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NEW YORK (July 24, 2009) -- A large attack on a major metropolitan area with airborne anthrax could affect more than a million people, necessitating their treatment with powerful antibiotics. A new study finds that in order for a response to be effective, quick detection and treatment are essential, and any delay beyond three days would overwhelm hospitals with critically ill people.
The results of a computer simulation study appear in the July/August edition of the journal Medical Decision Making -- one of two studies by Dr. Nathaniel Hupert of Weill Cornell Medical College in the issue. The study can be found at http://mdm.sagepub.com/cgi/rapidpdf/0272989X09341389v1
"No matter how well-organized and prolonged a treatment program is, it must be quickly implemented. In fact, our analysis shows that time-to-treatment is roughly twice as important as the duration of the distribution program," says lead author Dr. Nathaniel Hupert, associate professor of public health and medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College.
"Crucial to rapidly implementing a treatment program is early detection, including thorough use of advanced biosurveillance technologies and live, person-to-person communication," continues Dr. Hupert, who is also director of the new Preparedness Modeling Unit at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "But most important of all are multilateral diplomatic efforts to prevent bioterrorist attacks from ever happening."
The study predicts that a campaign initiated two days after exposure would protect as many as 87 percent of exposed individuals from illness -- a rate considered successful by the CDC. Each additional day needed to complete the campaign would result in an average of up to 2.9 percent more hospitalizations in the exposed population. And each extra day of delay to the start of the program beyond two days would result in up to 6.5 percent more hospitalizations.
Anthrax attack scenarios typically involve the release of one kilogram of weaponized anthrax from a small airplane flying over a major city. The invisible powder could be inhaled by thousands or hundreds of thousands, who would start becoming sick anywhere from 24 hours to a week or more after the attack. With appropriate and timely administration of an antibiotic treatment program, exposed individuals would be spared from developing inhalational anthrax infection.
|Contact: Andrew Klein|
New York- Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center/Weill Cornell Medical College
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Definition of Lutheran church
1. Noun. The Protestant denomination adhering to the views of Martin Luther.
Lutheran Church Pictures
Click the following link to bring up a new window with an automated collection of images related to the term: Lutheran Church Images
Lexicographical Neighbors of Lutheran Church
Literary usage of Lutheran church
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge (1919)
"The first and foremost task of the lutheran church is the promulgation and maintenance of sound doctrine. Preaching, in the lutheran church, ..."
2. The Cambridge Modern History by Adolphus William Ward, George Walter Prothero (1907)
"It was perhaps as well that the State and not the lutheran church exercised coercive ... The breach between the lutheran church and the Church of Rome was, ..."
3. The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge: Embracing by Johann Jakob Herzog, Philip Schaff, Albert Hauck (1911)
"BIBLIOGRAPH Y : A memorial by A. Spaeth appeared in the lutheran church Review ... He was one of the most prolific writers of the American lutheran church ..."
4. Source Book and Bibliographical Guide for American Church History by Peter George Mode (1921)
"CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED lutheran church IN AMERICA The first convention of the above body assembled in The Hippodrome, New York, Nov. 17, 1918. ..."
5. The German Element in the United States by Albert Bernhardt Faust (1909)
"But the sheep were scattered before the arrival (1741) of the patriarch of the lutheran church in America, Heinrich Melchior Muhlenberg, who in 1748, ..."
6. The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the by Charles George Herbermann (1913)
"The constitution of the Old lutheran church in Germany makes its General Synod the last court of appeal and its decisions binding. ..."
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The longest day came and went without so much as a whistle. The Alexandrians of Egypt figured out more than 2,000 years ago that on the summer solstice, when the sun was almost as high in the sky as it would ever get at noon, they could gauge the height of a structure or tree simply by using a Pythagorean theorem: Measure the length of the shadow that the sun cast. It’s the same as the height of the object you are measuring. The old isosceles triangle ploy. I’m not sure it works at this latitude in this part of the world.
Friday’s downpour precipitated at least two big events in the local amphibian world. Saturday night, Andy Sabin was out listening and looking for eastern spadefoot toads. After a considerable rain during hot weather times, these fossorial, seldom seen creatures come out in droves. Andy was on Atlantic Avenue near the ocean in Amagansett when he found spadefoots crossing the road on the way to the breeding pond. How they know where to go to mate after a year or more underground is a question that even the Alexandrians would not be able to answer. I guess they are born with mini-global positioning systems, a sense and memory of direction that few humans possess.
Interestingly, they start calling before they’ve even dug themselves out of the soil. The ground can be practically pulsating with their duck-like quacking, and if you didn’t know about spadefoots you’d think that you were about to witness the emergence of the walking dead. Because of its very dry climate, Australia has as many burrowing frogs as ones that stay above ground all year. North America has a mere handful, all spadefoots. They have specially designed “paws” for digging, thus the modifier “spade” in their common name.
I was 17 when I first learned about this species on Long Island. It was 1952 and I had driven from Mattituck to Riverhead to take in the stock car races on a sultry July Saturday evening with the windows open. I hadn’t heard anything unusual on the way. A big thunderstorm with pouring rain interrupted the races. On the way home after the rain had stopped, I heard strange sounds coming from a wetland depression on the north side of County Road 58, before the roundabout.
I stopped the car and listened. The sounds got louder and louder in a tumultuous cacophony that was much like the late afternoon chorus of hundreds of crows settling down at a wintertime roost. But the sound was coming from below, not from the canopies of trees above. I figured it must be some kind of frog or toad.
When I got home, I got out my edition of Roger Conant’s “A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians,” which I still use today. Looking through the section on frogs I came across the eastern spadefoot and its voice, “an explosive grunt, rather low pitched, short in duration, but repeated at brief intervals. Some persons liken the sound to the call of a young crow.” That was it, my first Long Island spadefoot toad. I didn’t hear another until I went out listening for frogs the evening of Hurricane Belle in July of 1976. I came across a bunch cawing away on Sandy Hollow Road on my way to North Sea in Southampton.
On Saturday evening on the way home from a party in Montauk I got caught up in a traffic jam where Route 27 leaves Hither Woods and descends onto Napeague. I had the windows open and was treated to a bunch of tremolos of a pitch close to C above middle C. They were coming from both sides of the road just west of where Montauk Highway and Old Montauk Highway merge. I knew immediately what they were. Gray tree frogs. There had to be hundreds of them calling. On that 1976 July evening when the spadefoots were calling in Southampton, they were joined by a chorus of gray tree frogs.
I took the back roads on my way back to Noyac, stopping and listening at this and that waterhole. I didn’t hear any at Chatfield’s Hole on Two Holes of Water Road in Northwest, but around the corner, there were dozens calling around Crooked Pond off Bull Path. Crooked Pond is little more than the size of your average living room, but it is evidently home to gray tree frogs, and that in and of itself makes it all the more worthwhile.
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Migration Among Latin American Countries Fails to Boost Income
Source Newsroom: University of Chicago
New study challenges theory of upward mobility in developing nations
Newswise — Although immigration to the United States from Latin American countries, particularly Mexico, has captured much public attention, immigrants who move between countries in Latin America have more difficulty than those moving to the United States.
Donald Bogue, professor emeritus in sociology and a distinguished scholar of demography, has found that unlike immigrants to the United States, immigrants between nations in Latin America frequently do not improve their lives by moving.
A popular theory on immigration contends that immigrants are self-selected achievers who move to another country and improve their economic status after a few years of residency. While that story is largely true for people moving from developing to developed countries, migration between developing nations is quite different, Bogue contends.
“When we shift our focus from the developed world to the less-developed nations, the migration context changes and many generalizations made from the viewpoint of industrialized nations no longer are valid,” Bogue writes in the recently published monograph, "The Economic Adjustment of Immigrants to Twelve Nations of Latin America and Comparison with United States". It is posted on the Social Science Research Network webpage.
His work has led him to draw new conclusions to shape new theories of immigration. “Instead of envisioning a typical immigrant who follows a single economic adjustment path, this research hypothesizes three strata of migrants between developing countries,” Bogue said.
Those three different motivators for migrations include: lower-skilled people who are pushed into an adjacent country by poverty, social unrest or lack of employment opportunities; people of intermediate skill level who decide to leave because of bleak prospects at home; and people with specialized skills who are recruited or admitted to receiving countries and are helping modernize those countries.
Bogue’s work is among the first to compare immigration between Latin American countries with that of immigration to the United States. Although 41 percent of the world’s immigration is among developing countries, little research has been done in the area because of a lack of data.
The task is possible in Latin America because most of them collect census information. Bogue used data collected by IPUMS International at the University of Minnesota to learn about the education level, employment status and length of residency in 12 countries in the region.
Among his findings:
• Immigrants to the United States from Latin America improve their economic status after five years of residency and move from below poverty-level wages to slightly above poverty-level wages. The economic status of people moving between Latin American countries does not improve.
• The United States has the highest level of immigration by far, with immigrants comprising 12 percent of the population. Latin American immigrants make up about half of the U.S. immigrants. In contrast, many Latin American countries, which have strong laws to limit immigration, have populations that are one percent foreign-born.
• People from Latin American countries who return home after being migrants to another developing country frequently come back to better jobs because they have higher levels of education and may have gone to college abroad. In contrast, migrants returning to Mexico from the United States experience a decline in their economic status.
The reasons for the differences are due to economic opportunity and birth rates, Bogue said. Latin American countries frequently have higher birth rates than developed countries and fewer economic opportunities, so foreign immigrants frequently compete with native-born citizens for relatively few economic opportunities, so foreign immigrants frequently compete with native-born citizens for relatively few economic opportunities, Bogue explained.
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The state of Pernambuco in Brazil’s northeast is going to become home to the country’s first algal biomass plant, thanks to an agreement between See Algae Technology (SAT), an Austrian developer of equipment for the commercial production of algae, and JB, one of Brazil’s leading ethanol producers. The plant will produce algal biomass from natural and genetically modified strains of algae.
So far, the cost of producing algae has been the biggest obstacle to bringing algae-based fuel to the market, but SAT has introduced a technology that has brought the price down to about that of ethanol - R$0.80 to $1.00 (US$0.40 - $0.50) per liter (around one quarter of a gallon). This is possible because production has been transferred from open air ponds to reactors of up to five meters (16.4 ft) in height, protecting algae from environmental interference.
It is in how light is distributed to facilitate algal reproduction that SAT’s main innovation lies. On ponds, only algae floating on the surface of the water are exposed to sunlight. The lower layers have to compete for light and nutrients, which results in a reduction of productivity. The company developed a solar prism that transfers light to reactors through optical fibers. This way, the reactors are illuminated from the inside, top down. At the Brazilian plant, tubes will connect them to the chimneys of the sugarcane mill next door where JB burns sugarcane bagasse (crushed, dry stalks of sugarcane), using the carbon dioxide generated by that process to feed the algae.
The new plant will make the most of algae's potential. One of the products to come out of it will be feedstock for animals, providing an alternative to soybeans. The process also yields algal lipids that can be used to make biodiesel and biochemicals. Algae are also a source of omega-3. As overfishing has become a serious environmental concern, algae are a more environmentally-friendly source of this nutrient, which is commonly sold as a supplement.
"We believe that this marks a significant step forward in the evolution of our company and validates both our exclusive technology and the commercial viability of algae, especially for use in feed and biofuels,” said Dr. Joachim Grill, SAT’s CEO.
The plant will occupy one hectare (2.5 acres) and the total investment is €8 million (US$9.81 million). SAT expects the unit to be producing 1.2 million liters (317,000 gallons) of biodiesel per year when it starts operating in late 2013.
Source: See Algae Technology
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I’ve got a post in the works on comparing the sketch functions between SE and SW, but I’m waiting on some clarification for a couple of points. So I thought in the mean time I’d write something about design intent, since someone asked for that in the comments recently. This should have made my voting list, but somehow I left it out.
“Design Intent” is a phrase in search of a definition. It’s possible to consider design intent separate from CAD, in which case I think it means “the driving elements of the design”. But here I’m not talking about “design”, I’m talking about CAD modeling. Design happens in your head, and is usually already complete before you get the idea anywhere near a computer. What happens on the computer is modeling of your design idea.
For anyone who has read my books, I rename “Design Intent” to “Design For Change”, which to me is more descriptive, and something you can actually act on. Now that I’m thinking about it, “Modeling For Change” might be even better, because the CAD method should not affect the design. With the CAD model, you’re mainly interested in how your model will react to change. All history-based CAD users should agree that your modeling practice will have a big effect on how that model reacts when you change something about it.
Wikipedia talks about the topic like this, in a page on Computer-Aided Design:
3D parametric solid modeling requires the operator to use what is referred to as “design intent“. The objects and features created are adjustable. Any future modifications will be simple, difficult, or nearly impossible, depending on how the original part was created. One must think of this as being a “perfect world” representation of the component. If a feature was intended to be located from the center of the part, the operator needs to locate it from the center of the model, not, perhaps, from a more convenient edge or an arbitrary point, as he could when using “dumb” solids. Parametric solids require the operator to consider the consequences of his actions carefully.
For my purposes in this article, I’m going to use “modeling for change” in place of “design intent”.
It is possible to have design intent with dumb geometry. Here is an article written on extracting design intent from laser scanned objects. That discussion might be hard to follow, but you can definitely see that just from looking at a CAD model with no feature list, you can still discover elements that drive the overall design. Symmetry, patterns, repeated basic shapes.
Since you can do this by just staring at a part for a long time and recognizing patterns and symmetry, it stands to reason that a computer could be taught (programmed) to do the same sort of thing. In fact, “feature recognition” is something that has been around for a while, and as computers get faster, doing live recognition is easier. Building a feature list is a great way to establish intent, but it’s very rigid. What happens when your design intent, or how you want the model to react to change, itself actually changes?
Running along the right side of this blog post is a feature tree of a part with 341 features. I’ve put it here just as a graphic reminder of how much work goes into complex parts. This is a big machine casting, and used a wide range of features. A customer paid me a fair amount of money to recreate this from a STEP file and a couple of PDF drawings into this feature tree in SolidWorks. He just wanted to have features he could change in SolidWorks. While I was glad to do this and to take the money, I realized that it wasn’t really necessary. SolidWorks could not manipulate the imported STEP file efficiently. Sure it has “Move Face”. But “Move Face” is like trying to write a sentence if the only key on your keyboard is a period.
I’m not saying that history modeling is a bad thing. In fact, I think it’s necessary. But it’s not the only necessary thing. I don’t believe throwing away history-based concepts is a good idea at all. We have to keep history-based modeling as a tool in our toolboxes as people who model a wide range of mechanical components. History modeling is great for creating special kinds of features where the topology varies – the count of edges and faces.
Direct Edit applications could manipulate some of this part, but they can’t do all of it. It wouldn’t matter to Solid Edge ST4 where this model came from. It wouldn’t matter if it were from STEP or even native, if done strictly with direct edit tools. We’ve even seen this on things Dan Staples has done, where direct edit is simply not powerful enough to deal with the complex collision of fillets and other features.
Here I’d also like to address a misconception that I’ve found some people have. Some people think that direct edit software is not parametric. I haven’t done a survey of all the direct edit tools out there, but some do have parametric capabilities. You can still apply dimensions directly to model faces, and even apply relations such as parallel, symmetric, equal. This is still parametric modeling, just applied directly to the finished 3D part rather than to sketches. This is modeling for change that can be changed. You don’t have this indirect feature layer to work through. An extrude feature is meant to work a certain way, but if your intent changes in such a way that the extrude scenario doesn’t work any more, you’ve got a problem. If all you have are the faces
So if history can’t deal with all cases, and direct edit can’t deal with all cases, what are we left with? To me, the only thing that can conquer all cases is a combination of history and direct. This is what Synchronous Technology is all about (starting with ST3). Here’s a little movie that shows some simple design intent change using symmetry settings in Live Rules and dimensions. Live Rules is a blog post all on its own. I won’t go into a lot of detail here, just to show it working in this case. You might want to maximize the window for the movie so you can see the detail pics and the other small things I talk about. When I’m mentioning that you have to use some “shenanigans”, I’m talking about what you’d have to do in SolidWorks to make this kind of design intent change.
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In its heyday in the 1980s, the Shining Path was the most formidable rebel movement in Latin America, waging a brutal war with the Peruvian state.
Villagers were often killed by Shining Path rebels
Not only did the Maoist group control large areas of the countryside but it also struck at targets in the capital, Lima, prompting fears it could eventually take over the country.
Some 70,000 died in the rebellion and the counter-insurgency campaign it triggered.
The violence only abated after Shining Path leader Abimael Guzman was captured in 1992.
Guzman formed the movement in the 1970s, inspired by Mao's Cultural Revolution in China.
Maoist movement formed by Abimael Guzman in the 1970s
Launched insurgency in rural areas in 1980
70,000 killed in terror and counter-terror campaigns
Guzman arrested and sentenced by military panel in 1992
Movement weakened and confined to jungle areas
He launched the war against the government in 1980, burning ballot boxes on the eve of the first democratic election in 12 years.
Striving to establish a perfect, communist state, the Shining Path imposed its ruthless rule on the rural area it seized, killing villagers suspected of siding with the government.
In 2003 a government commission blamed the Sendero Luminoso - as the group is known in Spanish - for 54% of the violent deaths caused by the civil war.
The worst atrocities included the killing of 69 villagers in 1983, and a van bombing that killed about 20 people in Lima in July 1992.
However two months later Guzman was captured in the capital, along with six other rebel leaders.
He was swiftly tried behind closed doors by a military court, and sentenced to life imprisonment - which dealt a decisive blow to the movement.
However in 2003 Peru's constitutional court struck down the anti-terror laws enacted under former President Alberto Fujimori.
This resulted in Guzman's sentence being overturned, and a civilian trial was launched.
With Guzman gone - and belatedly calling for a ceasefire - the Shining Path saw it membership dwindle. By 1994 about 6,000 guerrillas had surrendered under a government amnesty programme.
In the mid-1990s guerrilla leader Oscar Ramirez Durand attempted to spearhead a resurgence of the movement.
But Mr Ramirez - alias Feliciano - could only count on the backing of a few hundred men.
Guzman was paraded in a cage after his arrest in 1992
The rump faction of the Shining Path was largely confined to jungle regions in eastern Peru.
Mr Ramirez was in turn captured in 1999, and is now facing civilian judges, alongside Guzman and other Shining Path leaders.
The movement was further weakened in September 2004, when police arrested 17 members, and clearly no longer has the power to undermine the Peruvian state.
Its biggest recent actions include a car bomb in Lima in 2002 and a 2003 kidnapping.
The group's focus now seems to be on coca farmers - defending them against possible government intervention.
President Alejandro Toledo has not taken the kind of direct action seen in neighbouring Bolivia, where the army were sent in to destroy coca fields.
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Many of us enjoy winter in New England – from skiing and sledding to sipping hot cocoa and watching the gentle fall of snow outside. But, the one thing that might make our teeth chatter is the uncertainty of when the next intense winter storm will come.
The Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM), and other state agencies, offer a variety of tools for a better understanding of how winter storms might impact their area and lives.
Named for their predominant winds, which blow from the northeast, northeasters can cause substantial damage to the Massachusetts coastline. Although they occur throughout the year, northeaster season typically runs from October through April, when cold arctic air from the north combines with warm, moist air from the south and forms strong areas of low pressure.
To help you stay safe and keep a close eye on approaching northeasters, CZM has compiled a great list of resources that will help you weather any storm. On the northeaster page, you’ll find the most relevant and up-to-the-minute prediction, tracking, and emergency management information.
This helpful resource from our partners at the Massachusetts Emergency Management provides more general tips on what to do before, during AND after a winter storm.
More about CZM Resources:
These tools are especially helpful for coastal residents, as CZM looks at high tides and sea level rise. The Massachusetts Resource Information System (MORIS) is a technical program, but it is also usable for a general audience. Before using MORIS, check out MORIS tips for the public.
There are several other useful links for coastal residents. The Massachusetts Homeowner’s Handbook to Prepare for Coastal Hazards provides information to coastal homeowners on how to stay safe and minimize damages during hurricanes and northeasters.
If you are interested in identifying areas of the Massachusetts coast most vulnerable to erosion and flooding, looking at Flood Insurance Rate Maps, or maps depicting coastal flooding with sea level rise, check out Assessing Vulnerability of Coastal Properties .
CZM has a fact sheet available; it describes landscaping techniques that stabilize coastal bank and provides information on the benefits of coast-friendly landscaping. You can read more at StormSmart Coasts Fact Sheet 6: Landscaping to Protect Your Coastal Property from Storm Damage and Flooding.
Tags: Barnstable County, coastal flooding, Coastal Zone Management, CZM, DCR, Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, flooding, Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, Massachusetts Resource Information System, MEMA, MORIS, Noreaster, Noresters, storm season, storm tools, StormSmart Coasts Fact Sheet, Woods Hole
2015 Agricultural Calendar: June posted on Jun 16
A day old calf at Eastleigh Farm in Framingham. Photo by David Crawston June’s Massachusetts Agriculture Calendar Photo Contest winner was David Crawston, who photographed an adorable day old calf at Eastleigh Farm in Framingham. June is Dairy Month; a time to celebrate and enjoy dairy …Continue Reading 2015 Agricultural Calendar: June
2015 Agricultural Calendar: May posted on Jun 16
Bunches of native Asparagus from the Asparagus Festival at Verrill Farm in Concord. Photo by Nicolas Hyacinthe May’s contest winner was Nicolas Hyacinthe who photographed bunches of native Asparagus from the Asparagus Festival at Verrill Farm in Concord. Asparagus is one of the first spring crops …Continue Reading 2015 Agricultural Calendar: May
2015 DAR Agricultural Calendar: April posted on May 14
A lamb at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University in North Grafton. Photo by David Cawston April’s contest winner was David Cawston who photographed a spring lamb at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University in North Grafton. The Cummings School of …Continue Reading 2015 DAR Agricultural Calendar: April
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Do bright colors at nests incur a cost due to predation?
- David G. HaskellAffiliated withSection of Ecology and Systematics, Division of Biological Sciences, Cornell University
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Birds show much interspecific variation in the coloration and brightness of their plumage. I examine the hypothesis that selection due to predation on incubating birds and their nest contents can explain part of this diversity. First, I argue that rather than using absolute rates of nest predation to make predictions about the costs of conspicuous colours, we should measure experimentally whether increases in plumage conspicuousness elevate rates of nest predation. Second, I present experimental data investigating the cost of red and brown colour at ground and tree nests. These data provide the first evidence that bright colours do attract predators to nests and that, in addition, this cost varies according to the nesting site. Natural selection seems to most strongly oppose the evolution of conspicuous colours in ground-nesting birds.
Keywordspredation natural selection sexual selection plumage coloration artificial nest
- Do bright colors at nests incur a cost due to predation?
Volume 10, Issue 3 , pp 285-288
- Cover Date
- Print ISSN
- Online ISSN
- Kluwer Academic Publishers
- Additional Links
- natural selection
- sexual selection
- plumage coloration
- artificial nest
- David G. Haskell (1)
- Author Affiliations
- 1. Section of Ecology and Systematics, Division of Biological Sciences, Cornell University, 14853, Ithaca, NY, USA
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01237685
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| 0.855374 | 344 | 2.625 | 3 |
The pan-European region: environmental challenges
The EEA joins forces with the OECD and the UNDP to voice some key concerns to Europe's environment ministers when they meet at the Belgrade Conference on 10–12 October 2007. Three reports give an in-depth view on the pan-European environment and its policies. Together, they highlight progress made over the past four years towards meeting the region's environmental challenges.
Europe's environment — The fourth assessment
The latest in a series of assessments of the pan-European environment published over the past 15 years by the EEA, the report assesses environmental progress in 53 countries — an area with a total population of more than 870 million people. The region includes: Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA), South Eastern Europe (SEE), as well as Western and Central Europe (WCE). The report highlights priority areas such as:
- environment-related health concerns (issues related to air quality, inland waters, soil, hazardous chemicals);
- climate change;
- biodiversity loss;
- overuse of marine resources;
- the current patterns of production and consumption; and
- pressures caused by economic activities (agriculture, tourism, transport, energy).
Improved implementation of existing policies and the setting of clear, realistic targets is a key recommendation of the report. However, a shared environmental information system is also urgently required to deal with a prevailing lack of reliable, accessible and comparable environmental information across the pan-European region.
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en
| 0.909164 | 304 | 3.0625 | 3 |
What Works: Improving Mathematical Problem Solving
The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) of the Institute of
Education Sciences (IES) recently released a practice guide
for improving students' mathematical problem solving in grades
4 through 8.
Geared toward teachers, math coaches, other educators, and
curriculum developers who want to improve the mathematical
problem solving of students, "Improving Mathematical Problem
Solving" consists of five freely downloadable PDFs — one for
IES rated these two recommendations as backed by the strongest
evidence: "Assist students in monitoring and reflecting on the
problem-solving process" and "Teach students how to use
PoW taking place: math problem-solving moment of the week
"Erika and I had analyzed and analyzed this question over and
over again until we figured out that if you draw a circle and a
figure of a person on the top that is looking towards the
curved Earth (draw a line), it creates a tangent. We knew that
tangents touched circles at exactly one point so they would be
perpendicular to the radius."
- Monique and Erica, highlighted in the Geometry PoW's
Get the Math
Get the Math has returned with a second trio of videos that
help students understand real-world applications of
See National Basketball Association (NBA) veteran Elton Brand,
as well as professionals in the restaurant business and the
special effects industry, as they introduce six teenagers to
their professional lives — and everyday algebra challenges.
Brand, a two-time NBA All-Star, poses a question about the math
behind the perfect free throw shot. The owner of a Manhattan
restaurant asks students to predict avocado prices for the next
year, then use their predictions to recommend a menu price for
guacamole. And two New York City pyrotechnicians challenge the
teens to determine the best light intensity and distance for
shooting a high-speed explosion.
For an overview of all six videos from this year and last year,
along with accompanying lesson plans, visit
A project of THIRTEEN in association with WNET, Get the Math
receives funding from Next Generation Learning Challenges and
the Moody's Foundation.
Now taking place: math education conversation of the hour
"May I offer my sincere appreciation to you for the tremendous
job that you have done in moderating this group for the past 7
years. I am sure many, like me, have found the discussions
stimulating, invigorating and giving us alternate discussion
starting points in our calculus classrooms. It was also
interesting for me to note alternate methods of attacking
problems — which just goes to show that teaching AP calculus
and math for 24 years does not give you all the answers — but
rather more opportunities to learn!"
- Trevor, posted to the ap-calculus discussion group
Math of the 2012 Transit of Venus
Next Tuesday, 5 June, Venus will pass across the face of the
sun, producing a silhouette that no one alive today will
likely see again.
According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA), "the nearly 7-hour transit begins at 6:09 pm Eastern
Time on June 5th. In the USA, the transit will be at its best
For over 100 years, the main quest of astronomers was to pin
down the distance between Earth and Sun (the Astronomical
Unit), which would give them a key to the size of the solar
system. Careful studies of the transit of Venus became the gold
mine they would harvest to reveal this measure.
Follow a live webcast, see visibility maps, find viewing event
locations, download mobile apps, read about safe viewing
techniques, watch instructional videos, download a folder with
math activities, and much more from NASA's site.
Transits of Venus are predictable, but the pattern of the
frequency seems strange. The last transit occurred only eight
years ago — but the next one will not take place until 2117.
To learn more about the mathematics of the frequency of this
astronomical oddity, visit
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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en
| 0.886631 | 873 | 2.59375 | 3 |
When I first started hearing (and later talking) about big data and how it represented the next evolutionary step for data technologies, it was all about getting value out of the mountains of data that organizations were already collecting. Over the past several years, though, the term has come to be used to refer to storage and processing data, and and is less frequently used to describe the process of actually getting any value out of the data. That’s a problem, because corporations have become the digital-age equivalent of hoarders: afraid to throw any data away lest they need it, but unable to make sense of the mess they have and thus get any value out of it.
Hadoop and related technologies weren’t primarily designed with storage and processing as their primary goal – quite the contrary. They were designed to make sense of the mounds of data collected so users can actually do something with it all. The storage and processing capabilities were merely an artifact of solving that problem.
With the term “big data” being stretched out beyond all recognition, the industry came up with a new name for the work of getting value out of the data: Data Science. Data science was quickly recognized as the true seat of innovation for an organization. That was true in a sense – companies with strong data science teams have been more successful than their peers that lack such resources.
But there is a downside. It turns out that Data Science, at least as it’s practiced today, is very difficult to scale. Individuals that understand things like the difference between heteroscedasticity and homoscedasticity rarely understand business problems, and the few who do are expensive, hard to keep, and unable (or unwilling) to teach others to do what they do.
What we need is something that acts as a bridge between the two worlds of big data and data science. At Platfora, we call that something Big Data Analytics. Big Data Analytics brings business analysts closer to the Data Scientists, allowing them to both interact with and make sense of their Big Data holdings. It provides the two groups something of a common language. It also enables Data Scientists to present their findings back to the business in an easy-to-consume format.
The insights discovered can now be leveraged by the entire organization, not just the select few who understand things like scoring and modeling. This has the side effect of making certain high-cost, low-value functions easy and fast in the world of Big Data, allowing those expensive data scientist resources to spend their time doing what they do best rather than reinventing the wheel.
When you’re evaluating your first (or next) Big Data project, make sure you include a tool that bridges the gap between your business and your technologists. You shouldn’t have to wait 6-12 months to get a return on your investment. And the outcome should be approachable enough that your Business Analysts will be just as excited about it as your Data Scientists. Big Data Analytics can bridge that gap and provide exactly those kinds of benefits. Trust me — you’ll be happy you tried it.
Keith McClellan leads up Federal Engineering at Platfora, and has been focused on Big Data and related technologies for most of his career. If you’re interested in his random musings, he tweets @keithmcc and occasionally writes for the Platfora blog, as well as other publications.
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en
| 0.97092 | 703 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Exercise 1: An alternate form of the equation for conservation of material.
Exercise 2: Inclusion of a source/sink term in the original form of the material conservation equation.
Exercise 3: Inclusion of a source/sink term in the alternate form of the material conservation equation.
Exercise 4: Derivation of difference quotient formulas using Taylor's Theorem.
Exercise 5: An evaluation of the error in the computer implementation of the centered difference formula.
Exercise 6: An illustration of the error analysis of the previous exercise.
Exercise 7: The Crank--Nicolson Finite Difference Equation.
Exercise 8: Derivation of the diffusion-convection conservation law PDE.
Exercise 9: Derivation of FDEs for various forms of sigma and v.
Exercise 10: Repeat Exercise 9 deriving FDEs that are implicit, backward in time.
Exercise 11: A computer program to solve a set of FDEs.
Exercise 12: Explicit FDE used to approximate the solution to an IBVP.
Exercise 13: Implicit FDE used to approximate the solution to an IBVP.
Exercise 14: A computer program to factor a tridiagonal matrix.
Exercise 15: Approximate the solution to a centered difference FDE.
Exercise 16: IBVP solution approximated by an implicit FDE with centered difference.
Exercise 17: IBVP solution approximated by an explicit FDE.
Exercise 18: Solution to another IBVP approximated by an explicit FDE.
Exercise 19: Graph of a solution of Exercise 18.
Exercise 20: Use PlotMTV to display the results of Exercise 18 as a raster map.
Exercise 21: Prescribing the U-values of one or more FDE cells.
Exercise 22: The computational technique known as "blasting".
Exercise 23: An illustration of blasting.
Exercise 24: Repeat Exercise 23 using the implicit, backward in time method.
Exercise 25: An illustration of a "no-flow cell".
Exercise 26: An examination of heat flow.
Exercise 27: Develop the backward in time FDE for an PDE.
Exercise 28: Develop the Crank--Nicolson FDE for a PDE.
Exercise 29: Approximate solution to an IBVP and display of the solution.
Exercise 30: A formulation of a system of finite difference equations using the explicit method.
Exercise 31: Developing a system of FDEs for an elliptic BVP.
Exercise 32: Write a system of FDEs for a heat flow problem, solve the system, and display the results.
Exercise 33: Rework Exercise 32 with the assumption that the L-shaped shaded region has conductivity sigma=1 and is held at temperature 100 degrees.
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| 0.844816 | 614 | 3.140625 | 3 |
by Staff Writers
Paris (AFP) Sept 26, 2013
Several European animal and bird species driven to near extinction by humans have made a dramatic comeback in the past 50 years thanks to conservation efforts, a report said Thursday.
In rare good news, the report points to a 3,000-percent boost for the European bison, Eurasian beaver, White-headed duck and some populations of Pink-footed goose.
The report boasted growth for 17 of the 18 mammal species analysed, which also included a doubling of brown bear numbers and a quadrupling of grey wolves.
The Iberian lynx was the only mammal among those studied to have declined in numbers, the rest of which increased their distribution range in Europe by about 30 percent overall since the mid 20th century, the report said.
All of the 19 bird species measured showed recovery.
"Wildlife will bounce back if we allow it to -- this report shows that," said Frans Schepers, managing director of conservation body Rewilding Europe which commissioned the analysis.
"With continued and strong legal protection, active boosting of existing wildlife populations and reintroductions to bring back lost species... many more species will surely follow."
The report was compiled by the Zoological Society of London, BirdLife International and the European Bird Census Council, with contributions from scientists from around Europe.
Europe has a total of 219 land mammal and 530 bird types.
The European bison has recovered to a population of almost 3,000 after going extinct in the wild in the 1900s, said a statement on the report.
Decimated by hunters and the loss of their habitat, the bison bounced back thanks to a large-scale breeding programme of the last survivors in captivity, whose offspring were reintroduced to the wild in areas of central and eastern Europe.
The White-tailed eagle has also seen a reversal in its fortunes, the statement said -- its numbers soared from fewer than 2,500 pairs in 1970 to 9,600 pairs by 2010.
Many of Europe's species reached an all-time low in the 1950s and 1960s following a long history of indiscriminate hunting, poaching and poisoning, as well as habitat loss to agriculture, grazing, pollution and logging.
While hailing the outcome of conservation efforts for some species, the report warns that biodiversity as a whole remained on a downward slide.
"Wildlife resurgence has to be assessed cautiously," it said. "Although species have come back, many are still below historical abundance levels and have not yet reached the level necessary to secure viable long-term populations."
Many others are still declining.
Overall, fish, reptile, mammal and bird populations have shrunk by about 30 percent globally since 1970, according to the report. Mammal populations dropped by 25 percent on average and birds by eight percent.
Over the same period, the human population doubled to reach seven billion in 2011.
Darwin Today At TerraDaily.com
|The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement|
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en
| 0.9405 | 722 | 2.953125 | 3 |
By: H. G. Enelow
A book of fate used in popular divination and named after Ahithophel. In Jewish legends of the Middle Ages Ahithophel plays a rôle somewhat similar to that of Mephistopheles (see Steinschneider, "Pseudepigraphische Literatur," p. 80, note 2). Cassel would even translate "Ahithophel" as "the Brother of the Evil One"; regarding tofel as an ancient formation of diabolus, in support of which he cites the Germanic tiuval and tievel-teufel (compare "Mischle Sindbad," p. 330, Berlin, 1888). R. Moses Isserles, again, relates having read in a "very old book," in which were contained the philosophies and the portraits of various thinkers, that Socrates had received his wisdom from Asaf the Korahite and Ahithophel ("Torat ha-'Olah," i. xi.). In accordance with the popular view of Ahithophel's character, as being at once diabolic and omniscient, in the Middle Ages the authorship of a cabalistic work, "Sefer Goralot" (Book of Lots), was attributed to him. According to its preface, it discloses the "great secret of securing an answer without the drawing of lots or computation, by indifferently putting one's hand on a tablet containing the numbers one to ninety, or eighty-nine." The book furthermore is said to have lain hidden in Alexandria, and afterward to have been used in Tiberias and elsewhere, "the usual legend concerning pseudepigraphic writings," as Steinschneider puts it. Compare
- Steinschneider, Hebr. Uebers. p. 870.
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| 0.951139 | 380 | 2.859375 | 3 |
The followers of king and Parliament did not represent two absolutely distinct social groups, as the popular conception of the royalist Cavaliers and the parliamentary Roundheads would indicate. However, it is true that the parliamentary, or Puritan, group drew much of its strength from the gentry and from the merchant classes and artisans of London, Norwich, Hull, Plymouth, and Gloucester; it centered in the southeastern counties and had control of the fleet. The majority of the great nobles followed the king, who had the support of most Anglicans and Roman Catholics; geographically the royalist strength centered in the north and west.
The first major engagement of the armies at Edgehill (Oct. 23, 1642) was a drawn battle. Charles then established himself at Oxford. The royalist forces gained ground in the north and west, although repeated attempts by the king to advance on London proved abortive. The indecisive engagements of 1643 were remarkable mainly for the emergence of Oliver Cromwell, an inconspicuous member of the Long Parliament, to military prominence with his own regiment of "godly" men, soon to become famous as the Ironsides.
Futile negotiations for peace had been conducted at Oxford early in 1643, and in Sept., 1643, Parliament took a decisive step by securing the alliance of the Presbyterian Scots in accepting the Solemn League and Covenant. Scottish aid was obtained only by a promise to submit England to Presbyterianism, which was soon to produce a reaction from the Independents and other sectarians (particularly in the army) who opposed the idea of any centralized national church.
The war now entered a new phase. A Scottish army, under Alexander Leslie, 1st earl of Leven, advanced into Yorkshire early in 1644 and gave aid to the parliamentary army in the north. Charles's nephew, the brilliant and dashing Prince Rupert, did something to stem royalist losses by retaking Newark, but his gains were temporary. His campaign to relieve the besieged York led to the battle of Marston Moor (July 2, 1644), in which Cromwell and Leslie inflicted a crushing defeat on the royalists. Charles managed to cut off Essex in the southwest but shortly thereafter met parliamentary troops from the north in an indecisive engagement at Newbury.
To stem the rising dissension among parliamentary leaders, Cromwell sponsored in Parliament the Self-Denying Ordinance, by which all members of Parliament were compelled to resign their commands, and the parliamentary army was reorganized (1644–45) into the New Model Army. Thomas Fairfax (later 3d Baron Fairfax of Cameron) became the commander in chief.
After further futile peace negotiations at Uxbridge, Charles, hoping to join the forces under James Graham, marquess of Montrose, moved north and stormed Leicester. He met Cromwell in a sharp battle at Naseby (June 14, 1645). This battle cost the king a large part of his army and rendered the royalist cause hopeless. Unable to join Montrose (who was defeated by Leslie in Scotland) and thwarted in his attempts to secure aid from Ireland or the Continent, the king was unable to halt the steady losses of his party and finally was compelled to surrender himself to the Scots, who made him reassuring but vague promises. The first civil war came to an end when Oxford surrendered in June, 1646.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
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en
| 0.974084 | 705 | 3.296875 | 3 |
A transitional adverb (e.g. however, therefore, consequently, nevertheless) usually starts a new sentence. However, sometimes writers separate the two clauses with a semicolon to enable a smoother transition.
He had lost his appetite and was steadily losing weight. Therefore, he decided to consult a doctor.
Here the sentence beginning with the transitional adverb is separated from the previous sentence with a full stop. A semicolon is also possible here.
He had lost his appetite and was steadily losing weight; therefore, he decided to consult a doctor.
Note that a comma cannot be used here. However, a comma is used to separate the transitional adverb from the rest of the sentence.
When to use a semicolon
A transitional adverb always begins a new sentence. However, a full stop does not afford a smooth transition from one sentence to the next. If you feel that the ideas shown by the two clauses are closely connected, you can use a semicolon instead of a full stop. The choice is yours.
Note that the clause following a semicolon begins with a small letter.
He missed his train; as a result, he was late for the meeting.
I missed my flight; however, I still managed to arrive on time.
He does not hate cricket; on the contrary, he quite likes it.
The security guards were not trained in fire-fighting; therefore, we called the fire force.
It was extremely foggy; nevertheless, they decided to play the game.
Note that it is wrong to connect the two clauses with a comma. This is a very common mistake.
The transitional adverb, however, is very often used like this.
I was not feeling well. However, I decided to attend the meeting.
I was not feeling well; however, I decided to attend the meeting.
BUT NOT I was not feeling well, however, I decided to attend the meeting.
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| 0.988309 | 401 | 2.828125 | 3 |
In their waterproof orange overalls, Hannah Perlkin and Emily Tucker look like commercial fishermen or storm-ready sailors. But they are biologists on their way to tide pools along a remote stretch of northern California coast. There they are searching for the cause of a mysterious and unprecedented die-off of sea stars along North America’s Pacific shores.
The syndrome took marine scientists by surprise this summer, when sick and dying sea stars — also known as starfish — appeared in a host of locations between Alaska and southern California. Predatory species were the first to succumb, but now the mysterious ailment is appearing in species once thought to be resistant to its effects.
The progression is predictable: white lesions appear on an animal and become infected. Within hours or days the sea star becomes limp, and its arms may fall off. Necrosis eventually takes over and the animal dies.
“It’s like a zombie wasteland,” says Tucker, who is, like Perlkin, a field technician employed by the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC). “You'll see detached arms crawling away from their body.”
Among the animals now affected are the scavenger bat star, Asterina miniata; some species of sea urchin, an important source of food for threatened sea otters; and recreational and commercially fished species such as the California spiny lobster (Panulirus interruptus) and sheephead fish (Semicossyphus pulcher).
Scientists worry about the long-term ecological consequences of the outbreak, which has affected a larger area and more species than episodes that occurred in 1983 and 1997. Sea-star populations took decades to return to their former numbers after those episodes, which were associated with warmer waters caused by El Niño. The latest outbreak began despite relatively cold surface waters along the Pacific coast for the past 15 years. Sea-star wasting disease has also been reported at sites along the US eastern coast this year, but researchers say that it is too early to link the outbreaks.
Searching for probable cause
Pinning down the cause of the outbreak is a high-stakes detective game for researchers such as Pete Raimondi, an ecologist at UCSC. He leads a marine-monitoring programme that has received special funding from the nonprofit organization Ocean Science Trust, based in Oakland, California, to search for the source of the outbreak.
Raimondi is working to map the presence and severity of the wasting disease along the Pacific coast, using observations by Perlkin and Tucker, long-term monitoring data and reports from researchers and interested citizens, to map the outbreak’s ebb and flow. “Once we can determine if there are multiple points of initiation or just one,” Raimondi says, “we can look for links to reasons why sea stars are suddenly susceptible.”
Other researchers are working with sea stars to determine whether wasting is an autoimmune condition or caused by an infectious agent. At UCSC, disease ecologist Marm Kilpatrick is beginning a series of experiments in which sick stars are separated from apparently healthy ones by various types of barrier, in hopes of characterizing the disease culprit and how it spreads.
Among the possible causes scientists have suggested for the wasting syndrome are low oxygen levels in coastal waters, localized areas of warm water and environmental toxins. Some researchers have suggested that ocean acidification is a possible factor, but Raimondi says that is unlikely, given that acidification is pervasive but the disease outbreak is occurring in patches.
Farther north, at Western Washington University in Bellingham, biologist Benjamin Miner is collecting sick and healthy sea stars from sites along the coast to be analysed by Ian Hewson, a microbial oceanographer at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Hewson is comparing the colonies of viruses, bacteria and protozoa that live in and on diseased and normal sea stars, looking for a common ‘fingerprint’ that identifies the disease.
Perlkin and Tucker plan to continue surveying the Pacific coast until the end of next May. “I’m pretty confident we’ll soon figure out what this is,” says Perlkin. “It just takes a while for all the right people to start working together.”
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| 0.953128 | 880 | 3.515625 | 4 |
Lessons Learned in Evaluation Data
By Robert F. McNergney
Even 10 years ago, data-based assessments in schools were perceived as confusing, complex, and rigidly impersonal. Associated with the clunky computer monitors of the early 1990s and oversized printouts of grayscale spreadsheets, most gathered data was dutifully relegated to some dim corner of the school.
Sure, the data was there if anyone wanted to look at it, but the technological moment being what it was, only a rare handful of teachers and administrators possessed the determination and time to sort through the spreadsheets.
Now educational data is everywhere. No longer is the question “should we try to make sense of the data?” Now the question is “how?” To answer, it seemed crucial to seek out an educator whose school environment could legitimately claim to have put a data-based evaluation to the test.
Jean-Claude Brizard is superintendent of New York’s Rochester City School District. When this district, which includes 32,000 K-12 students and 10,000 adults enrolled in adult education classes, became his jurisdiction in 2008, it had the lowest graduation rate (39 percent) in the state. Seventeen of the 18 high schools were on the NCLB failing list.
Among the many approaches adopted by Brizard was using a data-driven evaluation service, called DataCation, to assess issues in the system that could not be identified easily. With current statistics that include a 51 percent graduation rate and double-digit improvements in English language arts and mathematics scores, Brizard is well-positioned to speak to the changes he was able to make over time. In addition, he offers firsthand insight into what a data-based evaluation system should be able to offer a school for the best outcome.
Five lessons that have emerged from efforts to gather and use data in various school systems were presented to Brizard for comment. Here are his responses:
Would you like to continue reading?
Subscribers please click here to continue reading. If you are not a subscriber, please click here to purchase this article or to obtain a subscription to ASBJ.
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French: Engoulevent d’Europe German: Ziegenmelker Spanish: Chotacabras europeo
Other common names:
Subspecies and Distribution
C. e. europaeus
Linnaeus, 1758 – N & C Europe E through NC Asia (mainly S of c. 60° N) to L Baikal region.
C. e. meridionalis
E. J. O. Hartert, 1896 – NW Africa and Iberia E through S Europe, Crimea, Caucasus and Ukraine to NW Iran and Caspian Sea.
C. e. sarudnyi
E. J. O. Hartert, 1912 – Kazakhstan from Caspian Sea E to Kyrgyzstan, Tarbagatai and Altai Mts.
C. e. unwini
A. O. Hume, 1871 – Iraq and Iran E to W Tien Shan and Kashgar region, N to S Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and S to W & N Pakistan.
C. e. plumipes
Przevalski, 1876 – E Tien Shan (NW China and W & S Mongolia).
C. e. dementievi
Stegmann, 1949 – S Transbaikalia and NE Mongolia.
24·5–28 cm; male 51–101 g, female 67–95 g. Sexually dimorphic. Upperparts greyish-brown streaked blackish-brown with indistinct pale buff nuchal... read more
Song of male is a distinctive, continuous churring that frequently changes to a lower pitch and... read more
Mainly dry, open country: lowland heaths with scattered trees and bushes, commons and moorland,... read more
Food and feeding
Diet includes moths, beetles, mantises, mayflies, dragonflies, Orthoptera, cockroaches, bugs, Hymenoptera, antlions, lacewings, caddisflies... read more
Breeds late May to Aug, occasionally Apr–Jul in some regions; breeding often influenced by lunar phase. Single-brooded or double... read more
Highly migratory. Nominate race leaves breeding grounds late Jul to Nov (mainly late Aug to Oct), W... read more
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened. Locally common to very common in suitable habitat throughout breeding range, though decreasing in numbers and/or range in many regions, especially in... read more
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| 0.82145 | 545 | 2.75 | 3 |
Pronunciation: (trus), [key]
1. to tie, bind, or fasten.
2. to make fast with skewers, thread, or the like, as the wings or legs of a fowl in preparation for cooking.
3. to furnish or support with a truss or trusses.
4. to tie or secure (the body) closely or tightly; bind (often fol. by up).
5. Falconry.(of a hawk, falcon, etc.) to grasp (prey) firmly.
1. Civ. Engin., Building Trades.
a. any of various structural frames based on the geometric rigidity of the triangle and composed of straight members subject only to longitudinal compression, tension, or both: functions as a beam or cantilever to support bridges, roofs, etc. Cf. complete (def. 8), incomplete (def. 3), redundant (def. 5c).
b. any of various structural frames constructed on principles other than the geometric rigidity of the triangle or deriving stability from other factors, as the rigidity of joints, the abutment of masonry, or the stiffness of beams.
2. Med.an apparatus consisting of a pad usually supported by a belt for maintaining a hernia in a reduced state.
3. Hort.a compact terminal cluster or head of flowers growing upon one stalk.
4. Naut.a device for supporting a standing yard, having a pivot permitting the yard to swing horizontally when braced.
5. a collection of things tied together or packed in a receptacle; bundle; pack.
6. Chiefly Brit.a bundle of hay or straw, esp. one containing about 56 lb. (25.4 kg) of old hay, 60 lb. (27.2 kg) of new hay, or 36 lb. (16.3 kg) of straw.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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| 0.884974 | 419 | 3 | 3 |
(reference sources – Trizellion.com, cellmedicine.com, and wikipedia)
Embryonic stem cells
Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are of interest to researchers because their pluripotency allows these cells to differentiate into any type of body tissue. However, this is their only advantage. By contrast, the disadvantages of embryonic stem cells greatly outnumber, and outweigh, this single desirable feature.
Among other disadvantages, embryonic stem cells are highly unstable. They have not yet been through Mother Nature’s test, which is to create a human being. It is a well established fact that 50 to 75% of all human embryos fail to develop into a human being and spontaneously abort, due either to “inborn errors” such as a genetic mutation or to problems implanting. More pregnancies spontaneously abort than result in the successful birth of a child. Even considering the conservative estimate of 50% nonviability, when working in a laboratory with an embryo, it is impossible to know from which 50% any particular embryo has been selected. If embryonic stem cells happen to come from the 50% of embryos that would have proven to be nonviable (if allowed to develop normally), then those same “inborn errors” will be transferred to the patient receiving the stem cells. Clearly, this could cause more harm than good.
Additionally, pluripotent embryonic stem cells often form teratomas (a tumor-like, cancerous mass, resembling a self-fertilized cell, differentiated but not fertilized). Teratomas have been shown to form when embryonic stem cells are injected into animals. Originally, in the early days of stem cell research, this was the criterion, and indeed the “gold standard”, by which pluripotent stem cells were recognized: by their ability to form teratomas. If cells were unable to form teratomas, they were identified as being something other than pluripotent stem cells. Indeed, this ability of pluripotent stem cells to form teratomas is still part of the formal definition of a teratoma, as stated by NIH:
Teratoma: “A tumor composed of tissues from the three embryonic germ layers. Usually found in ovaries and testes. Produced experimentally in animals by injecting pluripotent stem cells, in order to determine the stem cells’ abilities to differentiate into various types of tissues.” (From “Stem Cells: Scientific Progress and Future Research Directions,” available at http://stemcells.nih.gov. Please see “Glossary”).
Indeed, as recently as 2002, researchers in China published their findings in which they referred to the successful formation of teratomas from stem cells. In an article announcing the establishment of the first human embryonic stem cell line in China, He et al. wrote,
” The suspension of stem cells subcultured for 5 months were inoculated to the legs of severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice subcutaneously to observe the teratoma formation. Results: Six weeks after inoculation of the 3 cell lines, teratomas were formed in all mice. Histological examination revealed that they contained various tissues derived from all three embryonic germ layers. Conclusion: Human embryonic stem cell lines were successfully established in China.” (He et al., 2002, “Human embryonic stem cell lines preliminarily established in China.” Zhonghua Yi Xue Za Zhi, 82(19):1314 – 1318).
Subsequently in China, a man with Parkinson’s disease was treated with human embryonic stem cells which developed into a cancerous tumor (teratoma) in his brain. The man died from this tumor, even though the treatment was intended to help him, not kill him. As an increasing number of researchers have observed, the power of embryonic stem cells is also the source of their potential peril. (Bohlin RG, “The Continuing Controversy Over Stem Cells,” 2005, online publication).
Further risks and problems associated with using human embryonic stem (hES) cells include:
- Genetic instability: “There are reports of high differentiation rates of hES cells (which destroy their stem cell status) and genomic instability after prolonged culture. For example, some hES cell lines display a certain level of aneuploidy (gain or loss of chromosomes) including the gain of chromosome 17q, chromosome 12, trisomy 20 (3 copies of chromosome 20) or abnormal X chromosome.”
- Epigenetic errors: “These are frequent in hES. These include differences in the expression of SSEA-4, in telomere length, in the down regulation of collagen, in STAT4, a lectin and 2 genes involved in TGFb signalling, which have been described in different hES cell lines derived in the same laboratory and cultured under feeder free conditions.”
- Genetic and epigenetic heterogeneity among hES lines: “3 different hES cell lines in the same laboratory expressed 52% of genes examined in common, but the expression of 48% of the genes was limited to just one or two of the cell lines. Not all of the hES cell lines maintain their pluripotency under the same culture conditions, their potential for large scale culture and growth under feeder free protocols, or their ability to form teratomas after injection into SCID (severe combined immune deficiency) in mice. Their capacity to differentiate spontaneously into different cell types under in vitro conditions is variable. It is of concern that application of genetically and epigenetically unstable hES cells in transplantation therapies could be detrimental. Quality control becomes difficult.”
(Quoted from www.i-sis.org.uk).
According to the London based Institute of Science in Society, researchers have drawn the following conclusions:
- “Due to the number and severity of the technical challenges remaining to be solved before the initiation of large scale clinical trials, embryonic stem cells are not likely to be part of routine clinical practice in the foreseeable future.”
- “The technical difficulties in derivation and culture of hES cells could be expected to involve high costs, especially when these cell lines and procedure can attract patents. It is difficult, therefore, to justify allocation of such large amounts of public funds in supporting hES cell research and in maintaining hES cell banks, that could be much better deployed elsewhere; as, for example, in supporting research and development of adult stem cells (including cord blood cells).”
- “Exacerbating health inequalities: another objection to hES cell research is that it will be a very costly procedure, even if it succeeds, and will exacerbate the global inequalities in access to healthcare. Populations in developing countries have more urgent diseases to fight, and they will be that much more disadvantaged if large portions of the available funds are diverted towards developing hES cell technology by the hype and misinformation surrounding it.”
Many of the wondrous claims for embryonic stem cells have been found to be unsubstantiated. There remain many current as well as potential future problems surrounding human embryonic stem cell therapy, and Dr. David Prentice enumerates some of these problems in the following points:
- Currently, there have been no clinical treatments performed from human embryonic stem cells.
- In animal models, the success rate has been dismally low.
- There exists great difficulty in obtaining pure dish cultures in the laboratory.
- There remain many unanswered questions regarding the functional trans-differentiation of the stem cells.
- The cell lines are difficult to establish and maintain.
- There remains the problem of immune rejection.
- There remains the potential for tumor formation (teratomas) and tissue destruction.
- There remains the problem of genomic instability and genetic incompatibility.
- Due to the required destruction of an embryo in order to cull the stem cells, the entire field remains ethically contentious.
“Yet,” Dr. Prentice explains, “defective embryos are routinely used to produce ES cells, and positively recommended by some researchers, who have stated, ‘Perhaps genetically deficient cells may be entirely suitable for somatic cell replacement.’ This is a large assumption fortunately not shared by other researchers. We suggest that the wide range and high incidence of epigenetic defects in nuclear transfer embryos will preclude safe use of this approach [of creating hES cells] until the procedure is dramatically improved.”
According to The Institute of Science in Society,
“If epigenetic reprogramming error is inherent to the somatic nuclear transfer procedure, as pointed out by some researchers, then it is a blind alley as far as tissue replacement is concerned, even if the ethical concerns are set aside. Yet China, Singapore, the U.K. and the U.S. have already legalized therapeutic cloning, and Korean scientists reported the first hES cell line created using this procedure in February of 2004.”
Instead of using ESCs, many researchers advocate the support of adult stem cell research instead:
“Adult stem cells, in particular, bone marrow cells and cord cells, already have well established clinical histories, and cannot be patented. They have shown great promise and potential in treating a variety of diseases, including, more recently, brain and spinal cord repair in animal models. Adult stem cells can be harvested directly from the patients requiring transplant, and used without culture or after only brief periods of culture, thereby avoiding immune rejection and all other technical problems and risks arising from prolonged cell culture. Adult stem cells appear to have all the developmental potential of ES cells, even though the precise mechanisms are debated, without the risks of cancer. On account of the ease of harvesting, handling and use, and the lack of patents, costs are minimal, and hence the treatments developed are likely to be widely available to all. Finally, there is little or no moral objection to using them.” (Quoted from The Institute of Science in Society, London, www.i-sis.org.uk)
(2) Postnatal stem cells
Placental and umbilical cord stem cells offer pluripotency, world wide availability, lack of contamination, ease of isolation and maintenance, lack of immune rejection by the host, and they are ethically and politically noncontroversial.
(3) Adult stem cells
Like postnatal stem cells, adult stem cells are also ethically and politically noncontroversial. Additionally, adult stem cells exhibit greater “plasticity” and pluripotency than previously suspected, and they pose no risk of immune rejection by the host (if the donor and recipient are the same person). Adult stem cells also pose no risk of teratoma formation (unlike embryonic stem cells).
In the past, multipotency and monopotency were considered to be the major drawbacks of adult stem cells, since this limited their ability to transdifferentiate. However, now that a wider capacity for transdifferentiation has been demonstrated in adult stem cells, with some of them exhibiting pluripotency, this previously perceived disadvantage no longer exists.
Since a certain amount of genetic damage is normal with aging, the older an adult stem cell is, the greater the odds that it may have incurred some genetic damage. Additionally, if the donor and recipient are not the same person, there may exist the possibility of immune rejection of the cells by the host.
In the debate between proponents of adult stem cells versus proponents of embryonic stem cells, it has been said that while both are of merit, adult stem cells by themselves are “not sufficient.” Now, however, there is evidence that such a claim is incorrect. With growing proof of their pluripotency, and without the danger of forming teratomas, adult stem cells actually offer a greater possibility for successful clinical therapies than do embryonic stem cells.
Until recently, it was thought that adult stem cells are, at best, multipotent, and in many cases only monopotent. For example, it was thought that adult neural stem cells are only capable of becoming neural cells, and that adult heart stem cells are only capable of becoming heart cells, and that adult blood stem cells are only capable of becoming blood cells, etc. This type of cell is monopotent. Adult blood stem cells have been very useful for treating patients who need blood regeneration, but adult blood stem cells have not been used (until recently) to treat patients who need heart, brain, lung or liver regeneration. This lack of pluripotency, or a lack of transdifferentiation (the ability to change from one stem cell type into another) has made adult stem cells seem less attractive than embryonic stem cells to researchers.
Now, however, these previously held beliefs are changing.
The measure of “plasticity” of any particular type of stem cell, which is the extent of its ability to exhibit transdifferentiation, is now known to be greater in adult stem cells than previously thought. For example, adult bone marrow stem cells have been found to differentiate into skin, lung epithelium, kidney epithelium, liver parenchyma, pancreatic tissue, skeletal muscle, heart muscle, endothelium, and nerve cells in the cortex and cerebellum of the brain. Perhaps more surprising, however, is the discovery that immature skeletal muscle stem cells have also been successful in regenerating cardiac tissue. Examples of such diverse transdifferentiation by adult stem cells shall be described in further detail below.
Even in the very early years of stem cells research, scientists knew that adult stem cells derived from human bone marrow are capable of transdifferentiation. In the 1960s, researchers first discovered that bone marrow contains at least two distinct types of stem cells. One population, the hematopoietic stem cells, forms all the types of blood cells found in the body. A second population, called bone marrow stromal (or mesenchymal) cells and discovered a few years later, are a mixed cell population that generates bone, cartilage, fat and fibrous connective tissue throughout the body. In the 1990s, scientists then discovered in humans what they had known to be true about rats since the 1960s, namely, that the adult human brain contains stem cells capable of generating the 3 major cell types found in the brain: astrocytes, oligodendrocytes (non neuronal cells), and neurons (nerve cells). In other words, human neural tissue may be naturally and continually regenerated. This discovery contradicted previously held beliefs.
The following is a partial list of various differentiation pathways of adult stem cells that have now been identified:
- Hematopoietic stem cells give rise to all the types of blood cells: red blood cells, B lymphocytes, T lymphocytes, natural killer cells, neutrophils, basophils, eosinophils, monocytes, macrophages, and platelets. Additionally, hematopoietic stem cells may differentiate into 3 major types of brain cells (neurons, oligodendrocytes, and astrocytes), as well as skeletal muscle cells, cardiac muscle cells, and liver cells.
- Bone marrow stromal cells (mesenchymal stem cells) give rise to a variety of cell types, including bone cells (osteocytes), cartilage cells (chondrocytes), fat cells (adipocytes), as well as muscle, liver, blood, brain and nerve cells, and connective tissue cells such as those found in tendons. Additionally, bone marrow stromal cells are also capable of differentiating into cardiac muscle cells and skeletal muscle cells.
- Neural stem cells in the brain give rise to its three major cell types: nerve cells (neurons), and the 2 categories of nonneuronal cells, namely, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes.
- Epithelial stem cells in the lining of the digestive tract occur in deep crypts and give rise to several cell types: absorptive cells, goblet cells, Paneth cells, and enteroendocrine cells.
- Skin stem cells occur in the basal layer of the epidermis and at the base of hair follicles. The epidermal stem cells give rise to keratinocytes, which migrate to the surface of the skin and form a protective layer. The follicular stem cells can give rise to both the hair follicle and to the epidermis.
- Brain stem cells may differentiate into blood cells and skeletal muscle cells.
- Bone marrow, skeletal muscle, and adult blood cells have also been shown to differentiate into cardiac cells.
- Stem cells from fat are capable of differentiating into bone, cartilage and muscle.
- Peripheral blood stem cells can differentiate into bone marrow, blood, and nerves.
- Stem cells taken from hair follicles may differentiate into skin, brain, smooth muscle, and fat.
- Gastrointestinal stem cells may differentiate into esophageal, stomach, small intestine, and large intestine/colon tissue.
- Placental stem cells may differentiate into nerve, cartilage, skeletal, muscle, tendon, bone marrow, and blood vessel tissue.
- Skeletal muscle stem cells may differentiate into smooth muscle, bone, cartilage, fat, and heart cells.
- Brain stem cells may differentiate into nerves, blood cells, muscle, and all tissue.
- Umbilical cord and placental blood cells may differentiate into all types of bodily tissue.
The precise mechanisms underlying adult stem cell “plasticity”, or pluripotency, are not yet fully understood. However, researchers are investigating such mechanisms, as the ability to control or regulate these processes could be key to the repopulation and repair of diseased tissue.
Bone marrow stem cells are particularly versatile, and an especially exciting discovery is the ability of bone marrow stem cells to be transformed into cardiac cells. Recent results of such a discovery were published in the journal Circulation by Dr. Noel Caplice, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic. In a study that he conducted, he found that bone marrow progenitor cells naturally “home in” on damaged heart tissue and begin repairing the tissue. Autopsies were performed on 4 female patients with leukemia who had died between one month and 2 years after receiving bone marrow transplants from male donors; a small percentage of the heart cells in the women were found to contain male chromosomes, indicating that the cells originated from the bone marrow transplants. Similar findings were also reported by researchers in New York and Italy, who published their results in the New England Journal of Medicine.
As mentioned above, stem cells from immature skeletal muscle have also been used to regenerate cardiac tissue. In Brazil, 4 out of a group of 5 heart failure patients no longer needed heart transplants after being treated with their own stem cells, derived from their skeletal muscle. As Hans Fernando Rocha Dohmann, the principal investigator, explained, “This finding has a significant social relevance since there isn’t a single heart transplant program anywhere in the world which is able to treat all the patients who need it,” he told reporters at the annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology.
Heart tissue is the first tissue created when an embryo begins differentiating. This fact is believed to be partly responsible for the ability of various types of adult stem cells to transdifferentiate into cardiac tissue.
At a conference entitled, “Stem Cells: Shaping the Future,” held in London on September 15th of 2003, Prof. John Martin described a study involving stem cells derived from bone marrow that will be used in a large, double blind, controlled clinical trial to be conducted in 30 hospitals across Europe. Patients will receive stem cells separated from their own bone marrow and delivered through the coronary artery to the damaged areas of their hearts. If successful, this will become an inexpensive and practical method of regenerating cardiac tissue after damage.
A report from M.D. Anderson is particularly noteworthy. It has previously been shown that stem cells derived from bone marrow and umbilical cord blood can regenerate cardiac tissue, but this study demonstrated that adult stem cells already circulating in adult blood can also repair heart tissue. Stem cells taken from a patient’s own blood have been found to regenerate heart muscle cells as well as artery tissue in the hearts of mice. Says Edward T.H. Yeh, M.D., professor and chair of M.D. Anderson’s Department of Cardiology, “Taking stem cells from blood is a lot easier, and a lot less painful, than taking it from bone marrow. For patients, it would be as simple as donating blood. We would then isolate these potent cells and give them back to the patient where the damage has occurred.” The research corroborates the idea of adult stem cell “plasticity”, or pluripotency, which states that even adult stem cells are able to transform themselves into different organ systems and tissue as needed to repair injury. The theory conflicts with previous dogma which held that specific types of tissue may only be formed from the same type of monopotent stem cell. This study from M.D. Anderson has demonstrated that new cardiac muscle cells (myocytes) and several layers of new blood vessel tissue (endothelial and smooth muscle cells) can be formed from blood derived stem cells.
In addition to bone marrow, adult stem cells have also been harvested from adipose tissue, as well as from the brain, peripheral blood, blood vessels, skeletal muscle, skin and liver cells. Studies involving such stem cells are now being reported with increasing frequency. In the past, most human trials involving stem cells have been conducted in Europe and South America, with a “lag time” before such news would filter down into the U.S. popular media.
Possible therapies involving adult stem cells now include replacing the dopamine producing cells in the brains of Parkinson’s patients, developing insulin producing cells for type I diabetes, and repairing damaged heart muscle following a heart attack.
Discoveries about the pluripotency of adult stem cells are continually being made. Meanwhile, some questions about adult stem cells still remain unanswered, such as:
- How many kinds of adult stem cells exist, and in which tissues do they reside?
- What is the origin of adult stem cells in the body? Are they “leftover” embryonic stem cells, or do they arise in some other way? Why do they remain in an undifferentiated state when all the cells around them have differentiated?
- What are the signals that “trigger” and regulate the proliferation and transdifferentiation of stem cells?
- Is it possible to manipulate adult stem cells to enhance their proliferation so that sufficient tissue for transplants can be produced?
- Does one, single type of stem cell exist, possibly in the bone marrow or circulating in the blood, that can generate the cells of all other organs and tissue?
- What are the factors that stimulate stem cells to relocate to sites of injury or damage?
- There exists a stem cell “homing factor”, which allows the stem cells to “zero in” on an area of damaged tissue, which is not yet fully understood.
- Some adult stem cells have exhibited a capacity for “dedifferentiation”, which is the return from a multipotent state to a more pluripotent, early state. The process by which this phenomenon occurs, or is “triggered”, has also not yet been fully elucidated.
The “plasticity” of adult stem cells is particularly applicable to the field of “tissue engineering.” From a report entitled “Allogenic transplantation of human mesenchymal stem cells for tissue engineering purposes: An in vitro study,” by Niemeyer et al., at the Universitatsklinikum Freiburg, the following abstract describes this promising new field:
“Due to their plasticity and high proliferation capacity in vitro, human mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are promising candidates for tissue engineering approaches of mesenchymal tissues like bone, cartilage, or tendon. Undifferentiated MSC do not express immunologically relevant cell surface markers. They inhibit the proliferation of allogeneic T cells in vitro and elicit no immune response after allogeneic or xenogenic transplantation. Thus, MSC ought to be seen as immunoprivileged or immunomodulating cells. Our results support the hypothesis that MSC are immunoprivileged cells which are potentially at disposal for HLA incompatible cell replacement therapies.”
Adult stem cells offer distinct advantages which embryonic stem cells do not offer. A partial list of such advantages of adult stem cells include:
- There already exists a well established clinical history in the use and handling of such cells, particularly bone marrow cells and umbilical cord blood cells.
- Neither these cells nor the procedures employed for isolating and maintaing them attract patents, so associated costs will be kept low.
- These cells are developmentally as flexible as embryonic stem cells.
- There have been numerous promising studies demonstrating the ability of these cells to repair tissues and organs, including brain and spinal cord cells, which previously have been among the most difficult types of injuries to treat.
- These cells are easy to obtain and easy to use.
- These cells can be harvested from the same patients who require the treatment, thereby avoiding immune rejection by the host.
- These cells can be used directly without expansion, although they may still be expanded in culture if necessary.
- The genomic stability of these cells is maintainable in culture (unlike with embryonic stem cells).
- The growth and differentiation of these cells is controllable.
- These cells do not pose a risk of cancerous teratomas (unlike with embryonic stem cells).
- These cells pose a very low risk of cross infection with animal viruses and other disease agents.
- Many successful clinical treatments with these cells have already been reported (unlike with embryonic stem cells, which have never been used in any clinical treatment).
- These cells have already been shown to repair damaged organs and tissues in situ, without major surgical intervention.
- Treatment with these cells has been shown to minimize intervention, side effects, health risks, and costs, and hence is potentially widely available to all.
- There are no ethical or political concerns over the use of these cells.
The evidence is clear that adult stem cell research should be supported instead of embryonic stem cell research. As the London based Institute of Science in Society has reported,
“Adult stem cells, in particular, bone marrow cells and cord cells, already have well established clinical histories, and cannot be patented. They have shown great promise and potential in treating a variety of diseases, including, more recently, brain and spinal cord repair in animal models. Adult stem cells can be harvested directly from the patients requiring transplant, and used without culture or after only brief periods of culture, thereby avoiding immune rejection and all other technical problems and risks arising from prolonged cell culture. Adult stem cells appear to have all the developmental potential of ES [embryonic stem] cells, even though the precise mechanisms are debated, without the risks of cancer. On account of the ease of harvesting, handling and use, and the lack of patents, costs are minimal, and hence the treatments developed are likely to be widely available to all. Finally, there is little or no moral objection to using them.”(Quoted from www.i-sis.org.uk)
The current clinical uses of adult stem cells include:
- Adult stem cells from the brain and from bone marrow, as well as from umbilical cord blood, have all provided therapeutic benefit after stroke. These cells are capable of “homing in” on sites of neurological damage.
- Adult stem cells are capable of regrowth and reconnection in the spinal cord after injury.
- Liver and pancreatic adult stem cells can form insulin secreting islets, for the treatment of diabetes.
- Stem cells derived from bone marrow and from skeletal muscle are capable of repairing damaged cardiac tissue after a heart attack.
- Neural stem cells can form all neuron types, as they migrate throughout the brain to repair damage and to prevent the loss of neurons associated with Parkinson’s disease.
- Using the patient’s own adult neural stem cells, a group at Los Angeles Cedars Sinai Medical Center reported a reversal of symptoms in the first Parkinson’s patient who was treated by this method. (Reported at a meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, 4/8/02).
- Certain types of cancer, such as lymphomas, multiple myeloma, leukemia, breast cancer, neuroblastoma, renal cell carcinoma, and ovarian cancer are treatable with adult stem cells.
- Autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, systemic lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, scleromyxedema, and Crohn’s disease are treatable with adult stem cells.
- Anemias (including sickle cell anemia) are treatable with adult stem cells.
- Immunodeficiencies are treatable with adult stem cells.
- Bone and cartilage deformities (such as childhood osteogenesis imperfecta) are treatable with adult stem cells.
- Corneal scarring is treatable with adult stem cells (through the generation of new corneas to restore sight).
- Neurological damage caused by stroke is treatable with adult stem cells.
- Parkinson’s disease is treatable using retinal stem cells or the patient’s own neural stem cells.
- Adult stem cells are able to induce the growth of new blood vessels (such as in the prevention of gangrene).
- Adult stem cells are able to induce the growth of new gastrointestinal epithelia (and the regeneration of damaged ulcerous tissue).
- Adult stem cells are able to induce the growth of new skin grafts (grown from hair follicle stem cells, after plucking a few hairs from the patient).
To recap, adult stem cells possess the following characteristics:
- They are able to generate virtually all types of adult tissues.
- They can multiply almost indefinitely, providing sufficient numbers for clinical treatments.
- They have been repeatedly proven successful in laboratory cultures.
- They have been repeatedly proven successful in animal models of disease.
- They have been repeatedly proven successful in current clinical treatments.
- They have the ability to “home in” on, and target, specific sites of tissue damage.
- They avoid any problems with tumor formation.
- They avoid any problems with transplant rejection.
- They avoid any ethical quandaries.
In conclusion, adult stem cells (including placental and umbilical cord stem cells) offer the most promising means of treatment.
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A proposed 178-mile pipeline between the port of Albany and northern New Jersey is drawing criticism from environmental groups that claim it would place residential areas at serious risk of a devastating oil spill.
This is a legitimate concern, but it must be balanced against the risk of oil spills from train and barge accidents if the pipeline isn't built. Building it could help the economy, and it might be less risky than other forms of oil transport.
The pipeline would carry North Dakota crude oil from a train terminal at the Port of Albany to coastal refineries, and it would return gasoline, diesel, heating oil and other petroleum products to upstate New York. Proponents argue it would eliminate a large amount of oil shipments by train and barge, both of which pose significant spill risks. Meanwhile, groups like the Sierra Club are trying to sway New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie into opposing the project. The pipeline, which would cost billions, still needs a number of key state permits in both New York and New Jersey.
Oil spills from trains seem to be more frequent than those from leaky pipelines, especially after the numerous, scary train accidents the U.S. and Canada have seen in the last year.
Pilgrim Pipeline Holdings spokesman Paul Nathanson has said "the spill risk for barges is almost seven times greater than that of pipelines" and that the pipeline would remove 1,000 barges from the Hudson River. That's major.
Pipelines, however, do rupture, such as in March 2013 when an ExxonMobil pipeline spilled Canadian crude from the Athabasca oil sands in Mayflower, Arkansas. The proposed Keystone XL pipeline, proposed to go from Canada through the U.S. and being held up by the president, could be expected to have, by a leading estimate by John Stansbury, 11 to 91 spills over its 50-year lifespan.
Also, we wonder whether the Albany-Jersey pipeline would increase the volume of North Dakota crude oil being shipped by rail north of Albany along the Lake Champlain shore. As we've said before, that's a dangerous situation; we're not comfortable with it at all.
It's a big decision for Govs. Cuomo and Christie. We hope they will not bow to pressure from lobbyists and will instead be careful and honest in weighing the potential benefits and risks of the pipeline.
Oil will be transported anyway and should therefore be done by the safest and cleanest way.
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October 30, 2013
NASA Builds RapidScat Mission With Spare Parts And Short Time
Brett Smith for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online
The best chefs in the world can create a gourmet dish from leftover ingredients and NASA scientists have set out to show they can accomplish a similar feat though the ISS-RapidScat science mission.An abbreviated form of Rapid Scatterometer, ISS-RapidScat was fashioned from spare parts and put together on a relatively short time scale. The mission will monitor ocean winds from the International Space Station.
Scientists study ocean winds for a variety of meteorological reasons, and also because winds affect ocean currents - shifting nutrient-rich waters and potentially providing a major source of food for coastal fisheries.
Scatterometers can track ocean winds by safely bouncing low-energy microwaves – similar to the high-energy waves used to warm up food – off the sea surface. By measuring the strength and direction of the microwave reflection, a scatterometer can calculate the direction and speed ocean that winds are blowing.
"Microwave energy emitted by a radar instrument is reflected back to the radar more strongly when the surface it illuminates is rougher," explains Ernesto Rodríguez, principal investigator for ISS-RapidScat at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "When wind blows over water, it causes waves to develop along the direction of wind. The stronger the wind, the larger the waves."
Scatterometers are typically aboard Earth-orbiting satellites that fly in a sun-synchronous orbit – or an orbit that crosses the Earth's equator at the same local time every orbit. However, because the RapidScat will be aboard the space station, it will travel in an orbit non-synchronous with the sun, meaning it will observe different parts of the planet at different times of day. These out-of-sync measurements will allow ISS-RapidScat to sense the effects of the sun on ocean winds as the day progresses. In addition, the space station's orbit over the tropics means the scatterometer will offer extra tracking of storms that could turn into hurricanes or tropical cyclones.
ISS-RapidScat is particularly unusual because of the way in which it was developed. The scatterometer will be the first to be attached to the ISS and the first to be delivered to its destination via a commercial space company.
"Space Station Program Manager Michael Suffredini offered us a mounting location on the space station and a free ride on a SpaceX Dragon cargo resupply mission launching in early 2014," explained Howard Eisen, the ISS-RapidScat project manager at JPL. "So we had about 18 months to put together an entire mission."
Instead of using newly-developed instruments, which can be expensive and time-consuming to create, Eisen’s team had to get creative with the mission's hardware. ISS-RapidScat employs leftover hardware originally built to test parts of QuikScat, a satellite-based NASA scatterometer that shut down in 2009. Fortunately, the old hardware was still in working order. "Even though they were spares, they've done an excellent job so far," said Simon Collins, ISS-RapidScat's instrument manager at JPL.
In addition to old spare parts, Eisen’s team turned to off-the-shelf, commercially-available computer hardware instead of the pricey, radiation-resistant computer chips that are usually used in space missions.
"If there's an error or something because of radiation, all we have to do is reset the computer. It's what we call a managed risk," said Eisen.
Rodríguez said he is confident that overcoming these design difficulties will be rewarded with a bounty of important new data.
"Because it uses much of the same hardware QuikScat did, ISS-RapidScat will allow us to continue the observations of ocean winds already started," said Rodriguez. "Extending this data record will help us observe and understand weather patterns and improve our preparedness for tropical cyclones."
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In addition to our work at the field school here in Northern Greece, on weekends we often travel to nearby archaeological sites. This seems to achieve the goal of familiarizing ourselves with the area and facilitates drawing connections between and recognizing the ancient relationships of these sites. Such connections were especially apparent as we toured sites along the coast of the Aegean, as our site lies on a peninsula in the midst of our destinations.
First we traveled to Philippi, a site of many time frames of occupation, ranging from the Hellenistic to Byzantine. Philip II founded the city around 350 BCE. Though it had been occupied by Thasian colonists up until that point, it was later inhabited by Roman and then Byzantine cultures, as seen in many of the remaining structures. The site and surrounding area are combined into one large park, and one can travel through seeing things such as a theater, used by the Greeks and later converted to a Roman theater fit for gladiators and wild animal fights. Much of the Roman Agora still stands, as well as Byzantine era basilicas and a baptistery. Our site at Molyvoti has been producing finds and structures from a similar range of time frames, as we work to find the earlier Greek remains.
Next week we stopped at Maroneia and Zone, two sites much closer to our excavation site. In past excavations on the Molyvoti peninsula, many coins from the city of Maroneia have been found, implying that the site was under their control and used their currency and economy. Some domestic structures have been revealed within our excavation and seeing the Hellenistic House especially helps in attempting to connect the two sites in architectural style, though we have not found such a nice mosaic floor as at Maroneia. The neighboring site of Zone also has remains of homes that seem similar to the structures at our site. One in particular had remains of an interesting method of engineering, consisting of upside down amphorae placed beneath the floor, in an effort to prevent flooding. The remains of the city wall here are also quite impressive, with their Lesbian construction. Walls we have found surveying at Molyvoti are simpler in style, but appear just as fortified.
This past weekend we traversed, by ferry then bus, to the beautiful island of Thasos, seeing the archaeological remains near the harbor and the site of Aliki on the other side of the island. As a large tourist attraction with picturesque beaches, it seems easy to forget the history sitting in the midst of the town. Tall homes stand next to fenced off sections of walls, one in particular the Zeus and Hera gate, with it’s iconography of the deities as a blessing to those passing through the gates. At Aliki we came across Hellenistic temples, Byzantine churches, and quarries used during both the Roman and Byzantine eras.
Working at our site of excavation, which has a theorized identity as a Thasian colony and shows multiple periods of occupation, as we continue to discover, has been enhanced by viewing these nearby sites with similar and interconnected cultures. Their similarities help greatly in trying to interpret what we have found so far at the Molyvoti peninsula and in planning future directions of excavation.
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From Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia
“If you outlaw the catapult, only the outlaws will have catapults”
Catapult got its name from its use for propelling specially trained killer cats into enemy fortifications during sieges.
edit Definition and history of invention
The most powerful weapon on Earth (not involving gunpowder), catapults were invented by a Viking back in the Dank Ages. The idea was born when the feared Viking Doonce the Idiot was kitten huffing, and the kitten bit his left cheek and held on tightly with its fangs. Furious, Doonce vowed to kill the damned cat, but was distracted by a hallucinatory kitten huffing rush. So he built the thing he saw in his head using a combination of trees, wheels, beef jerky, rubber bands, gravel, lead and axes.
He finished it in just two half hours, which was an amazing feat for a blind and deaf Viking that smelled like a Canadian fish farm during feeding time, but an easy task for Doonce because he was neither blind nor deaf. After it was completed he sat down to think about what to do next (remember that thinking was not that easy for a Viking because they were usually spending time killing entire villages with axes or kitten huffing... or both) and 2 hours later he realized that during the time he unsuccessfully tried to think he had in fact been sitting on his problem the whole time.
So his invention sat right where he left it, which happens to be in Germany next to Frances' border. He immediately concluded that thinking was a waste, by not thinking at all was the best way to do things, and two weeks later got thrown into a volcano by an elephant when Doonce unexpectedly whacked the elephant with an angry porcupine while it was busy searching for a restroom.
I like cats and butter toast!The porcupine got itself lodged in the elephants outer ass cheeks and stayed there until two weeks later when it was fired into Oprahs house (of course the porcupine was eaten) due to an enormous buildup of gasses in the elephants body. The force of the explosion was so powerful that that elephant spent three days orbiting Jupiter. It eventually crash landed into a green, sunny, beautiful meadow full of Exploding Cactus. The Cactus didn't explode because they busy migrating to a desert.
edit What happened to his invention?
Oh yeah. The invention. His invention was left sitting out in the open right next to Frances' border in Germany. The French discovered this entirely by accident during an expensive expedition to find striped paint. Not realizing that the big thing was just a hunk of wood sitting next to a mound of dead kittens, the French (led by Jacques' mon retretoi're and the rest of his pack of snooty losers) threw stones at it, roped it, and brought it back to his high King Doofous the impossibly snobbish hippo.
They took a vote and the winner was catapult... just beating out arm slinger machine and Hertziaustrovakia. The discovery of this marked a great amount of unexpected wins for the French, starting with the repulsions of King Author and his nights of the mentally unstable and ending with one of the guards leaving the forts doors open during one of those unstable nights.
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This webpage only offers guidance on how to manage extensive stem bleeding on oak (the condition that might be caused by bacteria).
Recommended course of action
Our understanding of the exact cause of this condition is limited at present so it is difficult to make fully informed recommendations about the management of affected trees. Until better information is available the following course of action is recommended:
- Record the number and location (preferably using 10 point GPS readings) of symptomatic trees and the severity of their condition. Severity can be indicated by the number and size of bleeding patches on the stem, the distance between bleeding patches and the condition of the tree canopy (crown density).
- Record the distribution of the symptomatic trees relative to site features (e.g. low-lying territory, slope, water courses, roads, public access points etc.).
- Unless there is immediate concern about safety, infected trees should be left in place and monitored. If possible cordon the trees off to prevent access to them. It is unknown how the causal agents spread, but several potential agents have been found in the bleeds pouring from the trees so this could be a source of infection. Therefore minimise contact with bleeds to reduce the possibility of transfer from tree to tree.
- If however only a limited number of trees appear to be infected on a site and most are of the same oak species, it may be prudent to fell and destroy the infected individuals to reduce the risk of infecting healthy trees and to keep inoculum levels low.
- Never use parts of infected trees (leaves, bark, wood) for mulch or compost.
- Inform the public about the condition of the oaks by erecting information notices about the condition at various access points to the woodland - example of notice that could be used.
- Pruning infected trees is discouraged as it may increase the risk of disease spread and weaken the tree by reducing its capacity to contain or overcome the bacterial infection, and also make it more susceptible to secondary infections.
Recommended precautions when felling symptomatic trees
- Avoid felling when conditions or trees are wet as this may increase the chances of spreading the pathogen(s).
- If trees are heavily infected and dying or dead and need to be felled, the ideal solution would be to strip off the outer bark and the sapwood on site after felling and burn it. Rapid destruction of stripped bark is recommended to prevent the possibility of spreading the disease.
- It is recommended that barked trees, logs or branches are not moved off site.
- Planking logs can be undertaken on site to facilitate removal of the bark (and sapwood), but caution should be exercised about the use of the wood because it is not known if the disease affects timber properties.
- It is unknown whether or if so for how long the causal agents survive in the wood but it seems reasonable to expect that following kiln-drying to below 20% moisture content, preferably using a high temperature treatment protocol, bacteria would be unlikely to survive.
- Felling or pruning equipment must be disinfected after use. Also consider brushing mud and debris off soles of boots and spraying boots and vehicle tyres with disinfectant before leaving the site (see table below).
- Until more is known about the condition and which oak species are susceptible, avoid replanting the entire site with the same oak species as the diseased ones. The risk could be reduced by only replanting with mixtures of species including no more than 25% of the susceptible species.
- It is unknown whether young nursery trees can be infected with the disease and as yet there is no evidence of this occurring in Britain. However, as a precaution be wary of collecting and planting acorns or young trees from infected sites. Be especially cautious about using planting material from infected sites for plantings elsewhere.
- Do not transfer felled symptomatic trees to newly planted sites as a natural source of deadwood habitat.
|Disinfectant||Concentration||Exposure time||Healthy and safety|
|Virkon||5%||Spray and allow to dry||Virkon material data sheet (PDF-28K)|
|Ethanol or industrial methylated spirits (methanol)||70%||Spray and allow to dry||Ethanol and ethyl alcohol material data sheet|
|LYSOL® spray||Undiluted||Spray and allow to dry||LYSOL® spray material data sheet (PDF-46K)|
Note: all disinfectants should be used in accordance with the recommended safety precautions (refer to the material safety data sheet for each product).
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The first Muslims who came to the United States were likely African slaves. Later, in the middle of the 19th century, Muslims emigrated from the territories that would become Syria and Lebanon and settled in places like Ohio and Michigan. They arrived around the same time as many Jews from Eastern Europe, and just a few decades after many Catholics came from Ireland.
And yet, discussions about Muslims in the United States are not the same as most discussions of Catholics or Jews or other religious minorities. It has been a little more than a week since the attacks in Paris, claimed by the Islamic State; it has been two days since attacks in Mali, in which hostages were reportedly asked to recite the Shahada, Islam’s testament of faith, in order to be let go. This kind of extreme violence seems to serve as the unspoken backstory for public comments by politicians and articles in the media. Muslims—whether they’ve been in the U.S. for generations or for just a few years; whether they’re white or South Asian or of Arab descent; whether they’re practicing or lapsed or somewhere in between—are often considered as a mass, and mostly in relation to terrorism.
This elision has tangible consequences. Donald Trump suggests that all Muslims in the U.S. should be registered, apparently in all seriousness. Congress moves to halt assistance and resettlement for refugees fleeing Syria and Iraq. Communities from Houston to Tampa to Omaha report threats and defacement of mosques. Students experience Islamophobia on their campuses. Passengers refuse to get on flights with people who look Muslim. Ben Carson likens violent extremists to “rabid dogs.”
It’s easy, and probably politically savvy, to wave away anti-Muslim sentiment with rhetoric about security and radicalization, as almost all the GOP presidential candidates have done. But the backlash against Muslims isn’t a temporally limited flare-up, tied only to recent violence and set to die down once the memories of Paris fade. No matter how tightly they wrap themselves in the American flag, Muslims are largely seen as other in the United States—not just now, but all the time.
Changing the way Islam is seen and represented in American culture is difficult, though, particularly because Muslims are often tokenized and twisted into a predictable set of narratives. In the wake of the Paris attacks, for example, the debates followed predictable forms: Is ISIS Islamic, or is it not? Should Muslims push back against extremism more than they have been—a challenge posed not by Republican politicians, but by President Obama?
Even apparently silly examples can sting. “One video that recently popped up that was really problematic for me … was the BuzzFeed video series, ‘I’m Muslim, But...’” said Laila Alawa, one of the co-founders of an opinion and news site called Coming of Faith. In the video, which has gotten more than 30 million views on Facebook, people stand up and say things like, “I’m Muslim, but I’m not a terrorist,” or “I’m Muslim, but I love Jews.” Alawa said she saw a lot of Muslims sharing the video. “They were excited by a media outlet that was giving them a chance to speak with their voices. But was still in essence silencing every other thing about them. When you’re saying ‘I’m Muslim, but,’ it’s like saying, ‘I’m a drug dealer, but...’”
This video is a mild, Millennial version of the Muslim public guilting that has come out in waves since the Paris attacks—Muslims performatively identifying and defying the blatant stereotypes about their religion, no matter how little their beliefs or communities or actions resemble one another’s. In every version of this performance, whether urgent or relatively anodyne, there is a genuine question. Should shared religious beliefs create a sense of responsibility, such that Muslims are expected to be the loudest voices in publicly protesting Islamist terrorism—especially when those beliefs are only distantly shared, as the vast majority of Muslims loudly deny the Islamic State’s interpretation of the Koran?
Alawa says no. “I don’t believe in apologizing [for] or condemning the actions of people who are, frankly, pieces of shit who happen to call themselves Muslims,” she said. Islam, like most religions, is not centralized and standardized; just because one group draws certain lessons from a set of texts doesn’t mean other groups believe and practice anything similar. The beliefs of ISIS are antithetical to American democracy; that does not mean Islam is as well.
“I think that coming out and publishing an apology recognizes that we’re not a part of the American diaspora,” Alawa said, “and instead tells America that we’re still not a part of it.”
“I don’t believe in apologizing or condemning the actions of people who are, frankly, pieces of shit who happen to call themselves Muslims."
Muslims are fundamentally not American, or need to prove themselves American: This is the latent idea lurking in most calls for Muslims to speak out or do some self-searching or acknowledge that ISIS also draws from Islamic texts. It is the basis for rejecting Muslim refugees, no matter how deftly politicians try to hide behind the excuse of “security.” And it is the dog whistle behind rhetoric from Trump, Carson, and others—Americans should fear Muslims, no matter how diverse and radically different from ISIS most members of that group may be.
It is, in a word, bigotry, and while it’s clearly visible right now, it is an every day fact of Muslim identity in American life. Alawa is one woman, representing one perspective, who is trying in a small way to make a different public space for Muslims in America. At Coming of Faith, she is amplifying and cultivating a cohort of young, female, mostly minority writers—including a significant number of Muslims who “just happen” to practice Islam. “My devious plan is for us to repackage our name [and] keep growing. People have already forgotten that we started out as mostly Muslim,” she said. They will be writers who can choose not to talk about extremism, because it is basically irrelevant to who they are and what they believe.
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Much Ado about Nothing Topic Tracking: Mistaken Identity
Act 1, Scenes 1-3
Mistaken Identity 1: Benedick teases Leonato about Hero's true parentage. Leonato makes a friendly joke about Hero, his daughter, saying that he knows Hero is his daughter because her mother has told him many times that it is so. Although Don Pedro and Leonato are speaking friendly and in jest, Benedick's remarks about the identity of Hero's father could cause a mistaken identity to ensue. This instance of possible mistaken identity causes no further plot movement in the play, but is a light example of the problems to come. In addition, parentage could never be truly identified at this time, so the identity of a child's father was often called in to question.
Mistaken Identity 2: Don Pedro tells Claudio that he will dress in a costume and pretend to be Claudio, so to speak. He will woo Hero for himself and then turn her over to Claudio. This confusion of identity will cause slight problems for the friends during the party.
Mistaken Identity 3: Leonato and Antonio believe to have overheard the prince's conversation with Claudio. They think that the prince is in love with Hero and plans to woo her for himself, not for Claudio. They instruct Hero to accept the proposition of the prince and do not know that Claudio is the man in love with Hero.
Act 2, Scenes 1-3
Mistaken Identity 4: Claudio temporarily assumes the role of Benedick. He is in costume, as is everyone else at the party, and therefore can pretend to be any man he chooses. Don John and Borachio tell Claudio (mistakenly represented as Benedick) that the prince woos Hero for himself. Not only is Claudio supposedly mistaken for Benedick, but he also mistakes the prince's purpose in wooing Hero. This confusion and mistaking of identity causes Claudio to become enraged and jealous.
Mistaken Identity 5: Don John tells Borachio of his plan to cause mischief. The root of his evil scheme lies in the mistaking of identities by the principle players in the plot. He intends to instruct Borachio to show affection towards one another in plain view at Hero's window and call Margaret by the name of Hero. This intended mistaking of identity is designed to provoke anger and destroy a marriage.
Act 3, Scenes 1-5
Mistaken Identity 6: A drunk Borachio proudly tells Conrade of his affair of the evening. He mistook Margaret for Hero on purpose so that the prince and Claudio would see the encounter from a window. He also explains how the two honest men believed what they saw and completely mistook Margaret for Hero.
Act 4, Scenes 1-2
Mistaken Identity 7: Friar Francis tells Leonato, Benedick, Beatrice, Antonio, and Hero his plan to ensure the honor of Hero's name. Everyone in Messina will believe Hero to be dead because of the slander she endured at her wedding; her name and her blessed life will be remembered well. Although different people are not confused in this scenario, one person's life is mistaken for death.
Act 5, Scenes 1-4
Mistaken Identity 8: When Antonio and Leonato confront Claudio and Don Pedro for the death of Hero, the two young soldiers again hold firm to their belief that they witnessed Hero with another man. The mistaken identity of Hero has not changed over time because they return to the fact that they witnessed the disloyalty with their own eyes. They believe their sight would not fail them to identify the true culprits.
Mistaken Identity 9: Leonato tells Claudio that he will be exonerated if he marries his niece, Antonio's daughter, who is supposedly a carbon copy of Hero. Claudio promises to do so in the morning. Hero's identity, once again, will be mistaken for a false identical cousin. Claudio is also mistaken in his belief that Hero is dead and that this niece is truly another person.
Mistaken Identity 10: As Claudio places the epitaph on Hero's monument, he is in mourning. He believes Hero to be dead. This mistaken identity is again, not of distinct people, but of the life and death of one person.
Mistaken Identity 11: When Hero unmasks herself at the new wedding, everyone in Messina is shocked. At first Claudio believes Hero to be Antonio's daughter, mistaking her identity by believing the rumors. However, he realizes that she is alive and that Hero's identity is true. She is innocent and very much alive. This wedding proves all mistaken identities to be transformed to truth. All confusion that led up to this point is now history and Hero and Claudio plan to marry.
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Though the Irish have been celebrating the feast day of St. Patrick for centuries, the first St. Patrick's Day parade took place in the United States and not in Ireland. In 1762, Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through New York City on March 17 in commemoration of St. Patrick. Today the New York City St. Patrick's Day parade is the largest parade in the United States, with more than 150,000 participants.
Nearly 35 million U.S. residents claim Irish ancestry. That number is seven times the population of Ireland. Twenty-three percent of Massachusetts residents trace their ancestry to Ireland.
The U.S. Census Bureau notes that there are more than 144,000 current U.S. residents who were born in Ireland.
Irish soda bread gets its unique name from the use of baking soda instead of yeast as a leavening agent.
Though many assume corned beef is a traditional Irish dish, it's not. In fact, corned beef was used by Irish immigrants in New York City as a substitute for Irish bacon, which was more expensive.
Courtesy of Metro Creative
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NanoRacks-Ames Fruit-Fly Experiment (NanoRacks-AFEX) - 09.24.15
Fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) have similar genetic patterns to humans and are important models for research in genetics, developmental biology and neurobiology. NanoRacks-Ames Fruit-Fly Experiment (NanoRacks-AFEX) studies neurobehavioral changes that occur in fruit flies during spaceflight, using a stress resistant mutant fly population and comparing with a wild type control one. Results will allow scientists to quantify spaceflight-related biological changes, improving our understanding of how organisms adapt to microgravity. Science Results for Everyone
Information Pending Experiment Details
OpNom: NanoRacks Module-31
Sharmila Bhattacharya, Ph.D., NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, United States
Amy Gresser, Ph.D., NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, United States
Chetan Angadi, M.S., NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, United States
NanoRacks LLC, Webster, TX, United States
Sponsoring Space Agency
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
National Laboratory (NL)
Scientific Discovery, Space Exploration
ISS Expedition Duration 1
September 2014 - March 2015
Previous ISS Missions
- It is important to map and quantify the behavior and responses of multicellular animals to the novel environment of space.
- NanoRacks-Ames Fruit-Fly Experiment (NanoRacks-AFEX) determines whether some genetic variants are more resistant to stresses from spaceflight than others.
- NanoRacks-AFEX examines whether after being in space for a period of time, the animals can adjust or acclimate to their environment better than when they were first introduced to this new environment.
Previous data from our laboratory as well as from other teams have shown that spaceflight induces oxidative stress changes in biological organisms from Drosophila melanogaster (fruit flies) to humans. Previous spaceflight data obtained by our team, in collaboration with BioServe Space Technologies, has also shown us that there is a change in behavioral responses of flies in space. However, the imaging data from that mission was not optimized for use with small organisms such as flies. Our team of students have therefore developed a habitat with a behavioral monitoring video system as well as lights, carbon dioxide, oxygen, temperature, and relative humidity sensors, fans for air circulation, air vents and a microcontroller alongside a fly living container in order to create a self-contained payload for spaceflight. This habitat accommodates two populations of flies to be maintained for the entire duration of the mission. Video data and environmental data are collected throughout the mission and stored within the habitat, but also have the capability to download via STELLA during the mission. A population of stress resistant genetic mutant line Drosophila melanogaster, shown to be resistant to hypergravity during ground testing, along with its isogenic control line are flown on SpX-4. The ensuing data allows us to quantify changes in behavior in spaceflight as well as to assess the role of oxidative stress pathways in the regulation of neurobehavioral responses to spaceflight.
Previous experiments have shown spaceflight induces oxidative stress in fruit flies, humans and other organisms. In addition, previous research has demonstrated behavioral changes in fruit flies living in microgravity. This investigation includes a self-contained fruit fly habitat, allowing scientists to study the flies and how their behaviors change in space. One group of flies has been genetically modified to resist stress and the other is unmodified, which allows scientists to compare how stress pathways may be related to the observed behavioral changes.
Oxidative stress is thought to cause a number of diseases in humans, from cancer to neurodegenerative diseases. Oxidative stress refers to the body’s ability to repair damage to its cells; when the process is disturbed, free radicals and other compounds can cause damage to DNA and other parts of a cell. Understanding the connection between oxidative stress and neurobiological changes could shed light on the role oxidative stress plays in diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, understanding how animals acclimate to new environments is of general interest to biologists.
Activate NanoRacks Module-31 no later than ISS docking + 5 days by plugging the Module into NanoRacks Platform-1 or -2.
Activate the experiment no later than ISS docking + 5 days by plugging the Module into NanoRacks Platform-1 or -2, per existing standard powered Platform/Module operations. Then, pack for soft-stow return right before vehicle return.
Decadal Survey Recommendations
Information Pending^ back to top
Information Pending^ back to top
Diagram of the NanoRacks-Ames Fruit-Fly Experiment (NanoRacks-AFEX) habitat. Image courtesy of NanoRacks LLC.
+ View Larger Image
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A firsthand account of the plot to assassinate Hitler, written by its last survivor.
What if Hitler could have been eliminated and his tyranny stopped short? Anyone who has ever wondered will be fascinated by Valkyrie, the posthumous memoir by Philipp Freiherr von Boeselager, the longest surviving member of the assassination plot against Hitler. (Von Boeselager died last May.)
In von Boeselager’s concise account, every sentence contributes to one of two goals: either to educate readers about one of the most important resistance movements of our time or to deepen the understanding of the human lives at the heart of the story.
There are other histories of the conspiracy against Hitler that offer greater detail of the events in which von Boeselager wasn’t directly involved. But in his memoir, with precise language, concrete memory, and impressive metacognitive skill, von Boeselager adds an invaluable element of personal perspective.
The first seven chapters are devoted to background on von Boeselager and his closest brother, Georg. The brothers grew up, joined the Army, and served in France and Russia, even as Nazism was undermining the Germany that their family had loved for generations. Von Boeselager defends German patriotism and separates it from Hitler’s agenda. “We had no more cause to be ashamed of wanting to restore Germany,” he writes, “than had the French who, in 1914, wanted to return Alsace and Lorraine to France.”
Only gradually did von Boeselager become convinced of the need to rebel, he writes. The news of Kristallnacht reached him as a young cavalryman, in his “hermetically sealed” training camp. But this one incident did not indicate to him or his comrades the extent of the criminality taking over their country.
In this respect, von Boeselager insists, he is telling the story of the majority of Germans, who did not “let” Hitler come to power, but who, rather, failed to comprehend the unimaginable in time to stop it. None of von Boeselager’s colleagues were Nazi sympathizers. His interactions with Nazis were always with high-ranking officials and each sped him to the conclusion that Hitler must be assassinated.
A “combination” of experiences led to the difficult decision to commit treason. When von Boeselager was wounded in Russia, he barely survived a deplorable three-week transport to hospital, and was left with “very pessimistic conclusions” about the competence of the military leadership. Finally he met with Nazi officer Erich van dem Bach-Zelewski, who told him of the intentional nature of atrocities carried out by the SS.
Previously, von Boeselager writes, he had imagined these were tragic mistakes made in the confusion of battle. Now he became convinced that the Nazi regime was committing genocide, in addition to killing German soldiers with its hubris and military ignorance. It had to be stopped.
The covertly rebellious von Boeselager was lucky to find himself among like-minded officers in Army Group Center, far from Berlin, on the Russian front. Maj. Gen. Henning von Tresckow, who organized the resistance and drafted the plan called Valkyrie – the system of orders that were to take effect after Hitler’s death – brought Boeselager into the conspiracy and is described with much admiration.
The great achievement of “Valkyrie” is to render a portrait of moral justice within the ranks of the 1940s German Army. Contrary to the common association of the Army with an inhuman regime, “Valkyrie” defends the honor of German military men. Even late in the war, when the military situation portended Germany’s defeat, Tresckow asserted the importance of the plot.
“The assassination has to take place, whatever the cost,” von Boeselager recalls Tresckow saying, “even if it doesn’t succeed, we have to try ... to show the whole world, and history, that the German resistance movement dared to gamble everything, even at the risk of its own life.”
The world’s longing to turn back time on Hitler’s reign of terror is only natural, and it is piqued by the nearness of project Valkyrie’s success – “Valkyrie” reminds us that Hitler was thrice in the presence of bombs designed to kill him, the last of which only missed its mark by a few feet.
But Boeselager’s book doesn’t tarry in the realm of might-have-been. Instead, it explores reality – the importance of making accessible to future generations the full truth of history.
Dan Fritz is a marketing coordinator for the Monitor.
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Biography of Heinrich Köbner
Heinrich Köbner was one of the outstanding dermatologists of the nineteenth century. He studied in Berlin from 1855 to 1859 and obtained his medical doctorate at Breslau in 1859. After hospital service in Vienna with Ferdinand von Hebra (1816-1880) and Paris with Alfred Hardy (1811-1893) he settled in Breslau where he initiated the first policlinic for syphilis and diseases of the skin in 1861.
Köbner received his venia docendi (habilitation) at the University of Breslau in 1869 and in 1872 was appointed to the newly established chair. In 1876 he also became director of the university policlinic for diseases of the skin and syphilis which had been established at his initiative. However, due to health problems, he was forced to make a sustained stay at southern health resorts and to lay down his positions. He then moved to Berlin where in 1884 he built a new policlinic at which ha gave courses for physicians.
His initial observations and studies of the phenomenon that bears his name resulted from having seen patients who had developed psoriasis at sites of excoriations, horse bites, and tattoos. He presented the phenomenon at a meeting of the Silesian Society for National Culture in 1872.
With a flair for the dramatic Köbner always attracted an interested audience and is reported to have demonstrated various skin infections resulting from self inoculation from patient's skin to his forearms and chest. During his lecture demonstrations he exposed various parts of his anatomy to convince his audience. His main interests were in tuberculosis, syphilis, and leprosy. He was succeeded by Oscar Simon (1845-1882) with whom Neisser trained and who in turn succeeded him when Simon died with carcinoma of the stomach in 1882. Neisser was then 27 years old.
In 1893 Heinrich Köbner was elected member of the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina. In 1897 he was appointed Geheimer Medicinalrat.
We thank Karsten Lund-Pedersen, Denmark; and Professor Dr. Christoph Hoeller, Vienna, for information submitted.
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World History Homework Four Answers - Student Eighteen
World History Homework 4
2. The Roman Republic started around 509 B.C. And ended around 215 B.C. After that the Roman Empire just fully came in. conquering everything in their path.
- Roman Empire began in 27 B.C., not 215 B.C. (Minus 1). Otherwise good.
3. The Romans leaned more towards foot soldiers while the Byzantines leaned towards horses. The Romans were eventually taught about Christ where as the Byzantines were not.
- Interesting, but didn't the Byzantines learn Christianity too?
4. It is significant because if the Romans had not conquered the whole world and everyone knew Latin then Christ and his disciples might have not been able to teach everyone they did.
- Right, except note that many learned Christianity in Greek.
5. The Pax Romana also known as “The Roman Peace” was a period of about 200 years where there was no civil war in Rome.
6. The economic decline defiantly reminds me of the USA today because we are in one right now.
- Good, except "definitely", not "defiantly".
7. I think that God was preparing a way for Jesus. The main language was latin at the time and that was the language Jesus grew up with.
- Not sure that Jesus really grew up with Latin in Judea, but he could have.
H2. I think that the some of the laws were good but if anyone disagreed the king had Roman legions to send to anyone who was not obeying him. So they both worked for each other.
H5. Hannibal’s trek over the mountains was an amazing feat that help him win most of the Punic wars. If he just had a few more men with him then he could have crushed Rome totally and history would have been changed forever.
- Excellent point, may use as model. But note that the trek over the mountains was in only one Punic war.
H6. Attila had the mind of a genius. His soldiers rode on horses with little bows and arrows. The bows were small but their force was amazing. He just rode up and stayed out of range of the legions spears then fired at them. Once they got too close he would hide then come at them a different way.
- Superb again.
- Insightful answers. 69/70. Well done.--Andy Schlafly 15:35, 3 March 2009 (EST)
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Small Pox - Variola
Category: ADMINISTRATION OF REMEDIES.
Source: An Epitome Of Homeopathic Healing Art
This disease begins with pain in the head and back, chilly sensations,
followed by a high fever, so similar in all respects to a severe attack
of Bilious or "winter" fever, that it is difficult or impossible to
distinguish it with certainty, as Small Pox. The fact of the prevalence
of the disease at the time, and the exposure of the patient, may lead
the Physician and friends to suspect Small Pox. There is one very
striking symptom of Small Pox, however, that exists from the beginning,
which, though it may be present in fever simply, is not uniformly so.
This is a severe and constant aching _pain in the small of the back_.
The headache is also constant.
The Small Pox is of two varieties or degrees, _distinct_ and
_confluent_. The _distinct_ is when the pustules are separated from each
other, each one a distinct elevation, with more or less space between
them not affected by the eruption.
The _confluent_ is where the pustules spread out from their sides and
run together, covering the whole surface as one sore.
It may be distinct on some parts, as on the body, and confluent on
others, as the arms, face, and parts most exposed to the air.
In the _Distinct_ variety the fever continues without abatement until
the eruption appears, when it entirely subsides, and that quite
suddenly. The eruption comes out about the third day of the attack,
sometimes not discoverable until the end of the third or beginning of
the fourth day. The eruption is at first very slight, beginning with
small red pimples on the forehead, upper part of the cheeks, neck and
upper part of the breast, extending by degrees to the arms, and other
parts of the body and limbs. About the end of the fourth or forepart of
the fifth day, the eruption is complete.
There is a symptom, not mentioned in the books, which will often
determine the disease before the occurrence of any eruption. It is the
appearance of hard shot-like pimples, to be _felt under the skin_ in the
palms of the hands, while there is, as yet, no trace of eruption to be
seen upon the surface.
On the eighth or ninth day, the eruptions become vessicular, have
flattened tops, and contain a limpid fluid. The parts continue to
swell, the eruptions to enlarge, and become filled with purulent matter,
having a dark color at the top, up to about the fourteenth or fifteenth
day, when they begin to flat down, to dry up, and some of the scabs
become loose. At this time, some fever arises, often quite severe, with
headache and other inflammatory symptoms. If the eruption is very
severe, fever will be of corresponding violence, and lighter or wanting
when the eruption is mild. This fever rarely lasts more than twenty-four
hours, from which time the patient rapidly recovers.
In the _Confluent_ variety, all the symptoms are more violent, the fever
continuing after the eruption begins. The pustules burst early, and run
into each other, covering nearly or quite the whole skin; the surface
swells and turns black or dark brown, the lungs are more or less
irritated, producing cough, and not unfrequently the stomach is
nauseated, and vomiting ensues.
If the patient survives the irritation up to the fifteenth or sixteenth
day, when the _secondary fever_ sets in, he is liable to be taken off
by an affection of the brain or lungs, during this fever. If he
recovers, his whole surface, especially that part exposed to air, is
As it is not often known for a certainty, in the early febrile stage,
that it is the small pox, the treatment will be first adopted that would
be proper for a like fever arising from other causes. But in all my
observations in this disease, and they extend to several hundred cases,
I have not found in a single instance, any of the ordinary fever
remedies, such as _Aconite_ and _Bell._, which would be applicable for
such symptoms in an ordinary case, to do any good in small pox. They are
directed, however, for these symptoms by the authorities, in the febrile
stage of the small pox; but I am quite sure they are not the proper
From the great similarity, the almost absolute identity of small pox
_headache_ and _backache_, with the same symptoms developed by the
_Macrotys racem._ as well as the nausea and restlessness produced by the
drug, I was led several years ago to the conclusion that this, or the
_Macrotin_ was valuable in small pox. Not only so, but during the
prevalence of small pox in Cincinnati, to an extraordinary degree in the
winter of 1849-50, I treated about one hundred cases, including both
sexes, and all ages, from infants a few weeks old, to very old persons,
giving the _Macrotin_ to all, and had the good fortune to see _all_ my
patients recover. Since that time I have prescribed it for every case
Having then, been entirely successful in so many cases, with this
medicine, I am not inclined at this time to give any other the
preference. I must admit, however, that though my patients all
recovered, I was not able to greatly abridge the duration of the
disease, nor to prevent the development of all the stages in their
proper order, as is _claimed_ by M. TESTE, for his use of _Mercurius
cor._ and _Causticum_. I was satisfied with so far modifying the
symptoms, as to enable my patients to live through, and come _out well
in the end_. I would then direct, if small pox is suspected, the patient
having been exposed to contract it, or from the peculiarity of the
symptoms, in the early stage, or when the disease is discovered after
the eruption, to give _Macrotin_ at the first trituration, in one grain
doses, once in two hours, while the fever, headache and backache
continue, after which, during the whole course of the disease, give it
three times a day. This will prevent the development of a dangerous
secondary fever, as well as irritation of the lungs, stomach or bowels.
In addition to this medicine I give the patients daily, from half an
ounce to two ounces of _pure_ (_unrancid_) _Olive oil_. This serves to
prevent the development of pustules in the throat, lungs and stomach; is
more or less nutritious, and keeps the bowels in a healthy condition.
Wash the surface once a day in weak soap suds, following it with a bath
of milk and water, and keep cloths moistened with warm milk and water,
constantly upon all parts that are exposed to the air, lubricating the
surface with _Olive oil_ after the bath of milk and water. This keeps
the surface quite comfortable.
The best diet is corn or oat meal mush and molasses, to be taken in
small quantities. Cold water is the proper drink, though it should not
be very cold.
The room should, at all times, be well ventillated, but in cold or cool
weather, sufficient fire must be kept up, to keep the room warm and dry.
A temperature of about 65 deg. is the best. Hardly any thing can be worse
for a small pox patient than to be in a cold or damp room, and to
breathe _cold_ air. Uniform temperature is important.
If the eruption is tardy about appearing, or after it is out, a
recession takes place, the Alcoholic Vapor bath will soon bring it out.
(See Rheumatism **p. 30).
Occasionally the feet and limbs below the knees, will swell
prodigiously, and become extremely painful, causing the principal
suffering. For this, wrap the feet and legs in cloths wet in a strong
solution of Epsom salts, quite warm, and cover with flannels so as to
keep them warm. This will afford immediate relief, and reduce the
swelling in a day or two. The finely pulverized Epsom salts, dry,
sprinkled on the pustules, will very often prevent pitting. It is the
safest and surest remedy of which I have any knowledge.
Previous: Asiatic Cholera
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I created an improved version of this project which can be found here:
The basic idea behind this project is that it is a simple addition to your workspace that encourages focus to help an individual work on their task with less distraction. An added benefit is that it also serves as a brain trainer with extended usage. Though this is just going to be a picture instructable sharing the basic idea of what I did and the concepts behind how it works, I am working on a more complete step by step instructable that go more in-depth. This is just so that I can share the general idea and hopefully give most people enough information that they can build it themselves. Also, this is the first prototype of this idea so there might be some bugs, but I intend to keep working on it and I will update this Instructable as soon as I can!
The way it works is the individual wears the headband from a Mattel Mindflex to measure the amount of focus they are maintaining. The individual then places a clipboard framed by 2 intense led strips under their task at hand. Then whenever he or she loses focus the lights will flash on, immediately redirecting the individual’s attention back to the task. This serves to not only inform the individual of their loss of focus, but also to instinctively redirect their focus back to their original task, allowing for more efficient work.
For this project I used
-A Mattel Mindflex
-A piece of Plexiglas (as the clipboard)
-A reed relay
-2 9v batteries
-4 AA batteries
-An extension cord
-A piece of cardboard, some wire and a tube of paper
-Blue led strips
For the build I just placed one end of the paper tube on the red focus indicator light on the mindflex, then placed the night light photocell in the other end. Then I hooked up two wires to the night lights led leads and connected them to my reed relay. Then I place the reed relay into a circuit with the 4 AA batteries hooked up to my larger relay, so that when the night light turns on it will open the reed and subsequently open up the second relay. Next I wired the 9 volts together and to the two led strips, and then placed my larger relays into that circuit, so when it opens, the led strips turn on. So when all finished, what happens is as long as the red light in the paper tube with the night light photocell is on (because you are focused), the strip lights stay off. However once the red light turns on and the night light senses the darkness in the tube, it turns on its light. This will then open the reed relay which will open the larger relay, which opens the strip lights circuit and turns them on. To use, you just put on the mindflex headset, turn on the mindflex and plug in the night light and start working!
- This workspace also can be used to help an individual with ADD/ADHD focus and improve focus.
-You can customize your acceptable amount of focus by placing the paper tube on a different led (on the mindflex).
See it in action at :
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There are many things that can make your tongue sore or cause painful tongue bumps to form, including:
- Trauma. Accidentally biting your tongue or scalding it on something straight out of the oven can result in a sore tongue until the damage heals. Grinding or clenching the teeth can also irritate the sides of the tongue and cause it to become painful.
- Smoking. Smoking excessively can irritate your tongue and make it sore.
- Canker sores. Many people will develop these mouth ulcers on the tongue at some point in their life. The cause is unknown, although they can be worse during periods of heightened stress.
- Burning tongue syndrome. Some post-menopausal women develop this syndrome, which makes the tongue feel as if it has been burned.
- Enlarged papillae. If one or more of your taste buds becomes inflamed or irritated, it can swell and form a painful bump on your tongue.
- Certain medical conditions. Medical conditions, including diabetes and anemia, can have a sore tongue as a symptom.
- Oral cancer. Though most sore tongues are nothing to worry about, you should consult a doctor if you have a lump or sore on your tongue that doesn't go away within a week or two. Many oral cancers don't hurt in the early stages, so don't assume a lack of pain means nothing is wrong.
This answer should not be considered medical advice...This answer should not be considered medical advice and should not take the place of a doctor’s visit. Please see the bottom of the page for more information or visit our Terms and Conditions.
Archived: March 20, 2014
Thanks for your feedback.
2480 of 3365 found this helpful
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| 0.942744 | 358 | 2.765625 | 3 |
From the Florida Online Reading Professional Development site: http://forpd.ucf.edu/strategies/strattext.html
Story Mapping (September 2004)
(Developed by Zygouris-Coe, V. & Glass, C., 2004)
Schema theory explains how our previous experiences, knowledge, emotions, and
understandings affect what and how we learn (Harvey & Goudvis, 2000). Schema
is the background knowledge and experience readers bring to the text. Good readers
draw on prior knowledge and experience to help them understand what they are
reading and are thus able to use that knowledge to make connections. Struggling
readers often move directly through a text without stopping to consider whether
the text makes sense based on their own background knowledge, or whether their
knowledge can be used to help them understand confusing or challenging materials.
By teaching students how to connect to text they are able to better understand
what they are reading (Harvey & Goudvis, 2000). Accessing prior knowledge
and experiences is a good starting place when teaching strategies because every
student has experiences, knowledge, opinions, and emotions that they can draw
Keene and Zimmerman
(1997) concluded that students comprehend better when they make different kinds
connections are highly personal connections that a reader makes between a piece
of reading material and the reader’s own experiences or life. An example
of a text-to-self connection might be, "This story reminds me of a vacation
we took to my grandfather’s farm."
reading, readers are reminded of other things that they have read, other books
by the same author, stories from a similar genre, or perhaps on the same topic.
These types of connections are text-to-text connections. Readers
gain insight during reading by thinking about how the information they are reading
connects to other familiar text. “This character has the same problem
that I read about in a story last year,” would be an example of a text-to-text
connections are the larger connections that a reader brings to a reading situation.
We all have ideas about how the world works that goes far beyond our own personal
experiences. We learn about things through television, movies, magazines, and
newspapers. Often it is the text-to-world connections that teachers are trying
to enhance when they teach lessons in science, social studies, and literature.
An example of a text-to-world connection would be when a reader says, "I
saw a program on television that talked about things described in this article."
Cris Tovani (2000)
offers reasons why connecting to text helps readers:
- It helps readers
understand how characters feel and the motivation behind their actions.
- It helps readers
have a clearer picture in their head as they read thus making the reader more
- It keeps the
reader from becoming bored while reading.
- It sets a purpose
for reading and keeps the reader focused.
- Readers can
see how other readers connected to the reading.
- It forces readers
to become actively involved.
- It helps readers
remember what they have read and ask questions about the text.
How to Use
use this strategy, teachers should spend time modeling for students how to make
meaningful connections. The easiest connection to teach is text-to-self.
Teachers should model text-to-self connections initially with selections that
are relatively close to the student's personal experiences. A key phrase that
prompts text-to-self connections is, "this reminds me of...." Next,
teachers should model how to make text-to-text connections.
Sometimes when we read, we are reminded of other texts we have read. Encourage
students to consider the variety of texts they have experienced which will help
them understand the new selection. Finally, teachers should model how to make
text-to-world connections. When teachers suspect that students
may lack the ability to make meaningful connections, classroom instruction will
be necessary to bridge the gap between reading experiences and author assumptions.
Building the necessary background knowledge is a crucial means for providing
text-to-world support and may be used to pre-empt reading failure. Harvey and
Goudvis (2000) caution that merely making connections is not sufficient. Students
may make tangential connections that can distract them from the text. Throughout
instruction, students need to be challenged to analyze how their connections
are contributing to their understanding of the text. Text connections should
lead to text comprehension.
Below are some examples of connecting statements for students
to use as a reference or teachers can use them as prompts for
This part reminds
I felt like...(character) when I....
If that happened to me I would....
This book reminds me of...(another text) because....
I can relate to...(part of text) because one time....
Something similar happened to me when....
Below are some
examples of questions that can be used to facilitate student
What does this remind me of in my life?
What is this similar to in my life?
How is this different from my life?
Has something like this ever happened to me?
How does this relate to my life?
What were my feelings when I read this?
What does this remind me of in another book I’ve read?
How is this text similar to other things I’ve read?
How is this different from other books I’ve read?
Have I read about something like this before?
What does this remind me of in the real world?
How is this text similar to things that happen in the real world?
How is this different from things that happen in the real world?
How did that part relate to the world around me?
Ideas for Assessment:
The Making Connections strategy will help teachers assess how
students use prior knowledge to understand text. In terms of informal assessment,
teachers can use the organizers to gain insights into students’ connections
as they are reading. The use of this simple strategy on an ongoing basis will
allow teachers to provide additional (differentiated) instruction and support
to students who need additional instruction. In addition, teachers will able
to plan for further instruction. This strategy can be used with varied texts.
for assessing this strategy is the Major Point Interview found in Mosaic
of Thought (Keene & Zimmerman, 1997). This assessment can be given
as an interview or in written response form. The Major Point Interview assesses
the student’s ability to use the strategy through a series of questions.
The students’ answers are scored using a rubric.
Buehl, D. Comprehension Teaching Learning Activity Articles: "Yeah, that
reminds me of...." Retrieved October 6, 2004 from http://wilearns.state.wi.us/apps/default.asp?cid=710
Reading Professional Development (2004). Lesson 8: Scaffolding Students’
Comprehension and Guiding Students Toward Independence in Reading. University
of Central Florida, Orlando, FL.
Harvey, S. &
Goudvis, A. (2000). Strategies that work: Teaching comprehension to enhance
understanding. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.
Keene, E. &
Zimmerman, S. (1997). Mosaic of Thought. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Tovani, C. (2000).
I read it, but I don’t get it: Comprehension strategies for adolescent
readers. Portland, ME: Steinhouse.
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Last modified: 2002-01-12 by pascal gross
Keywords: switzerland | navy | suisse-outremer | panalpina | oceana shipping |
Links: FOTW homepage | search | disclaimer and copyright | write us | mirrors
by António Martins
During WW II a Swiss Naval Ensign was adopted with the proportions 2:3.
The National Flag of Switzerland is square.
Nick Artimovich, 12 February 1996
It is used only by the Swiss
commercial fleet outside Switzerland. On the lakes the usual square flag
Harald Müller, 12 February 1996
Switzerland does have a small navy of sorts. Lakes Konstanz and
Leman (Geneva) form international frontiers, and their navies consist
of a few patrol craft. Switzerland also has a major Rhine commercial
fleet (you can see the Swiss flag flying all the way to the Netherlands),
which military patrol craft in time of war. Both the navy and air force
are branches of the army (like the infantry and artillery). The air
force is 1st in Europe -- so good that Israel used it as their model.
T. F. Mills, 12 February 1996
One of three extracts from a memorandum sent to the Marine Department of the Board of
Trade in connection with revisions to the pages of national ensigns in the International
Code List published in 1879. [Public Record Office MT 9/183]
Proposal of the Government of Switzerland to establish a Swiss maritime flag.
1864. "Switzerland has no distinctive maritime flag. Her Majesty's Minister in Berne observed to the President of the Confederation that in the case where the merchant marine would not have the protection of a military one, the measure might lead to political complications in that while the position of Switzerland and her guaranteed neutrality induced all Foreign Powers under existing circumstances to extend to her citizens protection and goodwill, yet the use of the flag afloat might bring them into altercations with belligerent Powers."
The question was referred to Admiral Harris who replied that "HM Government could only view with satisfaction on the ocean, and in the ports of the British Empire the flag of an industrious and friendly power, and that in time of peace no question were likely to arise which would not admit of easy adjustment. However graver questions might arise in time of war in consequence of Switzerland possessing no port of her own, and from the ships bearing her flag hailing from ports of a belligerent. Neutrality guaranteed to the territory of Switzerland could not be held to afford exceptional privileges to the
merchant vessels of Swiss citizens, and the power proposed to be given to Swiss consuls to register vessels provisionally was considered likely to give rise to grave international difficulties. The question of enforcement of Swiss municipal law on board such vessels, and the manner in which respect to the Swiss Flag could be ensured were matters for the Swiss Government."
Law Officers' Opinion. "The proposal is novel and though Swiss Marine must necessarily be dependent upon the use of ports of other countries, there is no principle in International Law which ought to lead other countries to refuse to recognise the flag of an inland state, when used either by public ships of that state, or by the ships of its subjects under the authority of its Government upon the high seas."
Proposal adjourned by Swiss Legislature to the following session, and abandoned in 1866.
David Prothero, 17 April 2001
It would seem peculiarly British to suppose that a state needed a distinctive ensign--different from the national flag--for display at
sea, since most other countries even then used the same flag for both purposes.
The more relevant point is that subsequent treaties including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea explicitly recognize the right of landlocked states to use the high seas under their own flags.
Joe McMillan, 17 April 2001
Red pennant with a white cross voided througout and a Swiss cross in canton.
Ivan Sache, 5 August 2000
Some of the Swiss maritime companies (past and/or present from a quick search) of which I am aware:
Acomarit Services Maritimes S.A. - Genf
Alpina Reederei AG - Basel
Arabian Maritime Lines - Fribourg
Atlanship S.A. - La Tour-De-Peilz
Contal Shipping Ltd. - Zurich
Ermefer S.A. - Fribourg
Keller Shipping - Basel
Massoel Gestion Maritime SA - Genève
MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A. - Genf
Navylloyd A.G. - Basel
Norasia Shipping Services S.A. - Fribourg
Oceana Shipping - Coire
Rondeau Holdings A.G. - Wollerau
St. Gotthard Schiffahrts A.G. (H.H. Thyssen-Bornemiza) - Chur
Suisse-Atlantique Societé de Navigation Maritime S.A. - Lausanne
Suisse-Outremer Reederei AG - Zürich
Suisse-Outremer S.A. de Gerance et d'Affretement Maritimes - Geneva
Reederei Zürich A.G. - Zürich
Phil Nelson, 6 October 2000
by Phil Nelson
by Jorge Candeias
Blue with a white logo centered.
The logo is composed of a winged human figure standing on a disc holding something that might be a sail.
Jorge Candeias, 6 March 1999
by Phil Nelson
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STANFORD, Calif. Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have succeeded in transforming skin cells directly into oligodendrocyte precursor cells, the cells that wrap nerve cells in the insulating myelin sheaths that help nerve signals propagate.
The current research was done in mice and rats. If the approach also works with human cells, it could eventually lead to cell therapies for diseases like inherited leukodystrophies disorders of the brain's white matter and multiple sclerosis, as well as spinal cord injuries. The study will be published online April 14 in Nature Biotechnology.
Without myelin to insulate neurons, signals sent down nerve cell axons quickly lose power. Diseases that attack myelin, such as multiple sclerosis, result in nerve signals that are not as efficient and cannot travel as far as they should. Myelin disorders can affect nerve signal transmission in the brain and spinal cord, leading to cognitive, motor and sensory problems.
Previous research in rodent disease models has shown that transplanted oligodendrocyte precursor cells derived from embryonic stem cells and from human fetal brain tissue can successfully create myelin sheaths around nerve cells, sometimes leading to dramatic improvements in symptoms. "Unfortunately, the availability of human fetal tissue is extremely limited, and the creation of OPCs from embryonic stem cells is slow and tedious," said the study's senior author, Marius Wernig, MD, assistant professor of pathology and a member of Stanford's Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. "It appeared we wouldn't be able to create enough human OPCs for widespread therapeutic use, so we began to wonder if we could create them directly from skin cells."
Nan Yang, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar in the Wernig laboratory and lead author of the study, pointed out that there is another advantage to using this technique. "By using the patient's own skin cells, we should be able to generate transplantable OPCs that are genetically identical to the patient's natural OPCs," Yang said. "This allows us to avoid the problem of immune rejection, which is a major complication in transplantation medicine."
Last year, Wernig's team successfully created human nerve cells out of skin cells. Other researchers had successfully used a similar process to turn skin cells into embryonic-like cells called induced pluripotent stem cells, and then grow those iPS cells into nerve cells, but Wernig's lab was the first to convert skin cells directly into nerve cells without the intermediate iPS cell step.
The team's current research project also involved directly converting skin cells into OPCs without having to create iPS cells. The researchers showed that mouse and rat skin cells could be directly converted into OPCs, and that these cells would successfully myelinate nerve cells when transplanted into the brains of mice with a myelin disorder.
Next, the team plans to reproduce the research in human cells; if successful, the approach could lay the groundwork for therapies for a wide array of myelin disorders and spinal cord injury.
|Contact: Krista Conger|
Stanford University Medical Center
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Oldest Austrian stamp, cut, 1850.
Stamps (official postage stamps): First introduced in Austria on June 1, 1850 and the first set of Austrian stamps issued in the same year (with coat of arms). In 1851 the world´s first newspaper stamps were issued. Of all these stamps which show the head of Mercury and which are without any declaration of value, the vermilion issue of 1856 is regarded as the rarest and most precious Austrian stamp. The stamps of the 1858 set showing the portrait of Emperor Franz Joseph (embossed printing) were the first serrated Austrian stamps. Over a period of more than 50 years coats of arms, the portraits of the Emperor and Mercury remained the only subjects on Austrian stamps. They were mainly produced in letterpress, later also in intaglio technique. To prevent forgeries watermark paper was used until 1890, later fibre paper was used; from 1901 to 1904 the stamps were given a coat of varnish on diagonal stripes, from 1908 to 1913 glossy chalk-surfaced paper was used, and from 1920 to 1936 paper with a chemical additive which turns red when treated with an alkaline liquid was used. Later a special form of engraving (the picture was engraved into a plate and then removed) was introduced.
Until the Austro-Hungarian Compromise in 1867 Austrian stamps were also valid in Hungary, where they were used even after the establishment of sovereign postal rights until 1871; for this reason the stamps had no inscription. The Austrian stamps for Lombardy (until 1859) and Venetia (until 1866) had the same motifs but the value was indicated in Italian currency; similar rules applied to the Austrian post offices in the Turkish Empire ("Levant"),of which 79 existed until 1914. Austrian stamps were also valid in Liechtenstein; in 1912 they were replaced by stamps with the inscription "Imperial Austrian Post in the Principality of Liechtenstein" which were withdrawn from circulation in 1918. From 1879 Austria issued separate stamps for the occupied territory of Bosnia and Hercegovina (military post).These stamps revolutionised stamp design; the set of stamps showing landscapes designed by K. Moser led in 1906 to a new trend in designing stamps as miniature works of art, which has since then been imitated all around the world. Moser also created the set of stamps issued on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I in 1908 (portraits of the sovereign). The last set of stamps issued in the monarchy was designed in 1916 (imperial crown, portrait of Emperor Karl, coat of arms); in 1918/19 the word "Deutschösterreich" (German-Austria) was printed in black letters over these stamps. The 1922-1924 issue (with denominations up to 10,000 crowns on account of inflation) shows stylised symbols (ear of corn, pliers and hammer, female portrait) according to designs by W. Dachauer. In New York one stamp of Dachauer´s Nibelung set (1926) was awarded the prize of the most beautiful stamp in the world. Until 1938 further stamps, e.g. the charity stamps, were designed by R. Junk, G. Jung and H. Ranzoni, Hans, the Younger. The latter also created the first set of stamps of the Second Republic. This set was issued by the interim government in Vienna and was only valid in the Soviet occupied zone, while the zones of the Western powers used stamps which were brought to Austria (as well as to Italy, France and Germany) by American troops. Later these stamps were overprinted with the word "Porto" and used up in the whole country as surcharge stamps. Along with these stamps the remaining stocks of German stamps (overprinted with the word "Austria") were used. The first permanent set of stamps of the Second Republic was issued in 1945/46 and showed landscapes according to the designs by A. Chmielowski. Due to the currency reform at the end of 1947 this set had to be printed in another colour (same colour for groschen and schilling). All stamps which have been issued so far can still be used to prepay a letter. Several designs on permanent sets of stamps: national costumes (since 1948, drawings by J. Seger), different buildings (from 1957, designs by A. Pilch, H. Strohofer, O. Zeiller), beautiful Austrian landscapes (from 1973, by O. Zeiller), Austrian monasteries (since 1984, by O. Zeiller, W. Pfeiler).
From 1853 to 1900 there were special newspaper stamps, from 1973 to 1983 separate telegraph stamps, in World War I armed forces' stamps, and from 1916 to 1921 express stamps. In 1894 the first surcharge postage stamp (usually called "penalty stamp") was issued; in 1918 the first issue for air mail (as overprint for the route Vienna - Crakow - Lvív - Kiev). The issue of separate stamps for air mail ceased after 1953; the last newspaper stamps were issued in 1922.
All Austrian stamps are printed in the National Printing Shop where stamps for many other countries are also produced. Austrian stamp design has never adhered to any particular art movement since Austria has excellent stamp designers and engravers. As well as high artistic quality, Austria's stamp issuing policy and the excellent services of the Austrian post for stamp collections are reasons for the popularity of Austrian stamps.
Stamp of Bosnia-and-Hercegovina-set of the Austro-Hungarian post, in 1906.
Stamp of the set issued on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the reign of the Emperor Franz Joseph I, in 1908.
Stamp of the First Republic, in 1934.
Stamp of set of landscapes after World War II, in 1945.
Stamp issued on the occasion of Austria's accession to the European Community, in 1995.
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So therefore Our Law of Thelema is justified also of Biology and of Social Science. It is the true Way of Nature, the right Strategy in the Way of Man with his Environment, and the Life of his Soul. —Crowley, Liber Aleph
In a recent issue of Agapé, John Crow wrote a compelling article about compassion and its importance within both Thelema and Buddhism. In this writer’s opinion, he did a good job of briefly explaining how compassion fits within Buddhism which is so relevant to Thelema, since Aleister Crowley was a practitioner of that spiritual path at the time of Liber AL’s reception. Crowley’s understanding of Buddhist compassion is evident in his numerous references to (and admonitions against) the concept of losing one’s self as a component of becoming a compassionate Bodhisattva.
However, brother Crow’s well-written article did not tell the whole story. Crowley’s ideas regarding compassion were certainly colored by Buddhism, but that was not the only filter he used to interpret The Book of the Law. Crowley was not immune to outside influences, and there were two other frames that made compassion such poison for him: Christianity and Social Darwinism.
Compassion and Christianity
Crowley was raised in a strict Christian home, his parents being devout members of a fundamentalist sect called the Plymouth Brethren. As the Bible was young Crowley’s only reading material, he knew it well and would certainly have understood how it viewed compassion. In the Old Testament, compassion is mostly equated with the divine mercy and forgiveness of Jehovah. For example, we read in 2 Chronicles 30:9—“For if ye turn again unto the LORD, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.” In 1 Kings 8:49-50 we read “Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause, And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them.”
This concept of mercy was anathema to Crowley’s Thelemic sensitivities. He expresses this clearly in Magic Without Tears (Ch. 46) : “The word ‘compassion’ […] implies that you are a fine fellow, and the other so much dirt; that is, you insult him by pity for his misfortunes. But ‘Every man and every woman is a star.’; so don’t you do it! You should treat everybody as a King of the same order as yourself.” Here he is saying that the OT version of compassion presumes a station of superiority—which ignores every person’s inherent right to Kingly respect—an attitude he rightfully disparages. The lesson in this case is simple: do not presume yourself to be of higher rank to those in need or offer help out of a condescending pity.
In the New Testament, compassion is presented in a different manner—as an act of self-sacrifice, symbolized by the crucifixion of Jesus on the Cross. The apostle John said it best when he wrote, “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?” (1 John 3:16-17). Crowley had great disdain for this particular notion of compassion—“We have a sentimental idea of self-sacrifice, the kind which is most esteemed by the vulgar and is the essence of popular Christianity. It is the sacrifice of the strong to the weak” (Confessions, Ch. 49—more on this quote later), and “Now in practice, in everyday life, this unselfishness is always cropping up. Not only do you insult your brother King by your ‘noble self-sacrifice,’ but you are almost bound to interfere with his True Will. ‘Charity’ always means that the lofty soul who bestows it is really, deep down, trying to enslave the recipient of his beastly bounty!” (MWT, Ch. 46). Here he is defining compassion in strictly Christian terms, as an act of charity and “noble” self-sacrifice (akin to the false superiority of the OT definition), both of which are really shams used to “ interfere with True Will” and to “enslave” the needy—i.e. to convert them to Christianity (the work of missionaries and the Salvation Army come to mind. These types of Christian charity organizations were very popular in Crowley’s day, some of which were a legitimate response to the more horrible manifestations of the industrial revolution, such as child labor and rampant urban poverty).
When Crowley used his Christian filter to examine compassion, he also drew upon the various aspects of that old-aeon religion that he found most distasteful. For example, he recognized that both fear and guilt were intrinsic aspects of that faith, and reasonably drew the conclusion that they must equally motivate Christian compassion. He reflects this belief in MWT (Ch. 46)— “Let me insist that ‘pity’ is nearly always an impostor. It is the psychic consolation for fear, the ‘pitiful man’ really is a pitiful man! for he is such a coward that he dare not face his fear, even in imagination!” In the same chapter he notes, “[Pity] is the twin of ‘moral responsibility,’ of the sense of guilt or sin.” It is here that we find the basis of suffering for the Christian—that sin is the ultimate source of suffering, a concept that Thelema utterly rejects.
Compassion and Social Darwinism
The third major filter that Crowley used to frame compassion was a theory called Social Darwinism. This was a very popular theory amongst the wealthy in Europe and America from the mid-1800s until about the 1940s. The essential idea is that natural selection—which occurs for individuals—also works on a social level. Survival and evolution were seen as a vicious battle wherein the weakest members were selected out, thereby advancing the entire species. With the rise of industrialism and urbanism came an increase in poverty and terrible living conditions. As society tried to correct for these side effects, a new wave of public welfare and charity efforts came into play. Social Darwinists began to say that these efforts were holding back the “race,” since the “strong” (i.e. the wealthy) were squandering their rightful resources on those that nature would otherwise “select” out (i.e. the poor). This theory was used to justify everything from free-market capitalism, to racism, to genocide.
A few examples from Crowley that illustrates the influence of both Christianity and Social Darwinism:
”We have a sentimental idea of self-sacrifice, the kind which is most esteemed by the vulgar and is the essence of popular Christianity. It is the sacrifice of the strong to the weak. This is wholly against the principles of evolution. [...] There is here a conflict between private and public morality. We should not protect the weak and the vicious from the results of their inferiority. By doing so, we perpetuate the elements of dissolution in our own social body. We should rather aid nature by subjecting every newcomer to the most rigorous tests of his fitness to deal with his environment. The human race grew in stature and intelligence as long as the individual prowess achieved security, so that the strongest and cleverest people were able to reproduce their kind in the best conditions. But when security became general through the operation of altruism the most degenerate of the people were often the offspring of the strongest.”— Confessions (Ch. 49):
Evolution demands exceptional individuals, fitter to their environment than their fellows. Species prosper by imitating efficient eccentrics. Mediocrity, self-styled morality, protects the unfit, but prevents progress, discourages adaptability, and assures the ruin of the race.—“On the Education of Children,” from The Revival of Magick
The reader will find it only too easy to think of a hundred cases where the error of unfitness, the violation of what we may call biological law in its widest philosophical sense, threatens the well-being and even the very existance of the individual. —”The Method of Thelema,” from The Revival of Magick
However, this idea—that the “weak” (i.e. those who need assistance from others) are somehow inherently inferior—is a concept that has been long proven wrong. The fantasy of raw individualism has been replaced by the knowledge that humans are highly interdependent, requiring cooperation at every level to succeed. Problems like poverty are far more influenced by social forces (e.g. discrimination, education, economics, etc.) and a lack of social support systems (e.g. a healthy family or other supportive group) rather than any inherent flaws in the individual. Moreover, there is no scientific evidence that groups evolve as do individuals. In fact, this theory was finally put to rest in 1966 when George Williams published Adaptation and Natural Selection, where he showed that any selection happening on a group level would be trumped by individual adaptations**.
There is also the problem of altruism, found not only in human society but in many other species. The observation of altruism was a sticky point for evolution since it seemed to go against the very mechanism of natural selection. The riddle was finally answered in 1964 (note: almost 20 years after Crowley’s death) by William Hamilton and then again in 1971 by Robert Trivers. These researchers developed the ideas of inclusive fitness (dealing with kin) and reciprocal altruism (dealing with non-kin), respectively. Their work finally explained why altruism is such an effective evolutionary tool and why the idea behind Social Darwinism—that it holds back the race to assist the “naturally inferior”—is a scientifically incorrect interpretation of Darwin’s theory.
To summarize what we have so far, Crowley had three primary filters that colored his understanding of compassion:
Buddhism—wherein compassion might be seen as over-identification with others (leading to the neglect of one’s own True Will)
Christianity—wherein compassion is either the mercy of God (leading to undue moral superiority) or self-sacrifice as symbolized by the Crucifixion (which is possibly insincere, since it’s root is more likely fear, guilt, or the desire to convert the recipient).
Social Darwinism—wherein compassion is a modern, artificial tool used to support the inherently “weak” at the cost of the “strong,” thereby holding back the advancement of the race.
Compassion and Thelema
We know that Thelema does not identify with Buddhism or Christianity, and Social Darwinism has been shown to be an unscientific idea that was used primarily (by others) to justify racism, economic exploitation, and sometimes genocide. So, the question becomes: with these three frames out of the way, is it possible to define compassion in strictly Thelemic terms? In other words, is there a Thelemic compassion?
I believe that the answer is yes. Science shows us that the drive to help others in need is a product of natural selection, not morality or religion, and as such is a part of human nature. Since this drive exists, our duty as Thelemites is to channel it in a way congruent with the current Aeon. We can do this by understanding what suffering is. To the Buddhist, suffering is founded in attachment to the illusion of existence. For the Christian, suffering is ultimately a result of sin. From a Thelemic point of view, I suggest that suffering results from restrictions on the ability to discover and manifest one’s True Will. Thelemic compassion, then, is the drive to help others by removing either social or individual barriers that restrict the free expression of Will. As Crowley wrote in Duty— “The distress of another may be relieved; but always with the positive and noble idea of making manifest the perfection of the Universe.”
Within this model of Thelemic compassion, the object is not to force others to become what we want, since we do not know or care what one’s Will might actually be. It is not motivated by selfish rewards or social mandates. Such compassion arises out of the interplay of one’s own Love and Will, and never guilt or fear. Thelemic compassion can comfort, but it does not coddle. When necessary, it has the strength to inflict more pain before suffering can be relieved. It seeks to remove barriers to self-sufficiency, not to create dependency. It promotes a view of self with others (i.e. Universal Brotherhood), not self as others. It is practical, not sentimental. It is, in effect, the battle against tyranny, superstition, and oppression!
It is not the impoverished, minority, disabled, helpless, or ignorant that hold us back; it is poverty, discrimination, intolerance, abuse, and ignorance that does. They are our true enemies, along with their elders—greed, fear, and hatred. True Will has no truck with these poisons, and fighting them is a true act of compassion, for why else fight them but to eliminate the suffering they bring?
Just to be clear, this article does not call for a mandate of compassionate acts for Thelemites in the vein of Good Works of the Roman Catholic Church. Nor does it suggest when or how one might go about being compassionate...that is a matter between you and your HGA. Rather, I have tried to show how our natural drive to relieve suffering in others can manifest in responsible ways, without contradiction to Thelemic principles.
Crowley wrote in his Commentaries, “It is necessary that we stop, once for all, this ignorant meddling with other people’s business. Each individual must be left free to follow his own path.” While he was here discussing America’s penchant for cultural imperialism, I reference it to point out that we all ignorantly meddle in people’s lives every day, and often in ways that end up restricting Freedom of Will (via economics, law, war, pollution, et cetera). The way we spend our money, the politicians we vote for, the products we use—these affect people; no one can avoid it. The question then becomes: what are we going to do about it? I end with words of wisdom from the Master: “When you can [help others] as it should be done, without embarrassment, false shame, with your whole heart in your words—do it simply, to sum up—you will find yourself way up on the road to that royal republic which is the ideal of human society.” —Magic Without Tears (Ch. 46)
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Glass is perhaps the perfectly sustainable material. It’s made from raw, naturally-occurring material, is easy and convenient to recycle, and can be recycled over and over again. What’s more, the recycling and reusing process can be easily modified to be environmentally sound. Sometimes, not surprisingly, older, almost forgotten methods and techniques that rely on skilled craftsmen instead of modern machinery and chemicals, are also the best for the environment. These pieces of handblown glassware combine art with practicality in a whole new way.
Our story starts with a glass soda bottle from a certain, well-known Atlanta-based cola company. At one point, that bottle was filled with caramel-colored sugary liquid. Perhaps it was served icy cold on a hot day. Fortunately, instead of being tossed in the trash, our bottle made it to the recycling bin. Its luck held out, because rather than go to a general recycling plant where it would be melted down with other similar glass, our bottle went to a small factory that only accepts other bottles just like ours. They can be intact or broken, it doesn’t matter.
At the factory, the bottles are gathered together and broken into pieces before being melted back into molten, liquid glass. This is when the magic starts. Using techniques passed down through many generations, skilled artisans carefully handcraft the molten glass into stunning pieces of art. The process of handblowing each piece is slow, requiring careful timing and great skill.
Some pieces are left clear, and you can still see the characteristic greenish tint of the glass, a hint at the origin of the piece. Others are decorated with carefully applied colors, swirls of jewel-tone blue or green, or speckles of rainbow colors that catch the light and seem to dance. Still others are carefully tinted in shades of amber, rich red, and even deep, inky black.
When it’s all done, where there was once a pile of empty, chipped and broken bottles there are now rows of stunning glassware, sparkling in the light. The pieces feel good in the hand, the smooth glass seems cool, and their weight makes them feel sturdy and comfortable.
This is the story of our glassware. Each piece has been lovingly created by hand, carefully crafted by a skilled artist into something more than just a glass. Each piece is also a truly sustainable work of art, preserving a centuries-old traditional craft in a beautiful and practical way.
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Paris, 4 July 2011
Malaria, also known as paludism, is one of the greatest global scourges. This pathology, which causes a million human deaths each year, is especially rampant in Africa. The question of whether the primary infection originated from rodents or birds has long remained unanswered. Also found in gorillas, it was thought that the parasite was specific to hominids(2).
By working on the subject, a team of CNRS researchers headed by Franck Prugnolle and François Renaud of the Laboratoire MIVEGEC(1)(CNRS/IRD/Université Montpellier 1), jointly with the Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville in Gabon, and in collaboration with other organizations(4), has demonstrated the presence of Plasmodium falciparum, the agent of malaria, in the greater spot-nosed monkey (Cercopithecus nictitans), a small African monkey derived from a line different to that of humans. The origin of the parasite probably predates the origins of the African hominids line.
The presence of Plasmodium falciparum in this Old World Monkey opens the way to the analysis of the genome of the parasite found in this species. Comparing its sequence with that (already known) of falciparum in humans will enable researchers to discover the molecular signatures of the human parasite and to find out how it has adapted to humans. Knowing the weaknesses of the parasite will be a major asset in combating malaria.
© Jean-Louis Albert, CIRMF, Gabon
The greater spot-nosed monkey, Cercopithecus nictitans.
(1)Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville au Gabon, IRD, Université Montpellier 1, Université de la Méditerranée, Université de Toulouse, University of California and Université de Brazzaville.
(2)The hominids line comprises two branches: humans and large monkeys (gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans).
(3)Laboratoire “Maladies Infectieuses et Vecteurs: Ecologie, Génétique, Evolution et Contrôle”
(4)Université de la Méditerranée, Université de Toulouse, University of California and Université de Brazzaville.
African monkeys are infected by Plasmodium falciparum nonhuman primate-specific strains. F.Prugnolle, B.Ollomo, P.Durand, E.Yalcindag, C.Arnathau, E.Elguero, A.Berry, X.Pourrut, J-P.Gonzalez, D.Nkoghe, J.Akiana, D.Verrier, E.Leroy, F.J.Ayala and F.Renaud. PNAS, 4 July 2011.
Latest press releases
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A long-term influence on coasts is the sea level, which is affected by tectonic activity, climate change, subsidence, and the movement of ice sheets (notably through isostatic rebound following glacial retreat). On shorter time scales the dominant shaping processes are waves and tides: here Davis explains the basics of ocean waves and their refraction and diffraction, longshore and rip currents, tsunamis, seiches, tides and tidal currents, and storm surges.
Four chapters then consider different kinds of coasts. One looks at salt concentrations, circulation, and tidal and river deposition in estuaries, at tidal flats, and at salt marshes and mangroves. Turning to deltas, Davis looks at where they develop, how fast they grow, and their importance for human life; they can be classified according to the relative influence of river, tides, and waves.
Next comes a survey of the structure and dynamics of beaches and dunes and, offshore, of barrier islands and tidal inlets. Rocky coasts are shaped by waves, tides and freeze/thaw cycles, by biological agents, and by chemical weathering; notable geomorphological features include cliffs, platforms and terraces, and sea stacks and other erosional remnants. An epilogue looks at human efforts to control coasts through seawalls, breakwaters, groins and jetties, beach replenishment and dredging, and at the often unintended effects of causeways and urbanisation.
The Evolving Coast is not at all technical, but it had quite a bit in it that was new to me. It's an accessible overview, nicely illustrated — no glossy photographs, but a good range of diagrams and colour halftones — and should be widely read. I just wish it had been longer, though a nice feature is a further reading selection offering a few items for each chapter.
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Camellia is an exotic flower name with distinct roots related to the Camille/Camila group and has varied associations to the moon, water, wealth and perfection. It could be thought of as a floral replacement for Amelia.
The attractive flowering tree was named by Linnaeus for the Moravian Jesuit botanist Georg Joseph Kamel and has been used, if sparingly, as a first name since the 1930s.
In the language of flowers, the camellia denotes admiration and perfection, and it's the state flower of Alabama. The Dumas novel The Lady of the Camellias is the basis of the opera La Traviata and the Garbo film Camille.
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- by Dr. Eric Herman, D.C. BioVeda Health & Wellness Center of Bethlehem, PA
If you’re allergic to ragweed pollen, fall is most likely not your favorite season. “Depending on where you live, fall is ragweed time,” says Julie McNairn, MD, an allergist/immunologist in Cincinnati, Ohio. During this time, dry leaves, grass, and hay mold harbor allergens such as mold spores and pollen.
“Seasonal allergies,” adds Dr. McNairn, “vary. You may experience symptoms one year and not the next. It’s very unpredictable,” she says. “It is also really hard to say from year to year how the allergy season will be.”
Diagnosing Fall Allergies
Like most seasonal allergies, the symptoms of typical fall allergies usually include sneezing, a runny nose, and itchy and watery eyes. These symptoms can interfere with your daily activities, impairing your ability to perform at work or school.
Ragweed pollen is one of the most common reasons for fall seasonal allergy symptoms. A hardy plant, ragweed grows everywhere, but is particularly common in the Northeast, South, and Midwest regions of the United States. Peak ragweed season starts in mid-August and lasts through October.
Ragweed pollen also is known to cause a condition known as oral allergy syndrome (OAS). In OAS, you may experience itching in your mouth and throat, along with mild swelling, after you consume fresh fruits and vegetables such as banana, cucumber, melon, and zucchini.
In addition to ragweed pollen, pollen from other plants, trees, and grass can trigger allergies in the fall. If you’re allergic, mold can also lead to a reaction during the autumn months. “Molds can be both indoor and outdoor,” says McNairn. “The only time you really get rid of the mold [outside] is if you have a lot of snow on the ground,” she says.
Tips for Managing Fall Allergies
To reduce your exposure to fall allergens such as mold and pollen, McNairn suggests the following:
- Use a dehumidifier, an electric appliance that can decrease humidity in your house, to keep the relative humidity in your home at less than 50 percent.
- Ask someone who is not allergic to clean visible mold with a diluted bleach solution.
- Regularly clean room humidifiers, because they are prone to developing mold.
- Have someone who is not allergic do yard work (raking leaves, mowing the lawn), or wear a facemask and goggles if you must do it yourself.
- Keep the windows shut and the air conditioner running when ragweed pollen levels are high.
- Shower after being outdoors and avoid taking your dirty clothes and shoes into the bedroom, to keep the room as pollen-free as possible.
Neurological Stress Reduction Therapy or NSRT provides a novel and unique approach to wellness that is based on proven, accepted science, allowing patients who generally have very few if any treatment options to experience symptomatic relief. Our technology and science are based on these four facts:
- Stress causes or exacerbates most health related conditions. “According to The American Medical Association (AMA), stress is the cause of 80 to 85 percent of all human illness and disease. Every week, 95 million Americans suffer some kind of stress-related symptom for which they take medication. “
- A general reduction of stress levels can significantly decrease symptoms of many conditions.
- The brain creates associations between stressful events and substances which are often times inappropriate and subsequently lead to a host of chronic and acute conditions. As an example, “Allergies are abnormal or inappropriate reactions of the nervous system that occur in response to otherwise harmless substances.” – Alternative Medicine Encyclopedia
- If these associations can be broken, by introducing a positive stimulus in conjunction with the specific stress inducing substance… symptoms can be reduced or eliminated.
Stress is the key word. Our technology measures stress levels in the Autonomic Nervous System, Identifies substances that cause stress levels to rise, and couples these environmental stressors with a positive stimulus which in this case is the release of endorphins and enkephalins triggered by nerve bundle stimulation during light therapy. Endorphins and enkephalins are the body’s natural sedative and pain killer which upon release calm the nervous system breaking the previous negative association and replacing it with a neutral association. The net result is the positive conditioning or successful neurological relaxation training of the ANS (Autonomic Nervous System) to no longer respond in a stressful manner during real world substance exposure.
Why is that so important? Well, the stress response is the first step in the cascade of events that end up with sneezing, sniffling, sinus pressure, gas, bloating, diarrhea, itching, welting and burning skin irritations, wheezing and difficulty breathing. These are all symptomatic expressions the body uses to expel toxins or substances it believes are harmful to the body through the nervous, circulatory, respiratory, digestive, integumentary (The skin) and musculo-skeletal systems.
All of these conditions can be described as being kicked off with an Autonomic Nervous System Mediated Response. NSRT (Neurological Stress Reduction Therapy) is very effective at alleviating or eliminating the triggers that lead to these symptoms.
Our devices are not meant to diagnose or treat any specific condition. The benefits of reducing stress on the nervous system however, and reducing or eliminating autonomic nervous system mediated responses can have wide reaching positive effects on a number of symptoms and conditions that previously had limited therapeutic options.
The benefits of NSRT are further magnified due to the fact that our procedure is fast, highly accurate in substance specific assessment, non-invasive, painless and effective. NSRT requires no drugs, no needles and no dietary restrictions making NSRT a safe and holistic alternative for patient care.
Homeopathy is highly effective in the treatment of allergies and fully capable of stimulating the organism to heal to the point of complete relief from all allergy symptoms.
Many of us have suffered from allergies at one time in our life, and usually the best treatment offered was symptomatic relief through avoidance of the allergen or through medication. Homeopathy, on the other hand, addresses the cause of the sensitivity to allergens at the deepest possible level; avoiding the allergen (the substance responsible for the allergic response) or resorting to suppression of symptoms through ongoing symptomatic treatment becomes unnecessary once this sensitivity has been eliminated.
An Allergist is the medical specialist that commonly uses small doses of an allergen in order to desensitize a person to that allergen. This concept of using small doses of what might cause a problem in order to help prevent or heal the person is an ancient observation of healers/physicians all over the world, and it is the basis for a type of natural medicine called homeopathy.
It is therefore not surprising that one of the three physicians who founded the American Academy of Allergy was a San Francisco homeopathic physician, Dr. Grant L. Selfridge. Another small and forgotten footnote in medical history involves a homeopathic physician from Scotland, C.H. Blackley, who in 1871 was the first physician to identify pollen as the cause of hay fever.
The truth is that allergies can be permanently overcome. The body is incredibly made and has all the mechanisms built within that allow us to attain and maintain great health. Our innate healing abilities are so powerful that we naturally overcome the majority of problems we encounter in life.
“Think about this for a minute – what if headaches didn’t come and go, they just came and stayed? Or, imagine if you still had every cut, scrape and injury you had ever gotten – you would be a mess. Obviously, you naturally recover from many conditions because your body has internal healing capabilities”.
Symptoms are often mistaken as the cause of the problem, when really they are caused by the problem. Treating a symptom instead of a root cause is like turning off a fire alarm instead of putting out the fire. Take headaches for example. Say you choose to use aspirin or ibuprofen to control the symptoms. Time and time again, you must take these pills (why do you think you get so many aspirin in a bottle?). In most cases, the underlying cause of the headache is not changing and therefore the headaches keep coming back! Wouldn’t you rather target the underlying cause and stop the headaches from returning at all?
Do you think that taking various over-the-counter drug products for symptoms is the best way to deal with allergies? Why use temporary solutions over and over again? Your immune system needs to be normalized and strengthened so you do not have to live with allergy symptoms.
Do you know about the possible side effects of antihistamines and decongestants, the primary ingredients in many over-the-counter allergy medications? Many allergy products can cause nervousness, insomnia, dry mouth, negative reactions to other substances, stomach upset and over-sensitivity to sunlight. Additionally, many of these products will cause a rebound effect, a worsening of symptoms when the drug is discontinued. Homeopathy helps your body naturally overcome allergy symptoms with no side effects, while you stay fresh and alert.
Homeopathy is the purest form of natural medicine I have found. With over 200 years of clinical use, there are no negative side effects, no known reactions with other drugs, no contraindications for use and no addictive or habit forming properties. These outstanding results are unprecedented in the history of medicine.
Homeopathic medicines have become the first of all the natural remedies to be registered by the FDA as a drug product. Homeopathy offers a safe, natural solution backed by science, clinical experience, FDA registration and, most importantly, the tests of time.
Homeopathy is designed to work very quickly. Most people will notice initial results as early as 30 seconds to 3 minutes. Others may see results in a few minutes to a few days. Others experience a sense of lightness, accompanied by an emotional release. The corresponding sense of well being or an increase in overall energy, alertness and awareness indicates the healing response is taking place within you. Another positive sign of the healing response being activated is that you will require less and less of this natural medicine as time goes on, not more and more.
Homeopathic natural medicines are powerful. Homeopathy can be safely and effectively combined with nutritional and herbal products, as well as conventional drugs and procedures. The end results of using an all-natural approach are well worth it! Natural relief is a far healthier and often permanent solution.
Homeopathy is a very individualized healing art. A single remedy for one person with allergies may not be the same as that needed for another. Treating 10 people with allergy symptoms may require just as many different homeopathic remedies.
Homeopathy offers formulas designed to strengthen you from the inside by activating your body’s natural response system to stimulate its ability to heal itself. This approach offers relief of allergy symptoms, while formulas which work specifically on the immune system may even prevent future allergic reactions. A second approach in homeopathy acclimates you for the outside by providing homeopathic preparations of the specific weeds, grasses, trees, molds and pollens found in your geographic region. Over time, your body becomes less sensitive to the exposure of these allergens, reducing the severity and frequency allergic reactions. Using both of these approaches together provide the most complete approach to allergy correction.
This contemporary homeopathic approach is the only treatment method besides immunotherapy or allergy tests and shots that offer a chance for lasting relief or potential cure from allergies. Obviously, homeopathy offers the simplest, safest, and less costly and time-invested approach. Homeopathic allergy relief is applicable to anyone with allergies and should be the practical first choice for allergy care and correction.
Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America
Cohen SG. The American Academy of Allergy: a historical review. J Allergy Clin Immunol 1979;64: 332-333.
Reilly D, Taylor MA, McSharry C, Aitchison T. Is homoeopathy a placebo response? Controlled trial of homoeopath ic potency, with pollen in hayfever as model. Lancet October 18, 1986; ii: 881-886.
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The justification for a pedagogy of the oppressed.
The dichotomy of oppressors and oppressed - and how to move beyond it.
The concrete reality of oppression and the oppressed.
Nobody liberates anybody else, and nobody liberates themselves all alone. People liberate themselves in fellowship with each other.
Freire puts forth a pedagogy in which the individual learns to cultivate his own growth through situations from his daily life that provide useful learning experiences. This is not a pedagogy for the oppressed; it is rather a pedagogy of the oppressed. The subject should build his reality from the circumstances that give rise to the daily events of his life. The texts that the individual creates permit him to reflect upon and analyse the world in which he lives - not in an effort to adapt himself to this world, but rather as part of an effort to reform it and to make it conform to his historical demands.
The method of learning of Paulo Freire requires that students do more than simply reproduce the words that already exist. It requires that they create their own words, words that allow them to become aware of reality in order to fight for their own emancipation. Without this, some people acquire a kind of naive consciousness in which they are aware of their situation but don't make any effort to change it; they take a conformist stance and consider their situation something normal, even to the point of supporting it themselves. Other individuals construct their own reality and liberate themselves from oppression, only to go to the opposite extreme and become the antithesis of what they were fighting against.
The person who thinks and reflects goes about creating himself from the inside out. He creates his consciousness of struggle by transforming reality and liberating himself from the oppression that has been inserted by traditional pedagogy. In the same way, when he acquires a new way of thinking, his understanding of the social status that he holds changes him. It's not necessarily a materialistic understanding, but a cognitive one, whose importance is revealed in the liberation from oppression which is found in the interior of the consciousness of the individual who possesses it. Freire endeavors that the individual, through systematic study, also learn to fight for the end of oppression and for constructive criticism of the status quo.
Freire's proposed method implies two distinct and sequential moments: the first involves becoming conscious of the reality that the individual lives as an oppressed being subject to the decisions that the oppressors impose; the second refers to the initiative of the oppressed to fight and emancipate themselves from the oppressors. Freire does not believe that the lived situation consists only of a simple awareness of reality. Instead, he believes that the individual has a historical need to fight against the status that dwells within him. The efforts of the oppressed become focused and concrete through the type of learning that school really should give them, instead of encouraging them to adapt to their reality, as the oppressors themselves do.
In the relationships they establish, the oppressed appear to be the instigators of violence, even when the conditions and events that they have experienced up to that point incite them to try to modify their status. Nevertheless, in the eyes of the oppressors, such fights are canonised as unnecessary violence or utopian dreams, and not as the ideas of a revolutionary who is known for the ideological commitment that he establishes with his peers, rather than for the battles he carries out. Although the reality of the oppressed is not the will of God, although He is not responsible for the oppressive situation, in a society without conscience such situations are presented as normal. These circumstances occasionally provoke a mistaken horizontal violence between the oppressed themselves in their efforts to achieve emancipation.
Furthermore, the oppressors accuse those who oppose them of being disobliging, irresponsible, depraved and responsible for their own situation, despite the fact that even if these adjectives do sometimes apply, they are really a response to being oppressed and are ultimately the result of the exploitation to which these people have been subjected. The situation gets even worse when the oppressed accept this reality and adapt to it without questioning or even attempting to change it. This generates in the oppressed an emotional dependence that seems irrevocable. It is necessary, therefore, that these individuals get to know themselves in order to begin the fight for their inexorable emancipation.
The "bank" concept of education as an instrument of oppression. Its assumptions. Its critiques.
The problematising concept of education and freedom. Its assumptions.
The "bank" concept of education and the dichotomy of educator/educated.
The problematising concept and the overcoming of the educator/educated dichotomy. Nobody educates anybody else. Nobody educates himself. People educate each other through their interactions of the world.
Man as an incomplete being, conscious of his incompleteness, and his eternal quest to BE MORE.
Currently in education, there is excessive use of lecturing and memorisation, with little analysis of the importance of what is being memorised. For example, 1945 marks the end of the Second World War, but we do not know how that affected our lives or how it continues to affect the daily relationships we establish. We have simply memorised and retained the date. Freire describes this situation as one in which the students are seen as containers into which knowledge can be deposited. The teacher is the depositor and the knowledge is that which is deposited on a daily basis. This bank concept of education attempts to transform the minds of individuals so that they will adapt better to actual situations and be dominated by them with greater ease. The more passive people are, the more they will adapt, the more their creativity will diminish and their naiveté increase, which creates the conditions necessary for the oppressors to emerge as generous benefactors.
When the individual does not fight for his interests and for cultural and social emancipation, it seems that he has lost his love of life. Such is the necrophilia of the situation that has prevailed, reproduced by the type of education that is imparted in the schools. The pedagogy that Freire proposes is the opposite of that described above. It suggests that the individual acquire a love of life through a cultivation of his being - by being with the world and not of it - a state that is achieved through liberation. For this to occur we need an education that ceases to be alienating and mechanistic.
Education that liberates the individual has to be a conscious act in which the content is understood and analysed, overcoming the dichotomy that exists between teacher and student; it must leave to one side this unidirectional relationship and allow bidirectionality to contribute to the whole education of both parties, since they both have elements to bring to the learning. If this reciprocal, axiological meaning is lost, the learning becomes a unilateral act of memorisation. The role of the educator lies in problematising the world that surrounds the oppressed and creating the appropriate conditions so that the learning moves beyond "doxa" to arrive at the level of "logos". This type of learning helps people to create new expectations and reach a truly reflective state in which they discover their own reality. It incites new challenges that move the students toward a self construction of the world in which they have real and direct participation in the activities they undertake. All of this requires that we problematise the individual himself, without mediating his learning through artificial experiences.
Dialogicity: the essence of education as freedom in practice.
Dialogicity and dialogue.
The dialogue begins in the search for the programmatic content.
The relationship between man and the world, "generative topics" and the programmatic content of education.
The study of generative topics and its methodology.
The consciousness-raising significance of the study of generative topics.
The stages of such a study.
Man is not allowed to understand and transform the reality that encircles him when education is simply a method used to adapt him to this reality. The idea of Freire is that the individual learn to do just that- to understand and transform reality. In order to achieve this goal, it is necessary that dialogicity be established between teacher and student, since man does not create himself in silence, but through words, actions and reflection. The use of dialogue, therefore, is the key element in learning. The dialogue established between the two subjects helps to increase reciprocal kindness, something that is an act of bravery, not cowardice. We are not talking about a naïve act, but about the kind of dialogue that kindness between people creates.
Some people believe themselves to be leaders and go to the masses to establish a dialogue with them. But it is their own interests and not the interests of the community that are pursued. They encourage people to adapt to a new way a life without attending to their historical demands. They fall into the naïve thinking that one should adapt to existing conditions, rather than construct the new and appropriate conditions required by critical thought - the kind of thought that builds spaces and opportunities for liberation and the overturning of oppression through conscious action.
It is important to establish dialogue with a community. Since this implies the use of a language similar to that with which the individual is familiar, it is necessary to integrate oneself into the life of the individual - to study his language, practice and thought. Later, through the use of problematising education, these elements will come together to create knowledge, since it is not necessary to refer to other far away spaces to find opportunities and topics for study. Topics for learning can be found in the reality that surrounds the individual, it's just that they are hidden by the "limiting situations" that the oppressors create. These limits can disappear through the education that a problematising teacher, who moves from the particular to the general, encourages.
When we want to investigate a generative topic, we should go to the place where the individuals whom we want to liberate are located and study their thinking, so that we don't decontextualise their work. We want the teaching to be part of their reality, so that it is not a mechanistic act. The liberation of man and the overcoming of oppression are not achieved by the consumption of the existing ideas that teem and circulate between people. Instead, the individual needs to construct his own ideas and above all transforms them through praxis and horizontal communication.
Studying the generative topic implies two distinct steps, both of which involve the individual himself: the first is to go to the place where the events take place in order to become familiar with the thinking of the oppressed and the second is to apply this thinking to the systematic learning process by emphasising group interaction between the participants so that each person both acquires consciousness of his reality and truly expresses it. But the process does not end here. It involves a search on the part of the individual for his highest level of possible consciousness.
Antidialogicity and dialogicity as opposed theoretical frameworks for cultural action: the first serves oppression and the second, liberation.
The antidialogical theory of action and its characteristics:
- cultural invasion
The dialogical theory of action and its characteristics:
- cultural synthesis
The oppressor uses antidialogicity in a variety of ways to maintain the status quo. He conquers the oppressed with an invariably unilateral dialogue, converting the communication process into an act of necrophilia. Some oppressors even use other ideological instruments to achieve their conquest - like that of "bread and circus" - so that their conquest will be total.
The oppressors also seek to prevent people form uniting through dialogue. In their implicit discourse they warn that it can be dangerous to the "social peace" to speak to the oppressed about the concepts of union and organisation, amongst others. One of their principal activities is to weaken the oppressed through alienation, with the idea that this will cause internal divisions, and that in this way things will remain stable. Compared to those who opposed them, the oppressors seem to be the only ones that can create the harmony necessary for life. But this is really an effort to divide. If any individual decides to begin a fight for liberation, he is stigmatised, included on the "black list", all in an effort to avoid the historically inevitable realisation of freedom.
Another characteristic of antidialogicity is the way it uses ideology to manipulate people to conform to the goals it proposes. Sometimes the manipulation happens by getting people to side with something that works to the disadvantage to the oppressed. Similarly, antidialogicity imposes a bourgeois model of life - a model that encounters among the masses fertile ground for a hidden manipulation of discourse. Organisation as an antidote to this manipulation is rare.
Some leaders of the left do go to the masses to expound upon their ideas. Nevertheless, the majority of the time their fight is centered upon their own achievement of power. When they have achieved this objective, they forget about the masses who supported them. Other individuals called leaders flirt with both parties. Their behavior toward the popular classes is ambiguous and shady, since they see this group as only a bargaining chip between the oligarchy and themselves. The liberation that the oppressed desire is never really achieved.
A further characteristic of antidialogicity is a cultural invasion, of which the oppressed are the object. They are just this, objects, while the oppressors are the actors and authors of the process. It's a subliminal tactic that is used to dominate and that leads to the inauthenticity of individuals. The greater the level of mimicry on the part of the oppressed, the greater the tranquility of the oppressors. What happens among the masses is a loss of values, a transformation in their form of speaking and, inexorably, support for the oppressor.
When there is a cultural invasion, the relationship between parent and child changes to the benefit of the oppressors, who assume that they should educate the community, when in reality the community should educate itself. What is even more cruel is that when an oppressed individual attempts to liberate himself and fights to convince his fellows to do the same, he is negatively classified. For the oppressors, it seems impossible to listen to the unrest of the community. It is as if they see them as incapable of thought. This characteristic implies a single, inflexible view of reality.
In contrast to all that has been explained above, stands collaboration as a form of community emancipation. This process does not happen through the presence of a messianic leader, but instead through the union created when a leader and the masses communicate and interact with each other to achieve their mutual goal of liberating themselves and discovering the world, instead of adapting to it. It happens when they offer each other mutual trust, so that a revolutionary praxis can be reached. Such a situation requires humility and constant dialogue on the part of all the participants.
In addition to collaboration, union is also necessary if we are to achieve a common effort toward liberation. This implies a form of cultural action that teaches adherence to the revolutionary cause without falling into ideological hyperbole. Instead, the cause is described as it really is, as a human activity, not some exaggerated event.
Dialogical action also requires organisation if it is to avoid ideological control from the top. Organisation is a necessary element of revolutionary action; it implies coherence between action and practice, boldness, radicalising without sectarianism, and the courage to love. All these aspects should be present without falling into naiveté. Obviously, in order for revolutionary action to be accomplished, discipline, order, precise objectives, clear tasks to be completed, and accountability to one's compatriots must all be present. We are in no way speaking about an anarchistic activity. Rather, we are speaking about the awakening necessary to free oneself from the oppression that one encounters.
The final characteristic of dialogical action is the cultural synthesis that occurs along with the investigation of generative topics. This synthesis attempts to overcome the antagonistic activities begun by the oppressors and goes deeper than mere induction. It addresses the strength of one's own culture as a creative act and vindicates the oppressed by providing a different vision of the world than the one which has been imposed without question or examination.
Paulo Freire wants the individual to form himself rather than be formed. To this end, he proposes that educational topics or opportunities be taken from the daily experiences the individual constantly encounters and that we avoid the current educational pitfall of resorting to artificial experiences. He proposes that one problematise his own life in order to realise that he both requires and can achieve a different status.
Freire recognises that the practices he suggests can encounter "limiting situations" that block them, and that these situations are the product of resistance on the part of the oppressing classes to any change in the status they so closely protect. He describes some of the different methods, including ideologies, that the oppressors use to maintain their own status and the status quo, and if possible to oppress people even further, since these are a "law of life" that we can not evade.
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"Communal roost site" means all of the physical features surrounding trees used for night roosting that are important to the suitability of the roost for eagle use. These features include flight corridors, sources of disturbance, trees in which eagles spend the night, trees used for perching during arrival or departure and other trees or physical features, such as hills, ridges, or cliffs that provide wind protection.
"Cultural activities" means activities conducted to foster the growth of agricultural plants and animals.
"Department" means department of fish and wildlife.
"Endangered" means a species which is seriously threatened with extirpation throughout all or a significant portion of its range within Washington.
"Government entities" means all agencies of federal, state and local governments.
"Landowner" means any individual, private, partnership, nonprofit, municipal, corporate, city, county, or state agency or entity which exercises control over a bald eagle habitat whether such control is based on legal or equitable title, or which manages or holds in trust land in Washington state.
"Nest tree" means any tree that contains a bald eagle nest or has contained a nest.
"Nest site" means all of the physical features surrounding bald eagle nests that are important to normal breeding behavior. These features include alternate and potential nest trees, perch trees, vegetative screening, foraging area, frequently used flight paths, and sources of disturbance. This site is also referred to as the territory defended by a breeding pair of eagles.
"Perch tree" means a tree that is consistently used by eagles. It is often close to a nest or feeding site and is used for resting, hunting, consumption of prey, mating display and as a sentry post to defend the nest.
"Predacides" means chemicals used to kill or control problem wildlife.
"Region" means an ecological/geographic area that forms a unit with respect to eagles, e.g., Hood Canal, lower Columbia River, outer coast and south Puget Sound.
"Sensitive" means any wildlife species native to the state of Washington that is vulnerable or declining and is likely to become endangered or threatened in a significant portion of its range within the state without cooperative management or removal of threats.
"Site management plan" means a legal agreement between the department and the landowner for management of a bald eagle nest or roost site. This plan may be a list of conditions on a permit or a more detailed, site-specific plan.
"Threatened" means a species that could become endangered within Washington without active management or removal of threats.
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Skip over navigation
Myths and Legends
The Myth of the Ghost
An object that is supposed to bring good luck.
A strong claw.
An inn or public house.
A violent storm.
Stormy; full of commotion.
A person who rents a house building or land etc from a landlord.
An area of land, especially one that belongs to a country or person.
To carry out a test or challenge on a person or thing.
1. A set of ideas put forward to explain something. 2. The principal or something rather than its practice. 3. In theory what should have happened.
A person who steal things.
In myths usually a sign or signal of something such as a gift to symbolise a token of friendship or allegiance.
A place where someone is buried -a monument built over this.
Make a person feel great pain or worry.
A dreamy or unconscious state rather like sleep.
Change the form or appearance or character of a person or thing.
A shock that produces a lasting effect on a person's mind.
A store of precious metals or jewels.
Lockable box in which treasure is stored.
A formal agreement between teo or more countries or groups of people.
1. The process of examining evidence to see if somebody is guilty of a crime. 2. To put something or someone to the test. 3. An annoying person or thing.
E2B® and E2BN® are registered trade marks and trading names of East of England Broadband Network (Company Registration No. 04649057)
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Base ten blocks or ten frames flash on the screen for a set time limit. The student is then asked to identify what number was shown.
Watch carefully! After the timer runs out, enter the correct number to proceed to the next flash. The timer decreases with each correct answer and increases with each incorrect answer. At the end of the interactive, data is displayed showing the incorrect and correct answers and what time limit the slide was in view.
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Stokely Carmichael, Black Power’s forgotten prophet
May 4, 2014 12:00 AM
"Stokely: A Life" by Peniel E. Joseph.
Peniel E. Joseph, author of "Stokely: A Life."
The civil rights movement has inspired many to glorify the actions and efforts of the two polarizing figures of that tumultuous time — Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“STOKELY: A LIFE”
By Peniel E. Joseph Basic Civitas Books ($29.99)
Americans tend to overlook another prominent figure of that time who is arguably as influential those icons. In “Stokely: A Life,” author Peniel E. Joseph sheds light on the activist Stokely Carmichael, painting an in-depth portrait of the civil rights leader and the lengths to which he was willing to go for blacks during a crucial time in American history.
Born in Trinidad in 1941, Stokely Carmichael moved to New York with his family when he was 11. He mingled with children of different backgrounds. From those early encounters he developed ideas about class and race that he would bring to the Civil Rights struggle.
A tall, handsome and well-spoken young man, Carmichael developed and honed the rhetorical skills that would help him spearhead grass-roots movements. He led the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the Jim Crow-riddled South while still a student at Howard University in Washington, D.C.
On June 4, 1961, Carmichael boarded a train from New Orleans to Jackson, Mississippi, with eight other “Freedom Riders” in an effort to integrate the train’s “Whites Only” section. They were subsequently arrested and taken to jail for disturbing the peace after attempting to dine in a white cafeteria in Jackson.
Carmichael’s political career gained traction as his fame for organizing movements for black rights grew. During this time, his national profile grew as he organized nonviolent sit-ins, marches and demonstrations such as voting rights campaigns in the Deep South.
Stokely Carmichael’s notoriety not only fueled efforts that lead to the 1963 March on Washington, it also put Carmichael in the position meet and befriend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King served as an influence for Carmichael as a nonviolent activist, but it was the young man’s uncompromising rhetoric on the Vietnam War that influenced Dr. King.
After the March on Washington, Carmichael began the transition from a pragmatic peace promoter to a radical revolutionist. His national debut on CBS’s “Face the Nation” program allowed him the chance to expose American hypocrisy in which it justified “dropping bombs in Vietnam to ensure free elections there.” Carmichael argued that the nation could and should “do no less in freedom in Mississippi.”
It was here that his nonviolent rhetoric also changed. He began preaching the necessity of political rights and self-rule by any means necessary, leading to increased scrutiny from J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI.
President Lyndon B. Johnson viewed the “Carmichaels and Kings” of the world as serious threats to the United States, suggesting that they might be under the control of communists by speaking anti-war rhetoric. Carmichael’s trips to Cuba and North Vietnam didn’t help matters much.
Mr. Joseph argues that Carmichael’s call for “Black Power” and the formation of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense provided a new means for African-Americans to not only unite and protect themselves against white Americans but to take pride in being “not lazy, but black, intelligent, aggressive people.”
Black Power gained worldwide attention during the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City when 200 meter Gold and Bronze Medalists Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their black gloved fists in the air to symbolize black power.
When he turned 30, Carmichael made the brash decision to embrace pan-African ideology by leaving the United States and moving to Guinea, where the adopted the name Kwame Ture. This move perplexed and disappointed his supporters. He became a somewhat forgotten figure until his death in 1998.
Throughout “Stokely: A Life,” Mr. Joseph suggests that Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King and Stokely Carmichael formed an unacknowledged trio that dominated liberation politics on the world stage during the 1960s. It is a disservice to civil rights history that his name is often omitted when chronicling the progress since that time.
Could it be that because Carmichael was the only man the trio to make it past the age of 40 without becoming a martyr through assassination that he’s been forgotten?
Whatever the reason, Mr. Joseph’s detail rich biography delves into the life of a political activist turned icon while not forgetting to show us his human side.
Samson Horne is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.
To report inappropriate comments, abuse and/or repeat offenders, please send an email to
[email protected] and include a link to the article and a copy of the comment. Your report will be reviewed in a timely manner.
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What happens when you let Big Business regulate itself? – You get fracked.
Hydraulic fracturing — also known as fracking — is a controversial method of natural gas extraction that involves injecting a toxic chemical sludge into the surface of the earth until it rips open.
And it’s a case study in the dangers of letting giant corporations sidestep laws that protect our health, our investments and our environment.
Learn more about the risks of fracking, including how it could threaten your drinking water:
In 2005, then-Vice President Dick Cheney got fracking exempted from laws that keep our air and water clean. That exemption — known as the “Halliburton loophole” — allows oil and gas companies to force hazardous chemicals into underground water supplies.
As if that’s not enough, the Halliburton loophole is only one of seven exemptions for the oil and gas industries from major federal environmental laws like the Clean Air Act and National Environmental Policy Act.
The wholesale lack of federal tools to protect the public from fracking has created an inadequate patchwork of state regulations. As a result, companies are assaulting the environment and polluting drinking water supplies all over the country.
In Pennsylvania, a state with some of the most robust fracking regulations, one company — Chesapeake Appalachia LLC — racked up 149 environmental violations in just two and a half years.
While fracking is currently a hot-button issue, it is not a new practice. It was developed by Halliburton in the 1940s and has primarily been the scourge of communities in the Southwest.
The huge bump in fracking has been based on speculation that shale reserves in the Northeast could be the Saudi Arabia of natural gas. But even this is being challenged. The New York Times has recently reported that natural gas companies may be vastly overstating their reserves in what could be a giant Ponzi scheme.
To the credit of activists all over the country, the federal government has been forced to address fracking.
- The Environmental Protection Agency is investigating the effect of fracking on drinking water.
- A number of lawmakers have sent letters to the Securities and Exchange Commission asking it to investigate whether the industry has provided accurate information about the productivity of natural gas wells, particularly those involved in fracking.
- As part of President Obama’s “Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future,” the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB) is exploring recommendations to better protect public health and the environment from fracking.
Public Citizen will be giving public comment with a list of recommendations at a SEAB meeting later this week. We will be giving you an opportunity to contribute to the dialogue, too, so stay tuned!
But investigations are only the first step toward curbing this unsafe practice. In the near term, legislative action to close loopholes that exempt fracking from federal law is needed. Meanwhile, all fracking activity should be suspended. Moving forward, shifting away from dangerous and dirty fuels is the only solution.
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John Gielgud Facts
One of the 20th century's most distinguished actors, John Gielgud (born 1904) was noted for his Shakespearean roles for the stage, especially Hamlet, and appeared in numerous theatrical and television films and on recordings of classic books and plays. He also authored several theatrical "reminiscences" throughout his career.
John Gielgud ranks among the foremost interpreters of Shakespeare in the 20th century and was one of the most prolific theater artists; continuing to work in theater, film, and television abundantly into his eighties. He was often ranked with Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier as comprising the "Triumvirate" of English actors which dominated the acting world of the English theater from the 1930s through the 1960s; with Gielgud branching into a significant directing career in the 1950s.
The third of four children of Frank Gielgud, a stockbroker, and his wife, the former Kate Terry-Lewis; Gielgud was born in London, England, on April 14, 1904, into a family with theatrical roots. On his mother's side he was descended from the great Terry acting family, one of his great aunts being Ellen Terry, one of the most famous actresses of the 19th century; on his father's side, his great grandparents were leading actors in 18th-century Poland. Young John took an early interest in performance; designing and inventing plays in a toy theater along with his siblings.
After finishing his secondary education, he decided to try his luck on the stage, promising his father that if he did not succeed by age 25 he would study to be an architect. Fortunately he was offered a scholarship to Lady Constance Bennett's Drama School, and through this experience made his first professional debut as an unpaid walk-on in Henry V at the Old Vic. Gielgud became involved in managing and understudying with James Fagan's Company in 1922. He obtained a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), and after leaving there in 1923 he played a number of parts, the most significant of which were Trofimov in Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard and understudying, then taking over for Noel Coward in Coward's play The Vortex. Both roles guaranteed his success as an actor.
Gielgud joined the Old Vic company in 1929, where he began to develop his elegant style and expressive "cello-like" voice. He won immediate acclaim in his Shakespearean roles, and over the course of his career he played most of Shakespeare's leading men including: Angelo, Oberon, Lear, Julius Caesar, Romeo, and Mercutio (which he alternated with Laurence Olivier in 1935), Prospero, Antony, Macbeth, Hotspur, and Richard II. He was most famous for his role as Hamlet, which he played first in 1930 and which he played over 500 times in his career, being fixed in the tradition of significant English "Hamlets" since the 18th century. Of his Hamlet the critic John Mason Brown wrote: "Such a voice, such diction, and such a gift of maintaining the melody of Shakespeare's verse even while keeping it edged from speech to speech with dramatic experience, is a new experience." The Literary Digest called his Hamlet "cerebral" and "intellectual," "sensitive, disciplined, disdaining rant and the roaring traditions."
In addition to the classics, Gordon Daviot's Richard of Bordeaux (1932, which Gielgud also directed) established him as a popular star in the West End. He was also noted for his performances of Jack Worthing in The Importance of Being Earnest (1939). About his early career, in a 1983 interview he noted that: "I played a lot of very neurotic young men. I might have been typed as an hysterical juvenile. I was lucky to get Shakespeare, Chekhov, and Congreve early on and develop an appetite for really good stuff that showed I could do something outside my own range. One is inclined to trade on the qualities that brought one's reputation…."
In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s Gielgud alternated acting with directing, helping to promote many new playwrights such as Terence Rattigan, Graham Greene, and Enid Bagnold, as well as directing opera. He created a one-man show based on the works of Shakespeare entitled Ages of Man, which toured Britain and was seen in New York and on American television. He appeared with lifelong friend Ralph Richardson in two acclaimed plays in the early 1970s: David Storey's Home and Harold Pinter's No Man's Land. He won the Tony Award in 1961 for his direction of Big Fish, Little Fish, a special Tony Award for Ages of Manin 1959, and a Drama Desk Award and Tony nomination for best actor for Home (1971).
Gielgud made his film debut as Daniel in the silent 1924 film Who Is the Man? and appeared in dozens of films, more notably in Hitchcock's The Secret Agent (1936), as Disraeli in The Prime Minister (1941), Around the World in 80 Days (1956), Saint Joan (1957), Becket (1964), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), The Elephant Man (1980), and Chariots of Fire (1980). As Hobson in Arthur (1981), he won the American Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Gielgud's more recent film credits include: Arthur 2: On the Rocks, Shining Through, The Best of Friends, The Power of One, First Knight, and Shine.
Gielgud's career has been multifaceted. In 1996 he worked with actors Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeve to provide voices for the lead characters in Warner Bros. Feature Animation's The Quest for Camelot. Gielgud's numerous and recent television credits include: Brideshead Revisited, Wagner, The Far Pavilions, The Master of Ballantrae, Oedipus, War and Remembrance, A Man for All Seasons, and Inspector Alleyn. In the early 1980s Gielgud appeared as a spokesman for Paul Masson wines on television. In 1996 he recited poetry with Alan Bates and Ben Kingsley for a television advertisement for the Union Bank of Switzerland.
Although he wrote several books about his life in the theater, he admitted to enjoying reading "trashy" American novels and listening to opera in his elegant country home in Buckinghamshire, England. Gielgud was knighted in 1953 and held honorary degrees from St. Andrew's University, Oxford University, and Brandeis University. He continued to be active in the arts in the 1990's.
Further Reading on John Gielgud
John Gielgud wrote six autobiographical works: Early Stages (1939), Stage Directions (1963), Distinguished Company (1973), An Actor in His Time (1979, republished in 1996), Backward Glances (1989), and Acting Shakespeare (1991). Two good biographies exist in John Gielgud: A Celebration (1984) by Gyles Brandmeth and Ronald Hayman's John Gielgud (1971). See the Columbia Encyclopedia (Edition 5, 1993, p14870) for a short biography on John Gielgud. Other considerations of his career can be found in Poet at the Piano by Michiko Kakutani, The Player by Lillian Ross, John Gielgud's Hamlet by Rosamund Gilder, and Sir Laurence Olivier's autobiography, Confessions of an Actor (1982).
For additional biographical resources about John Gielgud see: Redfield, William, Letters from an Actor, Proscenium Publications, 1984; Harwood, Ronald, The Ages of Gielgud: An Actor at Eighty, Proscenium Publications, 1984; Findlater, Richard, These Our Actors: A Celebration of the Theatre Acting of Peggy Ashcroft, John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier and Ralph Richardson, Elm Tree Books; and The Columbia Encyclopedia, Edition 5, 1993.
For periodical articles about John Gielgud see: America, August 13, 1994; and Entertainment Weekly, September 6, 1996.
For on-line resources about John Gielgud see: < http://www.mpx.com.au/~zaphod/ProsperoGielgudIdea.html >, < http://www.flf.com/shine/allnotes.htm>, < http://www.oceanfm.com/magazine.text/camelot.txt>, and <http://moviereviewmagazine.com/029704c5.htm>.
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Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Magnetic Anomaly Map of the World
The above map comes from the Commission de la Carte Geologique du Monde. It shows where the magnetics of the Earth fluctuate. Blue represent a weak magnetic tug while red is stronger.
The reason, according to the map makers, for the differences across the world is "igneous and metamorphic rocks" in the crust and mantle. The rocks affect the magnetic pull different than would say, limestone. Less than 1% of the world suffers from extreme magnetic anomalies.
While this may not satisfy those who see a correlation between UFOs, Bermuda Triangle, whatever with magnetic anomalies; it is important to remember that these oddities can be perfectly natural and strong in some areas.
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| 0.887756 | 156 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Share This Page:
Immigration reform is a hot topic on Capitol Hill – and Congress should seize the moment to extend health coverage to every child in America. That’s the conclusion of Children’s Health Fund’s report, “Why Immigrant Children Must Have Access to Health Care – and How to Get There.”
Most health programs exclude unauthorized immigrants. And even those who come to the U.S. legally often face barriers to care, such as five-year residency requirements. Removing those barriers isn’t just the ethical thing to do – it makes sense for our country, the report finds. When children get their health problems treated earlier, they avoid more serious illnesses – and the severe financial toll those illnesses can take on our economy. Healthy kids also do better in school and have a greater chance of reaching their full potential as adults and productive citizens.
Congress is considering amendments to remove some of these barriers to care. Unless it acts, nearly 900,000 non-citizen children will lack access to health care in 2014 – even after the Affordable Care Act takes effect. Read the report to learn more, and visit our Advocacy Action Center to contact lawmakers!
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Going from rags to riches is essentially the American Dream. Whether it happens by way of a better-paying job or winning the lottery, some studies suggest that money can change your behavior – and not always for the better. Of course, there are plenty of charitable, helpful, and giving wealthy people. However, results from some studies have proven that they may be the exception, rather than the rule.
Your thoughts, behavior, and actions are all linked to your psychology, which is composed of a host of factors ranging from your genetic makeup to the way you were raised. While money doesn’t exactly shape your belief system, it can influence the way you think and act toward others. Gaining a better understanding of the sway that money – or the lack of it – may have on your behavior can make you more aware of when it might be pulling your strings and, hopefully, help you learn to stop it.
Ways Money Affects Behavior
From your relationships to the way you view yourself, cash can have a serious bearing on your beliefs. There are numerous pieces of scientific evidence behind the idea that money truly can change people.
1. Social and Business Value
A 2004 study proved that money alters how you value your time and effort. Researchers James Heyman and Dan Ariely created an experiment by which they could measure how motivated a person was to complete a task based upon money. Subjects were asked to drag circles across a computer screen. One group was asked to do this as a “favor.” Another group was asked to do it for $0.50, and the last group was offered $5. After timing the subjects, it was actually the group asked to perform the task as a favor that did it the fastest. Next was the $5 group, and last was the $0.50 group.
Heyman and Ariely surmised that there are two motivations for completing a given task. The first is social. By recognizing a task’s social value, we see it as a worthy investment of time and a part of our social duty, and we are usually happy to help out. When money is offered as the motivation, however, we then start thinking less of the social aspect and more about the business value. Therefore, we measure our time against the monetary reward, which may be why the $0.50 group was the slowest – they simply thought their time and effort were worth more money.
It’s clear to see that money can be a motivator when it comes to determining value. While doing something for free as a favor has a positive connotation, that part of the brain is effectively turned off when money is introduced. This could have serious repercussions in your work life. If you feel like you deserve more money, you may under-perform as a result.
2. Self-Sufficiency and Service
Those who are conscious of money typically strive to be more self-sufficient than those for whom money isn’t a priority – at least that’s what a 2009 Yale School of Management study found. The study was structured around Monopoly money. One group of subjects entered a room that had several reminders of money, such as Monopoly cash on the table, statements about money, and even financial conversation. The second group of subjects entered a room where money wasn’t mentioned, and both were issued a test.
When given a very difficult and even impossible task, with instructions that help was available, it was the money-related group that seemed the most intent on getting the job done alone, even when it was not possible to finish the task solo. The non-money group, on the other hand, tended to ask for assistance. The study concluded that money-conscious individuals are more self-sufficient than their peers, particularly when money is made the focus.
The Yale study continued to measure how money affected a person’s behavior by using the same groups to illustrate compassion and service in both the money-conscious subjects and those subjects in a money-free environment. When a seemingly uninvolved person crossed their path with an armload of folders and pencils and then dropped them, it was the group that wasn’t reminded of money that was the most helpful. The money-conscious group was both less likely to offer and to seek assistance with a task.
The amount you earn could have an effect on how you view both yourself and others. A study published in an August 2013 issue of the “Journal of Personality and Social Psychology” asked individuals to rate things such as class, genetics, and even I.Q. When the results were analyzed, they were defined as an individual’s sense of “class essentialism” – the idea that differences between classes are based upon identity and genetics, rather than circumstance.
The wealthiest respondents were those with the deepest sense of class essentialism. Poor people tended to believe that class was not related to genes – that essentially, anyone can be rich and anyone can be poor. Rich people, on the other hand, were more likely to believe that wealth was part of genes and identity – that they were entitled to wealth based upon their personal circumstances and actions. Wealthy respondents also believed that, more or less, life is fair and people mostly get what they deserve.
When doing your taxes, do you report them perfectly, or do you think it’s acceptable to fudge the numbers a bit? A 2012 study published in an issue of “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America” asked if wealth and perception of a higher class could increase an individual’s involvement in unethical behavior.
From cutting off another vehicle at a stop sign, to cheating at a game, to taking more candy than offered, the wealthiest subjects were those most likely to break the rules, even when a researcher indicated that taking more candy would result in less for children. The study authors, Paul K. Piff, et al., noted that those who perceived themselves to be in a higher class were the most likely to engage in unethical behavior, particularly when a symbol of wealth was introduced, such as cutting off a pedestrian when in a luxury car, for example.
The study labeled the behavior “self-interest maximization,” an idea that suggests those who have the most money or occupy higher classes are more likely to take a “what’s in it for me?” attitude. They actively work toward the most benefit for themselves. The study points out that these individuals make excellent business leaders, since they often work the hardest to get the most out of a contract or job.
Many addictions begin because a person gets a positive response from a certain type of behavior. Whether it’s a happy feeling you get from shopping or a thrill that comes from gambling, actively seeking out that behavior again and again for the same outcome can trigger an addiction. This is called a “behavioral or process addiction” – a compulsive behavior not motivated by dependency on an addictive substance, but rather by a process that leads to a seemingly positive outcome.
Earning money can be very addictive for some individuals. That high of a big check or a well-padded savings account can become the sole purpose of a wealth-searcher’s life, as warned by Dr. Tian Dayton, a clinical psychologist. She warns that the positive feeling that follows obtaining money can cause a chemical reaction in the brain that feels good. In turn, it can result in a severe preoccupation with money and put a strain on relationships outside of those that relate to earning more.
It doesn’t matter if you were born wealthy or you win the lottery, money can affect the way you act – and some of those effects can be inherently negative. Still, by being conscious about the social pitfalls of wealth – such as lack of compassion, conflict between classes, isolation, and a deterioration of ethics – you can protect yourself from being affected by some of the negative aspects of having money. Making a commitment to volunteer, donating funds to a charity of your choice, and expanding your social circle to include friends from a variety of income levels can all help you do something positive with, and make the most of, your money.
While there’s an abundance of evidence that money does in fact change people, your mileage may vary. There are a number of socioeconomic factors that could skew study results, including age, race, education level, location, and personal attitudes toward money. It’s true that being considered “wealthy” may change the way you think, but it can’t change your genetics, identity, propensity for hard work, or family history. In the end, your ideals and values likely determine more about you than the size of your paycheck.
Do you think money changes people?
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The World Health Organisation (WHO) has raised it pandemic alert to Phase 5 for the current influenza flu outbreak.
Phase 5 is characterized by human-to-human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one WHO region. While most countries will not be affected at this stage, the declaration of Phase 5 is a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent.
Please download Caritas Internationalis guidance document which focuses on various useful measures that can be implemented by Caritas Member organizations. The material can be adapted according to the needs of the general public and community organizations.
This planning document will encourage Caritas member organizations to be well informed and strategically prepared to confront the potential global threat of pandemic influenza. The information it contains has been elaborated in close collaboration between the World Health Organization’s Pandemic Influenza Unit and the Caritas Internationalis Delegation in Geneva.
Latest update from Caritas Mexico (in Spanish)
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Am I allowed carbs since I have diabetes? This is a question I am asked so often, I think the answer bears repeating…YES! Many of my clients with recently diagnosed with diabetes believe it is necessary remove all carbohydrates from their diet. This is not only unnecessary, it’s very difficult to do. Besides the fact that you will be very hungry without carbohydrates, over time, you will not have an adequate supply of energy for your body. Carbohydrate foods are the preferred source of fuel for the body. Despite all we know about diabetes,there is still a great deal of confusion about whether “carbohydrates” need to be cut out of one’s diet.
The quantity and type carbohydrate food is what’s most important. In general, the less a food has been processed the better. That advice actually applies to everyone, not just people with diabetes. Choose whole grains, fruit and vegetables more often, and limit the highly processed foods as much as possible. Fresh fruit for example, is a better choice than fruit juice, which has been processed.
Any food with carbohydrate will make blood sugar rise, but the type and amount of carbohydrate you eat makes all the difference. Too much of a “healthy” carbohydrate can cause a significant rise in blood sugar. Conversely, a small, controlled portion of a dessert or sweetened food may not have much of an affect on your blood sugar if you are monitoring your diabetes closely. It all depends on the food you have chosen, the amount consumed, and the state of your blood sugar at the onset. The bottom line…1) check your blood sugar often, so you know where you are 2) make note of how certain foods affect your blood sugar, and 3) learn what portion size is right for you!
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Electric Cars And The Power Grid
Think You're Never Going To Drive An Electric Car? Think Again
In addition to easing stress on the grid and offering PEV drivers lower rates, the platform would match charging PEVs with electricity sourced from renewable energy whenever possible, making the electric-powered vehicle just a little cleaner.
Such a platform would also pave the way for another interesting improvement not specifically detailed within the announcement. If equipped with two-way energy transmission capabilities, a connected car could not only stop charging during peak periods, it could put electricity back into the grid. The car owner could sell energy back into the grid during peak times, then buy it at a lower price during off-peak hours, assuming he didn’t need a full charge right away.
Automakers like Honda and Nissan have already been working on two-way vehicle charging systems that can push energy into the grid or home when demand is high. Nissan, which is conspicuously absent from the new EPRI research initiative, showed a smart home concept in 2011, integrating the Nissan Leaf into the home’s power supply. It says that the 24-kWh lithium-ion Leaf battery could power the average Japanese home for about two days. The Leaf could serve as an emergency generator or an off-grid power source during peak hours of the day.
The two dozen parties working on the EPRI platform started their work close to two years ago. They plan to move forward with developing and testing the new platform. The focus is on the United States, but the platform will meet standards for global applicability.
Have a question? Get it answered by AskMen's guyQ.
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How to Think Like a Computer Scientist: Learning with Python 2nd Edition/Sets of Objects
Sets of objects
By now, you have seen several examples of composition. One of the first examples was using a method invocation as part of an expression. Another example is the nested structure of statements; you can put an if statement within a while loop, within another if statement, and so on.
Having seen this pattern, and having learned about lists and objects, you should not be surprised to learn that you can create lists of objects. You can also create objects that contain lists (as attributes); you can create lists that contain lists; you can create objects that contain objects; and so on.
In this chapter and the next, we will look at some examples of these combinations, using Card objects as an example.
If you are not familiar with common playing cards, now would be a good time to get a deck, or else this chapter might not make much sense. There are fifty-two cards in a deck, each of which belongs to one of four suits and one of thirteen ranks. The suits are Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs (in descending order in bridge). The ranks are Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, and King. Depending on the game that you are playing, the rank of Ace may be higher than King or lower than 2.
If we want to define a new object to represent a playing card, it is obvious what the attributes should be: rank and suit. It is not as obvious what type the attributes should be. One possibility is to use strings containing words like "Spade" for suits and "Queen" for ranks. One problem with this implementation is that it would not be easy to compare cards to see which had a higher rank or suit.
An alternative is to use integers to encode the ranks and suits. By encode, we do not mean what some people think, which is to encrypt or translate into a secret code. What a computer scientist means by encode is to define a mapping between a sequence of numbers and the items I want to represent. For example:
An obvious feature of this mapping is that the suits map to integers in order, so we can compare suits by comparing integers. The mapping for ranks is fairly obvious; each of the numerical ranks maps to the corresponding integer, and for face cards:
The reason we are using mathematical notation for these mappings is that they are not part of the Python program. They are part of the program design, but they never appear explicitly in the code. The class definition for the Card type looks like this:
As usual, we provide an initialization method that takes an optional parameter for each attribute.
To create an object that represents the 3 of Clubs, use this command:
The first argument, 0, represents the suit Clubs.
Class attributes and the __str__ method
In order to print Card objects in a way that people can easily read, we want to map the integer codes onto words. A natural way to do that is with lists of strings. We assign these lists to class attributes at the top of the class definition:
A class attribute is defined outside of any method, and it can be accessed from any of the methods in the class.
Inside __str__, we can use suits and ranks to map the numerical values of suit and rank to strings. For example, the expression self.suits[self.suit] means use the attribute suit from the object self as an index into the class attribute named suits, and select the appropriate string.
The reason for the "narf" in the first element in ranks is to act as a place keeper for the zero-eth element of the list, which will never be used. The only valid ranks are 1 to 13. This wasted item is not entirely necessary. We could have started at 0, as usual, but it is less confusing to encode 2 as 2, 3 as 3, and so on.
With the methods we have so far, we can create and print cards:
Class attributes like suits are shared by all Card objects. The advantage of this is that we can use any Card object to access the class attributes:
The disadvantage is that if we modify a class attribute, it affects every instance of the class. For example, if we decide that Jack of Diamonds should really be called Jack of Swirly Whales, we could do this:
The problem is that all of the Diamonds just became Swirly Whales:
It is usually not a good idea to modify class attributes.
For primitive types, there are conditional operators ( <, >, ==, etc.) that compare values and determine when one is greater than, less than, or equal to another. For user-defined types, we can override the behavior of the built-in operators by providing a method named __cmp__. By convention, __cmp__ takes two parameters, self and other, and returns 1 if the first object is greater, -1 if the second object is greater, and 0 if they are equal to each other.
Some types are completely ordered, which means that you can compare any two elements and tell which is bigger. For example, the integers and the floating-point numbers are completely ordered. Some sets are unordered, which means that there is no meaningful way to say that one element is bigger than another. For example, the fruits are unordered, which is why you cannot compare apples and oranges.
The set of playing cards is partially ordered, which means that sometimes you can compare cards and sometimes not. For example, you know that the 3 of Clubs is higher than the 2 of Clubs, and the 3 of Diamonds is higher than the 3 of Clubs. But which is better, the 3 of Clubs or the 2 of Diamonds? One has a higher rank, but the other has a higher suit.
In order to make cards comparable, you have to decide which is more important, rank or suit. To be honest, the choice is arbitrary. For the sake of choosing, we will say that suit is more important, because a new deck of cards comes sorted with all the Clubs together, followed by all the Diamonds, and so on.
With that decided, we can write __cmp__:
In this ordering, Aces appear lower than Deuces (2s).
Now that we have objects to represent Cards, the next logical step is to define a class to represent a Deck. Of course, a deck is made up of cards, so each Deck object will contain a list of cards as an attribute.
The following is a class definition for the Deck class. The initialization method creates the attribute cards and generates the standard set of fifty-two cards:
The easiest way to populate the deck is with a nested loop. The outer loop enumerates the suits from 0 to 3. The inner loop enumerates the ranks from 1 to 13. Since the outer loop iterates four times, and the inner loop iterates thirteen times, the total number of times the body is executed is fifty-two (thirteen times four). Each iteration creates a new instance of Card with the current suit and rank, and appends that card to the cards list.
The append method works on lists but not, of course, tuples.
Printing the deck
As usual, when we define a new type of object we want a method that prints the contents of an object. To print a Deck, we traverse the list and print each Card:
Here, and from now on, the ellipsis ( ...) indicates that we have omitted the other methods in the class.
As an alternative to print_deck, we could write a __str__ method for the Deck class. The advantage of __str__ is that it is more flexible. Rather than just printing the contents of the object, it generates a string representation that other parts of the program can manipulate before printing, or store for later use.
Here is a version of __str__ that returns a string representation of a Deck. To add a bit of pizzazz, it arranges the cards in a cascade where each card is indented one space more than the previous card:
This example demonstrates several features. First, instead of traversing self.cards and assigning each card to a variable, we are using i as a loop variable and an index into the list of cards.
Second, we are using the string multiplication operator to indent each card by one more space than the last. The expression " " * i yields a number of spaces equal to the current value of i.
Third, instead of using the print command to print the cards, we use the str function. Passing an object as an argument to str is equivalent to invoking the __str__ method on the object.
Finally, we are using the variable s as an accumulator. Initially, s is the empty string. Each time through the loop, a new string is generated and concatenated with the old value of s to get the new value. When the loop ends, s contains the complete string representation of the Deck, which looks like this:
And so on. Even though the result appears on 52 lines, it is one long string that contains newlines.
Shuffling the deck
If a deck is perfectly shuffled, then any card is equally likely to appear anywhere in the deck, and any location in the deck is equally likely to contain any card.
To shuffle the deck, we will use the randrange function from the random module. With two integer arguments, a and b, randrange chooses a random integer in the range a <= x < b. Since the upper bound is strictly less than b, we can use the length of a list as the second parameter, and we are guaranteed to get a legal index. For example, this expression chooses the index of a random card in a deck:
An easy way to shuffle the deck is by traversing the cards and swapping each card with a randomly chosen one. It is possible that the card will be swapped with itself, but that is fine. In fact, if we precluded that possibility, the order of the cards would be less than entirely random:
Rather than assume that there are fifty-two cards in the deck, we get the actual length of the list and store it in num_cards.
For each card in the deck, we choose a random card from among the cards that haven't been shuffled yet. Then we swap the current card ( i) with the selected card ( j). To swap the cards we use a tuple assignment:
Removing and dealing cards
Another method that would be useful for the Deck class is remove, which takes a card as a parameter, removes it, and returns True if the card was in the deck and False otherwise:
The in operator returns True if the first operand is in the second, which must be a list or a tuple. If the first operand is an object, Python uses the object's __cmp__ method to determine equality with items in the list. Since the __cmp__ in the Card class checks for deep equality, the remove method checks for deep equality.
To deal cards, we want to remove and return the top card. The list method pop provides a convenient way to do that:
Actually, pop removes the last card in the list, so we are in effect dealing from the bottom of the deck.
One more operation that we are likely to want is the boolean function is_empty, which returns true if the deck contains no cards:
- Modify __cmp__ so that Aces are ranked higher than Kings.
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On December 21, 1832, John Durfee discovered the body of a young woman hanging from the pole of a haystack on his farm in Tiverton, Rhode Island. A local Methodist minister identified the victim as Sarah M. Cornell, a "factory girl" who attended his church and who had come to the area only a few months ago to work in nearby Fall River, Massachusetts. Cornell, it turned out, was pregnant, and letters in her trunk suggested that another Methodist minister, Ephraim K. Avery of Bristol, Rhode Island (a married man with several children), was the father of her child. A jury of local citizens, called together by the coroner to conduct an inquest, initially ruled the death a suicide. But additional evidence caused them to change their verdict to homicide. A second search of Cornell's belongings had turned up a scribbled note dated December 20th: "if I should be missing enquire of the Rev Mr Avery of Bristol he will know where I am . . . S M Cornell."
While the coroner's jury took steps to revise its verdict, John Durfee and a companion set off for Bristol to see to Avery's arrest. The local Justices of the Peace (John Howe and Levi Haile) refused to extradite Avery to Tiverton and insisted that a hearing on the charges be conducted in Bristol. In the meantime, prominent citizens of Fall River called a meeting of the community, at which a committee was formed to gather evidence and aid the prosecution in its efforts. The committee's assistance proved to be of little avail, however, because Justices Howe and Haile determined that there was not sufficient evidence to link Avery to the crime. On January 7, 1833, they set the minister free.
Perhaps because he feared for his life at the hands of outraged citizens, Avery fled town and went into hiding in New Hampshire. The Fall River committee immediately sprang into action. On the basis of what was claimed to be new evidence, the committee secured a second warrant for Avery's arrest, tracked him down in hiding, and brought him back to Rhode Island to stand trial before the state's Supreme Court in Newport.
The trial, which began in early May, 1833, and lasted for approximately a month, attracted national attention. The prosecution presented a mass of circumstantial evidence connecting Avery with the murder. The defense, aided by both the manpower and wealth of the Methodist organization, presented an equally massive body of evidence aimed at demolishing the character of the victim and reviving the possibility that she had in fact committed suicide. In the end, members of the jury found the arguments of Avery's skillful attorneys sufficiently convincing that they rendered a verdict of not guilty. Less than two weeks later the Methodist church issued its own report, completely exonerating Avery of the charges of murder and adultery.
Popular outrage at the outcome of the trial made it impossible for Avery to continue to live and preach in the area. In October he moved to upstate New York. A couple of years later, he resigned from the ministry and moved to Ohio where he took up farming. He died in 1869.
For a more detailed account of these events, see David Richard Kasserman, Fall River Outrage: Life, Murder, and Justice in Early Industrial New England (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1986). See also, William G. McLoughlin, "Untangling the Tiverton Tragedy: The Social Meaning of the Terrible Haystack Murder of 1833," Journal of American Culture, 7 (Winter 1984), pp. 75-84.
Students are expected to purchase the following books at the College Bookstore:
Catherine Williams, Fall River: An Authentic Narrative.
Nancy Cott, Bonds of Womanhood.
Melton McLaurin, Celia, A Slave.
A documents reader is available to be purchased from the History Department (Trotter 209). All of the secondary readings are also on reserve at McCabe Library. A few additional handouts may be distributed in class to supplement the two reading packets.
Supplemental readings are listed each week for students who wish to dig deeper into the historical context for these events and topics.
Students are expected to read all of the assigned documents and secondary materials carefully each week, and to attend and actively participate in class discussions. Grades will be based on performance in class as well as on the paper assignments.
Students are required to attend all classes for the successful completion of the course. Unexcused absences will result in a lower final grade. Discussion meetings are an essential feature of this course. Failure to attend any discussion meeting (without permission from the instructor) may result in the student being automatically dropped from the class.
Papers must be handed in in class on the date due.
(SIX TO SEVEN (DOUBLE SPACE, TYPEWRITTEN) PAGES.)
1. Write a short biography of Sarah M. Cornell. Your biography should not be merely a chronology of the events of her life. Rather, you should be careful to set your narrative in the context of the changes that were occurring in the larger environment in which Cornell lived and worked.
2. After the jury acquitted Avery of murder and the Methodist Church declared him innocent of all wrongdoing, there was a tremendous popular outcry. Why? Why did the case evoke such a high level of passion? Why did both sides tend to view events in conspiratorial terms?
3. Write a story or play about some aspects of the Cornell/Avery murder case. Append to your account a short (two-three page) discussion of the difference between this assignment and the previous two. Did you use the historical materials in a different way for this assignment? Did your thought processes change? Which assignment(s) do you feel gave you the most insight into the period's history?
In addition, there will be a short written assignment on the readings for week 7. See week 7 below for details.
Sept. 2 -- Introduction:
Sept. 4 -- Lecture: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE EARLY REPUBLIC AND THIS CASE
Sept. 9 -- Lecture: THE CHANGING NATURE OF WOMEN'S WORK
Sept. 11 -- Reading Assignments:
1. Catherine Williams, Fall River: A Narrative, pp. 3-15, 65-86, 107-08 (Letter No. 5), 167-70.
2. Gurdon Williams, Brief and Impartial Narrative of the Life of Sarah Maria Cornell, pp. 1-16.
3. The Lowell Offering -- "Factory Girls," (Dec. 1840); "Letters from Susan," (June 1844); "Pleasures of Factory Life," (Dec. 1840); "The Spirit of Discontent," (1841).
4. "New Song of the Factory Girl." (Broadside/Ballad)
5. "The Factory Girl." (Broadside/Ballad)
6. Newspaper accounts: "Mr. Hallett . . . ," Fall River Weekly Recorder (May 22, 1833); "Factory Girls," Ibid. (June 26, 1833); "Factory Labor," Ibid. (September 11, 1833).
1. Nancy Cott, The Bonds of Womanhood, pp. 19-62.
2. Barbara Tucker, Samuel Slater and the Origins of the American Textile Industry, pp. 139-62.
3. Thomas Dublin, Women at Work, ch. 3.
1. Thomas Bender, Toward an Urban Vision, pp. 19-51, 201-14.
2. Mary Blewett, Men, Women, and Work, ch. 1.
Sept. 16 -- Lecture: "REPUBLICAN MOTHERHOOD", DOMESTICITY, AND FEMALE SEXUALITY
Sept. 18 -- Reading Assignments:
1. Luke Drury, Report of the Examination, pp. 3-6, 13 (Harriet Hathaway) - 16 (Elijah Cole), 39 (Mary Ide) - 42 (Samuel Boyd), 43-44 (Sarah Honey only), 45-46 (Abraham Merrill only), 49-64.
2. Benjamin F. Hallett, A Full Report of the Trial, pp. 65 (Harriet Hathaway) - 69 (Lucy Hathaway), 72 (Amy Durfee only), 78 (Elijah Cole) - 79 (Ruth Lawton), 85 (Grindall Rawson) - 87 (Benjamin F. Sanders), 110-31 (Charles Hodges), 134 (Abraham Merrill) - 140, 142 (Abby Hathaway) - 143 (Josiah H. Ormsby).
3. Hallett, Supplementary Edition, pp. 12-14 (Dr. Thomas Wilbur).
4. Hallett, Arguments of Counsel, pp. 25-28, 61(bottom)-70.
1. Cott, The Bonds of Womanhood, pp. 63-100.
2. Jack Larkin, The Reshaping of Everyday Life, pp. 191-203.
1. Cornelia Dayton, "Taking the Trade: Abortion and Gender Relations in an 18th-Century New England Village" William and Mary Quarterly 48 (1991), 19-49.
2. Nancy F. Cott, "Passionlessness: An Interpretation of Victorian Sexual Ideology, 1790-1850," in A Heritage of Her Own, pp. 162-181.
3. Timothy Gilfoyle, City of Eros: New York City, Prostitution, and the Commercialization of Sex, 1790-1920, ch. 3.
Sept. 23 -- Lecture: WOMEN AND THE SECOND GREAT AWAKENING
Sept. 25 -- Reading Assignments:
1. Catherine Williams, Fall River: A Narrative, pp. 75-76, 101-25.
2. Thomas Dublin, ed., Farm to Factory, pp. 42-47, 49-50.
1. Cott, The Bonds of Womanhood, pp. 126-59.
2. William G. McLoughlin, Revivals, Awakenings and Reform, pp. 98-122.
3. Tucker, Samuel Slater and the Origins of the American Textile Industry, pp. 163-85.
1. Susan Juster, "'In a Different Voice': Male and Female Narratives of Religious Conversion in Post-Revolutionary America," American Quarterly 41 (1989), 34-62.
2. Mary P. Ryan, Cradle of the Middle Class, ch. 2.
Sept. 30 -- Lecture: MENTAL ILLNESS AND THE ASYLUM MOVEMENT
Oct. 2 -- Reading Assignments:
Documents: (READ AGAIN)
1. Drury, Report of the Examination, pp. 39 (Mary Ide) - 41 (Lydia Pervere), 43-44 (Sarah Honey only), 45-46 (Abraham Merrill only).
2. Hallett, A Full Report of the Trial, pp. 110-31 (Charles Hodge).
3. Hallett, Arguments of Counsel, pp. 25-28, 61(bottom)-70.
4. The Lowell Offering -- "Editorial: The Suicide," (July 1844).
1. David J. Rothman, The Discovery of the Asylum, pp. 109-29, 335-38.
2. Elaine Showalter, The Female Malady, pp. 1-17.
1. Gerald Grob, The Mad Among Us: A History of the Care of America's Mentally Ill, ch. 2.
Oct. 7 -- Lecture: SEDUCTION THEME IN EARLY AMERICAN CULTURE
Oct. 9 -- FIRST PAPER DUE IN CLASS. (DISCUSSION)
Fall vacation: October 14 & 16
Oct. 21 -- Lecture: MURDERS & INTERPRETING AMERICAN SOCIAL HISTORY
Oct. 23 -- Reading Assignments:
1. Melton McLaurin, Celia, A Slave.
2. Patricia Cline Cohen, ""Unregulated Youths: Masculinity and Murder in the 1830s City." Radical History Review (1992), 33-52.
3. Bertram Wyatt-Brown, Southern Honor: Ethics and Behavior in the Old South, chapter 17, "The Anatomy of a Wife-Killing," pp. 462-493.
Written Assignment: Write a two-to-three page essay critically evaluating the social meaning of murder as interpreted by these three historians. Due on Tuesday, Oct. 28.
Oct. 28 -- Lecture: NEW MASCULINE IDENTITIES
Oct. 30 -- Reading Assignments:
1. Catherine Williams, Fall River: A Narrative, pp. 87-99.
2. Thomas F. Norris, "To the Public."
3. Deposition of Nancy Stanley.
4. Drury, Report of the Examination, pp. 36-37 (Joseph Merrill only), 38 (Merrill cont.).
5. "Mr. Avery's Statement," in Timothy Merritt, et al., Vindication, pp. 9-22.
6. "Death of Sarah M. Cornell." (Broadside/Ballad)
7. "Lines Written on the Death of Sarah M. Cornell." (Broadside/Ballad)
8. G. Williams, Brief and Impartial Narrative of the Life of Sarah Maria Cornell, pp. 17-24.
1. Ruth Bloch, "The Gendered Meanings of Virtue in Revolutionary America," Signs (1987), pp. 37-58.
2. E. Anthony Rotundo, American Manhood, pp. 10-30.
1. Karen Halttunen, Confidence Men and Painted Women, ch. 1.
2. Donald M. Scott, From Office to Profession: The New England Ministry, 1750-1850, pp. 52-75, 169-173.
Nov. 4 -- Lecture: THE METHODIST COMMUNITY
Nov. 6 -- Reading Assignments:
1. Catherine Williams, Fall River: A Narrative, pp. 143-67.
2. Nathan Bangs, A History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, pp. 265-76.
3. James Porter, An Essay on Camp Meetings, pp. 40-67.
1. McLoughlin, Revivals, Awakenings and Reform, pp. 131-138.
1. Nathan Hatch, The Democratization of American Christianity, pp. 49-66, 81-93.
2. Russell Richey, Early American Methodism, pp. 21-32.
Nov. 11 -- Lecture: THE PARANOID STYLE OF AMERICAN POLITICS
Nov. 13 -- Reading Assignments:
1. Report of a Committee of the Methodist Episcopal Church, pp. 3-12.
2. Aristides, Strictures, pp. 3-16, 32-45, 54-70, 83-100.
3. Timothy Merritt, et al., Vindication, pp. 23-39, 51-52, 56.
4. Hallett, A Full Report of the Trial, pp. 33-34 (Dr. Foster Hooper).
5. Hallett, Supplementary Edition, pp. 10-11 (Dr. Foster Hooper only).
1. David Brion Davis, "Some Themes of Counter-Subversion," Mississippi Valley Historical Review (1960), pp. 205-224.
2. Gordon S. Wood, "Conspiracy and the Paranoid Style," William and Mary Quarterly (1982), pp. 401-441.
1. Paul Goodman, Towards a Christian Republic, pp. 105-119; 163-92.
Nov. 18 -- Lecture: JUSTICE AND PUBLIC OPINION
Nov. 20 -- Reading Assignments:
1. Catherine Williams, Fall River: A Narrative, pp. 29-32, 127-142.
2. Hallett, A Full Report of the Trial, pp. 4-13, 17-18
3. Hallett, Supplementary Edition, pp. 25 (William Simmons) - 27 (Allen Wardwell).
4. Hallett, Arguments of Counsel, pp. 4-11, 55-59.
5. Newspaper accounts: (Newport) Rhode Island Republican (July 17, 1833) through Pawtucket Chronicle (August 2, 1833).
1. Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, pp. 246-76.
1. Pauline Maier, From Resistance to Revolution, pp. 3-26.
2. Michael Stephen Hindus, Prison and Plantation: Crime, Justice, and Authority in Massachusetts and South Carolina, 1767-1878, ch. 4, "Trial by Jury," pp. 85-98.
Nov. 25 -- Lecture: THE EMERGENCE OF THE PROFESSIONS
SECOND PAPER DUE IN CLASS.
1. "Medical Evidence in the Trial of the Rev. E. K. Avery for the Murder of Sarah M. Cornell," Boston Medical and Surgical Journal (July 3, 1833), pp. 333-40.
2. Drury, Report of the Examination, pp. 6-9, (Elisha Hicks), 12 (Dr. Foster Hooper only), 33-34 (Lucy-Ann Borden).
3. Hallett, A Full Report of the Trial, pp. 30 (Dr. Foster Hooper) - 43 (Dr. Thomas Wilbur), 47-49 (Susanna Borden), 52-53 (Ruth Cook only), 99-109, 193-207.
3. Hallett, Supplementary Edition, pp. 10-11 (Dr. Foster Hooper only).
4. Hallett, Arguments of Counsel, pp. 3-4, 17-19, 70-76, 86-87.
1. Bernard Riznik, "The Professional Lives of Early Nineteenth Century New England Doctors," Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences 19 (1964), 1-16.
2. Laurel Ulrich, A Midwife's Tale, pp. 36-71, 248-61, 372-81, 400-02.
1. Mary Roth Walsh, "Doctors Wanted, No Women Apply": Sexual Barriers in the Medical Profession, 1835-1875, ch. 1.
2. James C. Mohr, Abortion in America, pp. 46-85, 274-283.
Nov. 27 -- Thanksgiving Holiday (no class)
Dec. 2 -- Lecture: A REVOLUTION IN TIME
Dec. 4 -- Reading Assignments:
1. Hallett, A Full Report of the Trial, pp. 21, 51 (William Hamilton) - 65, 83 (Abner Tallman) - 89 (George Davol), 132 (John W. Elliot) - 134 (Phineas Crandall), 141-53 (Samuel Palmer).
2. Hallett, Supplementary Edition, pp. 5, 8 (George Brownell) - 9 (Russell Anthony), 14 (William D. Fales only).
3. The Lowell Offering -- "Gold Watches," (1842).
1. E.P. Thompson, "Time, Work-Discipline, and Industrial Capitalism," Past and Present (1967), pp. 56-97.
Dec. 9 -- Lecture: HISTORY AND FICTION
1. Hayden White, The Content of the Form: Narrative Discourse and Historical Representation, ch. 1.
(Also: A Visual Tour of Fall River and Avery/Cornell Case.)
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Is how we read—within a book, on the Web, on a Kindle or an iPad or even on our phones—rewiring our brains and affecting how we think? Maryanne Wolf says it is, and she’s especially concerned about how this will play out for the generation of “digital natives” who have known nothing else except bouncing from one screen to another.
“My worry is that children are becoming wonderfully engaged with the superficial levels of information but unaware of the need to probe and think for themselves,” says Maryanne Wolf. Photo: Alonso Nichols
Wolf founded the Center for Reading and Language Research at Tufts and is a professor in the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development in the School of Arts and Sciences. The John DiBiaggio Professor of Citizenship and Public Service, she has spent more than 20 years developing and evaluating methods for testing and for intervention for dyslexia.
In her book Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain (Harper-Collins, 2007), Wolf tracks reading’s evolution and its effect on our lives, especially in this digital era. Now she is working on a new book, which will “reflect on the relationships between the quality of reading and the quality of thought, and between the quality of thought and the quality of our lives,” she says.
How our digital dependence is changing the way we think is becoming a widespread concern. In a new book, The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains (Norton), author Nicholas Carr says, “When we go online, we enter an environment that promotes cursory reading, hurried and distracted thinking and superficial learning.” How this happens and what we can do about it are much on Wolf’s mind these days.
Tufts Journal: What happens in the brain when we read?
Maryanne Wolf: The reading brain forms over many years. It begins with a new “circuit” that the brain has to make, and in that circuitry—across all languages—some things are going to be there: the visual and linguistic processes and the conceptual processes. But there are as many differences as there are similarities between languages and between writing systems. The Chinese reading brainsis quite different from the English reading brain. The English reading brain is a little different from the German, Italian and Spanish reading brains. The basic fact is that the brain circuit is malleable for reading, and changes with the demands of the writing system.
“Most of us associate a screen with speed, efficiency and ‘digital time,’ ” says Maryanne Wolf. Photo: Alonso Nichols
Doesn’t the brain work the same regardless of whether you’re reading from a printed page or online?
The brain alters itself according to several important factors, such as the writing system, the expertise of the developing reader, the medium and the material being read. All these characteristics shape the circuit. Knowing that, we can infer that the reading brain will adapt itself to the varied characteristics of the medium. What we don’t know is just how different these characteristics of the various mediums are, particularly for different readers who might have learned to read in quite divergent ways.
For example, the brain of a child who is immersed in six to seven hours of digitally dominated media daily and reads only a little offline will have differences from a child immersed only in books and who learns to attend, concentrate and think about what he or she reads. I have a brain shaped largely by a book-oriented formation. It is little surprise that when I want to really concentrate, I print out an online page. For me, online reading means efficiency, multitasking and just getting the information quickly processed. I do not have the same level of concentration and focus, and I think if we could get an image of my brain’s activation patterns, it would show those differences.
What concerns you about how children are learning how to read?
My principal worry is that children who are learning to read while immersed in a digital environment may not develop what I call the “expert reading brain,” one that learns in its formation process to integrate ever more sophisticated, deep reading comprehension processes, such as inference and analogy and bringing to bear background knowledge.
Ultimately those deep reading processes lead the reader to go beyond what is read to his or her own thoughts. That’s the acme of reading: the ability to use and integrate this vast array of really sophisticated intellectual tools to think for ourselves.
In education we learn to engage our children’s imagination. The problem with much of our digital media is that they engage attention quickly and then engage again and again. Children are constantly moving to the next piece of information. My worry is that the developing brain in digital media will not learn to give sufficient time to the deep reading processes.
Should we be letting children use the Internet and other digital material?
We don’t have the research to provide the best response to that question. There is no question that most children today are spending a minimum of six hours a day on various digital media. To me, the solution or approach is to keep our eyes on the cognitive repertoire of intellectual skills we most want in our children and to determine which mediums are amplifying what set of skills best.
We want children to possess the capacity to concentrate on, critically analyze and prioritize the flood of information they are getting daily. My worry is that children are becoming wonderfully engaged with the superficial levels of information but unaware of the need to probe and think for themselves. In Nick Carr’s terms, we may all be taking on characteristics of the tool, rather than using the tool to expand our own thoughts.
Is this the first time we’ve faced such a drastic change in how we obtain information?
Pascal said that there’s nothing new on this earth. Within that context there was a similar kind of cultural transition from the oral culture of the Greeks and to a literate culture. Socrates protested such a move and more or less said, “Oh no, we can’t learn to read, we’ll lose all this quality of thought, this quality of memory, this approach to memory.” He said that the most dangerous aspect of reading is that its very concreteness—its seeming impermeability—would delude our youth into thinking they understood something before they had even begun to understand. Similar arguments could be made for our youth today who think that after they google something they “know all about it.”
Is multitasking a good thing?
It’s a skill our children have to have in this world. But there are different kinds of multitasking, some of which are anything but efficient in terms of real learning. For example, research by a colleague of mine, Russ Poldrack, shows that in college students who are “digital natives,” the brain is actually skipping like a rock on water, from one thing to another, but not really accomplishing true learning in any of the skips. If true learning is required, they have to go back and do things step by step. We’re often not learning when we’re multitasking; we’re just skimming the surface. When you want to learn something, concentration on each aspect of the task will deepen your ability to learn.
What’s different about reading on an e-book like the Kindle?
Most of us associate a screen with speed, efficiency and “digital time,” which gives a certain attitude towards reading on any screen medium. I think this will factor into the way we read with something like a Kindle. We are reading for speed and efficiency, even when the very text invites slower processes.
There are also people who talk about the aesthetics—what they call the haptics, the tactile, the kinesthetic dimensions—of book reading, which poises the reader to enter a type of cognitive space and time that literally slows you down in a ruminative way. By contrast, the screen is still associated with an urge toward rapidity and the next possible activity, like email.
Would you buy an e-book?
At this moment, I don’t want to because of a more subtle principle about time. For a half hour before bedtime and a half hour in the morning I do nothing digital. I try to center myself as much as I possibly can to prepare for the freneticism that I think is dictating too much of our lives. On those days when I actually have the time to truly read, then I want every dimension of a book by my side, beginning and ending with the book’s ability to take me outside of time.
Related story: “Your Brain on Books: You Are What You Read,” by Maryanne Wolf in Tufts Magazine.Marjorie Howard can be reached at [email protected].
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- Historic Sites
The Defense Of Wake
Their High Command abandoned them. Their enemy thought they wouldn’t fight. But a few days after Pearl Harbor, a handful of weary Americans gave the world a preview of what the Axis was up against.
July/August 1987 | Volume 38, Issue 5
If Wake was an essential element in America’s western reach to the Orient, it was also neatly situated on a line from Tokyo through Iwo Jima and Marcus Island for Japan’s anticipated thrust into the central Pacific. In the prewar planning of both Japanese and American strategists, Wake increasingly represented a risk and an opportunity. By 1941 the U.S. Navy had wheedled sufficient money from a parsimonious Congress to build a permanent airfield there. A civilian construction team of 80 men arrived on January 8 to start building an airstrip and base facilities. The crew, which eventually grew to 1,150, was a tough and experienced bunch, many of whom had learned their trade putting up the dams at Boulder and Bonneville. The project foreman was an ex-football player from the University of Washington named Dan Teters. He was reckoned a good boss who kept the work moving with a dollop of Irish charm or a clenched fist, whichever seemed appropriate at the time. Most of the men agreed they had a sweet deal. At a time when a Marine corporal with five years of service was paid twenty-eight dollars a month, a workman could plan on banking at least two hundred dollars. There were morale problems, however. Wake was a desperately lonely place with few pleasures. Liquor was effectively forbidden, and women were generally seen only on the screen at the outdoor movies that were shown six nights a week. Almost every supply ship that left Wake carried workers who had broken their contracts to get off the island. One man went berserk and drowned himself in the ocean.
During February of 1941, Adm. Husband E. Kimmel, an experienced battleship sailor who had been jumped over thirty-two more senior officers to get the job, took command of the Pacific Fleet. A meticulous, by-the-book officer, Kimmel insisted on neat sailing formations and precise drills. He was not an officer given to great leaps of imagination, but he could recognize a ripe tactical opportunity when he saw one. Wake, with its new and undefended airstrip, was a prize the Japanese would surely reach for in the first days of a war. Kimmel calculated that if an invasion force could be held long enough in the waters off Wake, it would offer a rewarding target for counterattack. At his direction a Marine defense battalion was authorized to be assembled at Wake with orders to dig in and wait.
The battalion commander was Maj. James P. S. Devereux, an eighteen-year veteran of the corps who had seen garrison service in China and Nicaragua. With his balding pate, floppy ears, and a moustache that drooped under a beaked nose, Devereux did not cut a figure out of an enlistment poster. Indeed, he admitted he had been a poor student in school and had enlisted in the Marines because he fancied the red stripe that ran down the trouser leg of the uniform. Nevertheless, Devereux was a tough, no-nonsense commander who bore down on details. One fellow officer said, “He’s the kind of guy who would put all the mechanized aircraft detectors into operation and then station a man with a spyglass in a tall tree.”
At Wake there were no mechanized aircraft detectors—radar had been assigned, but the equipment never got there—and no tall trees. Devereux made do with what he had. He put his men to work twelve hours a day, building up the tactical defenses of Wake, until his troops said the first three initials of his name stood for “Just Plain Shit,” a sobriquet that did not disturb Devereux in the slightest.
Throughout the autumn of 1941 personnel arrived at Wake like officials summoned to a hastily arranged meeting whose function was not clear to the participants. Even Devereux may have been misdirected as to his real mission. Kimmel obviously had a major operation in mind for Wake, but Devereux had been briefed only to prepare against small raiding parties. Although there were no planes based at Wake, by November the buildup had progressed to such a state that the complex was officially designated a naval air station and required a Navy officer as commandant. On the twenty-ninth, with his golf clubs among his luggage, Comdr. Winfield Scott Cunningham landed at Wake to take charge. Cunningham was a somewhat unprepossessing officer who had so little time to familiarize himself with his new command that many Marines never knew he was there until long after the war was over. This unfortunate failure to make his presence felt later led to a bitter and needless dispute among the survivors of Wake in allotting credit for its defense. Officially Cunningham was in overall command of Wake, while Devereux and his battalion were charged with its tactical defense. But in such a small operation, especially when there was nothing to do but fight off the enemy, the niceties of command structure became blurred. As a practical matter the main burden for the defense of Wake fell to Devereux.
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In which Scrabble dictionary does PERFUSED exist?
Definitions of PERFUSED in dictionaries:
- verb -
force a fluid through (a body part or tissue)
- verb -
cause to spread or flush or flood through, over, or across
verb - to spread over or through something
There are 8 letters in PERFUSED:
D E E F P R S U
All anagrams that could be made from letters of word PERFUSED plus a
Scrabble words that can be created with letters from word PERFUSED
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Images for PERFUSEDLoading...
SCRABBLE is the registered trademark of Hasbro and J.W. Spear & Sons Limited. Our scrabble word finder and scrabble cheat word builder is not associated with the Scrabble brand - we merely provide help for players of the official Scrabble game. All intellectual property rights to the game are owned by respective owners in the U.S.A and Canada and the rest of the world. Anagrammer.com is not affiliated with Scrabble. This site is an educational tool and resource for Scrabble & Words With Friends players.
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How to Explain Gluten-Free to your Celiac Child
Your kids take the cue from you on how to handle their gluten-free diet, so it’s extremely important that you to stay positive and upbeat around your celiac child. Explain the diet to your children by telling them how much better they will feel by going gluten-free.
Stay upbeat around your child. She doesn’t know how to feel — this is all new to her (granted, it’s new to you, too). Give her the advantage of starting off upbeat and optimistic. If she’s like most kids, she’ll take it from there and will provide amazing strength and inspiration.
Don’t make a really big deal out of needing to be gluten-free. As huge as it may seem to you, chances are this isn’t going to be a huge deal in your child’s life . . . unless you make it one.
When explaining the diet to your child, use the big words like gluten. Even if your child has developmental or learning disabilities, use the proper terminology so that he can better communicate what he can and can’t eat to others. Give him examples he can understand — explain that gluten is in lots of the foods we used to eat, like bread, cookies, and crackers, and then quickly let him know that lots of yummy things don’t have gluten in them.
Help your child make the connection that gluten makes him feel bad. One way to do this is when you talk about gluten: You’re right, you can’t eat that. It has gluten, and gluten makes you feel icky. This way, he learns to associate gluten with feeling bad — and that’s a very good thing. Once they make that connection, their desire to cheat and eat gluten-containing foods will decrease as well.
You can’t predict how your child will respond when you first start talking to him about his new gluten-free lifestyle. Be prepared for little or no response. Appearing to be indifferent or apathetic is not unusual for kids. Whether they are upset or not, just remember that the initial emotion will pass.
Teach your kid to be open and conversant about being gluten-free. Informing people (especially those who may be involved in feeding him) is important, and you can do this in a friendly, informative manner. Teach your child a phrase to use, even if he’s too young to know what it means. Use something comprehensive that he can repeat to adults.
Some kids feel more comfortable simplifying their explanation to something people can understand more easily, like, I’m allergic to gluten, or even I’m allergic to wheat. Even though that explanation isn’t technically correct, sometimes it’s easier. Just make sure your kids know the real facts so they don’t get confused.
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$1558.00 donated in past month
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay FeatureRelated Categories: U.S. | Animal Liberation | Environment & Forest Defense
Spring Snails Survival Threatened by SNWA Pipeline
The spring snails of the Great Basin region are threatened by construction of the SNWA pipeline to Las Vegas. Spring snails are vital as primary consumer herbivores to reduce algae and thereby prevent eutrophication, also being the base of the trophic food web pyramid that supports trout, eagles and humans. Spring snails should be protected under ESA and are more valuable than golf courses and sprawl development north of Las Vegas.
Spring Snails Form Base of the Trophic Food Pyramid and Prevent Eutrophication in Spring Streams Threatened by the SNWA Pipeline
1) Abstract ---- pg. 1
2) Introduction ---- pg. 2
3) Spring Snail Physical Attributes ---- pg. 3
4) Spring Snail Diet and Habitat ---- pg. 4
5) Spring Snail Social Clusters and Lifestyle ---- pg. 4
6) Requirement for Listing Species as Endangered under ESA ---- pg. 5
7) Correlation between Excessive Aquifer Withdrawals and Spring Snail Population Decline ---- pg. 5
8) Carbonate Aquifer Decline Probable Given Interconnected Basin Hydraulics ---- pg. 6
9) Prior Examples of Species Extinction Following Excessive Aquifer Withdrawals ---- pg. 9
10) Reduced Spring Flow, Water Temperature and Chemistry Changes can Decrease Spring Snail Population ---- pg. 10
11) Water Permits Allocated Beyond Capacity of Yield Due to Development Pressures ---- pg. 10
12) Multifactorial Conditions Prevent Accurate Assessment of Long Term Damages and Effective Mitigation ---- pg. 11
13) Three Spring Snail Species at Risk of Extinction from SNWA Pipeline ---- pg. 12
14) Spring Snails Evolved to Overcome Ancient Climate Change, Yet Human Induced Spring Failure is Overwhelming ---- pg. 13
15) Spring Snails Form Base of Trophic Food Web Pyramid ---- pg. 13
16) Spring Snails Grazing on Periphyton and Algae Reduces Impacts of Overgrowth and Eutrophication ---- pg. 18
17) Aquifers and Spring Stream Function Best at Fullest Possible Level with Returns to Same Basin ---- pg. 28
18) Political and Financial Motivations for SNWA Pipeline Includes Development of Coyote Springs ---- pg. 43
19) A Tale of Two Texas Towns and Their Opposing Water Usage Choices ---- pg. 46
20) Long term Alternatives to SNWA Pipeline for Improving Las Vegas Water Emergency Storage Potentials ---- pg. 47
21) Conclusion ---- pg. 55
22) References ---- pg. 57
The Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) claims that they need to construct a 285 mile pipeline from Snake and Spring Valley to the Las Vegas region in order for their region to continue any future development. The proposed SNWA pipeline would most likely result in lowering groundwater tables throughout the Snake, Delmar, Cave and Spring Valley aquifer system and would dry up springs. The springs emerge at specific locations and elevations where there is an opening that connects to the aquifer complex below. At the groundwater level where water is able to reach the surface permanent springs emerge to form a diverse ecosystem that exists nowhere else throughout this desert region. At the base of the spring streams’ trophic food web pyramid are algae and periphyton that are consumed by spring snails that then provide regular food sources for many predatory species such as fish, eagles and even humans. An additional role played by spring snails is prevention of eutrophication by consumption of algae and periphyton. Eutrophication results from excess nutrients such as nitrogen entering groundwater and the watershed. Even with no extra nutrients the unchecked algae and periphyton growth would choke and suffocate small spring streams without the spring snail present. Slight reductions in spring and stream flow velocity could impact spring snail communities and allow overgrowth of algae colonies and periphyton, eventually depleting streams of oxygen and causing die off of fish and other top tier consumers and predators. The protection of spring snails under the ESA is critical to maintain a healthy spring stream ecosystem. This includes preventing excessive groundwater extractions by banning any out of basin water transfers as proposed by the SNWA pipeline.
Spring snails have existed as an endemic species in the spring ecosystems of the Snake, Spring, Cave and Delmar Valley throughout the Great Basin region for thousands of years with little or no disturbances from humans, climate, predators or other natural factors. When ancient Lake Bonneville dried and shrank following prehistoric climate change the spring snails evolved over thousands of years to survive in the limited space and water conditions of the region’s remaining springs. The conditions spring snails evolved in occur in only their home spring, they are limited by requirements for specific temperatures, salinity, chemistry and other factors. This sensitivity to alterations in spring flow makes them especially vulnerable to extractions as a slight drop in groundwater levels can significantly reduce flow.
An entire ecosystem depends upon the spring snails and the algae and periphyton they feed upon. The spring fed ecosystems depend upon regular levels of groundwater as the aquifer is their only source of water. Rates of groundwater recharge need to replace the water lost to spring discharge each year, and this balance needs to continue for the springs to remain functional. The rate of recharge during the filling of this aquifer system was far greater during a wetter prehistoric climate than our currently dry desert conditions. Even local extractions need to be carefully monitored as they can also alter groundwater levels. If slight excesses from local extractions can drop groundwater levels, it follows that the proposal for regular large extractions by the SNWA would be expected to drop groundwater levels even more, resulting in reduced or eliminated spring flow. In order to protect spring snails from extinction due to loss of spring habitat from the SNWA pipeline they will need to be listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
Protecting spring snails under the ESA requires understanding the source of the threat to their existence. Since they survived for thousands of years under relatively stable conditions the threat to their survival is not from any natural source. The primary threat to spring snails is a result of excessive groundwater extractions from local and external sources such as the proposed SNWA pipeline slowing down spring flows or drying them out. In this situation the human factor of developers and SNWA bureaucrats created a “perfect storm” of conditions that seriously threaten the existence of spring snails by lowering groundwater through excessive extractions.
Several developers including Mr. Harvey Whittemore and Mr. Albert Seeno have attempted to influence local politicians to support the Wingfield Company’s Coyote Springs housing development nearly 50 miles north of the Las Vegas urban core. In these satellite suburbs the property is inexpensive and developers can profit immensely from distant sites. However there is no water access for remote satellite developments and thus enter the need for the SNWA pipeline. Several other proponents of the SNWA pipeline are from other development corporations who are following the lead of Mr. Whittemore and Mr. Seeno by preparing for leapfrog development parallel to the pipeline route. The SNWA pipeline appears to directly correlate with the leapfrog development along the U.S. 93 highway corridor. This is also increasingly clear as other more reasonable options for water storage are ignored by water bureaucrats from the SNWA.
Spring Snail Physical Attributes
All spring snails are found in freshwater and have calcium carbonate shells to protect their soft invertebrate bodies. The patterned exterior of the shell is the periostracum and is made of organic matter. A shell’s completed circular turn is one whorl, and the last whorl is the spire. The first whorl, or protoconch, usually forms prior to hatching. The aperture is the shell’s opening, and some species have operculum coverings to seal the aperture (CBD, Petition pg. 16).
All 42 species of spring snail in the petition belongs to the family Hydrobiidae and 37 of these are members of the genus Pyrgulopsis. There are two anatomical regions in Hydrobiids; the head-foot region that consists of the snout, cephalic tentacles, eyes, neck and foot and the visceral coil region that is covered by the mantle. The genus Pyrgulopsis is identified by a thin and ovate-conic shell and a penis with few glands. The remaining five species on the list are members of the genus Tryonia that have elongate-conic shells. Spring snail species can be identified based upon differences in their shell and penis morphology. The male’s external penis is located behind the snout and has various lobes and glands attached, making observation of differences obvious (CBD, Petition pg. 16).
All members of family Hydrobiidae use gills to breathe and are “restricted to waters of unquestioned permanence and stability” needing springs with clean water and regular flow. All members of genus Pyrgulopsis and Tryonia are vulnerable to dehydration and any reduction in flow or alteration of the conditions of the spring could result in their demise. Hydrobiids can be found in any permanent type of spring fed ecosystem from small seeps to large gushing springs. The genus Pyrgulopsis often inhabits rheocrenes, the springs that flow out from below ground as streams and pour into a distinct channel, limnocrenes, the springs that form pools prior to entering the distinct channel and helocrenes, the springs that are shallow marshes with no open pools (CBD, Petition pg. 17).
Spring Snail Diet and Habitat
The plant communities that support spring snails with either shelter or food are water cress (Rorippa), bladderwort (Utricularia), spike rush (Eleocharis), and tule (Scirpus). Pyrgs prefer calcium carbonate rocks like travertine over soft sandy sediments while the genus Tyronia prefers both equally. Most spring snails prefer diatoms, bacteria, epiphytic algae and other aufwuchs species that attach to stones and larger plants while some include periphyton, detritus and other macrophytes in their diet (CBD, Petition pg. 19).
Hydrobiid population sizes are affected by factors are variable as water depth, stream shading, size of substrate material, water velocity at outflow, dissolved oxygen content, dissolved CO2 content, pH, salinity, water hardness, temperature, frequency of flooding and type of food. Pyrgs prefer spring temperatures between 10 to 40 degrees Celsius while Tyronia genus prefers thermal springs that are above 21 degrees, some within a narrow range. Conductivity levels for Pyrgs are between 70 – 37,000 umhos/cm. Other factors determining spring snail population size are spring brook wetted width and having armored and incised stream banks. Of the species studied so far, each one shows a strict preference to stream velocity, water temperatures and types of substrate material present in their habitat. As the spring snails have evolved with these specific conditions found in their preferred spring, these variables restrict them from other springs with different variables (CBD, Petition pg. 19).
The concentration of spring snails is greatest near the headwaters where conditions are most stable and decreases downstream as water temperature and chemistry is more variable. The need for stability in water conditions indicates that falling water levels would have drastic results for the populations of spring snails. According the USDI, any alterations in water flow, quality, temperature, clarity or mineral content can result in a direct loss of spring snails. Researchers Sada and Nachlinger concluded that spring snails need “high quality habitats with little disturbance” (CBD, Petition pg. 20).
Most spring snails are unable to relocate more than a few meters for each generation and are generally restricted to sections of their spring with conditions compatible with each species. Spring snails cannot cross dry or wet habitat that has inhospitable conditions for their species. Though some aquatic snails disperse with flood waters or hitchhiking on birds, these are mostly random mechanisms. Since spring snails have a narrow range of habitat conditions and cannot relocate, it follows that once a population has become extirpated from a spring their return is extremely improbable (CBD, Petition pg. 20).
Spring Snail Social Clusters and Lifestyle
Spring snails tend to cluster, with pyrg densities ranging from a few hundred to 10,000 per meter. Habitat sizes vary from smaller than one square meter to over 100 square meters in the larger springs. Those in warms springs reproduce continuously while cold spring residents only breed during warmer weather, both groups reproduce annually. Most pyrgs have a one year life span with many months required to attain breeding age, and then only mating once. Female pyrgs lay single egg capsules with single embryos on rock substrate that are often well secluded from predation. In just over a week the eggs hatch and babies around 0.3 mm long emerge ready to eat microscopic aquatic vegetation. As a result of low rates of reproduction combined with specific temperature and chemistry needs, the spring snails are vulnerable to extinction from variations in water levels (CBD, Petition pg. 20).
Requirement for Listing Species as Endangered under ESA
In order to protect spring snails under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) 16 U.S.C. 1533 the USFWS needs to list a species for protection if it is in danger of possible extinction in a significant section of its range. There are five factors used to determine this;
1) Present or future destruction, alteration or curtailment of habitat
2) Over harvesting for recreational, commercial, educational or scientific purposes
3) Disease or excessive predation
4) Already existing regulations ineffective
5) Other factors either human induced or natural that negatively influence their existence
If any one of the above listed factors results in a species becoming “in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range” than the USFWS needs to classify it as endangered. If a species is “likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range” then it is classified as threatened. The abstract term “foreseeable future” should include the precautionary principle and also be based upon past patterns of extinctions elsewhere when a similar action was performed (CBD, Petition pg. 21).
Correlation between Excessive Aquifer Withdrawals and Spring Snail Population Decline
Credible threats to spring snail species survival exist whenever spring flows fluctuate and lower their output velocity and amounts as a result of excessive groundwater withdrawals. Any human activity that alters water discharge, velocity, depth, temperature, substrate quality, salinity and other factors places spring snail species at risk of extinction. The spring snails that reside in the smallest springs, some less than 1 cm deep and only 1 m wide are most at risk as their springs can be easily destroyed if groundwater levels fall (CBD, Petition pg. 22).
In 2002 a study of 135 aquatic endemic taxa of the Great Basin were reviewed and it was discovered that of these 68 (approx. 50%) had lost at least one of their populations over the last 140 years. They learned that 78 of these (approx. 58%) had decreased their distribution by over one half their initial population size and 15 of the total number studied became extinct. Three of the 15 extinct species were mollusks and 12 were fish. The causes of these extinctions were multifactorial; water diversions, groundwater extractions, introduction of non-native species and pollution. Of the 135 total taxa, 67% were harmed by water flow diversions, 58% by invasive species, 40% by grazing, 13% by groundwater pumping and 2% by recreation. Synergistic effects are multifactorial and account for 60% of the taxa affected. Several other studies such as a BLM plan for the Las Vegas district found 40% of spring areas they monitored were in poor condition and none were in excellent condition. Additional tests show degradation of many springs from a combination of human factors including groundwater withdrawal, water diversions or grazing and natural ones like drought (CBD, Petition pg. 23).
Several scientists have documented the correlation between groundwater withdrawal and adverse reactions of spring fed ecosystems to altered flow patterns. They explained that in most situations the human induced groundwater withdrawals removes more water than can be replenished and the level drops can reduce spring discharge or dry them out permanently (CBD, Petition pg. 24).
The carbonate rock substrate of eastern and southern Nevada forms two different types of aquifers; shallow basin-fill of unconsolidated saturated gravels and the deeper fractured carbonate sediment rocks of dolomite and limestone. Ground flow in the shallow basin-fill gravels responds to elevation while in the deep carbonate aquifers flow is determined by hydraulic gradients influenced by recharge and discharge locations. Carbonate aquifer systems allow for regional flows that move water between basins underneath mountains that usually divide watersheds on the surface (CBD, Petition pg. 24).
The carbonate aquifer water is released at spring sites when the water table meets an opening to allow the groundwater to escape and move into a stream channel or settle into a seep. The aquifer water is the main source of spring flow and thus removing groundwater by excessive pumping will result in level drop and then a decrease or entire loss of spring flow. The loss of springs can result in extinction for these four species of Pyrgs that are endemic to this region;
Longitudinal Gland Pyrg – (Pyrgulopsis anguina)
Bifid Duct Pyrg – (Pyrgulopsis peculiaris)
Sub-globose Snake Pyrg – (Pyrgulopsis saxatilis)
Spring Valley Bifid Duct Pyrg – (Pyrgulopsis peculiaris)
These four species of spring snail are all from springs found in the Snake and Spring Valley that are targeted by the SNWA pipeline (CBD Petition pg. 25).
Carbonate Aquifer Decline Probable Given Interconnected Basin Hydraulics
According to research from 2007 by Deacon et al, the interconnected aquifers will alter the hydrology of both basins if there is groundwater withdrawal, and the approval of the SNWA pipeline would lower groundwater, reduce and eliminate many regional springs, taking with them their dependent ecosystems and local endemic species found nowhere else on Earth (CBD Petition pg. 25).
The initial hydraulic head of the spring, elevation of spring opening and the distance of the pump’s location are all factors that influence groundwater levels. Groundwater flowing through a porous medium such as carbonate rocks is proportional to the hydraulic head differential or gradient, this relationship is known as Darcy’s Law. The hydraulic head differential at springs is lowered from a drawdown cone circling around the pump. Spring discharge can be reduced as the drawdown cone extends further from the pump and lowers the hydraulic head differential (CBD Petition pg. 25).
A slight lowering of the groundwater can alter spring discharge; small low elevation springs near pumping wells and also springs at higher elevation are more sensitive to water level drops. These seemingly insignificant changes in spring discharge can wreak havoc on the aquatic ecology. If only slight changes in water level can alter the ecosystem, any large scale groundwater extraction as proposed by the SNWA pipeline would cause an ecological catastrophe. According to Zektser et al; “Groundwater overdraft develops when long-term groundwater extraction exceeds aquifer recharge, producing declining trends in aquifer storage and hydraulic head. In conjunction with overdraft, declines in surface-water levels and stream flow, reduction or elimination of vegetation, land subsidence, and seawater intrusion are well documented in many aquifers of the southwestern United States” (CBD Petition, pg. 25).
Spring snails also perform a vital service to their spring community by feasting on periphyton and algae. Without constant grazing from spring snails, algae blooms and periphyton mats would take over the spring basin and create anoxic conditions of eutrophication in which very few other animals could survive. During the Early Cambrian time the transition from stromatolite and cyanobacterial mat monoculture to greater plant and animal diversity was helped by the “small shellies“, types of snails that were the ancestors of modern spring snails. The stromatolites and cyanobacterial mats of the Early Cambrian were not eaten by anything else prior to the appearance of the ancient small shelly snails (Prothero, pg. 193).
A report by Hershler and Sada explores the relationship between biogeography and snails in the Genus Pyrgulopsis, the aquatic spring snails. The spring snails are excellent indicators of prior interconnections between basins during the Cenozoic time. Their theory is that rather than a link between the Snake River Basin of Idaho and the western Lahontan Basin, there was instead continuous drainage integration across the northern boundary of the Great Basin. The spring snails have seven different regions of endemics, five of which (Death Valley system, Lahontan Basin, Bonneville Basin, Railroad Valley and White River Basin) relate to concentrations of other endemics and two (Dixie and Steptoe) with unique snail endemism. Within each of the three largest regions of endemism (Death Valley system, Lahontan Basin, Bonneville Basin) there are two or three subregions of spring snail edemism that is not paralleled by other aquatic species (Hershler, pg. 255).
The spring snails of Genus Pyrgulopsis are gastropods from the Family Hydrobiidae and were from the late Miocene where they formed tight linkages with their aquatic habitats. Spring snails are gill breathers that require permanent waters and are unable to leave their home spring habitat due to significant terrestrial barriers. The biodiversity of spring snails is a direct result of their endemism and independent evolution with many species that are locally endemic (Hershler, pg. 255).
Throughout North America there are 131 distinct species of Pyrgulopsis of which 61% reside in the Great Basin. The authors define the Great Basin as all regions with internal drainage between the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains including the Salton Trough and the human induced diversion on the Colorado River watershed (pg. 258). The Great Basin also contains the greatest diversity of spring snails with 80 recorded species, followed by the Colorado River watershed with 20 known species. The remainder are scattered throughout the western states and Mexico from the California coast east to the Rio Grande and from as far north as the Snake and Columbia Rivers south to Mexico’s Bolson de Mapimi in Chihuahua and Coahuila (Herschler, pg. 255).
Throughout their range spring snails are plentiful in aquatic benthic communities ranging in size from small seeps to large rheocrenes and limnocrenes. Their largest numbers are found closest to the source of the spring and decline downstream (Herschler. pg. 256).
Research of ancient spring snails reveals that they were restricted to littoral zones rich in oxygen or in nearby connected springs or wetlands and were not widely dispersed in paleolakes. Currently the distribution of spring snails throughout the Great Basin is widespread and many are endemic or restricted to a single spring, spring complex or drainage basin. Of the 80 species found in the Great Basin only 16 are found across major water divide drainages (Herschler, pg. 258-9).
The largest watershed drainage within the Great Basin is the Bonneville Basin subsection that includes Thousand Springs Basin, Snake and Hamlin Valleys and the Sevier River Basin, all of which contain endemic species of spring snails only found in their home springs. These three water basins also are the western, southern and eastern boundaries with the northern boundary entering southern Idaho. The Bonneville Basin has 17 species of spring snails, 14 of which are endemic. In addition to endemic spring snails are eight species of endemic fish. The spring snails of the Bonneville Basin all differ from the species found in the nearby Lahontan Basin with only a single crossover species. The greatest concentration of endemics is found in the three regions listed above (Herschler, pg. 267).
The Thousand Springs section contains three endemics; P. hovinghi, P. lentiglans and P. millenaria. Three locally endemic species reside in the Snake Valley section; P. hamlinensis, P. anguina and P. saxatilis. Each of these three has a close relative outside of their current range; P. hamlinensis with P. montana from the Meadow Valley Wash in the Colorado River drainage over the White Rock Mt. divide to the west, P. saxatilis with P. lata from the White River Valley to the west, and P. anguina with P. chamberlini from the Sevier River Basin to the east. The connection between these three sets of different relatives shows prehistoric stream capture likely occurred. In addition the distribution of P. peculiaris from the Spring Valley to the west through the Snake Valley and into the eastern Sevier River Basin shows prior drainage interconnections between these three watersheds. Other spring snails such as P. kolobensis are distributed across the Bonneville, Lahontan and Colorado River basins with noticeable differences in appearance (Herschler, pg. 268).
The Steptoe Basin includes the Antelope, Goshute, Spring and Steptoe Valleys with eight species of which six are endemics. The only spring snail found to range in both southern and northern parts of the Steptoe Basin is the far ranging P. kolobensis. Most all of the other endemics are concentrated in the northern and southern ends of the Steptoe Basin with five located in a large spring on the basin valley floor at the east side of the Egan Range north of the town of Ely. The five species of spring snails in this single location share several attributes and could be considered a species flock. Another species overlap is witnessed in the range of P. cruciglans from the northern Steptoe Basin and also in the western side of the Bonneville Basin. This interconnection is puzzling as the prehistoric shoreline of Lake Waring was not above the sill that divided the two sections during the Pleistocene. The only endemic fish of the Steptoe Basin, Relictis solitarius is not found across the divide in the Bonneville Basin (Herschler, pg. 269).
The biogeography of the spring snails in Genus Pyrgulopsis shows that the pluvial lake drainage both conforms to the status quo of drainage theories yet also considers more complicated patterns supported by evidence of overlapping ranges, species flocks and similarities between species. This report on spring snail biogeography also shows that the prehistoric Great Basin also had interchanges with other neighboring regions (Herschler, pg. 271).
The prehistoric fossil record of spring snails in the Great Basin confirms the claims made by the Center for Biological diversity that the Genus Pyrgulopsis deserves protection as they are confined to springs within their watershed. The type of above surface interconnection between springs and watersheds no longer occurs as it did during ancient times when lakeshores were higher and easily crossed by spring snails. This is evidenced by the similarities between species in neighboring watersheds that indicate evolutionary diversions over hundreds of thousands of years when the climate was wetter and lakeshores were closer together. As this wet climate ended long ago the current conditions of minimal precipitation do not allow members of Genus Pyrgulopsis any mobility outside of their home springs and therefore leaves them vulnerable to changes such as reduced spring water velocity from excessive extractions lowering groundwater levels. In prior cases of aquifer depletion from excessive extractions other endemic species of Pyrgulopsis such as the Spring Mountains spring snail have already experienced habitat losses and extirpation.
Prior Examples of Species Extinction Following Excessive Aquifer Withdrawals
The Nevada Wildlife Action Plan from 2006 shows that several large springs have either a reduced or zero flow following groundwater pumping with resulting declines in spring ecosystems. The Las Vegas dace (Rhinichthys deaconi), a spring dependent endemic, was designated extinct in 1957 when excessive groundwater extractions dried up their regional springs. As the same time the Las Vegas springs became dried out, the nearby Pahrump Valley’s Raycraft, Bennet’s and Mase springs also dried. Soon after this the Pahrump poolfish (Empetrichthys latos), an endemic of the Pahrump Valley became extinct. The following year scientists documented the extirpation of an entire population of the Spring Mountains spring snail (Pyrgulopsis deacon) (CBD Petition, pg. 26).
Groundwater pumping decreased surface flows in Owens Valley, Devil’s Hole and Ash Meadows in the 1960s. Though pumping at Ash Meadows was reduced in the early ‘80s, ongoing withdrawals continue to lower groundwater levels and discharge from springs. In the Moapa Valley groundwater extractions resulted in 13% of the studied endemic taxa having declined from lowered surface flows (CBD Petition, pg. 26).
Excess groundwater removal has resulted in losses of connectivity between groundwater and surface water habitats in Ash Meadows and Pahrump Valley. In a 2007 report by Deacon et al. results indicate that continued groundwater removal in southern Nevada could threaten 20 species federally listed as endangered along with 137 other endemic species that depend upon spring fed ecosystems. In their report they cite that the SNWA’s proposed groundwater withdrawals alone would threaten 41 species of spring snails throughout the 78 basin region (CBD Petition pg. 26).
Reduced Spring Flow, Water Temperature and Chemistry Changes can Decrease Spring Snail Population
In addition to spring failure, the 42 petitioned species of spring snails are also vulnerable to reduced flow and water quality changes such as temperature, clarity, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, sediment transport rates, mineral content and phytoplankton growth all resulting initially from groundwater extraction. Deacon explains that reduced spring flow can cause water to cool quicker, resulting in less area of habitat available for already limited endemic species that require specific water temperature ranges to survive. He states that these springs were relatively constant for thousands of years and each spring will have specific conditions in their substrate, velocity, depth and other characteristics for a short distance downstream. Both genus Pyrgulopsis and genus Tryonia are habitat specific and have poor dispersal ability, this trait makes them vulnerable to extinction if even a single spring becomes disrupted (CBD, Petition pg. 27).
Out of the total 42 petitioned spring snails, 14 are endemic to only one location, eleven from only two sites and three are found at over ten locations. The species found at multiple sites are also vulnerable to extirpation and will probably not be able to recolonize their former habitat once that happens (CBD Petition, pg. 28).
Other risks to spring snails from groundwater withdrawal include increased erosion, sedimentation, chemical spills and hydrostatic testing discharges. A study by ENSR for Clark, Lincoln and White Pine Counties in 2007 showed groundwater withdrawal would increase short term suspended sedimentation, decreased water quality from hydrostatic testing and dust control, and change the ecosystem’s food web enough to restructure the long term community and species composition (CBD Petition, pg. 28) .
Vegetation that depends upon spring water will become extirpated from these sites also, causing additional erosion, sedimentation, altered dissolved oxygen content and increased water temps from loss of shade. Invasive species can gain entry along pipeline construction roadways and also from altered spring flows (CBD Petition, pg. 28).
Water Permits Allocated Beyond Capacity of Yield Due to Development Pressures
Human population growth in the Las Vegas region is increasing rapidly and depends upon local carbonate aquifers in addition to the supply from Lake Mead and the Colorado River. The SNWA has applications for water rights of 200,000 acre feet per year (afy) and 330,000 afy total with surrounding regions applying for 870,487 afy. If all these applications were approved and that amount of water was actually removed, scientists predict groundwater levels dropping in all 78 basins over a 130,000 square km region. Studies have indicated that the carbonate rock aquifers and local springs are interconnected and are sensitive to changes in climate and groundwater levels already overdrawn. Deacon et al. discovered in 2007 that 35 basins within the Colorado River watershed have experienced aquifer level drops with existing water rights being 102% of yearly yield. In five out of eight flow systems water rights are greater than yearly yield, and also in 65 of the total 78 basins studied for potential adverse reactions to groundwater level drops (CBD Petition, pg. 28).
Since 2006 the total permits for withdrawal were up to 735,003 afy throughout the 78 basin region, with uneven rates from 0 to 1,660 % of yield estimates for each basin. Spring snails would be threatened with extinction even if groundwater withdrawals were limited to the estimated perennial yield. According to the Nevada Division of Water Resources perennial yield’s definition does not include for maintaining wetlands, stream flows, springs and their ecosystems, groundwater level and subsurface flow between basins. Perennial yield is determined by drying of springs, death of deep rooted phreatophyte plants, groundwater levels lowering, subsidence and reduced subsurface flow between basins. When water permits are issued that are 100 percent or more of perennial yield the expected outcomes are loss of springs and land subsidence (CBD Petition, pg. 29).
Multifactorial Conditions Prevent Accurate Assessment of Long Term Damages and Effective Mitigation
Uncertainty with precipitation recharge, evapotranspiration, time needed to return to equilibrium and subsurface flows combine to prevent obtaining a definite quantification of the damages and any reliable future outcome. It is without a doubt that the state’s current distribution of water permits fails to consider the ecological balance of aquifer dependent springs and seeps. This prevents the Nevada State Engineer from correctly assessing the needs of ecological stability and biodiversity when issuing water permits that only support greater suburban sprawl of the Las Vegas region (CBD Petition, pg. 29).
Since the Nevada Division of Water Resources definition of acceptable perennial yield does not prevent the drying out of springs, the spring snails listed in the petition could become extirpated from their home springs even when groundwater extractions are not above perennial yield. If the listed spring snails depend upon the state definition of perennial yield without receiving any protection from the Endangered Species Act, the resulting drying out of springs will most probably lead to their extirpation and eventually extinction. Several groundwater studies correlate with Schaefer and Harrill’s model of groundwater levels dropping from 0.3 to 488 meters across the 78 basin area from Sevier Lake in Utah to California’s Death Valley. This prediction indicates a future balance of groundwater level drops from 15 to 152 meters over a century or two. The first century would witness declines of spring flow declines by 2-14% with continuing declines until complete spring failure. These models all agree with one another with the exception of the SNWA model that predicts an above average rate of recharge from precipitation and discharge from evapotranspiration (CBD Petition, pg. 29).
The mitigation measures proposed by the SNWA are not going to be effective at saving spring snails as most of the basins where the petitioned species live already have water rights above yearly yield. Some sites have facilities to check for adverse effects of pumping, these will not be effective at protecting spring snails from extirpation or extinction. These monitoring sites will not show subtle changes in small springs or springs at unusually high or low elevations. The springs that correctly monitor discharge flow may not have mitigation test standards matching the actual physiological needs of the spring snail, resulting in a lack of support for the species prior to spring flow being at such low levels that would require protective involvement. It is unreasonable for the FWS to claim that their stipulated agreements are enough to protect spring snail habitat as spring snails are not included in their stipulated agreement. The FWS claims to monitor ecosystem health with no clear definition of the term as it relates to an induction level that would shut off pumping immediately when negative effects on the flora and fauna are observed. The specific needs spring snails have for microhabitat factors such as water temperature and chemistry result in them being harmed by reduction of spring flow that would occur prior to monitoring level triggers (CBD Petition, pg. 29).
Three Spring Snail Species at Risk of Extinction from SNWA Pipeline
Some species most at risk in the Snake and Spring Valleys include;
Pyrgulopsis anguina or the Longitudinal Gland Pyrg that inhabits small springs and shallow rheocrenes, some only 4 meters wide with a temperature range between 16-17 degrees Celsius and containing water dependent plants such as watercress (Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum), Baltic Rush (Juncus balticus), and muskgrass (Chara vulgaris)
Pyrgulopsis peculiaris or the Bifid Duct Pyrg that inhabits small springs and shallow rheocrenes, some with temperatures ranging between 14-18 degrees Celsius, conductivity of 317-622 micromhos/cm and containing watercress (Nasturtium officinale, Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum), Baltic Rush (Juncus balticus), and water parsnip (Berula bess).Pyrgulopsis saxatilis or the Sub-Globose Snake Pyrg, is found only in Millard County, Utah at a single spring complex including Warm Springs, Gandy Warm Springs, and Gandy Warm Creek. Their preferred habitat there is in large rocky rheocrenes with warm temps above 26.9 degrees Celsius. All three of the above species are threatened and in danger of extirpation from several of their home springs and could be faced with extinction (CBD Petition, pg. 102).
All three of the above mentioned spring snails are at risk of further population losses from excessive groundwater withdrawal. Since Pyrgulopsis anguina and P. saxatilis only inhabit the Snake Valley, and the yearly yield there is about 25,000 afy, yet with 65,949 afy of active records for that site and with SNWA applications for 50,679 afy in Snake Valley the total aquifer level drop could be from 0.3-30 meters and render both species extinct (CBD Petition, pg. 103).
Both Pyrgulopsis peculiaris and Pyrgulopsis anguina only inhabit Big Springs and two others close by, all located in a region vulnerable to groundwater level drops from excessive drawdowns. Spring flow reductions can also have adverse effects on their habitats, leading to species extirpation as in some cases such as Warm Spring on the Utah side of Snake Valley since it is the only remaining habitat for Pyrgulopsis saxatilis. The Lincoln County Land Act is an agreement between Utah and Nevada and applies to the water usage and distribution between the states from their shared Snake Valley basin. However, the most probable outcome of this agreement will be degradation of the spring snail habitat regardless of which state secures the most water rights.
In Spring Valley the SNWA claims water rights to extract 40,000 afy initially and up to 60,000 afy in ten years, resulting in a drawdown cone that would lower and eventually eliminate surface flows of springs that P. peculiaris depends upon. If the extractions proposed by the SNWA continue at this rate, the alluvial aquifer level could fall over 200 feet in only two centuries and also lower groundwater levels in the next door basin Snake Valley. Since the yearly yield of Spring Valley is near 80,000 afy, and 84,878 afy are claimed and 166,212 afy are total active claims the groundwater level drop is estimated from between 0.3 – 3.0 meters and up to 60 meters after 75 years of extractions by the SNWA (CBD Petition, pg. 104).
This severe decline in groundwater level and spring discharge can alter the vegetation from wetland species to desert species, resulting in the extirpation of the Bifid Duct Pyrg from Turnley Spring at Sacramento Pass over two decades. Currently no groundwater withdrawal agreement between Utah and Nevada provides protection to the spring snails. The vague definitions of “ecosystem health” with no indication as to when to cease extractions would fail to protect spring snails from the adverse effects of lowered spring flow (CBD Petition, pg. 105).
Spring Snails Evolved to Overcome Ancient Climate Change, Yet Human Induced Spring Failure is Overwhelming
The biodiversity of uniquely different spring snail species shows that their home springs were flowing regularly for thousands of years and more, enabling them to evolve in relative isolation to other species from nearby spring complexes. Of the 42 spring snail species petitioned for endangered status, 38 are critically imperiled, three are imperiled and one species may already be extinct. Since spring snail habitat is restricted to only permanent springs, the presence of a healthy population of spring snails indicate that their spring was flowing regularly since prehistoric times (CBD Petition, pg. 117).
If spring snails survived in these narrow niches for thousands of years without any problems, who are modern humans to decide that now their time is up because we need more golf courses? The loss of spring snails due to anthropocentric arrogance would be a tragedy with far reaching consequences, as the entire ecosystem of fish, amphibians, reptiles and mammals is based upon the populations of spring snails as the base level of the trophic food pyramid (CBD Petition, pg. 117).
Spring Snails Form Base of Trophic Food Pyramid
According to the Nevada Wildlife Action Plan; “In addition to springs’ critical role in the survival and conservation of endemic aquatic species, they also play a very important role for other wildlife species. Nevada, which has the lowest annual rainfall in the U.S., has limited surface water resources, particularly during drought. Springs provide a vital water source between infrequent surface waters, providing water availability and food resources for a wide range of Nevada’s wildlife, from bighorn sheep, elk, and deer; to birds and bats. The broad distribution of functional spring and spring outflow systems of all types across Nevada’s landscape is an important element in maintaining Nevada’s wildlife diversity” (CBD Petition, pg. 117).
There are very few other species that can reproduce and thrive on the algae and periphyton found in springs and seeps throughout the Great Basin besides the spring snail. The level of food needed to support this base of the food pyramid depends upon a regular water source coming up from the aquifer and out of the spring. Without this water exiting the ground there would be no vegetative growth in such quality and quantity as needed to support the spring snail population. The species of frogs, reptiles, fish, birds and mammals that depend upon spring snails as their nutritious food source cannot survive without them. Removal of this crucial food source resulting from dried out springs can result in massive famine for the predatory species that rely on spring snails for a regular food source.
The trophic food pyramid or web is built upon the base level of autotrophic biomass of vegetation called primary producers that derive energy from sunlight and use photosynthesis to store this energy that is eventually ingested by the next level of heterotrophic consumers. According to the energy flow paradigm the heterotrophic consumers only convert ten percent of the energy from autotrophs into formation of heterotrophic biomass. Secondary production is not just limited to measuring the energy flowing between trophic levels as it can also explain complex interactions in ecosystems such as stoichiometry. (UA, Benke).
Secondary production can help quantify the connections between many different links on a food web or trophic pyramid diagram by measuring energy flow for each species. The energy flow webs combine data on production and diet analysis for one species or taxa expressed in mass per square meter over a specific time frame (grams m2 y-1). The energy flow shows quantitative differences between ingestion flows and linkage strengths between the species and their food source measured in total amount of food ingested be each consumer (UA, Benke).
The ratio of ingestion flows to resource production can show strength of interactions or predation pressures. A strong top-town interaction is when a predator or heterotrophic consumer ingests a large portion of the primary producer or prey or autotroph’s biomass production without considering the absolute amount of the production. The trophic position is used to describe the ranking within a trophic hierarchy in more specific detail and is calculated from the combination of ingestion flows to any species located within a flow web. The trophic position of 3.2 is more specific than a standard trophic level of three reserved for all secondary consumers (UA, Benke).
Secondary production and trophic flow webs depend upon the ability of scientists to measure production in the field, and recent research has focused on freshwater and marine benthic invertebrates. Production of specific taxon has been determined for complete invertebrate assemblages in stream ecosystems by researchers collecting assemblage wide production estimates, gut analyses and food specific ecological efficiencies. Each species can have a flow web based upon the amount of food source needed to sustain their production (UA, Benke).
A connectivity web begins the basis for determining the presence or absence of food items through gut analysis. By quantifying the gut analysis from the connectivity web a diet proportion web can be formed, which can then become an assimilation web by including measurements of ecological efficiency. Finally the assimilation web can become a quantitative flow web by using secondary production data and finally an ingestion/production web can be created to determine the trophic position of each species in the flow web (UA, Benke).
The simplest connectivity web can be built using qualitative gut content data without considering the relative proportion in the gut. Though even the most detailed connectivity webs cannot determine the varied linkage strengths between the species, they can be used to measure the number of interactions per species and the maximum food chain length from the primary producer’s base of plant resources to the highest level consumer predator. The diet proportion web based upon quantitative gut data and the percentages of different food types found can be shown as a line with relative proportions of food type consumed shown as thickness of the line with a specified percentage proportion for each food type line that adds up to 1.00 as the total food consumed. The line thickness only shows diet preferences for each consumer, not the differences in absolute ingestion. Assimilation webs or assimilation/ingestion (A/I) efficiencies show the actual absorption of the percentage of the food items used for growth and metabolism. To determine the relative amount of each food type consumed the diet proportion of food type needs to be multiplied by the assimilation efficiency. The results shown in the assimilation web are noticeably different for animals with a varied diet that have consumed food types with different assimilation efficiencies and less apparent for animals that consume from the same food type. The completed assimilation web would be combined with data on secondary production to discover the trophic basis of the amount of secondary production for a single species of consumer that is designated to a single food type. In addition the total production of all species from a single food type can be established from the assimilation web (UA, Benke).
The completed flow webs include absolute ingestion flow from a specific food type to the consumer species, obtained by dividing the production of the food type by the gross production efficiency (GPE). The GPE is the product of the A/I times the production efficiency (production divided by assimilation or P/A), written as the following equation;
GPE = (A/I) x (P/A) = P/I
Since the GPE will be a number lower than one, the total consumed food types will be much higher number than the production resulting from the consumed food. When individual ingestion flows (gm-2y-1) are recorded for each interaction a quantitative flow web can be created for the entire assemblage and community.
The quantitative food web can show the trophic level of a consumer by following the longest feeding change and can show the trophic position (TP) by adding one to the sum of the trophic position of each food type (FTP) consumed times the percentage of energy each food type gave to the consumer’s production (PE%), written as the following equation;
TP = 1 + (FTPa x PE%) + (FTBb x PE%)
In order to discover the trophic position for all species, the trophic position of the species closest to the primary production base of the trophic food web needs to be determined first (UA, Benke).
An ingestion/production (I/P) web shows the effects of predation on animals or plants from a top down perspective, measured by the consumption of the predator divided by the production of a prey species (g m-2y-1). The resulting I/P ratio is expressed without any unit measures since both values use the same unit measures, effectively canceling them out. The total sum of all the percentages of ingested food types compared to predators shows the total production percentage from consumption and the entire impacts of all predation types on a specific species. If only one predator with a P/I ratio of 0.10 does not impact prey or producer species, adding 9 additional predator species with the same P/I value would be cumulative, resulting in P/I = 0.9, with the largest total impact being 1.00 as the greatest possible impacts (UA, Benke).
The drawing of the connectivity food webs are from top to bottom with respect to feeding directions. The thickness of the lines in diet proportion food webs show percentage of food types found in the gut and in assimilation food webs show the percentage of food consumed that is used for the production of energy in the consumer. The line thickness in flow webs show the absolute flow (g m-2y-1) of each food type from below being consumed by a species and in ingestion/production (I/P) food webs show the ratio (0 – 1.00) of consumption divided by the production of prey or plant resource (UA, Benke).
The authors of the report invented a hypothetical stream ecosystem to illustrate the uses of their enhanced trophic food web. The trophic web included two primary producers (algae and detritus), a primary consumer herbivorous insect chironomid (midge), an omnivorous insect trichopteran (caddisfly), and two predaceous carnivorous insects; plecopteran (stonefly) and megalopteran (hellgrammite). The connectivity web for the hypothetical stream ecosystem shows the standard relationships between producers and consumers; with chironomids (Ch) eating algae (Al) and detritus (De) trichopterans (Tr) eating (De) and (Ch), plecopterans (Pl) eating (Ch) and (Tr), and megalopterans eating (Tr), (Pl) and (Ch). The diet proportion web based on feeding percentages shows total sum (1.00) of food consumed; for (Ch) food (Al) is 0.50 and (De) is 0.50 and for (Tr) food (De) is 0.70 and (Ch) is 0.30. The assimilation web based on efficiency of absorption of feeding percentages also shows total sum of 1.00 of food consumed and used in growth or production on consumer. For (Tr) food intake of (Ch) is 0.30, yet the high assimilation efficiency (0.70) of (Ch) results in an assimilation value of 0.75 for (Ch). Another difference is the (Ch) food intake of (Al) is 0.50, and the assimilation value of (Al) as 0.80 due to the greater absorption and digestibility of (Al) over (De) with regards to (Ch) is the primary consumer (UA, Benke).
The flow web that shows the amount of total food consumed and ecological efficiencies can often have a wide range of line thickness with values between 29 to 40,000 mg m-2y-1, this extreme variation as a result of production variation amongst the species being studied, depends mostly upon the production value of each consumer. The ingestion flow is usually greatest for the species with the highest production; with (Ch) consuming 40,000 mg m-2y-1 equally for (Al) and (De) yet having a production value of 0.80 from (Al). This discrepancy between the equal consumption rates of vegetation and the 0.80 assimilation value shows the importance of considering the assimilation efficiency of the various food types throughout the ecosystem. Other differences between production and total consumption is found when comparing the consumption percentage of 0.70 for (De) as digested food in (Tr) to 0.50 in (Ch) despite the greater total amount of (De) consumed by (Ch) in the flow web. The flow web consumption of animal prey for omnivorous (Tr) is 4,286 mg m-2y-1 yet is only 286 mg m-2y-1 for (Pl) and 1,428 mg m-2y-1 for (Me), both of which are strict carnivores (UA, Benke).
The ingestion/production (I/P) web shows the production values of prey and producers, ingestion flow per consumer, individual flow I/P and the total I/P per food source. There are also wide ranges (0.01 – 0.80) of individual impacts of consumer carnivores on producers or other primary consumer herbivores though only a narrow range (0.37 – 0.80) of total consumer influences on producer or primary consumer species. The highest influences between species are from (Ch) on (Al) at 0.80 and on (De) at 0.50, then from (Tr) on (Ch) at 0.43, next from (Me) on (Tr) at 0.36 and finally from (Me) on (Pl) at 0.57. The trophic position is obtained from the flow web data and shows five trophic levels in ascending order from producer to consumer, with (Al) and (De) at (1), (Ch) at (2), (Tr) at (3), (Pl) at (4) and (Me) at (5). The trophic position shows variation between trophic levels to express the complexity of interactions between primary and secondary consumers. Some share the same positions and levels, such as (Al) and (De) since they are both on the base level as primary producers, (Ch) is also at (2) for both position and level. Differences appear in (Tr) on level (3) and position (2.8), in (Pl) at level (4) and position (3.1) and in (Me) at level (5) and position (3.4). These differences between trophic level and trophic position indicate the need to further examine ecosystems such as spring streams to determine the sensitivity of the endemics to human changes such as lowering of the water table and reduced spring flow from excessive extractions (UA, Benke).
The flow web is the most informative trophic web as it shows actual flows instead of only ratios and can quantify the strength of the links from a bottom to top outlook. For a top to bottom outlook using the I/P web is the best option. In the instance of (Tr) consumption of (Ch) at ingestion of 0.43 shows a strong connection, though two other consumers depend upon (Ch) raising their I/P to 0.52. Certain stream ecosystems in reality show total consumption at above 90% of producer production, showing strong top to bottom impacts with diffuse predation divided between several different species of consumers (UA, Benke).
The trophic position category introduces a staggered hierarchy within the trophic level system giving additional information based upon consumption preferences, such as (Me) at trophic level (5) consuming food types at trophic positions below (3), giving (Me) a trophic position of 3.4. The trophic position concept is similar to the stable isotope (SI) methodology where there is always fractionation between trophic levels. When used in combination the bottom to top links of food webs, top to bottom links of ingestion/production webs and trophic position assessments with ratios can help provide ecosystem researchers with an improved view of the complex interactions of stream and other ecosystems (UA, Benke).
The trophic food web pyramid in unique ecosystems like springs and seeps is a precariously balanced ecosystem supported by the base producer species such as algae or detritus (dead plants or animals) and primary consumer herbivore (snails, insects, other invertebrates) that can reproduce quickly enough to feed several species of secondary consumer omni-/carnivores without suffering any significant population losses themselves. The trophic food web pyramid is generally in the shape of a triangle containing ascending trophic levels with the primary producer vegetation at the base level, next level are primary consumer herbivores and then finally secondary consumer omni-/carnivores at the very top levels.
The upper levels (4-5) of the trophic pyramid for springs and seeps of the Great Basin would include secondary or tertiary consumers such as hawks, eagles, owls, snakes, large fish including Lahontan cutthroat trout and even human residents. Below them on levels (3-4) are primary or secondary consumers such as lizards, small insectivore birds like wrens, rodents, frogs and smaller fish. The lower and broader base levels (2-3) consists primary consumers such as spring snails, insects, turtles and microscopic organisms such as zooplankton. Finally the broadest land bottom base level (1) consists of primary producers such as algae, periphyton, vascular macrophyte plants, willow trees and other streamside species of vegetation that use photosynthesis to harness energy from the sun into biomass that supports all the consumer species above them.
The population numbers of the secondary and tertiary consumers in the upper trophic levels are small in number when compared to the primary consumers in the lower trophic levels. Though the eagle on level (5) will not consume the spring snails on level (2) directly in most cases, a frog from level (3) may eat 10-20 spring snails on a given day, only to be eaten along with 3-4 other small frogs by a large snake from level (4) until finally an eagle from level (5) swoops down to eat 1-2 large snakes. The reason for the tapering effect of populations and biomass in the ascending food pyramid is energy loss. The original production energy biomass coming from vegetation on base level (1) is lost at each ascending level of the trophic pyramid due to conversion of food items to carbohydrates and proteins and indigestibility of certain food parts such as seeds, husks, shells, skins, bones, etc... Supporting a healthy population of top level (5) tertiary consumers like eagles requires a stable base of level (1) primary producer vegetation like vascular plants, algae and periphyton to support level (2) primary consumers like spring snails.
The maintenance of the trophic food web’s pyramid base of vegetation requires a steady flow of spring water and stable groundwater levels. The ecosystem services provided by spring snails include feeding frogs, snakes fish and eagles among other consumers and the constant grazing of algae and periphyton. Excessive growth of certain species of algae and periphyton can clog and choke springs and their streams by depleting the water of oxygen and causing eutrophication. Thus the spring snails of the Great Basin springs, seeps and streams perform a service in both directions of the trophic food pyramid by regulating vegetation growth and providing enough food to collectively support an extensive food pyramid on their shelly backs. If the SNWA pipeline were to be constructed and their proposed amount of water were extracted, it is probable that the reduction of flow would reduce spring snail populations and result in excessive growth of algae and eventually eutrophication of the stream surrounding the spring.
Spring Snails Grazing on Periphyton and Algae Reduces Impacts of Overgrowth and Eutrophication
Spring Snails Grazing on Periphyton and Algae Reduces Impacts of Overgrowth and Eutrophication
Though there is less run off of nitrates into the Nevada watersheds than elsewhere, their lower flows and drier climate makes them vulnerable to eutrophication from algae and periphyton mats. Eutrophication is the condition of poor water quality and reduced oxygen availability from excessive vegetation growth and the eventual die off of large amounts of vegetation being consumed by bacteria that use up a great deal of available oxygen in the process of respiration. Certain species of algae considered to be nuisance can adapt to this low oxygen and high nitrate environment and eventually replace the original species found under non-eutrophic (oligotrophic) conditions. Eutrophication from nitrates and reduced spring flow from excessive groundwater removal are linked and have been extensively researched in other regions such as Florida’s limestone springs and their streams.
In similar spring ecosystems such as those emerging from limestone aquifers in Florida that have growth of algae and periphyton eutrophication is a constant problem. The excessive level of nitrates from fertilizer runoff promotes fast growth of algae and periphyton that competes with native vascular plants and causes eutrophication. The consequences of eutrophication include bioaccumulation of toxicity, also altered habitats and trophic food webs. Over 90% of the waterways within the U.S. suffer from the effects of eutrophication from excess nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. As was determined by the University of Florida researchers, snails and other invertebrates play a vital role in reducing the algae growth that leads to eutrophication (UF, Jacoby).
The springs of Florida are similar to Nevada’s springs as they are shallow and dependent on algae, vascular plants and periphyton instead of phytoplankton as their primary producers. The authors of the study intended for their research of nutrients on freshwater ecosystems to apply beyond Florida. They cite concerns of excess nutrients and eutrophication that lead to damaged ecosystems from algae blooms and loss of downstream fisheries. In Florida the nutrients enter into the aquifer through downwards percolation through the permeable karst soil. The springs are releasing nitrates and phosphorus into the surface waters (UF, Jacoby).
Nitrates are nitrogen compounds that are assimilated by algae, periphyton and other plants. Though some nitrates are natural in groundwater, excessive nitrates cause algae blooms that lead to eutrophication of downstream waters. The long term effects of eutrophication on freshwater streams are structural and functional changes to plant and algae populations. Similar to Nevada’s springs, chemistry, temperature and discharge rates are constants in Florida’s springs, making them stable-state ecosystems. There are over 700 springs in Florida that show considerable variation in these characteristics between springs and thus a diverse array of spring dependent plants and animals. The authors classify spring ecosystems as heterogeneous environments where interactions between different components such as chemistry, biology and hydrology result in specific ecosystem structures and functions (UF, Jacoby).
The complex ecosystems found around and downstream of springs are difficult to generalize based upon simple reaction to nitrates. Phosphorus and other chemicals such as dissolved oxygen, carbon dioxide and salinity can alter the type of vegetation growing there. In addition the light levels, depth of water, velocity and substrate are other factors effecting algal growth. One of the few processes limiting algae growth is grazing by invertebrates such as spring snails. If eutrophication alters the types of plants growing along streams from springs this would affect animals that depend upon them for food or shelter (UF, Jacoby).
The availability of light is altered by suspended sediments and dissolved organic matter, including algae cells. An excess of algae on the surface decreases the light needed by other macrophyte plants growing along the bottom or below the surface. The rate of discharge influenced the concentration of suspended organic matter; 5 meters cubed s-1 or more are first magnitude springs with the lowest concentration of 13 +/- 1.6 uM C L-1 and springs with lower rates of discharge showed higher values. Studies show that the streamside vegetation shading determined the level of primary producers and other macrophytes present. Shading of macrophyte plants from algae covering the leaves can reduce photosynthesis and eventually kill off the larger plants. Lower concentrations of oxygen are a limiting factor for many producers and consumers that breathe underwater. Other variables such as stream velocity, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), algae population and macrophyte plants are all factors that interact to influence the availability of light (UF, Jacoby).
In underwater vascular plants the greatest rate of photosynthetic carbon fixation is above the needs of leaves and tissues for carbon for respiration during saturated light levels provided that DIC is available. Most springs in Florida have high DIC levels from microbes remineralizing organic matter. There is also CO2 escaping from springs into the air at the discharge point. The DIC level only limits production when the interaction between stream velocity and algal mats lower DIC levels. Dissolved oxygen levels are important for determining the types of fauna that can survive there. Vascular plant roots also need enough dissolved oxygen in the water for aerobic breathing. The dissolved oxygen content decreases when macrophyte vascular plant leaves are covered with algae, reducing their capability for photosynthesis (UF, Jacoby).
Stream velocity and substrate are two other variables that influence types and amounts of vascular plants, algae and periphyton growing there. Streams with velocities above 0.60 meters per sec-1 usually have large bare rocks that don’t enable plant growth while streams with lower velocities usually have silt, mud or sand substrates that can support plant growth. Since most of Florida’s springs are lower than 0.60 m sec-1 there are plenty of plants growing there, the only limiting factor for vascular rooted plants are limestone outcrops that only support bryophytes and algae colonies. The type of algae is influenced by light, substrate and velocity, with epiphytic microalgae and benthic mats being commonly found in many spring fed ecosystems (UF, Jacoby).
Streams with high velocity flows will have more periphyton species like low-lying mucilaginous diatoms that can resist being carried away and less species of long filamentous algae. One study on the Weeki Wachee River showed that increased stream velocity correlated with less periphyton growing on the macrophyte plants. Another study on the Ichetucknee River found higher levels of periphyton growing on macrophyte plants in tributary streams with lower velocities (UF, Jacoby).
The rate of flow can influence the thickness of the boundary layer of an aquatic system. The boundary layer can regulate what type of nutrients, dissolved oxygen or free dissolved inorganic carbon compounds are accessible for uptake by the periphyton. In streams with slower moving water the boundary layer is usually thicker, making nutrients and dissolved compounds diffuse of be moved over longer distances. When the water moves faster the boundary layer is thinner and cells can have regular contact with the nutrients and dissolved chemicals that they need (UF, Jacoby).
An equation called Fick’s Law is used when calculating how much the steepness of the concentration gradient across the boundary layer influences the rate of transport.
Fick’s Law is written as;
J = –D ∂∂φχ
J = diffusion flux in moles (m-2s-1)
D = diffusion coefficient or diffusivity (m2s-1)
Φ = concentration gradient per unit length in moles (m-3)
Χ = length of the boundary layer in meters
The concentration gradient (∂φ/∂χ) is decreased in slower moving streams by depletion of nutrients and limits the periphyton’s access to nutrients. Small increases in water velocity less than 0.1 cm/s can help underwater macrophyte plants. Usually the periphyton grows as water velocity increases until reaching a plateau when the shear begins sloughing (UF, Jacoby).
Macronutrients such as phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium and several other micronutrients are needed to enable the growth of periphyton, vascular plants and other algae in streams downstream of springs. Several studies of spring systems in Florida have shown that rooted vegetation and macroalgae termed collectively macrophytes were not influenced by the total concentration of either nitrogen or phosphorus. Another study of five spring fed coastal rivers showed only two had positive relations between nitrates and macrophyte plant growth. The positive results of the Chassahowitzka River samples were later shown to be a direct result of denitrification downstream and rapid nitrate removal, not from uptake by the plants themselves. The same pattern is found in the Homosassa River where nitrates decline sharply downstream despite negligible growth of macrophyte plants. However, this same study shows a positive correlation between soluble reactive phosphorus and growth of macrophytes. Another study on the Chassahowitzka River determined that added phosphorus was responsible for additional periphyton growth more so than nitrogen amendments. Several additional studies show periphyton grow on macrophytes more when given phosphorus supplements than when given nitrogen (UF, Jacoby).
Different species of algae show preferences for different nitrate half saturation constants, the common filamentous green algae (Cladophora) prefers 100-200 ug l-1 while saturation levels for benthic algae in Arizona and Missouri is 55 and 100 ug l-1, respectively. The general consensus is despite preferences in species to nitrate levels that nitrogen itself is not a limiting factor for the growth of periphyton, algae and macrophytes. Nitrogen limitation can happen within a larger algae mat where diffusion rates and nutrient gradients vary throughout the mat (UF, Jacoby).
Half saturation constants for phosphorus were also different among species; green algae Spirogyra were 9-45 ug l-1 while Cladophora was 15-240 ug l-1. The benthic alga mats were from 7-50 ug l-1 while the periphytic diatoms were only 0.6-6 ug l-1. Unlike the increase of nitrogen from runoff, the levels of phosphorus in Florida’s springs remained mostly constant with original levels, though concentrations differ greatly between many spring systems. Though some benthic mats can assimilate phosphorus directly from sediments, it remains the limiting factor to growth for most periphyton, algae and macrophytes (UF, Jacoby).
Competition between periphyton, algae and macrophyte plants is determined by the minimal available component needed, either dissolved nutrients and gasses or light availability. A lower concentration of nutrients with good lighting benefits the slower growth patterns of the vascular plants with developed roots as they can access nutrients in sediments. Algae growth is improved when nutrients are increased as they can harness light more effectively (UF, Jacoby).
Under conditions of eutrophication the faster growing periphyton and benthic algae can overshadow the slower growing vascular plants with roots and thick fronded macroalgae. The overgrowth of benthic algae mats further limits light availability and can eliminate rooted vascular plants and macroalgae from that section of the spring system. According to a study of eutrophication progression done by Duarte, the major point is that the change in the vegetation based on nutrient levels is a sudden one, since the replacement of spring stream vegetation is not determined by nutrient delivery (UF, Jacoby).
When an abrupt change in spring stream vegetation occurs it is not correlated with excessive nutrients and can exist independent of the nutrient levels. Since the research shows independent results between the two factors nutrients and plant growth their studies on Florida spring stream systems indicates that alternative factors besides nutrient levels are responsible for species variety and amount of vegetation. The rate of growth is a factor that is influenced by grazing, since quicker growing species of algae do not invest much energy into protective structural tissues they can be more affected by grazing. Conversely when algae mats bloom in excess they increase respiration and create either hypoxic or anoxic conditions that can kill off the grazing animals. After loss of grazers there is no other factor to limit algae growth and this creates a positive feedback loop that worsens eutrophication (UF, Jacoby).
There are already several examples of Floridian spring stream vegetation altering and having negative impacts on their ecosystem. Certain cyanobacteria such as Lyngbya wollei have increased their populations following eutrophication and have been linked with skin infestations on manatees and possibly human swimmers due to a neurotoxin produced by this species of cyanobacteria. In the case of ecological intervention restoration may take centuries as the fast growing species of algae need to be replaced by slower growing macroalgae and rooted vascular plants, similar to the long term restoration needed to replace similar species of slower growing seagrass (UF, Jacoby).
In Florida over 700 springs and their streams provide habitat to numerous species of flora and fauna that would otherwise not exist in the surrounding pinelands and scrub sand desert ecosystems. Since phytoplankton and zooplankton are not noticeable until they are further downstream the relevant communities for spring systems is limited to benthic species and their trophic food pyramid. The base of the trophic food pyramid for spring stream systems is allocthonous species from outside the spring and autocthonous species from inside the spring system. An example of allocthonous species would include leaves falling into the stream from surrounding species such as longleaf pines or saw palmettos. Autocthonous species include primary producers such as macroalgae, periphyton and rooted vascular macrophyte plants that are dependent upon nutrients within the spring. These autocthonous primary producers in a spring system provide food to primary consumers such as insect larvae, snails and other aquatic invertebrates. The secondary consumers are mostly fish and raptors. Within the Florida spring system the invertebrates were categorized according to function; grazers of attached algae, shredders of coarse plant matter either living or dead, gatherers of fine organic detrital particles, filterers of organic particulates in suspension and animal predation. Among the fish there were specific herbivores of algae and plankton, consumers of detritus, invertebrates or fish (UF, Jacoby).
Within the karst caverns are habitat named stygobiota that exists only within aquifer cave systems and their springs. Within the Floridian aquifer caves one third of the stygobites live in a single cave system and 67% of the taxa are found in ten or less cave systems. This narrow range of habitats results in many of the stygobites being considered rare, threatened or endangered. Some of the endemic spring snails in Florida springs are hydrobiids and pleurocerids with limited ranges, resulting in eight species listed as threatened or endangered (UF, Jacoby).
There are only a few studies on the changes in macroalgae, vascular plants and periphyton and their invertebrate consumers resulting from excessive nutrients altering the vegetation. Two separate studies on the Weeki Wachee and Homosassa Rivers show general results that insects such as mayflies were able to increase their population when there was more dissolved oxygen near spring boils (UF, Jacoby).
The vegetation influenced the type of invertebrate living there, gatherers were everywhere yet were most dominant on bare sediments. Grazers were found on floating mat species such as water pennywort (Hydrocotyle umbellate) and beds of tape grass (Vallisneria americana). Filterers were often found in beds of tape grass yet were not in floating mats. Shredders were common throughout the shallow stream system yet amounted to less than one percent of the total organisms studied. These preferences show that any changes to the vegetation habitats would alter the composition of the invertebrates found there (UF, Jacoby).
Throughout Florida’s lotic systems invertebrates are used to determine the overall ecological health of the system by using two indices; the Stream Condition Index (SCI) in laboratories and the Biological Reconnaissance (BioRecon) in the field. These indices combine number of taxa, specific taxa and percentage or relative abundance of taxa when compared to others. The basis for these indices is that invertebrates often respond consistently to disturbances to habitat, water quality and surrounding land disturbances (UF, Jacoby).
Over a 14 year study on the Suwannee River basin an increase in nitrate concentrations was shown to correlate positively with overall abundance yet negatively with number of taxa, species diversity and evenness. The conclusion reached was that higher nitrate concentrations would increase total numbers while decreasing biodiversity of invertebrates (UF, Jacoby).
The SCI index was applied to nine and four streams in Florida and determined that when nitrate-nitrite concentrations were from 0.02-1.90 mg L-1 the SCI values were very poor to poor in the nine streams and when the n-n concentrations were 0.06-1.60 mg L-1 the SCI values were fair. The SCI habitat ratings and nitrate-nitrite concentrations were less significant (1% and 16% respectively) than the positive correlation between dissolved oxygen concentrations (36%). This shows significant differences between SCI values yet very little variation between nitrate-nitrite concentrations, showing the sensitivity of biodiversity to subtle changes (UF, Jacoby).
The nitrates and dissolved oxygen first alter vegetation and that can affect the invertebrate community which then impacts the next tier on the trophic pyramid, the fish. In a study of four different habitats along Florida’s Wekiva River 40 different species of fish were collected. The ranking of habitat types from greatest mean density of fish was Hydrocotyle umbellate, Vallisneria americana, Nuphar advena and bare sediment. The reasons for the preferences were complex interactions between the chemical and physical conditions of the habitat and the biological and ecological adaptations of the fish species (UF, Jacoby).
Another impact of altered vegetation is on the life stages of aquatic species, as some fish species require the presence of macrophytes and vascular plants to protect their young from predators. Changes in habitat vegetation can alter their growth rate. Macrophytes include mosses, flowering plants, and macroalgae that have higher than average carbon to nitrogen ratios (C: N 20-1,340), having more lignin and cellulose than digestible plant tissues along with unpleasant secondary chemicals to repel most grazers. Since macrophytes are a substrate for periphyton they are also damaged or grazed by animals that prefer periphyton. Grazers are responsible for maintaining the balance between excessive amounts of periphyton that would compete with their macrophyte hosts for nutrients and light and eventually cause eutrophication (UF, Jacoby).
An experiment that excluded caddisfly larvae from grazing on periphyton showed grazed control sections had biomass levels measured in chlorophyll a cm-2 that were 5 – 500 times lower than ungrazed experimental sections. The turnover, measured as oxygen production per unit of chlorophyll a, was five times higher in the grazed control sections of periphyton. A comparison of several related tests showed grazers could effectively reduce periphyton biomass in 70% of the experiments and could alter the physiognomic structures and assemblages in 81% of the experiments (UF, Jacoby).
There is a constant “chemical warfare” type of arms race between the grazers and the vegetation. The amphipod grazer Hyallela azteca is stopped by the extracellular polysaccharide sheaths on Lyngbya wollei. In some tests protozoan grazers consumed benthic diatoms from rates of 4,000 diatoms cm-2 h-1 in systems without macrograzers and 150 diatoms cm-2 h-1 in systems with many macrograzers. Other tests show complex symbiotic relations between the two, such as the chironomid larvae that builds tubes that are used as substrate for periphyton that are then consumed by the larvae. However, increases in phosphorus and nitrogen led to greater periphyton biomass and eventually larger larvae. This began a positive feedback loop as the larvae built larger tubes there was more surface area and thus even more periphyton available (UF, Jacoby).
Other experiments showed that periphyton increased significantly when nitrogen and phosphorus were both added, light was increased and no more grazing. If only light was increased the periphyton decreased production of chlorophyll a cell concentrations. The light increase only test showed an altered assemblage of periphyton as other low light adapted algae were replaced (UF, Jacoby).
Interactions between different trophic levels can influence grazing, such as grazing minnows being driven away by predatory fish would enable algae mats and periphyton to grow. Another study on a lake showed alterations in populations of zooplanktivores and piscivores would cause the growth of gelatinous colonies of green algae phytoplankton. This was altered only when piscivorious fish were introduced and had lowered the population of zooplanktivorous fish enough so the zooplankton numbers were able to increase and consume the phytoplankton algae colonies (UF, Jacoby).
Time and nutrients can interact in complicated ways to increase primary vegetation for the first two years while insect and fish populations don’t catch up until the third and fourth year since nutrients were added. The complicated interactions between multifactorial conditions such as chemistry, temperature, salinity, predation and others ensure that lotic systems will not respond in a linear fashion and will have unpredictable feedback loops and thresholds. Nonlinear responses are part of the eutrophication process when nutrient increases and interactions between conditions eventually replace perennial vascular plants that have sturdy roots with quick growing algae colonies, periphyton mats and phytoplankton. The only generalization about eutrophication and responses to nutrient increases is that it is unpredictable and can have unexpected outcomes. Another factor further complicating interactions between producer plants, consumers and top tier predators is interactions between parasites and their hosts. In one test it was discovered that increased algae led to increased snails and then the parasite trematode Cercariae that caused deformities in large numbers of frogs (UF, Jacoby).
The toxicity of ammonia, nitrates and other chemicals are measured by a concentration that kills half of the organisms being tested over a specific time period, denoted as LC50. According to Florida law the definition of a 96 hour LC50 is a concentration that kills 50% of the organisms in a four day time frame. Two additional terms are used to describe less than lethal endpoints that result in a measurable effect over a specific time frame; least observable effect level (LOEL) and no observable effect level (NOEL). The LOEL is defined as the lowest concentration when a noticeable change is recorded and the NOEL is described as the concentration when a noticeable change is no longer able to be recorded. Sometimes the data used for tests is far shorter than either the life expectancy or the time required to reach a balanced concentration within the organism’s tissues. The steepness of the dose-response curve can require the use of uncertainty factors, with larger factors for steep curves and smaller factors for shallow sloped dose-response curves. Either way, uncertainty factors lower the concentration deemed appropriate for the ecosystem (UF, Jacoby).
The most toxic compound found in watersheds is ammonia, followed by nitrite and then nitrate. Ammonia toxicity is measured by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency when determining standards for water quality. The EPA also found that ammonia toxicity can be influenced by ionic composition of the water, pH and temperature. The pH related toxicity seems to be a result of combined toxic effects of unionized ammonia and ammonium ions. Temperature is also responsible for the presence of unionized ammonia and ammonium ions, though ionic composition was less relevant (UF, Jacoby).
To determine acceptable levels of ammonia criterion maximum concentrations (CMCs) are used for short term exposure and criterion continuous concentrations (CCCs) are used for long term exposure. Unfortunately when tested in the field the proposed criteria were determined to be inadequate at protecting a species of mayfly in New Zealand from long term ammonia exposure. In Florida the concentrations of ammonia were the single determining factor for the existence of stygobitic crayfish. The criteria is limited yet remains the best option given the conditions, a starting point to determine safe levels of ammonia. The precautionary principle should be applied along with the criteria when determining safe concentrations of ammonia (UF, Jacoby).
The criteria equation is based upon known temperature (T) and pH levels of a specific stream or water body. The acute criterion (CMC) is written in the following equation;
CMC = 1 + 100.277.2504 – pH + 1 + 1309p.H0 – 7.204 (salmonid fish present)
CMC = 1 + 100.471.2104 – pH + 1 + 1508p.H4 – 7.204 (salmonid fish not present)
To be effective a one hour average concentration of total ammonia nitrogen (mg-N L-1) should not be any number higher than the CMC number for more than once on an average three year cycle.
The same variables are used in the calculation of the chronic criterion (CCC) written in the following equation;
CCC = (1 + 107.688– pH + 1 + 10pH – 7.688) • Minimum of (2.85, 1.45 • 10 0.028 • (25 – T))
(Early life history stages of fish present.)
CCC = (1 + 107.688– pH + 1 + 10pH – 7.688) • 1.45 • 10 0.028 • (25 – Maximum of (T, 7))
(Early life history stages of fish not present.)
To be effective a thirty day average concentration of total ammonia nitrogen (mg-N L-1) should not be any number higher than the CCC number for more than once on an average three year cycle. The highest four day average concentration of total ammonia nitrogen (mg-N L-1) should not be more than 2.5 times above the CCC number over the thirty day time frame (UF, Jacoby).
The two most common forms of oxidized nitrogen found in watersheds are nitrate (NO3-) and nitrite (NO2-). Of these two nitrate is the most stable and tends to occur in higher concentrations than nitrite, formed by nitrifying bacteria and usually reverting to nitrate over a relatively short time. Since nitrate is soluble in water it remains in the groundwater or surface water unless denitrification changes it to pure nitrogen gas (N2) and it escapes into the atmosphere or it is absorbed into tissues of vegetation like algae, macrophytes and periphyton (UF, Jacoby).
The two nitrogen compounds nitrite and nitrate are absorbed by vegetation and also taken up by animals through their permeable membranes such as gills in fish or skin in tadpoles and amphibians. The other method of nitrogen uptake is through ingestion where it is absorbed by the intestinal wall in birds and mammals. The gill membranes can transport nitrate through the chloride transport mechanism into the bloodstream and other body fluids where it can become nitrite and can possibly accumulate as a result of hepatic detoxification of nitrite. Nitrate remains a threat in the bloodstream as it can interfere with hemoglobin by preventing it from transporting oxygen to cells, causing cyanosis and tissue hypoxia. The hemoglobin molecule in vertebrates contains a central iron atom that is oxidized by the nitrate causing a condition called methemoglobinemia. The oxidation of iron in hemoglobin disrupts the reversible binding of oxygen. Cyanosis in humans and other mammals from hemoglobin disruption by nitrates is one of the main reasons for blue baby syndrome. In addition most animals are impacted by nitrate as a disrupter of the endocrine system, steroid hormone synthesis, sperm motility and viability, fecundity and development of embryos. Recently excessive nitrate levels were deemed responsible for the decline of amphibians in many watersheds (UF, Jacoby).
For invertebrates nitrate toxicity effects begin as low as 0.23 mg L_1 NO3-N for marine shrimp larvae and lethal concentrations over a 96 hour test are from 62.5 mg L_1 for adult amphipods to above 1,000 mg L_1 for adult snails. Mayfly nymphs that were exposed to a combination of nitrate, nitrite and ammonia showed effects of toxicity at 0.70 mg L_1 NO3-N and caddisfly larvae at 2.2 mg L_1 for nitrate alone. Two generalizations were reached from the accumulated data, that early life stages and freshwater invertebrates were far more sensitive to nitrogen toxicity than were adults and marine invertebrates (UF, Jacoby).
For fish the nitrate toxicity began as low as 1.1 mg L_1 NO3-N for least or no apparent impacts on eggs to above 1,000 mg L_1 NO3-N for impacts on early stages of life. Many species of fish including channel catfish, largemouth bass, bluegill and mosquitofish are impacted by both nitrite and nitrate. As with the invertebrates’ early life stage sensitivity, the eggs, embryos and fry of fish species are more vulnerable to nitrogen toxicity than are adults (UF, Jacoby).
The permeable skin that amphibians use for respiration and hydration also causes them to have elevated rates of nitrogen absorption. This tendency for increased sensitivity to nitrogen makes amphibians excellent indicators of a toxic watershed. The evidence of toxicity in amphibians is visible in deformities such as third limbs and mixed sex genitals and in disruption of feeding, metamorphosis, mating, endocrine activities and other biological processes. The toxicity levels for amphibians are from 13.6 mg L_1 to above 1,000 mg L_1 causing death in embryos in 96 hours and 4.9 mg L_1 to 65 mg L_1 impacting tadpoles. Each species shows varied responses to factors like chemical composition and type of nitrogen compound. The southern toad (Bufo terrestris) tadpoles in experimental pools with nitrate levels of 30 mg L_1 reached metamorphosis faster than controls in reverse osmosis and six days longer than controls in unfiltered spring water (UF, Jacoby).
For reptiles nitrates are also a threat, the American alligator is sensitive to levels as low as 0.01-0.04 mg L_1 NO3-N, with lowered testosterone levels in young males and females and raised estradiol levels in young females. Birds and mammals are exposed to nitrates by ingestion; cattle showed effects of toxicity at 133-220 mg L_1 and began to die when levels reached 221-660 mg L_1. The standard nitrate concentration for human drinking water is 10 mg L_1, out of Florida’s 130 springs 92% were below 2 mg L_1, though in the remaining 8% the levels exceed safety standards and within all springs the toxicity levels can become close the safety limit for brief durations (UF, Jacoby).
An excess of nutrients impact watersheds by increasing toxicity, altering the trophic food web and/or alteration of habitat. Toxicity can range from impacted respiration, altered lifestyle and even death in extreme cases. Certain individuals can develop altered traits from nutrient exposure than could impact their entire population and the trophic food web and surrounding ecosystem. The responses to nutrient excesses are usually unpredictable beyond the expectation that the results will be non-linear. The researchers from the University of Florida recommend that instead of trying to respond ineffectively against unpredictable nonlinear reactions society should try to protect the springs by preventing nutrient excesses from occurring (UF, Jacoby).
In Florida springs and their resulting watersheds eutrophication from excessive nutrients is an increasing problem. The general conclusion is that the eutrophication progression eventually replaces slower growing rooted native vascular plants with fast growing surface floating algae colonies and periphyton mats. Nonlinear responses in stream systems to eutrophication progression can result in unexpected outcomes. Preventing eutrophication by managing nutrients in spring ecosystems would be the most logical human action possible (UF, Jacoby).
Further research into nutrients, oxygen, carbon, light, velocity or stream flow, grazing, algae and vascular plant species, invertebrates, fish and other ecosystem components and their interactions are needed to further determine safe levels under various conditions. Obtain details on spring systems such as total maximum daily loads and minimum flows and levels to be better able to devise effective pollution load reduction goals and watershed management. Samples should be taken at spatial and temporal scales where various components and interactions between them can be isolated or retested for improved understanding. Further studies on macroalgae, vascular plants, microalgae and periphyton are needed to understand nutrient uptake, eutrophication progression and rates of grazing by invertebrates (UF, Jacoby).
Aquifers and Spring Streams Function Best at Fullest Possible Level with Returns to Same Basin
Springs and their streams are unique aquatic ecosystems often surrounded by terrestrial ecosystems and usually are an oasis of crystal clear water with nearly constant temperatures and chemical equilibrium. Springs are described by their shape and volume (basin morphometry), geographical location, flora and fauna. Typical biomass trophic position webs and trophic level pyramids for spring ecosystems are usually stable and very productive unless there is interference from humans and excessive extractions and/or pollution. The report from the University of Florida recognizes the unique role of spring ecosystems and has identified excessive groundwater extractions and increasing nutrients as the two greatest threats to spring stream ecosystem stability. The authors suggest that for peak performance the biological complexity of spring stream ecosystems need greater understanding, monitoring and protections of groundwater levels and quality along with the aboveground ecosystem interactions of springs, seeps and their streams (UF, Knight).
Springs and their streams usually emit groundwater with exceptional clarity and also containing dissolved minerals, nutrients and gasses. The clarity of the spring stream’s water enables light availability to increase and support diverse species of plants and animals that have adapted to specific temperatures, pH levels and dissolved mineral/nutrient content of the spring stream that they are endemic to. The springs of Florida covered in the UF report were around since approximately 15,000 – 30,000 years ago, giving spring flora and fauna enough adaptation time to evolve several unique species of endemics found nowhere else on Earth besides their home springs and streams (UF, Knight).
The twin threats of excessive groundwater extractions and nutrient loading are self-supporting mechanisms that exacerbate and compound one another by enabling growth of opportunistic and invasive species of algae and resulting accumulation of organic detritus. Water quality and clarity are reduced as the spring stream’s velocity runs slow and the invasive and the harmful algae colonies grow (UF, Knight).
Research of spring ecosystems is increasing due to their unique species and stable conditions, resulting in an expansion of the growing field of “crenobiology” derived from the Greek word “creno” (spring). The resulting studies of spring stream ecology are categorized as either reductionist or holistic; the former being the study of one species within the system of greater ecological controls and interactions and the latter being the study of the entire community. To gain a complete understanding of the ecosystem and individual species within the community both holistic and reductionist tests need to happen (UF, Knight).
The study of spring ecosystems on a holistic level represents an accurate portrayal of the community since the external factors that influence structure and function of the spring are more constant in springs than in other ecosystems. The stability of spring ecosystems results in a consistent food web relying on a stable primary producer and less temporal complexity than in other aquatic ecosystems. Springs also show a variety of community structures that respond to the unique chemical and physical factors found in each individual spring. Most importantly the study of spring ecosystems relates to human usage of groundwater and the effects of extractions and nutrient loading on the spring’s biodiversity (UF, Knight).
Springs have clear water with dissolved gasses and nutrients entering streams that support a wide range of biodiversity. The productivity of spring ecosystems is based mostly upon light available for photosynthesis and slightly influenced by nutrient availability and temperature. Within Florida the numerous spring ecosystems have existed from 15,000 – 30,000 years and have evolved plants and animals that are adapted to the specific conditions of each individual spring (UF, Knight).
Collectively the studies on spring ecosystems in Florida have shown the two greatest negative impacts come from excessive groundwater withdrawals and pollution from nitrates. The results are reduced flow, eutrophication and overgrowth of destructive algae species. Research into spring ecosystems began in the 1950s when Odum and Whitford reported the constant factors of temperature, chemistry, discharge (rate of flow) and dissolved nutrients and gasses were nearly always the same for one spring yet almost always different in another (UF, Knight).
Spring ecosystems can be measured in several ways; the global or regional scale, springshed scale and spring scale. The global or regional scale takes into consideration the latitude, climate and other factors such as human influences. The springshed scale includes the local land containing the aquifer that feeds the spring and data on subsurface conduits, potentiometric levels and rate of flow. The spring scale includes the type of algae, periphyton and vascular plants growing around the spring (UF, Knight).
The primary contribution of energy into spring ecosystems is from the sun, using photosynthesis to create energy and release heat as entropy of conversion. During a study of Silver Springs, Odum recorded that only 24% of the total solar energy input was absorbed by the primary producer plants, with only 5% of that amount actually converted into gross primary production. However, the low number of photosynthetic efficiency found in spring plants is relatively high when compared to most other plant ecosystems including those cultivated by humans. The photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) is the small section (400 – 700 nm) of a greater range ( 1) or heterotrophic (P/R 6 ug chl-a cm-2. Other factors to consider are when higher elevation streams that do not normally have much plant material due to cooler temperature have even slight algal growth it could be considered excessive and eutrophic despite having chl-a numbers that classify them as oligotrophic (UC Davis, CWAM).
Biotic integrity for periphyton taxonomy includes several factors used by the EPA as measurements. The richness of species, genus and division refers to the number of each category per sample and can be an indicator of nutrient enrichment in an otherwise nutrient limited system, biotic integrity or pollution. The percent community similarity shows assessment between sites based upon number of species in the community. The Shannon Diversity Index is the combination of the evenness of distribution of individuals among taxa and the number of species. The Pollution Tolerance Index (1-3) with 1 being tolerant and 3 being intolerant is calculated with this equation;
PTI = Sum(nCtC)
nC = number cells counted for species C
N tC = tolerance value of species C
N = total number cells counted
The percentage of sensitive diatoms is the sum of relative abundances of all species that are unable to tolerate pollution, useful in low productivity streams where other measurements can underestimate the degree of pollution. The percentage of Achnanthes minutissima can show recent disturbances as this species is first to grow there, especially frequent with acid mine drainage. The greater percentage of this species correlates with the worst disturbances. The percent of overall live diatoms shows sediment deposition on algae or of older assemblages. The percent of aberrant diatoms have abnormal patterns in their frustules and can indicate heavy metal contamination. The percent of motile diatoms indicates numbers of mobile genus such as Navicula, Nitzschia and Sunrella and shows signs of siltation as these are able to crawl above silt while other non-mobile species are suffocated. Other measurements include relative abundance of percentage of species of genus X and include information on the ecological needs by percentage of species that are acidobiontic, acidophilic, alkalibiontic, alkaliphilic, halophilic, mesosaprobic, oligosaprobic, saprophilic and eutrophic. This is similar to the Simple Autoecological Indices (SAI) that show habitat preferences and relative abundances of various taxa in a given sample as an indication of prevailing conditions of the ecosystem. Another measurement is the Weighted Average Indices (WAI) that compares the relative abundance of diatom taxa with maximum abundance values under best possible growth conditions based upon prior scientific research. Finally there is a test to determine if there is impairment of ecological conditions, a result of the deviation from a test site to a normal site using SAI and WAI data to measure and contrast differences (UC Davis, CWAM).
Using some statistical measurement tools can obtain results for community composition in each location, dry and organic mass of sampled periphyton and amount of chlorophyll-a per sampled section. The California Stream Bioassessment Protocol shows how the Student t-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) can be used to compare two sets of data, such as one site upstream and one downstream of a pollution source. The major focus of stream status is the differences between sampling locations and times and also between standard normal references and study sites being tested. Three additional questions can help obtain these results with greater accuracy;
Are changes if stream velocity flow or temperature responsible for algal community structure differences? Try Chi-square test (large N) and Fisher’s exact test (smaller N) for answer.
Are there impacts from discharges? Sample above or below the discharge location and then compare percentages of different species of algae that are sensitive or tolerant to pollution. Prior to a t-test comparing samples and sites the data needs to be converted into an arcsin or logarithmic transformation.
Are other factors such as nutrient input, reduced shade cover, higher temperatures or reduced flows causing algal blooms? This can be found by measuring biomass changes or finding chlorophyll-a per unit area of benthos. Continuous measurements or quantification data such as biomass from one site or sample can be compared to others using a Student t-test or between multiples samples and sites using an ANOVA test. For longer term research a trends analysis can be done (UC Davis, CWAM).
Other non-quantitative basic monitoring methods include a photo narrative. First identify what type of impact being studied; whether the pollution is from a fixed or diffuse source and the range of it. Next select above three samples at each chosen site to get an understanding of variation within algae species. Greater number and random distribution of samples and sites will ensure there are enough representatives from different microcosms along the stream, such as riffles. Describe the ecosystem landscape (riparian vegetation, channel substrate and watershed steepness) being sampled, record water temperatures at different sites and any abnormal characteristics that would induce algae growth such as roads, houses or logging. Take photos of the channel bottom throughout early spring to late fall at fixed locations with several per site and always from the same perspective to track any changes in algal growth. Some photos should be reference sites to compare with what is considered normal if this is possible, though with lowered water table the entire stream will become abnormal. Then a before and after photo sequence will need to be taken to show differences resulting from lower stream velocity. These qualitative measurements are useful to show when new or excessive algal growth begins and what the water temperature was before and after the event (lowered water table and stream velocity). Other details to be photographed and recorded include the peak of algal growth, when the algal growth dies off and the presence of filamentous forms different from algal growth under normal conditions (UC Davis, CWAM).
Some minimal requirements to ensure good data quality are to have at least over three random sites for sampling, with the greater the amount of sites the less chance for localized abnormalities. Some non-random sites can be chosen to show differences in before and after changes to groundwater table and flow velocity occur. Timing along with seasonal growth spurts taken into consideration is critical to accurately measure samples for different types of algal species growth responses prior to, during and after flow reduction. To ensure correct identification of algal species a professional taxonomist may be needed (UC Davis, CWAM).
To ensure the succession of the trophic food web pyramid from algae to spring snails to frogs and fish to snakes and eagles and even humans there needs to be monitoring of the spring flow and algal conditions. It would be extremely foolish to expect that the SNWA pipeline would be able to extract billions of gallons of water per year without lowering groundwater levels and reducing the spring velocity when current local extractions sometimes also reduce spring velocity. Local extractions are about as much as the aquifer and springs can handle and this needs to be carefully monitored to avoid stressing the spring snails. The role of the spring snail is vital to ensure the health of the entire ecosystem and is the first indicator species of imbalances caused by eutrophication and excess algae growth. However, water quality, temperature and spring velocity are all crucial factors to the spring snails performing their roles as primary consumers of periphyton and algae. Loss of spring snails from their habitat will result in excessive algae and periphyton growth and eventually eutrophication. The most effective way to maintain good spring velocity and water quality to enable the spring snails’ algal and periphyton consumption is to prevent excessive aquifer withdrawals by banning the proposed SNWA pipeline and closely regulating local extractions. Supporting a spring stream ecosystem with enough biodiversity and trophic levels requires maintaining aquifers at their highest possible levels.
Good groundwater level maintenance requires a reasonable process to allocate permits that do not amount to a greater or equal number than the average rate of recharge. Aquifers function best at ensuring regular spring flow when they are at their fullest levels. The water permits issued should be less than the rate of recharge to prevent over extractions of groundwater during seasonal droughts. Water should remain in the basin from where it was extracted and irrigation water should be returned to the same aquifer by percolating it down through alluvial fill.
Urban regions that rely on perpetual development need to refocus on recycling and conservation in their own district instead of trying to heist water from distant rural districts. There are several assumptions that modern humans make when comparing their economic system with their physical environment. One faulty assumption of many modern humans is that their economic system’s so-called need for constant growth as development can somehow dictate and transfer this need onto the physical ecosystem. It seems as if the residents of urban regions in the desert believe that they can continue to add buildings and humans to their existing population indefinitely into the future and somehow the water will keep coming from somewhere with no adverse effects.
While contemplating the extinction or extirpation of spring snails in exchange for more golf courses and suburban housing developments our society should ask ourselves and our representative leaders some questions. Why does Las Vegas feel that in order to “survive” they need to continuously increase their population and water intake until they are approaching cities like New York and L.A.? Is building another 100,000 homes at the Coyote Spring housing development really necessary for anyone’s survival outside of outstanding economic profits for the Wingfield Company and their benefactors? How many more casinos and housing developments are needed for the survival of this type of economic system that has made itself addicted to perpetual development forever sprawling out away from the urban core?
Recent mythologized ideas of economic success from perpetual suburban sprawl development and water grabs do not take into consideration the needs for ecological stability and the benefits that a healthy spring stream ecosystem provides humans. Early humans indigenous to the Great Basin have lived in harmony with the spring fed ecosystem for thousands of years. Prior to recent settlement and well drilling indigenous people like the Shoshone, Paiute and Goshute would collect their drinking water at the source of the spring and harvest the bounty of animals including many endemic fishes that thrive on the spring snails. The indigenous perspective in ecology is focused on giving and receiving and not taking more than what is needed. This view values the water at the source point of the spring where other beings can partake in the emergence of living waters and also understands that the spring waters the vegetation that feeds the snails that feed the trout. Finally the indigenous perspective gives thanks and praise to the spring, plants, snails and trout when they harvest the fish for cooking. There is no dividing line between water, plants, snails, fish and humans when it comes to ecological processes other than the levels of the trophic pyramid. This spring ecosystem’s natural food services to humans would likely continue for thousands of years provided there are no excessive extractions from humans as the rate of refill isn’t as much as it was when the aquifer was formed.
There is constant yearly renewal of spring ecosystems from the upwelling of groundwater that can support itself indefinitely under current climate conditions. However, dropping groundwater levels from SNWA pipeline extractions cannot support this spring ecosystem’s yearly renewal and along with the spring snails other species will also suffer from losses of the springs, including the human population. Though all humans will suffer a loss if the spring snails become extinct, some humans will feel worse than others about this tragedy. It also appears that certain humans and their corporations like Wingfield Co. will benefit enormously from the construction of the SNWA pipeline regardless of the damages it will predictably create once groundwater levels are lowered from excessive extractions.
Political and Financial Motivations for SNWA Pipeline Includes Development of Coyote Springs
Political and Financial Motivations for SNWA Pipeline Includes Development of Coyote Springs
The initial idea for the SNWA pipeline was supported by two powerful developer partners from the Wingfield Holding Company. Throughout the years of listening to SNWA pipeline public relations propaganda, it becomes clear that the case being made for this infrastructure is coming from developers. There are significant benefits to developers especially when the land prices along the pipeline route are far less than within the urban core region. The question for developers was only “where will the water come from?” not “what will happen to the wildlife in the place where the water will come from?” The concern for the developers is to get access to aquifer water with their pipeline and then ride up the U.S. 93 on the coattails of the initial proponent and beneficiary of the pipeline.
The initial financial supporter of the SNWA pipeline was Mr. Harvey Whittemore, a known developer, lobbyist and casino owner. Currently he is involved in a legal feud with his partner in the Wingfield Nevada Holding Company; one Mr. Albert Seeno based out of Contra Costa County, CA. Since the courtroom feud the Coyote Springs development locatesd on U.S. 93 and NV 168 is under ownership of Mr. Seeno, though the initial planner was Mr. Harvey Whittemore. Both partners are megadevelopers who had joined forces to build the Coyote Springs “city in the desert” while quietly financing the nearby SNWA pipeline so that they were ensured a steady supply of water. Since they purchased the land for cheap, the potential to retire as multimillionaires from the total 159,000 homes with golf courses and casinos was not ignored by these developers from Wingfield Company.
The initial purchase price paid by Whittemore to the Aerojet-General Corporation for the 43,000 acres of land at Coyote Springs was $15 million in 1998. When compared to the 1,710 acre Kyle Canyon Gateway development that is now in foreclosure with permits for 16,000 homes purchased from the BLM auction at $510 million, price is the most obvious difference. According to Restrepo consulting group, Whittemore’s advantage with Coyote Springs is the lower land prices found outside of the higher priced Las Vegas Valley (Schoenmann).
It would only require enough water to last for twenty years until they could retire safely before the lawsuits started from Coyote Springs homeowners without water and indigenous tribes, ranchers, and environmentalists who would witness the dried up spring streams as predicted by many scientists decades earlier. Considering the past history of the Wingfield Co. with the FBI and other illegal scams, it isn’t doubtful that the SNWA pipeline is just another racket for these two real estate tycoons.
The FBI investigation of Mr. Whittemore’s Wingfield Nevada Holding Company uncovered many details, such as that they had paid lobbying firm R&R Partners $70,000 per month over a five year period as reported in the Las Vegas Sun. In 2004 Mr. Whittemore loaned $250,000 to lobbyist Pete Ernaut. In his position at R&R Partners Mr. Ernaut advised Sen. Ensign, Gov. Sandoval and other Republicans. In a lawsuit against Whittemore by Wingfield partner Mr. Albert Seeno, it is mentioned that Whittemore forgave the loan (Schwartz).
Some of R&R Partner’s lobbying was for the 43,000 acre, 159,000 home Coyote Springs development located 50 miles north of Las Vegas on the Clark County border with Lincoln near Moapa at the intersection of U.S. 93 and NV 168. The Coyote Springs project was a focus for Mr. Whittemore’s team of lobbyists for many years, as constant cash donations were available for distribution between 2004 and 2010, amounting to $600,000 total taken from Wingfield Co. In 2007 Senator Reid received $124,200 from Whittemore in return for him looking the other way when his development related activities violated environmental laws. The massive plans for Coyote Springs required Whittemore to seek a partnership with another megadeveloper and casino owner, Mr. Albert Seeno Jr. in 2004. They remained partners until the recent lawsuit filed on January 27, 2012 by the Seenos against the Whittemores that included allegations of the Whittemore’s lobbying at the Wingfield Co. expense and without consent from the Seenos. This was followed by a countersuit by the Whittemores that alleged threats were made by Mr. Seeno against them (Schwartz).
During this time R&R Partner CEO Billy Vassiliadis admitted that they worked as a retainer for Coyote Springs, with their contributions of $70,000 to politicians being far above the average $25,000 donations made by Nevada’s largest corporations during a regular legislative session. According to Mr. Vassiliadis his job included public relations, research, government affairs and more intensive work than usual (Schwartz).
As the FBI investigation of Wingfield Co. proceeded, it became public knowledge that there were charges pending for illicit lobbying and campaign contributions. Though it was not specified what the lobbying money was related to, it would be likely that a few more favors and requests for state regulators to look aside when it came to approval of the SNWA pipeline were coming down the pike. Certainly some imaginary mitigation measures to make up for spring snail extirpation approved by Senator Reid would win Wingfield’s favor for another election and support the legal services of his son Rory Reid. However, the gig was up thanks to the work of some diligent field agents and the developer’s favorite politicians needed to dump their dirty money as quickly as possible. By effectively investigating and prosecuting real estate political lobbyist scams like the Wingfield - SNWA pipeline plot the FBI could be considered to also be performing “eco-saboteur prevention” by slowing recruitment of future Earth First!ers along a 300 mile linear training ground in the Nevada desert.
Following the Las Vegas Review-Journal articles about the FBI investigation of the Whittemores’ lobbying, several of the politicians who accepted the donations, including Senator Harry Reid and Rep. Shelley Berkley, gave them to charity. Senator Dean Heller gave the entire $27,000 sum he received from Whittemore since 2008 to charity. Some of these were called “conduit contributions,” that reimbursed people after they made a “suggested” donation (Ralston).
Senator Reid supported and verbally praised Mr. Whittemore’s proposed “city in the desert” Coyote Springs project since 2006 after receiving some large conduit contributions nearing $100,000 in a single day to Senator Reid’s campaign coffers from him. Throughout the years under the guiding hand of Sen. Reid the Nevada State Democratic Party also received large sums from Whittemore, yet they currently claim that there was no violation of law and thus are keeping the money (Ralston).
Besides the FBI investigation of Wingfield and Whittemore for illegal conduit campaign contributions, there are many questions about the Coyote Springs Land Co. accepting money from their partner Pardee Homes in relation to the Coyote Springs development on U.S. 93. Some rather bizarre circumstances have emerged with the “pie in the sky” concept of Coyote Springs as a city in the desert with no locally available water source outside of the future mirage of the SNWA pipeline. In many ways the Nevada sequel to the Owens Valley water grab that occurred nearly a century ago rests upon the shoulders of the two gentlemen from Wingfield and the other smaller developers that got sucked into their real estate Ponzi scheme based upon plotting to steal aquifer water with the SNWA pipeline.
The Seeno lawsuit against the Whittemores state that since the 2003 several purchases made from Whittemore in the Wingfield Nevada Holding Company had discrepancies in their financial records. One of the purchases involved in the Seeno lawsuit includes Coyote Springs Investment LLC and its sister company, Coyote Springs Land Co. LLC. These two corporations are also involved in legal disputes with their partner Pardee Homes about the Coyote Springs project on U.S. 93, including allegations that Whittemore accepted $1.32 million in lobbying money from Pardee. The suit states that Wingfield’s success is based mostly upon this complex multi-million dollar transaction between Whittemore and Pardee and that further embezzlement of Wingfield funds for Whittemore’s personal lobbying occurred against the Seeno’s knowledge or consent (Green).
Whittemore countersued the Seenos and claimed that $20 million borrowed by Whittemore from Seeno was then used to encourage Whittemore to turn over assets and to have Whittemores removed from Wingfield Co. Whittemore also alleged that Seeno made death threats against his family, and attempts to remove valuables from a safe in their home. The Whittemore suit also claims that the Seenos are attempting to "intentionally devalue the assets of Wingfield or claim fraud by the Whittemores, especially at the Coyote Springs development, so that they can improperly claim tax benefits to the IRS and receive huge tax write-offs in the hundreds of millions of dollars to be offset by gains in other Seeno companies" (Green).
The effects of the Wingfield’s lobbying effort pay off by enabling the Nevada state regulators to possess the unique human ability of selective hearing. This type of listening skill can be rewarding to those who are able to afford it, as all who are unable to pay the lobbyist’s fee will discover that their pleas fall on deaf ears. Researchers from elsewhere in the Milky Way Galaxy are as of yet confounded by this strange human ability of money influencing the effectiveness of a state regulator’s ability to hear!
In 2008 Nevada State Engineer Tracy Taylor gave Whittemore’s Coyote Springs a permit for 9,000 acre feet from Lake Valley in Lincoln County for 25,000 homes over 25 years from an application submitted in 2005. This was accomplished by Whittemore buying Atlanta Farms and pumping 12,000 acre feet from there to Coyote Springs via a pipeline constructed by the SNWA. Taylor then stated that an additional 2,300 acre foot permit would be granted if there were no visible negative effects or suppression of potential for development in the basin where the water is being exported from. When officials from White Pine County pointed out that 669 acres of agricultural land was in their county and would lose $40,000 in tax revenue, they were ignored by Taylor (Ryan).
When planning for Nevada’s future we should bear in mind the choices and outcomes of water usage and transfers in other drought prone regions of the U.S. Since the Owens Valley Water Grab 100 years ago in California ended up being unnecessary for L.A. and mostly benefitted a few San Fernando Valley real estate developers and water officials who concocted the idea for the aqueduct, many other water grabs have occurred and many more are being planned.
A Tale of Two Texas Towns and Their Opposing Water Usage Choices
An article in Salon.com describes a tale of two large “towns” in Texas and their choices in water usage and acquisition. Both San Antonio and Dallas exist in nearly the same semi-tropical climate with almost the same yearly rates of precipitation. The different choices made by these two towns are what determine their overall water situation today.
In the ‘90s San Antonio was facing a lawsuit from the Sierra Club as the city was draining their local Edwards Aquifer, home of the endangered Texas blind salamander. Following a few years of a culture war, the general consensus in San Antonio was for conservation, and water usage went from 200 to 130 gallons. Even in drought conditions, San Antonio is not looking elsewhere for any additional water as their conservation and recycling programs are sufficient.
However in Dallas water usage increased by 35% from 1980 - 99 and that city is now desperately attempting to heist water from their neighbors in eastern Texas and Oklahoma. “It’s not that they need the water to survive. What they want is to destroy our wildlife so they’ll have enough water for their grass.” Clearly Las Vegas is at a fork in the road and choices for water usage will determine the economic viability of the city and the people who depend upon financial stability and can live without lawns. The pathway Dallas is on trying to grab water from Oklahoma is an expensive one with no end in sight.
Long term Alternatives to SNWA Pipeline for Improving Las Vegas Water Emergency Storage Potentials
It is important to note that this section is not truly needed as the water pipeline proposed by the SNWA is not necessary either. In some ways the author is falling into the public relations trap set by the SNWA that claims “Las Vegas cannot survive without the pipeline from the Snake, Delmar, Cave and Spring Valleys’ aquifers.” There really is not a need for additional water for Las Vegas outside of their current allotment from the nearby Lake Mead on the Colorado River. However, to catch the SNWA in a lie is too priceless an opportunity to pass up, so the author would like to show why this SNWA pipeline is a colossal lie.
IF Las Vegas truly needed additional water, THEN the planners at SNWA would want a long term reliable source of water. This is a true statement IF the SNWA planners were honest humans. However, IF the SNWA planners are NOT honest humans THEN the first sentence is NOT true. Since Las Vegas does NOT need additional water, THEN no long term water source is needed. The SNWA planners are not under any real pressures to build the pipeline besides the personal financial gain made by distant developers who want to build on cheap land far north of the urban core of Las Vegas.
The reason that the first sentence is untrue is because it is self-evident that the proposed SNWA pipeline is unsustainable in the long term and the aquifer level will drop significantly before a decade is over.
Since Las Vegas did not truly need the pipeline the loss of the aquifers will be noticed by the gullible Coyote Springs homeowners who will need to purchase their water elsewhere or head for greener pastures. The Wingfield Co. tycoons Whittemore and Seeno can fight amongst themselves who gets to die the wealthiest after they retire as dual billionaires. The water planners from the SNWA will retire as wealthy bureaucrats who enabled the Wingfield Co. to follow through with the water heist.
One reason the author is convinced that the SNWA is making false statements is that many other options are available IF Las Vegas actually needed the water. Providing an explanation of alternative means of water acquisition is also a tool to show that less expensive and more reliable options are available, especially if used in conjunction with one another. These methods are not a bad idea to implement for long term water acquisition from local rainfall and improved retention of region watersheds including Las Vegas Wash. Other long term reliable options would include a long distance pipeline from truly flood prone regions like New Orleans and surroundings, who are actually saying “Take our floodwater, PLEASE!” instead of trying to squeeze the last few drops out of the Snake, Spring, Cave and Delmar Valley’s dwindling aquifers in the face of ever growing resistance. The author wishes to acknowledge that SNWA General Manager Mulroy also came up with the idea for the pipeline from the Mississippi yet seems to have abandoned it in favor of the closer yet far less reliable Nevada aquifers. It would be far more successful for the SNWA to pursue transferring water from the flood prone regions of Louisiana with the gratitude of frequently flooded New Orleans residents instead of fighting the Goshute Nation, ranchers and environmentalists over the dwindling aquifers of Nevada.
In order to protect the spring snail and their ecosystem there needs to be protection for the Nevada aquifers from excessive groundwater extractions such as the proposed SNWA pipeline. There are certainly many locally based options that do not require draining distant aquifers, though these choices would not pass directly past the Coyote Springs housing development as the proposed SNWA pipeline would. There is also potential for other developers to attach themselves to the SNWA pipeline near the Coyote Springs project and increase the pattern of cheap land purchases and sprawl along the pipeline’s length. The 300 mile pipeline’s proximity to a potential housing corridor does correlate with the desire of developers to have their promises of water fulfilled by SNWA General Manager Pat Mulroy. Her nickname of “Pipeline Pat” was earned as a result of her intense devotion and pursuit of the pipeline as the only possible way that Las Vegas could survive without everyone “dying of thirst” according to SNWA advertising. Despite frequently and consistently being made aware of numerous other options for improved local water retention, Gen. Mulroy relentlessly pursues the pipeline from the northern Nevada aquifers.
However, SNWA General Manager Pat Mulroy other idea rarely discussed in public is worth further examination. She has suggested moving floodwater from the lower Mississippi River to Las Vegas. While the distance is considerably further than the Nevada aquifer, the quantity of water available is far more reliable and in much greater quantity. The potential to collect floodwater during heavy rains would benefit people living along flood prone rivers while refilling groundwater and cisterns beneath Las Vegas. The water balance during storm events is usually heavily in favor of those being flooded, and transferring some of this excessive rainwater to desert regions could be applied on a national level.
The water transfer would be a simple procedure, adding a catchment basin along the setback levee at intervals of several hundred feet. A setback levee gives the river channel more width to expand and enter a natural floodplain. As the river spreads out in width the velocity slows and the threat of flooding is greatly reduced. During severe storm events whenever floodwaters rise to avoid additional pressure on the setback levees a switch can open the gate at the edge of the floodplain to a spillway leading into a catchment basin. Following some basic filtration of suspended sediments the floodwater can be pushed into a pipeline during these yearly weather emergencies.
To enhance the benefits of constructing such a long distance pipeline a magnetic levitation or “mag-lev” train can be on top of the pipeline. The water traveling through the pipeline needs to be pumped along the distance with or without carrying any additional mass. By inserting some hollowed out metallic paddleballs made out of magnetite the water would push these magnetic paddle balls along the length of the pipeline. These magnetic balls would attract metal bars attached to the sides and below the mag-lev train that would be pulled along with the metal balls inside of the above ground pipeline. The mag-lev train uses opposing magnets to levitate above the surface of the pipeline and does not lose any energy to friction besides wind resistance. The pipelines would combine the energy needed to move floodwater from the Mississippi to Nevada with several other drought prone cities along the way.
Once the water arrives at the final destination, the pipeline will be emptied into aquifers and below ground cisterns in Las Vegas for future use. The mag-lev train timed to leave along with floodwater pulses can help people who wish to voluntarily evacuate a region that is suffering from stormy weather. After arrival the pipeline will be filled with locally grown jojoba oil to move the metal balls and the mag-lev train back to the original start position in New Orleans. The jojoba plant is a drought tolerant native of the Sonoran desert that produces oil useful for industrial lubricant, it could be grown in large quantities without using excessive water as do other crops.
While this seems like an expensive project, our society needs to weigh the long term benefits of floodwater moving from easily flooded regions to drought prone regions with extractions from aquifers that only cause further drought over the next century. Though a long distance pipeline and mag-lev train from New Orleans to Las Vegas will be expensive, yearly flood repairs and consequences of droughts are also expensive over the span of a century. Another factor to consider for the long term is that global warming will likely be raising sea levels over the next few decades and low lying cities like New Orleans will be vulnerable to greater storm surge flooding from rising tides. Unlike the aquifers of northern Nevada, regions like southern Louisiana will always be having many days of excessive amounts of floodwater that will need to be removed from the region. Having infrastructure to move floodwater away from New Orleans and surrounding low lying regions that also pulls along modern mag-lev trains will not be something the future generations will regret having built as sea levels continue to rise alongside gasoline prices.
The mag-lev train on top of the floodwater pipeline would begin in New Orleans and end in Las Vegas with stops in San Antonio, Austin, El Paso, Tucson and Phoenix including several other drought prone cities and towns along the way. Once it is implemented the “Mag-Lev Floodtrain” can prevent droughts in deserts and flooding along rivers indefinitely with some minor maintenance to the infrastructure. Extensions to Miami and other flood prone cities can be made after the main line is completed.
The concept of moving floodwater to drought prone regions from flood prone regions is also being applied in other nations throughout the world. If SNWA General Manager Pat Mulroy would focus her creative energies on making the mag-lev train and floodwater pipeline a reality instead of squeezing every last drop out of nearby desert aquifers she could begin an international trend of floodwater transport to drought regions. If the mag-lev floodwater pipeline is put to use throughout the entire U.S., the terms “flood” and “drought” may become obsolete to everyone in the future except historians.
The floodwater concept of settling and catchment basins for flood prone rivers would be limited by precipitation rates and mostly be directional from regions with higher rates of precipitation to those with lower rates. Even drought prone regions have local rivers that often flood during monsoonal summer thundershowers with massive amounts of precipitation in short intervals. Unlike the slow and steady rise from long term rain events in the Midwest and other temperate climates, the desert southwest experiences sudden rises in rivers as flash floods. Every drought prone region should implement the same settling and catchment basins behind floodplains and setback levees to capture floodwater from their own rivers to prevent flash flooding from summer monsoon storms and capture and filter floodwater for storage in local aquifers and cisterns.
Widening of river channels by using setback levees is another way to both prevent flooding and to recharge aquifers during storm events. Most rivers in developed areas are channelized, making their banks closer to one another than under natural conditions. The width of riverbanks from one another is what determines how much water can pass downstream and at what speed. Narrow channelized riverbanks force the water to flow faster at a higher velocity than wider channeled natural riverbanks. During heavy rainfall and greater water pressure, the levees can be overtopped and compromised due to the constricting of the increasing volumes of water.
Setback levees can alleviate the pressure from additional volumes of floodwater by giving the river more surface area in the channel to spread out over. As it spreads out over the extra width of floodplain the floodwater can percolate downwards from gravitational pressure during and after the flooding as small ponds and oxbow lakes will continue to infiltrate trapped floodwater into the groundwater. In addition to providing beneficial habitat for wildlife, the surface floodwater water filters through gravel and infill before reaching the alluvial aquifer beneath the river floodplain. Under current conditions of narrow channelization this floodwater enters residential or business districts and eventually returns to the watershed as polluted runoff.
Several flood prone regions tried setback levees as a long term solution against the frequent devastation of seasonal flooding. In many cases setback levees and river channel widening has become a bipartisan issue, as in Missouri where Republican Senator Kit Bond has teamed up with the environmentalist organization American Rivers for the mutual goal of building setback levees along the Missouri River. The benefits of widening the channel of the Missouri River with the newly constructed setback levees includes enhanced habitat for endangered wildlife like the sturgeon, reduced flooding and renewed floodplain groundwater recharge. According to Andrew Fahlund from American River, “The river needs more room to move.” (STL Today)
The flood of 1993 along the Missouri River totaled $12 billion in damages. According to Democrat Rep. Chris Kelly; “In 200-plus years of history, we've learned one thing about the river, iIt will flood. So why do we keep tempting fate?" Unfortunately the wise words of Rep. Kelly are not heeded by all, as there was already $2 billion invested in development along the flood prone bottomlands since the last major event of ’93. This type of development in floodplains only postpones the inevitable, as taller levees are also vulnerable to failure (STL Today).
According to Richard Opper, former head of the Missouri River Basin Association, drought years such as the one from 2000-7 can cause river states to fight over water yet during flood years everyone pulls together in unity (STL Today).
The social unity of a flood crisis should also work for wanting to build a national infrastructure of river floodplains restored with setback levees and catchment basins for transporting floodwaters to drought prone regions by pipelines. Other nations like India have begun the process of transporting floodwater from upstream away from populated regions by using canals. The use of canals in floodwater transport requires elevation decrease and this is not possible across the U.S. with regards to bringing it to drought prone regions that are at higher elevations than the frequently flooded lowlands and even the sources upstream. Several nations such as India and some western states within the U.S. have already implemented some type of floodplain expansion or floodwater transfer system or both.
In India A.C. Kamaraj and the National Waterways Development Technology (NAWAD TECH) group are attempting a program to collect floodwater for storing and distributing to places suffering from drought within the Tamil Nadu region of India. To accomplish this they are creating a web of interlinking canals with smaller dams no larger than 25 meters on the upper reaches of rivers to divert floodwater along a horizontal plane nearly 250 meters above sea level. "The salient feature is that the large rivers need not be linked at the lower reaches, where the river is wide. Instead, rivers are linked in the upper stretches where they are connected with their tributaries." The goal of the Tamil Nadu Smart Waterways Project (TSWP) is to collect excess floodwater to be redistributed to the most sensitive drought prone region as needed. Regular river flow is not collected, only during times of flooding is the water removed from the rivers (Sivaraman, TOI).
The San Antonio River Improvements Project (SARIP) is restoring the original meandering curves to their river to enhance the natural slope building mechanisms of fluvial geomorphology. This science relies upon the river to correct itself as needed and build gradually sloping banks along its’ natural course, unlike the channelized concrete rubble that was creating steep sides. The river’s natural sloping banks will also be seeded with native grasses and understory species to enhance habitat for wildlife. The restored riverbanks will be connected to the San Antonio River Walk and other pathways leading into the greater downtown region, providing a boost to local businesses from increased recreational activity (SAR).
There are often severe imbalances between areas receiving excessive precipitation that are dealing with resulting flooding and other areas without enough precipitation dealing with drought. Transporting floodwater from areas with high rates of precipitation to habitually drought prone regions is only limited by the weight of water at 8.3 pounds per gallon. However, the concept becomes more practical despite transportation costs when looking at the natural tendency for some places to receive excess precipitation on a yearly basis. If designed properly a floodwater conveyance system will last for decades and provide relief from flooding and drought simultaneously (Borenstein).
One obstacle noted with floodwater conveyance is that pipelines cannot be moved each year to wherever there happens to be extreme flooding, as this is still unpredictable outside of a larger region that may receive above average precipitation. However, this can be surmounted by transporting water with conveyance devices such as large bags like the “Spragg Bag” or even rail car transport. The initial investment in floodwater conveyance will be rewarded by long term savings from unneeded flooding disaster relief funds. This is one idea that SNWA General Manager Pat Mulroy may find worth pursuing, "One man's flood control is another man's water supply. Doesn't it make you want to think about a larger distribution that helps both? That's the crazy part of this. It's a win-win. There's no loser." (Borenstein).
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Yakima County are building a setback levee along the Yakima River in Washington following a 2011 flood event that damaged an existing levee beyond repair. This requires some additional changes along bridges and existing roadways, though when completed the Yakima setback levee will “reconnect 20 acres of floodplain at the setback site, providing an opportunity for high flow events to establish side channels and natural depressions”, according to Yakima Authorized Levee Rehabilitation project manager Brian Nelson (Dredging Today).
Washington seems to be setting records in the amount of rivers that now have setback levees. In Pierce County on the Puyallup River a setback will restore 53.8 acres of floodplain habitat. The original levees restricted the channel and prevented natural floodplain functions from occurring to the detriment of the ecosystem. The new setback levees will benefit endangered salmon, steelhead and other riparian fish species by enhancing their habitat (Wildlife Recreation).
In California the Feather River Setback Levee project won the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Flood Control Facility Project of the Year award in 2009. This six mile long setback levee is the longest setback levee in the state. This setback levee provides 40,000 residents of southern Yuba County with 200 year flood protection by lowering water elevations over a foot during flood events. This setback levee adds 1,600 acres to the floodplain for habitat restoration (GEI).
In the Cosumnes River Preserve an accidental levee breach ended up benefitting all once scientists rediscovered the value of a floodplain riparian ecosystem for both wildlife habitat enhancement and flood prevention. The Cosumnes River drains the Sierra Nevada and enters the lower elevations of the Central Valley of CA. In 1985 a brief levee failure flooded a field and deposited sand and sediment there before the breach was repaired. The field with sediment soon grew into a healthy “accidental” cottonwood, willow and eventually valley oak successional forest (Swenson).
In 1995 an EPA funded study breached a levee on purpose and learned that as water spread out across the greater surface area of the new floodplain the upstream water elevations would be lowered. There was a 50 foot hole created in the levee that added 200 acres into the river’s floodplain. In less than a year the receding floodwaters had deposited sandbars and silt sediments across the field and branch cuttings of willow and cottonwood began to take root (Swenson).
Another levee was breached several times during a severe flooding incident in 2007. Following the flood the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began a new project upstream of the ’95 breach site and the forest created there by the flooding. They breached and terminated 5.5 miles of levees and along the main levee another breach enabled the floodwaters to enter the 100 acres of floodplain previously inaccessible. A second internal levee was breached and water could enter the forest from the ’95 flood and a small pond for waterfowl. The 5.5 mile section of the levee that was removed was replaced by a low setback levee with underground irrigation pumps. After three years a willow and cottonwood forest had grown on the sand splay and newly deposited sediments on the floodplain. The river saw increasing populations of juvenile chinook salmon and Sacramento splittail that benefitted from the seasonal wetlands’ warm shallow waters and their algal blooms and herbivorous invertebrates who gathered for the algae buffet (Swenson).
The native fish of the Cosumnes River are dependent upon the timing and height of floodwaters during their spawning time of early spring when floodplain waters are colder. Non-native fish spawn later in the spring when the floodplain waters are warmer. By flooding the floodplain during the early spring when most storms occur would benefit the spawning lifestyle of native fish. The preferred depth for Sacramento splittail spawning is 4-6 ft. and for feeding is 1-3 ft. deep while water over six feet can be habitat for larger predators. Floodplain habitat also increases complexity by creating variations in depths, flows and vegetation types to provide a variety of invertebrates with options for different life cycles and species with habitat specific preferences and requirements (Swenson).
The Cosumnes Research Group is studying the ecological benefits of setback levees including the groundwater recharge potential of floodplains. The combined projects added around 300 acres to the most often flooded region and 1,200 acres to the entire floodplain. The deposition of silt and sand sediment with seeds was able to form various terrains and height from elevated sandbars to low wetland ponds within a willow and cottonwood forest including valley oaks on the fringes. The floodplain wetlands are valuable habitat for sandhill cranes and other migratory waterfowl in addition to native fishes including Sacramento splittail and juvenile chinook salmon (Swenson).
Other benefits of setback levees include greatly reduced levee maintenance costs and an increase in the floodplain’s holding capacity that diminishes the flood peak and flow velocity. The floodplain holds water in wetlands for a longer duration and enables downwards percolation into the sand and gravel sediments, recharging groundwater in the process. This recent recharge of groundwater along the Cosumnes River reverses the decline of groundwater levels there since the 1940s. The decades of declining groundwater resulted in low or non-existent flows during the Chinook salmon’s fall spawning season (Swenson).
The multiple breaches along the levees appeared to increase growth of cottonwoods and willows on sand splays that developed directly inside the breach opening. Future growth and sand splay development along breaches would eventually require the formation of new breaches to allow floodwaters to escape the riverbed and form sand splays elsewhere along the levee’s inside border. Water within the floodplain used for early spring spawning warms into the summer and motivates the salmon and springtail to return to the river in order to avoid stranding (Swenson).
The study learned that the location of the levee breach was critical, there needs to be enough space for the floodwaters to enter into the floodplain. If a setback levee is built nearby the breach site, the force of the floodwater may overtop the setback levee. Certain sections of the Cosumnes River have deeply incised channels that prevent the river from connecting with the floodplain (Swenson).
The Cosumnes River study has applications for the Las Vegas Wash also. Though the annual precipitation is less than in the study site, the yearly rainfall from summer thundershowers and winter storms over Las Vegas can be better harnessed if the Las Vegas Wash can spread out during flood events and infiltrate the riparian aquifer beneath the river channel. Currently the Las Vegas Wash is channelized throughout most of its length. The channelization of this desert wash prevents the water from entering the aquifer beneath the riverbed. Further down the length south of the urban core the wash isn’t channelized though a great deal of vegetation grows there from the regular wastewater disposal throughout the year. This is abnormal growth as the wash originally flowed only during storm events and with melting snowfall and not all year long. The regular disposal of wastewater into the Las Vegas Wash allowed certain non-desert vegetation to establish stands along the channel that would ordinarily not be there if desert conditions prevailed. The vegetation along the Las Vegas Wash is more like that found in wetter climates with higher rates of evapotranspiration than from desert vegetation. That results in greater net loss of water from evapotranspiration as it moves down the wash channel and up through the roots of the non-desert vegetation.
Another long term solution for preventing a drought crisis is to maintain and enhance the aquifers of the region. This is like making regular deposits into a personal savings account instead of overspending and then declaring bankruptcy when the account drains out. The yearly floods on the Las Vegas Wash would be the regular deposits to the aquifer bank account once the water is able to infiltrate into the ground following installment of setback levees. Limiting flows on the Las Vegas Wash to correspond with precipitation events only would eliminate the water dependent vegetation and replace this with desert vegetation that does not lose as much water to evapotranspiration. All wastewater should be recycled on site at the wastewater treatment plant and pumped into the aquifer below. In Orange County, CA wastewater recycling was used for years, despite the naysayers crying “toilet to tap”. Recycling wastewater for storage in aquifers would return filtered and clean water below ground into aquifers for additional filtration.
Finally there is the potential for rooftop rainwater harnessing for residential, government and commercial buildings. Not only would rainwater harvesting capture water for storage, it would reduce flash flood damage from the monsoonal thundershowers. By capturing the buildings’ rooftop surface area of floodwater there will be much less runoff from storms rapidly entering the streets. By lowering the amount of storm runoff entering streets the potential for flash flooding is negligible. The rainwater is intercepted by the rooftop collecting device, then filtered and stored below the building in cisterns or storage barrels. Each building alone may seem insignificant though combined and over years of rainwater collection can reduce the take from the Colorado River significantly. Rainwater collecting and filtration is already being used in many other nations such as the Bahamas and India, along with many private residences throughout the Southwestern deserts. There is great potential for Las Vegas to set trends by producing large scale rainwater harvesting systems for the global market. The industrial production of rainwater harvesting kits sold to residences and large scale systems for skyscrapers and commercial or government buildings would provide long term jobs instead of the temporary jobs from a pipeline with a known short shelf life.
If these four methods are implemented in Las Vegas, there will never be any drought scares in the future and no claims made for a short term pipeline from aquifers that will soon be depleted. The combination of transferring floodwater from flood prone Louisiana with the pipeline and mag-lev train, installing setback levees and aquifer infiltration on Las Vegas Wash, recycling wastewater at the source and rooftop rainwater harvesting will end up making Las Vegas true role models in water conservation. Instead of a sequel to the Owens Valley Water Grab filmed on a Nevada set, Las Vegas can star as the positive actor who doesn’t steal water from others and instead can design and build innovative technology for rooftop rainwater harvesting systems, floodwater transfer, setback levees and aquifer infiltration, and wastewater recycling. The people of Las Vegas should consider the SNWA as their tool for future sustainability instead of a propaganda mouthpiece for developers like Wingfield Co. who want urban ratepayers to pick up the tab for a temporary pipeline from aquifers that would only be a greedy developers’ wet dream. The choices people make today will decide if their future holds dreams or nightmares.
The Snake, Delmar, Cave and Spring Valley aquifer system was formed during an ancient climate with increased rates of precipitation. Today steady spring flows from these aquifers depend upon regular recharge from precipitation with minimal discharge as natural spring exit locations and some regulated local withdrawals by humans. Due to the lower rate of precipitation in our current climate the aquifer system is barely able to maintain stable spring flows even under existing conditions with local extractions. Excessive groundwater extractions from the aquifer system that would occur with the proposed SNWA pipeline are well beyond the capability of the spring flow to recover under the present conditions of limited recharge from precipitation.
The proposed SNWA pipeline extractions of billions of gallons per year would lower groundwater levels and drastically reduce spring flow. The decrease in the spring’s water flow would alter the chemistry, temperature and other physical factors that are vital to the survival of the endemic spring snails. The evolution of spring snails from ancient pluvial lakes to small isolated spring streams led them to adapt to the specific conditions of their home spring. The survival of several species of spring snails will be threatened if the spring flow drops as a result of excessive extractions from the SNWA pipeline lowering groundwater levels. The best option for protecting the spring snails and their ecosystem is to list them as endangered under the ESA and then use that classification to protect their sensitive spring habitats including banning any and all out of basin water transfers including yet not limited to the SNWA pipeline.
The spring fed ecosystems provide an oasis habitat for many species in an otherwise harsh desert climate. The spring water enables the growth of algae and periphyton that are then consumed by large numbers of spring snails that cluster around the source. The snails play an important role in spring ecosystems by keeping the algae and periphyton growth in check through constant grazing. Any fluctuations or reductions in spring flow would reduce the spring snail population and result in the unchecked growth of algae and periphyton, creating anoxic conditions of eutrophication.
Spring snails are the base level of primary consumer herbivores that support an entire trophic food web pyramid of secondary consumer predators. The growth of algae and periphyton primary producers are the lowest and widest level of the trophic food web pyramid, the next level above are the spring snail primary consumers and at the top level are secondary consumer predators like trout, eagles and even humans. The reduction in population numbers in ascending levels of the trophic food web pyramid are a result of heat loss from metabolism of consumption. There usually is a tenfold increase in biomass with each descending level of the trophic food pyramid that supports the upper levels. That results in a dependency of top tier predators on large populations of primary consumer spring snails to support a small population of secondary consumers like trout, eagles and humans. There are also no known substitutes for the spring snails that can keep the algae and periphyton growth in check and simultaneously support an entire ecosystem of predators.
The SNWA pipeline is not needed for the survival of the people or economy of Las Vegas and is instead a plan for certain developers to build suburban sprawl communities along the U.S. 93 corridor parallel to the pipeline. One example of the incentive for developers to have the pipeline constructed are the massive campaign contributions from Harvey Whittemore and Albert Seeno’s Wingfield Co. to the campaign of Senator Harry Reid with the understanding that he will look the other way when it comes to Wingfield’s Coyote Springs housing development violating environmental laws. It is clear that the positive financial influence of the Wingfield developers on Senator Reid’s campaign is intended to encourage positive responses from the influential politician when it comes time to secure the water source for their Coyote Springs development via the SNWA pipeline. The Wingfield developers were able to purchase the land where Coyote Springs is located for a low price because it is such a great distance from Las Vegas. However, in this isolated location there is not enough water available for their planned 159,000 homes with seven golf courses and a few casinos without the nearby SNWA pipeline delivering large amounts of water to them. The Wingfield developers are expecting Senator Reid to make loopholes and exceptions to existing environmental laws to allow the SNWA pipeline to be constructed for their benefit as a result of their excessive campaign contributions. The primary motivation for the SNWA pipeline appears to be developers following the Wingfield Company looking to have water rights for suburban sprawl construction on cheap land. This is also evidenced by showing that far more effective and less expensive solutions are available for emergency water storage that are repeatedly ignored by the SNWA officials who appear to be obsessed with their aquifer pipeline plans.
Other options for emergency water storage include widening the floodplain of the Las Vegas Wash by building setback levees, installing rooftop rainwater harvesting systems, recycling wastewater then returning it to local aquifers and also transporting floodwater with a pipeline and an attached mag-lev train from regions like Louisiana that regularly experience severe flooding. Many of these above methods have already been implemented in India, the Bahamas and several U.S. states with great success. There are several additional benefits from floodplain widening with setback levees that include flood prevention, riparian habitat improvement and groundwater recharge. Rooftop rainwater harvesting also shares this extra benefit of flood prevention as it reduces surface area of runoff during summer monsoon thunderstorms. The transfer of floodwater from high precipitation flood prone regions like New Orleans to desert regions like Las Vegas would alleviate flood damage by removing excess water over a short time and using the initial propelling force of the storm surge to power a mag-lev evacuation train. Along the way solar and wind powered pumps can replace the initial momentum of the storm surge pushing the water into the desert. These methods together would prevent any possibility for drought by using the filtered floodwater to recharge local aquifers and for storage in underground cisterns.
The choices we make today as a collective society with regards to water usage and acquisition are critical to the future of many other species and quality of life for humans. If we treat aquifers as disposable as the SNWA pipeline would have us do, we will all suffer the consequences. Our future generations can say goodbye to spring snails, frogs, trout and eagles and say hello to algae choked eutrophic spring streams and eventually a dried up dust bowl while some wealthy and greedy developers profit from their water grab. The question we need to ask ourselves is do we want to subsidize the dreams of developers with the SNWA pipeline or do we want to support our own dreams of a biodiversity in spring stream ecosystems with clean and fresh flowing water?
“Evolution of the Earth” 8th Ed. Donald R. Prothero and Robert H. Dott, Jr. published by McGraw Hill 2010
“Biogeography of Great Basin Aquatic Snails of the Genus Pyrgulopsis” by Robert Hershler and Donald W. Sada; published by Smithsonian Institution (Smithsonian Contribution to Earth Sciences), Washington DC
Center for Biological Diversity; “Petition to List 42 Springsnail Species as Endangered”
“Whittemore Case Lifts Curtain on Political Deals” by David McGrath Schwartz in the Las Vegas Sun on 2/17/ 12
“How Harvey Whittemore Became a Leper” by Jon Ralston in the Las Vegas Sun on 2/15/12
“Whittemore Lawsuits Moving into Stranger than Fiction Territory” by Steve Green in Vegas Inc. on 2/2/12
“Whittemore Wins Water Rights Ruling” by Cy Ryan in the Las Vegas Sun on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008
“Builder Sees Green Light in Red-flag Economy” by Joe Schoenmann in the Las Vegas Sun on 12/4/08
“The Impending Urban Water Crisis” by Will Doig in Salon.com on 3/31/12
“Political time is right to Change Missouri River Management” by Editorial board on 7/5/11
Saint Louis Today
“Madurai engineers suggest model to harness floodwater” by R. Sivaraman in the Times of India on 9/15/11
San Antonio River Restoration
“Moving Water from Flood to Drought” by Seth Borenstein in the Huffington Post on 09/09/11
“Construction of Yakima River Setback Levee Progresses Well” posted in Dredging Today on 1/13/12
Puyallup River Habitat Mitigation
“Feather River Setback Levee, Designed by GEI Consultants, Recognized as ASCE Sacramento Flood Control” by Jennifer Shelby, CPSM on 2/18/10
Wahkiakum County CFHMP Final Draft
“Nutrient Effects on Spring Flora and Fauna” by Charles A. Jacoby, Thomas K. Frazer and Edward J. Phlips; published by University of Florida
“Springs as Ecosystems” by Robert L. Knight and Sky K. Notestein; published by University of Florida
“Restoring Floods to Floodplains: Riparian and Floodplain Restoration at the Cosumnes River Preserve” by Ramona O. Swenson, Keith Whitener, and Mike Eaton
“Secondary Production, Quantitative Food Webs, and Trophic Position” by Arthur Benke, University of Alabama, 2011
“California Watershed Assessment Manual, Volume II – Chapter 4 Periphyton (Attached Algae and Aquatic Plants) as Indicators of Watershed Condition”
by Fraser Shilling, Sari Sommarstrom, Rick Kattelmann et. al., published by UC Davis,
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Perched near the hot seams of some midocean ridges are curious pillars of lava, like Greek columns, many of them 45 feet tall. How these strange spires form has been unclear. Now volcanologists Tracy Gregg, at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and William Chadwick, at Oregon State University, say these pillars were most likely created by the slow advances of lava oozing from volcanic ridges. Gregg and Chadwick developed a computer model of a lava flow from a midocean ridge. In their model, as the outer layers of lava blobs cool on contact with seawater, the interiors remain fluid. Sometimes three or four blobs nestle together in a ring, often leaving an empty, water-filled space at the center. The sides of these adjoining blobs eventually form the pillar walls, at least in the model. When the eruption fueling the blobs subsides, the lava inside each blob drains off, sometimes right back into the vent, as if someone pulled a plug in a bathtub, says Gregg. And the blobs, being relatively fragile, somewhat like big empty eggshells, collapse and leave standing behind as hollow pillars only the connected walls on the inside of the ring.
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Saint Patrick's Day
When: March 17th.
Saint Patrick's day is in honor of the Patron Saint of Ireland, who brought christianity to the Emerald Isles, as Ireland is known. It is truly a day of celebrating Irish history, ancestry, traditions and customs.
Are you Irish perchance!?! Well, the saying goes everyone is a little Irish on Saint Patricks's Day.
Roots of Tradition: Saint Patrick's day is held in honor of Saint Patrick, the missionary who brought christianity to the Irish people in the 400's AD.
Erin Go Braugh is perhaps the most common Irish term you will hear. It means "Ireland Forever"
Did You Know? Over 34 million Americans are of Irish descent. That's almost nine times the population of Ireland!
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the rain fall softly upon your fields. And the sun shine warm upon your face.
Top of the mornin' to you.....(and the rest of the day to 'me self!)
May there always be work for you to do.
May your purse always hold a coin or two.
May the sun always shine on your windowpane.
May the hand of a friend always be near you.
May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.
This Author's favorite:
May the wind at your back not be from the cabbage and corned beef that you eat today!
Everyone's at least a little bit Irish on St. Patrick's Day. (how true, how true).
Bells of Ireland plants
Bells of Ireland Seeds
Irish Eyes Sunflower
This Day in History March 17th.
In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda. (45 BC)
Marcus Aurelius dies leaving Commodus the sole emperor of the Roman Empire. (180)
Petronius Maximus becomes, with support of the Roman Senate, emperor of the Western Roman Empire. (455)
Edward, the Black Prince is made Duke of Cornwall, the first Duchy in England. (1337)
American Revolution: British forces evacuate Boston, ending the Siege of Boston, after George Washington and Henry Knox place artillery in positions overlooking the city. (1776)
American Revolution: George Washington grants the Continental Army a holiday "as an act of solidarity with the Irish in their fight for independence". (1780)
The Italian Republic, with Napoleon as president, becomes the Kingdom of Italy, with Napoleon as King. (1805)
The Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is formed; (1842)
SS Utopia collides with HMS Anson in the Bay of Gibraltar and sinks, killing 562 of the 880 passengers on board. (1891)
In Washington, D.C., the National Gallery of Art is officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. (1941)
Holocaust: The first Jews from the Lvov Ghetto are gassed at the Belzec death camp in what is today eastern Poland. (1942)
The Ludendorff Bridge in Remagen, Germany, collapses, ten days after its capture. (1945)
First flight of the B-45 Tornado strategic bomber. (1947)
The Benelux, France, and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Brussels, a precursor to the North Atlantic Treaty establishing NATO. (1948)
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley announce the creation of element 98, which they name "californium". (1950)
A plane crash in Cebu, Philippines kills Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay and 24 others. (1957)
The United States launches the Vanguard 1 satellite. (1958)
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the National Security Council directive on the anti-Cuban covert action program that will ultimately lead to the Bay of Pigs Invasion. (1960)
Mount Agung erupted on Bali killing more than 1,100 people. (1963)
Off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean, the DSV Alvin submarine finds a missing American hydrogen bomb. (1966)
As a result of nerve gas testing in Skull Valley, Utah, US, over 6,000 sheep are found dead. (1968)
Golda Meir becomes the first female Prime Minister of Israel. (1969)
My Lai Massacre: The United States Army charges 14 officers with suppressing information related to the incident. (1970)
The Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph Burst of Joy is taken, depicting a former prisoner of war being reunited with his family. (1973)
Serial killer Richard Ramirez, aka the "Night Stalker", commits the first two murders in his Los Angeles, California murder spree. (1985)
Israeli Embassy attack in Buenos Aires: Suicide car bomb attack kills 29 and injures 242. (1992)
A referendum to end apartheid in South Africa is passed 68.7% to 31.2%. (1992)
530 members of the Ugandan cult Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God die in a fire, considered to be a mass murder or suicide orchestrated by leaders of the cult. Elsewhere another 248 members are later found dead. (2000)
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Robin Cook, resigns from the British Cabinet in disagreement with government plans for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. (2003)
The largest meteorite (since NASA started observing the moon in 2005) hit the moon. (2013)
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Help support New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more all for only $19.99...
The first Council of Arles was held in 314, for the purpose of putting an end to the Donatist controversy. It confirmed the findings of the Council of Rome (313), i.e. it recognized the validity of the election of Caecilian of Carthage, and confirmed the excommunication of Donatus of Casae Nigrae. Its twenty-two canons dealing with various abuses that had crept into ecclesiastical life since the persecution of Diocletian (284-305) are among the most important documents of early ecclesiastical legislation. A council held in 353, and attended, among others, by two papal legates, was decidedly Arian in attitude. The legates were tempted into rejecting communion with Athanasius and refused to condemn Arius, an act which filled Pope Liberius with grief. In the synod of 443 (452), attended also by bishops of neighbouring provinces, fifty-six canons were formulated, mostly repetitions of earlier disciplinary decrees. Neophytes were excluded from major orders; married men aspiring to the priesthood were required to promise a life of continency, and it was forbidden to consecrate a bishop without the assistance of three other bishops and the consent of the metropolitan. A council of 451 held after the close of the Council of Chalcedon in that year, sent its adhesion to the "Epistola dogmatica" of Leo I, written by Flavian of Constantinople. (See EUTYCHES.) A council was held on New Year's Day, 435, to settle the differences that had arisen between the Abbot of Lérins and the Bishop of Fréjus. Apropos of the conflict between the archiepiscopal See of Vienne and Arles a council was held in the latter city in 463, which called forth a famous letter from St. Leo I (Leonis I, Opp., ed. Ballerini, I, 998; Hefele, Conciliengeschichte, II, 590). Between 475 and 480 another council was called, attended by thirty bishops, in which the pre-destinationist teachings of the priest Lucidus were condemned. In 524 a council was held under the presidency of St. Caesarius of Arles; its canons deal chiefly with the conferring of orders. Little is known of the councils of 554 and 682. An important council was held in 813, at the instigation of Charlemagne, for the correction of abuses and the reestablishment of ecclesiastical discipline. Its decrees insist on a sufficient ecclesiastical education of bishops and priests, on the duty of both to preach frequently to the people and to instruct them in the Catholic Faith, on the obligation of parents to instruct their children, etc. In 1034 a council was held at Arles for the re-establishment of peace, the restoration of Christian Faith, the awakening in the popular heart of a sense of divine goodness and of salutary fear by the consideration of past evils. In 1236 a council held under the presidency of Jean Baussan, Archbishop of Arles, issued twenty-four canons, mostly against the prevalent Albigensian heresy, and for the observance of the decrees of the Lateran Council of 1215 and that of Toulouse in 1229. Close inspection of their dioceses is urged on the bishops, as a remedy against the spread of heresy; testaments are declared invalid unless made in the presence of the parish priest. This measure, met with in other councils, was meant to prevent testamentary dispositions in favour of known heretics. In 1251, Jean, Archbishop of Arles, held a council near Avignon (Concilium Insculanum), among whose thirteen canons is one providing that the sponsor at baptism is bound to give only the white robe in which the infant is baptized. In 1260 a council held by Florentin, Archbishop of Arles, decreed that confirmation must be received fasting, and that on Sundays and feast days the religious should not open their churches to the faithful, nor preach at the hour of the parish Mass. The laity should be instructed by their parish priests. The religious should also frequent the parochial service, for the sake of good example. This council also condemned the doctrines spread abroad under the name of Joachim of Flora. In 1275, earlier observances, twenty-two in number, were promulgated anew at a Council of Arles.
MANSI, Coll. Conc., II, 463, and passim; HEFELE, Conciliengesch., I, 201, 652; II, 298 and passim; on the British bishops at the First Council of Arles see The Month (1885), LV, 380 and on its date VON FUNK, Theol. Quartalschr. (1890), LXXII, 296-304; also DUCHESNE, Mel. d'arch. et d'hist. de l'eg. franc. de Rome (1890), X, 640-644; TRICHAUD, Hist. de l'église d'Arles (Nimes, Paris, 1857); CHEVALIER, Topo-bibl. (Paris, 1894-99), I, 212, 213.
APA citation. (1907). The Synods of Arles. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01727b.htm
MLA citation. "The Synods of Arles." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01727b.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by John Fobian. In memory of George Willard Fobian.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is webmaster at newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.
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Amplitude is the magnitude of change in the oscillating variable, with each oscillation, within an oscillating system. For instance, sound waves are oscillations in atmospheric pressure and their amplitudes are proportional to the change in pressure during one oscillation. If a graph of the system is drawn with the oscillating variable as the vertical axis and time as the horizontal axis then the amplitude may be measured as the vertical distance between points on the curve.
Concepts of Amplitude
Peak amplitude is measured between a peak and the rest position of the system. In many sciences this is called peak amplitude. In astronomy, when measuring the wobble of a body due to the gravitational influence of another body, it is called the semi-amplitude.
Root Mean Square Amplitude
Root mean square(RMS) amplitude is used especially in electrical engineering: the RMS is defined as the square root of the mean over time of the square of the vertical distance of the graph from the rest state.
Ambiguity of Amplitude
The use of peak amplitude is simple and unambiguous for symmetric, periodic waves, like a sine wave, a square wave, or a triangular wave. For an asymmetric wave (periodic pulses in one direction, for example), the peak amplitude becomes ambiguous because the value obtained is different depending on whether the maximum positive signal is measured relative to the mean, the maximum negative signal is measured relative to the mean, or the maximum positive signal is measured relative the maximum negative signal (the peak-to-peak amplitude) and then divided by two.
For complex waveforms, especially non-repeating signals like noise, the RMS amplitude is usually used because it is unambiguous and because it has physical significance. For example, the average power transmitted by an acoustic or electromagnetic wave or by an electrical signal is proportional to the square of the RMS amplitude (and not, in general, to the square of the peak amplitude).
When dealing with alternating current electrical power it is universal to specify RMS values of a sinusoidal waveform. It is important to recognise that the peak-to-peak voltage is nearly 3 times the RMS value when assessing safety, specifying components, etc.
Note 1: Pulse amplitude is measured with respect to a specified reference and therefore should be modified by qualifiers, such as "average", "instantaneous", "peak", or "root-mean-square."
Source: from Federal Standard 1037C
Amplitude in the Wave Equation
In the simple wave equation
A is the amplitude of the wave.
Units of Amplitude
The units of the amplitude depend on the type of wave.
The amplitude of sound waves and audio signals (also referred to as Volume) conventionally refers to the amplitude of the air pressure in the wave, but sometimes the amplitude of the displacement (movements of the air or the diaphragm of a speaker) is described. The logarithm of the amplitude squared is usually quoted in dB, so a null amplitude corresponds to -∞ dB. Loudness is related to amplitude and intensity and is one of most salient qualities of a sound, although in general sounds can be recognized independently of amplitude. The square of the amplitude is proportional to the intensity of the wave.
For electromagnetic radiation, the amplitude of a photon corresponds to the changes in the electric field of the wave. However radio signals may be carried by electromagnetic radiation; the intensity of the radiation (amplitude modulation) or the frequency of the radiation (frequency modulation) is oscillated and then the individual oscillations are varied (modulated) to produce the signal.
Wave Forms and Amplitude
If the waveform is a pure sine wave, the relationships between peak-to-peak, peak, mean, and RMS amplitudes are fixed and known, but this is not true for an arbitrary waveform which may or may not be periodic.
For a sine wave the relationship between RMS and peak-to-peak amplitude is:
Exoplanets by Urial A. Goldvais downloaded 2008/03/31 from img2.tapuz.co.il/forums/1_109580628.pdf
- Waves and their properties:
- Amplitude modulationbg:Амплитуда
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If you were setting out to design a human being from scratch, odds are you wouldn't take J. Craig Venter as your template. You wouldn't choose to put him at risk for Alzheimer's disease, for example, but Venter has a predisposition that places him in danger of it. You might choose his startling blue eyes, both for their color and the hard clarity of their gaze. You'd surely go for his first-rate brain, though you might pass on what his detractors consider the vainglorious temperament that comes bundled with it.
It's something of an irony then that such an imperfect organism as Venter has devoted much of his career to understanding the engineering of other organisms. He was the leader of one of two teams that in 2000 sequenced the human genomethe entire 25,000-gene cookbook that makes us people in the first place and not chimps or birds or banana trees and he has conducted the same work with many other organisms. But Venter, 61, may have just done something that is at once more thrilling and promising and unsettling than all that. According to a just-released paper in the journal Science, he has gone beyond merely sequencing a genome and has designed and built one. In other words, he may have created life.
Certainly, defining what we mean when we say life has become a moving target over the years. Are we alive? Yes. Is a virus alive? Maybe. Still, a half-century after the discovery of the double helix, nobody doubts that it is our DNA that determines what we are in the same way that lines of code determine software or the digital etchings on a CD determine the music you hear. Etch new signals, and you write a new song. That, in genetic terms, is what Venter has done. Working with only the four basic nucleotides that make up all DNA adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine he has assembled an entirely new chromosome for an entirely new one-celled creature. Insert that genome into a cell like inserting a disc into a computer and a new species of living thing will be booted up. Venter hasn't done that yet, which is why even he won't say that he has technically invented life. He has, however, already shown that a genome transplanted from an existing cell to another will shut down the host's genetic programming and bring its own online. If that cellular body-snatching works with an ordinary chromosome, there's little reason to think it won't with a manufactured one. "The fact that this is even possible is mind-boggling to most people," Venter says.
That's not an overstatement. The genome in Venter's lab in Rockville, Md., could revolutionize genetics, introducing a new world order in which the alchemy of life is broken down into the ultimate engineering project. Man-made genomes could lead to new species that churn out drugs to treat disease, finely tuned vaccines that target just the right lethal bug, even cells that convert sunlight into a biofuel.
Creating such small, single-purpose organisms is nowhere near as complex as creating larger, multicelled creatures things with mobility, behavior, a purpose, a face. Those fanciful and frightful things are surely many years away and may prove too challenging and disturbing for society to allow. What Venter appears to have done, however, is crack the manufacturing code. Once you've done that, there may be little limit on what you can eventually build.
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Data Terminal Equipment
(communications, hardware) (DTE) A device which acts as the source and/or destination of data and which controls the communication channel. DTE includes terminals, computers, protocol converters, and multiplexors.DTE is usually connected via an EIA-232 serial line to Data Communication Equipment (DCE), typically a modem. It is necessary to distinguish these two types of device because their connectors must be wired differently if a "straight-through" cable (pin 1 to pin 1, pin 2 to pin 2 etc.) is to be used. DTE should have a male connector and should transmit on pin three and receive on pin two. It is a curious fact that many modems are actually "DTE" according to the original standard.
Last updated: 1995-02-28
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Seagrasses provide the foundation of highly productive ecosystems present along the coasts of all continents except Antarctica, where they rival tropical rain forests and coral reefs in ecosystem services. In colonizing sedimentary shorelines of the world's oceans, seagrasses found a vast new habitat free of terrestrial competitors and insect pests, but had to adapt to cope with new structural and physiological challenges related to full marine conditions. An international research team co-led by Jeanine Olsen (GELIFES, University of Groningen) and Yves Van de Peer (VIB, UGent) completed the first comprehensive genome analysis of Zostera marina, the most widespread seagrass species throughout the temperate northern hemisphere.
This study reveals unique insights into the genomic losses and gains involved in achieving the structural and physiological adaptations required for its marine lifestyle, arguably the most severe habitat shift ever accomplished by flowering plants. Key angiosperm innovations that were lost include the entire repertoire of stomatal genes, genes involved in the synthesis of terpenoids and ethylene signalling, and genes for ultraviolet protection and phytochromes for far-red sensing. Seagrasses have also regained functions enabling them to adjust to full salinity.
The Zostera marina genome resource can markedly inspire a wide range of functional ecological studies. "Today, more and more people are inhabiting our planet's coastal areas. Consequently, many ecosystems are under pressure, including seagrass beds. As a result, other ecosystems may be at risk, too. Seagrasses not only sustain harvestable fish and invertebrates like lobsters, shrimp and crabs; they also play a part in controlling erosion effects and capturing carbon dioxide. Having unravelled the genomic basis of Zostera marina's complex adaptations to life in ocean waters, this study can advance ecological studies on how marine ecosystems might adapt under climate warming", Prof. Van de Peer says.
The findings were published in the advanced online edition of Nature.
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It is strange how things can come together all at once sometimes. A few weeks back I saw a link to an article on using wiki’s for process writings. Although I was very interested (due to my limited experience with process writings and interest in using technology in meaningful ways,) I couldn’t read the article…so I decided to write a poorer version of the article myself.
As soon as I mentioned this I found out that Rachel Roberts had just published her thoughts on process writings . And other bloggers mentioned that they were thinking of similar articles.
Hopefully, this will be useful and give you some ideas about introducing process writings possibly using wikis or other methods.
What is process writing?
There are two traditional types of writing approaches. Process and Product writing.
The idea of a product writing is that students should produce a certain type of writing at the end that uses features of that writing style. For example, a formal email, an informal letter to a friend, a text etc. Students might look at the content in the different paragraphs and also some useful phrases that are common in that form of writing.
As such the student will end up with a “product” that is similar to the sample in the book but more generalised.
In general product writing is more common in textbooks as it is easy to create a text and then draw attention to features of that style.
In contrast to the goal of Product writing, where the final product is similar to the initial text that is analysed, process writing focuses on the subject and the process of creating a text. As such there is no suggested format but a topic is possible (this could be student generated), brainstorming and collaboration is much more important and there is no desired outcome product (other than there being something outputted)
Of course, these ideas aren’t mutually exclusive and often neither “strict” approach is followed (in a product writing brainstorming is frequently used and in process writings a sample text could be presented to students, after the format has been selected by the group, which can then be analysed and worked off.) However, due to various factors I have seen a lot more product writing lessons (coursebooks being a key
culprit factor here)
Why is Process writing a good idea?
1. More realistic?
Certainly in life we often brainstorm are ideas and then search for a text afterwards to analyse rather than have someone give us a letter and say “I want you to write a letter like this.” However, we usually know what type of format we are going to produce before we start brainstorming ideas
2. Creative process is valued
If you’ve ever done a product writing lesson you get a lot of texts that are VERY similar. Okay there might be a date different here or there but we don’t want the students to produce anything too off the straight and narrow. In a process writing our students can produce what they want. They may want to write a letter, an email, or an essay and anything is okay. They might want to be persuasive or just talk about their appreciation of someone. They can do whatever they want.
3. Teaching at the point of need?
In a Business English context Process writing allows for different groups to work out what they need to write about and write THAT not something that is in their syllabus (the response that comes back is that a good syllabus should of course be prepared for their needs in advance, however, sudden needs sometimes arise and so no syllabus is perfect)
One of the biggest differences between the two formats is the focus on Collaboration. In Business context this skills is vital as people rarely work in complete isolation. Collaborating also opens up opportunities for learning moments during the collaboration itself and not just the intended target product.
5. Preparation for tests?
In a test the student might not have prepared for the topic or format that is requested. Giving students the chance to practice a process writing on any topic may help prepare them for the unexpected in a test.
Of course there are downsides to Process writing approaches, and advantages to product writings but that’s not the point. My general point is that Process writing is lacking from many syllabi that I have used and yet it is useful.
For more on the differences between process and product writing, check out this British Council blog post.
Can Wikis help?
When you think of wikis do you usually think of Wikipedia or something else? I know I usually think of Wikipedias but Wikis are certainly not just the online encyclopedia.
Wikispaces are online collaborative sites where groups can assemble a databank of information on any subject they want. They have basic text editing and can link different pages together via hyperlinks (click here for more info) There are wikipedias for pretty much every computer game out there detailing all the items, how to complete the various missions etc. There are wikipedias for guitars with a history of different models and their features (as well as famous players).
Oh and some teachers have wiki spaces as well which they use with their students.
Sometimes this is just a bank of information and activities collected by the teacher for the students to use for self study (there are some great examples of exam preparation classes using wikis) or they could be all the materials that students have used and created in classes. There are quite a few examples out there of using Wikis for these purposes with either strict teacher control (and the students simple consume) or joint collaboration but what about completely Student controlled?
Students directed project
Imagine setting up a writing task for a group of students to produce a wiki. Perhaps it is a guide for their office (for new members of staff possibly) or perhaps a group of teenagers write about their favourite band/computer game/topic. The Wikipedia is a blank space so the students can fill it with whatever they want.
They can brainstorm about what topic to write about, what they know about it, assign tasks, write first drafts, edit them, suggest amendments, have debates about the validity of evidence (have you ever looked at the chats behind the scenes of a Wikipedia page!) and so on and so on.
The project doesn’t end until the students say it does via their own decision over what the project it.
The teacher can help facilitate the discussions and reformulate language during the tasks (or even provide some model examples that students can emulate). Truly project learning.
Of course, rose-tinted lenses are wonderful things and I have to admit I haven’t tried out using a wiki for a process writing…yet and I can predict a few challenges.
- Initial enthusiasm quickly fades
- No peer correcting, only teacher correcting
- Project is “completed” very quickly.
- Wikis follow internet style and so don’t cover all writing features.
- Students have to be taught how to use the Wiki
- Fear/over enthusiasm of correcting others. (Classic internet issue where some people become trolls by another name, and others are the silent majority online.)
Still a lot of these issues exist with other formats as well and can be overcome by good preparation (teaching to use the tools), finding a topic that students are genuinely passionate about and providing internal anonymity (no one outside of the group can see the wiki)
Pen and paper
Of course, a traditional pen and paper version is a perfectly valid what to write a process writing and maybe be better for technologically illiterate students.
Something I’ve written a lot about before. For one to one students (and groups) having your own blog is a great method of process writing as well. Here a student can write whatever they want on whatever they want (especially for individually owned blogs) using certain services like posterous can even allow the teacher to check the writing for mistakes before it is published and many have privacy filters (passwords etc) to prevent the whole world from prying. The disadvantages with blogs is that the content disappears after time and is replaced by more recently written materials/posts. With a wiki the order of content doesn’t change. It is a static site, you can keep your core information at the front of your site and the rest hidden within.
So it’s time to put my money where my mouth is. This year I’m going to start some collaborative wiki’s for my groups and give the students full ownership. I’m still not sure on the exact details (especially for non technologically proficient students and for individuals who aren’t in groups) but I’m going to give it a go and report on what I find.
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Humanity has long dreamed of putting boots on Mars, but those boots have the potential to stomp all over any lifeforms that may exist on the Red Planet.
A seething, swarming mass of 100 trillion microbes will accompany every astronaut who lands on Mars. This diverse "microbiome" has evolved with humans for eons and provides a number of services, from helping people digest their food to keeping pathogenic bacteria at bay.
While these microbes are intimately tied to humans, many of them will jump ship if transported to the Martian surface — with unknown consequences for a planet that may or may not host life of its own.
"We have the responsibility to Mars, I think — even if it's just Martian microbes — not to kill them by the act of detecting them," Cynthia Phillips of the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute said at the SETICon 2 meeting in June in Santa Clara, Calif. [5 Bold Claims of Alien Life]
"If you have human astronauts there," Phillips added, "there's no way to sterilize them. They're spewing out thousands of microbes every second. So it's a real problem."
Location, location, location
Space agencies around the world are already thinking about ways to minimize the contamination risks posed by manned Mars missions, even though the first footsteps on the Red Planet are perhaps decades away.
In fact, they already have a set of guidelines to follow — a rough protocol drawn up in 2008 by the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), which is part of the International Council for Science. The top priority of the COSPAR policy is to protect Earth from any possible "back contamination" from Mars, but it aims to help protect the Red Planet from Earth life as well.
The COSPAR guidelines — which NASA and the European Space Agency, among others, are committed to follow — advise steering clear of gullies, possible geothermal sites and other "special regions" on the Red Planet where Earth life might be able to survive and proliferate.
"It is understood that when humans go to Mars, there will be a release of microbes from the human habitats and from the humans themselves, and also that humans will inevitably be exposed to Mars materials," said Cassie Conley, NASA's planetary protection officer.
"So the humans are only able to go to places where we expect that the Mars environment will be quite lethal to any Earth organisms that get released," Conley told SPACE.com, adding that various locations near the Martian equator might qualify.
The COSPAR guidelines further stipulate that humans cannot explore a Martian locale that has not been visited and vetted by a robot first. This robotic scout could arrive on a precursor mission, or it may be a component of the human mission itself. [7 Biggest Mysteries of Mars]
No numbers yet
COSPAR's guidelines dictate just how clean robotic explorers of Mars and other alien worlds need to be. For example, NASA's Curiosity rover — which landed on Mars Aug. 5 to determine whether the planet has ever been capable of supporting microbial life — was allowed to carry a total of no more than 300,000 bacterial spores on any surface that could allow transfer to the Martian environment.
Such numerical targets don't exist yet for manned missions, but they probably will someday, Conley said.
"I'm sure that we will have more numerical information in the future, but partly we need to base that on our understanding of what kinds of hardware might be going," Conley said. "We also need to have a better understanding of the Mars environment itself."
Curiosity's two-year mission should be a big help in this latter regard, Conley added. The rover is studying its Gale Crater landing site with 10 science instruments, including gear designed to detect underground water ice and another tool that measures high-energy radiation at the planet's surface.
A Mars sample-return mission also would be a highly desirable precursor, Conley said. And this is indeed a key priority for NASA, which is evaluating several different strategies for getting pristine pieces of Mars into scientists' hands on Earth.
The space agency may reveal its chosen sample-return path in February, after the White House releases its federal budget request for fiscal year 2014, officials have said.
Private companies playing by the rules
NASA is thinking very seriously about how to send humans to Mars safely and responsibly, having been charged by President Barack Obama in 2010 to get astronauts to the vicinity of the Red Planet by the mid-2030s.
But government space agencies aren't the only entities planning out manned Mars missions. Elon Musk, founder and CEO of the private spaceflight firm SpaceX, has said he hopes to fly astronauts to the Red Planet within 10 or 15 years.
And the Dutch company Mars One aims to land four people on Mars in 2023, as the first step toward establishing a permanent colony. Mars One plans to pay for its ambitious activities by staging a reality-show media event around them — a sort of interplanetary "Big Brother."
Conley said such private efforts are likely to follow the COSPAR guidelines, too. Under the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, countries are responsible for the space activities of companies registered within their borders, so the U.S. and Dutch governments have a strong interest in making sure SpaceX and Mars One play by the rules.
After all, neither nation would want to be taken to international court on charges of contaminating another planet.
And the companies may want to do the right thing anyway. For example, SpaceX has already initiated planetary protection discussions with NASA regarding its manned Mars ambitions, Conley said.
"It's the environmentally responsible thing to do," Conley said. "If you want to be a good citizen of the solar system, you do the planetary protection requirements, just like you pick up the litter and you don't spread your pollution all over the countryside."
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Paris (AFP) July 8, 2008
The head of the UN's Nobel-winning panel of climate change scientists said Tuesday that a pledge made by G8 leaders to at least halve global warming emissions by 2050 had a major flaw.
The world's wealthiest nations failed to specify a target for cutting greenhouse-gas emissions in the coming decade, a vital stepping stone for meeting the mid-century goal, said Rajendra Pachauri.
"There's a serious omission in terms of not addressing the Bali action plan, which has called for deep cuts in emissions by 2020," Pachauri told AFP in an interview from New Delhi.
UN negotiations last December in Bali, Indonesia yielded an agreement to forge a new climate-change treaty by the end of 2009 that would succeed Kyoto Protocol provisions expiring at the end of 2012.
"I think there should have been at least an endorsement, that the leaders of the G8 countries fully support actions to bring about those deep cuts," he said.
Pachauri said climate change was moving faster and more destructively than once thought and only seven years remained for decisive action.
To limit global temperature increases at century's end to no more than 2.0 to 2.4 degrees Celsius (3.6 to 4.3 degrees Fahrenheit), emissions have to peak no later than 2015, he said.
"It is absolutely essential not to postpone the kinds of actions that we have identified with stabilisation of the Earth's climate and limiting the temperature increase to about 2 C [3.6 F]," Pachauri said.
"The sooner we start reducing emissions, the greater the likelihood of avoiding some of the more serious impacts and temperature increases that are going to take place a decade or two down the road," he said.
Since 2002, Pachauri has chaired the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which synthesises the research of thousands of scientists into a benchmark report.
The IPCC was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize along with former US vice president Al Gore.
Last year, the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report warned that, without action, the planet's rising temperatures could unleash potentially catastrophic change to Earth's climate system, leading to hunger, drought, storms and massive species loss.
earlier related report
Experts acknowledged the Group of Eight's usefulness in setting a goal of at least halving worldwide greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
But, they complained, the G8 statement did not mention a base year by which this 50-percent cut would be compared.
Nor -- more importantly -- did it identify what cuts would be made in the next decade, a period critical for determining whether the fight against climate change will succeed or fail.
"It is a pretence that they understand the problem and plan to take needed actions," said James Hansen, one of the major figures in the history of climate science.
"In reality, they are taking actions that guarantee that we deliver to our children climate catastrophes that are out of their control."
At their summit in the resort town of Toyako, G8 leaders agreed to "consider and adopt" the goal of achieving a cut of at least 50 percent in worldwide carbon emissions by 2050, but they made no targeted promise for action in the medium term.
Hansen, who heads the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, was one of the first climate scientists to sound an alarm about the threat of global warming.
In an email, he excoriated the summit for failing to mention specific action against coal, which he characterised as the greatest peril.
The most abundant and polluting of the main fossil fuels, coal has enjoyed a resurgence as countries look for a cheaper alternative to oil and gas.
Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the UN's Nobel-winning panel of climate scientists, said the Toyako statement lacked some "very vital details," especially over the plans for the medium term.
"The sooner we start reducing emissions, the greater the likelihood of avoiding some of the more serious impacts and temperature increases that are going to take place a decade or two down the road," he said from Delhi.
Pachauri pointed to scenarios sketched last year in the fourth assessment report by his organisation, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
In it, the IPCC said that the evidence for human interference was now incontrovertible and that the climate was already starting to change.
In the past century, it said, Earth's mean global temperature rose by 0.74 degrees Celsius (1.33 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial times, and this had already triggered glacier erosion, loss of snow and ice cover in alpine regions and retreating permafrost.
It gave a "best estimate" of further warming of between 1.8 and 4.0 C (3.24 and 7.24 F) by 2100.
The higher the temperature, the greater the impact from drought, floods, rising sea levels and more intense storms, spelling hunger, sickness and hardship for many millions.
These temperatures themselves are chiefly dependent on atmospheric levels of global warming gases, disgorged by burning of oil, gas and coal.
Cedric Philibert, a French expert at the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris, said one of the biggest problems was that these gases had an inertial effect.
Even if all emissions were stopped today, the warming would continue for a number of years because of the build-up of existing gas concentrations.
"It takes between 15 and 20 years for any change to take effect," said Philibert.
Pachauri said that, by factoring in the 20th-century increase in temperature and CO2 pollution already pumped out this century, emissions would have to peak by 2015 to limit overall warming to 2.0-2.4 degrees Celsius (3.6-4.3 degrees Fahrenheit).
By postponing the cap until, say, the 2030s or the 2040s, Earth's temperature would stay higher and for longer, he said.
Added to this is the risk that higher temperatures could unleash poorly-understood triggers which could amplify the warming at a stroke.
Pep Canadell, executive director with the Global Carbon Project, an Australian government-backed research scheme, said that even if the G8 goal of 2050 were met, emissions would have to be further ratcheted down.
"If after 2050, greenhouse emissions were to remain stable for the rest of the century without any further emission cuts, the temperature (warming) of the planet would far exceed 3-4 degrees [5.4-7.2 F], so the 2050 emissions target is only the first step towards dealing with climate change."
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Climate Science News - Modeling, Mitigation Adaptation
G8 leaders agree on halving emissions by 2050
Toyako, Japan (AFP) July 8, 2008
The Group of Eight major powers agreed Tuesday to at least halve global carbon emissions by 2050 in what leaders hailed as a step forward, but developing nations rejected as an "empty slogan".
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In one of his essays, the late Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe stated that “no one be fooled by the fact that we write in English, for we intend to do unheard-of things with it.” That “we” is, in essence, an authoritative oratorical posture that cast him as a representative of a group, a kindred of writers who — either by design or fate — have adopted English as the language of literary composition. With these words, it seems that to Achebe the intention to do “unheard-of” things with language is a primary factor in literary creation. He is right. And this should be the most important factor.
Achebe was, however, not merely speaking about the intention of his contemporaries alone, but also of writers who wrote generations before him. Among them would be, ironically, Joseph Conrad, whose prose he sometimes queried, but who embodied that intention to the extent that he was described by Virginia Woolf as one who “had been gifted, so he had schooled himself, and such was his obligation to a strange language wooed characteristically for its Latin qualities rather than its Saxon that it seemed impossible for him to make an ugly or insignificant movement of the pen.” That “we” also includes writers like Vladimir Nabokov of whom John Updike opined: “Nabokov writes prose the way it should be written: ecstatically;” Arundhati Roy; Salman Rushdie; Wole Soyinka; and a host of other writers to whom English was not the only language. The encompassing “we” could also be expanded to include prose stylists whose first language was English like William Faulkner, Shirley Hazzard, Virginia Woolf, William Golding, Ian McEwan, Cormac McCarthy, and all those writers who, in most of their works, float enthusiastically on blasted chariots of prose, and whose literary horses are high on poetic steroids. But these writers, it seems, are the last of a dying breed.
The culture of enforced literary humility, encouraged in many writing workshops and promoted by a rising culture of unobjective literary criticism, is chiefly to blame. It is the melding voice of a crowd that shouts down those who aspire to belong to Achebe’s “we” from their ladder by seeking to enthrone a firm — even regulatory — rule of creative writing. The enthroned style is dished out in the schools under the strict dictum: “Less is more.” Literary critics, on the other hand, do the damage by leveling variations of the accusation of writing “self-conscious (self-important; self-aware…) prose” on writers who attempt to do “unheard-of” things with their prose. The result, by and large, is the crowning of minimalism as the cherished form of writing, and the near rejection of other stylistic considerations. In truth, minimalism has its qualities and suits the works of certain writers like Ernest Hemingway, Raymond Carver, John Cheever, and even, for the most part, Chinua Achebe himself. With it, great writings have been produced, including masterpieces like A Farewell to Arms. But it is its blind adoption in most contemporary novels as the only viable style in the literary universe that must be questioned, if we are to keep the literary culture healthy.
One of the insightful critics still around, Garth Risk Hallberg, describes this phenomenon in his 2012 New York Times Review of A.M Homes’s May We Be Forgiven with these apt observations:
The underlying problem here is style. Homes’s ambitions may have grown in the quarter-century since The Safety of Objects was published, but her default mode of narration remains mired in the minimalism of that era: an uninflected indicative voice that flattens everything it touches. Harry gets some upsetting news: ‘Two days later, the missing girl is found in a garbage bag. Dead. I vomit.’ Harry gets a visitor: ‘Bang. Bang. Bang. A heavy knocking on the door. Tessie barks. The mattress has arrived.’
Hallberg goes on to describe, in the next two paragraphs, the faddist nature of the style:
Style may be, as Truman Capote said, ‘the mirror of an artist’s sensibility,’ but it is also something that develops over time, and in context. When minimalism returned to prominence in the mid-80s, its power was the power to negate. To record yuppie hypocrisies like some sleek new camera was to reveal how scandalous the mundane had become, and how mundane the scandalous. But deadpan cool has long since thinned into a manner. Its reflexive irony is now more or less the house style of late capitalism. (How awesome is that?)
As a non-Western writer, knowing the origin of this fad is comforting. But as Hallberg pointed out, context, not tradition, is what should decide or generate the style of any work of fiction. Paul West noted in his essay, “In Praise of Purple Prose,” written around the heyday of minimalism in 1985, that the “minimalist vogue depends on the premise that only an almost invisible style can be sincere, honest, moving, sensitive and so forth, whereas prose that draws attention to itself by being revved up, ample, intense, incandescent or flamboyant turns its back on something almost holy — the human bond with ordinariness.” This rationale, I dare say, misunderstands what art is and what art is meant to do. The essential work of art is to magnify the ordinary, to make that which is banal glorious through artistic exploration. Thus, fiction must be different from reportage; painting from photography. And this difference should be reflected in the language of the work — in its deliberate constructiveness, its measured adornment of thought, and in the arrangement of representative images, so that the fiction about a known world becomes an elevated vision of that world. That is, the language acts to give the “ordinary” the kind of artistic clarity that is the equivalence of special effects in film. While the special effect can be achieved by manipulating various aspects of the novel such as the structure, voice, setting, and others, the language is the most malleable of all of them. All these can hardly be achieved with sparse, strewn-down prose that mimics silence.
The sinuous texture of language, its snakelike meandering, and eloquent intensity is the only suitable way of telling the multi-dimensional and tragic double Bildungsroman of the “egg-twin” protagonists of Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things. Roy’s narrator, invested with unquestionable powers of insight and deliberative lens, is able to maintain a concentrated force of focus on a very specific instance, scene, or place, or action. Hence, the writer — like a witness of such a scene — is able to move with the sweeping prose that will at once appear gorgeous and at the same time be significant and memorable. Since Nabokov’s slightly senile narrator in Lolita posits that “you can always trust a murderer for a fancy prose style,” we are able to understand why Humbert Humbert would describe his lasped sexual preference for Dolores while in bed with her mum in this way: “And when, by means of pitifully ardent, naively lascivious caresses, she of noble nipple and massive thigh prepared me for the performance of my nightly duty, it was still a nymphet’s scent that in despair I tried to pick up, as I bayed through the undergrowths of dark decaying forests.” Even though the playfulness of Humbert’s elocution is apparent, one cannot deny aptness — and originality — of the description of Humbert’s response to the pleasure his victim is giving him is.
It is not, however, that the “less is more” nugget is wrong, it is that it makes a blanket pronouncement on any writing that tends to make its language artful as taboo. When sentences must be only a few words long, it becomes increasingly difficult to execute the kind of flowery prose that can establish a piece of writing as art. It also establishes a sandcastle logic, which, if prodded, should crash in the face of even the lightest scrutiny. For the truth remains that more can also be more, and that less is often inevitably less. What writers must be conscious of, then, is not long sentences, but the control of flowery prose. As with anything in this world, excess is excess, but inadequate is inadequate. A writer must know when the weight of the words used to describe a scene is bearing down on the scene itself. A writer should develop the measuring tape to know when to describe characters’ thoughts in long sentences and when not to. But a writer, above all, should aim to achieve artistry with language which, like the painter, is the only canvas we have. Writers should realize that the novels that are remembered, that become monuments, would in fact be those which err on the side of audacious prose, that occasionally allow excess rather than those which package a story — no matter how affecting — in inadequate prose.
In the same vein, describing a writer’s prose as “self-conscious” isn’t wrong, it is that it misallocates blames to an ailing part of a writer’s work. Self-consciousness is a term that mostly describes the metafictional qualities of a work; it cannot, in effect, describe the use of language. “The hand of the writer” can appear in the framing of a story, in its structure, in the characterization, in the form of experimental works and frame narratives, but it cannot appear in its language. “Self-consciousness” cannot be applied to the use of words on the page, just as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart cannot be accused of self-conscious tune or Yinka Shonibare of self-conscious art. Self-consciousness or pomposity cannot be reflected in a piece of writing, except in its tone, and in fiction, this is even harder to detect. What can be reflected in a piece of writing is excess and lack of control, which can stand in the way of anything at all in life. What critics should be calling out should be pretentious, unsuccessful gloss that lacks measure and control. They should call out images that might be inexact, ineffective, or superfluous. When critics plunge head-on against great writers (Don Delilo, Cormac McCarthy, etc.,) in the manner of B.R. Myers’s agitated fracking masquerading as “criticism,” they only end up scaring other writers from attempting to pen artistic prose. Fear might be what many writers writing today seem to be showing by indulging in the writing of seemingly artless prose. Authorial howls of artful prose as created by James Joyce, Faulkner, Nabokov, Cormac McCarthy, Shirley Hazzard, are becoming increasingly rare — sacrificed on the altar of minimalism. Hence, it is becoming more and more difficult to differentiate between literary fiction and the mass market commercial genre pieces, which, more often than not, are couched in plain language.
The gravest danger in conforming to this prevailing norm is that contemporary fiction writers are unknowingly becoming complicit in the ongoing disempowering of language — a phenomenon that the Internet and social media are fueling. Words were once so powerful, so revered, that, as culture critic Sandy Kollick once observed, “to speak the name of something was in fact to invoke its existence, to feel its power as fully present. It was not then as it is now, where a metaphor or a simile merely suggests something else. To identify your totem for a preliterate gatherer-hunters was to be identical with it, and to feel the presence of your clan animal within you.” But no more so. Too many words are being produced in print and visual media that the power of words is diminishing. There are now simply too many newspapers, too many books, too many blogs, too many Twitter accounts for words to maintain their ancestral sacredness. And as writers adjust the language of prose fiction to conform to this era of powerless words, language is disempowered, leading — as Kollick further points out — to the inexorable “emptying out of the human experience,” the very object fiction was meant to preserve in hardbacks and paperbacks.
It is therefore necessary that writers everywhere should see it as their ultimate duty to preserve artfulness of language by couching audacious prose. Our prose should be the Noah’s ark that preserves language in a world that is being apocalyptically flooded with trite and weightless words. “The truest writers,” Derek Walcott said, “are those who see language not as a linguistic process, but as a living element.” By undermining the strongest element of our art, we are becoming unconscious participants in the gradual choking of this “living element,” the life blood of which is language. This we must not do. Rather, we must take a stand in confirmation of the one incontestable truth: that great works of fiction should not only succeed on the strength of their plots or dialogue or character development, but also by the audacity of their prose.
Image Credit: Wikipedia.
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A researcher from the University of Bath has found a new approach to an old geometric problem of modelling the most efficient way of packing shapes to form a foam.
The discovery is not only making waves in the mathematical world, but could also lead to medical advances in creating hip replacements and replacement bone tissue for bone cancer patients.
The 'Kelvin problem', posed by Lord Kelvin in 1887, was to find the most efficient way of splitting space into cells of equal volume with the least area of surface between them.
Kelvin's solution to the problem was a honeycomb of truncated octahedrons - shapes with six square faces and eight hexagonal faces.
A better solution was devised by physicists Weaire and Phelan at Trinity College Dublin who created a honeycomb structure which inspired the striking architecture of the Water Cube aquatic centre that featured in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The Weaire-Phelan structure is composed of two different shapes: an irregular pentagonal dodecahedron (12-faced polyhedron) and a polyhedron with 14 faces.
Whilst studying the honeycomb-like structure of bone replacement materials for his PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bath, Ruggero Gabbrielli devised a different way of mathematically modelling foams. His structure is instead composed of four different shapes that fit together.
Whilst this new shape doesn't beat the Weaire-Phelan structure in terms of packing efficiency, the methods he used are a new way of approaching the problem and could ultimately lead to a better solution to the Kelvin problem.
Ruggero, who has now completed his PhD and is continuing his research at Swansea University, explained: "I'm hoping that the method will lead to an even better solution of the Kelvin problem or to a proof of the Weaire-Phelan structure optimality.
"The method uses a partial differential equation, well-known in two-dimensional pattern formation. The novelty is that I've applied it to a three-dimensional problem to model the shape of foams."
The structures he has made are also much closer to the structures of the foams found in nature.
His structure and methods, published in Philosophical Magazine Letters, have already grabbed the attention of mathematicians, chemists and physicists across the world.
Ruggero was recently invited to the USA and to Australia to talk about his new structure and discuss his methods with top mathematicians.
He said: "The journey to Pennsylvania was fantastic. In two weeks I met with two of the greatest mathematicians in the US - Thomas Hales and Ken Brakke - and the physicist Randall Kamien at the University of Pennsylvania."
Physicists Barry Ninham and Stephen Hyde then invited him to Canberra, where the structure was shown to a broader audience.
Ruggero said: "It's not just about bubbles. Three-dimensional patterns spontaneously arise in many systems nature designed."
The project was part-funded by a grant from the IDEAS Factory, a scheme from the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council that encourages collaboration between researchers from different disciplines.
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Until now, rings of material in a disc have only been observed around giant planets like Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and especially Saturn, which is known for its spectacular rings.
The gauzy rings of Saturn and the dark side of the planet glow in newly released infrared images obtained by NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
A recently completed analysis of data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft suggests that Saturn's moons and rings can best be described as gently worn vintage goods from around the time of our solar system's birth.
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft - now just two years away from Pluto - is on a riskier mission than previously realized, thanks to the threat posed bty the planet's moons and possible rings.
Astrophysicists have for the first time observed a Saturn-like ringed planet orbiting a star like our own.
An examination of deep sea corals has revealed drastic changes to ocean currents in the western North Atlantic since the 1970s.
New pictures from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft show 12-mile-wide snowballs forming in one of Saturn's rings.
NASA's Cassini spacecraft has discovered a new class of moons in the rings of Saturn that create distinctive propeller-shaped gaps in ring material.
Saturn's rings aren't as neat and tidy as they appear, new observations from NASA's Cassini spacecraft show.
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April 15th, 2015
'Differential Association theory is a criminology theory that looks at the acts of the criminal as learned behaviors. Edwin H. Sutherland is credited with the development of the Differential Association theory in 1939. Sutherland, a sociologist and professor most of his life, developed Differential Association theory to explain how it was that criminals came to commit acts of deviant behavior. With his fourth edition of his book, Principles of criminology, in 1947 Sutherland finalizes his theory that deviant behavior is socialized through lack of opposition to such behavior. In his theory, Sutherland assess’ that criminal behavior is not to be explained away by deeming the criminal ‘simple.’ As do most social learning theories, Differential Association theory, believes that the behaviors of an individual are influenced and shaped by other individuals they associate with. The primary reference group is that of the nuclear family, which the individual lives and grows up with. It is believed that these interactions formulate the individuals understanding of societal norms and values. It is then assumed that if the individual is capable of learning what is acceptable in society, they are also not capable of learning what is considered unacceptable.
- Criminal behavior is learned in interaction with others in a process of communication.
From the moment an individual is born they are being conditioned to the norms of society. They learn gender roles through their interactions with their parents and observations of gender specific characteristics. Interaction and observations are the same methods of communication through which criminals learn their deviance. Criminal behavior, Differential Association theory argues, is more prevalent in individuals who associate and interact with individuals who exhibit criminal mind sets and behaviors.
- Learning criminal behavior occurs within primary groups (family, friends, peers, their most intimate, personal companions)
An individuals’ behavior is primarily influenced by their family, since that is the first group interaction they receive. Additionally an individual’s behavior is influenced by their peer group (through direct and indirect interaction) and through their intimate relationships with other individuals.
- Learning criminal behavior involves learning the techniques, motives, drives, rationalizations, and attitudes.
Surely, just because an individual has a criminal in their primary reference group doesn’t mean that they’ll partake in criminal behavior. However, it does mean that they a resource into the criminal rationale. Criminals are not inherently deviant, they learned the deviance. They were taught to rationalize what they once knew to be unacceptable behavior into acceptable behavior. For example, many convicted sexual assailants admit that the first time they committed sexual assault they felt guilty. The guilt comes from their socialization of societal norms that rape is unacceptable.
- The specific direction of motives and attitudes is learned from definitions of the legal codes as favorable or unfavorable.
This principle comes into play when considering cultural variations and/or interpretations of legal codes. In specific, in the United States, there are so many different cultures and each culture’s interpretation of what is favorable or unfavorable varies. Cultural norms can conflict with societal norms.
- A person becomes a criminal when there is an excess of definitions favorable to violation of law over definitions unfavorable to violation of law.
This is the dominant premise for Differential Association theory. The premise that because an individual associates with more members of a group who favor deviance, than with members of a group who favor societal norms, that individual is more inclined to act defiantly. Pfohl writes in his book, Images of deviance and social control, that the likelihood of deviant behavior could be determined by calculating the difference between favorable and unfavorable associations (1994).
- Differential associations vary in frequency, duration, priority, and intensity.
Referring to the contact an individual must have with proponents of criminal behavior; this principle suggests that there is a varying, but direct, relationship that effects how often, for what length of time, how important and how intense deviant behavior occurs.
- The process of learning criminal behavior involves all the mechanisms involved in any other learning.
Accordingly this means that criminal behavior, like any other learned behavior, is not only learned through observance but through assorted methods as well. For example, coercion and seduction could lead to acts of deviance. Also, criminal behavior can be credited to acts of spontaneity.
- Although criminal behavior is an expression of general needs and attitudes, criminal behavior and motives are not explained nor excused by the same needs and attitudes, since non criminal behavior is explained by the same general needs and attitudes.
This last principle asserts that even those criminals, who rationalize their behaviors as trying to fulfill basic needs, are not above reproach. Non criminals are subject to obtain the same general needs as criminals and do so in a non deviant fashion. Criticism of Sutherland’s Differential Association theory includes the assumption that Sutherland was suggesting the mere interaction with criminals would lead an individual to criminal behavior. This was not Sutherland’s proposal. Differential associate was intended to create multiple facets to consider when evaluating deviant behavior. The most principal being that if an individual is exposed to more social acceptance of deviance that they are exposed to opposition of deviance, that individual is more apt to function defiantly. Additional criticism comes from the theories lack of ability to explain acts of deviance that aren’t learned and/or are spontaneous. For example, how does one explain the upper class child who has a law abiding family, is well to do, and has attended private school their whole life going on a shooting rampage (or less extreme stealing gum from the grocery store)? After Sutherland passed away, the Differential Association theory was most notably expanded upon by sociologist Burgess and Akers in 1968. Burgess and Akers called their theory the Differential- Reinforcement theory. They disregarded Sutherland’s view that criminal behavior was learned in primary reference groups. In addition, The Differential Reinforcement theory suggests that criminal behavior could be due to non social factors. For example, the influence of drugs on an individual’s psychological and physiological condition could contribute to an individual’s deviant behavior. Differential Reinforcement theory mirrors Rational Choice theory’s idea that an individual will take past experiences into consideration when calculating future behaviors.
- Burgess, obert & Akers, Ronald L. (1966). “A Differential Association-Reinforcement Theory of Criminal Behavior.” Social Problems, 14: 363-383.
- Gaylord, Mark S., and John F. Galliher. (1988). The Criminology of Edwin Sutherland, New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction.
- Leighninger, L., & Popple, Phillip R. (1996). Social Work, Social Welfare, and American Society (3rd. ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
- Matsueda, Ross L. (1988). “The Current State of Differential Dick Association Theory.” Crime and Delinquency, 34(3), 277-306.
- Short, J. (1957). "Differential Association & Delinquency." Social Problems 4:233-90.
- Sutherland, Edwin Hardin. (1974). Criminology (9th ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott.
- Pfohl, Stephen. (1994). Images of deviance and social control. New York: McGraw-Hill.
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ChristianAnswers.Net WebBible Encyclopedia
a stringed instrument of music
This word is found in the titles of Ps. 8, 81, 84. In these places the LXX render the word by “on the wine-fats.”
The Targum explains by “on the harp which David brought from Gath.” It is the only stringed instrument named in the titles of the Psalms.
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Like meningitis, encephalitis can be caused by bacteria or virusesincluding viruses transmitted by mosquitoes or other arthropods (a group of animals that includes insects and ticks). Encephalitis can develop slowly or quickly, and can range from mild to severe, depending on which organism is causing the infection.
Types & Causes of Encephalitis
An arbovirus (arthropod-borne virus) is a virus transmitted by an arthropod, including insects and ticks. There are many different types of arboviral encephalitis, which exist worldwide. Four types are found in the United States: eastern equine encephalitis (EEE), western equine encephalitis (WEE), St. Louis encephalitis (SLE), and LaCross encephalitis (LAC). All of these types are transmitted through mosquitoes. Most cases of arboviral encephalitis occur during warm weatherwhen mosquitoes are active.
Most people who are infected with an arbovirus show no signs of infection or develop mild, flu-like symptoms such as fever and headache. Only a small percentage of infections develop into full-blown encephalitis, which is quite serious and can cause permanent neurological damage or death.
Herpes Simplex Encephalitis (HSE)
HSE is the most fatal type of encephalitis. It often causes swelling in the brain and significant neurological dysfunction. HSE is more common in the very young children and older adults, but can develop at any age. Most people are exposed to the virus at some point in their life, and the virus can live inside a person for many years before it begins to cause any problems. It is not clear why it causes encephalitis in some people but not others.
Rabies is a virus that is transmitted by mammalsespecially bats, skunks, foxes, and raccoons. If a rabid animal bites a person and that person does not receive treatment, rabies infectionincluding severe encephalitismay develop. Encephalitis symptoms of rabies infection include agitation, hallucinations, muscle spasms, seizures, coma, and death.
Diagnosis of Infectious Encephalitis
As with other neurological disorders, a complete medical history is the first step in diagnosing encephalitis. It is essential that your physician know where you have traveled recently, any contact you had with unusual animals or ill people, and a history of insect bites.
A complete neurological exam should be done to look for any abnormalities that serve as clues about which specific area of the brain is affected.
Imaging studies are tests that provide computer images of the inside of the brain and involve either a CT scan (computer axial tomography) or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). An MRI can often show damage to a particular brain area and may be more useful for diagnosing encephalitis.
Spinal Tap (Lumbar Puncture)
A spinal tap, or lumbar puncture, involves inserting a needle into the lower back (the lumbar area of the spine) and collecting some cerebrospinal fluid. The fluid is then sent to a lab where it is examined under the microscope and the organism causing the infection can be identified. Specialized molecular techniques are used to determine which particular virus is causing the encephalitis pictures.
Treatment for Encephalitis
The treatment for encephalitis depends on the cause.
There is no treatment for arboviral encephalitis, and there are no vaccines for the United States. In areas where arboviral encephalitis occurs, public health officials usually initiate insecticide spraying to kill the mosquitoes. In areas where mosquitoes known to be carrying an arbovirus live, people should do what they can to avoid being bitten (e.g., wearing insect repellant, avoiding going outside during times of the day when the mosquitoes are most active, etc.).
Herpes Simplex Encephalitis
This type of encephalitis can be treated with an antiviral drug called Acyclovir, which is given intravenously and is also used to treat genital and skin infections caused by a herpes simplex infection. Without treatment, herpes simplex encephalitis can (and probably will) be fatal, so treatment should be started immediately upon diagnosis.
Rabies is a disease that is best treated through prevention. The animal that bit the person should be found. If it is wild, or if there is no proof that it has been vaccinated, it should be given to a pathologist who will kill the animal and examine its brain for the presence of the rabies virus. If the animal cannot be found, or if there is any question whatsoever about whether it is infected or not, the person should be treated immediately with human rabies immunoglobulin, an antibody that acts against the rabies virus.
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John Hall photo
Twenty-three young bald eagles fledged from 15 nests in Vermont this year, according to a state biologist. The bald eagle remains on the state’s list of endangered species, but not the federal list.
Last winter’s mild temperatures and an early spring may have given Vermont’s bald eagle population a big boost, as a record number of young eagles — eaglets — were fledged.
John Buck, state wildlife biologist, said Wednesday that 23 bald eaglets successfully left their parents’ nests in August.
In 2011, the figure was 13 eaglets.
“It’s all speculation,” said Buck, “but it may have had a positive role.”
To Buck and others working on restoring the bald eagle to Vermont, this summer’s success was nothing short of monumental, considering that there were no eagles even attempting to nest in Vermont until 2002 and they hadn’t lived in the state since the 1940s.
“We’re up from zero 10 years ago,” he said.
Buck said 15 nests are located in 13 Vermont towns, with population clustered along the Connecticut River and Lake Champlain, and in one instance, Lake Memphremagog.
He said the state doesn’t give out locations of the nesting birds, but he said there were successful nests in Rockingham, Springfield, Windsor, Barnet and Concord, all along the Connecticut River; in Coventry, on Lake Memphremagog; and in Highgate, Ferrisburgh, New Haven, West Haven and Castleton, along Lake Champlain.
He said two nests were built in Wilder and Newbury but didn’t produce any young. A nest in Waterford fell down during a late spring snowstorm and the eagles didn’t return to rebuild it.
Eagles are solitary birds, he said, and human interference can scare birds off their nests, abandoning their eggs or young, he said.
Buck said it was too soon to move to take the eagle off the state’s endangered species list. He said he would want to see at least five years of strong reproduction and active nesting before moving in that direction.
“This is just one year. We want to see it sustained to make sure it’s not a fluke,” he said. While bald eagles are no longer on the federal endangered species list, they remain on Vermont’s list, Buck said.
He said two nests actually produced three eaglets, which is an indication of a good food source and a mature breeding pair. Eagles usually return to the same nest year after year, he said.
Usually, eagles produce one or two eaglets, he said. And eagles don’t attain sexual maturity until they are 5 years old, Buck said.
Steve Parren, a rare-species biologist with the state’s Fish and Wildlife Department, said Vermont’s bald eagles likely came from the Quabbin Reservoir in western Massachusetts.
The first nesting pair was in the Rockingham-Springfield area, he said.
“I think the birds came up the Connecticut River. We’ve been monitoring eagles since the 1960s, only there wasn’t much to monitor,” Parren said. “This is a success story.”
susan.smallheer @rutlandherald.comMORE IN Vermont NewsBARRE — Local history met modern art Saturday night during the fifth annual RockFire festival. Full Story
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A Methodology for the Design of Spaceborne Pencil-Beam Scatterometer Systems A Methodology for the Design of Spaceborne Pencil-Beam Scatterometer Systems
Spaceborne scatterometer instruments are important tools for the remote sensing of the Earth's environment. In addition to the primary goal of measuring ocean winds, data from scatterometers have proven useful in the study of a variety of land and cryopshere processes as well. Several satellites carrying scatterometers have flown in the last two decades. These previous systems have been ""fan-beam"" scatterometers, where multiple antennas placed in fixed positions are used. The fan-beam scatterometer approach, however, has disadvantages which limit its utility for future missions. An alternate approach, the conically-scanning ""pencil-beam"" scatterometer technique, alleviates many of the problems encountered with earlier systems and provides additional measurement capability. Due to these advantages, the pencil-beam approach has been selected by NASA as the basis for future scatterometer missions. Whereas the fan-beam approach is mature and well understood, there is need for a fundamental study of the unique aspects of the pencil-beam technique.
In this dissertation, a comprehensive treatment of the design issues associated with pencil-beam scatterometers is presented. A new methodology is established for evaluating and optimizing the performance of conically-scanning radar systems. Employing this methodology, key results are developed and used in the design of the SeaWinds instrument - NASA's first pencil-beam scatterometer. Further, the theoretical framework presented in this study is used to propose new scatterometer techniques which will significantly improve the spatial resolution and measurement accuracy of future instruments.
School:Brigham Young University
School Location:USA - Utah
Source Type:Master's Thesis
Keywords:scatterometry scatterometer seawinds pencil beam fan ocean winds resolution
Date of Publication:12/01/2001
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Entering the passenger car market in the same year as Henry Ford, Buick then began building light commercial vehicles in 1907, using passenger car chassis. This truck was called the M-2A and was offered with a "plumber's body", probably because David Buick's first fortune was founded on porcelain bathtubs. Buick had been bought out by Billy Durant's fledgling but voracious General Motors in 1905.
The first chassis for commercial use was the Model 2, powered by the "valve-in-head" design for which David Dunbar Buick was well known if not well compensated. This 22-hp two-cylinder horizontally-opposed engine was the same as in the Model F passenger car.
The ¾-ton Model 2 used the engine-under-seat design prevalent in horseless carriages at that time. A two-speed planetary transmission, similar to that used by Ford, transmitted power to the rear wheels via dual chain drive. Two wheelbases were offered, 92-inch and 110-inch, at $965 and $980 respectively for bare chassis.
Factory literature showed several body styles available directly from Buick (General Motors). The 1911 brochure began by stating "…the doom of the horse-drawn vehicle is assured…". Further introductory text read, "The load capacity of our cars is normally 1,500 pounds with a maximum of one ton. By this we do not wish to indicate that 2,000 pounds is the absolute load limit, but drivers are so prone to over-load without regard to road conditions that we set this as the load limit at which our responsibility ceases."
Frame construction was described as having "specially treated steel, angle section, hot riveted…frame fittings are of 3% nickel steel drop forgings." The Buick Commercial Car used I-beam axles, front and back. Steering knuckles were nickel steel forgings also, with tool steel pivot pins, oil hardened and ground. Wheels were of "second growth hickory" with twelve spokes to each wheel. A Remy high-tension magneto was used for ignition on the Buick motor, but a "set of dry cells" was provided as well, this prior to the invention of the electric starter motor by Charles Kettering at Cadillac in 1912. A gear-driven force feed oiler lubricated the engine and outer bearings of the transmission. A water pump assisted in cooling the engine. Brakes were of the expanding type with total braking surface area of 352 square inches. Buick light trucks had a warranty for 90 days in 1910/1911.
In 1912 the two-cylinder engine was superseded by the Buick four-cylinder engine for the ½-ton Model 3 and ¾-ton Model 4. Along with the new larger 37-hp engine, a three-speed sliding gear transmission was adopted using three-point mounting on a sub-frame using a more conventional chassis layout with engine in front of the driver. The clutch was a leather-faced cone type.
In 1916 a bare chassis was priced at $1,150. An additional $100 bought a simple express body. Wheelbase was 122 inches, and 35x5 pneumatic tires were used. All Buick commercial chassis were supplied with pneumatic tires as standard equipment. Buick literature pointed out that although solid tires may last longer, "No solid tire has ever been made that does not subject the motor and driving mechanism to continual jar and vibration that is ultimately more expensive than saving on tire wear." Also standard were electric headlights with a dimmer, electric taillights, trouble lamp with extension cable, electric horn, extra demountable rim, tire pump and complete set of tools. This was considerably more generous than what hundreds of budget builders of light trucks provided at the time.
David Hayward, automotive and military historian in England, notes that the Model 16AA ambulance was based on the D-4 and E-4 vehicles of 1917, built in large numbers in 1916-17 for the US armed forces, and perhaps after 1917 for allied forces. Some were "demobbed" and solf into the British civilian market.
The two commercial models were continued until 1918. The Model 4 was also called the Model D-4 and was advertised as capable of doing four times the work of a pair of mules. However, GM began building the Chevrolet Model T light truck in 1918, and rather than duplicate production, only Chevy and GMC offered trucks.
In 1922 Buick introduced a new inexpensive passenger car, and this chassis served as the platform for a new light truck called the SD4, of which 2,740 were built up until 1923 when GM management again returned to Chevy and GMC badges for light commercial vehicles. Word is that the 4-cylinder truck chasses was built (or, at least, is listed as available) as a 1924 model.
In 1928 an experimental van was built by Buick, which was used by the Flxible Company as a long-distance bus. After the stock market crash of 1929 Buick continued to provide chassis for professional cars, hearses and ambulances.
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According to Wikipedia:
Akbar was accorded the epithet "the Great" due to his many accomplishments, among which was his record of unbeaten military campaigns that both established and consolidated Mughal rule in the Indian subcontinent.
The cited reference for this claim is Domesticity and Power in the Early Mughal World by Lal, Ruby (2005). However, all that the linked Google Books excerpt states is:
Mughal histories speak of Akbar the Great and his many accomplishments.
The above sentence is unfortunately unclear and ambiguous.
I would like to know:
- When was he accorded his epithet? Did it happen during his lifetime?
- What was the actual epithet in Persian?
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See also the
Dr. Math FAQ:
order of operations
3D and higher
Browse Middle School Equations
Stars indicate particularly interesting answers or
good places to begin browsing.
Selected answers to common questions:
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Scientists are developing a portable brain scanner which they hope could aid treatment - and possibly save the lives - of premature and newborn babies.
A helmet contains 32 different light sources
The MONSTIR scanner, developed by University College London, will avoid the need to move critically ill babies to conventional scanning facilities.
This can involve sedation, which carries a degree of risk.
The data produced by the scanner can be used to diagnose and assess conditions such as brain haemorrhages.
It can also help doctors to decide on the best possible treatment.
The researchers, backed by funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Wellcome Trust, are now working on how to reduce the size of the scanner, and to improve its speed of operation.
Currently, there are two main ways of performing brain scans on small babies.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can provide data on brain function, but MRI scanners are large and static, and the baby may need to be sedated and wheeled to the scanner for the procedure to be carried out.
The alternative, ultrasound, can be performed at the cot side and is effective at revealing brain anatomy - but cannot show how the brain is actually functioning.
MONSTIR works by using a technique called optical tomography to generate images showing how the brain is working.
Light is passed through the body tissues, and then analysed by computer.
A helmet incorporating 32 light detectors and 32 sources of low-intensity laser light is placed on the baby's head.
The sources produce short flashes and the detectors measure the amount of light that reaches them through the brain and the time the light takes to travel.
A software package uses this information to build up a 3D image.
This can show which parts of the brain are receiving oxygen, where blood is situated, and evidence of brain damage. The UCL team are also testing whether the technology could be useful in diagnosing and treating breast cancer.
Researcher Dr Adam Gibson said: "The technology we're developing has the potential to produce high-quality images at the cot side and is also cheaper than MRI.
"It could make an important contribution to the care and treatment of critically ill babies."
It is hoped the scanners could be commercially available within a few years.
Henry Scowcroft, of the charity Cancer Research UK, said: "This is exciting work. Finding out what is going on inside the body quickly and non-invasively is an important goal for medical researchers.
"Current technology such as MRI and PET is extremely valuable but also expensive and cumbersome to use.
"Developing a smaller, more mobile imaging machine would be extremely useful."
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What would it be like to see the world from a bird’s perspective? To experience riding on the backs of bald eagles and snow geese or flying alongside a flock of brown pelicans as they scan and dive for fish in the ocean below. State-of-the-art technology and sophisticated camera techniques have now made it possible to do just that and more as EARTHFLIGHT, A Nature Special Presentation takes viewers on a breathtaking aerial adventure over six continents.
It took EARTHFLIGHT series producer John Downer and his team four years to film more than 100 bird species in 40 different countries. Whether retracing the North American flight paths taken by thousands of migrating wild snow geese traveling to their Arctic breeding grounds or witnessing, for the first time, the aerobatics of devil rays as they somersault and splash back into the sea, the goal was to show the world on the wings of birds.
To capture a view of the greatest gathering of wild flamingos seen in 20 years, the team employed a variety of spycams. Remote cameras were buried at a favorite drinking spot by Kenya’s Lake Bogoria, while another camera was disguised as a mini-flock of floating flamingos. To film scenes from above, a radio-controlled drone was used with great success to silently infiltrate masses of the skittish pink flamingos.
To get remarkably close flying shots of wild vultures in South Africa, cameramen on paragliders piloted by biologists utilized the same updrafts and thermals as the birds they were there to film. To get even closer to the vultures, a full-scale replica of the bird was launched with a radio-controlled pan and tilt camera on board which was able to transmit pictures as it flew among the real birds.
Tiny HD cameras on the backs of trained birds captured amazing viewpoints that have never been seen before, such as that of a snow goose flying over New York Harbor toward the Statue of Liberty or a bald eagle soaring through the Grand Canyon in search of food.
The work involved in producing some images involved what is known as “imprinting,” which involves raising a flock of birds from birth. The process causes the birds to form a strong familial bond with the individual they regard as their mother. Avid French bird-enthusiast Christian Moullec raised a flock of geese, caring for them every day and training them to accept his piloted microlight as part of the family, so that when they all took to the skies, he was able to film close-up shots of the imprinted flock flying in tight formation as the geese retraced the great journeys of wild birds over Edinburgh and London for EARTHFLIGHT.
Episode one: North America – Wednesday, September 11 at 7pm
Snow geese, pelicans, and bald eagles fly over the Great Plains, the Grand Canyon, Alaska, New York City and the Golden Gate Bridge as they encounter and engage with bears, dolphins, bison, and spawning fish.
Episode two: Africa – Wednesday, September 18 at 7pm
Fly and arrow-dive with cape gannets among sharks, dolphins, whales and the great sardine run. Soar with fish eagles, flamingos, kelp gulls and vultures to see the most animal-packed continent with fresh eyes.
Episode three: Europe – Wednesday, September 18 at 8pm
Cranes and geese rise over Venice, Dover, Edinburgh and the monkey-guarded Rock of Gibraltar. In Rome, the Loire Valley, Holland and Hungary, birds gather by the millions to breed and two by two to raise their families.
Episode four: South America – Wednesday, September 25 at 7pm
Condors and scarlet macaws take us to the Andes and the Amazon. Giant petrels in Patagonia shadow killer whales. Hummingbirds feed at Iguazu Falls, vultures ride the thermals over Rio de Janeiro, and black vultures target turtle eggs in Costa Rica.
Episode five: Asia and Australia – Wednesday, October 2 at 7pm
Japanese cranes dance in the snow, swallows and swifts visit the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, lorikeets, cockatoos and budgies form giant flocks in Australia, pigeons guide us through India, and geese fly miles above the Himalayas.
Episode six: Flying High – Wednesday, October 9 at 7pm
A behind-the-scenes look at how EARTHFLIGHT was made, including the extraordinary relationships between people and birds. Microlights, paragliders, drones, and camera-carrying birds and much more helped along the way.
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Magnesium is a mineral the body needs in order to regulate blood pressure, strengthen bones, and keep the heart's rhythm steady. Magnesium needs differ based on gender, age, and whether you are pregnant. People at risk for severe magnesium deficiencies include those with kidney disease, alcoholism, Crohn's disease, and those taking certain medications for diabetes or cancer. Follow the links below to find WebMD's comprehensive coverage about how the body uses magnesium, why it is important, how you can get enough magnesium, and much more.
Slideshows & Images
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Gastric lymphoma: Introduction
Gastric lymphoma: A rare type of tumor that occurs in the lining of the stomach. The tumor may be primary or have spread there from other parts of the body. This type of tumor is more common in old people.
More detailed information about the symptoms,
causes, and treatments of Gastric lymphoma is available below.
Symptoms of Gastric lymphoma
See full list of 16
symptoms of Gastric lymphoma
Treatments for Gastric lymphoma
- Surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy
- Specific treatment of lymphoma depends upon the type and staging of the disease at the time of diagnosis, as well as the age and general health of the patient. Treatments include:
- more treatments...»
Read more about treatments for Gastric lymphoma
Home Diagnostic Testing
Home medical testing related to Gastric lymphoma:
- Colon & Rectal Cancer: Home Testing
Wrongly Diagnosed with Gastric lymphoma?
Gastric lymphoma: Complications
Review possible medical complications related to Gastric lymphoma:
Causes of Gastric lymphoma
Read more about causes of Gastric lymphoma.
Less Common Symptoms of Gastric lymphoma
Read more about symptoms of Gastric lymphoma
Gastric lymphoma: Undiagnosed Conditions
Commonly undiagnosed diseases in related medical categories:
Misdiagnosis and Gastric lymphoma
Chronic digestive conditions often misdiagnosed: When diagnosing chronic symptoms
of the digestive tract, there are a variety of conditions that may be misdiagnosed.
The best known, ...read more »
Intestinal bacteria disorder may be hidden cause: One of the lesser known causes of diarrhea
is an imbalance of bacterial in the gut, sometimes called intestinal imbalance.
The...read more »
Antibiotics often causes diarrhea: The use of antibiotics are very likely
to cause some level of diarrhea in patients.
The reason is that antibiotics kill off...read more »
Food poisoning may actually be an infectious disease: Many people who come down
with "stomach symptoms" like diarrhea assume that it's "something I ate" (i.e. food poisoning).
In...read more »
Mesenteric adenitis misdiagnosed as appendicitis in children: Because appendicitis is one of the
more feared conditions for a child with abdominal pain, it can be over-diagnosed
(it can, of course, also fail to be...read more »
Spitz nevi misdiagnosed as dangerous melanoma skin cancer: One possible misdiagnosis to
consider in lieu of melanoma is spitz nevi.
See melanoma and spitz nevi....read more »
Celiac disease often fails to be diagnosed cause of chronic digestive symptoms: One of the most common chronic digestive
conditions is celiac disease, a malabsorption disorder with a variety of symptoms (see symptoms...read more »
Chronic digestive diseases hard to diagnose: There is an inherent
difficulty in diagnosing the various types of chronic digestive diseases.
Some of...read more »
Read more about Misdiagnosis and Gastric lymphoma
Gastric lymphoma: Research Doctors & Specialists
Research related physicians and medical specialists:
Other doctor, physician and specialist research services:
Hospitals & Clinics: Gastric lymphoma
Research quality ratings and patient safety measures
for medical facilities in specialties related to Gastric lymphoma:
Hospital & Clinic quality ratings »
Choosing the Best Hospital:
More general information, not necessarily in relation to Gastric lymphoma,
on hospital performance and surgical care quality:
Gastric lymphoma: Rare Types
Rare types of diseases and disorders in related medical categories:
Evidence Based Medicine Research for Gastric lymphoma
Medical research articles related to Gastric lymphoma include:
Click here to find more evidence-based articles on the TRIP Database
Gastric lymphoma: Animations
More Gastric lymphoma animations & videos
Research about Gastric lymphoma
Visit our research pages for current research about Gastric lymphoma treatments.
Clinical Trials for Gastric lymphoma
The US based website ClinicalTrials.gov lists information on both federally
and privately supported clinical trials using human volunteers.
Some of the clinical trials listed on ClinicalTrials.gov for Gastric lymphoma include:
Read more about Clinical Trials for Gastric lymphoma
Statistics for Gastric lymphoma
Gastric lymphoma: Broader Related Topics
Types of Gastric lymphoma
User Interactive Forums
Read about other experiences, ask a question about Gastric lymphoma, or answer someone else's question, on our message boards:
Definitions of Gastric lymphoma:
Gastric lymphoma is listed as a "rare disease" by the Office of
Rare Diseases (ORD) of the National Institutes of Health
(NIH). This means that Gastric lymphoma, or a subtype of Gastric lymphoma,
affects less than 200,000 people in the US population.
Source - National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Contents for Gastric lymphoma:
» Next page: What is Gastric lymphoma?
Medical Tools & Articles:
Tools & Services:
Forums & Message Boards
- Ask or answer a question at the Boards:
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From Abracadabra to Zombies | View All
"The worst speculative Sceptic ever I knew, was a much better Man than the best superstitious Devotee & Bigot." --David Hume (Letter to Gilbert Elliot of Minto, March 10, 1751)
Philosophical skepticism systematically questions the notion that absolutely certain knowledge is possible.
Philosophical skepticism is opposed to philosophical dogmatism, which maintains that a certain set of positive statements are authoritative, absolutely certain, and true.
Philosophical skepticism emerged early in ancient Greek philosohy. For example, the Sophist Gorgias (483-378 BCE) claimed that nothing exists or if something exists, it cannot be known, or if something does exist and can be known, it cannot be communicated. Gorgias, however, is known primarily as a Sophist rather than as a philosophical skeptic. Pyrrho (c. 360-c.270 BCE) is generally considered the first philosophical skeptic in western philosophy. Little is known of Pyrrho or his followers. Nor is much known about two other important figures in ancient skepticism: Arcesilaus (ca. 316-241 BCE) and Carneades (214-270 BCE), each of whom headed the Academy founded by the dogmatist Plato (427-347 BCE). The first group of philosophical skeptics are known as Pyrrhonists, the latter are known as the Academics. Neither the Pyrrhonists nor the Academics seem to have advocated the kind of extreme denialism Gorgias maintained. (The distinction between Pyrrhonists and Academic skeptics is not without controversy, but it serves our purpose here.)
Other Sophists can also be seen as philosophical skeptics. For example, Protagoras (480-411 BCE) said that "Man is the measure of all things." This statement is usually interpreted to mean that there are no absolute standards or values and that each person is the standard of truth in all things. When applied to moral rules, this view is known as moral relativism, a type of philosophical skepticism that denies there are any absolute moral values. In its most extreme form, moral relativism is the view that the morality of an act depends on what one believes about the morality of the act. If one believes an act is moral, then that act is moral for you. If one believes an act is immoral, then that act is immoral for you. (Finding a philosopher who defends extreme moral relativism may take a lifetime or two, however. If the reader knows of any, please let me know. Extreme moral relativism is self-refuting. If the same act can be moral and immoral, moral language is pointless.)
The ancient skeptics did not all agree on even the most fundamental matters, such as whether certainty and knowledge are possible. Some believed that they knew certainty was not possible; others claimed that they did not know whether knowledge is possible. The position that one knows that knowledge is impossible seems to be self-refuting. The view that one does not know whether knowledge is possible is consistent with the notion that it makes sense to strive to know, even if one can't be sure that one will arrive at knowledge. And, while some ancient skeptics seem to have advocated that the ideal is to have no strong opinions, most seem to have maintained that when there was a preponderance of evidence supporting the probability of one position rather than another, then belief in the more probable position was desirable. Most ancient skeptics do not seem to have believed that simply because one cannot be absolutely certain about anything, one should therefore suspend judgment on all things. Such a view would be self-refuting. For, according to the principle itself one should not accept it, but suspend judgment on it. Suspending judgment on claims should be reserved for those claims one knows nothing about, or can know nothing about, and for those claims for which the evidence is proportionate on opposing sides. It may be true that nothing is absolutely certain, but it is not true that all claims are equally probable.
The Greek word skeptikoi means seekers or inquirers. Socrates (469-399 BCE), for many the model critical thinker and skeptical inquirer, claimed that the only thing he knew was that he knew nothing. This did not stop him from making inquiries about everything, however. He frequently said "Skepteon," meaning we must investigate this. The Pyrrhonists inquired into the truth of matters, even if most of the time that meant that they sought contrary arguments to dogmatic positions held by other philosophers, such as the Stoics or Epicureans. On those issues where argument and counterargument equaled one another, the Pyrrhonists held that we should suspend judgment. They apparently found that such a stance fit well with their desired goal of peace of mind (ataraxia). For, it is the dogmatist who gets agitated when he doesn't possess the good or truth he knows he should have, or when others refuse to accept what he knows is the truth.
The Academic skeptics rejected their founder's metaphysical dogmatism and defended probabilism: the view that probability rather than absolute certainty is possible in many matters and that probability is sufficient for the important things in life. Both forms of ancient skepticism were revived during the Renaissance with the availability of long-lost works, such as the writings of Sextus Empiricus (ca. 160–210 CE). As in ancient times, some "modern" philosophers rejected the arguments of the skeptics, e.g., Spinoza (1632-1677) and Descartes (1596-1650). Others, such as John Locke (1632-1704), accepted the skeptical arguments, but did not despair of gaining useful knowledge. The advancements of modern science in the seventeenth century were made possible because of the rise of empiricism, the belief that all knowledge is based on sense experience and exists in degrees of probability.
(Contemporary philosophical skepticism is a complex topic and will not be discussed here. See the entry on this topic in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. What is sometimes called scientific skepticism will be discussed below.)
Gorgias's skepticism was based on the belief, later shared by the empiricists, that all knowledge originates in sense experience and is not constant or uniform. Sense experience varies from person to person, moment to moment. His view might be called sensory skepticism, the philosophical position that we cannot have absolute certainty about anything that is based solely on sense experience. Throughout the history of philosophy, arguments demonstrating the unreliability of sense experience have flourished, especially among philosophical dogmatists who looked elsewhere for absolute certainty. One common argument is that what appears to us via the senses cannot be a reliable guide as to what is really beyond those appearances. The materialist Democritus (460-370 BCE), a contemporary of Gorgias and not generally considered a philosophical skeptic, made such an argument.
Throughout the history of philosophy, sensory skeptics have argued that we perceive only things as they appear to us and cannot know what, if anything, causes those appearances. Thus, if there is sense knowledge, it is always personal, immediate, and mutable. Any inferences from appearances are subject to error, and we are without a method to know whether the inferences or judgments we make are correct. As noted already, these arguments did not prevent Academic skeptics from putting forth a defense of probabilism with regard to empirical knowledge. Nor has sensory skepticism hindered dogmatists from seeking absolute truth elsewhere, namely in reason or logic.
Philosophical skepticism did not originate as a guide for practical living, but as an antidote to philosophical dogmatism. The earliest philosophical skeptics did not allow vicious dogs to bite them on the ground that their senses might be deceiving them, however. Even if it cannot be proved with absolute certainty that any phenomenal object is real, experience is a good guide as to the probability of what will happen if one allows a vicious dog to tear into one's leg. Skeptics don't deny the reality of sense perception. Dog bites hurt and honey tastes sweet. What the skeptics deny is that beyond the appearances of the biting dog there is a "dog essence" or that the experience of sweetness when tasting honey justifies inferring that "sweetness" is part of the essence of honey. Skeptics don't deny appearances and subjective knowledge. They don't deny that one bitten by a dog feels real pain and knows he or she is in pain. Skeptics deny that it is justifiable to infer from subjective experience indubitable propositions about a reality beyond those appearances. Any inference to "objective reality," a reality that transcends immediate experience, should be couched in probabilistic language at best.
Nevertheless, ancient skepticism was considered a guide for living by its advocates. Their goal was to achieve a state of being completely unperturbed. Denying appearances would not serve such a goal. Rejecting dogmatism did. Absolute certainty is not needed, according to skeptics, either for science or for daily living. Science can do quite well even if limited to appearances and to probabilities. We can find guides for daily living, including moral principles, without needing absolute certainty. We can figure out what principles are likely to lead us to what we desire: a peaceful, happy life. Many philosophical skeptics of the Greco-Roman period advocated a very conservative lifestyle, maintaining that nature and custom know best. They advocated following the laws and customs, including the religious customs, of one's native country. They believed that following our natural appetites is a generally reliable guide to living well.
Perhaps the strongest criticism of the possibility of absolute truth is to be found in the skeptic's argument regarding the criterion of truth. Any criterion used to judge the truth of a claim can be challenged because a further criterion is needed by which to judge the present criterion, and so on ad infinitum. This argument did not deter philosophers such as Plato and Descartes from claiming to have found an absolutely impeccable criterion of truth. Descartes' famous dictum cogito ergo sum was arrived at in his Meditations during his pursuit of a criterion for truth that didn't need another criterion to validate it. He thought he found such a criterion in the notion of the "clear and distinct perception." Skeptics rejected Descartes' argument and the notion of infallible criteria for empirical claims. Many Academic skeptics, however, accept that there are absolutely certain claims, but that these are matters of logic or definition, and have nothing to do with establishing the certainty of any claim that goes beyond immediate perception.
While probabilism in empirical matters was defended as reasonable by philosophical skeptics, such an attitude was considered unreasonable with regard to metaphysics. One particular type of metaphysical skepticism (also known as positivism) is noteworthy: theological skepticism. A theological skeptic raises doubts regarding the possibility of knowledge about any gods. A theological skeptic may be an atheist, but the two positions are distinct. A theological skeptic may be a theist or an agnostic. The theological skeptic maintains that we cannot know for certain whether any gods exist. Such a view does not entail the notion that we should be atheists. Some theological skeptics will defend atheism on the grounds that there is much more support for the probability that a god does not exist than for the probability that a god does exist. A theist might disagree and think the probability is greater for theism, or he might admit that belief in a god is not based on probabilities at all, but is an act of pure faith. Such a position is known as fideism and it was the position of one of the most renowned proponents of scientific skepticism (see below), Martin Gardner (1914-2010). An agnostic, as distinguished from a theological skeptic, would hold that neither theism nor atheism is more probable than the other.
Theological skepticism is based on beliefs about the nature of supernatural claims and the nature of the human mind. Supernatural claims, it is said, transcend the limits of human knowledge. It is for this reason that some skeptics assert that revelation from a god is necessary. Skeptics may be atheists and be completely unaware of the arguments of theological skepticism, however. A skeptic may be an atheist simply because he or she perceives little, if any, evidence for the belief in a god. Some scientific skeptics (e.g., Richard Dawkins) believe that theological claims have empirical implications and can be assessed for their probability. In Dawkins' view, the probability of the existence of the Abrahamic god (or any other god, for that matter) is near zero.
In addition to providing philosophical doubts about dogmatic metaphysics, some philosophical skeptics aimed their arguments at specific types of claims. One of the most important figures in the history of skepticism is David Hume (1711-1776), whose skeptical argument against belief in miracles is still considered by many skeptics to be the best single argument in the history of skepticism. In fact, Hume hoped his argument would serve as "an everlasting check to all kinds of superstitious delusion." Hume argues that for the same reason it is justifiable to avoid the vicious dog trying to bite us, it is justifiable to reject miraculous claims. Miraculous claims assert that a violation of the laws of nature has occurred. Laws of nature are based on uniform experience. Experience is our guide in avoiding the vicious dog and must be our guide in judging the miraculous event. To accept an event as miraculous is to accept that experience is not a reliable guide. However, it is our only guide in such matters, unless we abandon reason and believe on pure faith. As he so eloquently and succinctly puts it:
A miracle is a violation of the laws of nature; and as a firm and unalterable experience has established these laws, the proof against a miracle, from the very nature of the fact, is as entire as any argument from experience can possibly be imagined.
What other kinds of superstitious delusions would Hume's argument apply to? It seems that it would apply to things such as homeopathy, channeling, astral projection, levitation, past life regression, psychic surgery, map dowsing, and other things that require us to abandon uniform experience as a guide. Claims about ESP, however, would not be covered by the argument, unless advocates maintain that ESP occurs outside the realm of the laws of nature. As long as the ESP advocate claims that ESP follows natural laws that we haven't discovered yet, then Hume's argument would not apply.
In addition to fighting dogmatism, skeptics of all types have traditionally been critical of those who are gullible and credulous; thus, many skeptics have devoted themselves to debunking irrational traditional beliefs and superstitions. Even so, philosophical skeptics can be quite gullible. Most of what we know about ancient philosophical skepticism comes from Sextus Empiricus who believed, among other things, that some animals bypass fertilization in reproduction and originate in fire, fermented wine, mud, slime, donkeys, cabbage, fruit, and putrefied animals.
Many philosophical skeptics would agree that logic is an area where dogmatism is justified. The principle of contradiction, that a statement is either true or false but not both, is accepted by many skeptics as true but empirically empty. That is, such a truth reveals nothing about the world of experience. In addition to formal truths, such as the principle of contradiction or the principle of identity, most skeptics would probably accept that there are semantic truths, i.e., some statements that are true by definition. "A bachelor is an unmarried male," is true and does provide information about the world of experience, namely, how a certain word is used in a certain language. But the statement is a matter of convention, not discovery.
Dogmatic philosophies have become rare. The age of metaphysics is long gone, indicating that the skeptics have won the war with the dogmatists. Logic is about the only philosophical area left where professional philosophers still speak of absolute certainty with a straight face. The chance of another Plato or Hegel arising in the 21st century seems very slim. Most philosophers today content themselves with probabilistic arguments based on empirical knowledge and the application of logical principles to concepts. They are guided by the methods and discoveries of modern science.
Skepticism is not restricted to professional philosophers who devote themselves to epistemological disputes regarding the origin, nature, limits, and kinds of knowledge. Outside of the academy, there has been a significant social movement that characterizes itself as skeptical. The movement is worldwide and is diverse. Three of the more important organizations in the United States* that promote skepticism today are the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), The Skeptics Society, and The James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF).
CSI's mission "is to promote scientific inquiry, critical investigation, and the use of reason in examining controversial and extraordinary claims." CSI publishes Skeptical Inquirer, a bimonthly magazine. The Skeptic Society's mission is to promote science and "to serve as an educational tool for those seeking clarification and viewpoints on" controversial ideas, extraordinary claims, and revolutionary ideas. The Skeptic Society publishes Skeptic magazine, a quarterly journal. The JREF's mission "is to promote critical thinking by reaching out to the public and media with reliable information about paranormal and supernatural ideas so widespread in our society today." The JREF publishes an online newsletter.
In his "Skeptic's Manifesto," co-founder of the Skeptics Society Michael Shermer describes skepticism as applying scientific methods and providing naturalistic explanations for apparently supernatural events. He quotes the OED's definition of 'skeptic':
One who doubts the validity of what claims to be knowledge in some particular department of inquiry; one who maintains a doubting attitude with reference to some particular question or statement.
The OED definition captures what most people mean when they say they are a skeptic. Shermer also disconnects the modern skeptical movement—whose beginning he traces to Martin Gardner's 1952 classic, In the Name of Science—from ancient denialism and nihilism.
The modern skeptical movement has a direct link to academic or mitigated skepticism in its belief that even though absolute knowledge and certainty is not possible, empirical claims can be justifiably assented to or rejected based on their probabilities. Most skeptics today would agree with David Hume's concluding remark on "academical or skeptical philosophy":
When we run over libraries, persuaded of these principles, what havoc must we make? If we take in our hand any volume; of divinity or school metaphysics, for instance; let us ask, Does it contain any abstract reasoning concerning quantity or number? No. Does it contain any experimental reasoning concerning matter of fact and existence? No. Commit it then to the flames: for it can contain nothing but sophistry and illusion.*
Most non-academic skeptics today are probably not familiar with Hume's argument that our perceptions are all we know; we have no way of knowing whether those perceptions correspond to anything outside of us. All our empirical knowledge, including all scientific knowledge, is based on the assumption that there is an external reality that bears enough similarity to our perceptions to allow us to say that our perceptions provide a good basis for understanding the empirical world. In addition to the assumption that things outside us cause our perceptions, there is the additional problem regarding our idea of cause and effect. We think that causes are necessarily connected to their effects. But the idea of necessary connection can't be justified by any particular perception. We perceive and remember a regular contiguity of causes and effects, but we never perceive the necessary connection. According to Hume, we can't help adding the notion of necessary connection, but the concept is based on our natural disposition to do so. The core notion of our idea of causality, in short, is not based on perception, but on habit or instinct. Why do we add this notion? Hume would say that Nature made us this way. Today, skeptics would say we've evolved to see patterns and ascribe such connections to the patterns we observe.
Hume's epistemological skepticism was a direct descendent of John Locke's empirical philosophy and George Berkeley's (1685-1753) immaterialism. Modern skepticism has benefited from the progress of science since the 17th century. In particular, it has benefited from the methods that science has developed to determine whether observed patterns are indicative of causal connections. We may not be able to answer Hume's inquiry into the impossibility of proving the existence of the external world or that causality is a feature of that world and not just a psychological imposition on our subjective perceptions. Furthermore, we may not be able to solve a problem Hume identified, usually called the problem of induction: the only justification we have for believing that the patterns of the past will continue in the future is that in the past like things under like circumstances produced like results. We assume the future will be like the past because in the past the future has been like the past, but this really doesn't guarantee that the future we're considering now will in fact be like the past. Or, as we might put it today, there is no guarantee that the laws of nature will continue forever unchanged. The modern skeptic, having the benefit of enormous scientific advancement since Hume's time, shrugs. Today's skepticism must be seen within the context of that scientific development. In fact, the kind of skepticism advocated by the major groups calling themselves skeptical today is often referred to as scientific skepticism. Scientific skepticism isn't bothered by the epistemological problems Hume posed.
The term 'scientific skepticism' may have originated with Carl Sagan (1934-1996), an astronomer who spent many years promoting science and skepticism. Science since Hume's day has proven by its results that the assumptions it makes about the existence of an external world, the reality of causality, and the stability of natural laws are justified and are grounded in more than just our psychological disposition to believe them. The success of science, in part due to advancements in technology over the past century, has cast doubt on the validity of the pessimism of empiricists like John Locke, who despaired that we would ever know the intimate details about the constituents of the physical universe.
Scientific skepticism takes it for granted that the methods of science are the best methods for gaining knowledge and that skepticism is warranted when knowledge claims are made that reject the methods of science, contradict well-established scientific facts or principles, or go beyond the limits of science. Thus, scientific skepticism is particularly critical of paranormal and supernatural claims, and of what is often referred to as pseudoscience. By extension, scientific skepticism considers all extraordinary claims as dubious. Such claims are not to be dismissed as false, however. "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof" is a commonly expressed mantra among advocates of scientific skepticism.
As Michael Shermer points out, skepticism does not stop with doubting extraordinary or "weird" (as he calls them) claims. Scientific skepticism uses scientific methods to investigate such claims. Scientific knowledge regarding the nature of perception, memory, and human testimony, as well as the tools of critical thinking, are a part of the skeptical inquiry into dubious claims. Finally, scientific skepticism rejects the notion that empirical matters should be taken on faith; beliefs should be based on sufficient evidence, not intuition, authority, or tradition.
Because so many "extraordinary" or "weird" claims are based on a poor understanding of perception, memory, testimony, and science, it is only natural that scientific skepticism should also involve the promotion of science and critical thinking. The modern skeptical movement, therefore, is not in the business of debunking for debunking's sake or of denying for denying's sake. Scientific skepticism does lead to the debunking of many claims. Debunking, however, involves demonstrating where the claim goes wrong and thus provides the positive benefit of exemplifying critical thinking and scientific investigation in action. Denialism, on the other hand, is not a part of scientific skepticism. Among other things, denialism is a polemical tactic that uses uncertainty to cast doubt on consensus viewpoints by belittling the value of probabilism. As such, modern denialists are more akin to the ancient Sophists than to the ancient skeptics. Scientific skepticism, on the other hand, recognizes that even though some uncertainty may exist, the sum of the evidence may preponderantly support some claims. A reasonable person accepts what is most likely the case rather than demanding that we not give our assent to any proposition until one can say there is no doubt that this is the case. Critical thinkers recognize that the precautionary principle can be paralyzing. Science may not be immune to error and it may not provide us with infallible truth, but it is the best method we've discovered so far for getting at the most reasonable beliefs about the world we live in.
See also 10 Facts About Skepticism, Skeptical Investigations, empiricism, Belief Armor, Sharon Begley: Skeptics Think They're Intellectually Superior, Evaluating Evidence, 2010: A Time for Reflection, Clever Irrationality, Defending Falsehoods, Evaluating Personal Experience, Why Do People Believe in the Palpably Untrue?, Why I am not a real (true) skeptic, My Opinion on Opinions, Teaching Critical Thinking, The War on Science, and Using ghost stories to teach critical thinking.
Hume, David. An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section x "Of Miracles," (1748), Bobbs-Merrill, Library of Liberal Arts edition.
Hume, David. An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section xii "Of the Academical or Skeptical Philosophy," (1748), Bobbs-Merrill, Library of Liberal Arts edition.
Novella, Steven and David Bloomberg. (1999). Scientific Skepticism, CSICOP, and the Local Groups. Skeptical Inquirer. July/August. Scientific skepticism defines skepticism around the principles of scientific investigation. Specifically, scientific skepticism addresses testable claims; untestable claims are simply outside the realm of science.
Popkin, Richard H. "Skepticism" in The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, vol 7, pp. 449-461, ed. Paul Edwards (Macmillan, Inc., 1967).
Ridolfo, Heather. Amy Baxter, and Jeffrey W. Lucas. 2009. "Social Influences On Paranormal Belief: Popular Versus Scientific Support." Current Research in Social Psychology. "Contrary to predictions, participants [160 students at a large public university] appeared to react against the views of science when evaluating claims, particularly when they believed those claims were unpopular. This finding may reflect decreasing trust in the institution of science."
Timmer, John. 2010. "When science clashes with beliefs? Make science impotent." Ars Technica. "It's hardly a secret that large segments of the population choose not to accept scientific data because it conflicts with their predefined beliefs: economic, political, religious, or otherwise. But many studies have indicated that these same people aren't happy with viewing themselves as anti-science, which can create a state of cognitive dissonance."Ancient Greek Skepticism - Internet Encyclopedia of PhilosophyContemporary Skepticism - Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
A Skeptical Manifesto by Michael Shermer
Scientific Skepticism - Knowledge Rush
Last updated 14-Mar-2015
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An ancient maxim found in the Dhammapada sums up the practice of the Buddha's teaching in three simple guidelines to training: to abstain from all evil, to cultivate good, and to purify one's mind. These three principles form a graded sequence of steps progressing from the outward and preparatory to the inward and essential. Each step leads naturally into the one that follows it, and the culmination of the three in purification of mind makes it plain that the heart of Buddhist practice is to be found here.
Purification of mind as understood in the Buddha's teaching is the sustained endeavor to cleanse the mind of defilements, those dark unwholesome mental forces which run beneath the surface stream of consciousness vitiating our thinking, values, attitudes, and actions. The chief among the defilements are the three that the Buddha has termed the "roots of evil" — greed, hatred, and delusion — from which emerge their numerous offshoots and variants: anger and cruelty, avarice and envy, conceit and arrogance, hypocrisy and vanity, the multitude of erroneous views.
Contemporary attitudes do not look favorably upon such notions as defilement and purity, and on first encounter they may strike us as throwbacks to an outdated moralism, valid perhaps in an era when prudery and taboo were dominant, but having no claims upon us emancipated torchbearers of modernity. Admittedly, we do not all wallow in the mire of gross materialism and many among us seek our enlightenments and spiritual highs, but we want them on our own terms, and as heirs of the new freedom we believe they are to be won through an unbridled quest for experience without any special need for introspection, personal change, or self-control.
However, in the Buddha's teaching the criterion of genuine enlightenment lies precisely in purity of mind. The purpose of all insight and enlightened understanding is to liberate the mind from the defilements, and Nibbana itself, the goal of the teaching, is defined quite clearly as freedom from greed, hatred, and delusion. From the perspective of the Dhamma defilement and purity are not mere postulates of a rigid authoritarian moralism but real and solid facts essential to a correct understanding of the human situation in the world.
As facts of lived experience, defilement and purity pose a vital distinction having a crucial significance for those who seek deliverance from suffering. They represent the two points between which the path to liberation unfolds — the former its problematic and starting point, the latter its resolution and end. The defilements, the Buddha declares, lie at the bottom of all human suffering. Burning within as lust and craving, as rage and resentment, they lay to waste hearts, lives, hopes, and civilizations, and drive us blind and thirsty through the round of birth and death. The Buddha describes the defilements as bonds, fetters, hindrances, and knots; thence the path to unbonding, release, and liberation, to untying the knots, is at the same time a discipline aimed at inward cleansing.
The work of purification must be undertaken in the same place where the defilements arise, in the mind itself, and the main method the Dhamma offers for purifying the mind is meditation. Meditation, in the Buddhist training, is neither a quest for self-effusive ecstasies nor a technique of home-applied psychotherapy, but a carefully devised method of mental development — theoretically precise and practically efficient — for attaining inner purity and spiritual freedom. The principal tools of Buddhist meditation are the core wholesome mental factors of energy, mindfulness, concentration, and understanding. But in the systematic practice of meditation, these are strengthened and yoked together in a program of self-purification which aims at extirpating the defilements root and branch so that not even the subtlest unwholesome stirrings remain.
Since all defiled states of consciousness are born from ignorance, the most deeply embedded defilement, the final and ultimate purification of mind is to be accomplished through the instrumentality of wisdom, the knowledge and vision of things as they really are. Wisdom, however, does not arise through chance or random good intentions, but only in a purified mind. Thus in order for wisdom to come forth and accomplish the ultimate purification through the eradication of defilements, we first have to create a space for it by developing a provisional purification of mind — a purification which, though temporary and vulnerable, is still indispensable as a foundation for the emergence of all liberative insight.
The achievement of this preparatory purification of mind begins with the challenge of self-understanding. To eliminate defilements we must first learn to know them, to detect them at work infiltrating and dominating our everyday thoughts and lives. For countless eons we have acted on the spur of greed, hatred, and delusion, and thus the work of self-purification cannot be executed hastily, in obedience to our demand for quick results. The task requires patience, care, and persistence — and the Buddha's crystal clear instructions. For every defilement the Buddha in his compassion has given us the antidote, the method to emerge from it and vanquish it. By learning these principles and applying them properly, we can gradually wear away the most stubborn inner stains and reach the end of suffering, the "taintless liberation of the mind."
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and Carry Rules for Minnesota Businesses
On May 28, 2003, the Minnesota Citizen's Personal Protection Act of 2003, more commonly known as the "conceal and carry" law, went into effect in Minnesota. While Minnesota has had a conceal and carry statute in place since 1975 (giving local police authority the discretion to issue concealed gun permits to individuals based on occupational and safety need), the 2003 amendment significantly changes the permit process in this state by mandating that concealed handgun permits be issued to all applicants not otherwise specifically excluded by law. The act also imposes new restrictions and notice requirements with which business owners and employers must comply before they may ban concealed handguns on their premises. Not only has this new legislation sparked statewide controversy, but many employers and business owners are left wondering how to deal with certain vague and seemingly impractical provisions of the law, and more importantly, what they can do to prevent or minimize the risk of gun-related incidents in the workplace.
Overview of the Law
The "shall issue" conceal and carry legislation was not a new item on this year's legislative agenda. The House passed a "shall issue" handgun bill during the 2001 Minnesota legislative session, but a companion bill failed in the Senate; a subsequent effort to revive the bill in the Senate in 2002 also failed.1 In 2003, several conceal and carry bills were introduced in the Legislature. The present version of the new conceal and carry bill passed both the House and Senate after the "shall issue" language from the House file was attached to a Department of Natural Resources technical bill.2
The new law allows any person who has a concealed-handgun permit to lawfully carry a pistol in any public place where that is not prohibited by statute. A permit will be issued to any person who:
Under the law, an individual with a concealed-handgun permit may then "carry, hold or possess a pistol in a motor vehicle, snowmobile, or boat, or on or about the person's clothes or the person's [body]" in any "public place" -- i.e., any governmental property or "private property that is regularly and frequently open to or made available for use by the public in sufficient numbers."3 For employers and business owners, this may potentially result in countless employees, customers, and visitors -- and in law firms this inevitably includes opposing counsel, parties, expert witnesses, and couriers to name a few "outsiders" -- carrying guns in their purses, briefcases, or on their bodies.
Effects on Businesses
Employers and private business owners (building owners, operators and tenants but not landlords) may ban guns on their premises if they comply with certain notice requirements. The act states that, "An employer, whether public or private, may establish policies that restrict the carry[ing] or possession of firearms by its employees while acting in the course and scope of employment."4 However, an employer may not prohibit guns in "a parking facility or parking area."5
The act does not define the term "course and scope of employment." Nonetheless, under common law, the phrase "course and scope of employment" loosely means acts by an employee relating to his or her duties as an employee and "within the work-related limits of time and place."5 An employer is presumably able to ban guns not just on its work premises (excluding parking lots), but also in a vehicle or on the employee's person if the employee is "off-site" performing duties on behalf of the employer and that relate to actual job directions or assignments. The difficult question then becomes, "what about an employee who uses a vehicle to perform his or her duties some of the time but parks the vehicle in the parking lot while on-site?" The employer should at least be able to require the worker to store any permitted handgun in the trunk of the worker's car and can probably ban handguns (under an employee policy) from any company-owned vehicle.
The act allows "employers" to regulate possession of guns only by "employees." Until the courts or Legislature clarify this provision, this may mean that businesses are not allowed to implement workplace policies banning independent contractors, temporary employees and job applicants from carrying a gun on premises, unless of course, they have an overall "premises" ban in place as described below.
Like employers, business owners may also restrict individuals from carrying guns on-site if the operator of the establishment makes a "reasonable request that firearms not be brought into the establishment." To satisfy the "reasonable request" requirement, the private establishment must:
Proper notice is given only if the operator of the establishment does both -- posts the requisite sign and personally informs the person of the posted request and demands his or her compliance.7
Concerned employers and business establishments can help reduce risk by taking a few simple steps:
While taking all of the above measures does not eradicate all risks associated with guns in the workplace and on business premises, it minimizes an employer or business owner's exposure to gun-related incidents and thereby reduces at lease some of the risk of gun-related liability for Minnesota businesses.
2. An earlier version of the law would have required business owners to have a personalized "secure storage facility" on premises for visitors to store their handguns. Incredibly, it would have imposed strict liability on the business establishment for "the item secured in the storage provided and for the personal safety and protection of the person and party while the person is within the establishment or attending the event." See H.F. 261, 2nd Engrossment: 83rd Legislative Session (2003-2004) (emphasis added).
3. Minn. Stat. §§624.714, Subd. 1(a), 624.7181, subd. 1(c) (2003).
4. Minn. Stat. §624.714, subd.18 (2003) (emphasis added).
6. See Fehrendorff v. North Holmes, Inc. d/b/a I.T.A.S.K.I.N House, 597 N.W.2d 905, 910 (Minn. 1999).
7. Several members of the Legislature, along with Governor Pawlenty, proposed a last-minute amendment that would have eliminated the dual notice requirement. They proposed changing the "reasonable request" definition to allow private establishments to choose either to post a sign banning guns on premises or personally to inform visitors of the gun ban. However, the proposed amendment did not pass. See Conrad deFiebre, "Conceal-Carry Gun Law Takes Effect Today," Star Tribune, May 28, 2003.
LINDA L. HOLSTEIN is the head of the litigation department at Parsinen Kaplan Rosberg & Gotlieb, P.A., concentrating her trial practice in employment and commercial law. She is a frequent media commentator on employment, business, and political issues.
ANH T. LE is an attorney at Parsinen Kaplan Rosberg & Gotlieb, P.A. practicing in the areas of employment law and commercial litigation. She is a cum laude graduate of William Mitchell College of Law, where she was a member of the Law Review.
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Adam's importance to the Fathers and to the authors of the many apocryphal writings of the first five centuries of the Christian Era is clearly shown by their frequent allusions to him. His p]ace in the liturgy is however, by no means a prominent one. His name occurs in the calendar, and in one hymn of the Eastern Church, nor does he fare much better in the Western. The sections which refer to him are the first prophecy on Holy Saturday and the readings of the Book of Genesis at Septuagesima time. In literature, on the other hand, he is more generously treated, and has become the hero of several books, such as: The Book of the Penance or Combat of Adam ( Migne, Dictionnaire des apocryphes , vol. II); The Struggle of Adam and Eve which they underwent after being driven out of the Garden, and during their stay in the cave of treasures, by the command of The Lord their Creator ( Migne, op. cit.). The Codex Nazaraeus (ibid.); the Testament of Adam ; the Apocalypse of Adam ; the Book of the Daughters of Adam ; the Penance of Adam , etc. also show to what an extent the memory of the first man was made use of in literature.
The Testament of Adam , now consisting of merely a few fragments, is of great interest. Its precise place in the history of literature can only be determined after a study of the connection which exists between it and writings of the same or of an earlier period. The liturgical fragments which have to do with the division of the hours of the day and night make it possible to perceive in what way Persian ideas influenced Gnosticism. Passages may be found in the Apostolical Constitutions of the Copts which seem to bear some relation to the ideas contained in the liturgical fragments. The following is a translation of one of them:First fragment. Night hours.
First hour: This is the hour in which the demons adore; and, so long as they are adoring, they cease to do harm to man, because the hidden power of the Creator restrains them.
Second hour: This is the hour in which the fish adore, and all the reptiles that are in the sea.
Fourth hour: Trisagion of the Seraphim. Before my sin saith Adam I heard at this hour, O my son, the noise of their wings in Paradise; for the Seraphim had gone on beating their wings, making a harmonious sound, in the temple set apart for their worship. But after my sin, and the transgression of God's order, I ceased to hear and see them, even as was just.
Fifth hour: Adoration of the waters that are above the heavens. At this hour, O my son Seth, we heard, I and the angels, the noise of the great waves, lifting their voice to give glory to God, because of the hidden sign of God which moves them.
Sixth hour: A gathering of clouds, and great religious awe, which veils the middle of the night.
Seventh hour: Rest of the powers, and of all natures, while the waters sleep; and at this hour, if one shall take water, let the priest of God mix holy oil therewith, and sign with this oil those who suffer, and do not sleep; they shall be healed.
Tenth hour: Adoration of men. The gate of heaven opens that the prayer of all that lives may enter in; they prostrate themselves, and then withdraw. At this hour all that man asks of God is granted him, when the Seraphim beat their wings or the cock crows.
Eleventh hour: Great joy of all the earth when the sun rises from the paradise of the Living God over all creation, and lifts itself over the universe.
There is a long and important article on the Liber Adami by Sylvestre de Sacy in the Journal des Savants for 1819-20. The book condemns continence, and prescribes marriage; allows the eating of the flesh of animals, fish, and birds. The liturgical ritual provided for prayer three times a day: after sunrise, at the seventh hour, and at sunset. The Nazarenes are bound to almsgiving and to preaching, must baptize their children in the Jordan, and choose the first day of the week for the ceremony.
The Catholic Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive resource on Catholic teaching, history, and information ever gathered in all of human history. This easy-to-search online version was originally printed between 1907 and 1912 in fifteen hard copy volumes.
Designed to present its readers with the full body of Catholic teaching, the Encyclopedia contains not only precise statements of what the Church has defined, but also an impartial record of different views of acknowledged authority on all disputed questions, national, political or factional. In the determination of the truth the most recent and acknowledged scientific methods are employed, and the results of the latest research in theology, philosophy, history, apologetics, archaeology, and other sciences are given careful consideration.
No one who is interested in human history, past and present, can ignore the Catholic Church, either as an institution which has been the central figure in the civilized world for nearly two thousand years, decisively affecting its destinies, religious, literary, scientific, social and political, or as an existing power whose influence and activity extend to every part of the globe. In the past century the Church has grown both extensively and intensively among English-speaking peoples. Their living interests demand that they should have the means of informing themselves about this vast institution, which, whether they are Catholics or not, affects their fortunes and their destiny.
Copyright © Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company New York, NY. Volume 1: 1907; Volume 2: 1907; Volume 3: 1908; Volume 4: 1908; Volume 5: 1909; Volume 6: 1909; Volume 7: 1910; Volume 8: 1910; Volume 9: 1910; Volume 10: 1911; Volume 11: - 1911; Volume 12: - 1911; Volume 13: - 1912; Volume 14: 1912; Volume 15: 1912
Catholic Online Catholic Encyclopedia Digital version Compiled and Copyright © Catholic Online
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In the last century, certain kinds of animals have gone extinct up to 100 times faster than usual, according to new research.
There have been five documented mass extinctions in the Earth’s history, including when the dinosaurs were suddenly wiped out 65 million years ago. Those extinctions are thought to have been caused by natural disasters, such as massive, earth-darkening volcanic eruptions or cataclysmic asteroid strikes. But a study published Friday concluded that a sixth, human-caused mass extinction is happening now.
We are the problem, according to Gerardo Ceballos, one of the study’s authors and a professor at the Institute of Ecology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
“We know that we have been destroying habitat; deforestation is huge,” Ceballos told ThinkProgress. “Thousands of animals are being killed every year for trade, and also by pollution. All these factors, these human factors, are major, and now we have climate change.”
Climate change puts animals at risk in two ways, Ceballos said. One is increased extreme weather, such as a hurricane that hits Puerto Rico and damages the endangered Puerto Rican parrot population. The other is rising temperatures that delicate amphibians can’t adapt to. Both are contributing to the continued loss of biodiversity.
Based on the researchers’ data, published Friday in Advanced Sciences, over the course of the Earth’s existence, it would have taken up to 10,000 years for some of the species that have gone extinct in the last century to disappear.
The analysis is based on a “very conservative” estimate that looks only at vertebrate species and uses a high threshold of documentation for extinction, the study said.
“The results were incredibly, incredibly shocking,” Ceballos said. “To be honest… because we were using such conservative measures, I thought that we wouldn’t be able to find that we were going into a mass extinction.”
Previous studies have been criticized for being overly alarmist, which is why the researchers wanted to look at the issue with new criteria, but the idea of a sixth mass extinction isn’t new. Scientists and ecologists have been arguing for years that a sixth mass extinction is on its way.
According to the IUCN Red List, an international monitoring body, 22 percent of the world’s mammal species are known to be globally threatened or extinct. Since 1500, 76 mammals have disappeared. Nearly a third of the world’s amphibian species are threatened or extinct, and as many as 159 species may already be extinct. At least 38 amphibian species are confirmed to be extinct, while another 120 species have not been spotted in recent years and have possibly died off. (It can take years or even decades to confirm extinction, which is one reason the extinction rate in the study is considered conservative.)
Ceballos said protecting these animals is a moral duty, but it’s also in humanity’s self-interest. For instance, 75 percent of the medicines we currently use are derived from plant and animal compounds, he said.
“Every species we lose, we lose that,” Ceballos said.
The moral argument for environmentalism has gained traction lately, especially with the release of the pope’s encyclical on the environment and climate change. But some have argued that elevating animals over humans is immoral.
At the end of the day, though, we are dependent on the environment for our own existence, Ceballos pointed out.
“There are many reasons we should care about the extinction of species,” he said. “But if we save them, we are saving humans.”
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In this week’s PLoS ONE media digest: U.S. energy policy and land use, the terrible tail of Ankylosaurus and decoding bat songs.
Climate change, energy policy and land use are topics that are rarely far from the news headlines. In their recent PLoS ONE article, Robert McDonald and colleagues at the Nature Conservancy estimate the effects of different U.S. energy policies on land use and habitat and predict that the land area taken up by energy production will dramatically increase by 2030. The authors state that this energy sprawl (the area footprint of new energy supply) “increases the need for energy conservation, appropriate siting, sustainable production practices, and compensatory mitigation offsets.” The study has been highlighted by the New York Times, Nature News and Journal Watch.
Dinosaurs of the ankylosaurid family are large and heavily armoured and are often portrayed with an enlarged mass of bone, forming a “club” at the end of their tail, which was used as a defensive weapon. In a new study published in PLoS ONE, Victoria Arbour of the University of Alberta, used computed tomography (CT) scans to analyse the tail clubs of fossil ankylosaurids and discuss how these dinosaurs swung their terrifying tails. Some of the online coverage of the study includes: Wired News, NeuroDojo and the Open Source Paleontologist.
Complex songs are rare among mammals but in their recent PLoS ONE article, Kirsten Bohn and colleagues report that males of the species Tadarida brasiliensis (the Brazilian free-tailed bat) produce songs to attract females and to ward off other males and while there is some variation, these songs are highly organised, governed by a complex set of syntactical rules and following a set syllabic order. The BBC News, the Associated Press and the 80beats blog have all discussed the paper and you can listen to samples of the bats’ ballads by visiting the supporting information section of the published paper.
And finally, some of the recent coverage of papers published in PLoS ONE includes:
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As adults, we tend to think we know what’s best for kids. We’ve been there, done that. And we know how to handle bullies.
Or do we?
Few escape high school unscathed by the effects of some type of bullying. Many carry bully baggage into adulthood, sporting emotional scars made worse by well-meaning adults who advised, “just ignore it and they’ll leave you alone.”
Ignoring it didn’t work then and it doesn’t work now.
That’s a fact backed up by three years of research conducted by Dr. Charisse Nixon, associate professor of psychology, and her Maine-based colleague, author and bullying expert, Stan Davis, for their Youth Voice Project, the first large-scale effort to ask kids which prevention and intervention methods are actually helpful. Their survey of 13,000 fifth- through twelfth-graders across the country reveals that ignoring bullying often only makes it worse.
Armed with that knowledge, Nixon and three Psychology majors—Kimberly Cook, Alyson Eagle, and Jennifer Slane—started a mentoring program at several Erie area schools where undergraduate psychology students are teaching youth (and educators) effective strategies to reduce peer mistreatment.
“The mentoring is a vehicle to change young people’s attitudes and behaviors based upon the data,” Nixon said. “It’s practice based on solid research.”
It’s also a valuable hands-on learning experience for Behrend psychology students who, this spring, under the supervision of Nixon and Erie Day School principal Dr. Karen Tyler, spent an hour a week for six weeks with students at EDS engaging them in activities designed to help classmates develop mutual respect, openness, empathy, and teamwork skills—the building blocks for a kinder generation.
“We focus on teaching these traits because then the children can work together and get to know one another,” Eagle said. “Familiarity breeds kindness and empathy; kids are less likely to mistreat someone they know well.”
“The sensitive conversations, role playing, and collaborative interactions better equipped our students to support one another and make positive choices when coping with both verbal and nonverbal peer aggressors,” said Tyler.
Eagle, Cook, and Slane graduated in May but trained several Penn State Behrend students to continue their work this fall. Nixon hopes to expand the mentoring program into other schools.
“We’re not trying to stop bullying, but change the whole culture around it,” Nixon said.
A lofty goal? Perhaps, but she isn’t daunted. “We’ll just take it one child, one class, one school at a time,” she said with a smile.
To learn more and read about the results of Nixon’s study, visit YouthVoiceProject.com.
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by Staff Writers
Paris (ESA) Nov 27, 2012
For the first time, ESA's Mars orbiter has relayed scientific data from NASA's Curiosity rover on the Red Planet's surface. The data included detailed images of 'Rocknest3' and were received by ESA's deep-space antenna in Australia. It was a small but significant step in interplanetary cooperation between space agencies.
Early on the morning of 6 October, ESA's Mars Express looked down as it orbited the planet, lining up its lander communication antenna to point at Curiosity far below on the surface.
For 15 minutes, the NASA rover transmitted scientific data up to the ESA satellite. A few hours later, Mars Express slewed to point its high-gain antenna toward Earth and began downlinking the precious information to the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, via the Agency's 35 m-diameter antenna in New Norcia, Australia.
The data were immediately made available to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California for processing and analysis, proving again that NASA's amazing new rover can talk with Europe's veteran Mars orbiter.
Curiosity's ChemCam images Rocknest3
ChemCam comprises the camera together with a Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectrometer, which fires a laser at targets and analyses the chemical composition of the vaporised material.
The laser zaps areas smaller than 1 mm across on the surface of martian rocks and soils, and then the spectrometer provides information on the minerals and microstructures in the rocks.
Outstanding image quality
"The quality of these images from ChemCam is outstanding, and the mosaic image of the spectrometer analyses has been essential for scientific interpretation of the data," says Sylvestre Maurice, Deputy Principal Investigator for ChemCam at France's Research Institute in Astrophysics and Planetology (IRAP).
"This combination of imaging and analysis has demonstrated its potential for future missions."
ChemCam laser targets
'Rocknest' is the area where Curiosity stopped for a month to perform its first mobile laboratory analyses on soil scooped from a small sand dune. Rocknest3 was a convenient nearby target where ChemCam made more than 30 observations using 1500 laser shots.
A wide-angle context image was acquired by Curiosity's MastCam and shows Rocknest3 as targeted by ChemCam. Rocknest3 is about 10 x 40 cm, or roughly the size of a shoe box.
Fostering Curiosity - and others
During the Curiosity mission, Mars Express is set to provide additional relay slots, while maintaining its own scientific observation programme, under an ESA-NASA support agreement.
It can also rapidly provide relay services in case of unavailability of NASA's own relay orbiter or if there is a problem on the rover itself.
"Exploring Mars is a huge challenge, and space agencies are working to boost cooperation and mutual support for current and upcoming missions. It's the way of the future."
Mars Science Laboratory
Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com
Lunar Dreams and more
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