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In the essay “Examining the Reputation of Columbus” Jack Weatherford writes, “Christopher Columbus’ reputation has not survived the scrutiny of history, and today we know that he was no more the discoverer of America than Pocahontas was the discoverer of Great Britain. Native Americans had built great civilizations with many millions of people long before Columbus wandered lost into the Caribbean” (Weatherford). History, specifically the era of the Encounter between the Native Americans and the Europeans has left historians and many others with the question “What is the truth? Who were the Indigenous people that lived prior to the invasion of the Spanish and was Columbus truly a hero or a villain?”
Worlds Collide, a course on of the exploration of the Indigenous civilizations from the Greater Antilles and Mesoamerica and the immediate and long lasting consequences of the clash with the European aggressors is designed for students to question the history they have been taught and the impact it has today. Students grapple with primary and secondary sources to determine whether or not these civilizations were advanced. Students use the acronym SPICER (society, political, cultural, economic and religious) to understand the complexities of these civilizations prior to European colonization, the changes made and a fusion of indigenous contributions with the assimilation of Spanish colonization.
Weatherford’s statement of “Christopher Columbus’ reputation has not survived the scrutiny of history”: while Weatherford declares this statement to be true, I want my students to determine whether or not they agree with the statement. I want students to think effectively and critically using multiple sources to determine the perspectives but also try and find the similarities between the sources in hopes of understand the “truth” behind what happened. I want my students to use artifacts to deepen their understanding of the events and use the artifacts to draw conclusions about the impact. Lastly, I want a curricula that is meaningful for my students and makes deep connections and correlations between the past and the present. Mostly, I want my students to think like historians and use the information provided to use a lens in which they can understand but most importantly enjoy learning even the most difficult of content.
The questions I am framing my instructional practices around is How might we teach the skills and strategies needed to analyze materials and think like a historian?
Currently we are completing Unit One, with creating a weekly schedule that is repetitive but also allows for students to not only think but write like a historian. My weekly schedule is designed, as I would say to the students, as the “Recipe for Writing an Analytical Paragraph”.
Daily Schedule is as follows:
- Day One: Provide background about Native American Group using both facts and artifacts
- Day Two: Details into the history using a reading or station activity
- Day Three: What’s the Proof? – this is the part of the week where students are actually analyzing artifacts and making connections to the history. This is where I believe the connections piece and thinking like a historian really comes into play. This is where students can think about perspective of the way history is told, biases, how does the evidence support the facts, etc.
- Day Four: Writing activity related to content and the writing skills taught throughout the week. This is also the opportunity in which students begin to connect the history from multiple sources to the artifacts that exist.
So to continue the work I have already started the area of authenticity I chose is:
How am I encouraging all students to think, talk, and act like historians, critics, scientists, mathematicians, civically-minded individuals, etc.?
History is so important for understanding our world today. Students are disconnected with the connection between the past and present. Part of that is they do not possess the skills and strategies needed to think like “historian”, opportunities to analyze the “proof that exists” (evidence, artifacts, etc…) My hope is that through making the class engaging and allowing students to not memorize but think for themselves and provide multiple ways for students to explain their thinking, the disconnect will transform into engagement, curiosity and a thirst for more knowledge.
Now in doing this work I do foresee some challenges specifically with teaching heterogeneous classes with multiple levels is:
- Finding sources students will be able to read and understand as well as being able to provide multiple perspectives. History tends to be written from the perspective of the “strong” more dominant group.
- Providing more opportunities for researching or making true connections historians make using the limited resources available. | <urn:uuid:f81ef848-c0f3-47a2-8d5d-ba44159aca0e> | CC-MAIN-2023-06 | https://www.esapd.club/2018/10/16/monique-worlds-collides/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-06/segments/1674764499871.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20230131122916-20230131152916-00304.warc.gz | en | 0.959541 | 936 | 3.765625 | 4 |
Latest media releases
12 December 2012 - Winning combination of bacteria found to combat deadly marine pathogen
Research conducted at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) has delivered promising results in combating Vibrio owensii - a bacterium that is responsible for mass mortalities of cultured ornate spiny lobster larvae.
The high commercial value of the ornate spiny lobster (Panulirus ornatus) means it has the potential to be an important product of the Australian aquaculture industry. However, nutritional deficits and bacterial disease during the long larval phase of the species makes captive rearing difficult.
Scientists from AIMS and the University of New England (UNE) have been able to isolate a large number of bacterial cultures – or probiotic candidates – from wild lobster larvae and their natural prey items, and from the lobster aquaculture system at AIMS in Townsville. After successive tests, they found that a combination of two probiotic bacteria, referred to as PP05 and PP107, provided the most effective protection against the pathogen Vibrio owensii, enhancing survival of the larvae by as much as 80 per cent.
AIMS Research Scientist, Dr Lone Høj, who led the project, said "Our work has uncovered a winning combination of "good" bacteria that appear to dramatically improve larval survival. In a further study we looked at how and why these two bacteria were so effective when working together against Vibrio owensii."
UNE PhD student Evan Goulden said "This research highlights the value of identifying biocontrol agents that are able to intercept the infection cycle of a serious aquaculture pathogen, as suchthe study represents a milestone in proving the value of using probiotic mixes to prevent microbial diseases."
"Disease management is critical in food production systems and this is particularly true for seafood produced in aquaculture systems. The development of alternatives to the antibiotics currently used in such systems is becoming a national priority in countries around the world" says AIMS Principal Research Scientist, Dr Mike Hall.
‘Identification of an Antagonistic Probiotic Combination Protecting Ornate Spiny Lobster (Panulirus ornatus) Larvae against Vibrio owensii Infection' is published in PLoS One: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0039667
‘Probiont niche specialization contributes to additive protection against Vibrio owensii in spiny lobster larvae' is published in Environmental Microbiology Reports: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1758-2229.12007/abstract
The authors are Evan Goulden (AIMS/UNE), Mike Hall (AIMS), Lily Pereg (UNE), Brett Baillie (AIMS), and Lone Høj (AIMS).
Dr Lone Høj, Research Scientist, (07) 4753 4364; 0408 716 094; [email protected]
Dr Evan Goulden, Research Assistant, University of New England,0439 446 204, [email protected]
Dr Lily Pereg, Senior Lecturer, University of New England, (02) 67732708, 0427063057, [email protected]
Wendy Ellery, AIMS Media Liaison, (07) 4753 4409, 0418 729 265, [email protected] | <urn:uuid:f3432c6a-f611-4583-a6e7-a56c1655655b> | CC-MAIN-2015-35 | http://www.aims.gov.au/docs/media/latest-releases/-/asset_publisher/8Kfw/content/id/548571 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-35/segments/1440644064503.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20150827025424-00052-ip-10-171-96-226.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.889909 | 759 | 2.59375 | 3 |
- Develop a storyboard
- Demonstrate the Say command
- Construct a scene
- Demonstrate an IF/ELSE command
- Demonstrate the Loop command
- Change object properties
- Demonstrate commenting
- Demonstrate Do Together command
To Do List
- Watch the lecture video
- Watch the assignment video
- Post your storyboard
- Complete the assignment
- Complete the chapter 3 quiz
Use the discussion board titled “Part 3 Storyboards” in Blackboard (or Epic for Academic Partnership students) and post your storyboard.
- Chapter 3 – Programming: Putting Together the Pieces
Loops and IF/ELSE
Create a story and include the following programming elements that you have learned to use so far.
Total points: 100
- Create a simple storyboard in a Word or text document to describe your story. (10 Points)
- Add at least 2 actors and 3 scenery objects (20 Points)
- Use the say command (5 Points)
- Move the actors around (10 Points)
- Use at least one if/else command (20 Points)
- Use at least one loop (10 Points)
- Change the properties of an object. (See Page 41) (5 Points)
- Include commenting for your program. (See Page 42) (10 Points)
- Use Do Together (10 Points)
- Post your storyboard to the discussion area labeled “Part 3 Storyboards”.
- Submit your Alice project file in Blackboard (or Epic for Academic Partnership students).
Login to Blackboard (or Epic for Academic Partnership students) and take the Chapter 3 quiz. | <urn:uuid:6d78042d-9be0-4d9f-848a-e68763bfb201> | CC-MAIN-2017-17 | https://mylearningcommunity.wordpress.com/my-courses/cosc-3301-programming-for-non-programmers/programming-for-non-majors-part-3/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-17/segments/1492917121216.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20170423031201-00621-ip-10-145-167-34.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.847529 | 343 | 3.78125 | 4 |
Cleft Lip and Palate
Treatment of cleft lip and palate involves repair of a gap in the upper lip and/or the roof of the mouth, due to lack of fusion. The skill and experience of the plastic surgeon is critical to maximizing aesthetic and functional outcomes, while also minimizing surgery, hospital stay and long-term costs.
Approximately one in 700 children is born with a cleft lip and/or cleft palate. This condition may be associated with a number of difficulties in feeding and nutrition, dentition, facial growth, speech, and sleep or breathing.
Surgical treatment is carried out over a series of years to be timed with the patient’s facial growth. Craniofacial team care is mandatory to achieve the best outcomes and will assure proper sequencing of the various surgery procedures listed below: | <urn:uuid:9f707c6d-465b-4870-865d-9923e4aad2f4> | CC-MAIN-2014-41 | http://www.rchsd.org/programs-services/craniofacial-disorders/conditions-treated/cleft-lip-and-palate/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-41/segments/1410657125654.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20140914011205-00338-ip-10-196-40-205.us-west-1.compute.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940536 | 168 | 2.71875 | 3 |
By: The Working Forest Staff
Ontario’s Government is taking steps to ensure sustainable wildlife populations and continued hunting opportunities for future generations.
The Government has developed a plan to allow the province to act quickly if Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) – a progressive, fatal brain disease that mostly affects deer and elk – is discovered in Ontario.
“We are committed to maintaining sustainable wildlife populations and supporting an industry that creates jobs and makes an important economic contribution to our province,” said John Yakabuski, Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry. “While the disease has not been detected in Ontario, we believe an enhanced CWD prevention program will help protect the province’s wildlife from this fatal disease.”
Chronic Wasting Disease can also affect moose and caribou. While not in Ontario, CWD was recently discovered in deer in Quebec, close to the Ontario border. It has also been found in all six states bordering this province.
The Ministry is looking for input on a revised Ontario Chronic Wasting Disease Surveillance and Response Plan and possible changes to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act. These proposals would make sure we have the right mechanisms in place to minimize the risk of CWD entering or spreading within Ontario. They will be posted for comment on the Environmental Registry for 45 days, beginning Monday, June 10.
- In 2017 recreational deer hunting generated $275 million for Ontario’s economy.
- Since 2002, MNRF has tested more than 12,000 wild deer and elk for CWD; all test results were negative. | <urn:uuid:79c241d4-7dc3-47a8-b112-81ec968916ba> | CC-MAIN-2020-16 | https://www.workingforest.com/ontario-proposing-plan-to-help-keep-province-free-of-deadly-deer-disease/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-16/segments/1585370506580.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20200402014600-20200402044600-00358.warc.gz | en | 0.932702 | 324 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Hurricane Florence was the first major hurricane of the 2018 North Atlantic hurricane season and caused major devastation when it hit the US east coast in mid-September.
By Ivan Smiljanic (SCISYS), HansPeter Roesli (Switzerland), Vesa Nietosvaara (EUMETSAT) and Sancha Lancaster (Pactum)
It was reported that Hurricane Florence had peak maximum sustained winds of at least 220 km/h (140 mph). Figure 1 (top right, click to expand) shows the storm when it was a Category 4 storm with wind speeds of around 240 km/h.
Florence originated from a strong tropical wave off the west coast of Africa on 30 August, forming into a tropical depression the next day.
After moving in a west-northwest direction, the system became a tropical storm on 1 September 1. On 4 and 5 September unexpected rapid intensification led to Florence becoming a Category 4 hurricane.
The sequence of Dust RGB images looping backwards in time (Figure 2) points vividly to the birthplace of Hurricane Florence. It initially started as a subtropical depression in the late afternoon of 30 August, not far from the Senegal coast. The end of the loop reveals the big tropical convective system responsible for the development of the initial depression.
The initial subtropical depression deepened over the next two days and was categorised as a tropical storm around noon of 1 September, with pressure slightly higher than 1000 hPa.
The convective system then became a hurricane in the early hours of 4 September (ca. beginning of the loop), with pressure around 990 hPa and wind speeds of approximately 120 km/h.
Figure 2: Meteosat-11 Dust RGB animation, 30 August 12:00 UTC–04 September 06:00 UTC. Download animation (MP4, 4 MB).
Comparing the Natural Colour RGBs from two different satellites, GOES-16 and Meteosat-11, at the moment when Florence was roughly mid-way between the two, provides a good insight into instrument characteristics/capabilities.
Aside from the difference in resolution, the parallax shift for high clouds is apparent, together with the fact that forward scattering in the morning brings more photons to the lens of the GOES-16 ABI imager (versus the backscattering towards the SEVIRI instrument). The comparison was done only hours after Florence was categorised as a hurricane.
For days the storm's intensity fluctuated up and down, but by 9 September it was again a Category 4 hurricane and remained so for a further three days (Figure 4).
Figure 4: Clear eye of the storm seen on the GOES-16 Visible, 12 September 14:20–15:20 UTC
The last reasonable view from the Meteosat-11 satellite (with regards to the satellite field of view) is shown using the High resolution Visible (HRV) channel loop (Figure 5).
The slant view from the east towards the hurricane in the evening hours reveals best the complex structures on top of the convective clouds. At that time Florence was a Category 4 hurricane. HRV scans this area because that area (the HRV upper window) follows the Sun terminator (the moving line that divides the day lit side and the dark night side of Earth). In the past it did not, so we can see the advantage of the EUMETSAT's decision to move this HRV window during the day (see Scan Modes web section).
As it headed closer to the south-eastern coastal areas of the United States, on 13 September, its strength reduced and it was downgraded to a Category 2 storm (Figure 6).
However, it remained a powerful storm as it made landfall on 14 September and and slowly moved inland over the weekend, bringing heavy rainfall, which caused severe flooding and subsequent devastation in parts of North and South Carolina. At least 37 people died in storm-related incidents — the majority in North Carolina, with some also in South Carolina and Virginia. Wilmington, one of North Carolina's largest cities, was completely cut-off for days due to the floods.
Rainfall records were broken in North Carolina when a reported 913 mm (35.93 in) fell over the state, almost eight times the September monthly average of 108 mm (4.26 in), beating the record of 611 mm (24.06 in) set by Hurricane Floyd in 1999.
The GOES-16 infrared window channel loop (Figure 7) covers the hurricane making landfall over North Carolina and the follow-on decay of the system over the continent. At the final stage the system was introduced into the main mid-latitude jet stream where it lost the momentum and faded out.
This colour-coded imagery nicely shows the cold and high reaching cloud bands responsible for the heavy rainfall events. An impressive elongated cirrus band stretched more than 1,000 km at the leading edge of the hurricane (around the time of landfall).
Figure 7: GOES-16 enhanced infrared animation, 13 September 00:00 UTC–17 September 23:00 UTC.
Download animation (MP4, 4 MB).
Florence produces record rainfall in North Carolina and South Carolina (CIMSS Blog)
A View Inside Hurricane Florence (NASA Earth Observatory)
The Complex Evolution of Florence’s Winds (NASA Earth Observatory)
Hurricane Florence seen from the International Space Station (Ricky Arnold/Twitter)
Live coverage of Florence and its aftermath (CBS News)
Photos: The Aftermath of Hurricane Florence (The Atlantic)
Florence Shatters North Carolina's Record for Most Rain Fallen from a Single Storm (Time) | <urn:uuid:6782f9f4-cf4a-4a2e-9410-346c70cfc33e> | CC-MAIN-2019-43 | https://www.eumetsat.int/website/home/Images/ImageLibrary/DAT_4063247.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-43/segments/1570986664662.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20191016041344-20191016064844-00444.warc.gz | en | 0.928827 | 1,172 | 3.15625 | 3 |
The 20 minute online test can be taken by anyone and is a series of questionnaires that delves into the factors that make you happy and what you can do to improve your personal happiness. Dr. Tai is working with Peter Kinderman, a psychology professor at the University of Liverpool, and the BBC programme Tomorrow’s World.
The data from the test will go towards a larger research project that aims to investigate whether our thinking style affects the risk of developing mental health problems. Past research suggests that even small and simple changes can help us feel happier and maintain happiness. This experiment aims to provide personalised tips to do so.
Dr. Tai said: “We know that biological, social, and psychological factors play a role in mental health and wellbeing, but we have little understanding of how these factors interact and lead to specific mental health problems.
“This research will help us to better understand why some people develop difficulties whilst others do not and also enable us to identify where we need to focus our efforts in developing treatments.”
Citizen science is a way for the public to take active roles in conducting scientific research whilst also providing a huge amount of valuable data to researchers. “We need large numbers of people to take part in this study so we have enough data to answer some complex questions.”
Professor Kinderman, adds: “Mental health is very complicated, with many factors contributing to how we feel. If we want to better understand how these different factors are related, then data from thousands of people is needed.
“By taking part, you will help us to gather data that would be hard to get in other ways that will ultimately help us to improve approaches to mental health in the future. All data is stored securely and anonymously.”
Other examples of citizen science can be found on Zooniverse.org where there is a large variety of research projects to get involved with. These projects can be anything from classifying distant galaxies, to unearthing the secret life of chimpanzees, or even transcribing Shakespeare’s notes.
“The BBC has run a number of citizen science experiments in the past. But this is the first we’ve attempted in the ‘smartphone’ era. We’re also inviting people to submit data twice, separated by six weeks.”, says Peter Harvey, BBC Producer on the project.
“Gathering two data sets from the same participant, many weeks apart, is of enormous value to scientists. We’re interested to see how many people will complete the second phase, and how effective our reminder methods are at getting people to return.”
You can find out more about the ‘Secrets of Happiness’ test on the Secrets of Happiness website. | <urn:uuid:fdd69adf-556a-44a0-8833-64496caf9a5b> | CC-MAIN-2021-49 | https://mancunion.com/2018/02/19/citizen-science-project-aims-to-unpick-secrets-of-happiness/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-49/segments/1637964359976.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20211201083001-20211201113001-00596.warc.gz | en | 0.936037 | 569 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Our environmental stewardship extends beyond the low environmental impact of our plants. The storage function and quick-response generation capabilities of CAES will encourage the growth of renewable power generation and thereby make possible large reductions in CO2 emissions.
Renewables and storage go hand in hand:
Wind and solar facilities provide power with no emissions and no fuel costs. However, unlike traditional power generation resources, renewable power production is dependent on weather, which can be out of sync with customer demand. If renewable energy supply exceeds the demand for renewables it must be stored for later use or forever lost (curtailed). Demand for renewables is equal to total demand less electricity produced by i) generating units that lack the flexibility to turn off and restart in a short amount of time (e.g., nuclear plants) but are needed during peak hours, and ii) flexible assets that must stay online to provide grid reliability services. As shown in the example below, the Bethel Energy Center will act in two ways to alleviate curtailment of renewable production: i) Bethel will provide greater amounts of reliability services with less associated energy production than conventional generators and ii) Bethel’s compressor will add demand to the grid while charging. With less risk of curtailment, investment in renewable generation should continue to grow.
The result is a cleaner, more efficient grid.
“Energy storage allows us to use other resources, including existing generators, new natural gas plants, and renewable technologies, more efficiently.”
– Electricity Storage Association.
CAES supports the efficient integration of renewable resources:
- In some regions, wind generates a disproportionate amount of its power during the middle of the night, when demand is lowest. The diurnal nature of renewables can create imbalances between supply and demand and put strains on the grid during periods of transition between low and high demand hours.
- CAES can utilize excess electricity created during the night to charge its storage cavern, then redeploy that energy to the grid during periods of high demand; this time shifting of energy can help to smooth steep transitions from renewable to non-renewable electrical generation. By improving grid accommodation of renewables, CAES promotes a cleaner, more economically efficient grid.
- By providing demand for renewable energy during offpeak hours, CAES reduces the potential for renewable energy curtailment and promotes growth in renewable production.
For further information, visit our references page. | <urn:uuid:e1627824-9274-4350-b2e5-e13cd3cb3dbe> | CC-MAIN-2017-22 | http://www.apexcaes.com/renewable-integration | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-22/segments/1495463609605.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20170528062748-20170528082748-00008.warc.gz | en | 0.904954 | 488 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Women have served in every major war in U.S. history. After proving their utility in combat, opportunities for female troops usually expanded following each conflict.
1775: During the American Revolution, women serve as matrons at Army hospitals, as cooks, laundresses, ammunition carriers and water bearers. Some take up arms, like Deborah Sampson. She disguised herself as a man, fought for three years, was wounded twice and earned a military pension.
1861-65: During the Civil War, women serve as battlefield nurses, civilian spies, and uniformed fighters disguised as men. Mary Edwards Walker, a surgeon volunteer with the Union Army, survived several major battles and was held for months as a prisoner of war. She is the only woman in history to have been awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest for valor in combat.
1901: Army establishes its Nurse Corps, making women an official part of the U.S. armed forces.
1917-18: During World War I, more than 30,000 women enlist in the military. Most are nurses or clerks, but some brave enemy fire in France as telephone operators. Some 400 women died in service, mostly from war-related disease. The rest were discharged from duty after the war.
1941-45: About 400,000 women volunteer to “free a man to fight” during World War II. They serve at home and overseas, starting as nurses and clerks and moving into virtually every non-combat occupation. Some carry weapons in self-defense. Nearly 500 died.
1948: Congress makes women permanent members of the peacetime military, with restrictions capping them to 2 percent of personnel, barring them from the rank of colonel or higher, and keeping them out of combat.
1950-53: During the Korean War, female reservists are involuntarily recalled to active duty for first time. More than 120,000 women serve, many as battlefield nurses. At least 16 die, mostly in plane crashes.
1965-1975: During the Vietnam War more than 265,000 women volunteered for active duty and some 10,000 served in Vietnam, mostly as nurses. Eight died.
1967: During the civil rights movement, Congress passes the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act lifting the 2 percent cap on women personnel and restrictions on rank.
1973: The draft ends and the military tries to recruit more women.
1974: Under threat of lawsuits, Pentagon decides to stop mandatory separation from service of pregnant women.
1975: The United States Coast Guard Academy becomes first to admit women.
1976: Congress opens other military academies to women.
1977: U.S. Coast guard opens all its jobs to women.
1978: Women allowed to serve on Navy hospital and transport ships, after restrictions deemed unconstitutional.
1981: U.S. Supreme Court upholds exclusion of women from Selective Service registration and military drafts.
1983: Women deploy for Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada as military police officers manning checkpoints, interrogators, and helicopter pilots.
1988: Pentagon task force establishes a “Risk Rule” to determine where women could serve.
1989: Women engulfed in combat during Panama invasion, including female pilots heavily fired on and military police officers engaged in an infantry-style firefight.
1990-1992: More than 40,000 women serve in Persian Gulf war zone in support units, missile crews and aboard Navy tenders, constituting 7 percent of combat force. Long-range weaponry blurs boundary between front lines and the rear. 13 women killed and two taken prisoner.
1991: Female troops groped by drunken pilots at Tailhook Convention. Backlash coupled with Gulf War service provokes Clinton administration to expand opportunities for military women. Navy puts women in command of a naval station, an aviation squadron and a ship. Congress lifts ban on women serving in combat aviation.
1994: Pentagon rescinds its “risk rule” and permits women to serve on most warships. Women begin graduating from training as fighter pilots and other combat aviation jobs. New ground combat exclusion policy keeps women out of infantry, tanks, artillery and special operations, as well as combat units of battalion size and smaller.
1994: Lt. Kara Hultgreen, 29, the Navy’s first female aircraft carrier pilot, dies in fatal carrier crash in San Diego after an engine malfunction. She was among Tailhook Convention victims of sexual harassment.
1998: Female aviators fly combat missions for first time, over Iraq no-fly zone.
2000: Two female sailors among 17 Americans killed in bombing of destroyer USS Cole in Yemen.
2002: A female Marine killed in Pakistan plane crash is first military woman to die in Afghanistan war.
2005: Army places women in support units on Iraq front lines, citing manpower shortages. Debate about repealing or strengthening ground combat restrictions ensues.
2008: Army Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody becomes nation’s first four-star female officer.
2011: Congressional commission recommends ending gender restrictions for all military career fields and combat exclusion policies that bar women from some 200,000 positions. Pentagon begins women in service review.
2012: Two separate federal lawsuits by military women seek to overturn Pentagon restrictions on women in combat, calling them unconstitutional, detrimental to the military and outdated given contributions by women during 11 years at war.
2012: Defense Department scraps its “co-location prohibition” on women serving with men in combat zones and announces that 14,000 positions will be opened to women on an experimental basis, including battalion-level support jobs in artillery, tank and combat engineer units. Services directed to develop “gender-neutral standards for physically demanding job related tasks.”
2012: Marine Corps conducts research into women in ground combat by accepting women volunteers into its Infantry Officer Course. As of 2015, none had passed.
2013: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta rescinds ground combat exclusion policy and orders services to open all assignments to women, including infantry, tanks and special operations forces, by Jan. 1, 2016 or justify why an exception should be granted.
2014: Marine Corps creates experimental ground combat task force including women assigned to infantry, armor, tanks, artillery. Army selects 31 women who pass Ranger prep course to serve as observers/advisors at Army Ranger school.
2015: In January, Army decides to allow women to attend Ranger school in the spring.
September 2015: deadline for services to develop and validate gender-neutral standards for all jobs. Decision on whether to ask for exception to bar women from infantry and other direct ground combat jobs expected.
Jan 1, 2016: deadline for full integration of women into all military jobs, other than any granted exceptions. | <urn:uuid:4d12813b-e93b-4af3-8f31-424790521038> | CC-MAIN-2018-51 | https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/military/sdut-women-military-service-combat-armed-forces-2015feb14-story.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-51/segments/1544376828056.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20181217020710-20181217042710-00206.warc.gz | en | 0.952295 | 1,375 | 3.90625 | 4 |
Password Security Tips: How To Create Secure Passwords
Still using the same password for all of your online accounts? You may be in trouble.
Like flossing, password hygiene is something that you know is good for you but would probably rather not do. However, using secure passwords for all of your online accounts is a necessity to avoid data breaches and financial losses. Fortunately, there are free tools to generate secure passwords and increase your online security.
Password Security Tips
Using the same password for multiple accounts certainly makes your logins easy to remember, but it’s not great for your digital security. Want to see if your passwords are secure? Use our password strength calculator, which tells you how long it would take a computer to crack your password. However, how do you generate a secure password in the first place?
How To Make Secure Passwords
The easiest way to generate secure passwords is to use a password manager. Personally, we use LastPass, which gives us secure passwords at the touch of a button. However, if you don’t want to generate passwords automatically with password managers, you can do it manually.
Password Do’s and Don’ts
When making a secure password, what not to do is equally important as what to do.
- Use a mix of letters, numbers, and special characters.
- Use unique passwords (slight variations do not count!) for every account, from your bank to social media.
- Close your eyes and type.
- Use 16 to 20 characters (or more if you want).
- Use the same (or very similar) passwords for multiple online accounts.
- Use consecutive or repeated letters or numbers.
- Use your personally identifiable information (PII) in your passwords.
- Use the word “password.”
NOTE: PII includes your full name, address, and phone number. You shouldn’t include this data or any other PII in your passwords.
How To Store Passwords Securely
As with generating passwords, the easiest way to store passwords is through a password manager. A password manager, in addition to generating strong passwords, stores passwords in encrypted vaults.
If you do use a different password for each account, it’ll be hard (if not impossible) to remember them all. But with a password manager, instead of remembering each and every password, you’ll either enter a master password or use biometrics.
For example, we use Touch ID to unlock accounts when we’re on our iPhones, which is so much quicker and easier than typing in passwords manually, not to mention safer.
However, again, not everyone wants to deal with the hassle of importing passwords into a password manager and paying for yet another subscription. If that’s how you feel, you can store your passwords in one of two ways.
- On a physical list: Remember pens and paper? Unlike a Google Doc, paper lists cannot be hacked. However, they can be stolen, so be sure to lock up this notepad where thieves can’t find it, ideally in a hidden safe.
- In an encrypted document: You can use encrypted storage or word processors to store your passwords. They should also be password-protected with advanced authentication, if available.
How To Share Passwords Securely
Not to repeat ourselves, but the easiest way to share passwords securely is — you guessed it — through a password manager. The software will encrypt your data in transit and make sure it gets to the recipient safely.
Of course, there are ways to share passwords securely without using a password manager. If you’re talking to someone in person, you can just share it verbally (ideally whispering if there are other people around). You can also write it down on a piece of paper and then cross it out or shred it before throwing it out.
If you’re sharing a password remotely, you can use an encrypted messaging app like Signal, Telegram, or WhatsApp.1 But whatever you do, don’t email it, text it, or send it over Slack, as these platforms lack end-to-end encryption.
How Often To Change Passwords
How often you should change your passwords is a somewhat controversial topic among security experts, but according to the popular password manager Keeper, you don’t need to change them regularly, assuming they’re strong. In fact, you should change your passwords only after one of the following events:
- Data breach: If your credentials have been part of a data breach, change the passwords of the affected accounts ASAP.
- Unauthorized access: The same thing goes if someone has taken over any of your accounts. Learn how to deal with account takeover in general.
- Malware or phishing attack: Change your password right away if you think you’ve been the victim of malware or phishing.2
Account security goes beyond passwords. To make your accounts even harder to track, add on two- or multi-factor authentication. What’s the difference?
- Two-factor authentication sends a passcode to your mobile device.
- Multi-factor authentication requires biometrics like fingerprint or facial recognition.
Even if a hacker obtains your username and password, if the account uses a form of advanced authentication, they still won’t be able to access your account. We recommend using authentication whenever it’s available, although it does add an extra step to logging on to your accounts.
People have a variety of reasons for stealing passwords, from identity theft to obtaining credit card numbers. But how do they get other people’s passwords in the first place?
How Passwords Are Stolen
There are a few different ways that thieves can steal passwords. These are the most common:
- Phishing: Phishing is when a thief creates a legitimate-looking website that has users log in, handing over their credentials through social engineering. It usually happens over email, although phishing can also occur over texts, phone calls, and other forms of communication.
- Data breaches: Data breaches reveal the login information of potentially millions of people. Hackers then buy and sell this information on the dark web.
- Credential stuffing: Sometimes, stealing passwords isn’t so simple, so thieves need to use “dumps” of data from breaches to test username and password combinations. Of course, the savvy thieves don’t do this process manually; they use bots, automating the process of password theft.
- Password spraying: Similarly, if the hacker knows the user’s email, they can use bots to test it with known passwords.
- Brute-force attacks: A less sophisticated method, a brute-force attack simply means that someone guesses passwords until they stumble upon the right one.
- Dictionary attacks: These are similar to brute-force attacks but use the dictionary to guess words that may be your password.3
- Lost or stolen devices or password lists: Forgot to set up a passcode for your iPhone? If you lose it and have an unencrypted list of your usernames and passwords, you could be in trouble.
- Malware: There’s a variety of malware, from spyware to ransomware, that steals users’ credentials,4 which is why it’s always good to use antivirus software.
DID YOU KNOW: 82 percent of U.S. adults say they have antivirus software for personal use, according to our research on the personal antivirus market.
Has My Password Been Stolen?
Not sure if your password has been stolen or not? The antivirus software company Avast has a free tool on its website to help you find out. This database of stolen credentials can tell you whether your email address has been breached, which is a common way that hackers steal account credentials.5
When it comes to passwords, you don’t want to blend in with the crowd. Our research on password habits in the U.S. found that 1 in 5 people use curse words in their passwords, and only 15 percent of people use password generators. Take a look at the words U.S. adults use in their passwords the most:
|What do U.S. adults include in their passwords?||Responses|
|I use a password generator||15%|
|None of the given options||13%|
|Series of keys on keyboard||8%|
|Name of site password is for||6%|
More Digital Security Tips
Digital security doesn’t end with password management. There are a few other tools you can use to prevent your accounts from being taken over, or at least decrease your risk.
- Use VPNs. VPNs hide your browsing history along with your IP address. Since VPNs encrypt your web traffic, no one will see your usernames or passwords, even if they’re on the same public Wi-Fi network. Learn more in our VPN guide.
- Use antivirus software. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Using antivirus to stop hackers is incredibly effective, as it blocks malware, ransomware, spyware, and other cyberattacks that steal passwords. However, not everyone needs antivirus; it depends on what type of device you have. Find out whether you need antivirus software.
- Use identity theft protection. Finally, we like to have a backup plan for the worst-case scenario — someone stealing our passwords and then our identities. Identity theft protection services will check if your identity has been stolen, and if it has been, they’ll help you report fraud.
The truth is that managing your passwords can be as easy or as complicated as you want it to be. However, if you have a system in place, whether that’s a password manager or a sheet of paper that you keep locked in a safe, then generating, storing, and sharing your passwords securely will become instinctual.
Password hygiene is a huge topic that pretty much everyone on the internet is interested in to some extent, so naturally, we get many questions about it.
What is an example of a strong password?
An example of a strong password is “Q!OtIM@A6i6q5G$KSPvFd@I.” It is over 20 characters and uses a combination of lowercase and uppercase letters, numbers, and symbols, with no repeated characters or recognizable words or phrases.
What are the do’s and don’ts of password security?
Here are the do’s and don’ts of password security.
Who We’d recommend
- Do use a combination of letters, numbers, and characters.
- Do use a different password for each account.
- Do use 16 to 20 characters per password.
Who We Wouldn’t Recommend
- Don’t reuse the same password for multiple accounts.
- Don’t include personal information, common phrases, or common words in your password.
- Don’t repeat characters.
- Don’t use the word “password” as your password.
What are the requirements of strong passwords?
These are the requirements of strong passwords:
- 16 to 20 characters long
- Symbols present
- Letters present
- Both uppercase and lowercase letters used
- Numbers present
- No repeated characters
- No common words or phrases
- No personal information
- No repeats of the same or similar passwords for multiple accounts
What are the top five most common passwords?
According to our research on America’s password habits, these are the five most common passwords:
Words most commonly used in passwords Responses Curse word 20% Birth year 16% Pet’s name 16% “Covid” 14% “Trump” 12%
AVG. (2021). The Very Best Encrypted Messaging Apps.
Keeper Security. (2021). How Often Should You Change Your Passwords?
NordPass. (2020). Learning Password Security Jargon: Dictionary Attack.
LastPass. (2021). How Do Hackers Get Passwords?
Avast. (2020). Has my password been stolen?. | <urn:uuid:4f12aeba-143d-4c59-bbc1-3cdeb80c2064> | CC-MAIN-2022-05 | https://www.security.org/digital-safety/password-security-tips/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-05/segments/1642320300658.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20220118002226-20220118032226-00294.warc.gz | en | 0.877358 | 2,887 | 2.5625 | 3 |
by Staff Writers
Rotorua, New Zealand (UPI) Jul 26, 2012
A long forgotten geothermal spectacle on New Zealand's North Island could be coming back to life after more than 40 years, scientists said.
In the first half of the 20th century the Waikite Geyser in the Whakarewarewa geothermal area near Rotorua was known for its spectacular hot water eruptions reaching up to 65 feet but had not produced a significant eruption since 1969, the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences said.
However, in the past year scientists have increasingly noticed geothermal waters coming into the throat of the geyser, a major tourist attraction, the official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.
Geothermal features like geysers can be naturally variable and stay dormant for years, GNS geothermal scientist Ed Mroczek said in a statement.
"This makes it difficult to distinguish what is part of a natural cycle and what is disruption caused by human activity," he said.
Scientists say they believe a sharp increase in the number of bores drilled in Rotorua since the 1950s by homeowners and businesses seeking cheap energy caused underground pressures to drop.
But new research at Whakarewarewa suggests pressure has increased and water from deeper in the earth was being pushed toward the surface, scientists said.
"We have no way of knowing if Waikite will recover to its former magnificence, but the signs we are seeing are very encouraging," Mroczek said.
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
When the Earth Quakes
A world of storm and tempest
|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| | <urn:uuid:7622dc2d-5d3a-4b81-9185-6006dbcdac29> | CC-MAIN-2017-51 | http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Geothermal_activity_seen_in_New_Zealand_999.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-51/segments/1512948587496.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20171216084601-20171216110601-00165.warc.gz | en | 0.929424 | 456 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Sets are a type of associative containers in which each element has to be unique, because the value of the element identifies it. The value of the element cannot be modified once it is added to the set, though it is possible to remove and add the modified value of that element.
Pair is a simple container defined in <utility> header consisting of two data elements or objects.
- The first element is referenced as ‘first’ and the second element as ‘second’ and the order is fixed (first, second).
- Pair is used to combine together two values which may be different in type. Pair provides a way to store two heterogeneous objects as a single unit.
- Pair can be assigned, copied and compared. The array of objects allocated in a map or hash_map are of type ‘pair’ by default in which all the ‘first’ elements are unique keys associated with their ‘second’ value objects.
- To access the elements, we use variable name followed by dot operator followed by the keyword first or second.
- The pairs in a set are stored in sorted order, sorted by the key i.e. the first value of the pair.
Sets of Pairs help in performing the following operations:
- Add a pair, but do not allow duplicates.
- Remove pairs.
- Get count of distinct pairs.
- Check whether a pair is present in a set or not.
The syntax for creating sets of pairs is:
Creating Sets of Pairs
Example: Making pairs of all even numbers present in an array.
Input: 2 3 1 6 5 8 10 9 Output: (2, 6) (2, 8) (2, 10) (6, 8) (6, 10) (8, 10) Input: 4 4 6 4 Output: (4, 4) (4, 6) Input: 24 24 24 24 Output: (24, 24) Input: 7, 100, 53, 81 Output: No valid pair
Below program illustrate the solution to above problem:
In this example, range-base for loop is used with const reference for speed and security which iterates over all elements in the container. Variable ‘x’ is of type ‘pairs’. To access the elements of the pair, use variable name followed by dot operator followed by the keyword ‘first’ or ‘second’, these are public members of class pair.
(2, 2) (2, 6) (2, 8) (2, 10) (6, 2) (6, 6) (6, 8) (6, 10) (8, 2) (8, 8) (8, 10) (10, 2) (10, 10)
- Pairs of complete strings in two sets of strings
- Unordered Sets in C++ Standard Template Library
- Mathematics | Independent Sets, Covering and Matching
- Find the Jaccard Index and Jaccard Distance between the two given sets
- Ways to form n/2 pairs such that difference of pairs is minimum
- Sorting Vector of Pairs in C++ | Set 1 (Sort by first and second)
- Sorting Vector of Pairs in C++ | Set 2 (Sort in descending order by first and second)
- Count pairs whose products exist in array
- Convert an array to reduced form | Set 2 (Using vector of pairs)
- Find all pairs (a,b) and (c,d) in array which satisfy ab = cd
- Count pairs from two sorted arrays whose sum is equal to a given value x
- Map of pairs in STL
- Count ordered pairs of positive numbers such that their sum is S and XOR is K
- Count pairs in an array which have at least one digit common
- Binary search in sorted vector of pairs
- Priority queue of pairs in C++ (Ordered by first)
- Johnson’s algorithm for All-pairs shortest paths | Implementation
- Number of special pairs possible from the given two numbers
- Count pairs from two linked lists whose product is equal to a given value
- Find pairs with given product in a sorted Doubly Linked List
If you like GeeksforGeeks and would like to contribute, you can also write an article using contribute.geeksforgeeks.org or mail your article to [email protected]. See your article appearing on the GeeksforGeeks main page and help other Geeks.
Please Improve this article if you find anything incorrect by clicking on the "Improve Article" button below. | <urn:uuid:73f09005-2b83-4abe-bdca-c8341f8a067e> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/sets-of-pairs-in-c/?ref=leftbar-rightbar | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141729522.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20201203155433-20201203185433-00038.warc.gz | en | 0.848712 | 971 | 3.9375 | 4 |
Tl;dr The term is first used in the 11th century, (well before the State of Israel, or Satmar) and becomes more popular through the centuries. It is first used to refer to overtly miraculous acts designed to lead people to sin. Later it is used to refer to non-miracles, or to miracles disguised as non-miracles which bring people to sin. The Talmud refers to Satan causing problems, but does not use the exact term "ma'aseh Satan". (This based on the survey I have done, some of which is presented below. I might of course have missed some usages. If any are found which affect the above chronology, please alert me).
Rashi to Exodus (32:5) writes that the golden calf was imbued with a lifelike spirit, as a ma'aseh Satan:
וירא אהרן - שהיה בו רוח חיים, שנאמר (תהלים קו כ) בתבנית שור אוכלא עשב, וראה שהצליח מעשה שטן,
And Aaron saw: saw that it had a spirit of life, as it says (Psalms 106:20): "with the likeness of an ox eating grass". And he saw that the ma'aseh Satan was successful.
Here we see a miraculous act being described as an act of Satan. The context is clearly insidious; an attempt at getting the Jews to sin. This is not a case of a seemingly natural act. Rather, like the modern usage in reference to the (perceived) miracles involved in the formation of the state, they are attributed to malignant forces leading to sin, rather than stemming from a positive act of God.
An example of the term used to refer to something seemingly natural, is found in Maharal's Tifferet Yisrael (ch. 48) in reference to an aggada in Sanhedrin (107a) about David and Bathsheba.
וכן דוד, היה זה מעשה שטן, וכדאיתא בפרק חלק (סנהדרין קז א).
The story depicts the Satan causing seemingly natural events to lead David to sin:
And he walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. Now Bath Sheba was cleansing her hair behind a screen, when Satan came to him, appearing in the shape of a bird. He shot an arrow at him, which broke the screen, thus she stood revealed, and he saw her. Immediately, And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath Sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And David sent messengers, and took her, and she came unto him, and he lay with her. (Translation).
Similarly, Rama writes a responsum (#125) about a famous case where he officiated a wedding on Shabbat. In this incident, the bride's side was supposed to provide a dowry, but as Friday, the day of the wedding, drew to a close, her side failed to provide the full dowry. The groom stubbornly refused to proceed, without the money. And this ma'aseh Satan was successful, until the groom finally agreed to marry her, at which point Rama officiated the wedding to end the embarrassing episode, even though it was already Shabbat during which weddings are generally forbidden:
והצליח מעשה שטן עד שהגיע הזמן הנ"ל שהשוו עצמן ונתרצה החתן ליכנס לחופה, ושלא לבייש בת ישראל הגונה קמתי וסדרתי הקידושין בזמן הנ"ל
In this case, as in the usage of Maharal, the act of Satan refers to a seemingly natural series of events, that nevertheless have a sinister undertone. In Maharal's case, there was an actually supernatural event (a magical bird), whereas in Rama's case, no laws of nature were apparently violated, but a series of events nevertheless led people to sin (by embarrassing the bride), which he terms "ma'aseh Satan".
A similar usage of a similar expression is found in the Talmud (Megillah 11b). It describes Satan coming to Ahasuerus's party, and "dancing among the guests", leading to Vashti being killed
בא שטן וריקד ביניהן והרג את ושתי
The simple reading of the Megillah indicates nothing supernatural about Vashti's downfall. Rather, it seemed to come about as a result of a drunken kings demands, and the queens refusal to acquiesce.
However, it is also possible that the author of this passage had in mind the Midrash about Vashti being made miraculously ugly, leading her to refuse to appear (cf. Megillah 12b). If that were the case, this would be an example of a miraculous event being the act of Satan, although the Talmud doesn't use the term "ma'aseh Satan" to refer to this act of Satan. Significantly, in this case, unlike the above usages of the term "ma'aseh Satan" Satan isn't depicted as causing sin, but rather other problems. | <urn:uuid:df31a894-623a-40c7-9841-3c5f5d61bda3> | CC-MAIN-2019-47 | https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/82358/what-is-maaseh-satan/82361 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-47/segments/1573496669813.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20191118182116-20191118210116-00007.warc.gz | en | 0.945863 | 1,325 | 2.9375 | 3 |
Using Gray Water
Using gray water is certainly a good idea, but it also has its drawbacks. While gray water is a lot less harmful to people than the wastewater that leaves your toilet -- called black water -- it's still technically sewage. Dishwater contains particulate food matter, which may be rotten. Gray water from your washing machine may contain bleach, which is a hazardous chemical. And bath water may contain fecal matter and dead skin that sloughs off while you bathe. The amounts of these wastes are small enough to prevent gray water from going through the treatment process that black water does, but you still shouldn't drink it. Your plants, however, will love your bath water.
As a matter of fact, irrigation for lawns and gardens is the only advisable application for using gray water. The United States Environmental Protection Agency says that, in 2007, water used for irrigation constituted 15 percent of total water consumption in the United States [source: EPA]. And this was first-run water -- the same stuff you drink.
Your plants don't necessarily need fresh water, and what's more, some additives in gray water can actually help them grow. Cleaning agents found in laundry detergent -- stuff like phosphorus and nitrogen -- are actually used in many plant fertilizers sold on the market. Some plants, however, like gray water more than others. Since gray water is alkaline-rich, it's not suitable for use in watering acid-loving plants like azaleas and rhododendrons.
Be careful watering any plants with gray water without knowing what's in it first. In addition to nitrogen and phosphate, laundry detergents also contain sodium salts. These salts can build up over time and become toxic to plants, essentially poisoning the soil. To avoid this, avoid using products that contain softening agents -- which are generally high levels of salts. You can also cut down on the salt build-up in the soil by alternating your watering applications with gray water and fresh water.
Since the soap you use in the shower is generally less harmful than laundry detergent (it's mild enough to use on your skin), bath water is the most prized gray water for your plants. But again, there's the fecal matter. For this reason, some states require that gray water systems remain entirely underground and irrigate plants directly at the roots, using drip irrigation systems. Even gray water proponents who irrigate above ground recommend that the gray water be delivered using the flood method or with drip irrigation. Either way, spraying or misting plants with gray water generally can be a threat to your health. You should also irrigate with gray water on flat ground and avoid allowing it to run off into other yards.
Also because of that pesky fecal matter often found in bath water, gray water proponents advise using gray water to irrigate only your ornamental plants and lawn. It shouldn't be used for plants that bear fruit or vegetables that you'll eat -- like tomato plants. And under no circumstances should gray water be used for edible root plants, like carrots or potatoes. The roots absorb all of the harmful stuff in gray water.
So now that you know about gray water you may be ready to start using it at your house. But how? Read about some of the methods to get a gray water plan started. | <urn:uuid:e1aeb083-c5fc-416c-b63e-55d8f4a698ef> | CC-MAIN-2020-16 | https://home.howstuffworks.com/green-living/gray-water1.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-16/segments/1585370529375.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20200405053120-20200405083120-00168.warc.gz | en | 0.946239 | 673 | 2.890625 | 3 |
1 in 8 American adults fulfill the criteria for having an alcohol use disorder”
The statistics for alcoholism clearly indicate that this global disease can affect anyone. To that end, here is some recent research that was compiled in order to help readers and those they care about, become more mindful of the clear and present dangers of being addicted to alcohol.
Alcohol Issues in the US
Every year, teen alcohol use kills 4,700 youngsters. Moreover, 15.1 million adults aged 18-plus, are challenged by alcohol use disorder. Drunk driving is responsible for more than 30% of all driving deaths each year – horrendous tragedies which could be prevented. And 40% of Americans suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, have an alcohol use disorder.
It was discovered that 29% of suicide victims in America had alcohol in their system.
The act of suicide has such far reaching effects, that words are not always enough to describe the lifelong sorrow and trauma it can bring to the deceased person’s loved ones. There are limitless reasons for someone wanting to take their own life, but research has shown that excess drinking can fatally tip them over the edge. “Teenagers who start drinking before the age of 15 have a higher probability of alcohol dependence. These teenage alcohol abuse statistics show that underage drinking should be prevented by any means to prevent the development of alcohol dependence in adulthood”. Therefore, educating youngsters on the perils of over using alcohol, needs to be done right from the get-go, at an early age, of say, 12 years old.
College Alcohol Consumption & Abuse
College alcoholism affects millions of students around the country yearly
Students are exposed to binge drinking the most, during the first 6 weeks of their freshman year. [Indeed], 7.50% of the college students who drink, also binge drink. The latter relates to drinking large quantities of alcohol in quick succession. The facts indicate that from the 80% of students who consume alcohol at college, 50% of them drink way too much. This is mainly due to the large number of parties that college students attend.
The alcohol abuse facts show that some students start drinking on the first day of school, presumably as a result of peer pressure. In this case, students will keep drinking throughout their college careers without thinking about the consequences”. It is extremely doubtful that many of them even consider the long-term damage that may do to themselves. Not to mention the mental and physical impacts that reliance on alcohol could have on themselves and those around them, later in life. Indeed, according to a study conducted by Ohio University: “almost 150,000 college students develop an alcohol-related health problem each year. This is a direct result of heavy drinking. The complications vary and may include high blood pressure, pancreas inflammation, or liver damage. | <urn:uuid:daf656d0-5acb-4bbf-9488-ffe58605b67d> | CC-MAIN-2020-29 | https://www.e-counseling.com/news/the-unrelenting-effect-of-alcoholism-on-american-society/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-29/segments/1593657146247.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20200713162746-20200713192746-00110.warc.gz | en | 0.964378 | 572 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Mitochondrial redox and TCA cycle metabolite signaling in the heart.
Mitochondria are essential signaling organelles that regulate a broad range of cellular processes and thereby heart function. Multiple mechanisms participate in the communication between mitochondria and the nucleus that maintain cardiomyocyte homeostasis, including mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) and metabolic shifts in TCA cycle metabolite availability. An increased rate of ROS generation can cause irreversible damage to the cell and proposed to be a leading cause of many pathologies, including accelerated aging and heart disease. Myocardial impairments are also characterised by specific coordinated metabolic changes and dysregulated inflammatory responses. Hence, the mitochondrial respiratory chain is an important mediator between health and disease in the heart. This review will first outline the sources of ROS in the heart, mitochondrial metabolite dynamics, and provide an overview of their implications for heart disease. In addition, we will concentrate our discussion around current cardioprotective strategies relevant to mitochondrial ROS. Thorough understanding of mitochondrial signaling and the complex interplay with vital signaling pathways in the heart might allow us to develop novel therapeutic approaches to cardiovascular disease. | <urn:uuid:a4f8c6d2-7448-48b6-8216-ca9152a1be6e> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/items/9cff8e71-f565-4bac-a3c1-5b3e8f4608c5 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233510903.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20231001141548-20231001171548-00332.warc.gz | en | 0.855753 | 272 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Apache Tears are natural crystals and a form of Black Obsidian Stone. This stone is usually found in the southwest and parts of Mexico. They are somewhat transparent and either a dark brown or black in color. These irregular shape stones get their name from an American Indian legend.
Around the 1870’s the connection between the United States military and some of the American Indians, especially the Apaches, was tense and precarious. The military built many garrisons in hopes to keep the Apache under restraint. One of the forts built was Camp Pinal which is located near today’s Superior, Arizona. There were no written records, so what happened next was from many years and decades of stories.
In the late 1800’s, troops from Camp Pinal were chasing a group of 75 Apache warriors. They had driven the band of men west to the edge of a cliff (now called Apache Leap) which today looks over the town of Superior. The Apache men were extremely proud and would not let the military take them prisoner. Instead, all 75 warriors leaped off the edge of the cliff and fell eight hundred feet to their death. The men’s families heard of the news and quickly went to the bottom of the cliff. They cried nonstop and mourned the brave men’s demise. It is told that their tears absorbed into the soil, hardened, and turned into the black obsidian stones we see today.
|Superior, AZ 2010 (Apache Leap)| | <urn:uuid:1a3eda03-7d91-48c5-80a4-61373f3e4a28> | CC-MAIN-2018-22 | http://www.echoesofthesouthwest.com/2012/09/apache-tears.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-22/segments/1526794865691.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20180523161206-20180523181206-00434.warc.gz | en | 0.978825 | 305 | 3.640625 | 4 |
Gardeners love to have live plants around them and now that our outdoor growing season is pretty much over, we can concentrate on our indoor plants. African violets, one of America’s favorite houseplants, are very desirable for the indoor gardener. They have beautiful flowers that resemble small bouquets and easily spruce up any décor. They produce spectacular blooms all throughout the spring, summer and fall months.
The brightly colored velvet-leaved tropical plants are native to the coastal regions of Tanzania. They were brought to this country by a captain in the German Imperial Army in 1892 and became an immediate hit with gardeners.
African violets may be forgiving, but are not foolproof so you need a few basic gardening skills to be successful with them. The worst things you can do to African violets are to not provide proper watering and lighting conditions.
African violets like room temperature water and do not like to have wet leaves. The soil needs to be moist but take care not to let the soil become soggy. This can cause root rot and serious problems for the plant.
Proper lighting is important in getting the plant to produce flowers. African violets love around 12 to 16 hours of light a day. An east-facing window usually will provide an adequate supply of light. Professional growers and the seriously addicted use grow lights for best results. If possible, place the pots about 12 inches from the window glass so the sun doesn’t get too hot or too cold. A temperature of 60 to 70 degrees F is an ideal range for African violets.
Good air circulation is needed for the plant’s overall health, but they do not like to be placed in a draft. Humidity is to be encouraged when raising African violets and this can be accomplished by setting the pots in trays filled with gravel and topped off with water. Make sure the plant’s feet are not sitting in water, making the soil become soggy. As the water evaporates, ambient humidity is created, producing an ideal environment for African violets.
African violets need to be fed weekly. A specially formatted fertilizer for African violets available at plant centers in a concentrated liquid. A few drops to a quart of water is recommended. Follow directions on package.
Keep the plants well groomed and check them over for signs of disease and insects. If either is found, they may be treated with an appropriate insecticide or fungicide powder purchased at plant centers.
African violets will be happy in a four-inch or six-inch pot for quite a while, but can become overcrowded. When this happens, repot it in the next size larger pot using a good, loose potting soil for good drainage and air circulation. The potting soil can be purchased at plant centers or you can make your own mix. Vermiculite is a good additive to keep the soil loose.
Armed with these suggestions and a little bit of luck, you could become an expert on African violets.
The Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service can be reached at 499-6334 LaGrange County. | <urn:uuid:9ffe23eb-dfa5-4c8a-97bb-3db7602a796d> | CC-MAIN-2015-27 | http://www.lagrangepublishing.com/openpublish/article/knowledge-grow-gail-daniels-african-violets | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-27/segments/1435375090887.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20150627031810-00108-ip-10-179-60-89.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949766 | 655 | 2.5625 | 3 |
When looking at the history of video games it is apparent that communication has always played a role in one way or another – whether it was written or spoken text, between the game and the player or among players, in the form of instructions, requests, demands, questions, and so on.
Nathalie Meyer Guest Lecture
Exploring Video Game Livestreaming from a Linguistic Perspective:
The Example of a Case Study on Twitch
Date: Monday 13 February
Time: 11.00 am
Location: VxLab, Bld 91, Level 1
However, while up to a few years ago most communication was located within a game world itself, new technological and digital affordances led to an extension of the communicative possibilities also outside of the actual game.
Let’s Play videos on YouTube, for example, are often not only a mere recording of one or more players engaging in gameplay and some form of talk, but speech is also directed at an intended audience that will eventually watch these videos.
Even more recently, platforms such as Twitch or YouTube Gaming introduced another level to the communicative process in giving players the possibility to not only engage in interaction with their co-players, but also with an active audience in real time. | <urn:uuid:76b6383e-e6cb-4c15-b973-94968a3c168b> | CC-MAIN-2018-13 | http://gamedesignresearch.net/nathalie-meyer-guest-lecture/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-13/segments/1521257651780.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20180325025050-20180325045050-00256.warc.gz | en | 0.966148 | 257 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Object Oriented Programming
OOP envisions software as a collection of cooperating objects rather than a collection of functions or simply a list of commands (as is the traditional view). In OOP, each object can receive messages, process data, and send messages to other objects. Each object can be viewed as an independent little machine with a distinct role or responsibility.
OOP promotes greater flexibility and maintainability in programming, and is widely popular in large-scale software engineering. Because OOP strongly emphasizes modularity, object-oriented code is simpler to develop and easier to understand later on. Object-oriented code promotes more direct analysis, coding, and understanding of complex situations and procedures than less modular programming methods.
Namespace A container which lets developers bundle all functionality under a unique, application-specific name. Class Defines the object’s characteristics. A class is a template definition of an object’s properties and methods. Object An instance of a class. Property An object characteristic, such as color. Method An object capability, such as walk. It is a subroutine or function associated with a class. Constructor A method called at the moment an object is instantiated. It usually has the same name as the class containing it. Inheritance A class can inherit characteristics from another class. Encapsulation A method of bundling the data and methods that use the data. Abstraction The conjunction of an object’s complex inheritance, methods, and properties must adequately reflect a reality model. Polymorphism Poly means “many” and morphism means “forms”. Different classes might define the same method or property.
Prototype-based programming is an OOP model that doesn’t use classes, but rather it first accomplishes the behavior of any class and then reuses it (equivalent to inheritance in class-based languages) by decorating (or expanding upon) existing prototype objects. (Also called classless, prototype-oriented, or instance-based programming.)
Have you got a cool idea about Web Application Development ? Contact us Now to get a free consultation on your idea. Alphanso Tech is rated as one of the best Web Application Development Company in India. | <urn:uuid:65e1f632-30bc-4856-bdf9-691d22d256ed> | CC-MAIN-2017-39 | http://www.alphansotech.com/blogs/object-oriented-programming-in-javascript-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-39/segments/1505818686117.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20170920014637-20170920034637-00021.warc.gz | en | 0.897817 | 451 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Hard though it may be, let’s try to keep politics out of the equation for a moment. Here are the basic facts: Russia has been playing a crucial role in supplying the European Union with natural gas.
It’s the most important source of gas for the bloc, with the country accounting for over 40 percent of overall EU gas imports. Norway is a close second; Algeria, Qatar and a few others have also made contributions to diversifying the bloc’s gas supplies.
What about gas from inside the EU?
There’s not that much at all, except the relatively big gas deposits in the Netherlands, with the Dutch being Germany’s third-largest source of gas deliveries at the moment.
But that’s going to change as the Netherlands will drop out completely as a gas supplier by the end of the next decade. Facing increasingly unsafe extraction conditions, the Dutch government has decided to reduce gas supplies by two-thirds as of 2022 and halt them completely by 2030.
Will gas remain important for the EU’s energy mix?
Hardly any economists would deny that gas will keep playing a critical role in the bloc, and for Germany in particular. There are several reasons for this, among them the EU’s efforts to meet its climate protection targets. | <urn:uuid:43d969db-e519-484b-b32f-5bc74ba1158c> | CC-MAIN-2019-13 | http://jacksnewswatch.a2hosted.com/the-eus-energy-problem/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-13/segments/1552912203547.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20190325010547-20190325032547-00448.warc.gz | en | 0.969483 | 269 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Stress is a feeling of emotional or physical tension. It can come from any event or thought that makes you feel frustrated, angry, or nervous. Stress is your body’s reaction to a challenge or demand. As we all know we are in a challenging period -COVID-19 and EndSARS crisis.
The World Health Organisation says though the COVID-19 global pandemic has created an unusually stressful environment for a large number of people, there are positive steps that could be taken to overcome stress.
The WHO spoke against the backdrop of the International Stress Awareness Week, which holds annually from November 2-6.
In a series of illustrated guides, the global health body showed how to effectively manage stress.
The International Stress Awareness Week is organised by the International Stress Management Association, whose chair, Carole Spiers, explained why it’s important.
“Particularly in challenging times, ISMA’s aim is to keep stress, mental health and wellbeing high on the international agenda,”
A new book – Doing What Matters in Times of Stress: An Illustrated Guide – released by WHO, lays out some strategies for dealing with feelings of anxiety and stress.
These include ways to ground yourself, focusing on your surroundings and what you are doing rather than getting caught up in negative thoughts.
The guide offers up advice and exercises, centered around breathing and relaxation, to help you refocus and engage with the world.
The guide, however, recognises that coping and grounding techniques do not get to the root of the stress and negative thoughts. As such, it dives into ways to identify the underlying thoughts and feelings.
By living and acting on our values, we are more able to influence the immediate world around us and the situations we encounter, WHO notes; while the book notes that the way you act may influence others around you. And if you do not take care of yourself it will be hard to care for others and put your values into action. | <urn:uuid:6e57400d-9d7e-4d64-912a-3e2d4bd7b875> | CC-MAIN-2021-49 | https://motherhoodinstyle.net/2020/11/05/lays-positive-steps-effectively-cope-stress-times/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-49/segments/1637964362219.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20211202114856-20211202144856-00118.warc.gz | en | 0.946729 | 410 | 3.203125 | 3 |
The Federal Facility Identification Data Standard was developed by the Environmental Data Standards Council (EDSC). The EDSC is a partnership among EPA, States, and Tribal partners to develop and agree upon data standards for environmental information collection and exchange. The Council seeks to promote efficient sharing of environmental information between State, EPA and Tribal partners through the development of data standards. More information about the EDSC is available on the EDSC website
The Federal Facility Identification Data Standard was approved by the Environmental Data Standards Council on July 29, 2003 and approved by EPA on November 12, 2003. Managers of Agency information systems that exchange federal facility identification information will implement this standard no later than September 30, 2006. System managers and Regions will include State partners in the implementation planning process for the standard.
The such and such document explains the purpose of the standard is to provide a consistent means of identifying whether a facility (or the land it occupies) is owned or operated, or was owned or operated, by the Federal government. An ancillary purpose of the Federal Facility Identification Data Standard is to provide a consistent means of indicating whether a facility is owned or operated, in whole or in part, by non-federal governments. The standard lists permissible value examples that, while not exhaustive, provides required naming conventions for describing information about federal facilities, including the responsible federal agencies, the types of ownership and operation, and the types of operation management. The data standard consists of a list of data elements, each of which is defined, and relationships or linkages with other Agency standards. The standard data elements and example permissible values are presented in Appendix A to the data standard and are recorded in EPA’s Environmental Data Registry (EDR) at http://www.epa.gov/edr/. | <urn:uuid:7cd29a4f-e56c-4120-95db-c6d52414806c> | CC-MAIN-2019-09 | https://icis.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/207069126-Federal-Facility-Identification-Data-Standard-description | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-09/segments/1550247488374.18/warc/CC-MAIN-20190218200135-20190218222135-00013.warc.gz | en | 0.933778 | 359 | 2.890625 | 3 |
ESAB Knowledge center.
What eye protection is required for CNC plasma cutting?
May 26, 2013
Don’t stare at the bright light!
A plasma cutting arc, like any electric arc, gives off a broad spectrum of electromagnetic radiation, which extends all the way from Infrared light (IR), through the visible spectrum, and into the Ultra Violet (UV) range. Plasma cutting arcs can also be very intense, because the arc current is typically anywhere from 100 to 800 Amperes. Needless to say, looking at an arc that intense can easily cause eye damage, including permanent damage leading to blindness.
Recommended eye protection for plasma cutting
There are a few sources of recommendations that everyone should be aware of. These include OSHA and ANSI. The following information comes from the OSHA Fact Sheet “Eye Protection against Radiant Energy during Welding and Cutting in Shipyard Employment”, and also references the ANSI numbers. The protective shade numbers refer to the darkness shade of safety glasses or welding shields, the higher the number the darker the glass.
ANSI and the American Welding Society (AWS) publish a slightly more detailed chart, in ANSI Z49.1:2005 Safety in Welding, Cutting, and Allied Processes.
In both cases, the recommendations offer the rule of thumb to “start with a shade that is too dark to see the weld zone. Then, go to a lighter shade which gives a sufficient view of the weld zone without going below the minimum”.
By comparison, the ANSI recommendations for SMAW, GMAW, and FCAW welding are all in the shade 10 – 14 range also. So how do you apply that to operation of a? When you are welding, you pretty much stand still and look at the weld zone through a helmet, so you can manually operate the welding torch that is just inches away from your face.
Operating a CNC machine is a little different:
- the operator is often much farther away from the arc.
- the operator needs to move around, so he must be able to clearly see his surroundings (it would be rather unsafe to walk around the shop under a welding helmet).
- the operator needs to be able to see the machine control as well as the overall machine while the arc is on.
- the arc is moving, and the operator is not always looking in that direction.
With these considerations in mind, how can a CNC plasma operator wear glasses as dark as a welder’s shield and still see enough to get anything done?
Obviously, if you were to operate an 800 Amp plasma torch at the same distance as a typical welding torch, you would need a welding helmet for protection. But nobody stares at the arc while operating a CNC machine, unless trying to diagnose something while cutting, and then a welder’s shield is usually held between the face and the torch to allow safe viewing. For normal operation of a CNC machine, the above recommendations are too dark.
There is also an opinion held by some in the industry that the only protection your eyes really need is protection against UV and IR light. Those people believe that visible light can’t hurt your eyes, and since almost any safety glasses (even clear ones) filter out UV and IR light, the dark shades are not required!
I tend to disagree with that notion, here’s why:
While the evidence is not definitive, an increasing body of research points to intense visible light as a cause of eye damage leading to problems such as macular degeneration, retinal detachment, and permanent blindness. The source of the problem is “blue light”. Visible light includes wavelengths in the range from 380 to 780 nm. Shorter wavelengths within this spectrum create light in the “blue” range. These are the more energetic wavelengths, making them more hazardous for long-term retinal exposures.
This spectral analysis shows what the relative intensity of light across the spectrum might look like coming from a typical plasma cutting arc. The most intense visible light is in the “blue light” range.
Since a plasma arc generates light across the entire spectrum, it definitely includes “blue light” in the light that you see. And because the visible light from a plasma arc is very intense, the damaging “blue light” from a plasma arc is also very intense, and therefore potentially dangerous to the human eye.
But here is one of the biggest problems – you can’t feel retinal damage until it’s too late. If you damaged your retina, there's no pain, and the only way you know is when your eyesight starts to degrade. By the time you see an eye doctor about the problem, the damage is permanent.
Somewhere there is a happy medium, where the CNC plasma operator’s eyes are safe from damage, but he can still see well enough to operate the controls and walk around the shop without tripping over stuff. The recommended shades may be too dark to actually work in, but wearing clear safety glasses is not the answer. Safety glasses with yellow lenses are recommended to block potentially damaging blue light, and a secondary shield between the operator and the cutting torch, perhaps a welding curtain or dark plastic shield, could shade the operator from the most damaging radiation. | <urn:uuid:47f93e54-558c-4def-bd78-52cbdcca27c9> | CC-MAIN-2016-40 | http://www.esabna.com/us/en/education/blog/what-eye-protection-is-required-for-cnc-plasma-cutting.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-40/segments/1474738661326.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20160924173741-00243-ip-10-143-35-109.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939682 | 1,103 | 2.8125 | 3 |
The definition of group is to collect two or more people or things together. An example of group is separating ten people into two sets of five people. A group is defined as a collection, or a number of people or things. An example of a group is six people eating dinner together at a table.
What is group and its examples?
Definition and Examples of Groups. Definition 21.1. A group is a nonempty set G equipped with a binary operation ∗ : G×G → G satisfying. the following axioms: ı(i) Closure: if a, b ∈ G, then a ∗ b ∈ G.
What are four examples of groups?
Types of Groups are;Formal Group.Informal Group.Managed Group.Process Group.Semi-Formal Groups.Goal Group.Learning Group.Problem-Solving Group.
What is considered a group?
A group is a set of people who have the same interests or aims, and who organize themselves to work or act together. A group is a set of people, organizations, or things which are considered together because they have something in common.
What are the examples of out group?
An out-group, conversely, is a group someone doesnt belong to; often we may feel disdain or competition in relationship to an out-group. Sports teams, unions, and sororities are examples of in-groups and out-groups; people may belong to, or be an outsider to, any of these.
What is an example of group communication?
The term group communication refers to the messages that are exchanged by group members. For example, a soccer team can be considered to be a group, but one would not expect a soccer team to exist or compete with other soccer teams without exchanging messages.
How do we classify groups?
Defining and Classifying GroupsFormal groups -- those defined by the organizations structure, with designated work assignments establishing tasks.Informal groups -- alliances that are neither formally structured nor organizationally determined. Command group -- determined by the organization chart.
Is a group abelian?
All cyclic groups are Abelian, but an Abelian group is not necessarily cyclic. All subgroups of an Abelian group are normal. In an Abelian group, each element is in a conjugacy class by itself, and the character table involves powers of a single element known as a group generator.
What is an example of small group communication?
The term “small group communication” refers to communication that occurs within groups of three to 15 people. Typically, an organizer arranges a small group for a specific purpose. For example, a class reunion organizer may limit the planning committee to a group of 12 alumni.
How do you classify finite groups?
The classification of finite simple groups is a theorem stating that every finite simple group belongs to one of the following families:A cyclic group with prime order;An alternating group of degree at least 5;A simple group of Lie type;One of the 26 sporadic simple groups; | <urn:uuid:44033358-7298-4fc3-8266-cf1da91ce2c0> | CC-MAIN-2021-49 | https://blackwhiteblue.newsone.com/rutamo49585.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-49/segments/1637964363327.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20211206224536-20211207014536-00481.warc.gz | en | 0.930205 | 635 | 3.71875 | 4 |
Research in yeast yields missing link in DNA maintenance machinery
HOUSTON - In a finding akin to discovering pages missing from an antique car repair manual, researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have linked for the first time two biological processes crucial to cell survival.
The finding, reported in the Dec. 17, 2004, issue of the journal Cell, provides the first link between a cell's DNA repair machinery and its DNA storage and retrieval machinery. The two processes have been studied independently, and each is essential for proper care and maintenance of the cell's genetic material, but until now there was little evidence of how the two might work together.
"We have brought together two fields that are essential for proper maintenance of DNA," said Xuetong "Snow" Shen, assistant professor in the Department of Carcinogenesis at M. D. Anderson. "It was generally understood there must be a connection between the two, but no direct connection had ever been seen. We have bridged that gap."
Many types of cancer, including human leukemias and lymphomas, have been linked to defects in DNA maintenance. Shen's lab studied a particular protein complex, called INO80, that regulates access to DNA. Inside cells, long strands of DNA are wound tightly around a series of proteins called histones. The combination of DNA and its associated proteins is called chromatin. The histone proteins help compact the DNA and help keep it organized within the chromosome, said Shen, but DNA tightly wound around histones is inaccessible. If DNA becomes damaged by radiation, reactive chemicals or ultraviolet light, for example, it must be repaired. But the bulky repair proteins need to gain access to the damaged areas of DNA. That's where INO80 chromatin remodeling might comes in. Its role, discovered by Shen and his colleagues, is likely to loosen the damaged DNA from the grip of histone proteins so the DNA repair machinery can access the damaged section. When INO80 is not working properly, damaged DNA can go unrepaired. Such damage can lead to unstable cells and eventually to cancer.
"We knew that at least one gene involved in the INO80 complex had been linked to cancer," said Shen. "This research helps provide a potential mechanism to account for those cancers."
The researchers, led by post-doctoral scientist Ashby Morrison, Ph.D., studied how yeast cells repair double-stranded DNA breaks.
"Double strand breaks are the most serious type of DNA damage," said Shen. "The two DNA strands are completely severed. It is a disaster for a cell. If it is not repaired, the chromosomes become unstable and can fuse to other chromosomes. Many types of cancer result from chromosome fusions."
The scientists created an experimental double strand break in the yeast DNA and monitored specially tagged INO80 molecules inside the cells. They found that INO80 proteins recognize a specific form of histone protein called gamma-H2AX that acts as a "flag" or "code" to direct DNA repair proteins to DNA breaks. Once attached to the histone protein, the INO80 proteins most likely loosen the histone grip on DNA so the repair machinery can gain access and repair the broken ends, the scientists report.
In particular, the scientists discovered one member of the INO80 complex, called Nhp10, is crucial to recognizing the histone code for damaged DNA.
Shen first discovered the INO80 complex in 2000 while studying yeast. Since then, he has revealed that this large protein complex plays an important role in making DNA available for copying into RNA. This latest discovery expands the importance of the INO80 complex, showing it is also crucial to helping repair broken DNA. The scientists discovered that if certain members of the INO80 complex are missing, the yeast becomes prone to the kind of serious damage to its genetic material that can lead to cancer in people.
"The INO80 complex is found in organisms from yeast to humans," said Shen. "Typically these kinds of universal proteins play important basic biological functions, and that is turning out to be the case here."
The scientists are now working out the precise role that INO80 plays in DNA repair and what the protein complex does to the chromosome structure at the double strand break.
"We have introduced a whole new player that has never been seen before in double-strand break repair," said Shen. "This is only the beginning."
In addition to Shen and Morrison, technician Jessica Highland from M. D. Anderson; Nevan Krogan and Jack Greenblatt, Ph.D., University of Toronto; and Ayelet Arbel-Eden and James Haber, Ph.D., Brandeis University, contributed to the research. The research was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health and M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
Source: Eurekalert & othersLast reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 21 Feb 2009
Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:efa0eb13-d09a-4f8d-910e-0a802f7d98df> | CC-MAIN-2015-48 | http://psychcentral.com/news/archives/2004-12/uotm-riy121504.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-48/segments/1448398464396.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20151124205424-00262-ip-10-71-132-137.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958872 | 1,031 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Introduction: Breast USG is an established and accurate tool for the primary evaluation of breast lumps and pathology. It also compliments X-ray mammography in further evaluation and characterization of breast masses and thus avoids surgeries in benign breast diseases and pathology. Method: For USG examination of the breast lumps, a linear-array transducer of MHz frequency is required with a good resolution machine.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the relation of some ultrasound morphological parameters to biological characteristics in breast carcinoma. Ultrasound data from breast masses were collected. We found a variety of ultrasound features that varied between the groups.
A lump in the breast is a cause of great concern. High frequency, high-resolution USG helps in its evaluation. This is exemplified in women with dense breast tissue where USG is useful in detecting small breast cancers that are not seen on mammography.
Breast lumps are a very common complaint for women of all ages. Breast lumps may occur spontaneously or gradually and may be accompanied by other symptoms such as breast painchanges in the skin or changes in the nipple. A breast lump may or may not be noticeable to the patient; normal breast tissue can be quite lumpy in some women and some lumps can be small or located deep in the breast.
Non-cancerous and cancerous breast lumps can be very different from each other when it comes to how they feel during a breast exam and what they look like in imaging tests. However, a number of benign breast changes mimic breast cancerso it sometimes takes further testing to know for sure what's going on in your breast. How a breast mass feels can give a doctor a fairly good idea whether a lump is a breast cancer tumor or a benign mass.
This term is used to describe what is seen on an ultrasound scan. Ultrasound uses sound waves that are absorbed by or bounce off of tissues, organs, and muscles. The waves form the black and white image you see on an ultrasound screen.
One of the things we run into are 'little bright objects'. These foci are enhancing areas of less than 5mm in diameter and are too small to characterize. They have persistent type 1 curves.
Breast cysts are round or oval structures filled with fluid. Most breast cysts are benign and do not increase your risk of breast cancer. They can be very tiny, or they can be large enough to feel through the skin or see on an imaging test a grossly evident cyst, or gross cyst. Many cysts fall somewhere in between.
Annual screening with MRI and mammography beginning at age 30 for high-risk women is felt to be effective. Although breast cancer is relatively common and remains the second leading cause of death in women, the majority of findings discovered on imaging which undergo percutaneous biopsy are benign. Furthermore, when there is radiology-pathology discordance following image-guided biopsy, surgical excision is subsequently performed.
Irregular hypoechoic masses in the breast do not always indicate malignancies. Many benign breast diseases present with irregular hypoechoic masses that can mimic carcinoma on ultrasonography. Some of these diseases such as inflammation and trauma-related breast lesions could be suspected from a patient's symptoms and personal history. | <urn:uuid:fee0f8b0-7dc2-44ae-adc4-c23daeb3b878> | CC-MAIN-2020-05 | http://proxytube.info/cybersex/lobulated-mass-in-breast.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-05/segments/1579250591431.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20200117234621-20200118022621-00009.warc.gz | en | 0.953823 | 671 | 2.703125 | 3 |
The Cow-Calf Manager:
Extra Attention at Calving-- It's so Important
Livestock Update, February 2000
John Hall, Extension Animal Scientist, Beef, Virginia Tech
Calving season is upon us! The weather in early January was an unexpected gift for winter calving herds, but late January was a different story. No matter when you calve, it's still important to pay extra attention to cows at calving time. Most of you have probably heard us say the rule of seeing cows at least twice a day and heifers four times a day during calving. Why is it so important to see cattle that often?
Labor is over sooner than you think
Labor and delivery usually lasts less than 8 hours. Labor is divided into three stages with all three stages only lasting 6-12 hours. Cows and heifers can attempt to calve and fail in the time it takes us to perform our off farm job or other tasks around the farm. Tasks like planting and harvest often occupy 10-12 hours of the day. Understanding the stages of labor will help you in making decisions on assisting during delivery. Table 1 details the three stages of labor.
The first stage of labor we'll call the Preparation stage. During this stage contractions begin, but they are mild and spaced fairly far apart. The contractions become more coordinated and stronger as the first stage progresses. The primary purpose of the first stage is to force the calf and fetal membranes toward the birth canal and dilate the cervix. Cows and heifers will often appear nervous and isolate themselves from the rest of the cowherd during this stage. These expectant dams can often be observed lying down and getting up often. They are obviously uncomfortable. The preparation stage ends with the emergence (and sometimes breaking) of the fetal membranes or "water bag". This stage will last 2 to 6 hours.
The second stage of labor is Delivery or "hard labor." During this stage contractions are strong and coordinated. The fetal membranes and then the calf are forced into the cervix or birth canal. During this stage cows and heifers will often lie on their side and will be visibly straining. Calves are born with the dam either lying or standing. Normal presentation is the front feet first with the head between the knees and shoulders. Any other presentation is a signal that assistance is needed. It is not unusual for the feet to appear and disappear several times during the early part of delivery. However, definite progress towards delivery should be made within 1/2 hour from appearance of the feet or cows should be checked. The second stage ends with the delivery of the calf. Normally this stage should last 1 to 2 hours in heifers and 1/2 to 1.5 hours in cows. If the second stage lasts longer than 2-3 hours cows should be checked.
The final stage of labor is cleaning or passing of the after birth. The continued contractions of the uterus expel the remaining fetal membranes. The third stage of labor lasts 1 to 8 hours. Cows not cleaning within 12 hours of birth of the calf are considered to have retained placenta. Cows with retained placenta should be treated with antibiotics as suggested by your veterinarian.
Table 1. Stages of Calving
|Stage and time||Events|
(2 to 6 hours)
|1.Calf rotates to upright position.|
2.Uterine contractions begin.
3.Water sac expelled
(1 hour or less)
|1.Cow usually tying down.
2.Fetus enters birth canal. |
3.Front feet and head protrude first.
4.Calf delivery completed.
(2 to 8 hours)
|1.caruncle-cotyledon (button) attachments relax. |
2.Uterine contractions expel membranes.
Total impact of calving difficulty greater than imagined
Incidence of calving problems. In most herds that choose moderate to low birth weight EPD bulls for their cows, calving problems (dystocia) run about 1 to 5 %. However, in first-calf heifers, dystocia runs 5 to 20% even in herds that use low birth weight EPD bulls. Incidence of dystocia in herds that don't pay attention to birth weight EPD's of sires can run as high as 50 to 75%. That's why heifers need extra observation. In addition, heifers don't necessarily give as good an indication that they are beginning the calving process.
Calves that experience calving difficulty are less healthy. Delays during delivery cause calves to be more susceptible to illness or death shortly after birth. Researchers from Nebraska and Colorado indicated that mortality is increased by 15 to 30% in calves that experience calving difficulty. In addition, calves will take longer to get up and nurse if they experience a difficult birth.
Calves need to nurse within 4 hours of birth. In order for calves to absorb antibodies from colostrum, they need to nurse within 12 hours of birth. However, research from Colorado State demonstrated that calves that nurse within 4 hours of birth have higher antibody levels and a lower incidence of scours and respiratory disease. In addition, calves that get sick early in life have lower weaning weights and decreased performance in the feedlot. So calves need to be checked to insure they have nursed.
Cows and heifers that experience calving difficulty will be delayed in rebreeding. Two studies with 220 cows in Montana examined the effects of assisting cows at the first sign of calving problems with letting cows struggle before assisting. In these studies, calf growth rate was not effected by duration of labor. However, cows and heifers, that were assisted early, bred back earlier (Table 2.). In addition, overall pregnancy rates were decreased by 13-14 % percent by allowing cows to struggle.
Table 2. Effects of duration of labor on subsequent reproduction and calf growth
|Duration of Labor||No. Cows||Services per conception||Pregnancy rate||Calf gain Birth to weaning|
|Short||117||1.15||91.4 %||1.68 lbs/day|
|Prolonged||103||1.24||77.7 %||1.75 lbs/day|
Hints for easier calving checks and calving assistance | <urn:uuid:968b2ca1-ddaf-4d13-a42d-007fb89b64f5> | CC-MAIN-2018-30 | https://www.sites.ext.vt.edu/newsletter-archive/livestock/aps-00_02/aps-0180.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-30/segments/1531676594954.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20180723051723-20180723071723-00525.warc.gz | en | 0.957819 | 1,321 | 3.328125 | 3 |
We took this from a section in the Crew and Skipper Courses to easily explain the difference between true wind and apparent wind.
Section 7.2 – True Wind versus Apparent Wind – Explained
Put you hand outside the window of your car traveling at 60 miles per hour on a still day and your hand will feel a 60 mile per hour wind. That’s apparent wind yet the true wind is zero. What if the car was driving into a 20 mile per hour head wind? Your hand would feel 80 mph. Or if the wind was blowing from behind at 20 mph, your hand would feel 40mph.
Now what about a cross wind of 20 miles per hour? Well we need to do a little Pythagorean theorem work on this. What is the square root of the sum of 60 squared plus 20 squared? Your hand would feel 63.24 mph and mostly from a direction in front of the car. If the car accelerated to 100 mph your hand would feel 102 mph again mostly from the front. If the car decelerates to 10 mph your hand would feel 22 mph mostly from the side of the car and if he car stopped you’d feel the full true wind of 20 miles per hour from the side of the car. What ever your hand feels is the apparent wind. The apparent wind equals the true wind when your car is not moving.
When determining direction of the wind, the faster the car goes the more the apparent wind direction comes from the direction of travel of the car. Again imagine the cross wind. At 1 mph the apparent wind feels almost like the true wind from across the car. As the car accelerates the wind feels more and more like it is coming from the front.
This is similar to a boat. The faster the boat sails into the wind, the more the apparent wind speed increases and the more it feels like it is coming from the front of the boat. As a general rule of thumb then, when sailing the true wind is about 15 degrees more towards the back of the boat. IE point to where you feel the wind is coming from then point 15 degrees further back and that is about where the true wind is coming from. | <urn:uuid:d570bfe9-f52f-4ef8-8610-d51f5f3bb106> | CC-MAIN-2017-09 | http://www.nauticed.org/sailing-blog/true-wind-versus-apparent-wind/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-09/segments/1487501170425.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20170219104610-00157-ip-10-171-10-108.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945041 | 445 | 3.703125 | 4 |
Introduction to Designing and Creating Report in Microsoft Access
Reports are a terrific feature in Access and give you a way to present your data attractively.
You can even group and summarize data easily by using the Report Wizard.
After completing this module, you will be able to:
Describe when to use a report
Create a report using the AutoReport feature and the Report Wizard
Navigate the report view
Create mailing labels
Edit and add controls in the Report Design view
Use report sections
Create a calculated control
Add page breaks to a report
Create Reports Manually
Reports often include sets of information that are related to the topic of the report, but not necessarily related to each other.
For example, a report might include information about the production, marketing, and sales activities of a company.
Or it might include information about compensation and the pension plan of a company.
Each topic is related to a particular aspect of running the business, but the topics do not all fit nicely into the structure of an individual Microsoft Access 2013 report.
One solution to this problem is to create separate reports, print them, and store them together in a binder.
Another is to save them in electronic format in a folder or on a network.
An easier and more sophisticated solution is to combine them by using subreports.
In this chapter, you will build a fairly complex report.
You will start by creating the report shell (the main report) manually in Design view.
Then you will modify the layout and content of the shell report.
Finally, you will provide detailed information by embedding a subreport within the main report. | <urn:uuid:bd82eed2-3351-450f-9358-9861e7ceb791> | CC-MAIN-2018-05 | https://dbwebapplications.relationaldbdesign.com/access-data-manipulation/module5/intro-toDesign-createReport.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-05/segments/1516084887729.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20180119030106-20180119050106-00163.warc.gz | en | 0.884838 | 337 | 2.84375 | 3 |
ECOLOGICAL MODELING FOR SOUTHEASTERN MILITARY BASES
Throughout the southeastern U.S. the number and size of pine-grassland ecosystems are declining. Red-cockaded woodpeckers (Picoides borealis), which require pine-grasslands, are federally listed as endangered. Four of the ten largest red-cockaded woodpecker populations are on military installations (Fort Bragg, Fort Benning, Fort Stewart, and Eglin Air Force Base), and other military installations (e.g., Fort Gordon and Fort Polk) also contain woodpecker populations (James 1995).
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is revising the recovery plan for the red-cockaded woodpecker. The revised plan will be built around a core of sites where the local populations of woodpeckers are relatively large. These sites will be managed to maintain their populations. Other sites, where populations are smaller may be subject to different management requirements.
Such patchily distributed local populations may exhibit metapopulation characteristics. Even if the red-cockaded woodpecker is not a classic metapopulation, a metapopulation model may offer insights into those population parameters and management actions that are likely to be most important in maintaining a viable population. Thus, we have developed a preliminary metapopulation model of the red-cockaded woodpecker across its present range. The model is based on existing information and will be updated as better information becomes available.
Return to Sites page
Return to Web Site Map
Return to Ecological Modeling home page | <urn:uuid:e42cc09f-9d29-403f-b407-dc9133b9531b> | CC-MAIN-2015-27 | http://www.esd.ornl.gov/programs/SERDP/EcoModels/sebases.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-27/segments/1435375097757.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20150627031817-00040-ip-10-179-60-89.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.901011 | 327 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Auroville Green Practices and Auroville’s Auroyali bring you a webinar that walks you through the design and construction possibilities of ferrocement as an architectural material.
Ferrocement is a building material composed of cement, sand, water, aggregates and
metallic mesh and rods. The metallic mesh can be replaced by organic mesh (jute/bamboo). It is strong, low weight, economic, fireproof, earthquake resistant, rust-
free and does not rot or blow down in storms. It doesn’t need maintenance and has a long lifetime. Ferrocement can’t strictly be classified as a sustainable material, but it is highly efficient and cost-effective.
What you will learn:
In this webinar, the facilitator will introduce you to design and building of objects / buildings with ferrocement.
- What is ferrocement?
- History and mainstream examples of ferrocement construction.
- Why use ferrocement?
- Building construction methods for: Houses, floating buildings, arts and sculptures, furniture, walls, roofing channels, stairs, domes, spatial structures, liquid retaining structures, maintenance and repair …
- Technical data and material
- What materials to use in ferrocement construction?
- How to dose them?
- How to prepare them?
- What are the common mistakes to be avoided on site
The webinar will be followed by a live Q&A with the facilitator, where your most burning questions will be answered! | <urn:uuid:7e2c41a0-63cf-4442-8c92-f8684e8324fc> | CC-MAIN-2021-25 | https://agpworkshops.com/workshops/exploring-ferrocement-design-construction/?startDate=22-09-2020 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-25/segments/1623488534413.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20210623042426-20210623072426-00201.warc.gz | en | 0.887516 | 326 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Press and Media skills
Integrative Tools | Web Design & Development Program at MADE
It’s essential for successful web designers to be able to effectively integrate different types of content into websites: images, text, videos and animations. The Web Design program at MADE teaches students to code websites using the software of their choice (Dreamweaver, SublimeText, Brackets) through understanding how the code is interpreted by the browser and choosing the best techniques for a specific project. Students are also trained on the integration of Content Management Systems (CMS) such as WordPress, Drupal or Joomla. With ever-changing integrative technology, the web designer must always monitor trends and self-train on a regular basis to understand and appropriately apply the most advanced techniques. | <urn:uuid:a30f57d7-0fc8-485b-9bac-0b7e770e4d20> | CC-MAIN-2019-09 | http://www.miamiartsdesign.com/press-and-media/341-integrative-tools | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-09/segments/1550247512461.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20190222013546-20190222035546-00341.warc.gz | en | 0.884513 | 156 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Positive impact and its relationship to well-being in parents of children with intellectual disability: a literature review
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
Colleges, School and Institutes
Aim: This review focuses on parent carers of children with an intellectual disability. The aim of the review is to assess the relationship between positive impact and parental well-being and the factors that affect this relationship, including challenging behaviour, syndrome type and gender of parent.\nMethod: A structured search was conducted in the databases of Psycinfo and Ovid Medline and 16 articles were included in the review.\nResults: A relationship between positive impact and parental well-being was found, however this was affected by extraneous variables including partner well-being, challenging behaviour and syndrome characteristics. Other variables that affected this relationship were type of coping strategies employed and individual parent characteristics including self esteem and optimism.\nConclusions: A relationship between positive impact and well-being exists but remains unclear due to the number of extraneous variables that may affect this relationship and that require further research, including cultural influence and socio economic position. This relationship has relevance when designing interventions for families as focusing on increasing positive impacts and reducing the influence of variables that interact negatively with positive impact and well-being may increase parental well-being and therefore capacity for coping.
|Title of host publication||International Journal of Developmental Disabilities|
|Publication status||Published - Jan 2015|
|Name||International Journal of Developmental Disabilities|
- Challenging behaviours, Children, Gender, Intellectual disability, Parents, Positive, Syndrome, Well-being | <urn:uuid:3b3db684-0ef9-41b7-8eab-55a8b4188d02> | CC-MAIN-2020-16 | https://research.birmingham.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/positive-impact-and-its-relationship-to-wellbeing-in-parents-of-children-with-intellectual-disability-a-literature-review(27644e2b-f7e5-4021-ad46-5297c8de71c5).html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-16/segments/1585370504930.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20200331212647-20200401002647-00357.warc.gz | en | 0.930525 | 335 | 2.703125 | 3 |
A sampling of research on potential benefits of short-term fasting or calorie restriction includes:
Surgery: In a 2010 study, a team of researchers including James R. Mitchell, of the Harvard School of Public Health, showed that kidney donors who ate 30 percent fewer calories for three days and then fasted entirely for one before surgery recovered faster than people who ate whatever they wanted before the procedure. These patients were healthy, and the study was small, so more research is needed to see whether calorie restrictions help other surgical patients.
Spinal cord injuries and strokes: Wolfram Tetzlaff, of the University of British Columbia, has shown that mice who fast every other day immediately after a spinal cord injury or stroke recover much more mobility than mice allowed to eat whatever they want. This approach appears to help only during the first few months after the injury, and does not help if the spinal cord has been completely severed, he said.
Cancer: Research in mice and early studies of people suggest that cancer patients may benefit from eating no food for at least two days before chemo and a full day afterward, said Valter Longo, of the University of Southern California. He has done case studies of 10 people, is currently testing the safety of fasting in 18 cancer patients, and will shortly begin testing its effectiveness in 42 more.
Weight loss: In one four-month study of intermittent fasting for weight loss, women who ate extremely low-calorie diets on alternate days lost the same amount of weight as those who followed a typical Mediterranean weight-loss diet. The research, led by Michelle Harvie at the Genesis Prevention Center at University Hospital in South Manchester, England, found that those who fasted also had lower levels of insulin in their blood; high levels are linked to diabetes and cancer risk.
Alzheimer’s disease: Mark Mattson, of the Laboratory of Neurosciences at the National Institute on Aging, has found that mice vulnerable to a rodent equivalent of Alzheimer’s are less likely to develop memory problems if they are fed at intervals, rather than allowed to eat as much as they would like. | <urn:uuid:ff27d46e-3dbf-4ec4-b694-6fd771db5f82> | CC-MAIN-2014-35 | http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2012/03/11/some-potential-benefits-restricting-calories/DA8723Fz6BAH8fo6xtxDGP/story.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-35/segments/1408500820886.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20140820021340-00354-ip-10-180-136-8.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966969 | 433 | 3.09375 | 3 |
- The world is racing to develop coronavirus cures with incredible speed, but not all researchers are looking to create brand new drugs.
- Some are considering other ways to treat COVID-19, and they think vaccines and asymptomatic patients may help solve a crucial coronavirus mystery that leads to lower mortality rates.
- Researchers think that some of the vaccines administered to prevent other infectious diseases, including measles and tuberculosis vaccines, may have trained the immune system to mount an unexpected response against the novel coronavirus.
The world just passed 20 million cumulative coronavirus cases, and nearly 750,000 people have died of COVID-19 complications as of Tuesday morning. Sadly, many thousands more will die in the weeks and months to come. The pandemic is hardly over and some countries are yet to contain their outbreaks. The United States, for example, has done the worst job in the world of containing the spread of COVID-19 and it continues to register tens of thousands of new cases each day.
It might not seem like it, but the world is actually in much better shape than it was a few months ago when it comes to dealing with the illness. Some countries have even managed to stop the first COVID-19 wave. Doctors treating severe patients who require oxygen therapy and ventilation are saving more lives than before. Several drug therapies have been devised to manage the illness better, and quite a few experimental vaccines have reached the final stage of testing. Similarly, other meds explicitly created to induce an immune response are in promising clinical trials.
The scientific community shows no signs of stopping, with each week brings us new COVID-19 discoveries that could turn out to be useful in the development of new protocols to deal with the pandemic. Some researchers are also studying an exciting premise that says existing vaccines and asymptomatic coronavirus cases may hold the key to figuring out how to beat this pandemic.
It’s not the new coronavirus vaccine candidates that are in the works right now that we’re talking about. There are more than 150 of those in the works, with about a dozen having reached clinical trials. A handful have even reached Phase 3 of testing in different countries, and at least a few should be approved by late fall or winter.
Those vaccines may prevent COVID-19 infections in the future, but some researchers are more interested in different vaccines when it comes to asymptomatic COVID-19 cases. It’s the childhood vaccines an individual received for other infectious diseases that could have delivered an unexpected side-effect. The immune systems of those individuals may be in a better shape to deal with a new pathogen like SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. This is a crucial coronavirus mystery, and explaining it could open all sorts of new doors.
“When we looked in the setting of COVID disease, we found that people who had prior vaccinations with a variety of vaccines — for pneumococcus, influenza, hepatitis, and others — appeared to have a lower risk of getting COVID disease,” Dr. Andrew Badley of The Mayo Clinic told CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
Badley likened the immune system to a muscle. “The more you exercise that muscle, the stronger it will be when you need it.”
Researchers are still looking into the matter. In June, a team of American researchers proposed giving some people a booster dose of the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps, and rubella) to see if it can prevent more severe cases of COVID-19. Others looked at the tuberculosis vaccine Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) and concluded that countries with people who received the drug had fewer COVID-19 deaths.
Asymptomatic spreaders may not experience any symptoms, but they’re not immune. Their bodies do show signs of a fight with the virus in tests like CT scans and bloodwork. Researchers also showed that asymptomatic patients have as much virus in their systems as symptomatic cases. Asymptomatic people are indeed infected and can spread the virus, but they clear the infection more efficiently than others, and they do it without any noticeable discomfort.
If these findings can be confirmed, they may help shape public health policies for the COVID-19 pandemic and help some countries manage the illness until the first COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics are approved. Also, there’s no guarantee that any of the current COVID-19 vaccine candidates or new meds will work, in which case other therapies will need to be devised to reduce complications and lower mortality rates.
Separately, a few studies in the past few months showed that even a common cold — which is caused by one of the milder human coronaviruses that predate SARS-CoV-2 — could generate immune responses that are useful in fighting COVID-19. Research has suggested that the T cells and white blood cells that result from common colds can recognize the novel coronavirus and fight it. | <urn:uuid:8580fc2c-97c1-4fa8-aa15-372a5a347dc2> | CC-MAIN-2023-06 | https://bgr.com/science/coronavirus-cure-childhood-vaccines-and-asymptomatic-spreaders/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-06/segments/1674764499891.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20230131222253-20230201012253-00806.warc.gz | en | 0.957845 | 1,051 | 3.328125 | 3 |
About the Holiday
Established in 1997 as part of Celebrate Your Name Week, Unique Names Day celebrates uncommon or uncommonly spelled names and encourages those with unique names to always take pride in their name. One way to celebrate is to find out more about your name and how or why your parents chose it.
The Name Jar
By Yangsook Choi
Unhei has recently moved to the United States from Korea. Although Unhei is excited about the first day of school, on the bus ride she misses her former home and looks at the wooden name stamp her grandmother gave her. A boy sitting behind Unhei notices the unfamiliar object and asks about it. Then other kids notice Unhei. They ask what her name is and when she answers, they mispronounce it, laughing and making jokes.
Unhei is embarrassed and glad that when the bus drops them off that those kids head to a different classroom than hers. As Unhei enters her own room, her classmates smile and greet her—it is obvious that their teacher has prepared them for a new student, and they are excited.
Of course, they first question her about her name, and remembering the experience on the bus, Unhei is reluctant to answer. She quickly says that she hasn’t picked a name yet, but will tell them next week. When she gets home, Unhei tells her mother that she wants an American name, a name that is easy to pronounce.
Her mother is dismayed; Unhei’s name was chosen by a master so that it would describe her uniqueness. But Unhei doesn’t want to be different, she just wants to fit in. Later while she and her mother are at a Korean grocery store, she introduces herself to the owner, who exclaims that her name is beautiful and means “grace” in English.
That evening Unhei tries out American names in front of the mirror—Amanda, Laura, Susie—but they don’t feel or sound right. The next day at school Unhei finds a jar on her desk with pieces of paper in it. On each piece of paper is a name—suggestions from each of her classmates. Her new friends have chosen these names thoughtfully. Daisy is the nickname of one girl’s baby sister; Tamela is a smart and brave heroine from a story; and Wensday is the day Unhei joined their class.
At the end of the school day, a classmate named Joey comes to her. He knows she actually does have a name, and Unhei, while not wanting to say it out loud, shows him the characters on her wooden stamp. Joey thinks it is beautiful and asks to keep the paper. Day by day the glass jar fills up with names. Unhei will have to choose soon.
One Saturday Unhei returns to the Korean grocery store. When Mr. Kim calls her by name, the one other customer turns around. It’s Joey! Carefully and slowly he says Unheis name until he gets it right. On Monday when Unhei enters the classroom, she discovers that the jar is missing. It’s all right, though, Unhei has chosen her name.
She walks to the chalkboard and writes her real name in English and Korean. She tells the class that her name means “grace.” Other kids reveal the meaning of their names, and they all practice saying Unhei’s name. That evening Joey comes to visit. He explains that he took the jar because he wanted Unhei to keep her original name. He suggests putting Korean nicknames into the jar for their classmates to pick. He has already chosen his Korean name with the help of Mr. Kim. It is the prefect nickname: Chinku, which means “friend.”
Ages 3 – 8
Random House, Dragonfly Books, 2003 | ISBN 978-0440417996
Discover more about Yangsook Choi, her books, and her art on her website!
Yangsook Choi’s The Name Jar is as timely now as when it was first written. Through compelling and detailed storytelling, Choi explores the themes of identity, empathy, family, friendship, and more with sometimes heartbreaking honesty. Unhei’s varied experiences at school, at home, and at the market provide an opportunity for adults and children to discuss and embrace the diversity of our multicultural world. Choi’s warm-toned illustrations reveal the conflicts that Unhei encounters and her growing confidence as she makes friends with Mr. Kim and Joey who accepts her as she is.
Unique Names Day Activity
Love Your Name Organizer Jar
Everyone needs a place to store their special stuff! Here’s a way to recycle a plastic jar and make a cool organizer jar with your name on it. This organizer jar also makes a great gift for your friends!
- A large plastic jar, such as a peanut butter jar or mayonnaise jar, cleaned out and with the label removed
- Acrylic multi-surface paint or markers
- Chalkboard paint
- Paint brush
- Paint a rectangle on the front of the jar with chalkboard paint
- Decorate the rest of the jar with paint, markers, or paper just the way you want! My green jar sports a friendly dinosaur!
Picture Book Review | <urn:uuid:2010826a-56ca-4c22-99c3-cee7f5dc4024> | CC-MAIN-2018-17 | https://celebratepicturebooks.com/2017/03/07/march-7-unique-names-day/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-17/segments/1524125948464.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20180426183626-20180426203626-00294.warc.gz | en | 0.961237 | 1,101 | 3.390625 | 3 |
Education plays a seminal role in the transformation of life trajectories for all children but especially for those whose life experiences are constrained by poor socio-economic circumstances or social and cultural marginalisation.
The role that human rights plays in guaranteeing a decent chance at education is examined in this seminar by Professor Cindy Kiro, Director of Starpath at the University of Auckland, in the third of our professorial seminars for the year.
Professor Kiro talks about how developed settler economies such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand have refined their education systems to deal with indigenous children. What the implications are of these developments for education today? And how do we achieve both equity and excellence from these education systems? | <urn:uuid:f3f7c79c-b7a7-4db6-87fb-fb185bc09159> | CC-MAIN-2023-23 | https://mediacentre.maramatanga.ac.nz/content/rights-indigenous-children-education | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-23/segments/1685224650264.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20230604193207-20230604223207-00256.warc.gz | en | 0.948253 | 139 | 3.0625 | 3 |
I’ve mentioned several times in my few posts how draining taking AP classes were. I’m proud to say I’ve survived APUSH. This may be your first AP class, as this was mine. Here’s my experience:
My first assignment was the dreadful summer assignment. I had to read this article and connect it to several events in U.S. history. Beginning the course, I had no clue how to analyze historical context, and just kind of did the assignment to the best of my ability. Thankfully, I did fairly well, which gave my grade a good foundation. Here’s ‘What I Learned from APUSH’ #1:
Tip 1: Make your writing very detailed
I had an excellent APUSH teacher who made sure the subject beat my love of history into me. Yes, I really like history. It allows you to see all of the drama unfold without you having to be there. My teacher devised tests which simulate the AP testing experience itself. It’s torture at first, but it’s really worth it when you sit down for the exam in May. We had three types of tests:
- Short Answer
- Document-based multiple choice
- Long form or Document-based essay
Essays were the absolute worst because your hand gets really sore in the middle etc. Unless you’re ambidextrous. Then you’re lucky. Your time has come. My first test, however, was short answer. This is where tip 1 comes into play. I was fortunate to walk out of my first APUSH test alive, but I also learned an important aspect to APUSH:
Tip 2: Make your writing specific
This is different than being detailed. You should know the circumstances/whys under which historical events happen. You should know and should be able to explain what’s happening (historical context). I got points knocked off for saying Spanish disease was part of the Black Legend. The spread of disease was actually unintentional. Being specific in writing also brings me to this:
Tip 3: Choose your words wisely
Now that you’re writing college-level essays, you may feel the need to sound all proper as if you’re…I don’t know…at a school board meeting? I mean, nothing wrong with that. I do the same thing. I’ve heard stories of unfortunate APUSH students who used synonyms and ended up changing their responses unintentionally. Just be careful the words you use don’t twist the meaning of your writing.
Tip 4: DO. YOUR. READING.
I can’t stress how important it is to read in AP classes. Try to do your reading before lectures. But you know, almost no one does that. Not even me. But I wish I did. It would have made following along in class easier.
Tip 5: Put in the time
Especially when it’s AP season. Your sanity will thank you. Go over some old notes and make some flashcards. The course is centered around important events and people, and how these things effect history. What I liked to do was to learn the main points of whatever we were learning, let’s say, the revolutionary era (MY FAVORITE ISLBAWIDUVABWELAKLV!!!). Here’s an incomplete list of events and other stuff which led up to the Revolution:
- Mercantilism: Apparently Britain was America’s only (known) trading buddy
- Salutary Neglect: Britain had to go fight other people because…Britain
- Seven Years War/French and Indian War
- BRITAIN’S BACK FROM THE BREAK (from America) AND IS BROKE AF
- This leads to increased taxes and v. pissed Americans
- Hamilton just couldn’t throw away his shot
- Probably something I forgot
- and BOOM a war
From this list, I can compile more events in between that stemmed from these important events. That’s just
the best my trick to remembering American history. I mean, it got me a 3 on the exam, so it kinda worked?
Also important to mention that it is essential to start studying for the AP exam early. Like, A MONTH early (also the beginning of AP szn). There’s a ton more material in APUSH than other courses, as I have learned from experience. I started studying for my exam a week before it (and my class literally finished material two days before), which killed part of my soul (may it RIP).
Tip 6: Let it be, but try not to panic
Unfortunately, unexpected things pop up once in a while. At exACTLY the wrong time. At the worse possible time. Your favorite house plant had to die? Well it had to die while you tried to stuff your brain with some of G. Wash’s words. First off, I’d like to offer my condolences. I’m terribly sorry for your plant, I’m sure it lived a great life.
Basically, it happened out of our control. This means you’ll just have to work under tougher circumstances. It happened to me (not the plant thing, though that does seem like it could), and as a result, I had a tougher time studying for the exam and ended up walking out with a score lower than everyone expected (apparently my practice exam projected me at a 5, nbd). It really sucks, though. There’s all of these could-have situations, but you have to learn to accept what happened wasn’t your fault. The stars just really hated you that day.
Ah, finally, we’re nearing the end of this post.
Tip 7: Use your resources
An APUSH student shouldn’t journey alone on their quest to APUSH greatness. Besides your genius teacher and your fellow sufferers/classmates, here’s some stuff I used:
- AP Central , for exam info and released questions. Official exam questions are good practice.
- Night-Studying’s APUSH Study Guides
- APUSH Masterpost 2.0
- John Green’s Crash Course U.S. History (a savior)
- The American Pageant, 15th Edition notes
- Best Brownies Recipe
I’ll be adding more to this list once I find more resources.
If all else fails, listen to this. | <urn:uuid:f18f64bc-c9f6-4b7f-9cb7-4b3cc279bba1> | CC-MAIN-2018-13 | https://valentinesmuseblog.wordpress.com/category/apush/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-13/segments/1521257645405.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20180317233618-20180318013618-00189.warc.gz | en | 0.963554 | 1,358 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Designs on the Forsyth Petroglyph in Georgia may include astronomical representations of stars, the constellation Draco, the Pleiades asterism, a comet, and meteors or comet fragments and may be a record of a comet impact event that caused a severe weather event in 536 AD.Read more
A mysterious stone wall constructed atop Fort Mountain in north Georgia around 400 AD could represent an astronomical observatory built by people from Mexico.Read more
Research at a 4,200-year-old temple in Peru yields clues to an ancient people who may have clocked the heavensRead more
As archaeologists evaluate whether an ancient temple in Buena Vista, Peru, functioned as a calendar, a different research team is preserving the remains of an unusually elaborate astronomical complex just north, in Chankillo. This solar observatory is considered the oldest in the Americas, dating back to the 4th century B.C., and it offers unique physical evidence that a sun cult inhabited Peru at least 1,500 years before the Incas.Read more
A rock carving discovered in Arizona might depict an ancient star explosion
seen by Native Americans a thousand years ago, scientists announced today.
If confirmed, the rock carving, or “petroglyph” would be the only known
record in the Americas of the well-known supernova of the year 1006.
The discovery in Peru of a 4,200-year-old temple and observatory
pushes back estimates of the rise of an advanced culture in the
Before the advent of calendars, the only way to mark the changing of the seasons was through direct observation. Ancient peoples observed the passage of the sun north from the Winter Solstice, and then south from the Summer Solstice. In Mesoamerica the people observed the sun passing directly overhead twice a year by using special tubes in the temples that pointed at the zenith.
Brazilian archaeologists have found an ancient stone structure in a
remote corner of the Amazon that may cast new light on the region’s
The site, thought to be an observatory or place of worship, pre-dates
European colonisation and is said to suggest a sophisticated
knowledge of astronomy.
Its appearance is being compared to the English site of Stonehenge.
Ocmulgee Mounds located in Macon, Geogia consists of seven mounds and associated plazas. The Great Temple Mound at Ocmulgee was built atop the Macon Plateau and rises 56 feet high from the surface of the plateau.Read more | <urn:uuid:99f1f72f-8ae4-45fd-b136-1b5e824abeaf> | CC-MAIN-2019-47 | https://lostworlds.org/tag/astronomy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-47/segments/1573496671260.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20191122115908-20191122143908-00316.warc.gz | en | 0.923532 | 523 | 3.375 | 3 |
The religious titles and duties held by ancient Egyptian women seemed to give them status in their society. Yet many religious duties were closed to women. Except in extreme cases of emergency and one takeover by female pharaoh Hatchepsut, pharaohs were always male; this had important consequences for religious Egyptian women. The pharaoh stood atop the Egyptian hierarchy in government as well as religion. Since the pharaoh was considered half god and half man, he functioned as an intermediary between the gods and the people and he was also the only official priest of all the gods. Women could never aspire to the rank of chief priest, but they held other respected positions such as priestess. Although large numbers of women in the Old and Middle Kingdoms served as priestesses of the goddess Hathor, their role remained limited. For example, priestesses carried out rituals and feasts, but unlike male priests, did not hold administrative positions. The priestesses were the wives of important officials—mayors, senior civil servants—positions only held by men. Ultimately, priestesses owed their position not to their abilities or religious faith, but to their husbands.
Another title women held in ancient Egyptian religion was God’s Wife of Amen, the main god of the ancient Egyptians. New Kingdom queens did not tend to serve as priestesses but they often held the title of God’s Wife of Amen. By the beginning of the New Kingdom, the title was handed down to kings’ daughters. In contrast to the priestesses of the Old and Middle Kingdoms, the God’s Wife of Amen wielded considerable power. On the one hand, she occupied a respected religious position. Her power is described from a scene in one of Pharaoh Hatshepsut’s chapels: “She [the God’s Wife of Amun] is shown leading a group of male priests to the sacred lake of the temple for the ritual purification before entering the temple courts. They then proceeded to the sanctuary of the god where Hatshepsut as king performed the ceremonies in front of Amun with the god’s wife of Amun in attendance.” The God’s Wife of Amun was clearly the most powerful female religious figure at that time, since it was very unusual for a woman to lead male priests in their rituals and even more unusual for a woman to enter the inner sanctuary of a god. On the other hand, the God’s Wife of Amen also occupied an administrative position. For example, she controlled acres of land. Despite her privileges, the role of God’s Wife of Amen was limited—women could only acquire it by being a king’s daughter.
In addition to the titles of priestess and God’s Wife of Amen, ancient Egyptian women also became professional mourners and songstresses. The profession of mourner was open only to women. They were hired to express grief at funerals by beating their breasts, tearing at their hair and wailing. The fact that this position was reserved for women suggests that only women were capable of this kind of excessive grief which would be incompatible with the man’s role in Egyptian society.
Women of high birth had another option in religious life of the New Kingdom—they could become songstresses. This office gave considerable respect to its bearer. The title shemayet or chantress was the most common one for elite women in the New Kingdom. For example, every woman of status at Thebes was a “chantress of Amen.” This was not a position that any woman could acquire without a wealthy husband. The job of the songstresses was to please the gods and goddesses and to communicate with them but not much is known about their duties. Considering the positions of priestess, God’s Wife of Amen, and professional mourners, the temple songstresses probably had no more authority in this male-dominated society than they did.
Recommended books: Daughters of Isis by Joyce Tyldesley and Silent Images by Zahi Hawass | <urn:uuid:1c0dae8f-f09b-4fb5-9045-204025d0b403> | CC-MAIN-2014-10 | http://www.history4kids.info/blog/2010/04/womens-roles-in-ancient-egyptian-religion.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-10/segments/1393999664120/warc/CC-MAIN-20140305060744-00093-ip-10-183-142-35.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98208 | 828 | 4.0625 | 4 |
With photosynthesis, plants are already busy converting sunlight into usable energy. The question then is how to use plants' natural solar-power abilities to generate energy for us. In this video, an MIT researcher explains how to do just that.
As researcher Andreas Mershin explains, it's all about taking a complex of molecules called photosystem-I, or PS-I, that handle all the photosynthesis duties inside the plants and using them just like the materials in a standard photovoltaic cell so that they produce usable electricity when exposed to sunlight. The idea has been around for nearly a decade, but it's only now that scientists have figured out how to harness enough energy from the PS-I molecules to actually make the idea worthwhile.
To do that, Mershin and his team had to up the amount of PS-I that was exposed to sunlight per surface area of his device. While previous works had only place a thin layer of the molecules in the energy cell, Mershin created what he calls an "electric nanoforest", taking inspiration from densely packed pine forests. In a statement, MIT provided some further technical details on how it all works:
Mershin was able to create a tiny forest of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires as well as a sponge-like titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanostructure coated with the light-collecting material derived from bacteria. The nanowires not only served as a supporting structure for the material, but also as wires to carry the flow of electrons generated by the molecules down to the supporting layer of material, from which it could be connected to a circuit. As an bonus, both zinc oxide and titanium dioxide - the main ingredient in many sunscreens - are very good at absorbing ultraviolet light. That's helpful in this case because ultraviolet tends to damage PS-I, but in these structures that damaging light gets absorbed by the support structure.
There's some complicated science going on here, but the end result, Mershin hopes, is something so simple that it can be conveyed in "one sheet of cartoon instructions, without words." That would mean that isolated villages without consistent access to electricity could quickly and easily build the cells and put them to work gathering energy.
For more, check out the MIT website. | <urn:uuid:caa829a7-114b-4b56-a0c9-70171d4724ca> | CC-MAIN-2017-47 | https://io9.gizmodo.com/5882853/mit-scientist-explains-how-to-make-solar-cells-out-of-grass-clippings?tag=Solar-Power | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-47/segments/1510934805687.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20171119153219-20171119173219-00475.warc.gz | en | 0.957591 | 468 | 4.03125 | 4 |
If you provide your child any Triaminic Syrups or Theraflu Warming Relief Syrups, you might want to think again. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission these products may serve as a serious injury risk to children in your household.
The child-resistant caps don’t always work properly. This means that there’s a good chance that your child can get into them and break through the tamper-evident seal. This serves as a serious risk for unintentional ingestion and poisoning. This is dangerous because these syrups contain diphenhydramine and acetaminophen. Both of these are required by the Poison Prevention Packaging Act to be sealed with child-resistant packaging.
Our Boston child injury attorneys are asking parents to stop using these products immediately. Novartis AG is also recalling about 185 lots of cough syrup. Under this recall are more than 140 lots of Triaminic and more than 40 lots of the Warming Relief Syrup. All of these products were manufactured in the U.S. before December of 2011, according to NBC NEWS.
These products were made at the manufacturing facility in Nebraska. A complaint filed by a consumer last November started an internal investigation and ultimately led to the recall. Officials report that production at the Nebraska facility was stopped in December of 2011 and it hasn’t yet resumed.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are more than 300 children under the age of 19 in the U.S. who are treated in an emergency room because of accidental poisonings each and every day. Two children die each day because of these accidents.
Everyday items in your home, such as household cleaners and medicines, can be poisonous to children as well. Active, curious children will often investigate–and sometimes try to eat or drink–anything that they can get.
You can help to prevent these kinds of accidents by locking up your medicines and any toxic products you might have in your household. If children can’t see them or get to them, this won’t be an issue. It’s also a good idea to keep the number of the nationwide poison control center somewhere noticeable. It’s 1-800-222-1222. It’s open all day, every day. If it’s a real emergency, call 9-1-1.
If you’ve got medicines in your household that you no longer need — toss them out. It’s important that you safely dispose of any medications that are unused, expired or unneeded. This counts for both prescriptions drugs and for over-the-counter drugs. The best way to get rid of medicines is to mix with kitty litter or coffee grounds and throw them away. Check your medicine cabinet and properly dispose of unneeded products.
If you or a loved one has been harmed by a defective product, contact the personal injury attorneys at Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers, LLC for a free consultation. Call (617) 777-7777.
More Blog Entries:
TVM: Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) and Stress Urinary Incontinence: What You Need to Know, Boston Personal Injury Attorney Blog, February 4, 2013
Could a New Device Provide Better Data on When Transvaginal Mesh Should Be Used?, Boston Personal Injury Attorney Blog, January 27, 2013 | <urn:uuid:f95efa6c-08dc-4b85-9e93-2ca76e76506e> | CC-MAIN-2024-10 | https://www.bostonpersonalinjuryattorneyblog.com/attention-new-england-parents-childs-cough-syrup-recalled/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-10/segments/1707947475422.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20240301161412-20240301191412-00709.warc.gz | en | 0.950839 | 697 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Cosmetics: “articles intended to be rubbed, poured, sprinkled, or sprayed on, introduced into, or otherwise applied to the human body…for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering the appearance” FD&C Act, sec. 201
Stability Tests. Different tests that provide evidence on how the quality of a cosmetic product varies under the influence of a variety of environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, and light. They also aim to establish a shelf-life for the cosmetic product and recommended storage conditions.
Shelf -Life. The time interval that a cosmetic product is expected to remain within specification provided if stored under the conditions defined on the label in the proposed containers and closures.
Beaker: the Container. Made with Pyrex glass, can resist high temperatures and it’s perfect for heating, stirring and pouring. Cheap and versatile, can’t work without it. It exists in several different sizes (example 50, 250, 500 ml).
Centrifuge: a device that separates fluids according to their density. The separation is achieved through vessel’s high rate spinning. Fo example, in the case of an o/w emulsion, the oil tends to go on top due to its higher density.
Hot plate: it’s what you should use to heat beakers. Ceramic coated surfaces are the best, but aluminum. A hot plate can include a magnetic stirrer, allowing the liquid to be stirred. When making your decision, key factors to consider are: the size, the presence of the stirrer, the surface’s material, temperature range, digital temperature indicator (very useful for those processes where the temperature has to be set and controlled).
Spatula: another excellent lab tool. Always pick stainless steel, one size is enough for most tasks . For bigger tasks , use metal spoons.
Water. Water is the most common solvent used in cosmetics.
Emulsion. An intimate mixture of two essentially immiscible liquids that exhibits an acceptable shelf life.The most common types of emulsions in cosmetics include water as one of the phases and oil as the other. If the oil droplets are dispersed in water, the emulsion is termed oil in water o/w) and vice versa. Very popular are also water in silicon emulsions. | <urn:uuid:63053055-3aa4-4847-973c-2e4bc25b5aee> | CC-MAIN-2023-23 | https://luisafanzani.com/resources/glossary/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-23/segments/1685224654012.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20230607175304-20230607205304-00738.warc.gz | en | 0.911023 | 499 | 2.875 | 3 |
If you’re weighing up easier ways to unlock your phone, you might be wondering what an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner is. In this article, all is revealed.
When you’re setting up your phone, you’ll often get the choice of entering a PIN or pattern, using facial recognition, or scanning your fingerprint in order to unlock it and get inside securely. However, did you know that there are different types of fingerprint sensors?
A capacitive fingerprint scanner works by registering how the ridges on your finger alter the charge in capacitors when pressed against them, creating a map of your fingerprints in this way. An optical fingerprint scanner, by contrast, shines a light onto your fingerprint in order to detect its shape by the light and dark areas that it scans. Additionally there’s one more type of scanner, and that’s the one addressed by this article.
How does an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner work?
Ultrasonic fingerprint scanners work by transmitting an ultrasonic pulse of inaudible sound waves against your finger when it’s pressed against the scanner, and this information is bounced back to a receiver. This way, it can map out the ridges on your finger for an accurate three-dimensional rendering. This type of technology can be hidden underneath a display (unlike a capacitive sensor), and is doesn’t need to light up when in use (like an optical scanner).
What are the benefits of an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner?
One major benefit is that you can still use an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner even if your fingertip is wet or oily at the time, due to that three-dimensional scanning. So if you’ve been caught in the rain or are just back from exercising, you should still be able to unlock your phone as usual.
What’s more they’re probably also the most accurate of the three methods listed here (though still not foolproof), so your phone is less likely to be opened by someone who is not you.
What are the disadvantages of an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner?
One disadvantage is that the technology isn’t that widespread yet across the price range; they’re mainly concentrated among premium Samsung handsets, such as the Galaxy S22 Ultra, and so this elevated cost is the major thing that counts against them. | <urn:uuid:a623800a-5ea9-4bdb-aed3-ea5dbf1113c9> | CC-MAIN-2022-49 | https://www.trustedreviews.com/explainer/what-is-an-ultrasonic-fingerprint-sensor-4241284?utm_source=keystone&utm_medium=keystone_core_reviews_rss&utm_campaign=trusted+reviews | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-49/segments/1669446711045.18/warc/CC-MAIN-20221205200634-20221205230634-00191.warc.gz | en | 0.939571 | 479 | 2.703125 | 3 |
December 5, 2007 Recent flight tests by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and Boeing have demonstrated that unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) are capable of autonomous rendezvous with a tanker aircraft for refueling. Given their limited in size and payload capacity compared to larger manned aircraft, the development promises to significantly increase the the flight-times and range of of UAVs.
The government-industry program known as Automated Aerial Refueling (AAR) is seeking to develop and demonstrate systems that will enable UAVs to safely approach and maneuver around tanker aircraft so they can successfully perform boom and receptacle refueling operations.
The recent tests were conducted using a Calspan Learjet specially equipped to fly autonomously as a UAV and a Boeing KC-135R tanker. The autonomously guided the Learjet was successfully maneuvered into seven air refueling positions behind the tanker - contact, pre-contact, left and right inboard observation, left and right outboard observation, and break away - with the. During the tests a pilot flew the Learjet to the vicinity of the tanker before the flight control computer (built by Boeing Phantom Works) took over, guiding the aircraft for more than 1 hour and 40 minutes and holding it in the critical contact position for 20 minutes.
"By adding an automated aerial refueling capability to UAVs, we can significantly increase their combat radius and mission times while reducing their forward staging needs and response times," said David Riley, Boeing Phantom Works program manager for the AAR program.
"These tests show that we are making great advancements in system integrity, continuity and availability through improved relative navigation algorithms, control laws and hardware," Riley said. "They also show we are making great strides toward transitioning AAR technology into production."
The next step is a Phase II program that will include autonomous multi-ship operations and delivery of fuel to the surrogate UAV.
See the stories that matter in your inbox every morning | <urn:uuid:1f782d8a-b243-44a6-bd25-cf7a5711b359> | CC-MAIN-2016-36 | http://newatlas.com/uav-autonomous-aerial-refueling/8460/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-36/segments/1471982290765.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20160823195810-00096-ip-10-153-172-175.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952458 | 400 | 2.796875 | 3 |
‘Yerevan - So close and yet so far away’
In the foreground you see a part of the Armenian capital, Yerevan.
In the distance Mount Ararat with its two peaks: Greater Ararat (5.137 m.) and Lesser Ararat (3.896 m.).
According to the Bible and the Koran Noah's ark landed on Mount Ararat when the waters of the flood subsided.
Also in Armenian culture this mountain is of high significance.
Like Mount Olympus is the home of the Gods in the Greek mythology, Mount Ararat is the same in the Armenian mythology. It has become the national symbol of the country and is featured in its coat of arms. Armenians consider the Ararat as their highest mountain even though he is located on Turkish territory.
As a consequence of the history of both nations, the border between Armenia and Turkey is closed.
It is possible for Armenians to visit Turkey and for Turks to go to Armenia. But then a long detour overland through Georgia or Iran must be made or the airplane must be taken to Istanbul.
While Mount Ararat is at a distance of only 56 km. from Armenia's capital and clearly dominating its skyline, for many Armenians their symbol remains unattainable ...
The picture was taken a little before sunset on top of Yerevan Cascade (a very huge staircase and monument built on a hillside with water fountains running down). | <urn:uuid:e932e76c-84b3-4245-a580-40e91ffce112> | CC-MAIN-2016-36 | http://www.trekearth.com/workshops/1454808/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-36/segments/1471983553659.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20160823201913-00092-ip-10-153-172-175.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949588 | 298 | 3.078125 | 3 |
LINGUISTICS & CULTURE
|Data:||19/JAN/2013 9:12 AM|
I know why it struck you as grammatically weird, Alef.
Stative verbs don´t take an ING form when used in present continuous.
But currently they have it used as such in an slangy way, that´s why you can see the McDonald´s hot air balloon with the novelty and trucker hats being sold with the phrase.
In school benches don´t use it, at least under the watch of your grammar teacher.
Some stative(or state) verbs. [as opposed to dynamic verbs]
know, understand, believe, like, decide, seem, hate, want
There are regular and irregular stative verbs. But when they are used to show a particular state they do not take the -ing form.
However, some verbs can be used to show an action or a state.
Tuesday September 18, 2012
Dealing with 'stative verbs'
By FADZILAH AMIN
Is the phrase, “She is tasting your curry” an example of grammatically incorrect Indian English?
My column in this week’s Mind Our English deals with “verbs of state”. No, these are not government or royal verbs, as may be suggested by the analogy with “matters of state” (government matters) or “a state banquet” (a grand dinner hosted by a monarch or president).
They are actually called “state verbs” or “stative verbs”, because unlike most verbs, they express a state or condition, while other verbs (sometimes referred to as “dynamic verbs”) express actions, activities, events or processes.
Among the stative verbs are: be, believe, belong, contain, exist, feel, forget, have, hear, hope, know, lack, like, love, mean, own, prefer, reach, realise. remember, resemble, see, seem, smell, taste, understand and want.
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Índice de mensagens | <urn:uuid:d782241d-001d-43a6-a6b3-f50d567d5ea8> | CC-MAIN-2020-24 | https://www.sk.com.br/forum/display_message.php?message_id=104381 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-24/segments/1590348492295.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20200604223445-20200605013445-00421.warc.gz | en | 0.872511 | 452 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Mountain pine beetle has killed thousands of acres of trees throughout Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region. This insect attacks several species of pines; lodgepole, ponderosa, Scots and limber pines are the most common. Popcorn-like masses of pitch on the trunks of trees sometimes accompanied by a reddish boring dust is evidence that a tree has been attacked by mountain pine beetles. At non-epidemic levels such as we're seeing now, high value trees can be protected by pheromone packets. Additionally, infested trees should be removed prior to beetle flight.
PHOTO (left) accredited to: S. Katovich, USDA Forest Service, www.Bugwood.org
PHOTO (right) accredited to: W. Cranshaw, Colorado State Univ., www.Bugwood.org | <urn:uuid:5e50250d-c6ad-44ca-8db6-3a96792d712b> | CC-MAIN-2017-26 | http://earthwiseinc.net/tree-pests/mountain-pine-beetle | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-26/segments/1498128320865.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20170626203042-20170626223042-00570.warc.gz | en | 0.96213 | 168 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Zooming in from the icy depths of space, a comet often captivates people with its glowing nucleus and long streaming tail that trails behind it in the night sky. Discovered by Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp in 1995, the Hale-Bopp comet came within 1.315 AU of Earth in 1997. One AU is 150 million kilometers (93 million miles). Scientists have computed its orbital period so you can find out when Hale-Bopp will return.
Hale-Bopp: A Profile
Scientists and organizations around the world studied Hale-Bopp intently. The Pic du Midi Observatory determined that the comet rotated every 11.4 hours as it traveled through space. When Hale and Bopp discovered Hale-Bopp, it was an unusually bright comet outside of Jupiter's orbit. It was also a thousand times brighter than Halley's comet was at the same distance. Using images from the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA determined that Hale-Bopp's diameter was approximately 40 kilometers (24.8 miles). That made it rather large considering that the nucleus of an average comet is less than 10 kilometers (6.2 miles).
Comets Come From Far Away
The orbital periods of comets can be hundreds or thousands of years long. Short-period comets that travel in close orbits may take up to 200 years to complete a journey around the sun, but some comets take much longer. Many comets come from the Oort Cloud, a cold region on the fringe of our solar system beyond Pluto's orbit. Although some comets come close to the sun, very few of them collide with it.
Hale-Bopp Orbital Period
You don't see comets every day because they have long orbital periods. Some comets never return. Comets such as Hale-Bopp and Halley's are periodic comets because they return regularly to the sun's vicinity. Orbital periods can change. Hale-Bopp's orbital period changed from 4,206 years to 2,380 years following a relatively close approach to Jupiter. The planet's gravity altered the comet's orbit so that it won't take Hale-Bopp as long to return on its next visit. Look for it again in the year 4377.
A Tale of Many Tails
A comet's nucleus heats up as it approaches the sun. When solar heat melts the ice in the nucleus, material streams away from the comet and forms a tail that can stretch for up to 150 million kilometers (93.2 million miles). Comet tails don't last long, however. When comets get close to the sun, parts of their tails vanish. In 1997, Hale-Bopp had two visible tails. The secondary visible tail consisted of ions caused by the sun's solar wind. Astronomers also found a third tail that nobody could see without using spectroscopic instruments.
- Getty Images/Photodisc/Getty Images | <urn:uuid:4ee98d63-074d-486a-b999-05e8376febc4> | CC-MAIN-2017-26 | http://education.seattlepi.com/orbital-period-halebopp-around-sun-5841.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-26/segments/1498128321553.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20170627203405-20170627223405-00484.warc.gz | en | 0.930081 | 591 | 4.28125 | 4 |
Creating a More Flood-Resistant Jamaica Bay
Professor Catherine Seavitt Nordenson (front) with members of her research team: (L to R) Eli Sands, Danae Alessi and Kjirsten Alexander.
Some of the homes near Jamaica Bay that were damaged by Hurricane Sandy have yet to be repaired.
A sewer outflow to a stream running into Jamaica Bay.
Professor Catherine Seavitt Nordenson awarded $250,000 to design strategies to improve coastal resiliency of a vital ecological resource
The City College of New York is one of four colleges and universities awarded grants from the Rockefeller Foundation to develop design strategies to improve resiliency in coastal zones subject to flooding such as that caused by Hurricane Sandy. The CCNY project will focus on developing proposals for Jamaica Bay, a 31-square mile estuarine embayment located in Brooklyn and Queens.
The research is intended to supplement the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' North Atlantic Coast Comprehensive Study to examine risk reduction strategies for vulnerable coastal communities. Catherine Seavitt, associate professor of landscape architecture in City College's Spitzer School of Architecture, is the principal investigator on the grant.
In October 2012, Hurricane Sandy severely impacted Jamaica Bay and the surrounding land areas, including the Rockaway Peninsula, a barrier finger of land that forms the bay's southern boundary. While the area's natural wetlands and sandy beaches provided some resiliency to the brunt of the storm surge, urban development had compromised the region's protective capacity. Consequently, Jamaica Bay needs new management strategies to contain the loss of fragile marsh islands and nourish the sediment-starved bay.
"As sea levels rise and the risk of storm surge and flooding from hurricanes and other storms increases, the vast scale of Jamaica Bay allows this region of the city to be recast and restructured as an impactful ecological, infrastructural and community asset that can enhance the region's resiliency," said Professor Seavitt Nordenson, whose research focuses on design adaption to sea level rise in urban coastal environments and rethinking landscape restoration strategies to adapt to climate change.
Princeton University is coordinating the multi-university effort with a planning and engineering team. The City College grant, for $250,000 over 14 months, will be developed in three phases, each concluding with an interim review with peers from City College, other CUNY institutions, and invited guests.
In addition, Princeton will organize public workshops that will include representatives from the other institutions receiving grants – University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University and Princeton – and a panel of expert advisors.
At the end of each phase, the City College team will produce a report with a narrative and documentation of that phase's research, studies, analyses, maps and resilient design proposals. The final phase will conclude with the preparation of a final summary report and public exhibition.
In addition to Professor Seavitt Nordenson, the City College team consists of Kjirsten Alexander, MLA '12, senior research associate; Danae Alessi, MLA '13, research associate, and Eli Sands, a second-year landscape architecture graduate student, research assistant.
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About The City College of New York
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided low-cost, high-quality education for New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. More than 16,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in: the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture; the School of Education; the Grove School of Engineering; the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, and the Colin L. Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership. U.S. News, Princeton Review and Forbes all rank City College among the best colleges and universities in the United States. | <urn:uuid:bf0c3d9c-6602-4081-9c3c-35ad479c4f9a> | CC-MAIN-2014-35 | http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/seavitt-nordenson-jamaica-bay.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-35/segments/1408500833461.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20140820021353-00460-ip-10-180-136-8.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925906 | 775 | 2.5625 | 3 |
There are many amazing things in our Universe, and sometimes it seems more interesting than the most sophisticated inventions of science fiction writers. And now we want to talk about objects in deep space (both real and assumed), which everyone has heard about, but not everyone imagines.
There are many different stars: some are hotter, others are colder, some are large, others (conventionally) small. The red giant star has a low surface temperature and a huge radius. Because of this, it has a high luminosity. The radius of the red giant can reach 800 solar, and the brightness can exceed the solar one by 10 thousand times. Aldebaran, Arcturus, Gakrux are red giants included in the list of the brightest luminaries of the night sky. At the same time, red giants are not the most massive. The largest stars are red supergiants: their radius can exceed the solar one by 1500 times.
The red giant is the final stage in the evolution of a star. A star becomes a red giant when at its center all the hydrogen is converted into helium, and the thermonuclear combustion of hydrogen continues at the periphery of the helium core. Thus, all red giants have a similar structure: a hot dense core and a very rarefied and extended shell. This leads to an increase in luminosity, expansion of the outer layers and a decrease in surface temperature. And also to the intense stellar wind - the outflow of matter from the star into interstellar space.
The further fate of the red giant depends on the mass. If the mass is low, then the star will transform into a white dwarf; if it is high, it will turn into a neutron star or black hole.
A dwarf star is the exact opposite of a giant star. Before us is an evolved luminary, the mass of which is comparable to the mass of the Sun. Moreover, the radius of white dwarfs is about 100 times smaller than the radius of our star. They are "born" when the red giants "shed" their shell, which scatters in the form of a planetary nebula in interstellar space. The remaining cold and almost non-emitting helium core is called a white dwarf.
White dwarfs occupy 3-10% of the stellar population of our Galaxy, but due to their low luminosity it is very difficult to identify them. An "elderly" white dwarf is no longer directly white. The name itself comes from the color of the first open stars, for example Sirius B (its size, by the way, can be quite comparable with the size of our Earth). In fact, a white dwarf is not a star at all, since thermonuclear reactions no longer take place in its interior. Simply put, a white dwarf is not a star, but its "corpse".
With further evolution, the white dwarf cools even more, and its color changes from white to red. The final stage in the evolution of such an object is a cooled black dwarf. Another option is the accumulation of matter on the surface of the white dwarf, "overflowing" from another star, compression and subsequent explosion of a new or supernova.
Not everyone knows about this type of stars. And this is strange, because our own Sun is a typical yellow dwarf. Yellow dwarfs are small stars with a mass of 0.8–1.2 solar masses. These are the luminaries of the so-called main sequence. In the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, this is the area that contains stars that use the thermonuclear reaction of fusing helium from hydrogen as an energy source.
Yellow dwarfs have a surface temperature of 5000–6000 K, and their average lifetime is 10 billion years.Such stars turn into red giants after their supply of hydrogen is burned up. A similar fate awaits our Sun: according to scientists' forecasts, in about 5-7 billion years it will engulf our planet, becoming a red giant, and then turn into a white dwarf. But long before all this, life on our planet will be burned.
A brown (or brown) dwarf is a very unusual dark red or even infrared object that is difficult to classify in any way. It occupies an intermediate position between a star and a gas planet. Brown dwarfs have a mass equal to 1–8% of the solar mass. They are too massive for planets, and gravitational compression makes it possible for thermonuclear reactions with the participation of "easily combustible" elements. But there is not enough mass to "ignite" hydrogen, and the brown dwarf shines for a relatively short time in comparison with an ordinary star.
The surface temperature of a brown dwarf can be 300–3000 K. It cools down continuously throughout its life: the larger such an object, the slower this process takes place. Simply put, a brown dwarf, due to thermonuclear fusion, heats up at the first stage of its life, and then cools down, becoming like an ordinary planet.
Brown dwarfs can form both in the protoplanetary disk of a star, and independently of other space objects. Planets can also appear around them and, according to some ideas, even inhabited ones. But since brown dwarfs emit little heat and for a very short time, the habitat zone is located quite close to them and disappears very quickly. If on Earth it took 3.5 billion years for the emergence of multicellular life, and the period of its further existence, given a successful coincidence of circumstances, is quite long, then, for example, multicellular life on such a planet near a brown dwarf with a mass of 0.04 solar will last no more than 0.5 billion years. Then, as the dwarf cools, the habitable zone will approach it, and all life on the planet will perish.
A binary star (or binary system) refers to two gravitationally bound stars that revolve around a common center of mass. The binary star seems to be a very exotic phenomenon, but it is very common in the Milky Way galaxy. Researchers believe that about half of all stars in the Galaxy are binary systems. Sometimes you can even find systems that consist of three stars.
An ordinary star forms as a result of the compression of a molecular cloud due to gravitational instability. In the case of a double star, the situation is similar, but as for the reason for the separation, here scientists cannot come to a common opinion.
A supernova is a phenomenon in which the brightness of a star increases by 4-8 orders of magnitude, and then gradually decreases. This is due to the explosion of the star, in which it is completely destroyed. Such a star overshadows other stars for some time: and this is not surprising, because when it explodes, its luminosity can exceed the solar one by 1 billion times. In galaxies comparable to ours, the appearance of one supernova is recorded approximately once every 30 years. However, stardust interferes with the observation of the object, because during the explosion, a huge volume of matter enters interstellar space. The leftover matter can act as a building material for a neutron star or black hole. Our star and the planets of the solar system originated in a giant cloud of molecular gas and dust. Approximately 4.6 billion years ago, the cloud began to compress, and for the first hundred thousand years after that, the Sun was a collapsing protostar. Over time, it stabilized and took on its present appearance.
There are two main types of supernovae.
Type I has no hydrogen in the optical spectrum. Therefore, scientists believe that such supernovae originated from the explosion of a white dwarf.After all, he, as we have already said, does not have hydrogen. Such white dwarfs must necessarily be part of a binary star. At a certain moment, matter from the second star begins to "pump" onto the white dwarf, and when it reaches its critical mass, a collapse occurs. Type I supernovae explode in both elliptical and spiral galaxies.
In type II supernovae, researchers record hydrogen in the spectrum. Hence the assumption arises that we are talking about the explosion of an "ordinary" star. When the "fuel" in a massive (more than 10 solar masses) star is depleted, its formed core can reach a critical mass and collapse. In this scenario, the core of a Type II supernova ultimately becomes a neutron star. Such supernovae appear only in spiral galaxies.
A neutron star consists mainly of neutrons - heavy elementary particles that do not have an electric charge. As already mentioned, the reason for their formation is the gravitational collapse of normal stars. Due to attraction, the stellar masses begin to pull towards the center until they become incredibly compressed. As a result, the neutrons are packed, as it were. Such an object has a thin atmosphere of hot plasma, an outer crust of ions and electrons, an inner crust of electrons and free neutrons, and an outer and inner core of densely packed neutrons. Many neutron stars rotate very rapidly - up to hundreds of revolutions per second.
A neutron star is small - usually its radius does not exceed 20 km. Moreover, the mass of most of these objects is 1, 3–1, 5 solar (the theory assumes the existence of neutron stars with a mass of even 2.5 solar masses). The density of a neutron star is so great that one teaspoon of its substance weighs billions of tons.
Pulsars are neutron stars that emit radio, gamma, optical and X-rays, which are recorded by instruments in the form of pulses. The axis of rotation of such a star does not coincide with the axis of its magnetic field. And the pulsar radiates just along the latter - from its magnetic poles. And since the star rotates on its axis, we on Earth can observe radiation only at the moment when the pulsar turns its magnetic pole towards our planet. This can be compared to a lighthouse: it seems to the observer on the shore that he periodically blinks, although in reality the searchlight simply turns in the other direction. In other words, we observe some neutron stars as pulsars because one of their magnetic poles turns out to be directed towards the Earth as it rotates.
The best studied pulsar is PSR 0531 + 21, which is located in the Crab Nebula at a distance of 6,520 light years from us. This neutron star makes 30 revolutions per second, and its total radiation power is 100,000 times higher than that of the Sun. However, many aspects related to pulsars remain to be studied.
Pulsar and quasar are sometimes confused, but the difference between them is very large. Quasar is a mysterious object, whose name comes from the phrase "quasi-stellar radio source". Such objects are some of the brightest and most distant from us. In terms of radiation power, a quasar can exceed all the stars of the Milky Way combined by a hundred times.
Of course, the discovery of the first quasar in 1960 sparked incredible interest in the phenomenon. Scientists now believe that the quasar is the active nucleus of the galaxy. There is a supermassive black hole pulling on itself matter from the space that surrounds it. The mass of the hole is simply gigantic, and the radiation power exceeds the radiation power of all stars located in the galaxy. The closest quasar to us is located at a distance of 2 billion light years, and the most distant, due to their incredible visibility, we can observe at a distance of 10 billion light years.
Blazars are quasars that emit powerful plasma beams (the so-called relativistic jets) that can be seen by an observer from Earth. Two rays emanate from the core of the blazar and are directed in opposite directions. These streams of radiation and substances can destroy all living things in their path. If such a ray passes at a distance of at least 10 sv. years from the Earth, there will be no life on it.
The name itself comes from the words "quasar" and "BL Lizards". The latter is a characteristic representative of the blazar subtype known as the BLAZARTIDA. This class is distinguished by the features of the optical spectrum, which is devoid of broad emission lines characteristic of quasars.
Now scientists have figured out the distance to the most distant blazar PKS 1424 + 240: it is 7.4 billion light years.
Without a doubt, this is one of the most mysterious objects in the universe. Much has been written about black holes, but their nature is still hidden from us. The second cosmic speed (the speed required to overcome the gravity of a celestial body and leave the orbit around it) for them exceeds the speed of light! Nothing can escape the gravity of a black hole. It is so huge that it practically stops the passage of time.
A black hole forms from a massive star that has used up its fuel. A star that collapses under its own weight and carries along the space-time continuum around it. The gravitational field becomes so strong that even light can no longer escape from it. As a result, the region in which the star was previously located becomes a black hole. In other words, a black hole is a curved section of the universe. He sucks in the matter located nearby. The first key to understanding black holes is believed to be Einstein's theory of relativity. However, the answers to all the basic questions have yet to be found out.
Continuing the topic, one simply cannot pass by a purely hypothetical object - the so-called wormholes, or wormholes. They are represented as space-time tunnels, consisting of two entrances and a throat. A wormhole is a topological feature of space-time that allows (hypothetically) travel by the shortest path of all. To understand at least a little the nature of a wormhole, you can roll a piece of paper (symbolizing our space-time), and then pierce it with a needle. The resulting hole will be like a wormhole. If we move along the surface of a sheet from one hole to another (which in our reality is the only thing we can do), it will take a long way, but hypothetically, after all, it is possible to go through the hole and immediately find ourselves on the other side!
At different times, experts have put forward different versions of wormholes. The possibility of the existence of something like this proves the general theory of relativity, but so far it has not been possible to find a single wormhole. Perhaps, in the future, new studies will help confirm the existence of such objects.
A nebula is nothing more than a cosmic cloud, which is composed of dust and gas. She is the main building block of our Universe: from it stars and stellar systems are formed. The nebula is one of the most beautiful astronomical objects that can glow with all the colors of the rainbow.
The Andromeda Nebula (or Andromeda Galaxy) is the closest galaxy to the Milky Way. It is located at a distance of 2.52 million sv. years from Earth, much larger than our Galaxy and contains about 1 trillion stars. Perhaps humanity will reach the Andromeda Nebula in the distant future. And even if this does not happen, the Nebula itself will "come to visit", engulfing the Milky Way in 5 billion years.
It is important to clarify here. The word "nebula" has a long history: it used to be used to designate almost any astronomical object, including galaxies. For example, the Andromeda Nebula galaxy.Now they have moved away from this practice, and the word "nebula" denotes accumulations of dust, gas and plasma.
There is an emission nebula (a cloud of high temperature gas), a reflection nebula (not emitting its own radiation), a dark nebula (a dust cloud that blocks light from objects located behind it) and a planetary nebula (a shell of gas produced by a star at the end of its evolution). This also includes supernova remnants.
This is a hypothetical phenomenon that does not emit electromagnetic radiation and does not directly interact with it. Therefore, we cannot detect it directly, but we see signs of the existence of dark matter when observing the behavior of astrophysical objects and the gravitational effects they create.
How did you find dark matter? Researchers calculated the total mass of the visible part of the Universe, as well as gravitational indicators, and identified a certain imbalance, which they attributed to a mysterious substance. They also found out that some galaxies rotate faster than they should according to calculations. Consequently, something influences them and does not allow them to "fly away" to the sides.
Scientists now believe that dark matter cannot be composed of ordinary matter, and that it is based on tiny exotic particles. But some doubt this, arguing that dark matter can also be composed of macroscopic objects.
If there is anything more mysterious than dark matter, it is dark energy. Unlike the first, dark energy is a relatively new concept, but it has already managed to turn our understanding of the Universe upside down. Dark energy, according to the findings of scientists, is something that causes our universe to expand with acceleration, that is, over time, more and more. Based on the hypothesis of dark matter, the mass distribution in the Universe looks like this: 74% is dark energy, 22% is dark matter, 0.4% is stars and other objects, 3.6% is intergalactic gas.
If in the case of dark matter there is at least indirect evidence of its existence, then dark energy exists purely within the framework of a mathematical model that considers the expansion of our Universe. Therefore, no one can now say with certainty what dark energy is. | <urn:uuid:6a175abb-54fe-4159-b489-28a8900769c2> | CC-MAIN-2023-06 | https://scientific-opinion.com/12216964-guide-to-the-universe-who-is-who | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-06/segments/1674764500058.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20230203154140-20230203184140-00499.warc.gz | en | 0.9502 | 3,697 | 3.484375 | 3 |
۱۴۰۰-۹-۱۲، ۰۶:۴۰ صبح
Aluminum (Al), also spelled aluminium, chemical element, a lightweight silvery white metal of main Group 13 (IIIa, or boron group) of the periodic table. Aluminum is the most abundant metallic element in Earth's crust and the most widely used nonferrous metal. Because of its chemical activity, aluminum never occurs in the metallic form in nature, but its compounds are present to a greater or lesser extent in almost all rocks, vegetation, and animals. Aluminum is concentrated in the outer 16 km (10 miles) of Earth's crust, of which it constitutes about 8 percent by weight; it is exceeded in amount only by oxygen and silicon. The name aluminum is derived from the Latin word alumen, used to describe potash alum, or aluminum potassium sulfate, KAl(SO4)2.12H2O.
Aluminum is added in small amounts to certain metals to improve their properties for specific uses, as in aluminum bronzes and most magnesium-base alloys; or, for aluminum-base alloys, moderate amounts of other metals and silicon are added to aluminum. The metal and its alloys are used extensively for aircraft construction, building materials, consumer durables (refrigerators, air conditioners, cooking utensils), electrical conductors, and chemical and food-processing equipment.
Pure aluminum (99.996 percent) is quite soft and weak; commercial aluminum (99 to 99.6 percent pure) with small amounts of silicon and iron is hard and strong. Ductile and highly malleable, aluminum can be drawn into wire or rolled into thin foil. The metal is only about one-third as dense as iron or copper. Though chemically active, aluminum is nevertheless highly corrosion-resistant, because in air a hard, tough oxide film forms on its surface. There are also other aluminum contents like 1050 Aluminum, 1060 Aluminum, 1100 Aluminum, Alloy Aluminum, 2A12 Aluminum, 3003 Aluminum, 5052 Aluminum, 5083 Aluminum, 5754 Aluminum, etc.
Aluminum is an excellent conductor of heat and electricity. Its thermal conductivity is about one-half that of copper; its electrical conductivity, about two-thirds. It crystallizes in the face-centred cubic structure. All natural aluminum is the stable isotope aluminum-27. Metallic aluminum and its oxide and hydroxide are nontoxic.
Aluminum is slowly attacked by most dilute acids and rapidly dissolves in concentrated hydrochloric acid. Concentrated nitric acid, however, can be shipped in aluminum tank cars because it renders the metal passive. Even very pure aluminum is vigorously attacked by alkalies such as sodium and potassium hydroxide to yield hydrogen and the aluminate ion. Because of its great affinity for oxygen, finely divided aluminum, if ignited, will burn in carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide with the formation of aluminum oxide and carbide, but, at temperatures up to red heat, aluminum is inert to sulfur.
Aluminum can be detected in concentrations as low as one part per million by means of emission spectroscopy. Aluminum can be quantitatively analyzed as the oxide (formula Al2O3) or as a derivative of the organic nitrogen compound 8-hydroxyquinoline. The derivative has the molecular formula Al(C9H6ON)3. | <urn:uuid:f8b88eec-2544-4197-94ce-791f2819e101> | CC-MAIN-2022-21 | http://www.iranshahrsaz.com/showthread.php?tid=30996&pid=92071 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-21/segments/1652662520936.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20220517225809-20220518015809-00062.warc.gz | en | 0.920486 | 711 | 3.421875 | 3 |
In the recently released draft of the Common Core Standards, there is a noticeable emphasis on linear models such as number lines. I have discussed how many Japanese textbooks use double number lines to discuss multiplication and division of fractions, as well as some proportional problems. However, the Common Core Standards also include a model that is called "tape diagram." In their glossary, "tape diagrams" is defined as follows:
In an earlier post, I discussed how a tape diagram may help children represent addition and subtraction situations. The primary purpose of such diagrams is to help students decide the appropriate operation, that is addition or subtraction. However, Japanese textbooks also use tape diagrams, or segment diagrams, to deal with problems in upper grades, too.
Consider a problem like this one:
For this problem, you can use a diagram like the following:
From this diagram, we can see that the total number of cars are made up of 4 equal segments, one of which is equal to the number of trucks and the other three are equal to the number of cars. Since the four segments are equal, we can divide 156 by 4 to find out how many cars each segment represent.
Here is another problem:
This problem can be represented as follows:
From this diagram, students can determine that 115 is made up of 5 equal segments since the last short segment is a half of the other segments, each of which is equal to the number of students at School B. So, 115÷5=23 represents a half of School B. Thus, the number of students at School B is 46 students. The number of students at School A is 23x7=161.
You might notice that these problems can be easily solved if we use algebra, but having diagrams such as tape/segment diagrams, students can develop the foundation for solving these problems algebraically.
There are other types of problems for which tape/segment diagram may be useful. Consider this problem:
You can represent this problem using a tape/segment diagram like this:
From this diagram, we can tell that the number of students this year should be 100-24=76% of last year's student population, 475. Thus, we can find the answer by multiplying 475 by 0.76. Alternately, we can subtract 475x0.24 from 475, too. [Click here for a discussion on how double number lines may be used with problems involving percents.]
What we need to keep in mind about these representations is that they are supposed to be students' thinking tools, not just teachers' explanation tools. In order to help make these representations as their own thinking tools, these representations have to be carefully taught. In the Japanese textbooks, they start building these linear models starting in Grade 2 and help students experience increasingly more complicated representations gradually and systematically. I believe the emphasis on linear models in the Common Core Standards is important, but just showing these models to students will not automatically produce positive results. | <urn:uuid:9c06ab21-b77f-4395-b537-7d1cf2289278> | CC-MAIN-2014-52 | http://mathgpselaboration.blogspot.com/2010/04/mp5-tape-diagrams.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-52/segments/1418802769867.110/warc/CC-MAIN-20141217075249-00053-ip-10-231-17-201.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958558 | 608 | 4.34375 | 4 |
public abstract class Instrument extends SoundbankResource
An instrument is a sound-synthesis algorithm with certain parameter settings, usually designed to emulate a specific real-world musical instrument or to achieve a specific sort of sound effect. Instruments are typically stored in collections called soundbanks. Before the instrument can be used to play notes, it must first be loaded onto a synthesizer, and then it must be selected for use on one or more channels, via a program-change command. MIDI notes that are subsequently received on those channels will be played using the sound of the selected instrument.
InstrumentConstructs a new MIDI instrument from the specified
Patch. When a subsequent request is made to load the instrument, the sound bank will search its contents for this instrument's
Patch, and the instrument will be loaded into the synthesizer at the bank and program location indicated by the
soundbank- sound bank containing the instrument
patch- the patch of this instrument
name- the name of this instrument
dataClass- the class used to represent the sample's data
- See Also:
getPatchpublic Patch getPatch()Obtains the
Patchobject that indicates the bank and program numbers where this instrument is to be stored in the synthesizer.
- this instrument's patch | <urn:uuid:48187faa-8c40-4e96-b8da-8e7d60d7766a> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://crac.github.io/openjdk-builds/javadoc/api/java.desktop/javax/sound/midi/Instrument.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100710.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20231208013411-20231208043411-00505.warc.gz | en | 0.864409 | 257 | 3.046875 | 3 |
Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.
CONTENT] The Lincoln Memorial was completed in 1922 as a monument to the 16th president of the united States, Abraham Lincoln. Noted as one of the most significant of US Presidents, his presidency largely defined the shape of the USA...More
November 01, 2013 Licence
George W. Bush
Martin Luther King Jr.
John F. Kennedy | <urn:uuid:fbbfbdda-8d36-4e71-a926-2f092df6dce3> | CC-MAIN-2017-39 | http://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/news-photo/the-lincoln-memorial-was-completed-in-1922-as-a-monument-to-news-photo/450487631 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-39/segments/1505818687582.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20170920232245-20170921012245-00649.warc.gz | en | 0.891374 | 82 | 2.765625 | 3 |
Hib (H. influenzae Type B) Vaccine
Despite its name, the bacterium called Haemophilus influenzae type b or Hib does not cause the flu. It does, however, cause Hib disease, a serious health threat to children, especially under the age of 5. Fortunately, the Hib vaccine, available since 1992, provides safe and effective protection against that threat.
What Is Hib Disease?
Hib disease is an invasive bacterial infection that at one time was the most common cause of bacterial meningitis; invasive means that germs spread to parts of the body that are normally germ-free. Meningitis is an infection of the membrane that covers the brain and spinal cord. Bacterial meningitis is a serious infection that can cause fever, decline in cognitive ability, coma, and death. It kills from 3% to 6% of the children who have it. And even when children survive, many of them are left with serious nerve and brain damage that can range from blindness to paralysis to mental retardation.
In addition to meningitis, Hib can cause pneumonia; epiglottitis, which is an infection in the throat that can cause breathing difficulties; blood infection; bone infection; and joint infection leading to arthritis.
The Hib germ is spread in droplets that come from sneezing or coughing. Before use of the vaccine, there were about 20,000 cases of Hib disease each year in children under 5 -- 12,000 of which were meningitis -- and about 1,000 deaths per year.
Can the Hib Vaccine Cause Hib Disease?
The Hib bacterium has a coating; the Hib vaccine is made from this coating, which, when bonded with a protein, can cause the body’s defenses to build up immunity to Hib. Since the whole bacterium isn’t used, it cannot cause Hib infection and so cannot cause Hib disease.
Is the Hib Vaccine Safe and Can It Be Given With Other Vaccines?
The vaccine is safe. The most common side effects include soreness, swelling, or redness at the site of the injection. There are no serious side effects, and severe allergic reactions are rare.
It is safe to give the vaccine with other vaccines or in a combination vaccine. The Hib vaccine is generally given as part of a child’s regular vaccination routine.
Who Should Get the Vaccine?
The CDC recommends that the vaccine be given to children under the age of 5. Ideally, the first dose should be given at the age of 2 months.
Because Hib disease is very rare in older children and because most adults have antibodies for Hib in their system, the vaccine is not recommended for anyone ages 5 years or older, unless they are at increased risk for Hib infection. Older children and adults at increased risk include:
- Anyone who has had their spleen removed and anyone who has sickle cell disease, leukemia, or HIV
- Anyone whose immune system has been suppressed due to a condition or by a treatment, such as for cancer | <urn:uuid:dc7f6f73-4368-47d3-a02b-d68d756ec48f> | CC-MAIN-2014-41 | http://www.webmd.com/children/vaccines/hib-h-influenzae-type-b-vaccine | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-41/segments/1410657128304.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20140914011208-00326-ip-10-196-40-205.us-west-1.compute.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957038 | 624 | 3.484375 | 3 |
WMO shows hot stats
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has confirmed the past 8 years have been the warmest on record globally.
Global temperature continue to be fueled by ever-rising greenhouse gas concentrations and accumulated heat, according to six leading international temperature datasets consolidated by the WMO.
Among the findings, the review shows the average global temperature in 2022 was about 1.15°C above the pre-industrial (1850-1900) levels.
The datasets also reveal that 2022 was the 8th consecutive year (2015-2022) that annual global temperatures have reached at least 1°C above pre-industrial levels, with 2015 to 2022 being the eight warmest years on record.
The data shows the likelihood of breaching the 1.5°C limit of the Paris Agreement is increasing with time.
The persistence of a cooling La Niña event, now in its third year, means that 2022 was not the warmest year on record, but is “only” the fifth or sixth warmest.
However, this cooling impact will be short-lived and will not reverse the long-term warming trend caused by record levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere.
The WMO El Niño/La Niña Update indicates about a 60 per cent chance that La Niña will persist during January-March 2023, and should be followed by ENSO-neutral conditions (neither El Niño or La Niña).
The 10-year average temperature for the period 2013-2022 is 1.14°C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial baseline.
This compares with 1.09°C from 2011 to 2020, as estimated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment report, and indicates that long-term warming continues.
“In 2022, we faced several dramatic weather disasters which claimed far too many lives and livelihoods and undermined health, food, energy and water security and infrastructure. Large areas of Pakistan were flooded, with major economic losses and human casualties. Record breaking heatwaves have been observed in China, Europe, North and South America. The long-lasting drought in the Horn of Africa threatens a humanitarian catastrophe,” says WMO secretary-general Professor Petteri Taalas.
“There is a need to enhance preparedness for such extreme events and to ensure that we meet the UN target of Early Warnings for All in the next five years,” said Professor Taalas. “Today only half of 193 Members have proper early warning services, which leads to much higher economic and human losses. There are also big gaps in basic weather observations in Africa and island states, which has a major negative impact on the quality of weather forecasts.” | <urn:uuid:31c366df-917a-47f3-acef-6c5b365ff66b> | CC-MAIN-2023-06 | http://www.educationcareer.net.au/news/wmo-shows-hot-stats | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-06/segments/1674764500251.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20230205094841-20230205124841-00098.warc.gz | en | 0.938273 | 568 | 3.40625 | 3 |
Paralleling Operation and the Advantages:
We got your project cover! Our industrial models have the capacity of paralleling operation and can deliver years of reliability in this configuration.
Paralleling is the synchronous operation of two or more generator sets connected on a universal bus to provide power to standard loads.
Not all generators can operate in parallel together – the ruler is all the sets need to be the same size and of the same manufacturer.
In deciding whether to install in any project one single large unit or multiple generators, one should consider various factors, such as:
Generator and Room size
Reliability is the primary factor in the decision to use for paralleling in prime power or continual applications, such as hospitals, computer centers, or to provide electricity to a town or a city; where the reliability of Power Supply is critical since the loads connected are vital.
In these cases, the use of multiple generator sets and prioritized loading of the system allows critical loads first at the expense of none essential loads.
In systems where all the loads require proper operation – Redundant generator sets are recommended, so that failure of a generator set will not disable the facility.
Paralleling requires the ability to sequence loads in steps and the ability to shed loads to allow the generator sets to operate within their load ratings in the event of generator failure.
A multiple set installation, the unit sizing needs to be 70% of the rated capacity to allow a generator set to be taken out of the system for routine maintenance or repair without jeopardizing the supply to the load.
Performance of the on-site power system can be comparable to the utility service when generators operate in parallel, because the capacity of the aggregated generators relative to individual loads is higher than it would be with single generator sets serving separate loads.
Because the bus capacity is higher, the impact of the transient loads applied to the generator sets by individual loads is minimum.
In general, multiple paralleled generator sets will cost more than a single large generator of the same capacity, unless the capacity requirement forces the design to machines operating at less than 1500 rpm.
The cost of a system should be evaluated as the total cost of ownership and must take into account factors such as:
The available building space,
A remotely located location area
Layout of cables, substations and interconnections
Switchgear requirements and
A system control for multiple installations
The required reliability and the benefit outweighs the increased cost.
The cost of maintenance is a significant factor with generator sets that run for prime power or cogeneration schemes. Although a single large unit may have a different capital cost, others may mitigate these factors associated with the installation costs of a multiple generator system.
When evaluating the total cost of ownership, the installation will impact on the decision on the degree of redundancy that is associated with the system. Some local codes and standards require continuous service to legally required loads and the critical nature of some facilities may require similar service provisions.
If generators are operating paralleled, the maintenance cost and temporary downtime associated with brief generator sets are avoidable. These considerations may also impact on the number of sets required for the installation.
Generator and Room Size:
Generator and room size can be critical factors and may force a decision toward single or multiple set installations. A single generator set will typically be considerably heavier than a corresponding machine used in a paralleling situation.
For rooftop installations or where the set has to be maneuvered into a basement or other confined space, this may be prohibitive, leading to a decision toward smaller, lighter generators.
However, an important note to consider; the space for access and maintenance must be allowed between the machines of multiple installations, and these inevitably use more room volume per electrical kilowatt generated.
Efficiency is a vital factor if the power generation scheme is producing baseload power or it is being used for tariff reduction or cogeneration.
The versatility of the paralleling system, enabling generator sets to be run at optimal load and maximum efficiency, will often pay back the initially higher installation costs in a short time in prime power situations.
Load is a critical factor in deciding on the type of installation is required. A single generator will typically be the most economical choice for loads below approximately 100 kW as the cost of the paralleling control and switching equipment will be significant when compared to the cost of the generator.
For small but essential installations, where the protection of two generators is essential but the cost of the paralleling equipment is prohibitive. A mutual standby installation may be a good alternative, where one generator acts as a standby to the other.
For larger loads, the choice is less straightforward and around 2–3 MW, solutions using multiple generator sets are available. Above 3 MW, the choice is almost always multiple generator installations.
Although at first sight more economical, a single generator solution is also the least versatile and may be less cost-effective, particularly at partial loads and in long operating hour installations. In prime power applications, high-speed 1800 RPM generator sets may provide lower overall life cycle cost, due to higher efficiency and lower maintenance cost than larger lower speed machines.
Load variation should be considered in any generator application decision as many applications exhibit large differences between day and night and between summer and winter load profiles.
A large manufacturing facility may have a daytime load of say 1MWh (equal to 10 units with 100kwh capacity); but at night, unless used for continuous process application, the load may fall to just a few hundred kW or even less. Installing a single large generator into this application could lead to many hours of light load running, which is detrimental to the system.
A typical installation of this type might use 10 units with 100kwh capacity generators in a paralleled scheme, where the daytime the load uses 10 sets and where at night, only 1 to 2 or 3 set, what is required to run the facility. Transient loads have a large effect on the required size of a generator and it is important to take into account all combinations of transient and steady-state loads in any calculation to ensure that the power quality is maintained.
Note that some loads present leading power factor load to generator sets, and this is also required to be considered in the generator set sizing and sequence of operation for the system.
Flexibility may be an important consideration where an installation may change in the future.
A single generator set installation is usually difficult to change, whereas sets can be added to a multiple set installation with relative ease, provided that allowance has been made in the initial design.
There are risks associated with the parallel operation of generator sets; both between sets and with the utility supply and these risks should be balanced with the benefits.
Risks to Avoid:
Where adequate load shedding has not been provided or where the load is maintained at a high level, there is a risk that, if one generator fails, the remaining generators on the system may not be able to support the system load.
Load shedding should always be incorporated into a paralleling generation scheme and the reserve capacity at any time during operation should correspond with the amount of load that can be accepted if a running generator fails.
Not all generators can be paralleled together – it is advised that all the sets are the same size and of the same manufacturer, please contact us or one of the closest distributor before proceeding.
When paralleling with the utility, the generator effectively becomes a part of the utility system. If operation in parallel with the utility supply is specified, additional protection is required for the protection of the generator and utility system interconnection. This protection is commonly specified and approved by the utility service provider.
Always consult local codes and standards when considering utility parallel operation. | <urn:uuid:479603f2-c7a6-4f99-9f58-651d9bfc3718> | CC-MAIN-2022-49 | https://www.valenciaenergypower.org/paralleling-operation | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-49/segments/1669446711001.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20221205000525-20221205030525-00017.warc.gz | en | 0.916492 | 1,648 | 3.171875 | 3 |
The Christian almanack, For the year of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 1824 : being Bissextile, or Leap Year, and the Forty-eighth of the Independence of the United States.
Anderson, Alexander, 1775-1870
Gilbert, Reuben S.,
Olbers, W. 1758-1840
American Tract Society.
Philadelphia Sunday and Adult School Union.
Philadelphia :Published by the American Tract Society, and the Philadelphia Sunday and Adult School Union. For Sale at 29 North Fourth Street,
Re-printed by John Andrews, Pittsburgh
At head of title: No. IV.-Vol. I.
Signature: A² B-D E (-E6)
Caption title on p. : Farmer's Calendar.
Title vignette signed "Gilbert" (Reuben S. Gilbert).
Seasonal cuts on the calendar pages signed "G": these are re-engraved after Anderson's sequence (cf. Johnson & Warner's almanac, for the year ... 1814, et al.)
Includes: Eclipses for 1824; agricultural notes; Influence of the moon / by Dr. Olbers; table of bible societies, benevolent societies, missionary societies, sabbath school societies, common school societies, institutions for Africans and institutions for the deaf and dumb; a list of religious periodicals published in the U.S.; moral dialogues and anecdotes; abstract of the will of Hon. Elias Boudinot; a list of the courts in Philadelphia.
Drake, M. Almanacs | 11396
Shoemaker | 12130
Conduct of life
Influence on Man
Influence on weather
New York (State)
Religious newspapers and periodicals
Seasons in art
Find in a local library | <urn:uuid:76cbeeb5-f3d5-46eb-b11b-26c461a8ca0d> | CC-MAIN-2021-25 | https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/42233 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-25/segments/1623488512243.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20210622063335-20210622093335-00285.warc.gz | en | 0.787333 | 378 | 2.671875 | 3 |
By 2050, it is estimated that 22% of the global population will be 60-plus years of age. With this impending population shift, it’s imperative that we start making our cities more age-friendly and allow older adults and seniors the ability to age in place.
What is aging in place exactly? Defined as "the ability to live in one's own home and community safely, independently, and comfortably, regardless of age, income, or ability level", it means that older adults and seniors can continue to live and participate in the communities they’ve made their homes in.
According to The World Health Organization (WHO)'s Global Age-friendly Cities: A Guide, cities that are age-friendly encourage active aging by improving opportunities for health, participation, and security, enhancing the quality of life as people age. In practical terms, an age-friendly city adapts its structures and services to be accessible for and inclusive of older people with varying needs and abilities.
In this post, let’s talk about how to make our housing, public spaces, recreational facilities, and transportation services more accessible and inclusive to create an age-friendly city that makes aging in place possible.
Creating accessible housing
We all feel most comfortable in our own homes, and in the community in which we’ve found our place among familiar friends and neighbours. Ideally, as we grow older, we’d prefer to stay in our own homes, rather than move into senior care or assisted living homes. However, in order to do that, existing homes will likely need to be modified and new homes being built need to be designed with universal accessibility in mind. Here are just some of the design features that could be incorporated within a home:
- Widen doorways to accommodate mobility devices
- Lower and install rocker style light switches
- Add chairlifts to stairs
- Install a curbless walk-in shower with a bench
For seniors living in apartments, the building design needs to include:
- Appropriately-sloped entrance ramps with handrails
- Automatic door openers at the entrance
- Wide-width hallways
In an article from Forbes Magazine, “Why Are There So Few Age-Friendly Cities?”, the writer does call out cities who are committed to access and inclusion for seniors and those with disabilities. Iowa City, Iowa, for example, offers builders’ bonuses for new construction aimed at seniors; tries to locate services near where residents live; just approved its first inter-generational co-housing project; provides door-to-door transit service for those with disabilities, and more. And in Himeji, Japan and Dundalk, Ireland, people who need to modify their homes to make them more accessible are eligible for financial assistance.
Making public spaces age-friendly
In order for seniors to actively participate in their community, urban areas and green spaces need to be accessible. Sidewalks are an integral part of both landscapes, and need to be designed and maintained appropriately. An accessible sidewalk is one that is designed to be:
- Wide enough to accommodate mobility devices
- Have an appropriately graded curb cut that’s level with the road
- Free of obstacles like telephone poles or signage
Sidewalks must be maintained by removing barriers in the path of a user. This includes:
- Repairing cracks
- Pruning trees and shrubs that are encroaching on the sidewalk
- Removing snow quickly, and encouraging residents to do the same
- Removing trash and animal waste
Other aspects of urban spaces can be made more age-friendly, too. Accessible benches and seating at bus stops and train stations, and in public buildings like government offices, are all very important rest areas for seniors or those who may be temporary injured or ill. A fully accessible washroom in each of these locations is a must-have as well.
Facilitating active lifestyles
To live a healthier lifestyle, it’s crucial that older adults and seniors have access to age-friendly health and recreational facilities. These facilities are beneficial not only because they help seniors to stay in physical shape, but also because they allow a space for socialization. Isolation is a serious problem facing many older adults, and feeling disconnected from other people can be very detrimental to mental health.
The first step to making recreational facilities more accessible is to make sure they’re located within walking distance of apartment complexes and other dwellings that are occupied by seniors. Allocating specific times and spaces for seniors within the facilities themselves is also helpful. For example, New York City, which became the first member of The WHO Global Network for Age-Friendly Cities and Communities, had city pools incorporate senior hours into their schedules.
Integrated activities that involve seniors with people from other age groups are valuable, as well. Integrating different generations in social and communal activities is seen as a positive way to counter ageism in society, and can encourage participation of people of all ages.
Establishing accessible public transportation
It is essential that seniors be able to access various places both in their community and outside of their immediate area. As many seniors can’t (or chose to no longer) drive, public transportation options need to be available, reliable, and accessible.
Buses and trains need to have schedules that accommodate more than the 9-to-5 demographic. While major urban centres may have good service during evenings and weekends, some suburban locations (where many seniors live) may not. Also, public transportation needs to be consistently reliable so that seniors can make important medical appointment and social engagements.
Importantly, public transportation vehicles must be accessible, too. Beyond accessibility, it’s vitally important that members of the public leave the priority seating areas available for seniors and people with disabilities that are using transit. To learn more about accessible transportation read our blog post, “Challenges and triumphs of accessible transportation."
It’s time to plan and execute access and inclusion strategies across our homes, public spaces, recreational facilities, and transportation services to create the age-friendly cities will allow all our citizens the ability to age in place. | <urn:uuid:920a21eb-0b9a-438b-a22c-6fff15612d3b> | CC-MAIN-2020-40 | https://www.rickhansen.com/news-stories/blog/age-friendly-cities-and-aging-place | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-40/segments/1600400206763.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20200922192512-20200922222512-00490.warc.gz | en | 0.952911 | 1,262 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Although opals have been greatly admired and widely traded throughout history, they have also been blamed for famine, pestilence, and the fall of empires. The popularity of one of our loveliest gemstones has long been overshadowed by rumor and superstition.
Where, when, or how the idea first arose that the possession of an opal brought ill luck, and to the wearer certain disaster, cannot now be decided; but the fact remains that today many people cannot be persuaded to wear one, however beautiful or costly it might be. Of course, educated people would laugh at the idea, and consider themselves above popular superstitions, yet it is well known that the opal trade has suffered severely from the effect of this superstition.
~Henry G. Smith
Gems and Precious Stones
During the 19th century, opal’s reputation for bad luck and misfortune reached its pinnacle. In his book Delle Gemme (1870), the famous jeweler Augusto Castellani said that it was considered bad luck to receive an opal. According to Kunz (1915), the Parisian clairvoyant Baroness d’Orchamps asserted that an unlucky opal would be “robbed of all power to harm if it be associated with diamonds and rubies.” It is difficult to determine just how opal got its reputation for malevolence, although many have attempted to do so. No one seems to know why or when the dark rumors got started, although there are many theories.
Perhaps against no other gem has the bigotry of superstitious ignorance so prevailed as against the wonderful opal. The reason for it dates no further back apparently than the 14th century. It was at this time that the dreaded ‘Black Death’ was carrying off thousands of people in Europe…It was said that at this time the opal was a favourite gem with Italian jewelers, being much used in their work. It is further said that opals worn by those stricken became suddenly brilliant and that the luster entirely departed with the death of the wearer. Story further tells that the opal then became an object of dread and was associated with the death of the victim.
The Magic and Science of Jewels and Stones (1922)
While most literature describes opals in glowing terms, in 1875 there was still enough speculation about its unlucky associations to prompt Sir Henry F. Ponsonby–keeper of the Privy Purse and private secretary to Queen Victoria–to publish an inquiry in Notes and Queries:
“THE OPAL.—An opal is considered an unlucky stone. From whence does the superstition come, and what is it founded upon? Does the opal bring bad luck to the finder, the giver, the receiver, or the wearer? Henry F. Ponsonby.”
Sir Ponsonby received a variety of responses to his inquiry, although none provided him with a definitive answer. Sir Ponsonby himself offered a follow-up comment in a later edition of the same journal: “I have been assured that the luck depends upon the colour. In these days a white opal is considered to be unlucky, while a black opal, I am told, is held to be extremely lucky.”
Several authorities claim it was Sir Walter Scott’s 1829 novel Anne of Geierstein that damaged opal’s reputation. According to Ekert (1997), the novel so successfully poisoned public opinion against the gemstone that “within a year the sales of opal [fell] by nearly 50%, throughout all of Europe—a slump that last[ed] for 22 years!”
However, other authorities claim that an 1831 opera called Robert le Diable was responsible for opal’s sullied reputation. King (1867) quoted the gemologist Charles Barbot: “Certain groundless stories, founded, doubtless, upon the legend of Robert the Devil, have in our day discouraged the use of this gem as an ornament. People accuse it (and this in the nineteenth century!) of bringing ill-luck upon the wearer. It were useless to point out the absurdity of this supposed malignant influence, which is manifested, as they say, by the fading of its colours: a change really due to the atmospheric and accidental causes already pointed out.”
Barbot was referring to opal’s well-known tendency to craze, or fracture, when it loses moisture. When this happens, an opal may become cloudy and its play-of-color may diminish. Crazing can be caused by heat, intense light, or dry conditions. These changes were once interpreted to signal danger or death. Some believed they revealed the state of a lover’s affections, with the stone growing dull and cloudy as ardor faded.
The Christmas 1874 edition of Charles Dickens’ All the Year Round was called “The Opal Ring.” The tale involves an opal with a history of visiting misfortune upon its owners. The story built on well-known superstitions of the day, including the notions that only those with birthdays in October could safely wear opal and that opal was dangerous for betrothed lovers but harmless for long-established couples.
Perhaps Sir Ponsonby had ulterior motives for publishing his questions in Notes and Queries. His boss, Queen Victoria, was said to adore opals. She helped to restore their reputation by owning several and gifting others to friends and family. This did not stop her daughter-in-law, Queen Alexandra, from removing the unlucky opals from the diamond tiara that her predecessor commissioned. Queen Alexandra replaced the opals in the Oriental Circlet Tiara (or Indian Tiara) with rubies, which remain in place to this day.
- Explaining Opal’s Play-of-Color
- The Topaz of Pablo Neruda | <urn:uuid:e096aef9-9fcc-4552-b992-528a9c2799d9> | CC-MAIN-2019-26 | https://www.jewelpedia.net/unlucky-opal/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-26/segments/1560627998440.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20190617063049-20190617085049-00224.warc.gz | en | 0.975357 | 1,224 | 3.015625 | 3 |
People who display resilience, or ‘grit’, can overcome challenges and failures. They aren’t devastated by setbacks and are able to get back up and try again. Having grit means to have confidence. It is an incredibly important life skill for children to have when facing difficulties at school or throughout their lives. Gritty children are also more likely to perform better, and be happier, at school. So how do you build a gritty child? Here are some tips:
1. Read about grit. From Dr. Seuss’ Oh the Places You’ll Go to The Little Engine that Could, there are so many options to teach your child about perseverance. Check out this website for more examples: https://www.noodle.com/articles/10-picture-books-that-teach-grit When you’re reading with them, ask your child to make connections to their life, the world, and other books they’ve read. This will enable them to see the possibility of making those fictional stories a reality.
2. Discuss examples of gritty famous people or others they know who have overcame setbacks. Oprah Winfrey, J.K. Rowling, Jim Carrey are just a few examples. Talk about the barriers they encountered and what they did to overcome it. You might notice a common theme that positive mindset and self talk goes a long way!
3. Develop your child’s interests. Find things that fascinate and excite them and foster it. Talk to them about your passions and discuss your goals together. Passionate people also tend to be resilient.
4. Practice. The best way to learn is to not succeed the first time. Failure can be a good thing for children. The whole process from experiencing the setback, accepting it, reflecting on what went wrong and revising your plan to try again is all part of building grit. Let your child make their own choices, even if you know it’s not right, and then help them work through their mistake and motivate them to try again. Encourage your child to communicate when they’re feeling discouraged and strategies to break through the barriers. Permitting your child to experience failure is challenging as parents since our instinct is to protect them from disappointment in any form. But teaching your child how to manage these situations effectively is crucial to building resiliency.
5. Praise their effort over ability. If you praise their determination over the abilities they were born with, this will encourage them to put in the hard work and grit rather than the belief they can coast by on their innate abilities.
6. Lead by example. Teach your child about the importance and rewards that come with hard work. Share any examples you may have had in your own life from failing and persevering. Modeling this resiliency in your own life will build their confidence to feel like they can take on anything.
Julie Diamond is a certified teacher in Canada and the founder of Teachers to Go. | <urn:uuid:e33f7477-1cb6-43f8-af9e-776b4f7cdd87> | CC-MAIN-2020-40 | http://www.teacherstogo.ca/blog/how-to-build-a-gritty-child | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-40/segments/1600400213454.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20200924034208-20200924064208-00636.warc.gz | en | 0.965784 | 614 | 3.515625 | 4 |
One thing that most sensible people can agree on — whether they’re vegan, meat-eaters, paleo, keto or whatever food tribe they happen to belong to — is that avocados are delicious. But there’s a paradigm-shifting debate online about the very nature of avocados that could make some of the eaters who appreciate them the most renounce them. Depending on how strict their definition of veganism is, some vegans may be dismayed to learn that the avocado-almond milk smoothies they’ve been drinking might — gasp! — not be so vegan after all.
Vegans eschew not only products made from animals, such as bacon and leather, but also products made by animals — the most obvious examples being milk and butter. For some vegans, this extends to honey, because it is produced from the labor of bees. Honey-avoiding vegans believe that exploiting the labor of bees and then harvesting their energy source is immoral — and they point out that large-scale beekeeping operations can harm or kill bees.
So why are avocados problematic? As the website the Conversation (and the British quiz show QI) points out, some avocados (and almonds) are produced by the work of bees, too. Honeybees pollinate many of our favorite fruits and vegetables, but in much of the United States, there are not enough bees to do this job naturally or efficiently. So farmers employ a practice called migratory beekeeping: They truck hives into their fields, where the bees live for short periods to pollinate the crops during the plants’ most fertile window. An in-depth article from Scientific American outlines just how important this practice is to farming and what effect it has on our ecosystem. The magazine estimated that without migratory beekeeping, the United States would lose one-third of its crops.
And it does involve cruelty to bees, according to Scientific American: “Forcing bees to gather pollen and nectar from vast swaths of a single crop deprives them of the far more diverse and nourishing diet provided by wild habitats. The migration also continually boomerangs honeybees between times of plenty and borderline starvation. Once a particular bloom is over, the bees have nothing to eat, because there is only that one pollen-depleted crop as far as the eye can see. When on the road, bees cannot forage or defecate. And the sugar syrup and pollen patties beekeepers offer as compensation are not nearly as nutritious as pollen and nectar from wild plants.” Not to mention, the commingling of bees from across the country in the same farms spreads disease, which can lead to colony collapse disorder.
But here’s what the debate hasn’t mentioned: Avocados and almonds aren’t the only crops that are pollinated in this manner. Migratory beekeeping is a slippery slope that — for those who wish to avoid it — could change the scope of veganism. Other fruits and vegetables that may be produced through migratory pollination include apples, plums, cherries, alfalfa, blueberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumbers, pumpkin, lettuces, squash and tangerines. Not every item in these categories is produced in this manner, but unless a vegan were to know the practices of the farm of origin, they would have no way of knowing whether bees were exploited in the making of that squash salad.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has a strong stance against honey. “These tiny animals are factory-farmed, much like chickens, pigs, and cows are,” says the organization’s page on honeybees. “Avoid honey, beeswax, propolis, royal jelly, and other products that come from bees.” The PETA website also includes a roundup of “the best vegan recipes for avocado lovers,” including chocolate avocado pudding and tofu-stuffed avocados.
PETA sent The Washington Post a statement about its stance on migratory beekeeping: “Going vegan is about making kind choices that bring about positive change. Average shoppers can’t avoid produce that involved migratory beekeeping any more than they can avoid driving on asphalt, which has animal ingredients — but they can save nearly 200 animals’ lives every year by choosing plant-based foods instead of meat, eggs, and dairy ‘products,’ ” said PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman.
Asked to clarify how migratory beekeeping is different from honey, given that bees are mistreated in both cases, PETA senior media liaison Catie Cryar wrote in an email that, while it’s difficult to avoid fruits and vegetables that have been created through migratory beekeeping, “everyone can easily avoid honey, which is made by bees for bees, and instead enjoy delicious vegan options such as agave nectar.” Veganism “shouldn’t be about adhering to rigid dogma for dogma’s sake but rather about making choices that bring about positive change. Ideally, the use of products that involve harming animals should be avoided, but it’s impossible to be 100 percent ‘pure,’ ” she said.
Veganism may be the most philosophical of all diets, thanks to the constant moral relativist quandaries it entails. Some studies have questioned whether insects, particularly bees, are capable of feeling pain. And others — even such vegan groups as Direct Action Everywhere — point out that a vegan diet is hardly “cruelty free,” in that it involves the exploitation of migrant farmworkers or the potential poisoning via pesticides of wild animals that live near farms. Veganism cannot eliminate suffering, but its adherents can feel like they have not personally contributed to it.
So will vegans give up their avocado salads? Maybe the most hardcore ones will. But those who want to continue to slurp avocado smoothies have PETA’s blessing — as long as they don’t put honey in them.
More from Voraciously: | <urn:uuid:c0ef1473-20da-4310-b02c-4a2f5dd36739> | CC-MAIN-2019-26 | https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/voraciously/wp/2018/10/17/sorry-vegans-if-you-dont-eat-honey-avocados-might-be-off-limits-too/?utm_term=.70c7d3b5dd7b | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-26/segments/1560627998724.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20190618123355-20190618145355-00393.warc.gz | en | 0.952236 | 1,268 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Brazilian Amazon Region.- Often referred to as "The green Inferno", the Amazon jungle is the largest tropical rainforest on Earth. Although the jungle's area is so big that reaches out to several different countries (Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname, Panama, and Ecuador), most of its area is located within the Brazilian territory. The rainforest covers 7 out of the 27 Brazilian states, holding 39% of Brazil's 3,3 million square miles of area, which means that 1,28 million sq miles of the Amazon is located in Brazil alone.
The Amazon river is the world's largest river in volume of water, and the second in length. The Amazon starts at the top of the Peruvian section of the Andean Mountains, and flows into the Atlantic 4,007 miles away from there. The Amazonriver is sixty times greater than the Nile on its mouth, pouring 8 trillion gallons of water into the ocean every day, to have an idea of the river's hidrography, which by the way holds 20% of the world's fresh water!
The area covered by the eternal rainforest, consists of many different Ecosystems and the richest diversity in flora and fauna on our planet. The River generally called the Amazon has two major sources. The Rio Solimoes, coming down from the Andean mountains and the Peruvian border carrying with it sediments from the mountains which gives its water a brownish color.
From the north, the Rio Negro is winding its way through the dense forest. In the rainy season the river is flooding huge areas, in the process natural acids are extracted from the flooded woodlands, which makes the waters look very dark which gives the River its name Rio Negro, the black river.
The length of the Amazonriver varies between 6.400 and 7.025 km depending on which river is considered the main source. The river is pouring 8 trillion gallons of water into the ocean every day.
The Amazon basin covers an area of 8.512.000km² two fifth of the South American Continent. Two thirds of all river water on our planet flows in the River systems of the Amazon. Just a little south of Manaus the two rivers meet and due to the different consistence of their waters they are flowing side by side for miles only gradually mixing.
This natural phenomenon is rightly called " the meeting of the waters ".
Manaus.- Name of indigenous tribe which originally inhabited this particular area. Also meaning "Mother of God" in the native tongue. The city of Manaus - capital of the state of the Amazonas, with over 1.8 million inhabitants - is today the best equipped starting point for Eco-tourism in all of Brazil.
Manaus on the Gateway to the Rainforest:
At the turn of the last century Manaus was one of the richest cities in the world, architectural monuments from this period are witnesses of this great time.
The reason for this extreme wealth was the invention of Charles Goodyear, a process to transform the "Milk" of the Kautschuk tree into natural rubber. The so called Rubber Barons could afford all the luxury available in Europe and happily imported everything they could put their hands on, to the middle of nowhere. Famous architects constructed the "Theatro Amazonas", having as models the "Scala "in Milan and the Grand Opera of Paris, the "Palacio Rio Negro" and the "Mercado Municipal", a copy of the Les Halles in Paris. The floating port was imported from England.
With the end of the rubber boom came the end of the golden days and Manaus was forgotten for many years to come.
Only when the Government installed a free trade zone in Manaus the region came alive again and a new modern infrastructure was developed. Tourism is a main beneficiary of this process. In order to get a real feeling of the rain forest, one must leave the big city.
What you might see
We will explore the rainforest and learn how people live in these tropical lowlands, close encounters with local tribes will allow us to have an insight into their way of life, traditions and cosmology.
Our native guides will teach the use of medicinal plants, the Amazon basin is the largest living laboratory with thousands of species, some not yet known to man - it is said that the cure to any disease can be found in the Amazon jungles - being the most complete natural medicine pharmacy on earth. You will earn a higher understanding of the importance of taking care of this important ecosystem.
Wildlife encounters are not guaranteed but it is possible to spot: Several species of monkeys roaming the canopy, caimans (Amazon alligators), river dolphins, manatees, river otters, a jaguar is spotted twice a year with much luck, paca, agouti, fish include the Arapima (up to 15 feet), piranha, electric eels, it is possible to see the famous Anaconda. Birdlife is abundant Araras, parakeets, macaws, nightjars, hoatzins, jacanas, crakes, ibis, herons, kingfishers and hundreds of unique species of insects and butterflies can be seen. | <urn:uuid:e6a29234-70b7-44d1-bd4f-ae24851a1961> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://amazonlodges.net/brasil-amazon-lodges | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233510676.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20230930113949-20230930143949-00705.warc.gz | en | 0.945205 | 1,083 | 3.46875 | 3 |
Fallopian Tubes & Ovaries
Fallopian tubes transport the egg from the ovary to the uterus (the womb).
The ovary is one of a pair of reproductive glands in women. They are located
in the pelvis, one on each side of the uterus. Each ovary is about the
size and shape of an almond. The ovaries produce eggs and female hormones.
Washington Hospital Krames Online | <urn:uuid:7b358582-e946-47e6-9603-67f0e515eae2> | CC-MAIN-2018-13 | https://www.mywtmf.com/Services/OB-GYN/Women-s-Health-Library/Fallopian-Tubes-Ovaries.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-13/segments/1521257647251.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20180320013620-20180320033620-00295.warc.gz | en | 0.88776 | 87 | 3.265625 | 3 |
Balaam was unable to oppose God and therefore he was giving the Israelites God’s blessing. It was not possible for Balaam to curse the Israelite people against God’s will. Balak still wanted Balaam to try once more to curse God’s people. Balak was unable to tell the difference between magic and God’s power.
No power, not even the power of false gods could overcome the power of God. The prophets of the pagan gods worked magic in several ways. They often tried to discern the future events. They would study the movements of the stars or examine the inner parts of animals that they had sacrificed to their gods. God hates magic and forbids people to practice it. (Deuteronomy 18:10-12)
As the before occasions Balaam had gone off by himself to seek God. It was on those occasions that he had tried to persuade God to curse His people. There were customs that Balaam would follow when he prayed to God. What these customs were we do not know. But on this last try Balaam did not follow these customs and he did not pray privately. Balaam already knew that God wanted to bless the Israelites. God by means of His Holy Spirit spoke to Balaam and gave him the words to say.
God gave Balaam a vision of the future when the Israelites were living in the Promised Land. Balaam spoke of the beautiful homes that the Israelites would have with beautiful gardens and strong trees. Balaam even spoke of the plentiful water that the Israelites would have in the Promised Land. Water was a very precious commodity in the land. Water was needed to drink and to grow crops. The Israelites would have all the water that they needed. This would be a great blessing to the people of God and they would be content.
Balaam also told of the military power that the Israelites would have and he prophesied about a future king who would be greater than all of Israel’s enemies. Israel’s first king Saul defeated the king Agag of the Amalekites. (1 Samuel 15:8)
Balaam again reminded Balak that God had brought the Israelites out of the land of the Egyptians. And along the way of their journey they had defeated all of their enemies. Balaam told Balak that the Israelites were as a strong lion.
Balak was angry and he struck his hands together which was an insult towards Balaam. Balak was through with Balaam and sent Balaam away and told Balaam that he would not receive payment for his efforts. Then Balak blamed God before Balaam as the reason that he would not receive any payment.
Balaam had not lied to Balak and told his officials that he would obey what God told him to say. (Numbers 22:18-20) Balaam reminded Balak that he could only say what God gave him to say. With that done Balaam agreed to return to his home but he had not finished his prophecies and had more to say about things to come.
At the beginning of this prophecy the words spoken are near to the words spoken before his third prophecy. (Numbers 24:3-4) But this was a far reaching prophecy telling of events that would happen a long time in the future.
Balaam spoke of a future king that would come from Israel and this king would defeat the Moabites. The sons of Sheth might be a neighboring tribe or it might be another name for the Moabites. This coming king would defeat the enemies of Israel in the land of Edom. This king would destroy them all. This prophecy spoke of a time 300 years in the future, King David Israel’s most popular king who ruled after Saul was a great military leader. It was King David that defeated the Moabites and the Edomites. (2 Samuel 8:2; 2 Samuel 8:13-14; 1 Kings 11:15-16)
Some commentators also refer these prophecies to the Messiah. The Messiah was the great king and leader that would come in the future. It was the belief of the Jewish people that the Messiah would defeat all enemies of the Jewish nation.
Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus came to save people from the results of their sin. His message was that of love and not of military power. But Jesus did defeat our greatest enemy Satan. His death on the cross took away the power of sin over the lives of the people. By His resurrection He also overcame the power of death and in the future He will return again and rule everlastingly.
At the end of Balaam’s prophecies he speaks of the fate of other nations.
Amalek was not the most powerful nation or the oldest nation in the land but it was the first to attack Israel. (Exodus 17:8-15) From that time on the Amalekites were always an enemy to the Israelite people.
Near to the Amalekites lived the Kenites who lived among the hills south west of the Dead Sea. They were not enemies of Israel as Hobab was a relative of Moses. (Judges 1:16; Judges 4:11) The Kenites felt that they were safe living in the hills but in the future they would be defeated too.
The land that is called Assyria would become a powerful nation and conquer many others. But Assyria would not rule other nations forever as they were eventually defeated too. The word for Assyria is translated to “Asshur” and is a tribe that lived near to the Kenites. Historians also say that the people from Cyprus were the Philistines who would become a great enemy of the Israelites. King David did defeat the Philistines. (1 Samuel 17; 2 Samuel 5:17-25)
The point that Balaam was making with his prophecy was that God controls all the events of the earth. The nation’s only become strong and powerful if God allows them to. God uses these nations to accomplish His purposes.
When Balaam finished his prophecy he began his journey to his home. Balaam could not do what Balak wanted him to do. Balaam could not curse the nation that God had blessed. Balaam did have another plan to defeat the Israelite people and we will read about his plan in chapter 31. | <urn:uuid:6b4c4253-2d9c-46cd-8eeb-564bc9ba5bbc> | CC-MAIN-2020-10 | http://www.durantbiblecollegeonline.org/lessons/103-1024-numbers-chapter-24/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-10/segments/1581875148163.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20200228231614-20200229021614-00096.warc.gz | en | 0.990129 | 1,341 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Happy 25th Independence Day, Ukraine!
Today, on the 24th of August, Ukraine celebrates the 25th anniversary of its Independence. Besides being the biggest country in Europe, there’s much more to learn about Ukraine.
In honor of our biggest national holiday, we present you 25 interesting and fun facts about Ukraine, covering everything from music, history, and science up to IT industry. Enjoy!
We’re At The Top Of The World
One of the oldest maps in history was found in Ukraine, in the village of Mezhireche. Inscribed on a mammoth tusk, the map was discovered in 1966 and dates back to 10,000 BCE.
The first constitution in the world was written and adopted in Ukraine in 1710 by a Cossack hetman Pylyp Orlyk. This document established a democratic standard for the separation of powers in the government between the legislative, executive and judiciary branches.
The longest musical instrument in the world is Trembita. It is a very long pipe (up to 4 meters) that the Hutsul ethnicity from the Carpathian Mountains plays.
The deepest metro station in the world is Arsenalna station in Kyiv going down at 105.5 meters. It was dug that deep for military purposes with a huge secret bunker hidden between central metro stations.
The shortest and, at the same time, one of the widest city main streets in the world is Khreshchatyk Street in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. Its total length is only 1,225 meters.
Bigger, Faster, Stronger
Ukraine owns the biggest manganese ore deposits in the world – 2.3 billion tons or 11 percent of the planet’s reserve.
The Ukrainian language took the 2nd place on melodic criteria after Italian and was ranked as the 3rd most beautiful language in the world after French and Persian at a linguistic contest held in Paris in 1934.
The 3rd most visited McDonalds in the world is in Kyiv, near the main railroad station. This fast-food restaurant frequently makes it into the top 5 most crowded establishments on the planet. Last year it served more than two million orders.
Ukraine is the 4th most educated nation in the world. 99.4% of Ukrainians at the age of 15 and over can read and write and nearly 70% of adult Ukrainians have secondary or higher education.
Ukraine is the 3rd largest exporter of honey in the world with the total amount around 70 000 tons.
Tech & Science
A plane with the largest freight-carrying capacity in the world – the An-225 “Mriya” was created by the Ukrainians from the Antonov Design Bureau. Originally, it was designed for spacecraft transportation. Now, “Mriya” specializes in oversize freight.
The world’s most eco-friendly carrier rocket Zenith 3SL is made in Ukraine by the Pivdenmash company. This rocket is a part of the Sea Launch program, launching commercial payloads into space from a sea platform near the equator.
The first modern gas lamp was invented by the local pharmacists Ignatiy Lukasevych and Yan Sekh in 1853 in Lviv. The same year this lamp was used for the first surgery under the artificial light.
In 1814 Ukrainian Petro Prokopovych invented the world’s first beehive which used hive frames. In Prokopovych’s design, the frames were placed only in the honey chamber. In the brood chamber, the bees built the combs in free style.
It was not until 1942 that a first modern helicopter designed by the Ukrainian-born inventor Igor Sikorsky reached full-scale production. Sikorsky settled on a simple, single rotor design, which turned out to be the first practical single lifting rotor helicopter design.
The world famous Christmas “Carol of the Bells” is the Ukrainian pagan magical chant Shchedryk, adopted by composer Mykola Leontovych into a choral work.
The Ukrainian craftsman Mykola Syadristy shoed a flea. This unusual item can be seen in the Kyiv museum of microminiature.
The first higher educational institution of the Eastern Slavs was the Ostroh Slavic Greek Latin Academy, founded by Prince Vasyl-Kostiantyn in 1576 (Ostroh, Ukraine). Now it is the National University of Ostroh Academy.
During the South African War in 1899-1902, the commander Yuri Budyak saved a young English journalists from execution. Later Yuri worked in the Ukrainian People’s Republic. And the journalist’s name was… Winston Churchill.
The monuments to a famous Ukrainian poet, Taras Shevchenko, are set in 1384 places around the world.
IT Industry In Ukraine
Ukraine is the 4th country with the largest number of IT specialists in the world. The IT working force in Ukraine is around 90 000.
According to Bloomberg’s 2015 list of Top 50 Most Innovative Countries, Ukraine significantly improved its position in the overall ranking and now holds the 33rd place.
Since 2007 Ukraine is included in Gartner’s TOP 30 outsourcing locations list, and its position is growing from year to year.
Depositphotos, Petcube, Grammarly, Redwerk (oh, yes!) and many other companies started and are located in Ukraine.
There are over 1000 of IT service companies and over 100 of R&D centers throughout Ukraine.
Meet Redwerk – an outsourcing software development company from Ukraine. Customers worldwide trust us their projects as they are confident in our competence. Working with such well-known companies as Universal and WorldNow, Redwerk web, desktop, and mobile app developers always thrive to deliver the best results. | <urn:uuid:db28b0b8-6895-472a-8c6e-e4daa3cdc77c> | CC-MAIN-2019-30 | https://redwerk.com/blog/25-interesting-and-fun-facts-about-ukraine | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-30/segments/1563195525355.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20190717161703-20190717183703-00187.warc.gz | en | 0.943127 | 1,209 | 2.671875 | 3 |
It is the recommendation of US Lacrosse that all leagues, organizations, facilities, teams, and coaches develop an emergency action plan (EAP) that includes management of adverse weather conditions such as lightning, as well as other emergencies that may arise. Circumstances differ at different levels of lacrosse in terms of medical support, proximity to help, and training of those in charge, but at all levels an emergency action plan is valuable to the management and outcome of many types of emergencies.
Below is an outline that can be used to develop and provide this information on site.
Designate someone in charge of management of an emergency.
Ideally an adult with a minimum of basic first aid training should be on site.
Ideally, at a minimum basic first aid kit with materials to clean, cover, or immobilize an injured body part should be on site.
Make sure cell phone access is available for 911 calls. If not, have a back-up plan for contacting emergency need. Have needed emergency numbers on site.
Ideally at the youth level, more than one adult should be present to deal with the emergency and the other team members.
Number of Emergency service if not 911 __________________
Number of first person to begin emergency chain __________________
Number of back-up person to call if needed ____________________
Ideally at the youth level, a phone chain should be established to notify parents of appropriate situation.
Know where the closest emergency care is located and how to give directions to emergency personnel, if necessary.
Make sure gates are open and access to field and athlete are not blocked.
Person in charge must control the scene and initiate the above plan of action. | <urn:uuid:cb68723e-a8e0-4311-9579-c02999a42a04> | CC-MAIN-2021-43 | http://www.2ww.mbgll.org/Page.asp?n=105326&org=MBGLL.ORG | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-43/segments/1634323585242.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20211019043325-20211019073325-00014.warc.gz | en | 0.94672 | 346 | 3.390625 | 3 |
Baptism | What You Need to Know
Baptism is one of the seven sacraments and the first of the sacraments of initiation into the life of Christ and His Church. Like all the sacraments, it can be considered from a wide variety of angles: How it was instituted, how it is celebrated and by whom, what it accomplishes, what it demands of us, and so on.
Our Lord Himself stressed the importance of baptism, commissioning his disciples to go out to all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Mt. 28:19). The least understood aspect of this baptism is probably the nature of baptismal grace, and what it accomplishes. The Catechism contains a clear and well-organized treatment of this very question.
Those who come to Faith as adults naturally wish to be baptized, but there has been a tendency in our own day to undervalue and even postpone infant baptism, which is also frowned upon by some Protestants. For this reason, we are wise to revisit the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's statement on this important topic in 1980.
Finally, since baptism is so obviously the ordinary means by which we are claimed for God, the question of whether salvation is possible for unbaptized infants is of great concern. At the request of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, the Vatican's International Theological Commission has recently issued a thorough examination of this difficult question.
- The Catechism on the Grace of Baptism
- Instruction on Infant Baptism
- The Hope of Salvation for Infants Who Die without Being Baptized
The Catechism of the Catholic Church devotes one of its four major parts to “The Celebration of the Christian Mystery”, which contains two major sections on “The Sacramental Economy” and “The Seven Sacraments of the Church”. All the various aspects of baptism are succinctly covered in the latter section, in the chapter on “The Sacraments of Initiation”, under the article entitled The Sacrament of Baptism. | <urn:uuid:64db8fb8-0296-4a52-b160-60712f51a452> | CC-MAIN-2019-39 | https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/what_you_need_to_know/index.cfm?id=69 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-39/segments/1568514573827.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20190920030357-20190920052357-00314.warc.gz | en | 0.951789 | 440 | 2.671875 | 3 |
The emaciated dog lay trembling, crumpled on the floor of the shelter’s hospital. The shelter staff assumed that she was having trouble standing on the linoleum floor. I assumed that she was too weak from hunger to stand.
I soon learned that this dog was more like a fawn, unable to move in the presence of scary humans.
The Good Samaritans who brought her and her seven puppies to the shelter said that they spotted this dog out in the country in a trap. Worried about her, they checked on the dog over three days. On the third day, Mama had puppies in the trap. The couple brought the trap, the dog and the seven babies to the shelter.
Assuming this scared and starving 2-year-old dog had never had any human contact, the shelter staff asked me to take all eight dogs with me for socialization.
Lupe came home with me and sequestered herself in my hallway bathroom. The door was left wide open, but that is where she stayed for two straight months. When I left the house or went to sleep, she would leave the bathroom to go to the dining room (the furthest point in the house from the bathroom) to poop and pee.
Then she finally started warming up to me. Within 2 months, she would come out when I was there. Within a few more months, she was sleeping in the bed with me.
A few months later, she was going for walks in the neighborhood. A few months later, she was able to meet new humans without peeing and pooping herself.
Fast forward a few years later, she has been to training classes; and she goes to meetups and has a great time walking with large groups of dogs and their humans. See Lupe with the SA Naturehounds at Eisenhower Park: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29bnpdZe-1g\
Dogs share DNA with wolves (99.8% according to Dogs Decoded). Dogs and wolves can produce offspring, and those offspring can produce offspring.
But domesticated dogs and wild wolves are different.
Imagine going into the woods, picking up a 2-year wolf and her 2-day-old cubs, putting them in your vehicle and driving them to your house.
If you somehow were to survive this task, then imagine sleeping with the wolf, taking the wolf on leash walks, etc..
Actually, researchers have tried such a thing. They took a much safer route of course. According to the PBS Special, “Dogs Decoded” (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/dogs-decoded.html), researches took 5-day-old wolf cubs from a wolf sanctuary and cared for them 24 hours a day as if they were caring for domestic puppies.
According to one researcher, “So we were especially nice with, our cubs, because we wanted to maintain a very good relationship with them. They were really cute, so it was not very difficult to carry them everywhere we were going. And we also slept together with the cubs”
Despite all the nurturing, differences started surfacing within 8 weeks. The wolf cubs did not develop as domestic puppies usually develop.
After 4 months, the researchers decided that the experiment was too dangerous to continue.
According to the special, “ It’s impossible to turn a wolf into a dog, no matter how much it is loved and nurtured…So according to our experiences, the dog is not a socialized wolf at all”
So why is wolf dominance theory so hot in the dog training world?
Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Professor Puddin also welcomes your questions.
Epilogue: After 6 weeks, Lupe’s puppies returned to the shelter and were adopted. Lupe became my first “foster failure” 🙂 | <urn:uuid:9f10dac3-9364-4280-8cd7-e64c73fc694a> | CC-MAIN-2017-26 | http://blog.mysanantonio.com/latrenda/2011/04/dogs-are-not-wolves/?gta=commentlistpos | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-26/segments/1498128320049.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20170623100455-20170623120455-00146.warc.gz | en | 0.984259 | 815 | 2.546875 | 3 |
- Project plans
- Project activities
- Legislation and standards
- Industry context
- Specialist wikis
Last edited 28 Sep 2020
As the wind blows against a building, the resulting force acting on the elevations is called the ‘wind load’. The building’s structural design must absorb wind forces safely and efficiently and transfer them to the foundations in order to avoid structural collapse.
When analysing tall buildings using wind engineering, wind is usually found to be the dominant load and is primarily a horizontal force. The structural systems that absorb wind loads tend to be separate to those for dead loads and other gravity loads generated internally to the building.
Wind loads will typically depend on the wind velocity and the shape (and surface) of the building, and is why they can be difficult to predict accurately. The building shape may exacerbate any over- or under-pressure effects. On the windward side (facing the wind), wind overpressures may blow windows in, while on the leeward side (sheltered from the wind) under-pressure (suction) may blow windows out. A glass-clad building with a very smooth profile will tend to deflect the wind far more effectively than a sculpted or textured profile, as will a circular building compared to a square shape.
Buildings, especially if they are super tall (over 250m high) are usually designed to withstand very strong winds, taking into account factors such as design wind speed – which will depend on location and meteorological records (average wind velocities). Tall buildings may resolve wind forces by transferring them through their floorplates to the structural core, and then down to the foundations.
Managing the huge risk to buildings from wind requires a high level of information on the type and magnitude of wind loads likely to be faced. This information has traditionally been gathered through a combination of full-scale measurements and wind tunnel tests, but these can prove both costly and time-consuming. For this reason, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methods now provide a useful tool for predicting turbulent flow over buildings, informing decisions and influencing design.
|Analysis of the influence of a roof on track level wind speeds for the London 2012 Olympic Stadium.|
As CFD becomes more accessible, architects and engineers have the ability to simulate the flow field around a building and successfully predict parameters of interest including velocity, pressure, and temperature fields.
Reducing sway
A major problem, demonstrated in wind tunnel testing, is vortex shedding; this occurs as wind moves past a building and creates low pressure and suction, causing the building to vibrate. Allied with the frontal effect of wind forces on an elevation, the effect on a tall tower may be to make it sway, sometimes by as much as 500mm or more at its top. This movement, while usually not causing any structural damage, will be felt by the occupants and could cause discomfort, and even alarm.
One method to reduce this movement is to install concrete weights (tuned mass dampers) in the top floor of the building. Supported on cables and hydraulic cylinders, the dampers can weigh over 1,000 tonnes and can counter a building’s movement, slowing its acceleration to acceptable limits.
Based on oil hydraulic systems, the dampers comprise very heavy concrete weights pushed back and forth to shift the weight of the building from side to side to compensate for the wind-induced movement. The movement of the weight is controlled by computers which monitor the building’s movement and react accordingly.
On 432 Park Avenue, a 426m-tall and very slender residential tower in New York, engineers WSP reduced the wind load by omitting all windows on intermediate plant-room levels at various vertical intervals. This has the effect of allowing the wind to blow through the structure, as opposed to pushing against it – analogous to a hole in a sail. Movement is further reduced by two mass damping mechanisms on the 84th floor.
All roofs are subject to wind uplift, which will vary according to location, terrain, height, size, shape and exposure. Wind uplift occurs when the air pressure under a roof is greater than the air pressure above it. This can be exacerbated during high winds, as air infiltration into the building can increase pressure below the roof, while the speed of wind over the roof surface can reduce air pressure above it, in much the same way it does over an aircraft wing. This can cause damage to the roof if the difference in pressure becomes too great.
Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
- Adaptive structures.
- Bearing capacity.
- Bending moment.
- Biaxial bending.
- Braced frame.
- Bridge construction.
- CFD - Bridging the gap between architecture and engineering.
- Computational fluid dynamics for buildings.
- Concept structural design of buildings.
- Concrete-steel composite structures.
- Dead loads.
- Elements of structure in buildings.
- Floor loading.
- Lateral loads.
- Limit state design.
- Live loads.
- Load-bearing wall.
- Point of contraflexure.
- Shear force.
- Structural engineer.
- The design of temporary structures and wind adjacent to tall buildings.
- The development of structural membranes.
- Tube structural system.
- Uniformly Distributed Load.
- Uplift force.
- Wind comfort simulations.
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Call for ministerial group and National Retrofit Delivery Plan. | <urn:uuid:bcb7b0a6-d01d-418a-972c-8aef13fa7953> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Wind_load | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205140836-20231205170836-00037.warc.gz | en | 0.912886 | 1,288 | 3.8125 | 4 |
Flight routes planned in accordance with the weather
Monday, March 31, 2014, 11:33 AM -
Every time you take a commercial flight you are traveling a highly orchestrated route that has been planned according to the weather conditions at the time of your departure and arrival.
GOING SOMEWHERE?: Check your flight status here
This video from NATS, the British Air Traffic Control Agency, illustrates all commercial air traffic for a 24 hour period compressed into 2 minutes. The result is a clear image of organized journeys from city to city and nation to nation.
Aircraft follow Standard Departure Routes (SID’s) from the ground up to planned flight routes at cruise altitude. Flights across the Atlantic Ocean are arranged into five tracks every day to take advantage of prevailing jet stream winds. These tracks are named A to E. Finally, your flight uses a Standard Terminal Arrival Route or STAR to approach and perhaps hold prior to its landing at your destination.
All of this is planned to take advantage of the weather - making each trip as safe, swift and economical as is possible. Every flight carries enough fuel to reach its destination, hold for 45 minutes and then enough extra fuel to fly to an alternate airport should the weather rapidly change.
Flying is the safest way to travel, and this video does a great job of demonstrating the complex system created to ensure that it stays secure and functioning in all types of weather. | <urn:uuid:771cccde-d70f-4ced-bf36-98c5654a842f> | CC-MAIN-2016-36 | https://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/flight-routes-planned-in-accordance-with-the-weather/24318/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-36/segments/1471982964275.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20160823200924-00052-ip-10-153-172-175.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947483 | 292 | 2.65625 | 3 |
By the middle of the 19th century fire fighting was considered pretty serious and exciting business in the United States, and likewise a pretty good subject for children’s toys.
In the late 1850s and early 1860s the George W. Brown Company in Connecticut, among others, began producing tin toys including horse-drawn vehicles. Brown often featured both wagons and fire engines.
They were delightful if not exactly devoted to detail.
“In many ways, early tin fire engines were similar to early tin trains,” observed William S. Ayers, the author of American Toys in 1981. “Though they were based on actual prototypes, their features tended to be exaggerated and they had a fanciful rather than realistic appearance.”
Following Brown’s example of fire fighting toys in tin were the James Fallows and Company of Philadelphia, and the Althof, Bergmann and Company of New York, which added appealing hand painting to their tin material.
In the 1870s the W.S. Reed Toy Company of Leominster, Mass., went a slightly different route and produced a toy pumper and fire house with wood and lithographed paper. Meanwhile the Ives Corporation in Bridgeport, Conn., was one of the first toy firms to progress from tin to cast iron when it came to fire fighting items.
By 1885 the Leo Schlesinger Company of New York had combined painted and stenciled tinplate with steel and cast iron for their own dandy fire pumper.
“By the 1890s, after Ives and other manufacturers had mastered the intricacies of cast iron, thousands of nicely modeled cast-iron trains, horse-drawn wagons and fire engines flowed from the Ives factory straight to the distributors in New York,” notes Richard O’Brien author of The Story of American Toys.
Joining Ives and several others in the latter 1890s was the cast iron fire fighting toys of Kenton Hardware in Kenton, Ohio, and the cast iron pull toys of the Wilkins Toy Company of Keene, N.H., which featured four-wheeled vehicles powered by two horses.
Shortly after the turn of the century the Dent Hardware Company of Fullerton, Pa., was producing a painted cast iron fire patrol wagon which transported members of the company to the fire scene, and Kenton had moved on to specific model equipment fashioned after apparatus used to deal with fires in the tall buildings of America’s larger cities.
As author Ayres points out, these fire fighting toys had fully arrived and would be popular for a long time.
“The common source of original attraction was the real fire engines of the last quarter of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th century,” he explains, “magnificently conceived and executed specimens with gleaming brass and mirror-like paint. The toys which were inspired by these real machines were hardly less elaborate and were made without interruption from the 1870s until the 1930s.”
In fact at least one company, Kenton in Ohio, resumed production of the earlier models in the late 1940s and into the middle 1950s.
During the turn of the century and beyond manufacturers often favored game little pumpers, which provided the pressure to force water through the fire hoses. These pumpers were nearly always billed as fire engines in toy company literature.
However the finest fire fighting toy of the era was the hook and ladder truck. Drawn by numerous horses, it generally was the largest of the company’s line and often started with basic cast iron and expanded to include wood and tin to go with it.
Hook and ladder trucks also became part of multiple sets such as the one produced by Bliss Manufacturing of Pawtucket, R.I., in early 1900 complete with hose, fireman, and pumperboiler. Another example was featured in the 1908 D.P. Clark catalog and included a chemical engine, fire engine, and hook and ladder truck. From the Ives Company in Bridgeport, it was offered as the best of “hill-climbing friction toys.”
Finally, shortly after 1910, still another material was added to the growing array of fire fighting toys. The Auburn Rubber Company of Auburn, Ind., began offering a range of rubber fire trucks and continued to do so for the first half of the 20th century.
Steel alone was not overlooked either. About the same time that Auburn was manufacturing the rubber fire truck, the John C. Turner Company of Wapakoneta, Ohio, was producing a totally steel version. The large steamer fire truck and several smaller trucks were designed to resemble the then-leading Ahrens Fox fire fighting equipment.
And while some toy firms tried to keep their toys looking like the current thing as often as possible, others took yet a different course.
As motor engines began replacing horse-drawn vehicles in the real world from 1915 into the 1920s, Hubley Manufacturing Company of Lancaster, Penn., was one outfit, which kept producing horse-drawn types. Hubley, Kenton and a few others stayed with the old designs well into the 1930s and beyond.
At perhaps the zenith of the toy fire truck popularity, Arcade Toys dazzled youngsters with their Mack Truck offering.
In 1927 the Arcade catalog proclaimed: “The toy Mack Fire Truck is sturdily built of cast iron and attractively finished in bright red enamel. The ladders, lanterns and tanks are finished in gold bronze. The ladder supports, hose reel and driver are nickel plated and the toll boxes are trimmed in gilt and black enamel.”
During the 1930s Arcade faced stiff competition from the Pressed Metal Company’s Sturdy toy made in Pawtucket, R.I., and Moline Press Steel Company’s Buddy L produced in Moline, Ill. Both firms racked up tremendous sales in toy fire trucks despite the Great Depression and its aftermath.
Arcade again captured the attention of the toy world in 1940 with a six-piece fire fighting set mounted in a box lavishly illustrated with a fire scene. The set included an ambulance along with the usual vehicles.
Despite such brilliant marketing strategy, Hubley rolled into the 1940s as the world’s largest manufacturer of cast iron toys, thanks in part to the successful sales of their own fire fighting vehicles.
There were major changes during the World War II years, including one of the first fully manufactured plastic fire trucks in 1945. The Banner Company of New York led by E .M. Pressner later produced the Lafrance Fire Truck in the 1950s before eventually going out of business.
“With the end of the war, freed-up supplies of steel, aluminum, and other manufacturing materials became available for peacetime use,” according to Charles Hansen, the author of The History of American Firefighting Toys.
“Established American toy companies such as Buddy L, Hubley, Marx and Structo were quick to get in the starting blocks and take off running to produce enough toy fire trucks to satisfy the pent-up demand. Many fire fighting toys of the late 1940s – like the trucks they modeled – were a continuation of the toys of the 1930s, but as the real fire trucks modernized so did the toys.”
The booming Marx Toy Company served as a good example with their offering in the 1948 Montgomery Ward Christmas catalog.
Their classy fire truck was of heavy gauge steel, red enamel finish, and had a loud siren and heavy duty clock spring motor equipped with brake. There were two ladders, two fire extinguishers and a “fire tower raised and lowered by gear and crank arrangement mounted on a swivel.” It was 14 inches long and retailed for $3.89.
During the 1950s, American and European toy firms held the forefront in production before slowing, giving ground to the Japanese. Fire trucks made in Japan during that period usually were of lithographed tin with friction wheels. They also offered fire chief vehicles fashioned after large American cars and directed specifically at the U.S. market.
By the 1960s, Japan had evolved into a world leader in toy production. Among their best sellers were the Nomura Toy Company’s fire chief vehicle featuring a colorful red car and a blue uniformed chief. Made of tin, it bore a hand-wound warning siren and included friction drive. | <urn:uuid:86aff536-1eee-4a08-bb5c-9bfadbdfc29d> | CC-MAIN-2015-06 | http://www.antiquetrader.com/features/still_smokin_firefighting_toys | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-06/segments/1422115862015.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20150124161102-00230-ip-10-180-212-252.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97617 | 1,738 | 2.765625 | 3 |
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Co-op, Nestlé, Sainsbury’s Using New Research to Inform Reduction in Supply Chain Footprints
March 14, 2013
The Co-operative Group, Nestlé and Sainsbury’s say they will improve the sustainability performance of some of their products in response to research from the Product Sustainability Forum.
The study, published by the Waste and Resources Action Program (WRAP), analyzed 50 grocery products with the biggest environmental impact and found that together they contribute between 21 and 33 percent of household greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Some of the products include such staples as bread, potatoes, bananas and milk.
“The main objective of this important research has been to establish which grocery products are likely to contribute the most to environment impacts associated with UK household consumption,” said Dr. Liz Goodwin, CEO of WRAP and chair of the Product Sustainability Forum.
As a result, the Co-operative, Nestlé and Sainsbury’s will begin pilot projects called “pathfinders” to decrease the supply chain footprint of products with the most GHG emissions, product waste, and water, energy and resource use.
The Co-operative says it will engage stakeholders in its potato value chain to identify and act on ways to prevent waste and improve resource efficiency, including GHG emissions and energy and water consumption.
Nestlé will work with its main milk supplier in the UK, First Milk, to develop new working methods. The company also announced a series of goals such as achieving 100 percent certified sustainable palm oil by the end of this year and reducing direct GHG per ton of product by 35 percent by 2015.
Sainsbury's plans to focus on the environmental impacts of its meat, fish, poultry and produce.
Since 2009, these three and other UK retailers and brands have reduced their supply chain waste by 8.8 percent, well ahead of the three-year target of 5 percent, according to an October 2012 report by WRAP.
Earlier this year Sainsbury’s was among the first to be awarded the Carbon Trust Water Standard, given to organizations meeting a series of criteria showing a long-term commitment to reductions in water inputs and wastewater. | <urn:uuid:e8fa4ff9-7221-4694-8435-aa14be14c71f> | CC-MAIN-2015-32 | http://www.sustainablebrands.com/news_and_views/co-op-nestl%c3%a9-sainsburys-reduce-supply-chain-footprint | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-32/segments/1438042991076.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20150728002311-00121-ip-10-236-191-2.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95614 | 466 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Smartphones, tablets, and many of the new gadgets today are merely viewed as devices where we can text, make calls, tweet, like a Facebook post, and play a few games here and there. But in a recent program by King's College Hospital in London, England, the Apple Watch is being utilized to assist patients with cancer.
The Apple Watch is currently being provided to chemotherapy patients under the pilot program. In line with this, Medopad, a British medical company, has already started building apps, which aim to help patients keep track of their medication usage. According to Medopad CEO Rich Khatib:
Patients forget to take the drugs or lose them. There are also many unnecessary visits to [emergency medical services] because doctors don’t have access to that information.
The watch will help patients track their symptoms, medicine intake and temperature, which can be sent to physicians; making it easier for doctors to receive timely information.
Moreover, using the Apple Watch with cancer patients is expected to help cut costs. According to Medopad CTO Dan Vàhdat:
After the treatment is over, another patient can use the Apple Watch so it could work out at £50 per patient. When you compare that to chemotherapy treatments and the fact that one pill could cost £1,000 per day it’s worth it.
Medopad plans to continue the project in other hospitals in London, as well as reaching out to other private hospitals in countries abroad.
In December of last year, Samsung did quite a similar act, and developed an app called "Look at Me" which aims to help autistic children practice eye contact. Recently, they have also released "Backup Memory," an app looking to help people suffering Alzheimer's disease.
Source: Hit Consultant | <urn:uuid:3951d3bd-32b6-4694-9b11-be3b9a008be5> | CC-MAIN-2019-30 | https://www.neowin.net/news/the-apple-watch-is-being-used-to-help-patients-with-cancer | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-30/segments/1563195527000.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20190721123414-20190721145414-00149.warc.gz | en | 0.966061 | 369 | 2.53125 | 3 |
The andioxidant value (ORAC) of the Northern wild berries, such as bilberry and cranberry, is several times higher compared to dried fruit and other products in the superfood category.
VITAMINS C AND E IN BERRIES
Vitamin C is the best known antioxidant in berries. It protects the body from harmful oxidation, prevents tiredness and improves absorption of calcium and iron. Vitamin C is also necessary for the formation of collagen, support material of cells. Vitamin C enhances the antioxidant effects of vitamin E.
Sea buckthorn berry, blackcurrant, cloudberry and rowanberry are especially rich in vitamin C. National Nutritional Council’s daily recommendation for working-age people is 75mg of vitamin C per day.
Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin which works as an antioxidant in the system and protects cells and fatty acids in the system from the harmful effects of free radicals which are generated in metabolism. Vitamin E is a general term for several similar molecules. Berries also contain more of vitamin E than fruits. Recommended amount for women is 8mg/day and for men 10mg/day.
ENERGY CONTENT AND DIETARY FIBER
Berries mainly consist of water; 80 to 90% of their fresh weight is water. Out of dry substances, the majority is carbohydrates and organic acids. Berries contain only small amounts of protein and fat. Because berries are low in fat and contain lots of water, just a minimal amount of energy is gained from them. Most of the energy in berries comes from natural sugars.
Unabsorbable carbohydrates are called dietary fiber. Even though the body is unable to digest it in an absorbable form, fiber has many important functions in the human gastrointestinal tract. Insoluble fiber maintains bowel movement, contributes to growth of useful bacteria in bowels and supports weight control. Soluble fiber slows down the rise of blood sugar levels after a meal and enhances cholesterol efflux from the body.
Berries contain both insoluble and soluble fiber, pectin. In addition to oat and vegetables, berries are an important source of soluble fiber in the diet. Raw and only just ripened berries contain the most pectin. Recommended amount of dietary fiber is 25–35g/day. | <urn:uuid:695fac28-c1ce-4c8f-9650-1fe03544955d> | CC-MAIN-2021-31 | https://biokia.fi/en/health-effects-of-berries/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-31/segments/1627046155322.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20210805032134-20210805062134-00066.warc.gz | en | 0.922386 | 472 | 3.5 | 4 |
Seborrheic dermatitis is a common skin condition that usually affects the scalp. It can cause red skin, stubborn dandruff and scaly patches. It is also a condition that can affect oily areas of the body, such as the face, back, and upper chest. It can also cause a condition known as “cradle cap” in infants. It is also called seborrheic psoriasis, seborrheic eczema, and dandruff.
There are a number of factors that increase your risk of developing seborrheic dermatitis including:
- ~A weakened immune system
- ~Congestive heart failure
- ~Neurological and psychiatric conditions
- ~Endocrine disease
- ~Certain medications
Symptoms of Seborrheic Dermatitis and Treatment
- ~Skin flakes on your scalp, hair, eyebrows, beard or mustache
- ~Patches of greasy skin covered with flaky yellow or white scales. Crust on the scalp, ears, face, chest, armpits, scrotum or other parts of the body
- ~Red skin
- Redness or crusting of the eyelids with possible itching or stinging
While seborrheic dermatitis will not affect your overall health, it can be uncomfortable and embarrassing. You should understand that it is not a sign of poor personal hygiene nor is it contagious.
Seborrheic dermatitis is also a long-term condition, requiring repeated treatments. Additionally, the symptoms may return later.
You can manage flare ups by recognizing the symptoms and using a combination of medications and self-care.
There are several home remedies that may help you control this condition including:
- ~Washing your hair with medicated anti-dandruff shampoo
- ~Applying mineral or olive oil to your scalp to soften and remove scales
- ~Applying a mild corticosteroid cream
- ~Avoiding products containing alcohol as these can cause flare ups
- ~Consider shaving off a beard or mustache
You should consult with a doctor if any of the symptoms cause:
- ~Sleep loss or being distracted from daily routines due to uncomfortable symptoms
- ~Embarrassment or anxiety
- ~Skin infection
- ~Unsuccessful self-care treatments
During your exam, your physician may scrape off skin cells for examination to rule out conditions that have similar symptoms. These conditions can include psoriasis, eczema and rosacea.
Medical treatments for seborrheic dermatitis can include:
- ~Prescription-strength shampoos, ointments or creams that control inflammation
- ~Antifungal shampoo that is alternated with stronger medication
- ~Antifungal medications taken orally
- ~Medications that affect your immune system
- ~Creams and gels that fight bacteria
- ~Light therapy in addition to medication | <urn:uuid:27757983-9792-48c7-8859-8a3a33484924> | CC-MAIN-2021-04 | https://www.skinandvein.com/need-know-seborrheic-dermatitis/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-04/segments/1610703517159.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20210118220236-20210119010236-00372.warc.gz | en | 0.918359 | 610 | 2.546875 | 3 |
According to the US Department of Justice and the National School Association of School Psychologist, 10% of students drop out due to repeated bullying and 160,000 students miss school each day due to fear of bullying.
According to the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment, the US ranks average amongst 70 countries around the world when comparing 15 year olds in reading, science and math.
The education report and the need for educational reform is not new and while many budgets are under the microscope for getting cut, America’s students may not get the much needed support they desperately need and deserve.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 60% of boys identified as bullies have a criminal record by the time they are 24 years old.
In extreme cases, bullying has been named as the cause of student suicide and student homicide.
With an average student spending 6-8 hours a day at school, if that day includes being bullied or having the fear of being bullied, their learning ability will be diminished.
With this going on, as well as any other typical school distractions, necessary learning of lessons and social development can be missed and go unseen in today’s overstressed society. Unless there is a clear objective to focus on these issues, with the proper attention and involvement and do whatever is necessary to make life changing differences not only for those directly involved but throughout our society, the current generation as well as the future generations will continue to decline.
When the subject of bullying is brought up for discussion, it is often not clear what accounts for “bullying” or that it can often take place online within many social networking services like Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and other social gathering sites or through texting, messaging and email. Cyber-bullying has opened a whole new world for bullies to reach their victims either after having left them earlier or sometimes having never even met them face to face.
This has turned a person’s home into a place that once used to be a safe area into a place of torment as well. A person can use their phone or the computer to send threatening messages to the victim threatening them in some way or even threatening to harm their family.
What can you do to help?
If you have children or family members with children, talk to them about bullying. Ask them what they know and how they feel about it. Let them know it is never okay. Tell someone. All people should feel safe.
Talk to coworkers and family about doing the same. The more people you know, the more children you know, the greater chance you know someone being bullied or possibly someone bullying. You can help put a stop to this, now.
Take a stand and help stop bullying in your school, workplace and community. It starts by speaking up and talking with others.
Bullying can be snuffed out by breaking the silence.
*½ of adolescents and teens have been bullied online and about the same number have engaged in cyber-bullying.
*Cyber-bullying affects all races.
*Cyber-bullying victims are more likely to have low self esteem and to consider suicide.
Stop Bullying Now – ASL
Graduate Students of Gallaudet University in hopes to spread awareness and address bullying within schools and communities, and prevent future harm to children and adolescents.
Please feel free to comment on your thoughts and/or experiences and subscribe to this blog for upcoming articles. This is an ongoing series and your thoughts may contribute to future articles. If you have not read the previous article,”The time to talk is now!“, I would urge you to do so. Thank you. | <urn:uuid:6cd366b9-3526-4e57-82e5-87e004c1fbcf> | CC-MAIN-2021-21 | https://tracylsolomon.wordpress.com/tag/cyber-bullying/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-21/segments/1620243991288.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20210518160705-20210518190705-00483.warc.gz | en | 0.964835 | 750 | 3.421875 | 3 |
The U.S. presidential election this past November stirred an unprecedented amount of interest, not only among those casting ballots but also among the nation’s youth. The diversity of the candidates and their running mates helped children everywhere come to realize that all people have a voice and can contribute to forming a better country. But now as President-elect Barack Obama is ready to be sworn into office on January 20th, how can parents build on that excitement to maintain their children’s newfound interest in politics?
Enter the Web of Dreams.
The Legacy Project -- a national education initiative with the nonprofit Generations United in Washington, D.C. – created the Web of Dreams to get kids thinking about their own future and that of the country. Families, schools, youth organizations, and other groups throughout the United States are welcome to participate.
If you’d like to get your child involved, the first step is creating a Dream Star. (While the Legacy Project’s website has a basic pattern, kids are encouraged to make and decorate stars to reflect their own individuality.) On the star, have your child write his name as well as a dream for his own future or for the future of the nation. Since the purpose of the star is to serve as inspiration to others, hang it somewhere in the house where it can easily be seen. If other parents you know are interested in getting their kids involved too, see if you can get permission to make a display of stars for a school bulletin board, a hallway at the local library, your town hall, or other public place in your community.
The second part of the Web of Dreams involves constructing a message for the new president. Gather together as a family and talk about dreams, concerns, and how to make the world a better place. Then, let your children come up with a written document that reflects what things they think are most important to share. The Legacy Project will collect and deliver these messages to the president-elect for his inauguration.
The final part of the Web of Dreams is the submission process. Using this online form, report how many children created Dream Stars and send the message written for Obama. Since many submissions are posted for others to read, your child may enjoy discovering what other kids wrote (as well as looking for his own posted message).
As of early January, more than 1,500 young people had created Dream Stars, with that total expected to grow by leaps and bounds during the week before Inauguration Day.
“The Web of Dreams is about education and it’s about giving children a voice. It’s a chance for young people to participate directly in a legacy moment that will affect their future,” states Legacy Project Chair Susan V. Bosak. “Listen to the dreams of children. It empowers them, and it reminds us of hopes we may have forgotten or assumed impossible as adults.”
What are some of those hopes children are expressing? Consider a few of these excerpts from individuals and groups that have already submitted messages for the president-elect:
- “Could you stop the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, because more and more soldiers are dying every day and every night? We want to know when you will bring home the troops. We hope we don't have another war, so would you work toward world peace and end all wars?”
- “I wish we could find a cure for cancer.”
- “We dream of a future with less pollution and a cleaner environment that is safe for people and animals. For example, garbage in the ocean needs to be cleaned up and more waste products need to be recycled.”
- “I dream of a world where individuals do not feel afraid to express themselves.”
- “Our students dream that you will help blacks and whites of America come together and be friends, that you will help people be safe and reduce crime, that you will help homeless and poor people, and that you will help schools so kids can learn.”
- “Could you lower the price of gas? We as a country need to think of alternative fuel sources. We should do more to stop pollution for future generations. We should all work to strengthen our planet.”
- “We dream of a future where people get along with each other and people everywhere are treated equally so all people can enjoy freedom at home, school, and work.”
- “I dream that all children will be given the opportunity to dream.”
Click here for more information on the Web of Dreams. | <urn:uuid:b802eb1f-b7bc-4644-85db-56a3f6b7b3f2> | CC-MAIN-2016-50 | http://www.education.com/magazine/article/Inauguration_Celebration_Write/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-50/segments/1480698542060.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20161202170902-00258-ip-10-31-129-80.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962859 | 943 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Swim England release new fact sheet on swimming as part of Covid-19 recovery14 June 2021
Swim England have released a new health fact sheet which focuses on the benefits of swimming as part of Covid-19 recovery.
The resource is titled ‘Swimming after the Covid-19 pandemic’ and will be added to the range of fact sheets on swimming with particular health conditions that have been developed over the last two years.
Now that pools have reopened and more people are getting back in the water, some are still undecided and may have barriers to swimming in relation to Covid-19.
With this in mind, a team of experts from Swim England’s Swimming and Health Commission group developed the new fact sheet, to help break down some of the barriers which in some cases might be due to misconceptions that can easily be resolved.
This new fact sheet follows those developed so far on asthma, glandular fever, ear infection, dementia, epilepsy, diabetes, skin conditions and mental health, with plans to develop more in the future to cover other long-term health conditions and impairments.
Positive impact on physical and mental health
Swim England chief executive, Jane Nickerson, explained that pools are important to the nation’s road to recovery.
Jane said: “Swimming pools are safe and secure environments and they can play a key role in helping the nation recover from this pandemic.
“There is clear evidence that swimming and being active in the water has a positive impact on a range of physical and mental health conditions and is an activity that can help improve the overall health of people of all ages.
“Many people have struggled with their health and wellbeing throughout the coronavirus outbreak.
“This important fact sheet offers a range of top tips on how swimming can help after a Covid-19 infection and important advice to break down barriers and increase people’s confidence as they return to the water.”
Andrew Power, Swim England water wellbeing specialist, said: “Swimming and other forms of water-based exercise offer numerous advantages compared to land-based exercise due to the weight-bearing benefits of buoyancy and the friction of water offering greater resistance and calorific expenditure compared to similar movements performed on land.
“The pressure of being submerged in water has also been demonstrated to reduce swelling, improve circulation and modulate paid responses.
“The unique properties of water make swimming perfect for people of all ages to exercise, those with injuries, impairments, long-term health conditions and particularly those who struggle to exercise on land.
Swimming is so worthwhile
“However, a range of misconceptions still exist and some may have the view that because they have a particular health condition, swimming is not for them.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted on the health and wellbeing of many with existing health conditions and added to this are a whole range of new issues for those who have experienced, and might still be recovering from, Covid-19.
“This fact sheet will hopefully help those who are considering swimming again, or for the first time, to navigate some of the barriers and benefit from the ‘hug’ that only water can provide.”
Scarlett McNally is a consultant orthopaedic surgeon, lead author of ‘Exercise: The Miracle Cure’ produced by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, and was involved in the development of the fact sheet.
On why this piece of work was important, Scarlett said: “Swimming is ideal for people who have joint problems as there is little impact but a big improvement in fitness.
“It also reduces pain and improves mental health. Exercise is treatment for most common conditions and for many people, swimming is the best form of exercise.
“We developed this fact sheet guide because some people have lost confidence. If people have this information, it will help them to plan ahead so it is easier to start and stick to a new exercise habit. Swimming is so worthwhile.”
Swim England is continuing to work in partnership with members of the Swimming and Health Commission group and aquatics providers across the country to identify new opportunities to ensure that more people will be supported in understanding how they can swim safely with a long term health condition.
A special thanks to those involved in developing the fact sheet:
- Scarlett McNally – consultant orthopaedic surgeon
- Kevin Boyd – British Swimming medical director
- Dr Ian Gordon – Former ASA medical adviser and Chief Medical Officer for British Swimming and the Olympic team
- Dr Fiona Moffatt – University of Nottingham
- Sarah Cox – Aquatic Therapy Association of Chartered Physiotherapists. | <urn:uuid:861fbddd-c64f-4069-8872-6a7d415247e8> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.swimming.org/swimengland/swimming-covid-recovery-fact-sheet/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030333541.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20220924213650-20220925003650-00590.warc.gz | en | 0.962917 | 979 | 2.5625 | 3 |
- Inhabitat – Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building - http://inhabitat.com -
World’s First Molten Salt Solar Plant Produces Power at Night
Posted By Philip Proefrock On July 22, 2010 @ 8:00 am In green technology,Solar Power | 13 Comments
Sicily has just announced the opening of the world’s first concentrated solar power (CSP) facility that uses molten salt as a heat collection medium. Since molten salt is able to reach very high temperatures (over 1000 degrees Fahrenheit) and can hold more heat than the synthetic oil used in other CSP plants, the plant is able to continue to produce electricity even after the sun has gone down.
While photovoltaic solar panels work by directly producing electricity from sunlight, CSP plants use mirrors to concentrate sunlight and produce high temperatures in order to drive a turbine to generate electricity. CSP plants have been in existence for many years, but the Archimede plant is the first instance of a facility that uses molten salt as the collection medium.
Heat from the molten salt is used to boil water and drive the turbines, just like other fossil fuel plants. CSP plants use the same kind of steam turbines as typical fossil fueled power plants. This makes it possible to supplement existing power plants with CSP or even to retrofit plants to change over to clean energy producing technology. Some existing CSP plants have used molten salt storage in order to extend their operation, but the collectors have relied on oil as the heat collection medium. This has necessitated two heat transfer systems (one for oil-to-molten-salt, and the other for molten-salt-to-steam) which increases the complexity and decreases the efficiency of the system. The salts used in the system are also environmentally benign, unlike the synthetic oils used in other CSP systems.
Since molten salts solidify at around 425 degrees F, the system needs to maintain sufficient heat to keep from seizing up during periods of reduced sunlight. The receiver tubes in the Archimede facility are designed to maximize energy collection and minimize emissions with a vacuum casing that enables the system to work at very high temperatures required with molten salts. By using the higher temperatures of molten salts, instead of oil, which has been used in other CSP plants until this point, the plant is able to maintain capacity well after the sun sets, allowing it to continue generating power through the night.
The Archimede plant has a capacity of 5 megawatts with a field of 30,000 square meters of mirrors and more than 3 miles of heat collecting piping for the molten salt. The cost for this initial plant was around 60 million Euros.
Via Guardian UK
Article printed from Inhabitat – Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building: http://inhabitat.com
URL to article: http://inhabitat.com/worlds-first-molten-salt-solar-plant-produces-power-at-night/
URLs in this post:
Image: http://inhabitat.com/2010/07/22/worlds-first-molten-salt-solar-plant-produces-power-at-night/2-archimede/
concentrated solar power: http://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/06/15/worlds-first-hybrid-solar-plant-almost-complete/&sa=X&ei=b5VITM_ZKYjd4AbZ4pH-DA&ved=0CB8QzgQoADAA&usg=AFQjCNE_rBVU1fKVAsK8Z_aPSCJEk1fTJg
uses molten salt: http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/01/14/energy-breakthrough-storing-solar-power-with-salt/
Image: http://inhabitat.com/2010/07/22/worlds-first-molten-salt-solar-plant-produces-power-at-night/1-archimede/
supplement existing power plants with CSP: http://www.inhabitat.com/2010/07/12/worlds-first-hybrid-coal-solar-power-plant-goes-online-in-colorado/
receiver tubes: http://www.angelantoni.it/en/en_archimede_angelantoni.htm
Archimede plant: http://www.solarthermalmagazine.com/2010/07/14/enel-inaugerates-molten-salt-thermal-energy-storage-system-for-archimede-solar-thermal-power-plant/
Guardian UK: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/22/first-molten-salt-solar-power
The Engineer UK: http://www.theengineer.co.uk/in-depth/the-big-story/the-dawn-of-of-the-solar-power-station/1001248.article
Siemens: http://www.siemens.com/innovation/en/highlights/energy/update_02/desertec.htm
Copyright © 2011 Inhabitat Local - New York. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:ed0e9ffa-e6bc-42cd-8cc1-ff2524d95031> | CC-MAIN-2015-22 | http://inhabitat.com/worlds-first-molten-salt-solar-plant-produces-power-at-night/print/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-22/segments/1432207932182.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20150521113212-00120-ip-10-180-206-219.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.857938 | 1,176 | 2.921875 | 3 |
International Conference on Advances in Environmental and Bio-Technology - AEBT 2014
Author(s) : SUNGKWON YOON , SUNGROK WANG , WILLIAM T. NICHOLS
In this paper we discuss self-assembly as a powerful technique for the synthesis of eco-effective materials. We give three examples that exhibit increasing complexity in the building blocks undergoing self-assembly. In the first case, specific interactions are designed between nanoscale components that assemble up to centimeter scale. This technique however is limited to relatively few components because each component must be controlled separately. To address this issue the second example designs the functionality directly into building blocks that then assemble. This is the design principle used in biological cells. In the basic cell motif: a biological membrane is functionalized for each cell type but all cells assemble under similar conditions. In human engineering, we can't match nature's complexity in cellular building blocks. Accepting this limitation, the third technique uses biological cells directly in the assembly. Here the fully complex biological machinery creates intricate building blocks that can be used in self-assembly. Here we show an example of marine diatoms that are composed of intricate silica shells that assemble into macroscale patterns. | <urn:uuid:31724fd9-b59d-4566-9882-6ae7eb7881b4> | CC-MAIN-2020-10 | https://www.seekdl.org/conferences/paper/details/2509.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-10/segments/1581875143455.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20200217235417-20200218025417-00483.warc.gz | en | 0.920483 | 251 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Breastfeeding Benefits Everyone
Breastfeeding means not only healthier moms and babies, but a healthier community. Besides reducing health care costs, workplace support of breastfeeding moms when they return to their jobs can even improve productivity through decreased absenteeism of both moms and dads and improved morale. Get the facts.
Moms Need Support – Everyone Plays A Part
Given the strong medical evidence about the benefits of breastfeeding to the long-term health of children and mothers, most moms say they intend to breastfeed. But while over 90% of Nebraska moms intend to breastfeed, under 26% continue to the 1 year recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Clearly, moms need more support. Healthcare professionals, family members, employers, and the community at large - everyone can play a role in ensuring that our children have the best possible start in life.
Breastfeeding Facts - From the US Dept of Health and Human Services, Women's Health Office
Breastfeeding saves lives and reduces risk for medical conditions.
Recent research shows that if 90% of families breastfed exclusively for 6 months, nearly 1,000 deaths among infants could be prevented. Benefits for baby include reduced risk of SIDS, ear infections, upper respiratory infections, childhood leukemia, obesity, diabetes, gastrointestinal issues, asthma and more. Benefits for mom include reduced risk of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, type II diabetes, and postpartum depression.
Breastfeeding saves money.
The United States would save $2.2 billion per year in medical care. Costs are lower for fully breastfed infants than never-breastfed infants. Breastfed infants usually need fewer sick care visits, prescriptions, and hospitalizations.
Breastfeeding helps make a more productive workforce.
Mothers who breastfeed miss less work to care for sick infants than mothers who feed their infants formula. Employer medical costs are also lower. Benefits for employers include higher productivity, lower health care costs, decreased absenteeism, higher loyalty, lower turnover rates, better job satisfaction, and enhanced overall company image and recruiting benefits.
Breastfeeding is better for the environment.
Formula cans and bottle supplies create more trash and plastic waste. Breastmilk is a renewable resource that comes packaged and warmed.
What Experts Recommend
In 2011, the US Surgeon General issued a national Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding. This report recommends widespread community efforts to create a supportive environment for new mothers in order to increase breastfeeding rates and improve the health of the nation. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians were joined in February 2016 by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in recommending babies be exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months, with continued breastfeeding as complementary foods are introduced through the infant’s first year of life or longer as mutually desired by mother and infant.
A Great Decision, But Not Always Easy
According to national and local reports, most moms intend to breastfeed, but at the six month and one year marks, breastfeeding rates are dropping significantly. Here is the local data:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Data – Nebraska
- According to the 2016 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report card, among children born in 2013 only 50% of infants in Nebraska were still breastfeeding at 6 months of age, and only 30% were breastfeeding at 1 year of age.
Local Hospital Tracking - Lancaster County
- According to data from the two maternity care hospitals in Lincoln, 91% of moms intend to breastfeed.
Local Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Data – Lancaster County
- The 2014 data from our two local WIC clinics shows about 87% of moms on WIC in Lancaster County were breastfeeding at 1 week, under 53% by 8 weeks, only 20% at 6 months and 11% at 1 year.
Mom’s report three significant challenges to breastfeeding for the recommended duration:
- Lack of family support and encouragement
- Lack of workplace support
- Inconsistent or sparse information from healthcare providers
Partnership for a Healthy Lincoln is part of the Lincoln Community Breastfeeding Inititaive (LCBI). The LCBI is a collaborative local organization working to provide resources to create a baby friendly community that supports new moms. On the pages listed below, individuals and organizations can find information and links to resources to help support breastfeeding, in the home, in the workplace, through healthcare providers, and the community. | <urn:uuid:5da091aa-8afa-4533-96f6-b8b3654d0849> | CC-MAIN-2019-22 | https://www.healthylincoln.org/initiatives/healthy-babies/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-22/segments/1558232257497.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20190524024253-20190524050253-00387.warc.gz | en | 0.934182 | 907 | 2.8125 | 3 |
By Steve Mintz on July 20, 2012
Eminent domain refers to the power possessed by the state over all property within the state, specifically its power to appropriate property for a public use.
Generally, when a unit of government wants to acquire privately held land, the government attempts to negotiate the purchase of the property for fair value. If the owner does not want to sell, the government files a court action to exercise eminent domain, and serves or publishes notice of the hearing as required by law. In the state of California, the eminent domain process can only be stopped if the proposed taking does not meet the requirements for public purpose or public necessity.
On July 5 it was reported that officials in San Bernardino County, and in the cities of Fontana and Ontario, are considering using eminent domain to seize and restructure underwater mortgages and help struggling homeowners. The idea is to acquire the mortgages of distressed homeowners and restructure them in a way that allows the borrowers to stay in their homes.
As might be expected, banking and housing groups are not on board. They are concerned that forced restructuring through eminent domain could lead to big losses for the investors in these home loans and a loss of confidence in the ability of the cities to repay debt in the future. Seizing mortgages in this way would result in losses for public pension plans, 401(k) plans and individual investors who bought the individual loans as part of a packaged group of securities known as collateralized debt obligations. These securitized assets were at the forefront of the 2008 financial meltdown.
There are two important ethical issues in using the eminent domain process to help one group of homeowners and not others. The first is the problem of moral hazard, whereby the costs of risk-taking are passed along to other parties. The second is basic fairness. Is it fair to help out a group of people who got in over their heads or who no longer have the ability (or desire) to meet their obligations? What about homeowners who did the right thing?
There are many homeowners who are living up to their obligations and making mortgage payments even though their mortgages far exceed the fair market value of their property.
The use of eminent domain rewards irresponsible behavior, even if caused by events out of the control of the benefited party. It sets a bad precedent that the government will be there to help you if economic conditions create challenges that otherwise would be met. It is unfair to others who play by the rules.
The use of eminent domain to refinance underwater mortgages is an ethical slippery slope. Where does it stop? Why not use eminent domain to pay off automobile loans and prevent repossession? Why not restructure student debt to relieve the burden of years of loan repayment?
There is a reason we live in a free market economy. We believe in letting the marketplace resolve issues of supply and demand for housing. We should also learn from the past and acknowledge that various affordable housing programs have not worked to stem the tide of foreclosures and underwater mortgages. The real problem is stagnant economic growth.
The U.S. Constitution states that “No person shall be… deprived of… property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” The key is to define “for public use.” Public use is generally thought of as having a public benefit, such as seizure to develop infrastructure. The eminent domain action being contemplated by San Bernardino County officials benefits one group of people and might lead to the loss in value of homes for those who have played by the rules.
The free-market solution to the housing dilemma is for banks to work with their customers to restructure debt. We should not expect the banks and investors to sit idly by and watch the government intervene in the process. The eminent domain solution is more akin to socialism than capitalism.
• Steve Mintz is a professor of accounting in the Orfalea College of Business at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He blogs about business issues at www.ethicssage.com and www.workplaceethicsadvice.com. | <urn:uuid:9820c120-ae81-4ac3-a876-0751e0f52490> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | https://www.pacbiztimes.com/2012/07/20/oped-using-eminent-domain-to-restructure-bad-mortgages-is-unethical/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719547.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00457-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964509 | 833 | 3.125 | 3 |
|Law and legal systems|
|Types of Law|
|Conflict of laws|
|Intellectual property law|
|International criminal law|
Commercial law or business law is the body of law which governs business and commerce. It is often considered to be a branch of civil law, and deals with issues of private law and public law. Commercial law regulates corporate contracts, hiring practices, and the manufacture and sale of consumer goods. Business or commercial law regulates the many transactions in any of the various operations of a trade or industry and creates a norm of fairness and cooperation within a commercial deal, which usually has a financial gain as the objective. Flourishing commerce provides the financial foundation that can support development of other aspects of culture. Business law is thus necessary and valuable in ensuring stable and prosperous commercial relationships in society.
Contract law governs the formation and elements of a contract including the agreement process or offer and acceptance, valuable consideration, and the defenses to a contract formation. There are rights and obligations of the non-parties, and the performance of the contract or the maturing and/or breach of contractual duties.
Corporate law considers the characteristics of a corporation and the sources of corporate power. There are formalities of incorporation and stock sales along with creating the corporate management with contracts, directors, officers and shareholders. Secondary stock sales involve restrictions on insider trading, and corporate distributions involving dividends, redemptions, and repurchases. Corporations may have mergers and acquisitions, and they may be dissolved and liquidated.
As a legal entity which is separate and distinct from its owners and managers, a corporation can be identified with other entities, such as a sole proprietorship, cooperative, limited companies, partnership, creditor-debtor, employer-employee, principal-agent, and a trust, and all are under a similar regulational authority.
Real property law involves estates in land and the classification and validity of all interests in the property. There are landlord and tenant issues on the types of tenancies, and the obligations owed both landlord and tenant. Easements, profits, covenants and servitudes are types of interests in the land and there is a determination as to how they were created with what reasonable use and whether all requirements have been met for the burden or benefit to run. There are conveyance issues within a contract of sale with deed, recording and covenants for title factors. Additionally, there are the issues of adverse possession and prescriptive easements to be considered.
In law, intellectual property (IP) is an umbrella term for various legal entitlements which attach to certain names, written and recorded media, and inventions. The holders of these legal entitlements may exercise various exclusive rights in relation to the subject matter of the IP. The term "intellectual property" reflects the idea that this subject matter is the product of the mind or the intellect. The term implies that intellectual works are analogous to physical property and is consequently a matter of some controversy.
Tax law is the codified system of laws that describes government levies on economic transactions, commonly called taxes.
Primary taxation issues in the United States would include taxes on: income, capital gains, retirement accounts, estates, gifts, corporations, LLCs, partnerships, or taxes on specific investment products or types.
A negotiable instrument is a specialized type of contract for the payment of money which is unconditional and capable of transfer by negotiation. Note that a negotiable instrument is not a per se contract as contract formation requires an offer, acceptance and consideration, none of which are elements of a negotiable instrument (in the US). The rights of the payee (or holder in due course) are better than those provided by ordinary contracts.
A letter of credit is a document issued mostly by a financial institution which usually provides an irrevocable payment undertaking (it can also be revocable, confirmed, unconfirmed, transferable or others e.g. back to back: revolving but is most commonly irrevocable/confirmed) to a beneficiary against complying documents as stated in the Letter of Credit. Letter of Credit is abbreviated as an LC or L/C, and often is referred to as a documentary credit, abbreviated as DC or D/C, documentary letter of credit, or simply as credit (as in the UCP 500 and UCP 600). Once the beneficiary or a presenting bank acting on its behalf, makes a presentation to the issuing bank or confirming bank, if any, within the expiry date of the LC, comprising documents complying with the terms and conditions of the LC, the applicable UCP and international standard banking practice, the issuing bank or confirming bank, if any, is obliged to honor irrespective of any instructions from the applicant to the contrary. In other words, the obligation to honor (usually payment) is shifted from the applicant to the issuing bank or confirming bank, if any. Non-banks can also issue letters of credit however parties must balance potential risks.
The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC or the Code) is one of a number of uniform acts that have been promulgated in conjunction with efforts to harmonize the law of sales and other commercial transactions in all 50 states within the United States of America. This objective is deemed important because of the prevalence today of commercial transactions that extend beyond one state (for example, where the goods are manufactured in state A, warehoused in state B, sold from state C and delivered in state D). The UCC deals primarily with transactions involving personal property (moveable property), not real property (immovable property).
The UCC is the longest and most elaborate of the uniform acts. It has been a long-term, joint project of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) and the American Law Institute (ALI). Judge Herbert F. Goodrich was the Chairman of the Editorial Board of the original 1952 edition, and the Code itself was drafted by some of the top legal scholars in the United States, including such luminaries as Karl N. Llewellyn, Soia Mentschikoff, and Grant Gilmore. The Code, as the product of private organizations, is not itself the law, but only recommendation of the laws that should be adopted in the states. Once enacted in a state by the state's legislature, it becomes true law and is codified into the state’s code of statutes. When the Code is adopted by a state, it may be adopted verbatim as written by ALI/NCCUSL, or may be adopted with specific changes deemed necessary by the state legislature. Unless such changes are minor, they can affect the purpose of the Code in promoting uniformity of law among the various states.
Various regulatory schemes control how commerce is conducted, privacy laws, safety laws (i.e. OSHA in the United States) food and drug laws are some examples.
Many countries have adopted civil codes which contain comprehensive statements of their commercial law. A civil code is a systematic compilation of laws designed to comprehensively deal with the core areas of private law. A jurisdiction that has a civil code generally also has a code of civil procedure. In some jurisdictions with a civil code, a number of the core areas of private law that would otherwise typically be codified in a civil code may instead be codified in a commercial code.
The law of business and commerce includes a complex system of companies that try to maximize their profits by offering products and services to the market (which consists both of individuals and other companies) at the lowest production-cost. There exists a system of world-wide or foreign commerce, which is a part of the free market exchange. Each country benefits from a world-wide economy and business law facilitates the way each country deals with the exchange of goods and services from the producer to the final consumer.
New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:
Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed. | <urn:uuid:85520f69-35bd-4185-839a-4443298993ca> | CC-MAIN-2016-22 | http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Business_law | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-22/segments/1464049276543.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20160524002116-00168-ip-10-185-217-139.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944477 | 1,731 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Dengue fever is agonizing and devitalizing. The dengue virus is a mosquito-borne ailment that causes weakness. The viruses causing Yellow fever and West Nile infection are related to Dengue viruses. Dengue Fever Symptoms include rashes, headaches, high fevers, and pain spread out over the entire body. Although the pain associated with dengue is intense, the disease is usually not fatal. Most people suffering from dengue feel better after two or three days, and may completely recover within two weeks.
Dengue fever can be commonly found in subtropical and tropical climates. It’s a huge issue in Southeast Asia and some Latin American countries. Dengue fever is not that common in the US, only found amongst people who bring it with them while traveling from other countries.
How it began to spread
The name dengue originated from a Swahili phrase which referred to seizures accompanying cramps. They believed these seizures were the works of evil spirits. Spanish “dengue” may have influenced the Swahili term “dinga”. The Spanish term “dengue” means assiduous, describing the way someone plagued by bone pain caused by dengue fever walks. It is possible that the Spanish term was influenced by Swahili. West Indian slaves who contracted this disease walked in this manner, carefully like a person overly concerned with their appearance or a “dandy”. For this reason, “Dandy Fever” was the name given to the disease.
The First Signs of Dengue can be found in ancient China. A medical encyclopaedia belonging to the Jin Dynasty tells about a poison originating in the water and carried by mosquitoes. Between the 15th century, and the 19th century, aegypti, which is the primary carrier, expanded out of Africa. In the 17th century, there have been reports of dengue fever escalating to epidemics, but the earliest verifiable report of dengue epidemics can be found in 1779, when an outbreak spread across Asia, North America, and Africa.
In 1906, it was confirmed that dengue was spread by Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes. Yellow fever was the first disease originating from a virus, and the second one was dengue. After further investigation, scientists finally understood how dengue was transmitted. Since the Second World War, there has been mass ecological disruption which has contributed to the disease spreading further.
Different versions of dengue spread to untouched areas due to the same reason and eventually caused dengue hemorrhagic fever to emerge. In 1953 Phillipines, dengue hemorrhagic fever was reported for the first time, and by the time the 1970s began, it spread to the Pacific region and America. Dengue Symptoms In Child were noted, and the disease was one of the chief causes of child mortality. In South and Central America, the disease was first noted in 1981.
How is Dengue Transmitted
Dengue viruses are transmitted to humans via the female Aedes mosquitoes. Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus are the two species of mosquitoes that can also transmit other mosquito-borne viruses, including zika and chikungunya. It can also spread from an infected mother to her fetus. There is no evidence of it spreading through breastfeeding or sexual contact. In some rare cases, the virus is transmitted via blood transfusions from infected donors.
Mosquitoes obtain the virus while sucking the blood of a person already infected with dengue. After an incubation period of eight to ten days, the mosquito is able to transmit the virus for the rest of its life. There is no way to determine if a mosquito is carrying the dengue virus or not. It is possible that an infected mosquito can transfer the virus to its offspring via the eggs, but whether this offspring can transfer the disease to humans, is not yet known.
Infected humans serve as the main source of the virus. They are the main carriers and uninfected mosquitoes get infected when they bite an infected human. The virus flows in the blood of the infected human for two to seven days, and at the same moment, they catch a fever and Dengue Fever Symptoms can be seen. This is the time period during which Aedes mosquitoes may obtain the virus when they feed on that infected human. In parts of South East Asia and Africa, apes in the jungle may play a part in the transmission.
What you need to know
The Aedes mosquito breeds in stagnant water, often close to human habitat. They prefer dark places under furniture, dim-lit bathrooms, etc. They may also love in pools of water where human waste is collected. Also, they are most active during the daytime, especially at dawn. A dengue epidemic occurs when the virus is introduced in a region where there are a large number of susceptible adults and children.
Hyper-endemic dengue transmission can occur when multiple viral serotypes are distributed in an area where a large pool of susceptible hosts and a suitable vector are always present. This is how dengue is globally transmitted. Antibody presence increases with age and most adults in the population are immune. Hyper-endemic transmission is one of the main causes of Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever.
The chances of infection are 25-50%. Dengue has recently surfaced in parts of Asia, Africa, and South America and has spread rapidly. Efforts are being made by the respective government and independent organizations to raise awareness and control the spread of this virus.
Some of the facts related to Dengue are:
- Dengue may be life-threatening, and in severe cases, may require the patient to be hospitalized
- An estimated 400 million dengue infections occur worldwide each year, with about 96 million resulting in illness.
- Less than 5% of cases are severe, and only a tiny percentage of these may prove to be fatal. Children are more susceptible to severe cases of dengue and even fatalities. This severe form of dengue,known as Dengue hemorrhagic fever, along with Dengue Fever Symptoms can cause thevascular permeability to increase, in turn leading to hypovolemic shock that may be fatal.
- The areas in which this disease is most prevalent include the Southern China, Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Taiwan, The Caribbean (except Cuba and the Cayman Islands), The Pacific Islands, Mexico, Africa, and South and Central America
Mild symptoms of dengue include fever, aches, and pains, or Dengue Fever Rash. The most common Dengue Fever Symptoms include severe headaches, pain felt at the region behind the eyes, severe joint and muscle pain, fatigue, nose or gum bleeding. Some symptoms are generic and can be mistaken for those of flu. People with weak immune systems, especially children are most vulnerable to these.
A more severe variety of dengue, the Dengue hemorrhagic fever causes Dengue Fever Symptoms such as bleeding from the mouth, gums or nose, damaged lymph and blood vessels, internal bleeding leading to black vomit and stool, pulse weakening, blood spots under the skin, decrease in the number of blood platelets, etc.
Dengue shock syndrome is another severe form of dengue. The symptoms of this disease include stomach pain, heavy bleeding, vomiting, a sudden fall in blood pressure, disorientation, and hypo-tension.
When Should You Seek Treatment
It is advisable to consult a doctor immediately if you are displaying Dengue Fever Symptoms. You should consult a doctor if you are showing symptoms after visiting a region where there is an outbreak of the virus. The doctor will ask you basic questions about your well-being, what discomforts you are experiencing and where you have traveled to recently. You may be required to undertake a blood sample test.
Often the fever would go down after a few days of Dengue Fever Symptoms showing. This is an ideal time to get yourself checked into a hospital to seek treatment. Neglecting the disease can prove to be fatal and one should seek treatment as early as possible in order to get better.
How to diagnose dengue
RT-PCR can detect dengue in the bloodstream. Depending upon the serotype, non-structural dengue antigen can be detected in the bloodstream. The virus may be isolated for research purposes. In the case of an outbreak, authorities need to determine the genotype and serotype of the disease. Dengue IgM antibodies can be detected in serum specimens to determine the serotype.
In the case of a dengue infection, the antibodies called Dengue Igm appear 2-3 days after the onset of infection and are short-lasting. Cross-sections of the serological nature may exist between the virus carrying dengue and flaviviruses closely related to it.
The only way of preventing dengue is avoiding mosquito bites. No vaccine has been developed to offer protection against Dengue Fever Symptoms. Some of the ways we can prevent dengue include:
- Reduce skin exposure. Wear long-sleeved clothes, long pants, and socks. Hats can be worn to protect the head.
- Use repellents but exercise caution.
- Use mosquito nets at night while sleeping.
- Window screens and nets can keep the mosquitoes out.
- Avoid using strong perfumes as they might attract mosquitoes.
- Get rid of stagnant water around you on a regular basis. Drain plant pots, and make sure no water accumulates in buckets or other containers. Change the water in flower vases every day. Ensure that drains are not blocked. Do not place receptacles under air conditioning machines.
- While out for camping, choose a spot that is away from water.
There is no one drug that can cure dengue fever. Patients should get rest and drink a lot of water. Paracetamol can reduce fever and joint pains. Already infected Patients can cause the disease to spread further, and thus, they should sleep inside mosquito nets. Once a person has been infected by a particular strain, that strain can never affect them again. But other strains can still infect them.
When Dengue Fever Symptoms are present, a doctor must be consulted and you must get yourself admitted to a hospital. Case-fatality rates are below 1% when dealt with proper care and timing. However, the overall experience is extremely unpleasant and painful. In more severe cases, the treatment includes fluid therapy.
The fluid is usually administered orally. In case the patient is unable to take fluid orally due to severe vomiting, prostration or shock, it may be administered intravenously. The aim is to keep enough fluid in the vascular system to prevent hypovolemia. For intravenous treatment, crystalloids (0.9% saline) is used.
The rate of fluid administration varies according to the situation. If the patient goes into shock, 20 mL/kg boluses should be used for resuscitation. The fluid quota should be calculated for the entire period. Colloids like dextran should be administered as a secondary therapy when hypotension is not responding to boluses of intravenous crystalloids.
Further hemoconcentration due to leakage may cause a rise in hematocrit, increasing the demand for fluids. However, a drop in hematocrit may be due to re-absorption of fluid or internal bleeding. If the platelet count is low, there may be bleeding. In such cases, a blood transfusion may be required.
A widespread outbreak of dengue demands control strategies to prevent it from turning into a mass epidemic. GIS mapping can be used to locate dengue concentrations. By locating dengue cases within the affected area, treatment can proceed with various preventive strategies. Moreover, GIS mapping allows better surveillance and can determine the breeding ground for mosquitoes.
Surveillance provides risk assessment, outbreak reaction, program evaluation, and guidance. It allows timely response and establishment of control strategies. On the other hand, these programs do not focus on the elimination of the virus. The eruption of dengue in Singapore in 2009 was caused due to excessive control measures and inefficient surveillance. Further, by gaining knowledge regarding vector concentration and its breeding, we can effectively control the disease.
Aegypti females lay eggs above the stagnant water in containers or jars and so on for their survival. It is crucial to determine the behavior pattern of vectors to effectively locate these egg-laying sites. Once the oviposition sites have been determined, effective strategies can be employed for the elimination of the mosquitoes at that site.
Community-based programs are arranged to make the public aware of the disease and the breeding sites of mosquitoes. When people are aware of the disease, about Dengue Fever Symptoms and how it spreads, the likeliness of an outbreak occurring significantly decreases. | <urn:uuid:d70964e6-799a-4e3b-acc1-3384f57f4cca> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://latestbulletins.com/dengue-fever-symptoms/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141189030.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20201126230216-20201127020216-00080.warc.gz | en | 0.936866 | 2,662 | 3.9375 | 4 |
departure of Alexis
The Spiritual Battle: a discourse
The significance of the text
The pictures explained
The Dove and Geoffrey
The theme of St Alexis’ life has been seen as a parallel for Christina’s own, particularly because Alexis dramatically renounces his marriage by the bedside on his wedding night, in order to become a hermit. His cult at St Albans seems to have been relatively short lived because his feast only appears once, in the Egerton calendar, and once in the St Albans Psalter litany. However his story must have been frequently discussed in Christina and Geoffrey’s day. His cult was introduced by Abbot Richard and his chapel in the abbey had recently been dedicated by Bishop Ranulf Flambard of Durham. The dedication took place between 1099 and 1119 (GA, 118). It is quite possible that Christina was introduced to the story of Alexis by Bishop Flambard himself, on one of his conjugal visits to Christina’s aunt’s household (Talbot, 1998, 41-2). From Christina’s account, one may picture Flambard, feasting with a few flagons of ale in the home of his mistress, flanked by his illegitimate children and Autti’s family including the delectable Christina, perhaps recounting his recent task of dedicating the chapel at St Albans.
Most illustrations of Alexis’ life concentrate on the later part of his story, particularly his family’s lack of recognition and his incarceration under the stairs (AP, 135-140). So, for this book, a deliberate choice has been made to place the grieving, bereft bride centre stage, flanked by tender scenes of her departing love.
Captions are necessary to explain the bride’s importance in these scenes, because she remains mute at this point in the Chanson (lines 61-75). Scribe 3 has no choice about the rather harsh words with which Alexis addresses his stunned bride in the poem ‘Hearken to me, maiden’ (line 66), but in the caption he is free to make a more personal and sympathetic address. Whereas the other captions employ the third person, the direct vocative address is used for ‘O blessed bride, forever bound to grief’. The bride, pivotal in the picture, plays a smaller part in the poem, always following Alexis’ father and mother. She does not even have a name; although she laments poignantly (lines 468-95), her eternal grief is nothing compared to that of Alexis’ mother.
Pächt understood the picture as a parallel for Christina’s life: the chaste wedding night and departure for an ascetic life far from home superficially fit her circumstances (AP, 136). However, evidence on every level suggests the entire insertion of the Alexis quire was Abbot Geoffrey’s idea, and reflects his relationship with Christina rather than her own preferences. He too left his home and found a new life serving God in a foreign land. He sustained a lifelong, pure and spiritually enlightened relationship with Christina, where many previous men in her life had been overcome by her physical attractions. Both Geoffrey and Alexis gave away their riches to the poor (lines 91-7; Talbot, 1998,150-1)
Alexis was, after all, a continental male cult figure recently adopted by St Albans Abbey whereas St Cecilia was the female equivalent, familiar to Anglo-Saxons and invoked by Christina. The poem certainly does not fit Christina’s life in detail. Alexis complied with his father’s wish for the marriage and enjoyed a splendid wedding; Christina fought all the way. Alexis, over the untouched wedding bed, tenderly hands his wife gifts symbolising fidelity and she pines for ever like a turtle dove after he departs; Christina sat her husband firmly down on the bed and lectured him about the virtuous marriage not of Alexis but (more naturally) of St Cecilia. She made desperate attempts to escape, even jumping out of the window. She certainly did not weep for her spouse. The prologue below mentions those ‘who take delight in virginal marriage’; her unconsummated marriage to Burhred was far from delightful (Talbot, 1998, 44-55). All these features suggest that the choice of illustration may have a different meaning.
The entire codicological evidence of this quire (vellum, ruling, scribe, ornament, contents, language) indicates that it was compiled as a separate project, after the psalter itself. And yet, it too was a gift from Geoffrey to Christina. Historical events may explain the unusual iconography of the illustration and explain why the distraught grieving woman is the centre of the composition.
In 1136 Geoffrey was summoned to Rome and he went to consult Christina about the journey. ‘He admitted his sadness and shed tears as proof of his grief.’ Christina’s ‘countenance was bathed with tears, her heart torn with sighs’ and she prepared gifts for his departure (the cosy, personally- stitched undergarments, Talbot, 1998, 161). This was indeed a chaste and sorrowful parting, with gifts. A second visit to Rome, proposed in 1139, met with equal resistance from Christina, who once more summoned up the powers of divine visions to underline her anxiety. Her prayers to prevent the journeys succeeded because ‘she knew how to love to supreme advantage’, a phrase which even suggests emotional blackmail (Talbot, 1998, 164-5). As it turned out, Christina’s divine prescience and a change of events prevented Geoffrey’s journeys altogether (Talbot, 1998, 160-3).
Alexis was dead in Rome when the pope saw him; Geoffrey was proposing to see the pope in Rome. The bride experiences her noblest moment when, after years of grieving for her absent love, she realises that true fulfilment is found in loving God and as a reward she is united with Alexis in heaven (lines 493-5, 606-610 ; Schmolke-Hasselman,1977,311). The poem thus offers consolation for the abandoned bride and perhaps a gentle reminder for Christina to release Geoffrey to perform his duties with less emotional pressure. The titles beatus/beata in the captions indicate that the couple achieve beatitude in the after life.
While Christina was possessive about Geoffrey, fretting over every detail of his life (Talbot, 1998, 192-3) and wanting him to remain nearby, he was also jealous and possessive about her. He noticed how, even when he was providing her with material assistance, she would simply ignore him while she communed with God. He commented, almost petulantly, ‘You fail to realise that I am present’(Talbot, 1998, 154-5). Thus, he was not a man to glorify her failed and turbulent marriage to Burhred, but was more interested in his own successful and chaste relationship with her. Theirs was the tested and faithful love illustrated in the picture, which offered eternal union in heaven.
If either of these journey episodes, in 1136 or 1139, prompted the Chanson, possibly as a ‘final gift’, then they may serve to date at least the Chanson pages, if not the entire quire.
If the Alexis Chanson was specially made as a gift to Christina, it is not clear how much of it she could understand. If she could not read the words, she may have been familiar with the story through performances, which the prologue indicates with ‘we have heard readings and song’. Great efforts are expended to make the French words arresting by using coloured inks, but the captions which emphasise the grieving bride on this page are in Latin. The text by Pope Gregory which follows the Chanson (p68) is written twice, in both Latin and French, to make sure it is fully understood, perhaps as a teaching exercise.
These two pages are probably the most important and impenetrable in the whole book. They throw up a wide range of questions which are explored here, but satisfactory answers are harder to find. It is clear that to the scribe or author, the aesthetic effect of his noble introduction to the psalms was less important than the intense passage of text which wraps itself untidily around the illustrations. The passage itself is convoluted, making allusions which were probably understood by the recipient but which are now hard to grasp. And lastly, the author speaks with his own voice, directing his words to a single reader, and producing a classic passage on the meaning of art to a medieval audience. (This area of the psalter has received relatively little critical study so far, and many of the ideas which follow are thanks to the notes by Christopher Hohler).
Problems with the lay out are discussed in the commentary for pp 71-72. The regularity and control displayed in the main part of the psalter emphasise the improvised nature of these two pages. If a tidy model lay behind the psalter itself, then this introduction was a spontaneous change of plan. This uncertainty about the beginning of the psalms carries on to the following bifolio (pp73, 74, 91, 92) which was removed and replaced. However, it should be noted that even in the classic illustrated psalters, Utrecht and Eadwine, the beginning is tentative and does not follow the regular pattern for the rest of the book (van der Horst, 1996, 43-4,57; Heslop, 1992, 43-9).
The regular pattern for the St Albans Psalter requires an historiated initial illustrating words of the adjacent psalm, accompanied by a title containing words lifted from the psalm, which usually provides the key to the picture. The title was sometimes written into the initial itself as a caption to a book. It is obvious that all the titles were written after both the text and painting, by Scribe 3, the writer of pp71-2.
A long tradition made the first initial, B, a stately frontispiece, often on its own, sometimes incorporating David as the psalmist (Steger, 1961, 98-103). On p72 the visual messages are more diffuse because the design of inspired psalmist is deliberately tied in to that of the fighting horsemen. Moreover, the horsemen are placed in the margin, blank space which is normally respected in this book. The trimming shaves off part of the drawing, and the text on p71. Space is also tight on p71 where the framed illustration is squeezed to one side in order to fit in the discourse. Further diffusion is caused by the caption which does not come from the psalm at all, but brings in a new idea, referring to David’s prophesy of the Incarnation: ‘The blessed psalmist David, whom God has chosen, has gushed forth the annunciation of the Holy Spirit’. These words were apparently written at the end of the discourse but were erased, presumably because they duplicated the rubric in the little book (AP, 148,n4. The erased words are no longer legible). It was essential for the horsemen to be linked visually to the psalmist on p72, because on p71 at the start of the discourse, the writer has to remind the reader that the prompt for his text is to be found on the following page. This visual link must provide one clue to the meaning of the passage, namely that David’s revelation fortifies the spiritual warrior in the struggle between good and evil.
The text falls into two sections: the spiritual battle; and the meaning of the Beatus initial. Openshaw (1993, 17-38) points out that in earlier psalters illustrations of the spiritual battle provide a key interpretation for the psalms. Full page pictures of scenes like David and Goliath, Christ’s temptation, the Harrowing of Hell show the triumph of Good over Evil (in the Southampton Psalter, Cambridge, St John’s College MS C.9; B.L. Cotton Tiberius C.VI). By contrast in the St Albans Psalter, the ‘battle with the Devil is not an overt aspect of the extensive pictorial cycle’, the two little warriors are secular and they are confined to a margin (Openshaw, 1993, 37).
The metaphor of a Christian soldier taking up arms against evil is expressed by St Paul (Ephesians 6:13-17): the armour of God, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit; (1 Thessalonians 5:8): the breastplate of faith and love, the helmet, the hope of salvation. The theme of spiritual battle is effusively developed by St Anselm in his Similes (AP, 150; Southern, 1969, 97-102). For him, the metaphor of the horse as a charger against the devil occupies several pages. Although the secular horsemen are described as ‘leaders’ and ‘these two warriors’, they are also called ‘holy figures, armed in a manly spirit’. The discourse emphasises that this battle is undertaken by monastics, ‘Upon that war and divine inheritance there meditate, by day and night, good people of the cloister’. The theme of hermits fighting the battle against evil is developed by Peter Damian, in a chapter entitled ‘Praise for eremitical life’. He refers to the hermit’s cell as a field of divine war, a spiritual arena. A copy of his book was written at St Albans at the same time as the psalter (Oxford, Christchurch 115, ff22-3; AP, 150). Christina herself, helped by the psalms, grappled with the devil in her cell while she hid at Flamstead. ‘Her peaceful existence irritated the devil: her reading and singing of the psalms by day and night were a torment to him. And so to terrify the reverend handmaid of Christ toads invaded her cell to distract her attention by all kinds of ugliness from God’s beauty’ (Talbot, 1998, 98-9).
The struggle culminates in the last battle, redolent with phrases from Revelation and Proverbs. Sentiments become apocalyptic, describing the divine battle between church and antichrist, the blood of the holy martyrs, the book of life, the two witnesses and victims of the battle (Revelation 20:8, 20:12, 17:6, 11:3-8). However where ‘it is written about wisdom’ remains elusive. Wisdom is personified as a woman in Proverbs1:20 but as a queen on a white warhorse (dextrarium) she appears to mingle with the rider of the Apocalypse. The white horse in Revelation (19:11-16) is ridden by a man who was called Faithful and True, wearing many crowns and named The Word of God. He smites the nations as Wisdom smites ‘the lost army’. The attributes of Wisdom in Proverbs 9 are close to those of the horseman: faithful and true. The Word of God (John 1) was there before the Creation, like Wisdom (Proverbs 9:22-32). The shout at the end of the last battle is mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4:16. All the sentences and phrases where godliness and evil are balanced as opposing pairs reflect the structure of exhortations in Proverbs where virtue and vice are contrasted in many verses (eg Proverbs 10).
Sentences switch, in a sometimes arbitrary way, between the impersonal ’he’ and ‘they’, to ‘we’ and eventually ‘I’. The discourse begins as a rather theoretical description of the horsemen, and addresses a generically masculine viewer, ‘whoever wishes to be a son of God’. The picture ‘which he here observes drawn out’ refers equally to the writer and viewer. It is significant that the B and horsemen were inserted before the surrounding script, so that the scribe is looking at them while he writes (see Commentary). A possible implication is that the writer is also the author, observing the picture in the present tense. The tone quickly changes to something shared directly by the author and reader. The author teams up with the reader: we religious are doing the right thing while those outside are heading for perdition. ‘And just as they are puffed up, bodily, with pride and malice, likewise we must be tamed, spiritually, in humility and divine blessing. Just as they are given over, bodily, to anger and evident madness, so must we be in peace and wisdom, spiritually.’ The writer and reader are in the battle together: ‘..we likewise, ..with the eyes of the heart must always keep watch with all virtue against our adversary who is constantly lying in wait to ambush us’. ‘Our adversary wishes and reckons to rain down upon our head every evil that arises in their struggle’. ‘Unless we kill our invisible adversary, we ourselves shall be killed.’
The communication becomes more intimate. Earlier, in the Alexis prologue, the writer has experienced a performance of the Chanson with the reader, ‘Here begins the pleasant song and pious recital about that noble lord named Eufemien and the life of his blessed son about whom we have heard readings and song.’ At this point it is indicated that the discourse had apparently been a subject of verbal discussion between the writer and reader:
The ‘verse which shall be written’ presumably refers to the title which was about to be penned at the conclusion of the page, and was then repeated as a caption in David’s book. The words of the caption are ‘The blessed psalmist David, whom God has chosen, has gushed forth the annunciation of the Holy Spirit’. However, the word ‘versus’ is also used by the author at the start of the discourse, ‘This verse speaks of the leaders’. Pächt assumed that a short title, possibly written in a different colour had been trimmed from the top of the page (AP, 151). However, the entire discourse is written in arresting colours and serves as an extended versus to the fighting horsemen.
Topics for discussion shared by the reader and writer thus covered spiritual war, heavenly love, and David prophesying the Incarnation. The sentence is couched in very defensive terms. This discussion was seemingly to rebut criticism from gossip mongers. Knowing the connection which this book has with Christina and Geoffrey, this rather tortuous passage seems to reflect the scandalised murmurings which their companionship provoked. Christina’s Life refers to the jealous rumours with similar words, borrowed from Horace: her intimacy with Geoffrey did not happen ‘without the wagging of spiteful tongues’ (‘Nec sine multorum livido dente’, Talbot 1998, 148-9; Horace, Epodes, 5.47). Gossips called her a dreamer, seducer of souls, worldly-wise business woman, a loose woman attracted to the abbot by earthly love, while Geoffrey was also a seducer (Talbot, 1998, 172-5; Koopmans, 2000, 681-5). The Gesta Abbatum provides a view from the abbey: ‘so great was the affection of mutual charity between them that, unless the whole multitude had known how holy both were, it may be that evil suspicion would have arisen from so great love’ (‘tantaque fuit inter eos mutuae caritatis affectio, ut nisi notissima fuisset toti vulgo sanctitas utriusque, fortassis orta fuisset de tanta dilectione mala suscipio’ GA, 105)
If malicious people should enquire what was going on between the abbot and anchoress, then these pages would provide justification, perhaps even an alibi. Although their minds were no doubt focussed on spiritual issues, Christina’s Life recalls their intellectual moments at a high emotional key. ‘Who shall describe the longings, the sighs, the tears they shed as they sat and discussed heavenly matters? Who shall put into words how they despised the transitory, how they yearned for the everlasting?’(Talbot, 1998, 57). Christopher Hohler (notes) engagingly conjures up the scene of Geoffrey spending hours alone with Christina in her cell, leaning on her shoulder, discussing spiritual and theological issues raised by the illustrations in the psalter, pointing to each picture in turn. Those outside, perhaps hearing the tears and sighs, might well jump to scandalous conclusions, but the psalter survives as evidence of the spiritual sincerity expressed by this introductory passage.
The writer is at pains to explain that the pictures have a specific meaning. The little horsemen represent the fight for justice and the reader engages in the fight by looking at the image:
The writer explains how he wanted David to be drawn, in the appearance of a king.
According to Pächt , Scribe 3 was both the author of this passage and the artist, the Alexis Master himself (AP, 137,149). On the contrary, the sentence suggests rather a rumination by the author, explaining to the artist how the king should be drawn. The scribe could not write ‘the blessed annunciation’ into the psalter until the picture was complete.
In the final passage, the explanation shifts from a literal description of the objects to a deeper understanding of their allegorical meaning.
David’s lyre is the voice of the church and the book of psalms itself contains the divine prediction of the Incarnation. To claim that the psalms sow sweetness in the heart of the reader requires a selective emphasis of their words. A great number of the psalms are bloodthirsty, violent and vengeful, calling for mercy on the true believer and retribution on all evil doers and the enemy. However, it is a notable feature of the psalter initials which follow that they accentuate positive aspects of the creation. They do not dwell on confession, punishment, remorse and contrition (Haney, 2002, 102-3). Christina would be included among those spiritual people who dearly loved the psalter (Talbot, 1998, 98-99) and undoubtedly Geoffrey rejoiced in the sweetness of her heart, in his ‘beloved’ (GA, 103).
The words of this title are strung together by the author of the discourse. They are not extracted from the adjacent psalm, as was normally the case. The choice of words may therefore be significant. The verb eructare basically means to vomit or disgorge but can be applied to speech in the sense of an eruption of words, here translated as ‘gushed forth’. Anyone familiar with the psalms would associate it with the start of psalm 44, My heart has gushed forth a good word. This psalm contains many words, phrases and concepts which are found in the preceding discourse: with sword and arrow, truth and justice shall prevail; the only queen in the psalms is mentioned here, and she is admired for her beauty; the actions of speaking and writing find the memorable phrase My tongue is the pen of a scribe who writes swiftly. In addition, this psalm was thought to have been written for the marriage of Ahab and Jezebel and verses from it are used for feasts of Our Lady and other virgin saints (Christopher Hohler, Notes).
The same verb is
used in psalm 18, Day to day utters speech (Dies diei eructat verbum),
also in association with marriage. The title of this psalm is a ‘bridegroom
coming out of his marriage chamber’. Christ was described as
the bridegroom (John 3:29) and the bride-chamber symbolises the Virgin’s
womb (Augustine, PL, xxxvi, 155). Hence the bridegroom coming
out of the marriage chamber refers to Christ’s entry into the world
(AP, 213). Moreover, this psalm was already in the mind of the
artist or patron when the Alexis
scene was painted on p57 because the position of Christ
leaving his marriage chamber on p104, psalm 18 is so similar to Alexis
These two allusions to marriage and virginity, conjured up by the word eructavit and its association with psalms 44 and 18, carry on the theme begun with the Chanson.
Psalm 1, which should supply the title theme, is overlooked in favour of psalm 2. This psalm underlay David’s status as prophet of Christ’s coming because he refers to the Son of God, the anointed one (Christ). The words of Psalm 2:7 You are my son are paralleled in Matthew 3:16-17 This is my beloved son, when the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descends upon Christ at his baptism.
The dove thus indicates both David and Christ as the chosen one (elegit), blessed (beatus) by the Holy Spirit. The concept of the Chosen One both introduces and concludes the Alexis quire, and in each case the words are extraneous to their context, that is, they are deliberately introduced by the author. The Chanson neither refers to Alexis as the chosen one nor mentions the dove but the Latin title above his picture refers to him as ‘Blessed Alexis, chosen youth’ ‘Beatus Alesis, puer electus’, and the dove appears above him. In his first portrait (p417) David simply plays his rebeck, surrounded by other musicians. At the end of the miniature sequence, his image on p56 is altogether more numinous. Although he still plays his rebeck, he is receiving inspiration from the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove, and this David the shepherd is pointedly sitting in judgement above a sheep and a goat. David on p72 goes one stage further: he still plays his instrument but he is holding the very book which the huge flapping dove (more like a goose, who tramples on his hair) inspires him to write.
If designation by a dove applied to David, Alexis and Christ, it also applied to Geoffrey, under most dramatic circumstances. The abbot sometimes felt excluded by Christina’s all-absorbing contact with God, to such an extent that she often ignored Geoffrey when he was in the room with her. Christina wished Geoffrey could be sure of his salvation by some divine sign, and she therefore ‘stormed God in prayer’. In the following vision
Clearly this episode had an enormous spiritual impact on both Geoffrey and Christina, for it was used to illustrate the initial of the litany (p403). Geoffrey is the largest and most active figure in this initial, almost overshadowing in his bustling brightness the key motionless figures of Christina and the Trinity. Moreover, an exact detail was essential for the final image: the dove had been drawn flying over the Father and Son, but the painter was instructed to depict it at rest, as the vision recounts (Peter Kidd, pers. comm.). Ultimately the cell at Markyate was dedicated to the Holy Trinity, perhaps in respect of this moment when the two humans made contact with the Divine together. It seems to have been a vivid turning point for Geoffrey, changing his former materialistic nature to one charged with spiritual grace.
The following observations may be guilty of reading too much into the above evidence but they propose a link between several puzzling aspects of the book. The analysis of the initials suggests that the psalms began in a ‘gender neutral’ way, perhaps intended for use at St Albans, or even for Geoffrey himself. At some point around psalm 105, Christina became the intended recipient and she is illustrated introducing the monks of St Albans to Christ and asking for his mercy (Parce tuis queso monachis clementia IHY). This picture closely reflects Christina in the vision, introducing Geoffrey to Christ and pleading for mercy. It may be that this vision, which granted him the redemption he sought, actually inspired Geoffrey to give the book to Christina. In that case, the former frontispiece of David the musician (p417) became irrelevant as Geoffrey became inspired to direct the project in a more personal way. The new David (p56) is inspired by the dove, and on the Beatus page (p72) the dove is shown flapping alarmingly around his head just as it did in the vision.
Moreover on p72, David holds the book with the words written by Scribe 3, demonstrating the direct link between the flapping dove and the production of this very psalter. It was perhaps in response to the vision that Geoffrey wished to scrap the first version of Beatus vir and replace it with this highly personal but subtly coded image and title. It has been suggested above that Geoffrey may have in some ways identified himself with Alexis. In that case, the additional detail of Alexis the Chosen One, designated by the dove, also ties the saint to Geoffrey.
collaboration between History of Art
and Historic Collections
University of Aberdeen - King's College - Aberdeen - AB24 3SW | <urn:uuid:7552a5f3-7807-42fe-bd3c-a993854f5b43> | CC-MAIN-2020-24 | https://www.abdn.ac.uk/stalbanspsalter/english/essays/alexisquire.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-24/segments/1590347419056.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20200601145025-20200601175025-00299.warc.gz | en | 0.964202 | 6,201 | 2.71875 | 3 |
The course provides an introduction into current-day philosophically inspired cognitive developmental theory and evolutionary perspectives of the nature of human concepts and their origins. It covers the current theorizing and empirical research on the central issues of the phylogenetic and ontogenetic origins of concepts and the nature of the human mind’s ability for conceptual change. The core reading for the course will be the book by Susan Carey entitled “The origin of concepts” (OUP, 2009). The in-depth reading and discussion of this representative book and some additional papers will cover the comparative analysis of the nature of processes of conceptual change, reorganization, and theory construction in cognitive development on the one hand, and in history of science, on the other.
- Teacher: Gyorgy Gergely | <urn:uuid:ab9fb4c3-bdae-45d2-9a39-53daaa6f989d> | CC-MAIN-2023-06 | https://ceulearning.ceu.edu/course/info.php?id=6448 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-06/segments/1674764500813.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20230208123621-20230208153621-00176.warc.gz | en | 0.894886 | 157 | 3 | 3 |
New Defender's Study Bible Notes
20:2 agreed. Note that this first group of workers wanted a definite contract with the householder before they would work. The later groups were willing to work simply by faith in the employer’s word that “whatsoever is right I will give you” (Matthew 20:4), and He rewarded their faith abundantly. Even those hired at the eleventh hour received the same wages, for they would have been willing to work all day (Matthew 20:7) if they had known. Thus, rewards for Christian service are based more on motive and opportunity than on quantity. See also I Corinthians 3:13-15.
20:10 penny. This was the Roman “denarius,” equal in value to about one day’s wages for the average laborer at that time.
20:19 crucify him. The Lord Jesus told His disciples at least fourteen times that He would be put to death, yet when the event came, they were still unprepared.
20:19 the third day. There are fourteen references to Christ’s resurrection on “the third day” in the New Testament. Thus, in terms of days of the week, it seems clear that He was slain on the sixth day of the week, the same day on which man had been created. He then rested in the tomb on the seventh day, the same day on which He rested after completing His work of creating and making all things, and rose again victoriously, never to die again, on the first day of the new week.
20:28 ransom. Christ several times had informed the disciples about His coming death and resurrection. Here He also indicates that His death will be in substitution for them, dying for their sins (Matthew 10:28).
20:30 two blind men. Jesus healed one blind man as He was entering Jericho (Luke 18:35-43), then He healed two as He later was leaving the city, as noted in this verse. One of these blind men was named Bartimaeus, and it was evidently he who was spokesman for the two (Mark 10:46-52). | <urn:uuid:f44a336d-b6cf-46bf-89ce-c22cf1191696> | CC-MAIN-2021-39 | https://www.icr.org/home/submitsearch/?section=bible&f_context_any=any&f_keyword_any=Matthew%2020&f_constraint=&f_search_type=bible&f_submit=Search | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-39/segments/1631780055808.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20210917212307-20210918002307-00537.warc.gz | en | 0.985346 | 444 | 2.71875 | 3 |
State Vehicle Electrification Mandates and Federal PreemptionAugust 18, 2020
GOVERNING THE GASOLINE SPIGOT: GAS STATIONS AND THE TRANSITION AWAY FROM GASOLINEJanuary 18, 2021
A proposed gas station in the Village
of West Clay neighborhood in
Carmel is getting major push back
from people who live there.
Neighbors said that kind of
development just doesn’t belong there.
Photo by Michelle Pemberton/IndyStar
Prospect Park residents are calling on the City Council to reject
a new plan by a developer to build a gas station and convenience
store on residential property in their neighborhood
Photo by Carrington Tatum/MLK50
A group of residents are banding together to oppose a Costco
“mega gas station” project at the San Ramon/Danville border,
saying that such a project would bring noise, traffic and even
health risks to the area.
“Last thing people need is a gas station with 24 pumps going
on around the clock.”
Photo by Kenna Coe.
station construction The National Park Service lists Howell
Station Historic District in hits national register of historic places.
The neighborhood is located northwest of downtown Atlanta and,
according to the agency, is dominated by light industry associated
with development along Marietta Street.
Learn how 130,000 gasoline stations across the United States are fueling the climate crisis.
GAS STATIONS ARE FUELING THE CLIMATE CRISIS.
There are over 130,000 gas stations across the United States.
They are the last link in the chain connecting the oil field and the gas-powered vehicles on our streets.
Every gallon of gasoline sold adds 20 lbs of carbon dioxide to our atmosphere.
Collectively, Americans consumed 142 billion gallons of gasoline in 2019, producing 1.42 billion tons of CO2.
GOVERNING THE GASOLINE SPIGOT: GAS STATION REGULATION AND THE TRANSITION AWAY FROM GASOLINE EXPLORES QUESTIONS OF HOW AGING INFRASTRUCTURE AND GAS STATION CONTAMINATION SHOULD BE ADDRESSED AND MAPS A REGULATORY PATH FORWARD TO CREATE A SMALLER, CLEANER NETWORK OF GAS STATIONS.
CURRENT BACKLOG OF LEAKING UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANKS AWAITING CLEANUP:
Gas Stations Are Fueling The Climate Crisis, Polluting Our Communities, And Poisoning Our Health
A TYPICAL GAS STATION CAN SPILL UP TO 100 GALLONS OF GASOLINE ANNUALLY.
THE AVERAGE AGE OF AN UNDERGROUND GASOLINE STORAGE TANK IN THE U.S. IS 22.6 YEARS OLD.
PUMPING GASOLINE EMITS BENZENE, A KNOWN CARCINOGEN WITH NO SAFE EXPOSURE LEVEL.
Small spills and leaks in the course of everyday fueling can add up to anywhere from 70 to 100 gallons of spilled gasoline for every 1 million gallons sold.
A 10-gallon spill of petroleum can contaminate 12 million gallons of groundwater.
Gas station operators have little incentive to clean up leaks and spills.
Abandoned and contaminated gas stations account for roughly half of America’s 450,000 brownfields. As electric vehicles become more common and demand for gasoline shrinks, abandoned gas stations may become more common.
The lifespan for safe use of an underground storage tank (UST) for gasoline is 25-30 years. Modern storage tanks include a second wall to prevent leaks.
Roughly half of USTs and piping systems currently in use are either past the age of safe use or are single walled.
In the course of everyday use, gas stations release toxic vapors into our air and contaminate our soil and groundwater through spills and chemical runoff.
Gasoline vapors emitted during pumping contain benzene, a known carcinogen linked to hormonal disorders, fertility issues, lung cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and several forms of leukemia. The WHO maintains there is no safe level of benzene exposure.
Children Living Next To A Gas Station Are At 8x Higher Risk Of Developing Leukemia
WHAT CAN WE DO?
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
CLEANING UP CONTAMINATION
WHO SHOULD BEAR THE COSTS OF CLEANING UP THE GROWING NUMBER OF ABANDONED AND CONTAMINATED GAS STATIONS, WHICH NOW ACCOUNT FOR ROUGHLY ONE-HALF OF AMERICA’S 450,000 BROWNFIELDS?
Those who owned or operated the property during the spills should be responsible, to the extent they can be located and are able to pay. If there is no responsible party that has funds to pay for cleanup, a tax on gasoline should be imposed to fund these cleanups.
IF A GAS STATION OWNER OR OPERATOR IS REQUIRED TO CLEAN UP CONTAMINATION, WHAT ARE TYPICAL COSTS, AND WHO PAYS FOR THEM? TO WHAT EXTENT DOES INSURANCE COVER CLEANUP COSTS? WILL CLEANUP DRIVE THE GAS STATION OWNER/OPERATOR OUT OF BUSINESS?
Cleanup costs are highly variable, ranging from $50,000 for a small spill to millions of dollars for a major spill affecting groundwater. Cleanup often triggers requirements to install new underground storage tanks (USTs), which can start at $10,000.
Under existing law, those who were in control of the property at the time of the spill are liable and responsible for the cost of cleanup. In many cases, this means the big oil companies who were operating the gas station when leaks occurred (many in the 1980s or before) have liability for cleanup. However, these companies also have powerful legal teams to contest their obligations.
Federal law requires gas station owners and operators to have insurance to cover cleanup for underground storage tank leaks, at $1 million per incident. Private insurers are reluctant to insure USTs over 20 years old. For older tank systems, deductibles can reach $50,000 or more per claim.
Thirty-six states presently provide UST insurance to gas stations. In at least four of these states, the insurance funds have claims exceeding the available balance. State insurance funds paid an average of $152,000 per leak in 2019. Outstanding claims on state funds increased from $160 million in 2015 to $354 million in 2019.
In some cases, cleanup is so expensive that the gas station owner/operator determines the investment in cleanup will take too long to be recouped and instead delays cleanup, sells, or abandons the gas station.
Delaying cleanup often means that gasoline leaks into the groundwater and neighboring soils, with the contamination harming people, vegetation and wildlife.
IF A GAS STATION GOES OUT OF BUSINESS, HOW LONG DOES IT TYPICALLY TAKE TO CLEAN UP AND REDEVELOP IT INTO ANOTHER?
Roughly half of all brownfields in the US are shuttered gas stations. There are cleanup requirements for brownfields, but they are often ignored or poorly enforced.
A cleanup can be done in less than six months, or can drag on for years, depending on a number of factors, including the size and location of the spills, extent of groundwater contamination, disputes over responsibility, the attention given to it by the owner and the state, and the value of the property. Locations where a larger cleanup is necessary and land values are relatively low are likely to take longer to clean up. Urban locations with expensive real estate (such as San Francisco) are likely to be cleaned up relatively quickly.
ARE FORMER GAS STATIONS SAFE FOR REDEVELOPMENT FOR ANY PURPOSE, INCLUDING HOUSING, ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, ETC?
Former gas stations can be and have been redeveloped into homes, apartments, elementary schools and health care facilities. Options for redevelopment depend on cleanup levels set by state and local governments.
THE FUTURE OF GAS STATIONS
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO PEOPLE WHO OWN AND OPERATE GAS STATIONS AND THEIR EMPLOYEES IF STRONGER HEALTH, SAFETY, AND ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS ARE PUT IN PLACE?
Regulating gas stations is about putting people and planet over profit. Some gas station owners may decide that the cost of bringing their business in line with health and safety regulations is too high and exit the business.
Regulations are also intended to protect the health of gas station workers, who are exposed to high concentrations of toxic chemicals on a daily basis, for some of the lowest wages of any workers. (It’s no surprise that only 34% of convenience store employees stay on the job longer than 90 days.)
Gasoline sales are already on the decline due to a multitude of factors including more fuel-efficient gas vehicles, decreased commuting and EV adoption. Some gas stations are pivoting from relying on gasoline sales to other revenue sources such as food and beverage and even Amazon lockers.
To the extent gas stations do shut down, many gas station owners who own the real estate under the gas station can sell the land for a profit, pending any necessary environmental cleanup. Fossil fuels are not a sustainable long-term business. The era of oil is ending.
A moratorium on new gas stations ensures a whole new generation of gas station operators are not harmed when gas stations go out of business.
CAN GAS STATIONS JUST BECOME EV CHARGING STATIONS?
The assessment of whether a gas station or former gas station is a good site for EV charging infrastructure depends on factors like local EV adoption rates and support for EV policies, existing charging infrastructure, vehicle density, and state incentives. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory created an example of a checklist for converting a former gas station into an EV charging location.
In the near term, it may be a good option for gas stations to add EV fast charging, as they are already known locations for vehicle fueling and can help assuage drivers’ “range anxiety” when switching to an EV.
In the long run, adding EV charging at gas stations may be a viable option for gas stations located along stretches of highway where other charging is not readily available, and those near apartments that do not have access to home charging.
Drivers able to charge at home and/or with access to EV charging at their workplace or where they shop or dine are unlikely to use EV charging at gas stations very often. As more public charging becomes available in places other than gas stations, the market for electric fueling at gas stations is likely to be smaller than it is presently for gasoline.
Still, 99% of drivers currently use gasoline, and the transition is likely to be gradual.
THE ROLE OF CITIES AND STATES
IF A GAS STATION GOES OUT OF BUSINESS, WHAT IS THE IMPACT TO A CITY’S REVENUES FROM GASOLINE SALES?
In California and Washington, revenue from gasoline sales is aggregated at the state level, then allocated to cities based on population and number of registered vehicles. Therefore, even cities with no gas stations at all still receive revenues from gasoline sales. These revenues typically amount to a small percent of a city’s total revenues. For instance, in Menlo Park, California, funds from gasoline taxes make up less than 2% of the city total revenues. If a city were to close a few or even all its gas stations, the impact on its revenues would be minimal.
HOW SHOULD STATES ADDRESS AGING STORAGE TANKS?
New York has decommissioned all single wall tanks and piping – other states should follow suit.
Roughly one-half of existing gas stations have storage tanks that are approaching the end of their useful life (25 to 30 years). Obtaining the federally required insurance for these tanks on the private market is often prohibitively expensive due to the high risk of leaks.
States should stop providing underground storage tank insurance subsidies that allow gas stations with aging tanks to meet EPA insurance requirements. If private insurers aren’t willing to take on the risk of aging tanks, taxpayers shouldn’t have to do so either.
Phase II inspections should be required of all tank systems more than 25 years old. (Phase II inspections involve testing the soil around tanks and piping and cost $15,000 to $20,000.) If contamination is found, the tanks should be removed.
SHOULD STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS SEEK TO DECREASE THE NUMBER OF GAS STATIONS IN THEIR JURISDICTION AS A CARBON REDUCTION STRATEGY? DOES LOCAL GOVERNMENT HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE THE FLOW OF INEXPENSIVE GASOLINE?
Yes, governments should seek to cut the number of gas stations as a carbon reduction strategy. Gasoline sales are the most immediate and accurate measure of local carbon emissions. Decreasing the availability of gasoline will have an immediate impact on clean air, water and health locally. A decline in gas stations is an important signal that the switch away from gasoline and toward electric vehicles and other clean alternatives is underway and encourages consumers to accelerate their own transition away from gasoline.
A reduction in gas stations, coupled with an increase in EV charging stations with highly visible signage will shift the narrative of “range anxiety” so that EVs are perceived as the safer bet. The US already has twice the number of gas stations per capita as Europe, so even shutting down half the gas stations is unlikely to significantly impede access to gasoline.
State and local governments do not have a responsibility to ensure unlimited access to cheap, subsidized gasoline. But they do have a responsibility to protect their citizens from toxic vapors, and air, soil and groundwater contamination, as well as from the ravages of climate change. A smooth transition to gas-station-free communities is a good start.
Governing the Gasoline Spigot: Gas station regulation and the transition away from gasoline explores questions of how aging infrastructure and gas station contamination should be addressed and maps a regulatory path forward to create a smaller, cleaner network of gas stations.
LISTEN TO MATTHEW AND JANELLE DISCUSS THE ARTICLE ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL LAW INSTITUTE’S “PEOPLE PLACES PLANET” PODCAST: | <urn:uuid:5cc56f01-6244-4631-8b05-5babb0e29121> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://www.coltura.org/governing-the-gasoline-spigot/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233510259.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20230927035329-20230927065329-00398.warc.gz | en | 0.920549 | 3,050 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Enterprises are quietly ditching centralized information systems managed by single entities or external IT providers and gravitating towards distributed ledger technology (DLT) solutions that bring speed, accuracy, and quality to the decision-making process.
Most people still confuse blockchain with distributed ledgers because they are related, though the two are disparate. Let’s dive into this article to discover the difference and how enterprises are using DLT to transform their internal enterprise business functions.
Distributed ledger technology refers to a decentralized, distributed record of data or transactions stored in a digital system that all parties can trust in the network. However, the exact mechanisms used to guarantee trust differs from one platform to another. DLT enables users to record, share and synchronizes data and transactions across a network of participants simultaneously.
The database recorded through DLT doesn’t include central data storage or an administrator facility; instead, it’s shared among many participants or across numerous geographical locations. The records added to distributed ledgers are linked one to another, tamper resistant, and time stamped. DLT enables easy traceability and provides a robust and secure environment where stakeholders can interact directly without intermediaries.
Distributed ledger technology is categorized as public or private based on whether the ledgers are accessible by anyone or other devices and can be classified as permissioned or permissionless depending on whether users need permission from a particular entity to edit the ledgers. DLT creates a decentralized system to obtain consensus from all the participants.
Blockchains are examples of distributed ledgers as they are blocked with records updated similarly. DLT is the umbrella term describing all systems that rely on shared databases to record, process, and verify data or transaction records in an open network. You want to compare a distributed ledger to a method of keeping records where different parties can add records to a database. Like in Google Docs, every participant’s copy is kept in sync.
On the other hand, blockchain refers to a specific kind of distributed ledger where cryptography plays a crucial role in controlling new units. This system requires a trusted third party acting as an administrator to keep track of the transactions within the network to avoid duplicate transactions. Blockchain is, therefore, a database where users employ pseudonyms. While distributed ledger technologies still use cryptographic validation, they don’t necessarily use chains of blocks; DLT is a distributed database that can track anything of value.
DLT enables businesses to carry out fast and secure transactions without relying on intermediaries. By distributing control of the database and creating a tamper-proof network, distributed ledger technology offers a more accessible, efficient, and reliable platform compared to centralized ledger systems via the following:
Smart contracts are now a prominent use case of DLT among enterprises. The code defines relationships and interactions and sets clear parameters for performing predefined actions. Smart contracts act as a safeguard against fraud with some benefits, including:
The leading use cases of DLT include the following:
Banking and insurance firms are required by law to implement KYC processes to gauge the suitability of potential customers to do business with them and whether they pose any fraud risk. The meticulous process involves obtaining and authenticating personal details and checking them against public databases and consumer reporting agencies.
A firm like Tradle now uses DLT on their platform to bridge internal and external networks to help them achieve user-controlled KYC data via different devices allowing customers to share information with insurers and bankers. Due to the decentralized nature of DLT, data stored within the platform’s database is protected from hacking, and data is shared automatically whenever a customer moves to another company without it having to be checked.
Lost or inaccurate bookings are a common cause of stress and anxiety for regular travelers making customers incur fees across several supply chains as providers extract value. Australian-based Webjet has leveraged the distributed ledger’s immutability to create a platform that eliminates these irritating booking experiences.
The system records all customer entries on the firm’s immutable ledger, eliminating the likelihood of lost or mistaken bookings while reducing the layers between consumers and sellers. The ledger locates and addresses real-time data problems that could occur between travelers, hotels, and agents and sends messages to all parties involved. Besides building a secure, cheap, and efficient supply chain, the result is lower costs for hotels and travelers.
Whereas most healthcare record service providers no longer use paper-based records, most online platforms they use are prone to data breaches. Firms like BurstIQ, and MedicalChain, etc., are leveraging DLT to provide a safe and comprehensive mechanism to provide health data that’s accessible for use by doctors and clinicians while still maintaining its integrity. These firms store health data on permission-based distributed ledgers where users retain control over who uses their data and when it’s shared.
Cybersecurity has become an emerging threat to enterprises and governments. Omnia leads as an essential provider of DLT-based solutions to protect privacy and data against unauthorized access. By leveraging decentralized ledger technology, all data is securely encrypted using different cryptographic algorithms, providing a secure and transparent environment where no person or entity can tamper with data unless authorized.
Many modern-day businesses are harnessing distributed ledger technology and moving away from the risks associated with centralized systems where only one party takes responsibility, accountability, and the dangers of business data. In the face of increasing business-related expenses, fraud, unpredictability, and even worse, nothing is more critical for enterprises than having a stable ecosystem where security, trust, stability, and resilience are the norm rather than the exception. DLT offers a new business imperative that maintains data trust for business decision-making processes. | <urn:uuid:75d905df-8ba1-4f63-acaa-a1dfcc2ddc07> | CC-MAIN-2024-10 | https://gigster.com/blog/how-enterprises-are-using-distributed-ledger-technology/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-10/segments/1707947476532.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20240304200958-20240304230958-00347.warc.gz | en | 0.91853 | 1,156 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Here are three ideas for ways you can use topic or subject pages in your learning management system:
- Create a RESOURCES AREA for all the links, downloads, and videos you like to share with your students. With everything in one place it's easy for your class (and their parents) to stay on track!
- MATCH TOPICS WITH THE UNITS YOU TEACH. You could even bundle resources together to match chapters in your textbook. Build one unit at a time and by the end of the year you are fully prepped for next year!
- Teach younger students who don't log in to the LMS? Use topics to COMMUNICATE WITH PARENTS. Create one topic for classroom activities and another for extension activities for home or use topics as a replacement for your weekly newsletter.
PRO TIP: Click on embed above to post this video to your faculty resource page!
What do you think? How do you use topics? Let us know in the comments! | <urn:uuid:f5404729-78fd-4099-9b7a-590a759ed8bf> | CC-MAIN-2017-39 | http://www.hansmundahl.com/blog/2015/9/15/three-awesome-things-to-do-with-topic-pages-in-your-lms | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-39/segments/1505818686034.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20170919202211-20170919222211-00695.warc.gz | en | 0.930313 | 203 | 2.875 | 3 |
How does ancient philosophy align with the CliftonStrengths?
Discovering the quote which appears above, “How long are you going to wait before you demand the best for yourself”, I was struck by the call it makes to align ourselves with our talents (Strengths) so that we can endeavor to be our best.
Transparency requires me to volunteer that I possess no expertise or authority related to the field of philosophy. I have not so much as taken a philosophy class. With that in mind, I still decided to see if I could connect a few thoughts of a 1st century philosopher to the call that the Strengths movement echoes for us to better ourselves.
Epictetus was a Stoic. Stoicism is a school of philosophy developed by the
Greeks, but more closely associated with the Romans. Its three best known
proponents were Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius,
Imperial advisor and playwright, Seneca the Younger and Epictetus, a former
slave turned philosophy teacher.
Epictetus lived in the first and second century AD. A major theme of Epictetus’ writing is that most of what we encounter in life is beyond our control. What is within our control is how we react to and with these unchangeable things.
“Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever are our own actions. Things not in our control are body, property, reputation, command, and, in one word, whatever are not our own actions.”
His life experience as a former slave and partial invalid, probably brought this concept to the forefront for him. Much like Viktor Frankl stated in Man’s Search for Meaning, ” Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. “
Applying Epictetus’ reasoning, we are required not to waste energy and emotion on things we cannot influence, but rather we should examine our thoughts, take responsibility for our actions, and apply self-discipline to live a valued and valuable life. A version of the serenity prayer comes to mind.
The full version, of the line quoted in the picture above, comes from Epictetus’ Discourse 51, and reads:
“How long are you going to wait before you demand the best for yourself and in no instance bypass the discriminations of reason? You have been given the principles that you ought to endorse, and you have endorsed them. What kind of teacher, then, are you still waiting for in order to refer your self-improvement to him?
You are no longer a boy, but a full-grown man. If you are careless and lazy now and keep putting things off and always deferring the day after which you will attend to yourself, you will not notice that you are making no progress, but you will live and die as someone quite ordinary.”
The quote probably makes more sense to our 21st century ears,
changing first line to read, “How long are you going to wait before you demand
the best of yourself”. Also, please avoid fixating on the male centric “boy”
and “full-grown man” but recognize the subject is an adult. This is much as
Paul in 1Corinthians says, “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I
understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man (adult), I
put away childish things.” In other words, you’re a grownup; act your age. Relating
this with Strengths, it is good to remember that the results of the assessment should
be accurate and for the most part unchanged after 25 years of age, since that
is about when our brains have completed their growing phase and sort of stabilize
Epictetus goes on to say, if you do not put in the work that demanding the
best of yourself requires, you are likely to spend your entire life being
mediocre. Stoicism teaches recognition that we are temporal and mortal beings.
Tempus fugit. The clock is ticking. Do and be while there is still time. It is more
important when our mortality is considered.
CliftonStrengths or StrengthsFinder separates itself from the other major
assessments by being more than a test which reveals who you are. It reveals what
matters to you and asks what are you going to do with it. And it even goes a
step further because it reveals your hows, your whys and your motivation. It is
both a map and a compass. Understood, aligned and followed, Strengths can be a
way to live and die as someone quite extra-ordinary. | <urn:uuid:594ac1df-73e2-44eb-b152-4292fcb537de> | CC-MAIN-2022-05 | https://www.crewsstrengths.com/pages/blog-index1.php?id=156 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-05/segments/1642320304134.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20220123045449-20220123075449-00155.warc.gz | en | 0.963884 | 1,039 | 2.625 | 3 |
Campaign to Save the Hemlocks
Walking through the Gorge, many say is like visiting “the forest primeval” — deep, dark and old, more like the venerable redwood forests of the west than the second-growth forests so common in the east. Visitors get the feeling they are stepping back in time and getting a rare glimpse of what it was like when Native Americans lived on this land. That history is still evident in its sheer granite cliffs (once rock shelters for Chief Mayanos and his tribe), its rushing river, and its towering old-growth hemlocks.
HEMLOCKS CAN LIVE AS LONG AS 1,000 YEARS
The Mianus River Gorge was first recognized and preserved as the result of the work of scientists and continued management of this important resource is based on science as well. Many of the Gorge’s ongoing research projects have helped influence preserve management and keep the old-growth forest healthy. Our scientists continue to develop a better understanding of its soils, identify and try to remove significant threats, and provide adaptive management as research adds new knowledge that is applied to land management.
Eastern hemlock trees (Tsuga canadensis) are some of the largest and oldest trees in the Mianus River Gorge. These majestic trees are the principal component of the 100 acres of old-growth forest and were the major inspiration for the protection of that first parcel of land in the Gorge by our founders.
This rare community, with its rich soils intertwined with mycorrhizal fungi, is home to abundant plants and animals, with some species found only in this forest. It is a vestige of the old-growth forest that once covered the entire eastern United States. This historical treasure has survived since before Europeans first set foot on these grounds, but it is now faced with a threat that even it cannot weather. The old-growth forest is under attack from a non-native insect called the hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae). Without intervention, these 400-year-old hemlocks will almost certainly be gone in the next few years and the natural community they support will vanish along with them.
Since its arrival from Eastern Asia in the 1920s, the hemlock woolly adelgid has rapidly expanded from the southeastern United States to New York and New England. This insect, easily dispersed by birds and wind, has already destroyed most of the hemlock forests it has colonized. Fortunately, at the Gorge, the age and favorable site conditions have kept the hemlocks alive despite the presence of the wooly adelgid. But in the last few years the continued infestation is starting to take its toll. Trees already stressed from last summer’s record drought are beginning to decline at an alarming rate, especially on the eastern slopes of the Gorge where some of the oldest trees reside. Virgin trees in excess of 400 years old are at significant risk of being lost before their time due to this threat.
Hemlocks play an important role by providing deep shade along the Mianus River, maintaining cool micro-climates critical to the survival of brook trout and other cold water species. Their unique tolerance for limited light allows them to form dense canopies with cool damp habitats, or microclimates, where the understory is much different than those of more open, deciduous forests. The well-developed soils are reservoirs for rare wildflowers and the large, ancient trees are home to obligate species found only in this unique old-growth community. Over 100 species of birds and over 30 species of mammals are associated with the Gorge’s hemlock forests. Not only is the forest a welcome habitat for wildlife, but it keeps the river clean for the 130,000 people in Stamford and Greenwich, CT, and Portchester, Rye, and Rye Brook, NY, who depend on it for their drinking water supply. From the point where the Mianus River enters the Mianus River Gorge hemlock forest to where it runs into the Bargh Reservoir, its water temperature drops and its purity increases significantly. The Gorge ecosystem, anchored by its ancient hemlocks, is a natural filter, air conditioner and water purifier, all in one.
The eastern slopes of the Gorge are some of the most diverse ecosystems in the region with hundreds of species of plants and animals. As the older hemlock component of this forest dies, the canopy opens and light penetrates the forest floor. Soil temperatures increase, leading to a drying of the soil, further stressing the hemlocks. Soil respiration also declines as tree roots die and less nitrogen is taken up. Increased soil nitrogen may potentially lead to increased nitrogen runoff into the Mianus River drinking water supply.
With declining hemlocks, also comes more open land for colonization by invasive species as well as a change toward a less diverse forest composition. Deer resistant species like black birch, American beech and red maple begin to dominate, taking the place of hemlocks and other important species. Many of the forests in the Gorge are already composed primarily of these species due to past agricultural and grazing practices. The loss of the old-growth hemlocks would only further reduce habitat diversity and escalate the decline of rare species that depend on this forest ecosystem. It is imperative to prevent the demise of this rare, diverse forest and protect its contained extraordinary genetic diversity. Saving the old-growth hemlocks will give Gorge staff time to cultivate a new generation of hemlocks that can be used to add diversity to the Gorge and push them toward healthier, more diverse mixed forests as they age.
IF THESE TREES SUCCUMB, THEIR DISAPPEARANCE WOULD TRIGGER AN IRREVERSIBLE CASCADE EFFECT THAT WOULD TRAVEL FROM TREES TO SHRUBS TO SOILS AND WOULD CHANGE THIS HISTORIC OLD-GROWTH FOREST FOREVER.
MRG’s Old-Growth Forest Strategy
For the last 20 years, the Gorge staff has worked to protect the old-growth hemlock forest, and has continuously adjusted management strategies as new proven developments in adelgid control have emerged. In 2002, the biological control beetle (Sasajiscymnus tsugae) was released at the Gorge and evaluated for many years. Although initially shown to control adelgid populations, this beetle unfortunately had little effect at the Gorge and others noted similar poor results in forested settings. In the meantime, to stem the recent accelerated decline and to save our hemlocks now, we have begun a regimen recommended by scientists at Cornell Cooperative Extension. This intervention program is being undertaken only after careful consideration and with thorough vetting of the methodology for safety and scientific appropriateness. It has been implemented with significant success in similarly threatened southeastern forests.
- APPLY TREATMENT DIRECTLY TO THE BARK OF INFESTED HEMLOCKS
The Cornell Cooperative Extension regimen begins with directly treating our old-growth hemlocks to eliminate hemlock woolly adelgid and hemlock scale, a second non-native pest. This two-year campaign aims to treat a large portion of the hemlocks with a combination of two insecticides. The combination of both together makes for a quicker response, kills both primary threats, and lasts longer. The primary insecticide, Imidacloprid, is the active ingredient found in tick and flea medication for dogs and cats and has little impact on vertebrates at these dosages. Imidacloprid has been used successfully in soil treatments in many locations including on forests in Smoky Mountain National Park where they have over 800 acres of old-growth hemlock forest and have treated 200,000 trees with this method.
MRG will use a technique known as basal bark spraying, as opposed to root drenching or injections, which prevents runoff and soil contamination by staying within the tree to target adelgids without killing beneficial predators.
To ensure complete effectiveness, MRG will maintain a schedule of repeated basal bark spraying five, six, and seven years after the initial treatment, covering one third of the hemlocks in each session. Mianus River Gorge will create and contribute to a Board of Trustees-designated “hemlock fund” to complete this plan.
At the same time, and to ultimately replace the spraying regimen, the Gorge will monitor the development and availability of new biological control agents for hemlock woolly adelgid and hemlock scale. A new beetle, and potential long-term adelgid predator, is anticipated in 2018 and will be evaluated for possible introduction into the Gorge hemlock ecosystem.
2. MANAGE THE HABITAT TO KEEP HEMLOCKS HEALTHIER AND REBUILD THE ECOSYSTEM
Hemlocks are a “foundation” species, meaning the surrounding ecosystem relies on them to exist. They also are essential in the Gorge to hold the slopes and prevent them from eroding into the river.
In tandem with directly treating the hemlocks, MRG will restore the understory vegetation that keeps the ground moist and is critical to the health of the hemlocks, especially their roots and the mycorrhizal fungi in the soil they depend on. We will work to eliminate Japanese barberry and garlic mustard, two non-native invasive species, from the hemlock slopes of the Gorge. Both these species are somewhat allelopathic, meaning they poison the ground around them to eliminate their competition. This leads to decreased plant diversity, opens the ground to drying out, and harms the mycorrhizal fungi community. By eliminating these invasive species, we can reestablish the health of the forest floor and increase the likelihood of healthy hemlocks into the future.
3. RESTORE RARE PLANT COMMUNITIES SURROUNDING & BENEFITTING THE HEMLOCKS
MRG will work to replant areas on slopes damaged by storms and slides to prevent more non-native invasives and protect the integrity of the hemlock slopes. We also will replant hemlocks and tulip poplar on open slopes to restore the canopy. Tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipfera), a fast-growing species, will restore the canopy quickly and the hemlocks will follow. MRG will also use its recently created restoration garden and enclosures to act as sources of seed and plants to be used in restoration efforts.
At the same time, we will continue to protect the rarest of species from hungry deer until we can reduce the deer population to a level that is better balanced with the Gorge’s food resources.
White-tailed deer are referred to as an ecosystem engineer and their browsing activity dramatically affects forest regeneration and species diversity.
To increase the regeneration of new hemlocks and repair the critical herbaceous layer, Gorge staff will continue to reduce invasive vines, but also scale up the deer management program. The Gorge’s ongoing deer management activities have shown very positive results so far, but increased efforts will be needed to further reduce population numbers to a sustainable level.
4. IMPROVE THE HEALTH & BUFFERING ABILITY OF THE YOUNGER FOREST
The final component of the strategy to save the old-growth forest is to improve the health and buffering ability of the younger forest that surrounds the old-growth forest. Mianus River Gorge Preserve is a linear preserve and past agricultural activities came very close to the core old-growth forest. As pasturelands and farm fields were abandoned, they reverted to forest, but their development was influenced by a growing deer population and changes in the soils associated with past activities. If we are to keep our old-growth forest healthy, we need these second-growth forests to further buffer the fragile core from human activities. | <urn:uuid:8420625d-6a21-4195-b7e8-9ba5557c4dcf> | CC-MAIN-2022-05 | https://mianus.org/stewardship-land-management/the-old-growth-forest/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-05/segments/1642320300533.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20220117091246-20220117121246-00443.warc.gz | en | 0.942249 | 2,457 | 3.671875 | 4 |
A general agreement on what actually happened during the Messinian salinity crisis (MSC) has been reached in the minds of most geologists but, in the deepest settings of the Mediterranean Basin, the picture is still far from being finalized and several different scenarios for the crisis have been proposed, with different significant implications for hydrocarbon exploration. The currently accepted MSC paradigm of the ‘shallow-water deep-basin’ model, which implies high-amplitude sea-level oscillations (> 1500 m) of the Mediterranean up to its desiccation, is usually considered as fact. As a consequence, it is on this model that the implications of the MSC events on the Mediterranean petroleum systems are commonly based. In fact, an alternative, deep-water, non-desiccated scenario of the MSC is possible: it (i) implies the permanence of a large water body in the Mediterranean throughout the entire Messinian salinity crisis, but with strongly reduced Atlantic connections; and (ii) envisages a genetic link between Messinian erosion of the Mediterranean margins and deep brine development. In this work, we focus on the strong implications of an assessment of the petroleum systems of the Mediterranean and adjoining areas (e.g. the Black Sea Basin) that can be based on such a non-desiccated MSC scenario. In particular, the near-full basin model delivers a more realistic definition of Messinian source-rock generation and distribution, as well as of the magnitude of water-unloading processes and their effects on hydrocarbon accumulation.
|Appare nelle tipologie:||1.1 Articolo su rivista| | <urn:uuid:8a86252a-0b87-4cb4-bd11-68aa4358f097> | CC-MAIN-2021-31 | https://air.unipr.it/handle/11381/2807606 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-31/segments/1627046154310.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20210802075003-20210802105003-00169.warc.gz | en | 0.930555 | 340 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Cardboard can be used to make nearly anything, including toys, playhouses and dioramas. The type of glue you use depends on a number of factors, including the thickness of the cardboard and what it will be used for. Children should have adult supervision when using glue.
Plug in the glue gun with a glue stick in it. Wait for the gun to heat up.
Layer the edges of the cardboard you want to glue together. Remove any debris or dust that could interfere with the glue.
Squeeze the glue gun trigger and lay a thick line of glue along the length of one of the edges you want to attach. Set the glue gun aside.
Press the edges together firmly and hold them in place for at least one minute. Lightly loosen up your grip to see if the cardboard gives. If it does, continue holding the cardboard together until the seam holds.
- Give the cardboard enough time to dry before attaching another piece. Unplug your hot glue gun when you are finished and wipe the nose with a clean cloth. Check the cardboard for any strings of glue and pull them off. Add glue as needed to reinforce the seams. | <urn:uuid:eddbebe8-8853-4c43-9ed2-ab8adfdade83> | CC-MAIN-2019-51 | https://www.ehow.co.uk/how_5682100_glue-cardboard.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-51/segments/1575540500637.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20191207160050-20191207184050-00192.warc.gz | en | 0.925875 | 235 | 3.4375 | 3 |
Benefits of sharing Simple Sensational Science with your child include:
- giving your preschooler a foundation for learning science through early exposure to science concepts and language
- exploring the world with a sense of wonder and purpose
- sharing hands-on experiences that require creativity, curiosity and thinking about the environment
- discovering a world rich with diversity and language
- learning to accomplish tasks from start to finish
- opportunities to succeed and develop a positive attitude about learning
- preschoolers proud to display their accomplishments and talk about the work that went into them
- enjoying the time you spend having fun with your child!
Return Policy: 30 days to return purchase in like-new condition for exchange or refund. All sales final after 30 days. | <urn:uuid:1ef6953d-b701-46ae-acea-a52887b30d38> | CC-MAIN-2020-40 | https://cid.edu/professionals/shop/simple-sensational-science-projects-for-preschoolers/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-40/segments/1600402131777.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20201001143636-20201001173636-00596.warc.gz | en | 0.941898 | 150 | 2.6875 | 3 |
This project uses two IR sensors and the ATMEGA1284P microcontroller to create an inexepensive, easy-to-use theremin. The theremin is a musical instrument which is controlled by the electromagnetic field your body body produces naturally. One hand is used to control the volume of the instrument, and the other hand controls the pitch.
We recreated this old-school instrument with a modern twist using two IR sensors to compute the location of each of the user's hands. Each sensor outputs a voltage inversely proportional to its distance from the user's hand. The microcontroller converts this analog signal to an 8-bit binary number upon which it can process the information and actuate the output of the theremin. Thus, with two sensors, an inexpensive microcontroller, and a few analog components for filtering, we have created a compact, inexpensive, and user-friendly version of the antiquated theremin.
The theremin has been in existance for almost 100 years. It's wavering sound can be heard on the Beach Boys' track Good Vibrations , and perhaps more famously, in Led Zeppelin's live performances of Whole 'Lotta Love. While the physics that the theremin exploits in creating its sound are subtle and complicated, the sounds it produces are typically quite simple. Thus, it was clear that these sounds could be replicated with a simple 8-bit pulse-width-modulator through direct digital synthesis.
First, look-up tables for our desired periodic output signals are computed. These look-up tables each consist of 256 8-bit signed numbers. For the simple sine wave signal, this table represents 256 samples of a single period of sine wave, scaled to fit within the bounds of a signed character. As the theremin operates, a wrapping accumulator keeps track of the index into this lookup table. For increased precision, we use a 32-bit accumulator and index into the lookup table using the eight most-significant bits of this accumulator. When higher or lower frequency outputs are desired, the increment amount per time step is increased or decreased, respectively.
To determine the amount by which to increment the accumulator, we simply multiply the maximum accumulator amount (2^32) by the ratio of the desired output frequency and the inverse time slice--or frequency of output updating. This makes sense, as if the desired frequency is equal to the update frequency, the accumulator will overflow and wrap on each time slice. If the desired frequency is one tenth of the update frequency, the accumulator will overflow every ten time slices.
The IR sensor for pitch is A/D converted and mapped from the minimum desired frequency to the maximum desired frequency. On every time slice, this mapped frequency is multiplied by the constant terms described above to determine the accumulator increment value. The eight most-significant bits of the accumulator are then used to index into the signal lookup table, yeilding an 8-bit number. Meanwhile, the IR sensor for volume is A/D converted and mapped to a multiplicative constant by which the 8-bit number is scaled before being actuated.
To actuate the sound, the resulting 8-bit number is sent to a pulse-width-modulator on the microcontroller. This circuit produces a square wave with duty cycle proportional to the number provided to it. By low-pass filtering this signal, an analog approximation of our intended periodic signal is made.
To toggle between different output sounds, a simple pushbutton is provided to the user. This circulrly cycles through the available sounds and updates the lookup table into which the accumulator looks when computing the output value.
In order to create smooth volume and pitch changes, and to remove unpleasant jumps due to extraneous sensor readings, the ouputs of the sensors must be filtered before they can be used for computation. Because the microcontroller is under heavy load from the direct-digial synthesis, we chose to perform this through prefiltering in circuitry. Each sensor output is low-pass filtered before it is read by the microcontroller. It is worthwhile to note that causal low-pass filtering introduces a latency at the output. However, by using small enough capacitance in these filters, these latencies are made insignificant and un-noticable.
The hardware for this project consisted of the microcontroller, two infrared distance sensors, a power switch, push button, on/off LEDs, output audio jack, and various resistors and capacitors for inputs as well as various filters in the circuit.
The most important piece of hardware is the infrared distance sensor. The sensors used in this project have a ground, VCC, and signal pin. With ground and VCC connected to the ground line and 5V line respectively, the signal is wire is connected to the microcontroller port for analog to digital conversion through a low pass filter. The low pass filter used for the sensors is a passive filter with a cutoff frequency of 16 Hz to remove noise.
The output waveform is produced by pulse width modulation (PWM) and the PWM output pin is connected to the output audio jack. Two additional I/O ports are used to control 2 LEDS. A red LED is turned on when the device is initially powered but in its initialization phase. This red LED is turned off and a green LED turned on when the device has finished initialization and is ready to be played. All LEDs are wired to the port pins through 330 ohm resistors to limit the current on the port pins. To cycle through available instruments, a third I/O port is wired to push button through a 330 ohm resistor.
Finally, the power switch connects a 9V battery to the microcontrollers power supply. A 330 microfared capacitor is wire across the VCC and ground lines to filter out any noise on the power line when the sensors pull large bursts of current.
The majority of the software functionality lies inside of interrupt handlers in the code. In fact, the main method of our software only calls various initialization functions before going into an infinite loop whereby the rest of the operation of the theremin is controlled by interrupt handlers. This ensures consistancy with respect to timing, as each of our required tasks runs at a predictable rate. With this in place, we can be sure that all deadlines are met and that the software runs as expected all of the time. Four initialization functions are used to initialize the analog to digital converter (ADC), the pulse width modulation (PWM), timer 1, and timer 2.
The ADC is initialized to convert analog signals based on the reference voltage 3.5V which is the maximum output voltage of the sensors. Timer 1 is initialized to keep a 125 millisecond period on which the compare-match interrupt is triggered. Inside this interrupt vector, a single analog to digital conversion is read for either channel 0 or channel 1 and the channel is then toggled to convert the other channel on the next interrupt. This updates internal variables for pitch and volume based on the ADC values from the infrared distance sensors.
The PWM is set up on timer 0 of the microcontroller which runs at full speed. When the timer 0 overflow interrupt is triggered, a new value for the PWM is set. An accumulator variable is incremented by an amount proportional to the pitch reading from the infrared sensor. This accumulator is used to index into an array which holds a sampled period of the analog waveform that we want to produce. Different arrays are used to hold sampled periods of different instruments. Finally, the signal is then multiplied by a value proportional to the volume reading from the infrared sensor. This incorporates the pitch and volume readings into the generated signal. The pitch and volume readings generated by the ADCs are unsigned 8 bit numbers. We use these readings to index into a pitch and volume array which maps the sensor reading to the value we want for pitch and volume respectively. This is used to adjust the response characteristics of the theremin. For our theremin we used a mapping that creates a linear change between pitch and distance to sensor as well as between volume and distance to sensor.
In addition, timer 2 is initialized to control a de-bouncing finite state machine for the push button, running at 30Hz.
After this initialization is complete all of the functionality of software resides in the timer interrupt vectors.
One of the challenging parts of the project was generating different interesting sounds. In the initialization phase of the program, different tables are generated as sample periods of the sounds we want to generate. In addition to offering a simple sine wave for comparison, we combine different waves and modulation effects to generate different sounds.
The final product we have created is an excellent substitution for a real theremin. It is very responsive to the user's gestures, and these responses are consistent and re-createable. It is held in a secure enclosure which mimics the look of a classic theremin. As a result, the theremin can be used to play real music as shown in the video below:
The theremin requires approximately three seconds to initialize before sound can be produced. This latency is made explicit to the user through a status LED which is red during initialization and green when it is ready to produce sound. Once initialization has completed, the user may control the volume and pitch of the output using his or her hands, and may switch the toggle through four instrument voices using the pushbutton on the front of the enclosure. A plot of five periods of each of our voices is shown in the following diagrams:
Each of the volume and pitch IR sensors have the same output voltage response characteristics seen below:
The input from the pitch sensor is mapped using a square-root mapping. This allows for greater precision in the low frequencies and greater ease of play. The output frequency response to different distances is shown in the plot below:
The input from the volume sensor, too is mapped using a square-root mapping. However, to allow for muting when the users hand is not present or is very far away, a dead-region is intoduced. In this region, the amplitude of the output is always zero. This dead zone is set such that it is outside of the one-octave range described above so as to not interfere with normal plying. The amplitude response for the theremin is shown in the diagram below:
The final product is seen here:
In designing this product, we formulated a number of additions that we wish to pursue in the future. The first addition would be make the theremin more customizable. We could provide switches to select different modes--including one to switch between the current volume mapping and the classic theremin mapping. When designing the analog filters for the sensors, we found that filters with large capacitances introduced cool latency effects with respect to users' movements. These filters could be selected and integrated into the design as well.
A greater, more long-term goal that we wish to pursue is to make this product an educational tool. By introducing a self-teaching mode, this device can be used to teach users how to play the theremin, and about music in general. An array of LED's could show the user the appropriate locations to place there hands so as to play the different notes in a desired scale, and informaiton abour real songs can be encoded in the theremin to change these LED arrays to teach the user to play a number of different songs.
Overall, we were very pleased with the device we created. Our theremin reliably produces a clean sound and is very responsive to the user's movement both in terms of volume and pitch. We had hoped to implement realistic-sounding instruments for the theremin to produce. However, due to tight timing constraints with the microcontroller, concessions had to be made in producing our sounds. Future iterations of the design could bypass the pulse-width-modulation by using an external digital to analog converter for output actuation. This would free up CPU time to leave additional cycles and memory for more complicated sounds. Also, in its current state, our theremin requires an external amplifier and speaker connected through a standard 3.5mm audio jack. In order to make our theremin truley portable, a built-in amplifier and speaker would be necessary. Furthermore, our input from the user comes in the form of a single-axis distance sensor. Movements which the user makes which are orthogonal to this axis are not seen by our theremin, and produce no response. This is the biggest discrepancy between our theremin and the real theremin, which responds to all user movements of all magnitudes.
All of the code run on the microcontroller was written by ourselves, although some of it--namely the pulse-width-modulation code--was recycled from previous 4760 lab assignments we wrote. To our best knowledge, there are no competing products or patents to our product, and we did not need to undergo any legal processes in legally producing it. While our product--upon further refinement--may have a market as a toy, instrument, or novelty item, it is unlikely that this device is patentable or publishable.
We feel as though we strictly followed the IEEE code of ethics in completing this project. As stated before, all of the code written for this project is original and written by ourselves. This code, while overall very simple, is completely composed or algorithms we conceived, or are boilerplate mechanisms (i.e. button debounce state machines). We by no means intend to exploit this product for monetary gains—it is instead an exercise in efficient use of a microcontroller and a demonstration to the public of the immense flexibility and power of these devices when operated properly.
In sharing our product with the public, we are honest in its capabilities as well as its shortcomings. It is by no means an improvement on the original theremin in terms of quality of sound or responsiveness, nor do we intend to market it as such. Instead, we present this product for educational and enjoyment purposes.
We do, however maintain that this product is completely safe and without bias to persons of any gender, race, sexual orientation, or capability. The product is safe to use by any person of any familiarity with the theremin, or electronics or music as a whole. Because of its educational nature, we are welcome and open to criticism and suggestion on how this product can be improved in terms of efficiency, reliability, performance, or safety.
This project can be recreated for $37.40. A detailed cost breakdown with specific parts listings can be found here.
To run our software on the ATMEGA 1284P, you will need Theremin.c and Theremin.h.
Scott was responsible for:
Alex was responsible for:
Sharp IR Sensor
Some parts for this project were purchasesd from Digi-Key. | <urn:uuid:c20a6334-4a31-4edc-9316-0256cf16b545> | CC-MAIN-2015-22 | http://people.ece.cornell.edu/land/courses/ece4760/FinalProjects/f2013/sjm298_ar568/sjm298_ar568/sjm298_ar568/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-22/segments/1432207930423.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20150521113210-00008-ip-10-180-206-219.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937023 | 3,025 | 3.4375 | 3 |
With the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day approaching on April 22nd our government is challenging us to make a change.
President Obama explains that change won’t come from Washington alone when it comes to creating a healthy environment, it has to also come from each and everyone of us. President Obama and TTF challenge you to make a difference and this earth day resolve to do something to promote a healthier environment where you live.
Make everyday earth day in your watershed!
- Plant a tree.
- Clean your street.
- Avoid driving a car when possible, instead take public transportation, walk or bike.
- Plant a rain garden.
- Make a rain barrel to water your homegrown fruits and veggies.
The possibilities are endless, please share your ideas for making a difference in your watershed! | <urn:uuid:10cd6757-d62c-45b7-97dd-7e431bbb8343> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://ttfwatershed.org/2010/04/13/earth-day-challenge/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573540.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819005802-20220819035802-00048.warc.gz | en | 0.923473 | 164 | 2.875 | 3 |
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