouth, which keeps the oscillations going. The MEAD theory describes these processes in physical terms.
"Already since 1646 we know that birds do not make sounds with their larynx," comments Elemans, "when M. Du Verney surprisingly noted that a beheaded chicken could still make sounds."
Instead, birds produce sound using an organ unique to birds called the syrinx that is located deep in the body and therefore very difficult to study.
"We now managed to film sound production in birds from zebra finches to ostriches in detail using high-speed cameras. We show for the first time that birds also produce sound according to the MEAD theory", says Elemans.
Švec: "To me it was very surprising and fascinating to discover that such different vocal organs make sound in the same way".
According to Elemans the new discovery not only sheds new light on the sophisticated vocal talents of song birds. The discovery is also interesting and useful because it can be paired with the knowledge about another interesting vocal mechanism shared by some birds and humans: The neural mechanisms underlying vocal learning. Both songbirds and humans are not born with the ability to speak or sing, but must learn their language or song by listening to others, a process called vocal imitation learning or simply vocal learning.
"Songbirds are an excellent model to study the human voice and its neurological diseases. So we hope to transfer our knowledge about songbird vocal production to research in human vocal production", says Elemans.
Ref: Universal mechanisms of sound production and control in birds and mammals. Nature Communications. C.P.H. Elemans1-3, J.H. Rasmussen1, C.T. Herbst4, D.N. Düring1, S.A. Zollinger5, H. Brumm5, K. Srivastava6, 7, N. Svane1, M. Ding8, O.N. Larsen1, S.J. Sober6, J.G. Švec4.
1: Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark, 2: QuanTM program, Emory University, USA, 3: Université de Saint-Etienne/Lyon, France, 4: Voice Research Lab, Department of Biophysics, Palacky, Czech Republic, 5: Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Germany, 6: Emory University, USA, 7: Georgia Institute of Technology, USA, 8: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery & Traumatology, Odense University Hospital, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark.
Relevant link http://www.
15 sec interview on youtube: https:/
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Latent HIV genes can be 'smoked out' of human cells. The so-called 'shock and kill' technique, described in a preclinical study in BioMed Central's open access journal Retrovirology, might represent a new milestone along the way to the discovery of a cure for HIV/AIDS.
Dr. Enrico Garaci, president of the Istituto Superiore di Sanit (the Italian Institute of Health) and Dr. Andrea Savarino, a retrovirologist working at the institution, worked with a team of researchers to study the so-called "barrier of latency" which has been the main obstacle to HIV eradication from the body.
Cells harbouring a quiescent HIV genome are responsible for HIV persistence during therapy. In other words, HIV-1 genes become pieces of the human organism, and many scientists have simply thought there is nothing we can do. Dr Savarino's team aimed to 'smoke out' the virus in order to render the latently infected cells targetable by the immune system or artificial means. They write, "This can be achieved using inhibitors of histone deacetylases (HDACs), which are a class of enzymes that maintain HIV latency. However, their effects on HIV are evident only when used in toxic quantities".
To overcome this problem, the Italian researchers tested a collection of HDAC inhibitors, some of which specifically target only certain enzyme isoforms (class I HDACs) that are involved in HIV latency. The toxicity of this approach, however, was not markedly decreased, although it compromises a more limited number of cellular pathways. Moreover, at non-toxic quantities, class I HDAC inhibitors were able to induce the 'awakening' of a portion of cells within a latently infected cell population. The researchers then repeated the experiment adding a drug inducing oxidative stress, buthionine sulfoximine (BSO). The results showed that BSO recruited cells non-responsive to the HDAC inhibitors into the responding cell population. An important result was that the infected cells' 'awakening' was followed by cell death, whereas the non-infected cells were left intact by the drug combination.
"I really hope this study may open new avenues to the development of weapons able to eliminate the HIV-infected cells from the body", says Dr. Andrea Savarino, "Such weapons, in combination with antiretroviral therapies, could hopefully allow people living with HIV/AIDS to get rid of the virus and return to a normal life. Of note, there are testable drug combinations composed of molecules that have passed phase I clinical trials for safety in humans". This type of approach has been dubbed 'shock and kill'. "Although this type of approach is largely accepted by the scientific community", adds Dr. Savarino, "to be honest, we have to take into consideration that some scientists are skeptical about this approach, and others even think that a cure for HIV/AIDS will never be found. Experiments using animal models will shed a new light on this difficult problem."
|Contact: Graeme Baldwin|
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Chatham, Kent -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/12/2012 -- With the English and Wales consumer's water bill increasing on average of 5.7% in the coming year, it's no wonder customers are doing everything they can to make sure no drop goes wasted. According to Green Planet Water Conservation representative Joe Turner, business has increased significantly as homeowners seek to find leaks and plug them up to keep their water bills as low as possible. Says Turner, "We have repaired hundreds of pipes in all diameters and materials over the last year. Customers don't want to pay any higher of a water bill than they have to. That's why we are here, to help people conserve water through rain harvesting and to keep their pipes in good condition so that no water is wasted. From repairs to replacement, we make sure water is not wasted."
Rain water harvesting, the process of collecting rain water for reuse before it reaches an aquifer, is growing in popularity, according to Turner. "It only makes sense," he said. "Droughts help, with lakes experiencing low levels, people start to worry about where their water is going to come from." Rainwater harvesting is beneficial in several ways, said Turner. "A consumer can use this recycled water to do washing, flush toilets, water gardens, clean cars and more. This will save them up to 50% on water bills and reduce their carbon foot print, too." Experts agree, citing the importance of rainwater from roofs of homes and businesses in the availability of drinking water. Turner points outs, "With the cost of water spiralling out of control and more demand on our resources, rain water harvest is becoming the way forward."
Leak detection, utility pipe replacement and water harvesting has gone high tech, resulting in more leaks found and more water conserved. "We use a mixture of the latest hi-tech equipment, along with years of experience and some of the more tried and tested methods, which means we have a very high percentage of leaks found." Toilet leaking alone can result in tremendous amounts of water loss, with an undetected leak wasting as much as 300 gallons of water. Using water more efficiently, says Turner, is the key to saving money. "By detecting the leaks, fixing them or replacing the pipes, fixing leaky faucets, installing high efficiency washers and toilets and watering the garden with recycled water, we can minimize the amount of water used, save money and make the planet a better place for our children."
About Green Planet Water Conservation
Green Planet Water Conservation is a leader in the field of rain water harvest, water leak location and pipe repair, offering a free survey to analyze any issues.
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Virtues: We love American cranberry bush for its rich green foliage and the charming clusters of tiny, white flowers that bloom through late spring, later revealing small, cranberry-red berries in fall.
Common name: American cranberrybush
Botanical name: Viburnum opulus var. americanum ‘Redwing’
Flowers: Throughout April and May, little lacecap white flowers bloom in a clustered circle with larger, showier flowers lining each circle of smaller flowers in the center. Drooping bundles of edible, radiant red, cranberry-like berries (drupes) appear in fall.
Foliage: Eye-catching, deep green, three-lobed leaves cover the thin branches, often transforming into stunning shades of purple in fall.
Habit: These deciduous shrubs have a round, spreading habit and often grow anywhere from 4 to 12 feet tall with a similar spread.
Season: American cranberrybushes look striking through every season with the lush, dark green summer foliage, pleasant white flowers in spring and the cheerful red bundles of berries and appealing, purple-tinged foliage of fall. Its form is nice in winter.
Origin: North America
How to grow Viburnum opulus americanum ‘Redwing’: These low-maintenance, bird-attracting shrubs thrive in most moist, well-drained soils. If pruning is desired, it should be right after the shrub flowers. American cranberrybush prefers full sun to part shade. USDA Zones 2–7.
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Turn your garden into a never-ending showcase of color by reading helpful tips from David Culp’s The Layered Garden.
Protect your face from the sun’s hot rays in this lovely gardener’s raffia sun hat.
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Credit: Courtesy of Ankur Saxena/Caltech
Developing Our Sense of Smell
PASADENA, Calif.—When our noses pick up a scent, whether the aroma of a sweet rose or the sweat of a stranger at the gym, two types of sensory neurons are at work in sensing that odor or pheromone. These sensory neurons are particularly interesting because they are the only neurons in our bodies that regenerate throughout adult life—as some of our olfactory neurons die, they are soon replaced by newborns. Just where those neurons come from in the first place has long perplexed developmental biologists.
Previous hypotheses about the origin of these olfactory nerve cells have given credit to embryonic cells that develop into skin or the central nervous system, where ear and eye sensory neurons, respectively, are thought to originate. But biologists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have now found that neural-crest stem cells—multipotent, migratory cells unique to vertebrates that give rise to many structures in the body such as facial bones and smooth muscle—also play a key role in building olfactory sensory neurons in the nose.
"Olfactory neurons have long been thought to be solely derived from a thickened portion of the ectoderm; our results directly refute that concept," says Marianne Bronner, the Albert Billings Ruddock Professor of Biology at Caltech and corresponding author of a paper published in the journal eLIFE on March 19 that outlines the findings.
The two main types of sensory neurons in the olfactory system are ciliated neurons, which detect volatile scents, and microvillous neurons, which usually sense pheromones. Both of these types are found in the tissue lining the inside of the nasal cavity and transmit sensory information to the central nervous system for processing.
In the new study, the researchers showed that during embryonic development, neural-crest stem cells differentiate into the microvillous neurons, which had long been assumed to arise from the same source as the odor-sensing ciliated neurons. Moreover, they demonstrated that different factors are necessary for the development of these two types of neurons. By eliminating a gene called Sox10, they were able to show that formation of microvillous neurons is blocked whereas ciliated neurons are unaffected.
They made this discovery by studying the development of the olfactory system in zebrafish—a useful model organism for developmental biology studies due to the optical clarity of the free-swimming embryo. Understanding the origins of olfactory neurons and the process of neuron formation is important for developing therapeutic applications for conditions like anosmia, or the inability to smell, says Bronner.
"A key question in developmental biology—the extent of neural-crest stem cell contribution to the olfactory system—has been addressed in our paper by multiple lines of experimentation," says Ankur Saxena, a postdoctoral scholar in Bronner's laboratory and lead author of the study. "Olfactory neurons are unique in their renewal capacity across species, so by learning how they form, we may gain insights into how neurons in general can be induced to differentiate or regenerate. That knowledge, in turn, may provide new avenues for pursuing treatment of neurological disorders or injury in humans."
Next, the researchers will examine what other genes, in addition to Sox10, play a role in the process by which neural-crest stem cells differentiate into microvillous neurons. They also plan to look at whether or not neural-crest cells give rise to new microvillous neurons during olfactory regeneration that happens after the embryonic stage of development.
Funding for the research outlined in the eLIFE paper, "Sox10-dependent neural crest origin of olfactory microvillous neurons in zebrafish," was provided by the National Institutes of Health and the Gordon Ross Postdoctoral Fellowship. Brian N. Peng, a former undergraduate student (BS '12) at Caltech, also contributed to the study. A new open-access, high-impact journal, eLIFE is backed by three of the most prestigious biomedical research funders in the world: the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Max Planck Society, and the Wellcome Trust.
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Although a trustee and a guardian serve very different roles, both are important and involve considerable responsibility. A trustee manages property held in trust for the benefit of another. A guardian is responsible for the care of a person who is legally unable to care for himself and this role may include safeguarding the ward's property not held in trust. It is common for one person to serve as both trustee and guardian, but a potential conflict of interest may require two different individuals be appointed to fulfill these duties.
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Guardian of the Estate
To own and manage real property or personal property, a person must be legally competent to do so. Every state specifies an age at which a person reaches the age of majority; in most states, that age is 18. Before a minor reaches the age of majority, states generally hold that the person is not legally competent to own property. Some states provide that a minor can only manage a small amount of property. When property must be managed on behalf of a minor, a “guardian of the estate” is appointed, either by the person who is currently responsible for the child or by a court. When a trust is created for a minor, a trustee is typically appointed to manage the trust property. That person, called the “successor trustee,” is often named by the person creating the trust as the guardian of the estate who, in turn, is responsible for any property the minor owns until reaching the age of majority. The guardian of the estate may be a successor trustee, a guardian or both.
Guardian of the Person
A “guardian of the person” is responsible for the care of the child as opposed to managing the child’s assets. The role of a guardian of the person and a successor trustee are very different. A successor trustee manages the property held by the trust whereas a guardian of the person is responsible for the minor but may not have any responsibility with respect to trust property. As with the guardian of the estate, a guardian of the person may be a successor trustee, guardian or both.
Trust property is often left to persons under the age of majority. Because a minor cannot manage property, the child’s share of the trust typically remains in the trust until she reaches the age of majority or until some later date stipulated in the will. For example, if a grandmother leaves $50,000 in a trust to her granddaughter, who is age 12 when the grandmother passes away, the trust likely specifies that the successor trustee must hold that property in trust for the granddaughter until she reaches the age of majority. The trustee’s role is to safeguard the property in the trust. A guardian’s role is to safeguard property outside of the trust that belongs to the minor. The trustee can serve as both trustee and guardian or someone else can take on the position as the child’s guardian.
Potential Conflicts of Interest
As the name suggests, a great deal of trust is placed into the hands of a trustee. The same is true for a guardian, particularly a guardian of the person. The potential for conflict of interest can arise if the trustee and guardian are the same person. Other problems may arise if an adult is well-suited to serve as the minor's guardian but lacks the financial acumen to manage a substantial estate. If you suspect you may be facing such a situation, consider naming one person to act as trustee and another person to act as guardian.
References & Resources
- Guide to Wills and Estates (3rd Edition); The American Bar Association
- Make Your Own Living Trust (8th Edition); Denis Clifford
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Add something to cart :)
DesignCAD is a comprehensive computer-aided design package that incorporates a full range of 2D and 3D drawing functions.
You can use DesignCAD to create drawings for any assignment, from simple to complex, and the finished drawing can be printed using any printer or plotter that the various 32-bit versions of Windows support.
DesignCAD can be customized to fit your particular application. You can create your own Custom Toolbox and even write your own DesignCAD commands using BasicCAD!
With its numerous high-end features, DesignCAD compares favorably with CAD systems costing thousands of dollars. Unlike other high end systems though, DesignCAD is easy to learn and use. With a little practice, virtually anyone can make detailed drawings of professional quality using DesignCAD.
Only DesignCAD 3D Max gives you the additional ability to construct realistic 3D models of your projects. You can show them in wireframe view, with hidden lines removed, or with full-color shading-from any viewing angle. You can also create animation files which step the viewer around your drawing in smooth increments. For example, you could start with an aerial view of a house, descend to ground level, and then walk all around it. You can even assign material properties to your creations, placing a brass doorknob on an oak door, or creating a lavatory of rose marble with chrome fittings.
DesignCAD 21 can load drawings from almost any earlier version of DesignCAD, and can save to versions as far back as DesignCAD 97. You may also interchange drawings between the 2D and 3D versions of DesignCAD. You can, for example, take a cross-section of a complex beam which was created in DesignCAD, load the cross section into DesignCAD 3D MAX, and extrude it into a beam. Then you can save the extruded beam as a DesignCAD 3D MAX drawing, even with hidden lines removed! If you want to go a step further, you can extrude your floor plan into an elevation, add a roof, and save a perspective view back into DesignCAD 2D format.
DesignCAD imports and exports drawings in DWG, DXF, and HPGL formats, and also reads and writes Windows Metafiles. DesignCAD can also export WPG, RIB and WRL formats. Other imported formats include HPGL and XYZ. DesignCAD can pass drawing information to and from the Clipboard and export OLE 2.0 objects to applications that support them.
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| 0.919428 | 532 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Imagine walking down the street just as the crew of an airplane flying overhead decides to dump sewage from the plane's toilets. Not a pleasant thought. Fortunately, airlines aren't allowed to do this.
But cruise ships do it all the time — and not just with sewage, but with food waste, oily bilge water, and solid waste as well. As an article on the nonprofit news website DC Bureau notes, cruise ship companies that rely on "pristine oceans, beautiful coral reefs and marine life" and "that advertise excursions to untouched ocean scenery are threatening these very same natural resources with their standard practice of flushing harmful toxins, mostly as sewage and food waste, into the ocean."
Although some cruise ship companies have made improvements in waste-water treatment, the industry still has a long way to go. And even though sewage is subject to some regulations, food-waste dumping is not regulated. Considering that a cruise ship can serve from 10,000 to 25,000 meals a day, that's a lot of leftover scraps and waste that are ground up and dumped into often-fragile ocean ecosystems. This waste becomes acidic as it decomposes, increasing nutrients that starve the ocean of oxygen and contribute to the creation of dead zones.
Cruise ship sewage can cause the same problems as food waste, and can also endanger the health of marine, bird, and human life by exposing them to fecal coliforms through direct contact or shellfish consumption.
According to a report by Canadian researcher Ross Klein for U.S. Friends of the Earth, titled Getting a Grip on Cruise Ship Pollution, "A moderate-sized cruise ship on a one week voyage with 2,200 passengers and 800 crewmembers" can generate up to 210,000 gallons of human sewage, one million gallons of grey water (from sinks, baths, showers, laundry, and galleys), eight tons of garbage, more than 130 gallons of hazardous waste, and 25,000 gallons of oily bilge water.
And that's just the stuff that gets dumped into the ocean. Cruise ships also generate a lot of air pollution from incinerators and the high-sulphur bunker fuel they generally use. The Friends of the Earth report notes that, "On average, a cruise ship discharges three times more carbon emissions than aircraft, trains, and passenger ferries."
Because cruise ships follow defined routes, this pollution is dumped over and over again in the same areas.
The technology to treat and properly dispose of the ocean waste isn't all that complicated, but it does cost money. Marcie Keever of Friends of the Earth told DC Bureau that a good treatment system can cost between $1 million and $10 million. That may seem like a lot, but a cruise ship can cost more than a billion dollars to build.
And because cruise ships, like a lot of ocean vessels, are often registered in countries with lax tax laws, their owners pay little tax on massive profits.
When it comes to regulating pollution from cruise ships, Canada has weaker laws than the U.S. and doesn't do a good job of enforcing the laws it does have. In the U.S., regulations vary from state to state. We need to strengthen laws, national and international, across the board, and we need to monitor and enforce those regulations to ensure that the industry is not harming ocean ecosystems.
Cruise ships offer a unique tourism experience and contribute to the economy, but none of this should be at the expense of the environment. Just because cruise ships are registered in countries with fewer regulations and tax laws doesn't mean the industry shouldn't have to follow the same standards as tourism businesses on land.
People who want to take a cruise ship vacation should check to see what kind of standards the ship and company have for environmental protection. (Friends of the Earth recently released an evaluation of the environmental and human health impacts of cruise ships and companies.) If the standards aren't good enough, customers should let the companies know that they will be willing to use their services only when they clean up their acts.
World Oceans Day on June 8 is also a good time to consider telling federal politicians that we need marine-use plans, marine protected areas, and stronger regulations to limit the effects of increased cruise ship traffic on Canada's most sensitive marine environments.
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| 0.955473 | 879 | 3.140625 | 3 |
Solar UV radiation is broadly classified as UV- A,B and C (Decreasing order of wavelengths). Penetrating ability of UV is a not a direct function of its wavelength; lesser the wavelength lesser is the penetrating ability (But higher is the energy: a direct function of wavelength). Penetration ability is dependent on scattering and absorption. Most biomolecules in the skin, including melanin and proteins absorb at around 220-300nm range. Plus, scattering (esp Rayleigh scattering) is inversely proportional to wavelength.
Since UV B has higher energy compared to UV A, the former is more toxic to the cells. But a little UV B also does some good; conversion 7-dehydrocholesterol to Vitamin D. UV A doesn't have sufficient energy to directly cause DNA damage but it can give rise to free radicals and cause DNA damage indirectly.
The paper that you mentioned says that the tissue that they studied has more of UV A mediated lesions. This could be because of higher availability of UV A to the cells. Ozone filters out a major chunk of UV B and C and melanin does little more. If these mechanisms didn't exist then high energy UVs would have burnt us.
To summarize, the inherent order of toxicity is
C > B > A
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| 0.930714 | 260 | 3.1875 | 3 |
A novel device that uses only sunlight and wastewater to produce hydrogen gas could provide a sustainable energy source while improving the efficiency of wastewater treatment.
A University of Colorado Boulder team has developed a radically new technique that uses the power of sunlight to efficiently split water into its components of hydrogen and oxygen, paving the way for the broad use of hydrogen as a clean, green fuel.
A discovery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison may represent a significant advance in the quest to create a "hydrogen economy" that would use this abundant element to store and transfer energy.
Lawrence Livermore scientists have discovered and demonstrated a new technique to remove and store atmospheric carbon dioxide while generating carbon-negative hydrogen and producing alkalinity, which can be used to offset ocean acidification.
Insitu, a wholly owned subsidiary of Boeing, announced this month that its ScanEagle unmanned aircraft completed a hydrogen-powered test flight for the first time.
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| 0.926427 | 187 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Final preparation tests for Artemis
ESA’s Artemis spacecraft has just completed a rigorous schedule of final inspections and testing at the European launch site in Kourou, French Guiana.
The spacecraft and its sensitive instruments have been protected from the unfriendly tropical conditions in a special, environmentally-sealed testing chamber to ensure that it will eventually leave Earth in peak condition.
Artemis arrived in Kourou at the end of March after a two-week sea voyage and was immediately put through a series of inspections to ensure it had not suffered any adverse affects during transportation to the launch site.
Every aspect of the satellite was checked – from cables and electrical connections to all mechanical and propulsion systems. It is now being put to bed in a controlled storage environment to enjoy a short rest and last reprieve before its epic and arduous journey into space.
Most importantly, the satellite’s batteries, which will power the 3,100 kg spacecraft, were charged and discharged to re-condition and check operating capacities before final charging nearer to the launch date.
Terrestrial arrangements have been forging ahead in preparation for the launch, and engineers at ESA’s Fucino ground station in Italy have been making final crucial preparations.
An Operations Readiness Review – a specific demonstration of all control functions relating to the launch and orbital operations – as well as hands-on training for the Artemis launch team took place in mid-April.
"Everything is in place and on standby for announcement of a specific launch date," said ESA’s Artemis project manager, Gotthard Oppenhauser. "We are about to begin another two months of final checks to ensure everything is in order before the launch by Ariane 5."
Artemis is the most advanced communication satellite yet developed by ESA and over ten years in orbit will advance mobile communications, navigation and satellite-to-satellite communications.
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en
| 0.962866 | 385 | 2.53125 | 3 |
In this module, we will expand our study of Kinematics to multi-dimensional motion. While we could make a linear motion problem that we have studied previously into a multi-dimensional motion problem by rotating our coordinate axis so that the object doesn't move along any of the coordinate axis, this is not usually done by physicists as it makes the math harder.
Motion along a curved path with our present level of math skills requires us to deal with multi-dimensional motion. We will deal in detail with two special cases: projectile motion and circular motion.
For those students who decide to go on to more advanced study at a university, you will discover in your advanced physics and math courses that there are additional coordinate systems (curvilinear coordinates) besides just polar coordinates that can simplify more complicated curved motion into simpler one dimensional or multidimensional problems.
- Printable Outline Notes on Projectile Motion (pdf)
- Printable Outline Notes on Circular Motion (pdf)
- Projectile Motion Part 1 (pg 54 - 62) - Video
- Projectile Motion Part 2 (pg 54 - 62) - Video
- Circular Motion Part 1 (pg 106-115) - Video
- Circular Motion Part 2 (pg 106-115) - Video
- Circular Motion Part 3 - Total Acceleration (pg 106-116) - Video
- Circular Motion Part 4 - Uniform Circular Motion (pg 106 - 109) - Video
- Projectile Problem 4 Part A - Video
- Online Home Work
- Module Learning Objectives
- Return To Class Home Page
Physics Website Links
- 1. Khan Academy Two Dimensional Motion
- 2. MIT Projectile Motion
- 3. MIT Uniform Circular Motion
- 4. Mechanical Universe "Moving in Circles"
Tarleton Physics Links
Click on on one of the graphic icons and explore our website further to see what makes physics at Tarleton unique!!
One of the best equipped undergraduate programs in the US!!
- 32" Telescope
- Tandem Accelerator
- Electron Microscope
- X-ray Diffraction System
- Leybold CT System
- Laser Facility
Specialty tracks to match your career needs:
- Medical Physics - Pre-Med, Pre-Dental, Pre-Pharmacy, etc.
- High School Teaching - Math/Physics or Physics/Chemistry
- Nuclear Engineering/Nuclear Physics (Tarleton-Texas A&M Partnership)
- Classical Track - Get a Second Degree in Math, Computer Science, Chemistry, Business, etc. or Prepare for Law School
We offer our students courses not generally found at smaller institutions like:
- Computational Physics
- Medical Physics I & II
- Microwave Theory
- Nuclear Physics
- Solid State Physics
- Principles of Nuclear Engineering
- Nuclear Reactor Theory
- Graduate Quantum Mechanics
- Graduate Mechanics
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Historical interest in goats
Goats are an important agricultural species worldwide and have been throughout history, and because of their central role in many farming situations they have monitored and studied from a variety of perspectives.
Goats and cancer studies
It has long been known that goats can develop adrenocortical neoplasms. It has been proposed that goats may be a suitable model system for studies of melanoma. As with other larger animal species, studying the incidence and treatment strategies for cancers in goats may offer useful paradigms for human situations.
Although not as advanced as genome projects on other species, there are mapping and sequencing projects associated with goats that will shed increasing light on useful comparative aspects of their biology.
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http://emice.nci.nih.gov/aam/cancers-in-other-animals/goats
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| 0.97444 | 144 | 3.015625 | 3 |
Where does weather in your area come from? In science class, you have been learning about what causes changes in weather and how storms are tracked. In this activity, you and your family members can observe how weather is predicted by watching a television weather forecast.
- pen or pencil
Watch a television weather forecast for your area. Notice where any storms are shown on maps or with radar. In which direction are the storms predicted to move? Notice if any fronts are shown on the weather map. In which direction are the fronts predicted to move? Record the weather forecast for tomorrow.
Look at the weather map above. Think about what you know about how fronts move and the kinds of weather they bring.
Based on the weather map, what do you think weather in your area would be like the next day? Why do you think so?
Do you think you could use this weather map to predict weather for the next week? Why or why not?
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http://www.eduplace.com/parents/hmsc/content/activities/shtml/act_6d1.shtml
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| 0.954258 | 192 | 3.796875 | 4 |
Yesterday I wrote that I don’t know what American prisoner the British gave up for the young midshipman John Loring. But I know it wasn’t privateer captain Consider Howland, even though that man was originally supposed to be part of the deal.
Howland, born in Plymouth in 1745 and given an old family name, was master of the Washington, which sailed out on 2 Dec 1775. And was captured the very next day, as the Pilgrim Hall Museum explains.
Howland and his fellow prisoners were sent to Britain on board the same ship as Ethan Allen and other Americans captured while invading Canada. Many of them died of disease during the voyage, and others got pressed into service in the Royal Navy. Most of the rest were then sent back across the Atlantic to Halifax to be ready for a prisoner exchange.
Howland and some comrades escaped from jail there, but the British authorities recaptured him. In September 1776, when John Loring was probably annoying neighbors in Framingham, Howland, Allen, and some prisoners from the Battle of Bunker Hill were all locked in one chamber of the Halifax jail.
After the British military took the city of New York in a series of battles that fall, the Commissary of Prisoners had Howland and other captives brought south and incarcerated on ships moored off Brooklyn. At that time those ships were probably no worse than the other places they had been held—in later years the New York prison ships would become infamous.
Royal officials let Howland go on 25 Dec 1776, after slightly more than a year in custody. They ordered him to travel to Boston to be exchanged for Midshipman Loring—who was, oddly enough, the little brother of the British Commissary of Prisoners, Joshua Loring, Jr. (His wife, Elizabeth Loring, was becoming notorious as the mistress of Gen. Sir William Howe.)
However, when Howland arrived in Massachusetts, he discovered that the young midshipman had already been exchanged for someone else. In a letter dated 1 Feb 1777, the Commissary of Prisoners told Howland that he should still consider himself as on parole, bound by oath not to take part in the war. He wouldn’t be legally free until he was traded for a prisoner to be named later. After seven months Howland was exchanged for Capt. Gideon White, another Plymouth man who was loyal to the British.
In July 1780 Capt. Consider Howland received the command of the privateer Phoenix, a schooner that carried “2 carriage guns, 6 swivel guns & 12 men.” It was lost at sea that fall. His brother’s headstone in Plymouth contains the additional notice:
In memory of Consider Howland who was lost at sea Octr 1780 aged 35 years.
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| 0.985989 | 585 | 2.53125 | 3 |
A SAGA is defined by one authority as "a series of legends which follows in detail the lives and adventures of characters who are probably historical." We are therefore quite right in applying this name to the stories related about the high chiefs of Usambara, who are certainly historical characters, though perhaps not all of the adventures attributed to them ever really took place.
Usambara is one of the most beautiful countries to be found in Africa-a land of rocky hills and clear streams, of woods and fertile valleys. The upland pastures feed herds of cattle and countless flocks of sheep and goats; the bottom lands and even the hill-slopes are carefully cultivated and bear abundant crops of plantains and sugar-cane, rice and maize and millet. The first European to visit this country was Krapf, the missionary, who walked overland from Rabai in 1848, and was overjoyed at the thought of planting a mission in such a little paradise. The paramount chief, Kimweri, received him hospitably, and consented to give him a piece of ground to build on, though circumstances prevented this plan from being carried out till the arrival of the Universities' Mission, some twenty years later. Krapf was greatly impressed, not only by the scenery and the abundant resources of the country, but by the evidences of order and good government which met him on every side.
This Kimweri, who died at a great age in 1869, seems to have been the fifth of his line. Its founder is described as an Arab who came from Pemba to the Zigula country and built his house on the hill Kilindi, in the district of Nguu, or Nguru. Here he settled down, married more than one wife, and had a numerous family. One of his wives, seemingly the youngest, or, at any rate, the latest married, had two sons, of whom the younger is the Shambala national hero, Mbega.
[1. The main source of this narrative is a Swahili account, written by the late Abdallah bin Hemedi, and printed at the Universities' Mission, Magila.]
Mbega would, in ordinary circumstances, have had short shrift, for he cut his upper teeth first, and such infants are, by most of the Bantu, considered extremely unlucky. Indeed, so strong is the belief that if allowed to grow up they would become dangerous criminals that in former times they were invariably put to death. At Rabai, on the now forsaken site of the old fortified village on the hill-top, a steep declivity is pointed out where such ill-omened babies were thrown down. It must have been the rarity of this occurrence that caused it to be regarded as unnatural, and so produced the belief. Mbega's parents, however, no doubt because his father despised such pagan superstitions (he must have been a Moslem, though his sons did not follow his faith), paid no attention to this custom, but on the contrary took every care of him, and he grew up strong and handsome and beloved by every one, except his half-brothers, the sons of the other wives. Their hostility could not injure him as long as his father lived, but both parents died while he was still a youth. He had a protector, however, in his elder brother, "his brother of the same father and the same mother"-a tie always thus carefully specified in a polygamous society. But this brother died, and the rest took on themselves the disposal of his property, which-along with the guardianship of the widow and children-should naturally have passed to Mbega. They did not even summon him to the funeral.
When all the proper ceremonies had been performed and the time came for "taking away the mourning," which means slaughtering cattle and making a feast for the whole clan, at, or after, which the heir is placed in possession, all the relatives were assembled, but not the slightest notice was taken of the rightful heir. Mbega, naturally, was deeply wounded-the record represents him as saying, "Oh, that my brother were alive! 1 have no one to advise me, no one; my father is dead, and my mother is dead!" So he went his way home, and wept upon his bed (akalia kitandani pake), and was ready to despair.
The brothers chose the son of a more distant kinsman to succeed to the property and marry the widow, and handed over to him the dead man's house and a share of his cattle, dividing the rest among themselves. Mbega, hearing of this, as he could not fail to do, consulted with the old men of the village, and sent them to his brothers and the whole clan, with the following message: "Why do they not give me my inheritance? Never once when one of the family died have they called me to the funeral. What wrong have I done?"
When the messengers had finished speaking "those brothers looked each other in the eyes, and every man said to his fellow, 'Do you answer.'" At last one of them spoke up and said, "Listen, ye who have come, and we will tell you. That Mbega of yours is mad. Why should he send you to us instead of coming himself? Tell him that there is no man in our clan named Mbega. We do not want to see him or to have anything to do with him."
The old men asked what Mbega had done, that they should hate him so, and the spokesman replied that he was a sorcerer (mchawi) who had caused all the deaths that had taken place in the clan. Anyone might know that he was not a normal human creature, since he was a kigego who had cut his upper teeth first; but his parents had been weak enough to conceal the fact and bring him up like any other child. He went on to say that when Mbega's mother died he and the others had consulted a diviner, who told them that Mbega-was responsible (a cruel slander on a most affectionate son), and they had represented to their father that he ought to be killed, "but he would not agree through his great love for him." Now that Mbega's parents and his own brother were no more they would take things into their own hands, since, if let alone, he would exterminate the whole clan. They did not wish to have his blood on their hands, but let him depart out of the country on peril of his life, and, as for the messengers: "Do not you come here again with any word from Mbega." They replied, with the quiet dignity of aged councillors, "We shall not come again to you." So they returned to Mbega, who received them with the usual courtesies and would not inquire about their errand till they had rested and been fed and had a smoke. Then they told him all, and he said, "I have heard your words and theirs, and in truth I have no need to send men to them again. I, too, want no dealings with them."
Now Mbega, though hated by his near kinsmen, was beloved by the rest of the tribe, more especially the young men, whom he took with him on hunting expeditions and taught the use of trained dogs, then a novelty in the country. His father, no doubt, had brought some with him from Pemba. The name of Mbega's own favourite dog, Chamfumu, has been preserved. The chronicler adds: "This one was his heart." It does not seem clear whether this phrase merely expresses the degree of his affection for this particular dog, or whether there is some hint that Mbega's life was bound up with him. This idea of the totem animal as 'external soul' was probably not strange to the old-time Washambala, but Abdallah bin Hemedi might well fall to understand it, and nothing of the sort appears anywhere else in the story.
The land was sorely plagued with wild beasts, which ravaged the flocks and destroyed the crops. We hear most of the wild swine, which still, in many parts of East Africa, make the cultivator's life a burden to him. Mbega and his band of devoted followers scoured the woods with the dogs, put a stop to the depredations of the animals, and supplied the villagers with meat.
When Mbega's messengers had reported the answer returned by his brothers he called his friends together, told them the whole story, and informed them that he would have to leave the country. They asked where he was going, and he replied that he did not know yet, but would find out by divination, and would then call them together and take leave of them.
We are given to understand that Mbega was highly skilled in magic-white magic, of course-and this may have lent some colour to his brothers' accusations. If the expression he used on this occasion ("I am going to use the sand-board") is to be taken literally it seems to refer to the Arab method of divining by means of sand spread on a board, the knowledge of which Mbega's father may have brought with him from Pemba.
The young men protested against the notion of his leaving them, and declared that they would follow him wherever he went. He was determined not to allow this , knowing it would cause trouble with their parents, but said no more till he had decided on his course. He then consulted the oracle, and determined to direct his steps towards Kilindi, where he was well known. Next day, his friends being assembled, he told them he must leave them. He would not tell them where he was going, in case they should be asked by his brothers. They were very unwilling to agree to this, insisting that they would go with him, but were persuaded at last to give way. He sent for all his dogs and distributed them among the young men, keeping for himself seven couples, among them the great Chamfumu, "who was his heart." He also gave them his recipes for hunting magic, in which, to this day, most natives put more faith than in the skill of the hunter or the excellence of his weapons.
So Mbega went forth, carrying his spears, large and small, and his dog-bells, and his wallet of charms, and, followed by his pack, came on the evening of the second day to the gate of Kilindi town. It was already shut for the night, and, though those within answered his call, they hesitated to admit him till he had convinced them that he was indeed Mbega of Nguu, the hunter of the wild boar. Then the gate was thrown open, and the whole town rushed to welcome him, crying, "It is he! It is he!" They escorted him to the presence of the chief, who greeted him warmly, assigned him a dwelling, and gave orders that everything possible should be done to honour him. "So they gave him a house, with bedsteads and Zigula mats"-about all that was usual in the way of furniture-and when all the people summoned for the occasion had gone their several ways rejoicing Mbega rested for two or three days.
He remained at Kilindi for many months, and not only cleared the countryside of noxious beasts, but secured the town by his magic against human and other enemies. He possessed the secret of raising such a thick mist as to render it invisible to any attacking force, and could supply charms to protect men and cattle from lions and leopards. He seems also to have had some skill as a herbalist, for we are told that he healed the sick. In these ways, and still more "because he was he," he made himself universally beloved. The chief's son, in particular, who insisted on making blood brotherhood with him, worshipped him with all a youth's enthusiasm.
As time went on all the wild pigs in the immediate neighbourhood of Kilindi were killed or driven away, and the cultivators had peace; but one day it was reported that there was a number of peculiarly large and fierce ones in a wood two or three days' journey distant. Mbega at once prepared to set out, and the chief's son wished to go with him. Mbega was unwilling to take the risk, and his companions all tried to dissuade the young man, but he insisted, and they finally gave way, on condition of his getting his father's leave. The father consented, and he joined the party.
The pigs, when found, were indeed fierce: it is said they "roared like lions." The dogs, excited beyond their wont by a stimulant Mbega administered to them, were equally fierce, and when the hunters rushed in with their spears some of them were overthrown in the struggle and others compelled to take refuge in trees. A number of pigs were killed, but five men were hurt, and when the ground was cleared it was found that the chief's son was dead.
There could be no question of returning to Kilindi: Mbega knew he would be held responsible for the lad's death, and for once was quite at a loss. When the others said, "What shall we do? " he answered, "I have nothing to say; it is for you to decide." They said they must fly the country, and as he, being a stranger, did not know where to go they offered to guide him. So they set out together, fifteen men in all (the names of ten among them have been preserved by tradition), with eleven dogs-it would seem that three had perished in the late or some other encounter with the wild boars. Their wanderings, recorded in detail, ended in Zirai, on the borders of Usambara, where they settled for some time, and Mbega's fame spread throughout the country. The elders of Bumburi (in Usambara) sent and invited him to become their chief, "and he ruled over the whole country and was renowned for his skill in magic, and his kindness, and the comeliness of his face, and his knowledge of the law; and if any man was pressed for a debt Mbega would pay it for him." He married a young maiden of Bumburi, and no doubt looked forward to spending the rest of his life there. But he had reckoned without the men of Vuga.
Vuga, the most important community of Usambara, had for some time been at war with the hillmen of Pare. The headman, Turi, having heard reports of Mbega's great powers, especially as regards war-magic, first sent messengers to inquire into the truth of these reports, and then came himself in state to invite him to be their chief. He encamped with his party at Karange, a short distance from Bumburi, with beating of drums and blowing of warhorns. Mbega, hearing that they had arrived, prepared to go to meet them, and also to give some proof of his power. Having put on his robe of tanned bullock's hide and armed himself with sword, spear, and club, he sent off a runner, bidding him say, "Let our guest excuse me for a little, while I talk with the clouds, that the sun may be covered, since it is so hot that we cannot greet each other comfortably." For it was the season of the kaskazi, the north-east monsoon, when the sun is at its fiercest.
The Vuga men were astonished at receiving this message, but very soon they saw a mist rising, which spread till it became a great cloud and quite obscured the sun. Mbega had filled his magic gourd with water and shaken it up; then taken a fire-brand, beaten it on the ground till the glowing embers were scattered, and then quenched them with the water from the gourd. The rising steam formed the cloud, and the Vuga elders were duly impressed.
When, at last, they saw h m face to face they felt that all they had been told of him was true, so comely was his face and so noble his bearing. Turi explained why he had come, and after the usual steps had been taken for entertaining the guests Mbega agreed to accept the invitation on certain conditions. These chiefly concerned the building of his house and the fetching of the charms which he had left in charge of his Kilindi friends at their camp in the bush. These were to be taken to Vuga by a trusty messenger and hidden at a spot on the road outside the town, which he would have to pass.
Everything being agreed upon, Mbega went to inform his father-in-law, and ask his leave to take away his wife-an interesting point, as indicating that the tribal organization was matrilineal. It should also be noted that the father-in-law, while consenting for his own part, said that his wife must also be consulted. She, however, made no difficulty, "but I must certainly go and take leave of my daughter."
Mbega than bade farewell to the elders of Bumburi, insisting that he did not wish to lose touch with them and enjoining on them to send word to him at Vuga of any important matter. He wanted his wife's brother to accompany him, so that she might not feel cut off from all her relatives; also four of the old men.
The party set out, travelling by night and resting by day, when Mbega sacrificed a sheep and performed various 'secret rites,' which he explained to his brother-in-law. On the following morning they reached the place where the charms had been deposited, and the man who had hidden them produced them and handed them over to Mbega, who gave them to his wife to keep. They camped in this place for the day, and when night came on a lion made his appearance. The men scattered and fled; Mbega followed the lion up and killed him with one thrust of his spear. When his men came back he gave most careful directions about taking off and curing the skin, for reasons which will appear later. They then set out once more, and reached Vuga by easy stages early in the morning. The war-drum was beaten, and was answered by drums from the nearest hills, and those again by others from more distant ones, proclaiming to the whole countryside that the chief had come. And from every village, far and near, the people thronged to greet him. His house was built, thatched, and plastered according to his instructions, and when it was finished he had cattle killed and made a feast for the workers, both men and women. He then sent for the lion-skin, which meanwhile had been carefully prepared, and had it made into a bed for his wife, who was shortly expecting her first child.
Soon after she had taken her place on this couch Turi's wife was sent for, and, she having called the other skilled women to attend on the queen, before long the cry of rejoicing, usual on such occasions, was raised. All the people came, bringing gifts and greetings, and Mbega had a bullock killed, and sent in some meat for the nurses. His first question to them was whether the birth had taken place on the lion-skin; when informed that it had he asked whether the child was a boy or a girl. They told him that it was a boy, and he asked, "Have you given him his 'praise-name' yet?" They answered that they had not done so, where-
[1. The term used is jina la mzaha, translated by Madan, in his Swahili dictionary, as "nickname," but the meaning is really the same as the Zulu isibongo, an honorific title. Its use caused some heart-burnings in a later generation, when two branches of the family quarrelled. Stanley, in 1871, had some trouble with a kind of brigand called Simba Mwene, who had a fortified stronghold on the road to Unyanyembe, but this man, I believe, was in no way connected with the Wakilindi, and had assumed the title with no right to it.]
upon he said that the boy's name was to be Simba, the Lion, and by this name he was to be greeted. Mbega's original name-the one first given him in his childhood-was Mwene, hence his son was to be greeted as Simba (son) of Mwene, which became a title handed down in the male line of the dynasty. But the name officially bestowed on the boy, at the usual time, was Buge.
As soon as the child was old enough his mother's kinsmen claimed him, and he was brought up by his uncles at Bumburi-another indication of mother-right in Usambara. Mbega afterwards married at least one other wife, and had several sons, but Buge's mother was the 'Great Wife,' and her son the heir. When he had arrived at manhood his kinsmen at Bumburi asked Mbega's permission to install him as their chief, which was readily granted. The lad ruled wisely, and bade fair to tread in his father's footsteps. His younger brothers, as they grew up, were also put in charge of districts, ruling as Mbega's deputies; this continued to be the custom with the Wakilindi chiefs, who also assigned districts to their daughters.
Now it came to pass that Mbega fell sick, but no one knew it except five old men who were in close attendance on him. His failing to appear in public created no surprise, for he had been in the habit, occasionally, of shutting himself up for ten days at a time and seeing no one, when it was given out that he was engaged in magic, as was, indeed, the case. His illness, which was not known even to his sons, lasted only three days, and the old men kept his death secret for some time. They sent messengers to Bumburi by night to tell Buge that his father was very ill and had sent for him, He set off at once, and, on arriving, was met by the news that Mbega was dead. The funeral was carried out secretly-no doubt in order to secure- the succession by having Buge on the spot before his father's death was known. First a black bull was killed and skinned and the grave lined with its hide; then a black cat was found and killed and a boy and a girl chosen who had to lie down in the grave, side by side, and stay there till the corpse was lowered into it. This, no doubt, was a symbolical act, representing what in former times would have been a human sacrifice. When the corpse was laid in the grave the two came out of it, and were thenceforth tabu to each other: they were forbidden to meet again as long as they lived. Then the cat was placed beside the dead man and the grave filled in.
All this was done without the knowledge of the people in the town. The elders agreed to install Buge as successor to his father, and his wife was sent for from Bumburi. She arrived in the early morning, and at break of day the drums were sounded, announcing the death of the chief, and Buge sacrificed two bullocks at his father's grave. Then he was solemnly proclaimed as chief, and his younger brother Kimweri took his place at Bumburi.
Buge's reign was a short one; when he died Shebuge, the son of his principal wife, was still under age. He had, by another wife, a son, Magembe, and a daughter, Mboza, somewhat older than her brother. She was a woman of considerable ability and great force of character, as is apparent from the fact that the elders consulted her about the succession. She advised them to appoint Kimweri, keeping her own counsel as to further developments, for she was determined that her own full brother, Magembe, should succeed him.
Kimweri died after a reign of eight years, and was buried with the same rites as his father and brother, Mboza hurrying on the funeral without waiting for her brothers. Shebuge and Magembe, unable to arrive in time, sent cattle for the sacrificial feast. Mboza summoned a council of the elders, and gave her vote in favour of electing Magembe to the chieftainship, to which they agreed. She then said that in her opinion the mourning had lasted long enough, and they should now end it with the usual feast, after which she would go home to Mwasha and-when the proper number of days had passed-send the herald (mlao) with orders for the warriors to go and fetch the chief (zumbe).
Now word was brought to Shebuge at Balangai that Magembe was about to be proclaimed chief of Vuga by his sister Mboza. He made no protest, but contented himself with saying that he certainly intended to claim his share of his father's treasure, and to call himself, henceforward, not Shebuge, but Kinyasi. This he explained to mean: "I walk alone; I have no fellow."
When six months had passed Mboza sent word that the kitara (as the Zulus would say, "the King's kraal") was to be made ready, and messengers sent to fetch Magembe from Mulungui, where he lived. When she heard the signal-drums announcing his arrival she would set out for Vuga with her people. So far all her plans had worked smoothly, as no one dared oppose her, "for she was a woman of a fierce spirit and feared throughout the country, because of her skill in magic." But now she met with a check: her messengers, on their way to Mulungui, were intercepted by Shebuge Kinvasi's maternal uncles, who induced them to delay while they themselves started for Balangal and conducted their nephew in triumph to Vuga. The messengers reached Mulungui, and set out on the return journey with Magembe, but always, without knowing it, a stage behind his rival. When, with the dawn, they reached Kihitu the royal drums crashed out in the town, and, marching on, they were further perplexed by hearing the shouts of Mbogo! Mbogo! ('Buffalo!'), with which the multitude were greeting the new chief. They were speedily enlightened by people coming from the town. Magembe, as soon as he knew that matters were finally settled, left Usambara in disgust, never to return; but this comes a little later in the story; for the moment the chronicler is more concerned with Mboza.
That princess left Mwasha as soon as the boom of the great drum was heard, and by midday had halted at the villages just outside Vuga, when she heard from some people returning from the town, who stopped to greet her, the name of the new chief. She at once sent for the elders and some of the principal men. "Let them come hither to the gate, that I may question them!" The men delivered their message to the Mlugu,[l] who asked: "Why so? Can she not enter the town and greet the chief?" Whereto the reply was brief and sufficient: "She does not want to do so."
So they all went out and found her standing in the road, staff in hand, her sword girt about her and her kerrie stung over her shoulder, and they greeted her, but she answered not a word. At last she spoke and said, "Who is the chief who has entered the town?"
And the Mlugu answered, "It is Shebuge Kinyasi of Balangai." Said Mboza: "Whose counsel was this? When I called you, together with all the men of your country, and said to you, men of Vuga, 'Let us now all of us choose the chief,' we chose Magembe. Who,then,has dared to change the decision behind my back?"
They explained what had happened, and, once it had been made clear to her that Shebuge had already entered the kigiri, she knew the matter was past remedy, and shook the dust of Vuga from her feet, sending back to Shebuge's uncles a message which the bearers could not understand, but took to be a curse, and were filled with fear accordingly. Shebuge, however, paid no heed to it.
Mboza, with her husband, her three sons and two daughters, her servants, and her cattle, left at once for Mshihwi, the husband's home country. There she founded a new settlement, which she called Vuga, as a rival to her brother's town. The local inhabitants were very ready to welcome her, and to all who came to greet her she distributed cattle and goats and announced her intentions: "I set this my son Shebuge as chief in this my town, and he shall be
[1. A high official; the title is sometimes rendered 'Prince.'
2 Kigiri is, properly, the mausoleum of the chiefs, which is placed in a special hut within the royal kraal. When the new chief has been introduced into this, in the course of his installation, his appointment is confirmed beyond recall. When she heard that this had taken place Mboza knew that her case was hopeless.]
greeted as 'Lion Lord,' like as his uncle at Vuga." She thus founded a rival line, and when, in the course of years, she felt her end approaching she straitly charged all her children never to set foot in the original Vuga, or to be induced, on any pretext, to enter into friendly relations with their kinsmen there. To her eldest son she left all her charms, and imparted to him her secret knowledge, to be made use of in case of war-such as the magic for raising a mist and the charms for turning back the enemy from the town. Her last words to him were an injunction to keep up the feud for ever, "you and your brothers, your sons and your grandsons."
Shebuge Kinyasi, for his part, was little disposed towards conciliation, and the two Vugas were soon at war, which continued till his attention was claimed in other directions. Unlike his grandfather, Mbega, who is not extolled as a warrior, but as a great hunter and a general benefactor to his people, Shebuge was ambitious to distinguish himself as a conqueror. He was successful for a time, making tributary, not only all the districts now included in Usambara, but the Wadigo and other tribes as far as the coast at Pangani, Tanga, and Vanga. The Wazigula, however, refused to submit to him, and in a fight with them he was cut off with a few followers and overpowered by numbers. "They let off arrows like drops of rain or waves in a storm. And Shebuge was hit by an arrow, and he died.".
Next morning, when the Wazigula came to pick up the weapons of the slain, they found a man sitting beside Shebuge's body. He drew his bow on the first man who approached him and shot him dead, and so with the next and the next, but at last the rest surrounded him and seized him, and asked, "Who art thou?" And he said, "I am Kivava, a man overcome with sorrow and compassion." They said, "Wherefore are thy compassion and thy sorrow. He answered, In your battle yesterday my chief was slain." They asked him, "What chief?"
He told them: "In yesterday's fight Shebuge died. My fellows fled, but, as for me, I had sworn a free man's oath: this Shebuge who is dead was my friend at home; I bade farewell to my comrades; but, as for me, I cannot leave Shebuge. If I were to go back to Vuga, how should I face Shebuge's children, and his wives? My life is finished to-day. I was called 'the Chief's Friend'-I can no longer bear that name. It is better that I too should die as Shebuge has died."
They declared that they did not want to kill him, and turned to leave, but he, to provoke them, shot an arrow after them and hit the Zigula chief's son. Then at last they seized him, and he said, "Slay me not elsewhere, only on this spot where Shebuge is lying." So they slew him and left him there. And when they reached their village they told to all men the tale of Shebuge's friend, who kept troth and loved him to the death.
The fugitives of Shebuge's host, who meanwhile had reached the Ruvu river, heard the news on the following day; they gathered together and returned to the battlefield, which was quite deserted by the enemy. They made a bier and took up Shebuge's body and laid him on it, and so brought him back to Vuga for burial. And his son Kimweri succeeded him.
From thenceforth it was fixed that the chiefs of Vuga should bear the names of Kimweri and Shebuge in alternate generations. This Kimweri is he who was mentioned at the beginning of the chapter and is usually known as "the Great." With him we have definitely passed into the light of history, as known to Europeans-and there we may leave the Wakilindi.
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^Do that. You can do this yourself, it's a very simple test. Get a handful of soil and roll it between your hands like play dough. It needs to be wet and have the consistency of play dough. Roll it between your hands and make a "snake". If it breaks off, it's sand. If it makes a big snake, it's clay. The more it smears on your palms, the more clay you have as well.
I have worked on some EPA wetland projects, so I can possibly help. I don't mean this in a condescending way, but "marsh" is a meaningless word, the same as swamp, slough, etc. The hydrogeomorphic (HGM) classification system
is the preferred way to classify wetlands, because it actually gives an impression of what's going on in the wetland. It sounds like you have a slope wetland or a "wet meadow
". I can tell you more about your options with more information:
1. Does the wetland occur on an incline, i.e. is there water seeping out of the side of a hill or sloping pasture? You've described this as occurring in an upland habitat, does it occur in a small basin or on the side of a hill?
2. If you PM me the coordinates in google maps I can tell you quite a bit more.
3. Which HGM classification would you give the wetland?
In OK, a lot of wetlands have been modified to hold more water or less water, which is a shame. A pond is not the same as a wetland, and ducks will prefer a wetland over a pond. I visited a pond down by the Red River where the owner had created a "duck wetland" (it was actually an impoundment, aka pond). He had the necessary modifications to control the water, and he planted some sort of exotic vegetation (milo, I believe). 200 meters away, there was a sand mining operation uphill which inevitably filled in his pond on a regular basis. He griped about the beavers "ruining" his pond (and he shot them), when he in fact ruined a perfectly good wetland that would have supported waterfowl. The absolute best small wetlands (<20-30 acres) are created by beavers because ALL of the water is ~2 feet deep which is perfect for dabbling ducks. They create tiered pools that are perfect for smartweed and duckweed (lemna). That landowner was throwing money and effort away, if he had just let it be it would have been perfect.
That's my word of warning/advice for this project. They seem great beforehand, but trying to create a wetland where it's not supposed to be usually doesn't work out. It won't work without a regular source of water and/or a high water table. Also, there are legal ramifications to modifying a wetland that is in the National Wetland Inventory. The Swampbuster program looks at aerial photography to see if people are illegally modifying/destroying wetlands without a proper permit (404 permit from the Army Corps of Engineers). Admittedly, that permit is fairly easy to get in OK.
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Sure, people in a democracy have a "natural taste for freedom," Tocqueville wrote in Democracy in America. "But for equality, their passion is ardent, insatiable, incessant, invincible." Amid all the change America has seen since Tocqueville's jaunt, that desire for equality has remained a constant. But it's an increasingly thwarted passion. Amid a crescendo of data about how much richer the rich are compared to everyone else, concern over inequality has escaped the confines of public-policy debate to become a broader cultural phenomenon. With vast fortunes materializing seemingly overnight, even the affluent non-rich have come to feel they qualify (relatively speaking) as members of the wretched of the Earth. Public reaction to inequality is now reflected in everything from envy of the rich to attitudes on globalization, big business and the virtue of a free-market economy.
Americans have historically been averse to class war on the rich, for the simple reason they've hoped (and, often, expected) to be rich themselves someday. But rising inequality has altered the mood. Some of the numbers just stick in non-rich Americans' democratic craw. The Internal Revenue Service issued a report this fall that showed the top 1 percent of earners getting the biggest share ever of the nation's total income—21.2 percent, up from 12.3 percent 20 years ago. As the chart below shows, this far exceeds the amount going to the lower half of the population. Moreover, people sense that inequality is growing. In a Financial Times/Harris Poll in July, 75 percent said the gap between rich and poor in the U.S. is getting wider.
In bygone days, Americans might have shrugged off such a trend, adopting the view that "money isn't everything." No longer. The taboo against coveting thy neighbor's goods has fallen into disuse. In our era, people aren't bashful about venting their dissatisfaction, and the disgruntled want action. A Gallup poll in the spring found broad enthusiasm for the proposition that "the money and wealth in this country should be more evenly distributed among a larger percentage of the people" (see first chart on the facing page). As Gallup noted in its analysis of the data, "The current 66 percent who feel that way is tied for the highest reading on this measure across the time period in which the question has been asked." The poll found "growing resentment toward the rich" in response to a question on whether there are too few or too many rich people in the U.S. Thirty-seven percent said there are too many, up from 21 percent in 1990.
Even in New York City, where conspicuously rich folks have always been part of the landscape, people have had enough of them: A poll for The New York Times Magazine (in an issue devoted to "City Life in the Second Gilded Age") found 34 percent of locals said the city would be better "if there were fewer wealthy people living here," compared to 28 percent who said it would be worse.
While not ready to toss the surplus rich into tumbrels and cart them to the guillotine, many Americans wouldn't mind seeing them punitively taxed. Forty-nine percent of the Gallup poll's respondents said the government should redistribute wealth by "heavy taxes on the rich." That's far higher than the 35 percent who felt this way in 1939—i.e., in the midst of the Depression.
So much for the madcap moneyed
Indeed, Depression-era movies are recalled for their depictions of the rich as charming madcaps. There's too much egalitarian envy to make that a popular motif these days, and the cinematic rich are more apt to show up on the screen as grasping fat cats. Little wonder that such antipathy spills over to the way Americans feel about corporations and their leaders. In the Financial Times/Harris Poll, 77 percent said senior executives are paid too much. When respondents were asked how much they admire the people who run the country's largest companies, the "not at all" vote (33 percent) was triple the sum of those saying "a great deal" (5 percent) or "quite a bit" (6 percent).
Capitalism itself won tepid support from Americans in FT/Harris polling. When asked whether they think a "free-market, capitalist economy" is the best economic system, just 49 percent said it is, while 17 percent said it isn't and 34 percent weren't sure. In a March report from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, 65 percent agreed that "Business corporations make too much profit"—the highest number saying so since the 1991 recession. Surely people in the home of hyper-capitalism should display more zest for such an economy. One obvious irony is that the people who complain about big corporate profits are likely among the ones who also complain that the shares in their 401(k) accounts aren't doing better.
They do need maids, after all
While breeding such doubts about the virtue of the free market, rising inequality has naturally sharpened disagreement between rich and non-rich about economic globalization. An Economist/YouGov poll last month asked whether increased trade has helped or harmed U.S. consumers. Among respondents with income of $100,000-plus, 52 percent said it has helped and 26 percent said it has hurt, with most of the rest seeing no effect either way. In the under-$50,000 bracket, "hurt" beat "helped" by 45 percent to 30 percent. For similar reasons, lower-income Americans are more wary of large-scale immigration than are the rich. The latter don't feel their own jobs are threatened by an immigrant influx—and, after all, they do need a ready supply of maids and gardeners.
Americans aren't buying the argument that inequality is an inescapable corollary of economic growth. Polled in early summer by the University of Connecticut's Center for Survey Research & Analysis, they were much more likely to disagree than to agree that big income gaps "are necessary for America's prosperity" (see chart in center column). The rich may be an evil, in the view of their detractors, but not a necessary evil.
From the perspective of the non-rich, are the rich harder to take than they used to be? Actually, yes. Part of the problem is a breakdown in the comforting notion that the non-rich are happy in familial life around the simple hearth, while the rich are lonesome and miserable in their drafty mansions. (Think of the last reel of Citizen Kane.) In truth, richer people are the most likely to be married, which is often a reason why they are richer. Nor can they be laughed off as the nitwit progeny of an inbred aristocracy, as educational attainment now correlates strongly with income.
As much as populists have relished badmouthing the "idle rich," it's hard to ignore the fact that today's wealthy can't be dismissed with that label. According to the most recent Census data on the topic, 76 percent of households in the top income quintile have two or more earners, vs. 43 percent of middle-quintile households and 5 percent of those at the bottom. And the new rich are notorious for working long hours. In a piece earlier this year on The Wall Street Journal's Wealth Report blog, writer Robert Frank noted that "Thorstein Veblen's famous 'leisure class' has given way to what I call the 'workaholic rich.'" More's the pity for their would-be detractors. Given America's work ethic, the person who earned his living by the sweat of his brow used to have the pleasure of feeling superior to the chinless idler who'd merely inherited his stake. That's tougher do do amid the proliferation of today's meritocratic rich.
'The Haves vs. the Have-Mores'
The fact that many of the current rich started out in the middle or upper-middle class is especially galling for those who started out and stayed there. An article in The New York Times Magazine issue mentioned above noted "the merely well-to-do's envy of the rich"; a headline on the Journal's Wealth Report blog spoke of "The Haves vs. the Have-Mores." This carries over to attitudes toward CEOs. In a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll in June, respondents with income of $60,000-100,000 were more apt than those making less than $40,000 (86 percent vs. 76 percent) to say CEOs are overpaid.
It doesn't help that many in the middle class feel their lot has worsened in absolute terms. A CBS News poll in April asked those in the $30,000-70,000 bracket whether life for the middle class has gotten worse or better in the past 10 years. "Worse" beat "better" by 54 percent to 31 percent. In a July poll for the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, respondents were asked to classify themselves as "haves" or "have-nots." Among those in the bottom third of the income distribution, the "haves" vote (though naturally smaller than for the richer cohorts) rose by a percentage point between 2001 and 2007. For those in the middle third, though, the "haves" tally tumbled by 11 points, from 54 percent to 43 percent. And it fell by six points (from 72 percent to 66 percent) for those in the top third—most of whom, of course, are middle or upper-middle class rather than rich. Hard data on income and spending offer little support for the notion that such people are sinking into the have-not ranks. But people's perceptions are none the less vivid for lacking a factual basis. Ah, we truly live in a land of boundless possibility when people with six-figure incomes can feel they've achieved victim status!
Conspicuously virtuous consumption
As if today's rich weren't irritating enough, global warming has given them a chance to be even more so. Conspicuous consumption has been supplemented by conspicuously virtuous consumption, as the rich flaunt their devotion to the planet—say, by spending more on solar panels for a mansion than you spent on your entire house. Along those lines, a study by Scarborough Research "finds that almost half (42 percent) of the households in the U.S. that own or lease at least one hybrid vehicle have an annual income of $100,000 or more." The non-rich could mock the rich for the old style of ostentation. Because it does have real social utility, conspicuously virtuous consumption is harder to criticize—which makes it even more irksome.
Even the non-rich can treat themselves to some luxuries, as marketers have sought to exploit the "massification of luxury." We can safely surmise, though, that this has whetted rather than sated their appetites for more of the stuff rich people buy as a matter of course. If you've contentedly spent your vacations in a tent in some state park, it won't necessarily occur to you to envy the plutocrat who has a vacation chalet. But if you've had a one-week time share in a chalet, you'll be more inclined to want a chalet of your own. Thus, the affluent-but-not-rich can easily develop uncomfortable symptoms of "affluenza" without the compensating comfort of being rich.
Anti-rich sentiment would likely be worse than it is were it not for the saving grace of social mobility. It may be unusual for a dirt-poor kid to end up at the top of the income distribution pyramid as an adult (though it's not at all rare to reach a higher quintile), but it's quite common for people at the very top to come down a few notches.
As you can see from the chart in the right-hand column of page 31, which displays data gathered by the the Pew Charitable Trust's Economic Mobility Project, six of 10 people born into top-income-quintile families a generation ago are in a lower quintile as adults today. A report last month from the Treasury Department found a similar pattern when looking at where people stood in 2005 vs. 1996. One highlight: "Less than half (40 percent or 43 percent depending on the measure) of those in the top 1 percent in 1996 were still in the top 1 percent in 2005."
It's all very nice to see someone climb from poverty into the middle class. Given today's hostility toward the rich, though, the decline of a rich person likely elicits keener satisfaction than the rise of a poor person.
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Registered Nurse (RN)
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, registered nursing is among the top 10 occupations with the largest job growth.
Registered nursing (RN) requires a large base of knowledge used to assess, plan and intervene to promote health, prevent disease and help patients cope with illness. When providing direct patient care, nurses observe, assess and record symptoms, reactions and progress, which provides the basis for care planning and intervention. They are health educators and advocates for patients, families and communities.
They have a unique scope of practice and can practice independently, although they also collaborate with all members of the health care team to provide the care needed by each patient as an individual.
RN roles range from direct patient care and case management to establishing nursing practice standards, developing quality assurance procedures, directing complex nursing care systems, conducting clinical research and teaching in nursing programs, as well as practicing in many other invigorating settings.
RNs also develop and manage nursing care plans, instruct patients and their families in proper care and help individuals and groups take steps to improve or maintain their health. While state laws govern the scope of nursing practice, it is usually patient needs that determine a nurse's daily job activities.
Professional nursing responsibilities have changed considerably over time. Nurses today are highly respected and valued members of the health care team who bring their own body of knowledge to the process of health care. Nurses work in collaboration with physicians and members of other healthcare disciplines.
Some nurses choose to focus on a particular specialty. There are numerous specialty options -- each of which has its own training/certification requirements and related professional network or organization. These include:
In addition, nursing has four advanced practice clinical professions, each of which requires a graduate degree and separate certification:
Most nurses work in healthcare facilities, although home health and public health nurses travel to their patients' homes, schools, community centers and other sites.
RNs may spend considerable time walking and standing. They also need to be able to cope well with stress, since nursing involves direct involvement with human suffering, emergencies and other pressures.
Registered nurses earn on average $64,690 a year, although compensation depends on level of education, experience, geographic location and the type of facility. Experienced registered nurses with advanced education can earn $80,000 a year or more.
About Registered Nursing
Note: The American Association of Colleges of Nursing has reviewed this profile.
Get an Inside Look at the Work of a Surgical Telemetry Nurse Supervisor in a Military Medical Center
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Making the Most of Your Shadowing Experiences
Part 1: Do’s and Don’ts When Applying to College
Part 3: Accreditation Matters
Part 1: Accreditation Matters
Applying for Financial Aid (Part II)
Are You Credit Ready and Credit Worthy?
Why Diversity Matters in the Health Professions
Start Preparing for Your Health Care Career in High School
Finding Meaningful Work in Healthcare: Older Workers
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Healthcare Reform 101
Keep Past Mistakes from Limiting Your Future Health Care Career
Making a Major Decision
You can earn a nursing diploma or associate degree in three years. Many junior and community colleges offer associate degree in nursing (ADN) programs. Search for schools that provide training for this career. Many new nurses begin their education in an ADN program and then enroll in Bachelor of Science in nursing (BSN) or master’s degree completion programs.
If you're going into this field, however, you should be aware that there is a growing national movement to require all nurses to hold a BSN. Recent research indicates that patients are safer and have better outcomes when they're under the care of nurses with at least a baccalaureate-level education in nursing. Currently, 55% of the nursing workforce holds a baccalaureate degree or higher.
Your career prospects also will be better if you hold a BSN: Many employers recognize that nurses with bachelor's degrees are better prepared for a wide range of practice settings and tend to have strong skills in critical thinking, case management and health promotion.
Conventional BSN programs take four years, but more and more schools are offering accelerated nursing programs for students who already hold a bachelor's in another field; such programs take between 11 and 18 months to complete. Similar programs exist for an accelerated master's degree (MSN), which can be earned in approximately three years. In addition, there are a growing number of RN-to-MSN and BSN-to-PhD programs, designed to meet the increasing demand for more highly educated nurses in the workforce.
There also are an increasing number of four-year institutions offering "articulation agreements" with community and junior colleges, to enable nurses with associate or bachelor's degrees to seamlessly transition into BSN and MSN programs.
Graduates from all three types of entry-level programs must pass the NCLEX-RN exam administered by each state’s board of nursing before they can practice as a registered nurses.
For an overview of the various RN programs, see the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) website.
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Last updated: June 9, 2016
©2012 American Dental Education Association
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The role of the Swedish diplomat is being reassessed, sorting myth from fact
By Dr Paul A. Levine
Author, Raoul Wallenberg in Budapest; Myth, History & Holocaust
Raoul Wallenberg was a heroic Swedish diplomat who made history by assisting and saving thousands of Jews in Budapest during the Holocaust. But Wallenberg was arrested by the Soviet Union and disappeared into the Gulag, never to return home to his family, or his own future.
One of the most admired figures from Holocaust history, Raoul Wallenberg is also one of the most enigmatic. Why did this scion of Sweden's most important family go to Budapest to save Jews during the Holocaust? And, once there, what did he actually do to save lives?
I have been studying Wallenberg, the man and his mission, for more than 20 years, and this book is the result.
During this time, I came to understand that the more I understood about him, the more interesting he and his place in Holocaust history and memory became.
Born in August 1912 into one of Sweden's wealthiest families, Raoul Wallenberg is feted around the globe as one of the heroes of the Holocaust.
He has been made an honorary citizen of several nations. Statues, parks, schools, academic institutions, philanthropic organizations and more have been named in his honour.
Wallenberg handed out thousands of 'protective passports' like this
As a young Swedish diplomat serving in Budapest during the Second World War he saved thousands of Jews by providing them with "protective passports" issued by Sweden's government.
But, at the war's end, he was spirited away by the Soviets and died, if their reports are to be believed, on 17 July 1947 somewhere in the cavernous, pitiless surroundings of the KGB's Lubyanka Prison in central Moscow.
But even this remains a matter for dispute. Did he succumb to a heart attack as the KGB would have us believe, or was he murdered? We shall probably never know.
Indeed, the more I have "got to know him", the more acutely poignant his tragic fate in Stalin's Gulag feels.
Wallenberg chose to go to Budapest to help Jews during the Holocaust, but he didn't go there believing that he would never see his beloved mother again, nor that he would not be free to pursue his own life after helping so many others retain theirs.
The book I have written, Raoul Wallenberg in Budapest; Myth, History & Holocaust was motivated by my fascination with, and curiosity about, the individual who evolved into one of the most famous names to emerge from the profound catastrophe which was the Holocaust.
When in the early 1990s I began interviewing survivors from Budapest who were either directly or indirectly saved by him, I quickly understood the moral power his work and symbolism exercised on the imagination of so many - and by no means only survivors.
The more I studied what he and other Swedish diplomats in Budapest did (and what their colleagues did earlier elsewhere in Europe), the more I understood why his memory has captured a quite unique space in Holocaust commemoration.
All of this was interesting, yet as a trained Holocaust historian, I was dissatisfied with existing explanations about Wallenberg.
I felt they were superficial, un-contextualized, and unconvincing. The existing publications did not describe his deeds in an accurate historical context, and they, perhaps most problematically for a historian, inflated his actual achievements.
Crucially for my work, I discovered that most peoples' understanding of Wallenberg was based far more on myth than on sustainable scholarship.
This study corrects the common misunderstandings of Wallenberg's place in Holocaust history, making it both more real and, I should like to argue, more interesting.
This task could only be done by digging in Swedish government archives. Crucial to understanding Wallenberg's decision to go the Budapest was to understand his upbringing.
His often moving correspondence with his paternal grandfather, Gustaf Oscar Wallenberg, penned while Wallenberg was a teenager and young man, is closely analysed.
What it shows is a highly intelligent, worldly, and charismatic young man who grasped the "offer" history made to him in mid-1944 in a quite dramatic fashion.
The Soviets said Wallenberg died in Moscow's Lubyanka prison in 1947
Yet, some of my findings will surprise and perhaps even discomfort readers. The available documentation reveals that certain of Wallenberg's activities in Budapest were less than noble.
These findings conflict with what most believe they know about Wallenberg. He violated his promise not to do business while in Budapest. Oddly, his Hungarian-Jewish business partner, Koloman Lauer, put considerable pressure on him to look for profit - in the midst of a genocide.
Contrary to popular belief, Wallenberg did not go to Budapest to "save Hungarian Jewry". This was impossible, because the majority had already been murdered in Auschwitz-Birkenau by the time he arrived.
There is reason to believe that he undertook his mission as much as an opportunity to transform his own languishing reputation as to engage in a ad-hoc humanitarian effort.
That said, when circumstances dictated that he could not return home, his enormous energy and imagination set to saving as many lives as possible.
Raoul Wallenberg did not personally save 100,000 Jews - this idea and figure is part of the web of myth surrounding him. But he, along with his diplomatic colleagues, did help tens of thousands of Jews survive the Holocaust.
I am convinced that what he did requires no novelistic embellishment.
Yet, in a tragedy of classic dimensions, the young Swede who saved the life of so many was unable to live a life of his own.
The saga of his arrest and detention by the Soviet Red Army in January 1945, for reasons still unknown, ended with his never returning to his home and family.
This unredeemable tragedy haunts us still. Nonetheless, it is vital that we remember Raoul Wallenberg not for how he died, but rather, how he lived.
Dr Levine is Senior Lecturer at Uppsala University in Sweden. Raoul Wallenberg in Budapest; Myth, History & Holocaust is published by Vallentine Mitchell & Co Ltd
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Kelowna Population & Trends
Population and demographic statistics are vital in planning for the future; they help identify the makeup of a community and assist in making predictions for the community’s future needs.
The City of Kelowna is part of the Regional District of Central Okanagan which encompasses Peachland, Lake Country, West Kelowna and unincorporated communities on both sides of Okanagan Lake. The City of Kelowna is the largest community in the Regional District with a population of 123,500. Detailed population and demographic information based on the 2011 census is available from Census Data or BC Stats. The next census is scheduled for May 2016.
The recently produced 2015 Community Trends Report examines trends from Census and other data in four theme areas: our people, our homes, our economy and our environment. The report also provides the community a resource for basic statistical and demographic data that can be used as the foundation for organizational and program planning and development, policy analysis and community development.
Further information about how Kelowna is trending on goals established in the Official Community Plan can be found in the Official Community Plan Indicators Report.
The Provincial Health Authority publishes a Community Health Profile for Kelowna as an introduction to community health data at the lowest geographic level available. The profiles provide local data for use by health authorities and local governments to support collaborative community health planning.
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Brief SummaryRead full entry
The Euglenozoa is a monophyletic group consisting of single-celled flagellates with very different modes of nutrition, including predation, osmotrophy, parasitism, and photoautotrophy. Predatory euglenozoans are phylogenetically widespread within the group and show a wide diversity of feeding apparatus structure, feeding strategies and prey preferences (Leander et al. 2001; Leander 2004). For instance, some predatory species prefer small prey such as bacteria (e.g., Bodo and Entosiphon); other species, such as Peranema and diplonemids frequently consume larger prey, such as other eukaryotic cells, by either engulfing them whole ( ‘true’ phagotrophy) or by piercing the prey cell and consuming the contents (myzocytosis). Most predatory euglenids are adapted to move and feed on surfaces and they are important components of the microbial biota in many surface sediments. Osmotrophic euglenozoans are heterotrophs that lack a feeding apparatus and absorb nutrients directly from their environments (e.g., Distigma and Rhabdomonas). Photoautotrophy is restricted to a specific subclade of euglenid euglenozoans and originated via secondary endosymbiosis between a eukaryovorous euglenid and a green algal cells (Gibbs 1978; Leander 2004, Leander et al. 2007) (e.g. see the third cell, starting from the left, in the title image). Parasitic (and commensalistic) euglenozoans appear to have evolved independently several times within the group (Simpson et al. 2002, 2006). One subgroup, the trypanosomatids (e.g. see right-hand cell in the title image), include the organisms that cause important human illnesses such as "sleeping sickness", leishmaniases, and Chagas’ disease. Euglenozoans, whether they are parasitic or photoautotrophic, share several derived cytoskeletal features associated with the flagellar apparatus and the feeding apparatus.
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Herbicides are substances used to kill unwanted plants, often used in modern gardens in lieu of or alongside other weed control techniques. The use of herbicides has benefits in terms of saving labor and time, but can also cause some problems by killing non-target plants or other organisms, contaminating the environment, and in some cases may have toxic effects on humans and other animals.
Types of herbicides
Herbicides are classified in several ways, including effect, selectivity, persistence, application, and action. They are also further divided into herbicides that are acceptable in organic growing methods and non-organic growing methods.
- Pre-emergent herbicides work by interfering with the germination of seeds. Pre-emergents must be well-timed according to the germination time of the weed being controlled, but when timed correctly they provide the best solution to the problem, as a preventative rather than a cure.
- (see Pre-emergent Herbicides for details on particular pre-emergents)
- Contact herbicides work by killing any part of the plant they come in contact with. In most cases these will not kill the entire plant and will need to be reapplied periodically, eventually draining the plant's energy stores and killing it after several applications.
- Systemic herbicides work by killing the entire plant over a short period of time, and are conducted throughout the plant through the vascular system. Many weeds are resistant to these herbicides however, so repeat applications are often needed.
- Drench herbicides are applied to the soil, rather than or along with application to the plant. Most of these herbicides are long-lasting, and therefore not appropriate for use in places where plants are to be grown.
Selective herbicides kill specific target plants while leaving the desired plants relatively unharmed. Herbicides used to control lawn weeds are in most cases selective herbicides.
Non-selective herbicides kill any plant they come in contact with (though some plants are resistant to various herbicides).
Different herbicides have various "persistence", meaning some stay active over a long period of time, while others become inactive shortly after application.
Herbicides can be applied in one of a few ways. Some are sprayed as a liquid, some applied as granules, some applied through irrigation systems or fumigation (though rarely done in gardens), and some are painted directly onto plant parts. Most herbicides can be applied using more than one method, depending on what they are being used for.
Their classification by mechanism of action (MOA) indicates the first enzyme, protein, or biochemical step affected in the plant following application. The main mechanisms of action are:
- Dessicators work by removing the water from plant cells, causing cell death.
- Acids and bases work similarly to dessicators, by chemically "burning" plant cells. These are substances that are extremely acidic or alkaline.
- Nutritional controls work by shifting the balance of nutrients, either providing too much of a particular nutrient, or restricting the availability of other nutrients. This most commonly involves slatering the soil pH, but in some cases certain nutrients can be used to control specific species of plants.
- ACCase inhibitors are compounds that kill grasses. Acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase (ACCase) is part of the first step of lipid synthesis. Thus, ACCase inhibitors affect cell membrane production in the meristems of the grass plant. The ACCases of grasses are sensitive to these herbicides, whereas the ACCases of dicot plants are not.
- ALS inhibitors: the acetolactate synthase (ALS) enzyme (also known as acetohydroxyacid synthase, or AHAS) is the first step in the synthesis of the branched-chain amino acids (valine, leucine, and isoleucine). These herbicides slowly starve affected plants of these amino acid]]s which eventually leads to inhibition of DNA synthesis. They affect grasses and dicots alike. The ALS inhibitor family includes sulfonylureas (SUs), imidazolinones (IMIs), triazolopyrimidines (TPs), pyrimidinyl oxybenzoates (POBs), and sulfonylamino carbonyl triazolinones (SCTs).
- EPSPS inhibitors: The enolpyruvylshikimate 3-phosphate synthase enzyme EPSPS is used in the synthesis of the amino acids tryptophan, phenylalanine and tyrosine. They affect grasses and dicots alike. Glyphosate is a systemic EPSPS inhibitor but inactivated by soil contact.
- Synthetic auxin inaugurated the era of organic herbicides. They were discovered in the 1940s after a long study of the plant growth regulator auxin. Synthetic auxins mimic this plant hormone. They have several points of action on the cell membrane, and are effective in the control of dicot plants. 2,4-D is a synthetic auxin herbicide.
- Photosystem II inhibitors reduce electron flow from water to NADPH2+ at the photochemical step in photosynthesis. They bind to the Qb site on the D2 protein, and prevent quinone from binding to this site. Therefore, this group of compounds cause electrons to accumulate on chlorophyll molecules. As a consequence, oxidation reactions in excess of those normally tolerated by the cell occur, and the plant dies. The triazine herbicides (including atrazine) are PSII inhibitors.
Acceptability for organic growing
By organic is meant a herbicide that can be used in a farming enterprise that has been classified as organic. Organic herbicides are expensive and may not be affordable for commercial production. They are much less effective than synthetic herbicides but of course do not inject unnatural chemicals into the environment.
Organic herbicides include:
- Vinegar - effective for 5-20% solutions of acetic acid with higher concentrations most effective but mainly destroys surface growth and so respraying to treat regrowth is needed. Resistant plants generally succumb when weakened by respraying.
- Steam - has been applied commercially but now considered uneconomic and inadequate . Kills surface growth but not underground growth and so respraying to treat regrowth of perennials is needed.
- 2,4-D, a broadleaf herbicide in the phenoxy group used in turf and in no-till field crop production. Now mainly used in a blend with other herbicides that act as synergists, it is the most widely used herbicide in the world, third most commonly used in the United States. It is an example of synthetic auxin.
- Atrazine, a triazine herbicide used in corn and sorghum for control of broadleaf weeds and grasses. Still used because of its low cost and because it works as a synergist when used with other herbicides, it is a photosystem II inhibitor.
- Clopyralid, is a broadleaf herbicide in the pyridine group, used mainly in turf, rangeland, and for control of noxious thistles. Notorious for its ability to persist in compost. It is another example of synthetic auxin.
- Dicamba, a persistent broadleaf herbicide active in the soil, used on turf and field corn. It is another example of synthetic auxin.
- Glyphosate, a systemic nonselective (it kills any type of plant) herbicide used in no-till burndown and for weed control in crops that are genetically modified to resist its effects. It is an example of an EPSPs inhibitor.
- Imazapyr, is a non-selective herbicide used for the control of a broad range of weeds including terrestrial annual and perennial grasses and broadleaved herbs, woody species, and riparian and emergent aquatic species.
- Imazapic, is a selective herbicide for both the pre- and post-emergent control of some annual and perennial grasses and some broadleaf weeds. Imazapic kills plants by inhibiting the production of branched chain amino acids (valine, leucine, and isoleucine), which are necessary for protein synthesis and cell growth.
- Metoalachlor, a pre-emergent herbicide widely used for control of annual grasses in corn and sorghum; it has largely replaced atrazine for these uses.
- Paraquat, a nonselective contact herbicide used for no-till burndown and in aerial destruction of marijuana and coca plantings. More acutely toxic to people than any other herbicide in widespread commercial use.
- Picloram, a pyridine herbicide mainly used to control unwanted trees in pastures and edges of fields. It is another synthetic auxin.
Prior to the widespread use of chemical herbicides, cultural controls, such as altering soil pH, salinity, or fertility levels, were used to control weeds. Mechanical control (including tillage) was also (and still is) used to control weeds.
The first widely used herbicide was 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, often abbreviated 2,4-D. It was developed by a British team during World War II and first saw widespread production and use in the late 1940s. It is easy and inexpensive to manufacture, and kills many broadleaf plants while leaving grasses largely unaffected (although high doses of 2,4-D at crucial growth periods can harm grass crops such as maize or cereals). 2,4-D's low cost has led to continued usage today and it remains one of the most commonly used herbicides in the world. Like other acid herbicides, current formulations utilize either an amine salt (usually trimethyl amine) or one of many esters of the base compound. These are easier to handle than the acid.
2,4-D exhibits relatively poor selectivity, meaning that it causes stress to non-target plants. It is also less effective against some broadleaf weeds, including many vinous plants, and sedges. A herbicide is termed selective if it affects only certain types of plants, and nonselective if it inhibits most any type of plant. Other herbicides have been more recently developed to achieve desired selectivities.
The 1970s saw the introduction of Atrazine, which has the dubious distinction of being the herbicide of greatest concern for groundwater contamination. Atrazine does not break down readily (within a few weeks) after being applied. Instead it is carried deep into the soil by rainfall causing the aforementioned contamination. Atrazine is said to have high carryover, a very undesirable property for herbicides.
Glyphosate, frequently sold under the brand name Roundup, was introduced in the late 1980s for non-selective weed control. It is now a major herbicide in selective weed control in growing crop plants due to the development of crop plants that are resistant to it. The pairing of the herbicide with the resistant seed contributed to the consolidation of the seed and chemistry industry in the late 1990s.
Many modern chemical herbicides for agriculture are specifically formulated to decompose within a short period after application. This is desirable as it allows crops which may be affected by the herbicide to be grown on the land in future seasons. However, herbicides with low residual activity (i.e. decompose quickly) often do not provide season-long weed control.
Herbicides have been alleged to cause a variety of health effects ranging from skin rashes to death. The pathway of attack can arise from improper applicatrion resulting in direct contact with field workers, inhalation of aerial sprays, food consumption and from contact with residual soil contamination. Herbicides can also be transported via surface runoff to contaminate distant surface waters and hence another pathway of ingestion through extraction of those surface waters for drinking. Some herbicides decompose rapidly in soils and other types have more persistent characteristics with longer environmental half-lives. Other alleged health effects can include chest pain, headaches, nausea and fatigue. Most herbicides (primarily the non-organic) must be extensively tested prior to labeling by the Environmental Protection Agency. However, because of the large number of herbicides in use, many are concerned about potential health effects. Some of the substances in use are alleged to be mutagenic, carcinogenic or teratogenic.
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On the big-picture side The Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) is a massive Government program resulting from a treaty signed in 1986 which was an agreement to sell water from the Lesotho mountain areas to South Africa. Visit their website at http://www.lhwa.org for project details. In addition to financial and hydroelectric power benefits the LHWP has been instrumental in the formation of the beautiful Ts’ehlanyane National Park. From the LHWP website:
Tag Archive for Lesotho Highlands Water Project
One of the many highlights of Lesotho is a visit to Katse Dam, centrepiece of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project which channels the water of the Lesotho Highlands via an incredible series of dams and tunnels through the mountains eventually coming out of the Ash River Outfall near the town of Clarens in South Africa’s Free State province where it gravity feeds to supply Johannesburg and Pretoria with water.
It was touted as the greatest engineering project in the southern hemisphere in the 1990’s when it was under construction. Nowadays the sight of the massive dam hemmed in by the mountain valley is well worth beholding!
For visitors, there is an information centre, which features a model of the whole project, showing all the phases. You can also go on a tour of the dam wall which is arranged by the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority Visitor Centre. The Katse Botanical Gardens is an added attraction. Read more
The Drakensberg-Maloti Highlands are highly valued in southern Africa for their rivers’ excellent water quality and high water yield. These rivers provide water to large areas of South Africa. The region encompasses the whole of Lesotho, excluding the westernmost lowland areas as well as small parts of South Africa just south and north of Lesotho.
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For most of his 20s, Ed Cooke had been hovering around the top 10 of the World Memory Championships. His achievements included memorising 2,265 binary digits in 30 minutes and the order of 16 packs of playing cards in just an hour. But at the age of 26, he was getting restless, and wanted to help others to learn like him. "The memory techniques take a certain discipline," he says. "I wanted a tool that would just allow you to relax into learning."
The resulting brainchild was Memrise. Launched in 2010, the website and app is now helping more than 1.4 million users to learn foreign languages, history and science with the ease of Cooke's memory powers. It has been followed by similar apps that also take the pain out of learning – both for individuals, and in schools, with some teachers finding benefits that even Cooke couldn't have predicted.
“It's very powerful – it does all the spade work of learning,” says Dominic Traynor, who teaches Spanish at the St Cuthbert with St Matthias Primary School in London, UK. “I would say we've covered a year's worth of work in the first six months.”
As Cooke first set out developing his idea, he turned to his former classmate at Oxford University, Princeton neuroscientist Greg Detre, to help update his tried-and-tested techniques with the latest understanding of memory. Together, they came up with some basic principles that would guide Memrise’s progress over the following years. The first is the idea of “elaborative” learning – in which you try to give extra meaning to a fact to try to get it to stick in the mind. These “mems”, as the team call them, are particularly effective if they tickle the funny bone as well as the synapses – and so for each fact that you want to learn, you are encouraged to find an amusing image or phrase that helps plant the memory in your mind. For example, in one German language course, the word “abend” for evening, is illustrated with a picture of Abraham Lincoln listening to a ghetto blaster, with the caption “Abe ends work in the evening”. It’s silly, but that’s the point – an absurd image is memorable.
To cultivate those memories, the app then sets you a series of carefully timed tests over the days, weeks and months that follow. Numerous experiments over the past few years have shown that the best way to build new neural pathways is to try and recall it afresh, helping subjects remember more than twice as much, over the long term, than just passively reading the material; self-testing also turns out to be more effective than creative techniques like drawing diagrams and mind maps.
Although you can find other apps designed for rote learning and drilling in this way, Memrise makes use of another trick. Detre had found that the most effective time to reactivate a memory is when you feel that it is half-remembered, half-forgotten – when you feel it’s on the “tip of your tongue” but you can't quite reach it. So the Memrise team have designed an algorithm that predicts the arrival of that agonising state, and then springs a test on you. Since the app constantly tracks your progress, over time it becomes more accurate at predicting your learning curve, helping you surf the waves of your memory to more efficient learning.
All of which may help take the pain out of learning; however, the big challenge was to make it fun too. “We're always having to compete for your attention when you look at the screen of your phone,” says Ben Whately, Memrise's chief operating officer. “The experience has to have as much light-hearted interest as something like Pinterest.” But the team have also tried hard to create a community of learners that encourages friendly competition – so users can upload their courses to share with other people looking to learn the same subject, and they can compare their rank on a leader board. “We needed people to be comfortable to share stuff on sites like Facebook in order for it to get up and running on such a big scale,” says Whately.
Unsurprisingly, it was the friendly competition element that captured the attention of Traynor's primary school pupils learning Spanish. “As soon as they come into the classroom, they want to see where they are on the leader board,” he says. And there are other advantages. Each lesson, Traynor tends to split the class into two – while half are doing the “spade work” on vocabulary learning on the school's iPads, he can teach the others – before the two halves switch over. By working with these smaller groups, he can then give more individual attention to each child's understanding of the grammar.
Even more powerfully, Traynor recently began encouraging his class to record and upload their pronunciation of the words onto the app – which they can then share with their classmates using the course. The sound of their classmates seems to have spurred on their enthusiasm, says Traynor. “They're constantly trying to work out whose voice they're hearing,” he says. “So they're giving more attention to the different sounds. I think it's improved their speaking and listening dramatically.”
Although most courses on Memrise deal with foreign languages, teachers in other subjects are also starting to bring the technology to their classroom. Simon Birch from The Broxbourne School in Hertfordshire, for instance, uses it to teach the advanced terminology needed for food technology exams, while his school’s English department are using it to drill spelling. "The benefits for literacy can't be overstated," Birch says.
The Memrise team are now hoping to develop further features that might help teachers like Birch and Traynor – by providing them with data on students’ progress, so they can see which bits of the course are failing to stick. And following Memrise’s success, other companies seem to be seeing the potential of applying the art and science of memory to learning apps. For instance, the Cerego app, which launched in September 2013, also times your learning and testing to boost recall, and its team have so far launched courses on brain anatomy, music theory and art history. The team’s preliminary tests on school students suggests that classes perform between 20-50% better using the app, and they are actively working with teachers and educational institutions to develop courses together.
So are we coming close to the relaxed, effortless learning that Cooke first envisaged? Traynor thinks so; many of his class are so hooked that they readily practice Spanish on their iPads at home, to the point that he now has to plan four or five lessons in advance. “That's the strength of it,” he says. “The learning just doesn't stop.”
Read more in the Future Education series.
If you would like to comment on this video or anything else you have seen on Future, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter.
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Math Worksheets By Grade Level
Math worksheets by grade level.
Math Worksheets By Subject
Math worksheets by subject.
All Math Worksheets
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Six Types of Oral Communication Activities
There are six broad types of oral communication activities that might be incorporated into curricula in many fields of study. Most are conducive to either formal or informal assignments. Some are realistically possible only in smaller classes or recitation sections, while others are appropriate for large lectures as well.
On their own, any of them can help students learn course materials or ways of thinking (speaking to learn). Incorporated more systematically into a broader curriculum or major, they can together help move students to become more proficient speakers by the time they graduate (learning to speak).
1. One-on-One Speaking (Student-Student or Student-Teacher): Can range from moments punctuating a lecture, where students are asked to discuss or explain some question or problem with the person next to them, to formal student conferences with their instructor.
2. Small-Group or Team-Based Oral Work: Smaller-scale settings for discussion, deliberation, and problem solving. Appropriate for both large lectures and smaller classes and allows levels of participation not possible in larger groups.
3. Full-Class Discussions (Teacher- or Student-Led): Typically less agonistic, argument-based, and competitive than debate and deliberation but still dialogic in character. Often times has the quality of creating an atmosphere of collective, out-loud thinking about some question, idea, problem, text, event, or artifact. Like deliberation and debate, a good way to encourage active learning.
4. In-Class Debates and Deliberations: A structured consideration of some issue from two or more points of view. Debates typically involve participants who argue one side throughout, while deliberation allows for movement by individuals within the process. Both feature reason-giving argument. Can be applied to issues of many kinds, from disputed scientific facts to theories, policy questions, the meaning of a text, or the quality of an artistic production. Can range from two participants to a lecture hall.
5. Speeches and Presentations: Classically, the stand-up, podium speech delivered by an individual from an outline or script. Also includes group presentations or impromptu speaking. A strong element of monologue, but dialogue can be built in with question and answer or discussion with the audience afterward.
6. Oral Examinations: Can take place in the instructor’s office, in small groups, or before a whole class. Range from one oral question on an otherwise written exam to an oral defense of a written answer or paper to an entirely oral quiz or examination. Difficult with very large groups, but an excellent way to determine the depth and range of student knowledge and to stimulate high levels of preparation.
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Sticky eye is a condition where a thick,yellow, pus-like substance is discharged from the eye. This usually occurs as a result of a clogged tear duct. This can also lead to infection. Sticky eyes can also occur as a result of sexually transmitted infections during childbirth. At times, conjunctivitis or even common cold can lead to sticky eyes.
This is most common in infants during their first few months.
Symptoms of sticky eyes:
The symptoms for sticky eyes can be as follows:
- Problems in vision
- Eye pain
- The baby finds it difficult to open an eye
Frequent discharge from the eye
Causes of sticky eyes:
The main cause of sticky eyes are clogged eye ducts.
Common cold, conjunctivitis, sexually transmitted infections etc are also some of the rare causes of sticky eyes.
Treatment for sticky eyes:
- The doctors may prescribe antibiotic eye drops which should be used
3 -4 times a day.
- With the help of cotton wipes, clean the discharge. Remember to wash your hands thoroughly to prevent it from spreading.
- In case of infants, if the tear duct is blocked, avoid exposing the child to antibiotics. The blocked duct will open up on its own.
Precautions that should be taken to prevent sticky eyes:
- Avoid rubbing the eyes or touching the eyes with unclean hands.
- Transfer of green sticky nasal discharges to healthy eyes also result in conjunctivitis, thus resulting in sticky eyes.
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When the Civil War was over, and even earlier, for some of the "lucky" ones who were discharged due to injuries or incurable illnesses incurred during the conflict, the soldiers were welcomed back into the family fold. Perhaps your ancestor "came marching home" (as opposed to being delivered in a pine box or, worse, dying on an unknown battlefield or in a prison camp and buried on the spot). Did they sing "We'll give him a hearty welcome then"? Or were there tears and despair because their "Johnny" would never again be the man he had been?
In Ireland, war had been a way of life long before Erin's immigrants landed on the American shore. Perhaps that is why entire regiments consisted of Irish soldiers, many carrying the flag of their homeland along with the stars and stripes (Davis, p. 91). And they lent more than man-power to the ranks of American military: they shared their war songs as well. The old Irish ballad of a man returned from war, too battle-ravaged to be any good to anyone, uses almost the same tune as the Civil War favorite "When Johnny Comes Marching Home." But the tale, told by the family member welcoming him home, is far darker. The title of this Irish song, already popular in the Appalachian region of the United States by the time 1861 rolled around, is "Johnny I Hardly Knew You" (or "Ya," as it was frequently pronounced by the singer).
In the interest of space, I will share just the single lines from the verses (much repetition is used when the song is sung, serving to drive home the point of the message):
1) With your guns and drums and drums and guns, haruh [pronounced "harroo"], haruh; with your guns and drums and drums and guns, haruh, haruh; With your guns and drums and guns and drums, the enemy nearly slew you. Oh, my darling dear, you look so queer, Oh, Johnny, I hardly knew you.
2) I'm happy for to see you home . . . but oh my darling so pale and wan, So low in the cheek, so high in bone, . . .
3) Where are your legs that used to run . . . when first you went to carry a gun? Indeed your dancing days are done . . .
4) Where are your eyes that were so mild . . . when first my heart you so beguiled, Oh why did you run from me and the child . . .
5) You haven't an arm you haven't a leg . . . You're an eyeless, boneless, chickenless egg, And you'll have to be put (in or with) a bowl to beg . . .
Repeat the first verse (Okun, pp. 23-25).
Not everyone is convinced that "Johnny, I Hardly Knew You" was a precursor to the Civil War favorite that talked about Johnny marching home - something the Irish counterpart would seem unable to do, if one is to believe the description of his affliction offered in the lyrics (Silber, pp. 174-175). But others have traced the origin of the Irish ballad back to a 1795 event when a young Irishman, fighting for the British Army in Ceylon (apparently conscripted against his will), returned in far worse shape than when he left. Other uses of the song, published in 1805 (Erbsen, p. 68), occurred in 1817, 1843, and 1848, when the Irish were recruited into service of the East India military. And, again, the song came to the attention of those in the welcoming committee when conflict ended (Silverman, p. 61).
It would seem to me that any "Johnny" being welcomed home with a song like that would certainly feel worse about himself and his condition. Hardly a welcome suited the surviving hero. This song, others claim dating from the 16th Century, has a similar melody and refrain as the American "welcome home" song to be discussed here (Lomax, p. 84). It was 1863 when our Civil War version was published by Patrick Gilmore, a Union Army band leader desiring both to provide hope to the civilians and a marching song for the soldiers. Interestingly enough that, while it gained instant celebrity with and after the Civil War, its popularity peaked during the Spanish American War (McNeil & McNeil, p. 80). The actual sheet music, bearing the name of "Gilmore's Band," credits Louis Lambert as the author (Crawford, p. 113); however, that is simply a nom de plume adopted by Mr. Gilmore (for reasons not specified) (p. x).
So let us look closer at the lyrics of the song that was sung to welcome so many Johnnies and Tommies and Willies and Jimmies home. Its composer was himself an Irishman, so it is likely that he was influenced by the tune already known well in his homeland, and brought to America by the immigrants from that country. Born in 1829, Gilmore was one of the many who headed to America to escape the potato famine of the 1840s. His claim that he composed the entire piece, with no outside influence, is questioned largely because of the tendency of songwriters to borrow, often without conscious thought, the tunes of other songsmiths. There is enough variance between the two tunes that no one was likely to scream "plagiarism" - at least, not in those times, especially when Gilmore's creation answered a definite need in the public when it was first published in 1863 (Silverman, pp. 62-63; Crawford, p. 113).
"When Johnny comes marching home again, hurrah! Hurrah! We'll give him a hearty welcome then, hurrah! Hurrah! The men will cheer and the boys will shout; the ladies they will all turn out. And we'll all feel gay when Johnny comes marching home" (Glazer, pp. 48-49).
Those words, the first verse and chorus, give us a sense of what the people at home were feeling, finally seeing their boys coming home. But this piece was published in 1863, so many were not going to be able to sing these words for a couple of years (and, of course, many would never be able to sing them at all for their own Johnnies). I do not believe it requires mentioning, but I will do so for the younger readers of this: the word "gay," in the 19th Century, referred to a joyful attitude or emotion, not a sexual preference. Some have tried to update this song to make it more politically correct, but that is to deny the full sense of complete excitement over the return of one's loved one, in my opinion.
My own great-grandfather served in the Civil War and was on the March to the Sea, seeing the War to its conclusion. Reports from Milwaukee, the city from which he left and to which he returned, state that around 5000 citizens came to meet the early morning train when the many Johnnies arrived back home in Milwaukee. It was 4:00 am when the train arrived to the sound of cannon fire and cheers, just as stated in the song. (Ironically, my great-grandfather actually was a Johnny - John Adam Hollander - and he was one of the lucky ones: of the 1,000 who left with him in 1862, only 325 returned.) And the song played by the bands that were there to greet them? Yup, "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (Beaudot, pp. 356-357)! Indeed, one might say that everyone meeting the train was feeling gay (if their sons, brothers, husbands, or fathers were aboard); but how about the soldiers? They had experienced and witnessed some of the most horrific things while in combat; no doubt they were relieved to be home alive, but "gay"? One might wonder.
The second verse of the song states that "The old church bell will peal with joy . . . To welcome home our darling boy . . . The village lads and lassies say with roses they will strew the way . . ."(Glazer, pp. 48-49). It is reasonable to assume that, if folks knew there would be a homecoming, it might well resemble this type of scene. While my own ancestor was welcomed home with cannon fire and train whistles, other towns probably got the church bells ringing.
On to verse three: "Get ready for the Jubilee . . . We'll give our hero three times three . . . The laurel wreath is ready now, to place upon his loyal brow . . ." (Glazer, pp. 48-49). This term, "Jubilee" (sometimes called "Jubilo") refers to the time when the slaves would be truly free: many believing that it would not actually happen until after the Second Coming of Christ, but many holding out hope that it would occur with the end of the War of the Rebellion. Others declared the year of Jubilee to be 1863 with the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation (Crawford, pp. 149-152), which was also the year of the publishing of Gilmore's song. In the 1800s, "jubilee" generally referred to a celebration at the completion of a fifty-year period (The Century Dictionary, p. 3245), but the slaves had been in bondage for much longer than that; and the War was completed in five, not fifty years (thank God). The term is usually found in songs about the end of slavery, sung by the African Americans, but here appears to be used for all the Johnnies, regardless of ethnicity or nativity. "Three times three," of course, refers to the "three cheers" the hero gets; only on this occasion, the welcome is tripled as these heroes are so welcomed and lauded. Another way of recognizing a person of distinction is by presenting him/her with a wreath made of laurel (of which there are many varieties). Interestingly, the word "laurel" also refers to one's achievements in a particular field (Stein, p. 811), giving this word a double meaning in this context.
The last verse (often omitted in performances of the song) says, "Let love and friendship on that day . . . Their choicest treasure then display . . . And let each one perform some part to fill with joy the warrior's heart . . ." (Glazer, pp. 48-49). Here there is some responsibility given to the townsfolk: let the returning soldier know that his efforts were not in vain. When we examine some of the homecomings of veterans from other, more recent wars, we can see that we have fallen short of this responsibility on many occasions.
This was, of course, a Union song (composed by a Union band leader), but, as happened over and over, the Confederates soon penned their own version of the sentiments that were felt just as deeply on the other side (Lomax, p. 98). There is not room here to go into the detail of the different versions, nor to speculate on the sentiments that accompanied them. Parodies, expansions, and different renditions have emerged following later wars and other circumstances (Silber, p. 175), including a fifth verse to the original four, penned about 1885 and sung by the members of the Grand Army of the Republic (the veterans of the 1860s conflict): "Though twenty years have passed since then . . . We honor more those glorious men . . . Their valor saved Columbia's land, With joy we grasp each veteran's hand, And we all felt gay that Johnny came marching home" (Old War Songs, p. 23). So this implies to me that, while many soldiers may have felt that the original Irish version of Johnny's return from the battlefront was a more accurate depiction of their reality, many of the veterans were proud of their service to their country.
Whether your ancestor fought on the winning or losing side, if he came home from the War, he was one of the lucky ones. Whether he had all his limbs, was able to see or not, was so disabled he could not eek out a living in post-1865 America, he was a survivor and deserved to have a proper greeting on his return to the home front. And, while his life had to have been changed by the experience, his very existence has contributed to your life, even if he was not a direct-line ancestor. Let us continue to honor those, both who came home and the ones who did not: they fought for a cause they believed in. Welcome home, Johnny.
Beaudot, William J. K. The 24th Wisconsin Infantry in the Civil War: The Biography of a Regiment, Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2003.
Century Dictionary of the English Language, The: An Encyclopedic Lexicon, Part XI. New York: The Century Co., 1889.
Crawford, Richard (Ed.). The Civil War Songbook: Complete Original Sheet Music for 37 Songs. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1977.
Davis, Burke. The Civil War: Strange & Fascinating Facts. New York: The Fairfax Press, 1982.
Erbsen, Wayne. Rousing Songs and True Tales of the Civil War. Asheville, NC: Native Ground Music, Inc., 1999.
Glazer, Tom (Ed.). A Treasury of Civil War Songs: 25 Songs of the Union and the Confederacy. Milwaukee: Hal-Leonard Corp., 1996.
Lomax, Alan. The Folk Songs of North America. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1960.
McNeil, Keith & McNeil, Rusty. Civil War Songbook with Historical Commentary. Riverside, CA: WEM Records, 1999.
Okun, Milton (Collector/Arranger). "The Carter Family" selection from Something to Sing About! The Personal Choices of America's Folk Singers (pp. 20-27), New York: The MacMillan Co., 1968.
Old War Songs and G.A.R. and Patriotic Songs, presented to the Grand Army of the Republic at the 23d National Encampment at Milwaukee, Wis., Aug. 27th, 1889.
Silber, Irwin (Ed.). Songs of the Civil War. New York: Dover Pub., Inc., 1995.
Silverman, Jerry. Songs and Stories of the Civil War. Brookfield, CT: Twenty-First Century Books, 2002.
Stein, Jess (Ed.). The Random House Dictionary of the English Language. New York: Random House, 1969.
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MILK THISTLE SEEDS
Organically grown. Milk Thistle is a striking medicinal herb plant which makes a statement in the herb garden. It grows to 3-4 foot tall with glossy, milky-white veined leaves and showy, 2-inch purple summer flowers. All parts of the Milk Thistle plant are edible. Medicinally the active ingredient silymarin is found in the seeds. Silybum marianum is known for its liver protecting and rebuilding properties.Milk Thistle seeds cannot ship to AR, OR, WA, or TX.
How to Plant Milk Thistle Seeds
Direct sow Milk Thistle seeds ½ inch deep into prepared seed beds after all danger of frost. Plant in groups of 3-4 seeds, spaced 30-36 inches apart. Germination is in 10-20 days. Thin to the strongest plant. Milk Thistle seeds can be started early indoors in peat pot containers.
Growing Milk Thistle: Plants perform best in full sun, with fertile soil and moderate water. Will tolerate drought, any soil, and partial shade. Flowers attract bees and butterflies. When growing Milk Thistle as an ornamental, remove flowers after bloom to limit self-sowing. To save seeds, harvest flower heads in fall after seeds have dried; before they have begun to scatter. Milk Thistle plants are grown as annuals when started early indoors. Seed sown directly outdoors produce biennial plants in most climates, and will flower their second season.
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Pacific Tree Frog
The Pacific Tree Frog (Pseudacris regilla), also known as the Pacific Chorus Frog, has a range from the West Coast of the United States (from Northern California, Oregon, and Washington) to British Columbia, in Canada. They live from sea level to more than 10,000 feet in many types of habitats, reproducing in aquatic settings. They are the only frogs that go "ribbit". They come in shades of greens or browns and can change colors over periods of hours and weeks.
The Pacific Tree Frog has three sub species: the Northern pacific tree frog (Pseudacris regilla regilla), the Sierran tree frog (Pseudacris regilla sierra), and the Baja California tree frog (Pseudacris regilla hypochondria).
Anatomy and morphology
The Pacific Tree Frog grows up to 5 cm. from snout to urostyle. Males are usually smaller than females and have a dark patch on their throats. The dark patch is the vocal sac, which stretches out when the male is calling. Pacific tree frogs can be a number of different colors, including green, tan, reddish, gray, brown, cream, and black, but most are a shade of green or brown, with pale or white bellies. They have a variety of dark and spotty markings on their backs and sides and can be identified by a black or dark brown eye stripe that stretches from the nose, across the eye, and back to the shoulder. They can change color seasonally to better match their environment. Their skin is covered in small bumps. They have long legs compared to their bodies and they tend to be slender. Their toes are long and only very slightly webbed. On the end of each toe, there is a round sticky toe pad or disks used for climbing and sticking to surfaces.
Distribution, habitat and ecology
Pacific tree frogs are most common on the pacific coast of California, Oregon and Washington, but they are found anywhere from Baja California all the way up to British Columbia. They are also found eastward to Idaho, Montana, and Nevada. A small population also exists in a pond on Revillagigedo Island near Ketchikan, Alaska, having been intentionally introduced there in the 1960s. They are found upland in ponds, streams, lakes and sometimes even further away from water: their habitat includes a wide variety of climate and vegetation from sea level to high altitudes. The Pacific tree frog makes its home in riparian habitat as well as woodlands, grassland, chaparral, pasture land, and even urban areas including back yard ponds. Eggs of the Pacific Tree Frog may be consumed by the Rough-skinned Newt and other amphibians.
Reproduction, development and behavior
The Pacific Tree Frog begins mating in early winter to early spring. Since these frogs are so widespread geographically, it is thought that their breeding season is determined by local conditions. When it is time, the males migrate to the water. They then make a call at the same time, calling "kreck-ek" or ribbiting loudly. This lures the females to the water and they mate. The females lay their eggs in clumps of 10-90 and usually put them on and under vegetation and leaf litter in the pond. Females usually lay their eggs in shallow, calm water that has little action around it. If they survive, embryos will hatch into tadpoles within one to three weeks. The tadpoles feed on periphyton, filamentous algae, diatoms, and pollen in or on the surface of the water. They feed using a beak like structure that helps scrape vegetation off surfaces and suction.
Metamorphosis usually follows about 2 to 2½ months later, but experience raising these tadpoles shows that some may delay metamorphosis, changing up to 5 months after hatching. The survival rate of these delayed metamorphs is lower, and the evolutionary utility of this delayed metamorphosis is uncertain.
During the final stages of transformation when the tadpoles have 4 limbs and a tail, they stop feeding for a short time while their mouths widen and their digestive system adjusts from herbivorous to carnivorous.
For the most part, Pacific Tree Frogs are nocturnal, but they have been spotted during the day. These frogs spend a lot of time hiding under rotten logs, rocks, long grasses, and leaf litter, where they are very difficult to see unless they move. When they hunt, their toe pads allow them to climb on vegetation and other surfaces where they are to ambush their prey. Much of their diet consists of spiders, beetles, flies, ants, and other insects and arthropods; they can and do eat insects that are almost as large as they are, and will expand their bodies slightly to accommodate these meals.
Pacific Tree Frogs mature quickly, and will most likely be able to mate within the next season after metamorphosis. Predators include snakes, raccoons, herons, egrets, and other small mammals and reptiles.
When they sense potential food nearby, they will commonly twitch a toe to attract it within easy reach of their tongue. They can live up to 9 years in captivity.
They produce several call types. These include the males' advertisement call, commonly described as “ribbit” or “crek-ek”, as well as a encounter trill call. The cre-ek call can be quite loud and can thus be heard from very far away. Males also produce a “dry land call”, a long cre-ee-ee-eeek, that can be heard anytime in the year except during the coldest and driest periods. Pacific Tree Frogs are the most commonly heard frogs along much of the West Coast of the United States.
The evolutionary history of these frogs is a very interesting one that is still being debated. Amphibians themselves are thought to have descended from the lobe-finned bony fishes. These fish had an ossified skeleton and emerged from the water as they developed limbs, girdles, and terrestrial characteristics such as lungs and a neck.
It is hard to figure out an exact frog lineage because of the lack of fossil record. The habitat in which these animals lived was moist and decay was quick. This was not helpful in preserving biological clues. The family of Hylidae is somewhat recent, appearing around 50 million years ago. The genus Hyla then appeared just after the dinosaurs went extinct. This genus originated in South America and expanded to the north into Mexico and eventually into North America. There was then a rise in sea level and the connection between the northern and southern populations was gone. They have been separate ever since, and have become genetically distinct from one another.
For this reason, the genus Hyla has been split into three separate genera: Aris, Limnaoedus, and Pseudacris. This is where the current confusion has taken place. Although the Pacific Tree Frog has carried the scientific name of Hyla regilla for many years, the most current consensus among scientists is that they should actually be Pseudacris regilla. This is still not agreed upon completely, and in the future we will see what becomes of these names.
Green and brown color morphs
One of the most interesting features of these frogs is their ability to change color from brown to green. Previously, it was thought that there were two different fixed colors that an adult tree frog could be. Now it has been found that some of them are able to change between the two. They can also change from lighter to darker, shift from patterned markings to pure colors and vice versa, and even display combinations of colors, brown/green being the most frequent.
These color changing morphs are triggered not by color change in their environment, but a change in background brightness. This type of environmental change would be caused by seasonal fluctuation. A full change in the dorsal coloration of a color morph can take anywhere from weeks to months, but initial changes can occur in just a few hours. This has been shown to be a very useful cryptic survival feature for these frogs.
Skin color is produced via pigment cells called chromatophores. There are commonly three types of chromatophores found in amphibians: 1. Xanthophores - These contain yellow, orange, or red pigments and are found uppermost on the dermis; 2. Iridophores - These lie below the xanthophores and function by reflecting and scattering white light up through them; in the case of Pseudacris regilla and many other North American frogs, iridophores reflect blue light through the yellow pigment cells above to create a green frog; 3. Melanophores - These are the deepest pigment cells and are responsible for the presence of black and brown pigments.
A rare, recessive "blue morph" is known. There was one housed at the Humboldt State University Natural History Museum in Arcata, California; however, this museum is now closed. See link. It has been suggested that this mutation inhibits the xanthophores' ability to produce yellow pigments, thus the normally green frog (possibly of the non-color-changing type) appears blue.
Research was done on the Pacific Tree Frog to discover if they have homing instincts and what was their main source knowing where their home was. In order to find the answer, these frogs were marked and moved 300 yards away from their pond. Several days later, the researchers did a recapture on the original pond in which 66.3% of the frogs were recaptured indicating that there was some source of homing instinct. This was made apparent again when 24 frogs were placed into a larger pond and 20 of those frogs were returned at their original pond. The frogs' movement patterns, olfactory, auditory, and kinesthetic senses could be explanations for the homing, but not a single factor was able to explain the results indicating that these frogs might be using all or a combination of these factors for homing.
These frogs are the most common frogs on the west coast of North America. Although the Pacific Tree Frog remains abundant, some other species found in the same areas such as California red-legged frogs are declining. Most populations of tree frogs appear healthy, and they have no concern or conservation status.
In 2007, the Pacific Tree Frog was named the state amphibian of the State of Washington. The Pacific Tree Frog is also a very important species in all of the regions where it is found because it is a keystone species. Many other species such as garter snakes depend upon its abundance as a prey item for their survival.
- Nash, Pat (February 2005). "The RRRRRRRRiveting Life of Tree Frogs". http://www.beachwatchers.wsu.edu/island/essays/TreeFrogs.htm. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
- Pacific Chorus Frog, Hedges 1986, da Silva. 1997, Reimchen 1990, Waters et al. 1996
- C. Michael Hogan (2008) Rough-skinned Newt (Taricha granulosa), Globaltwitcher, ed. Nicklas Stromberg
- Washington Sate Department of Natural Resources (February 2005). "Pacific Treefrog". http://www1.dnr.wa.gov/nhp/refdesk/herp/html/4hyre.html. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
- James, David L. 1957. Population structure and homing responses in the Pacific Tree Frog. American Society of Ichthyologist and Herpetologists. Copeia. Vol. 1957 No. 3 pp. 221–228
- State Symbols
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41 bright ideas for going green
The earth is warming and we are responsible. This is the undeniable conclusion reached by 2,000 scientists and policy experts contributing to the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the winners of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize along with Al Gore.
The U.S. Catholic bishops have accepted this fact as well. "In facing climate change, what we already know requires a response; it cannot be easily dismissed," the bishops said in their 2001 statement on global climate change. "Significant levels of scientific consensus . . . justify, indeed can obligate, our taking action intended to avert potential dangers."
What do we, as Catholics, have to offer in the face of unstable climates? Of course we can reduce, reuse, and recycle. Another bright idea: Change your lightbulbs. These small steps, though, are just the beginning. Our faith asks us to live intentionally, aware of our relationship to the natural world.
The Bibleteaches us that we are stewards of God's covenant with all living things. Our Catholic spiritual traditions give us inspiration for caring for rather than consuming creation. Catholic social teaching reminds us of the least among us while we seek political solutions. And even the smallest of actions are contagious when we share ideas within supportive parish communities and families.
Our faith is more than a set of guidelines, so our 41 "ways" to save the earth are more than just actions. Our ways ask that you learn about the issues and contemplate creation. We hope they inspire you to further action.
— The Editors
10 ways parishes can save the earth
1. Conduct an energy audit of your parish's buildings. To arrange one, contact your local Interfaith Power and Light group (the regenerationproject.org), or your utility company, or find guidelines for a do-it-yourself audit at energystar.gov/congregations.
2. Form an eco-spirituality team to study environmental issues, help educate other parishioners, and create an action plan.
3. Ask your pastor to talk about care for creation and climate change in his homilies.
4. Ask youth groups and schoolkids to conserve energy by recycling their homework papers, taking shorter showers, and so on.
5. Research local experts (activists, farmers, meteorologists, scientists) who can speak about environmental issues specific to your geographic area. Join with other faith communities to sponsor a speaker series.
6. Provide outdoor spiritual opportunities-retreats, days of reflection, prayer services-to nurture spiritual connections with creation.
7. Team up with local farmers and invite growers to sell their wares after weekend Masses, or offer your parish as a drop-off/pick-up location for a community-supported agriculture (CSA) program. Learn more at localharvest.org.
8. Feature simple energy-saving tips in your bulletin. Find ideas at nativenergy.com and click on "more you can do."
9. Getting ready to renovate? Explore how you can dispose of building materials in environmentally responsible ways. Build with recycled materials whenever possible, and purchase Energy Star appliances for parish buildings.
10. Take time during Mass to pray for the poor and vulnerable, especially those in developing nations, who suffer disproportionately from the effects of global warming.
5 Bible passages to help Catholics save the earth
11. Genesis 1:1-2:4a-The first creation story shows the interdependence of natural creation and identifies human beings as "images of God."
12. Genesis 2:4b-23-The second creation story emphasizes human beings as made of the substance of the earth, as are all other living creatures. The human creature is placed in the garden to serve (the same verb as "till") and guard it.
13. Hosea 2:20-The prophet offers a poetic description of the reestablishment of the
covenant after it was broken by human sin.
14. Romans 8:19-22-Paul says the final transformation will include all of creation, not take place apart from it.
15. Revelation 21:1-5a-The vision of the future indicates that at the end, the earth will be transformed, not destroyed.
6 websites to help Catholics save the earth
16. Find out what Catholics are doing: catholicsandclimatechange.org.
17. Read the U.S. bishops' statement on climate change: Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence, and the Common Good at usccb.org/sdwp/international/ globalclimate.shtml.
18. See what the church is telling the state through letters, testimony, and action alerts: usccb.org/sdwp/ejp/climate/lettersalerts.shtml.
19. Take action by joining your diocesan or state Catholic conference legislative network. Find state conferences at nasccd.org and diocesan conferences at nplc.org/roundtable/members.asp.
20. Know the presidential candidates' positions: politico.com/candidates/viewcandidatesGlobalWarming.html or grist.org/candidate_chart_08.html.
21. Learn about public policy on climate change: pewclimate.org/global-warming-basics/climate_change_101.
10 spiritual ways to save the earth
22. Upon waking thank God for the gift of our daystar, Brother Sun.
23. Spend time each day or week with one tree or stone and listen.
24. Walk mindfully each day without headphones.
25. Take public transportation to work and consider the time a mini-retreat for meditation and prayer.
26. Bake bread as a retreat activity, reflecting upon each ingredient.
27. Before drinking a glass of water say, "Be praised, my God, for Sister Water."
28. Prepare and eat a meal with others at home in a
29. Walk with children and share the wonder of creation and the Creator.
30. Commit to one action for the earth that evolves from prayer and contemplation.
31. Silently greet each rain drop, child, tree, and element as sister and brother.
10 ways Catholic families can save the earth
32. Buy different napkin rings (at the secondhand store, of course) for everyone in the family and use cloth napkins.
33. Use cloth grocery bags.
34. Walk or bike instead of drive whenever possible. (It's more often than you think.)
35. Buy organic food, especially milk, if you can afford it.
36. Eat less meat and more fresh fruits, vegetables, and grains.
37. Compost your garbage.
38. Use a rain barrel to collect water for your garden.
39. Reduce your use of small plastic storage bags (and reuse the ones you do). Use reusable storage containers instead.
40. Just try buying secondhand clothes.
41. Read books and magazines devoted to sustainable living for inspiration, motivation, and encouragement.
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Vacuum forming has almost never been used in robotics, mainly because most roboticists are not familiar with the process. In the design industry, vacuum forming is one of the most common methods of rapid prototyping, simply because it is very fast, cheap and easy to do. It's also commonly used to package your cool action figure toys that you buy from the store. What many are not aware of is that with vacuum forming is great for mass production (shown above) of robot parts with little effort. An affordable swarm of colony robots, anyone? To see an example of a robot made from vacuum forming, visit my page on the Jesus Lizard Robot.
The general process of vacuum forming is to make a mold, place a sheet of thermal plastic over it, heat it up, and suck it over the mold. And your done!
Before continuing to read, there is one problem with vacuum forming . . . you need a vacuum form machine. There are three ways to get one. Go online and buy a $6000 industrial vacuum form machine (check the ad window on the top right of this page). Figure out how to make your own for about $500 (search the web for plans). Or beg someone in the design department at your university to let you use it. Actually using the machine however is extremely cheap. You can probably make between 5-100 parts for under a $1, depending on part size and complexity.
Ok there is actually one other way to get a vacuum form machine. The dental industry uses them to make stuff for your teeth. These machines can be bought from any dental distributor online. They are fairly cheap, can make strong forms, and range from $300-$500. The catch however is that every single one available, no matter the manufacturer, has a working area of only 5"x5". Believe me, I checked. So unless you only want to make small parts, they wont be very useful.
Ok I got my machine, now what?
Now get your sheet of styrene and heat it up with the vacuum form machine. Note that there are several types of sheets to choose from. First you must choose a thickness. Thicker sheets are stronger and more rigid, but also heavier and harder to vacuum form properly. Thinner sheets are lighter but more flexible and more likely to crack, but usually are easier to vacuum form. The other choice to make is color. There is the transparent (shown below) kind which lets you see the insides of your robot. There is also the opaque kind which lets you have any color you want, white being the most available. But the opaque kind has a much higher tendency to crack, so I only use it for looks.
After your sheet is well heated, place it over your part, turn on the vacuum, and wait a few seconds. Make sure the vacuumed styrene is flush with the edges of your part. If not, you probably have what is called webbing (shown in the above image). After done, pull the styrene away from your mold. This can actually be a little difficult, depending on your shape and how deep it is. Take your time as you might accidently crack it.
Now that it is pulled, cut the parts out with scissors. If you want to connect two parts together, make sure you leave a little flange remaining. To bond multiple vacuum formed parts together, buy some Plastiweld. This stuff bonds styrene at the molecular level so it forms a good airtight/watertight seal. If you crack a piece during your pull, you can repair it with this stuff. Superglue is also great for bonding it to non-styrene parts.
Now you have a vacuum formed robot foot or whatever you wanted to make.
Other uses for Vacuumforming
Has this site helped you with your robot? Give us credit -
link back, and help others in the forums!
Society of Robots copyright 2005-2014
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In January of 1998, the El Niño is fully underway. Look, though, at how the unusually cold water at depth in the western Pacific has expanded towards the East. Our forecast model predicts that this anomaly will spread across to the coast of South America by the latter part of 1998, initiating the cold-water event known as "La Niña".
Last modified: 10 October 1997
Copyright © 2000 David W. Pierce. All rights reserved.
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