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(WVLT) -- With November being Diabetes Awareness Month, it's important for everyone to be aware of the risks associated with the disease and how to prevent it.
Type two diabetes can often be prevented with a gradual weight loss plan and proper diet. That's why we talked with Molly Gee, a registered dietitcian for education on diabetes and tips to prevent it.
Here are some facts and myths about the disease:
Myth: Diabetes is not that serious of a disease and only affects a small portion of the U.S. population.
Fact: Diabetes affects 25.8 million Americans and causes more deaths a year than breast cancer and AIDS combined. Diabetes is the leading cause of heart disease and stroke.
Myth: Eating too much sugar causes diabetes.
Fact: Foods do not cause diabetes but eight in 10 people with diabetes are overweight or obese.
Studies have shown the benefits of weight loss for people with or at risk of developing diabetes: a slight 5-7% weight loss, plus regular exercise can reduce the rate of onset of type 2 diabetes by 58 percent. Gee says, "Just small changes, a modest weight loss, 10 to 20 pounds which translates to about 5 to 10% can make a real difference in controlling your diabetes and really improving your quality of life."
By providing structure around daily eating plans and controlling calorie intake, people can take better control of their diabetes and/or minimize the risks. "Having a balanced diet that includes protein, whole grains, fiber is very important, and then most of my patients tell me they'd love to do it but they run out of time and this is where portion control, calorie control is really important. Monitoring their blood sugar is so important, especially when theyre trying to lose weight. I do remind my patients to check with your doctors before you start on a weight loss diet or an exercise diet, but usually monitoring it right before you go to bed or when you get up is a pretty good standard."
Also, get active by starting physical activity on a gradual basis. Gee says, "The weight control registry really has some clear ideas and one of course is to really keep moving. Keeping with the theme of small steps, just starting out with ten minutes a day of walking will put you on the road of good activity and working up gradually to 30 minutes. You really find that you feel better and really, physical activity helps control that blood sugar as well."
For more information on controlling diabetes, visit Glucerna.com. | <urn:uuid:abd346bb-2f12-4e5b-b297-1796bdd41062> | CC-MAIN-2016-07 | http://www.local8now.com/news/health/headlines/The_Facts_and_Myths_about_Weight_Loss_and_Diabetes_133519893.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-07/segments/1454701159376.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20160205193919-00108-ip-10-236-182-209.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947093 | 514 | 3.15625 | 3 |
Superman's fabled Fortress of Solitude has been depicted in films as a vast complex comprised of enormous crystal beams.
(Superman's Fortress of Solitude)
Imagine the surprise of miners when they actually found it! Not in the frozen north, but buried a thousand feet below Mexico's Naica mountain in the Chihuahuan desert.
(Cueva de los Cristales)
This has been quite a year for Superman fans; the deadly remnants of planet Krypton were discovered in a mine in Serbia this past April (see Kryptonite Discovered By Scientist).
Actually, of course, the Cueva de los Cristales is a purely natural formation consisting of enormous beams of gypsum. Some of the crystals are as long as 36 feet.
Geologist Juan Manuel Garcia-Ruiz has described the probable origin of the crystals in the journal Geology. The cave was drained by mining operations; for millennia, however, the crystals grew in mineral rich, 136 degree Fahrenheit water. | <urn:uuid:75807eb7-5ade-4726-8e4b-af69c3108096> | CC-MAIN-2015-22 | http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/science-fiction-news.asp?newsnum=1143 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-22/segments/1432207929418.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20150521113209-00031-ip-10-180-206-219.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930763 | 204 | 2.921875 | 3 |
It is hard to guess what a Brown-throated sloth weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Brown-throated sloth (Bradypus variegatus) on average weights 4 kg (8.81 lbs).
The Brown-throated sloth is from the family Bradypodidae (genus: Bradypus). It is usually born with about 272 grams (0.6 lbs). When reaching adult age, they grow up to 54.8 cm (1′ 10″). Usually, Brown-throated sloths have 1 babies per litter.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The brown-throated sloth (Bradypus variegatus) is a species of three-toed sloth found in the neotropical ecozone of Central and South America.It is the most common of the four species of three-toed sloth, and is found in the forests of South and Central America.
Animals of the same family as a Brown-throated sloth
We found other animals of the Bradypodidae family:
- Pale-throated sloth bringing 4.33 kilos (9.55 lbs) to the scale
- Maned sloth bringing 4.47 kilos (9.85 lbs) to the scale
Animals with the same weight as a Brown-throated sloth
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Bradypus variegatus:
- Black-flanked rock-wallaby with a weight of 4.57 kilos (10.08 lbs)
- Brazilian porcupine with a weight of 4.12 kilos (9.08 lbs)
- Pampas cat with a weight of 4.4 kilos (9.7 lbs)
- European hare with a weight of 3.82 kilos (8.42 lbs)
- Chinese pangolin with a weight of 4.67 kilos (10.3 lbs)
- White-throated guenon with a weight of 3.44 kilos (7.58 lbs)
- Hairy long-nosed armadillo with a weight of 4.44 kilos (9.79 lbs)
- Long-tailed marmot with a weight of 4.35 kilos (9.59 lbs)
- Red-tailed monkey with a weight of 3.54 kilos (7.8 lbs)
- Flat-headed cat with a weight of 3.53 kilos (7.78 lbs)
Animals with the same litter size as a Brown-throated sloth
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (1) as a Brown-throated sloth: | <urn:uuid:d9fa799d-d894-4286-bcea-5e88c534e0c5> | CC-MAIN-2021-43 | https://tinyblue.info/how-much-does-a-brown-throated-sloth-weight/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-43/segments/1634323585460.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20211022052742-20211022082742-00555.warc.gz | en | 0.933852 | 620 | 3.140625 | 3 |
ITU Zones - introduction
Contacts between amateur stations, located in different parts of the world, can be a basis for obtainment many awards or be used to classification in contests. For these purposes the World is divided in ITU Zones (called sometimes IARU Zones) as one of two main manners. Another is WAZ Zones dividing.
ITU Zones are based on a partition of whole surface the World for professional radio communication. For them is used the name “CIRAF Zones” – they are in most subdivided in quadrants.
For HAM targets that zones were most suited to country borders – but not completely. In some cases countries are dividing trough limits to 2 or more pieces.
There is no single entity administering this issue. Consequently, there are no uniform rules that describe this subject. Thus, each national association can be very flexibly apply the general guidelines and use rules deviate from use in other countries.
Please be aware that amateur zones in maritime areas, are not set out definite boundaries. Therefore, stations working from moving objects at sea or in the air, practically alone determine their zone.
In this website I drew up detailed maps and descriptions gathered all zones, based on the maximum coherent information from different sources.
I hope that these materials will help organize the theme of ITU Zones and will allow a more precise determination of the position of amateur stations. I wish you satisfaction in using my materials. | <urn:uuid:300e6c4a-b584-4fc2-8d8f-a60260e3feeb> | CC-MAIN-2017-26 | http://www.itu.hamatlas.eu/Strefy_strony/Introduction.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-26/segments/1498128323895.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20170629084615-20170629104615-00623.warc.gz | en | 0.931578 | 300 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Notice the smooth sheen on the interior of the mold. Liquid-hot polypropylene is
pushed through a rod and into the mold, where the plastic is formed and cooled.
The result of the injection-molding process is a piece of plastic that is formed. It took
less than four minutes to make this Honda front fender.
A Cycra Racing employee removes the fender from the molding machine. Next, he
checks the part for any imperfections and cuts off any leftover plastic pieces.
BEHIND INJECTION-MOLDED PLASTIC
HOW A MOLD IS MADE:
Cycra designs its parts on a computer using three-dimensional
Computer-Aided Design (CAD)
Pro/Engineer software. The molds
are further refined and then
built in Mastercam CAD milling
software. Once the specifics are
ironed out, the designs become
a reality. Cycra’s sister company,
Xceldyne, builds the molds using
CNC milling machines. In total,
there are 50 different metalworking CNC machines responsible for crafting each mold.
COST OF A MOLD: The average cost per mold is $65,000. Note:
a mold is for a specific piece of
plastic, such as a rear fender, for
a specific model. Hence, the total
plastic tooling cost for one bike
is nearly $300,000. Why is a mold
so expensive? Each mold starts
with two blocks of solid, tool-grade steel that each weigh 1500
pounds. It can take up to several
weeks for a mold to be completed on a CNC milling machine.
Fortunately, a mold can produce
hundreds of thousands of parts in
its lifetime, which could be over
EFFICIENCY: It’s possible for
Cycra to run at capacity for 24
hours a day, seven days a week;
however, each machine needs constant inspection of the hydraulic
fluids and heater elements. Cycra
continually updates the on-board
computer software of each
machine for greater efficiency and
reliability. In the course of a day,
Cycra can make 5000 parts if all its
machines are running at full tilt.
HOW A PIECE OF PLASTIC
IS MADE: Polypropylene is fed
into a heated barrel. Materials are
mixed, raised to a temperature
of 400 degrees Fahrenheit, and
pushed through a rod into a mold.
It takes around 200 seconds for
a piece of plastic to be formed.
Cycra Racing makes its injection-molded plastic in-house, meaning it closely guards quality control. Cycra also has the ability to
make unique plastic parts for the
race teams that it supports. That
technology is then trickled down
to the consumer. Very cool. ❏ | <urn:uuid:1007c029-b9b3-4918-bd3f-4b28535cbb7a> | CC-MAIN-2019-18 | http://www.mxa-digital.com/motocrossaction/2014_december?pg=144 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-18/segments/1555578643556.86/warc/CC-MAIN-20190424134457-20190424160457-00032.warc.gz | en | 0.890008 | 625 | 3.171875 | 3 |
This reference manual describes the Python programming language. It is not intended as a tutorial.
While I am trying to be as precise as possible, I chose to use English rather than formal specifications for everything except syntax and lexical analysis. This should make the document more understandable to the average reader, but will leave room for ambiguities. Consequently, if you were coming from Mars and tried to re-implement Python from this document alone, you might have to guess things and in fact you would probably end up implementing quite a different language. On the other hand, if you are using Python and wonder what the precise rules about a particular area of the language are, you should definitely be able to find them here. If you would like to see a more formal definition of the language, maybe you could volunteer your time --- or invent a cloning machine :-).
It is dangerous to add too many implementation details to a language reference document --- the implementation may change, and other implementations of the same language may work differently. On the other hand, there is currently only one Python implementation in widespread use (although alternate implementations exist), and its particular quirks are sometimes worth being mentioned, especially where the implementation imposes additional limitations. Therefore, you'll find short "implementation notes" sprinkled throughout the text.
Every Python implementation comes with a number of built-in and standard modules. These are not documented here, but in the separate Python Library Reference (XXX reference: ../lib/lib.html) document. A few built-in modules are mentioned when they interact in a significant way with the language definition.
Though there is one Python implementation which is by far the most popular, there are some alternate implementations which are of particular interest to different audiences.
Known implementations include:
- This is the original and most-maintained implementation of Python, written in C. New language features generally appear here first.
- Python implemented in Java. This implementation can be used as a scripting language for Java applications, or can be used to create applications using the Java class libraries. It is also often used to create tests for Java libraries. More information can be found at the Jython website.
- Python for .NET
- This implementation actually uses the CPython implementation, but is a managed .NET application and makes .NET libraries available. This was created by Brian Lloyd. For more information, see the Python for .NET home page.
- An alternate Python for .NET. Unlike Python.NET, this is a complete Python implementation that generates IL, and compiles Python code directly to .NET assemblies. It was created by Jim Hugunin, the original creator of Jython. For more information, see the IronPython website.
- An implementation of Python written in Python; even the bytecode interpreter is written in Python. This is executed using CPython as the underlying interpreter. One of the goals of the project is to encourage experimentation with the language itself by making it easier to modify the interpreter (since it is written in Python). Additional information is available on the PyPy project's home page.
Each of these implementations varies in some way from the language as documented in this manual, or introduces specific information beyond what's covered in the standard Python documentation. Please refer to the implementation-specific documentation to determine what else you need to know about the specific implementation you're using.
The descriptions of lexical analysis and syntax use a modified BNF grammar notation. This uses the following style of definition:
The first line says that a name is an lc_letter followed by a sequence of zero or more lc_letters and underscores. An lc_letter in turn is any of the single characters 'a' through 'z'. (This rule is actually adhered to for the names defined in lexical and grammar rules in this document.)
Each rule begins with a name (which is the name defined by the rule) and ::=. A vertical bar (|) is used to separate alternatives; it is the least binding operator in this notation. A star (*) means zero or more repetitions of the preceding item; likewise, a plus (+) means one or more repetitions, and a phrase enclosed in square brackets ([ ]) means zero or one occurrences (in other words, the enclosed phrase is optional). The * and + operators bind as tightly as possible; parentheses are used for grouping. Literal strings are enclosed in quotes. White space is only meaningful to separate tokens. Rules are normally contained on a single line; rules with many alternatives may be formatted alternatively with each line after the first beginning with a vertical bar.
In lexical definitions (as the example above), two more conventions are used: Two literal characters separated by three dots mean a choice of any single character in the given (inclusive) range of ASCII characters. A phrase between angular brackets (<...>) gives an informal description of the symbol defined; e.g., this could be used to describe the notion of 'control character' if needed.
Even though the notation used is almost the same, there is a big difference between the meaning of lexical and syntactic definitions: a lexical definition operates on the individual characters of the input source, while a syntax definition operates on the stream of tokens generated by the lexical analysis. All uses of BNF in the next chapter ("Lexical Analysis") are lexical definitions; uses in subsequent chapters are syntactic definitions. | <urn:uuid:3bb0abd7-6aaa-4396-b54b-058a90a6d4e2> | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | https://bitbucket.org/birkenfeld/sphinx/src/fc26cc90d5e88b8fbcecaa8eb0eda5b63cea9519/Doc-26/reference/introduction.rst | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1430456823285.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20150501050703-00048-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915271 | 1,104 | 3.140625 | 3 |
Alphabet Animal Colour005965
With a page for every letter of the alphabet, this educational colouring pad takes children through the ABCs picture by picture. At the top of each page is one letter of the alphabet outlined in uppercase and lowercase form, letting children colour or trace the letter shapes to gain familiarity and to practice writing letterforms. An oversize label for the main picture is written out in crisp, clear letters, so kids see how each character becomes part of a word, and how each word relates to an object. Even if children skip the labels and just grab a crayon and have fun colouring in the pictures, they’ll be playfully picking up information about letter sounds and making cognitive connections: The whimsically illustrated pages encourage children to spot and colour numerous examples of the featured letter in action. A picture-search list in the bottom margin adds to the fun and helps kids catch every detail: a sock-wearing serpent sipping soda, a collared cat carrying crayons, a gorilla, giraffe, and goose gobbling grapes, and much more. It’s a colourful way to build fine motor skills, letter recognition, pre-literacy skills, and creative expression through a timeless kids’ art activity with universal appeal. | <urn:uuid:9314672b-d917-4af4-9b1f-1e910e88c4e6> | CC-MAIN-2020-40 | https://curiousminds.co.uk/products/alphabet-animal-colour | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-40/segments/1600402130531.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20200930235415-20201001025415-00534.warc.gz | en | 0.886986 | 263 | 3.03125 | 3 |
Sign Languages for Deaf Communities in developing countries as Social Capital Resource(2021_2_40_012)
People with disabilities are mentioned in targets related to five of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) goals, although they are not explicitly included in the main 17 goals. Nevertheless, SDGs are more inclusive of people with disabilities compared with the Millennium Development Goals. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) also imposes an obligation on member states to ensure that people with disabilities have equal access to all the rights enjoyed by people without disabilities. In accordance with SDGs and the CRPD, measures should be taken to ensure that no one with disabilities is left behind in the COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, UN agencies have mentioned the issue of persons with disabilities in various statements and recommendations (e.g., “Disability considerations during the COVID-19 outbreak” by WHO and "COVID-19 Outbreak and Persons with Disabilities" by UNDESA ). However, the efforts of international organizations do not reassure the Deaf, considering that in many countries, persons with disabilities may be left behind, for example, when government officials delivery important announcements without sign language interpreters, meaning that the Deaf have not been reached. Persons with disabilities in developing countries, especially Deaf persons with hearing impairments, often use a sign language that is different from the main language of their countries. Sign languages are independent languages with their own grammar that differs from that of spoken languages. However, the existence and use of sign language is poorly understood in developing countries. Needless to say, the general public needs to recognize the existence of sign language and its role in society in order for Deaf people to play an active role as participants in economic development. There are some studies on the recognition of sign language as an official language, such as De Meulder et al. However, research in Japan is also almost non-existent, with the exception of studies on West African countries (Kamei, 2006), Sri Lanka and the Philippines (Mori, 2008), and Kenya and Senegal (Mori, 2016). To contribute to international goals such as SDGs and the CRPD, this paper takes a look at China (East Asia), the Philippines (Southeast Asia), India (South Asia), Kenya (Africa), and Brazil (Latin America) in order to summarize the historical development and social conditions of sign languages in these countries.
April 2021 - March 2023
Leader of the Research Project
Published by External Publisher (Japanese) | <urn:uuid:86b67344-d39c-4ba4-8922-a0582a1cdc11> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://www.ide.go.jp/English/Research/Project/2022/2021_2_40_012.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233506669.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20230924191454-20230924221454-00092.warc.gz | en | 0.954991 | 538 | 3.234375 | 3 |
Aquaculture continues its rapid growth which involves the development of the optimal food source for cultured fish. A lot of potentially valuable species of fish are not yet being successfully cultured due to challenges in finding the appropriate feed for fish larvae immediately after hatching. Larvae of many marine fish require live feed for successful development and growth.
Due to the small size of many fish larvae, easily reared live food such as artemia, is not a suitable option. Copepods showed to be the optimal nutrients source for many marine fish larvae and, depending on the species, present a wide range of sizes. The way copepods swim, stimulates feeding behaviour in fish larvae. Larvae, fed on copepods during early life stages, show faster growth, lower rates of malformation and better health status.
The project is focused on investigating the relationship between the changes of biochemical composition of dietary microalgae and copepods’ nutritional quality as live food for marine fish larvae. Finding the most efficient method for cultivating high nutritional quality copepods for mass production is one of the main goals of the project. Culturing of copepods still presents a lot of challenges, that are planned to be solved in the project.
|BlueBioTech GmbH, Gesellschaft für Marine Aquakultur (GMA)mbH| | <urn:uuid:2489fc07-ff32-4ebf-86f1-138129f7d2e1> | CC-MAIN-2021-04 | https://www.leibniz-zmt.de/en/research/research-projects/conafi.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-04/segments/1610704799741.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20210126104721-20210126134721-00300.warc.gz | en | 0.945582 | 275 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Officers are responsible for the management and day-to-day operations of a corporation, and are appointed by the board of directors. Each state’s corporation statute will specify the officer positions that must be filled by each corporation. The required officer positions usually include:
CEO or president. The corporation’s CEO or president is responsible for the overall day-to-day activities of the corporation (some of which are often delegated to other officers). The CEO signs major contracts, stock certificates and other legal documents, as required. The CEO acts under the direction of the board. For substantial actions to be taken, the CEO will act on behalf of the corporation by corporate resolution.
For the record, it’s possible for a person to be a voting member of a board and also serve as the company’s CEO. This is quite common with small businesses. Another option is for a company’s CEO to have “ex-officio” status on a decision-making board. In other words, the CEO attends and participates in board meetings but has no voting rights.
Vice president. This officer may or may not be required by your state’s corporation statute. When the position does exist, the vice president fills in when the CEO is unavailable or when the board assigns specific duties.
Treasurer or chief financial officer. The treasurer is responsibile for the financial matters of the corporation. In a larger corporation, this may consist mainly of oversight; in smaller corporations, this charge will include daily responsibility for financial matters. The treasurer is responsible for maintaining the financial corporate records and for preparing and presenting financial reports to the board, officers and shareholders.
Secretary. The secretary is charged with maintaining the corporate records of the corporation and preparing minutes of board and shareholder meetings. The secretary may also be required to provide certification for banks or other financial institutions and may also be required to provide requested copies of corporate documents.
It’s important to remember two significant facts about actions taken by officers:
- Executive officers have the authority to legally bind the corporation
- Officers are not personally liable for their acts while acting (lawfully) on behalf of the corporation
Statutory requirements for officers are generally contained in each state’s corporation statute. Check your Secretary of State’s Web site for officer requirements. (For a handy, state-by-state listing of all Secretary of State offices, see Secretary of State Information for Incorporating in All States.) The duties and obligations of the officers of your corporation will be contained in your bylaws.
Compensation of Officers
The Internal Revenue Code allows corporations to claim a “reasonable allowance for salaries or other compensation for personal services actually rendered” as a business expense deduction. Internal Revenue Code 162(a)(1). Compensation includes salary, deferred compensation, stock options, equipment provided (e.g., cars, cellphones and computers), and health and other insurance. Many states follow federal law on this issue. The “reasonableness” of the compensation will depend upon the specific circumstances.
Factors considered in determining whether compensation is reasonable include:
- The size of the business
- The corporation’s earnings history
- Salary and compensation paid to other individuals in other corporations performing similar jobs
If it’s determined that an officer is receiving unreasonable compensation, the IRS may disallow the compensation as a deduction on the corporation’s tax return.
High-level employees, including officers, can be offered employment agreements. Among other things, an employment agreement sets forth the key provisions regarding compensation, duties and grounds for termination. | <urn:uuid:5de017ef-bf3d-4c25-9666-1dafa3500b9a> | CC-MAIN-2015-48 | http://www.allbusiness.com/officers-roles-within-a-corporation-532-1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-48/segments/1448398444139.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20151124205404-00176-ip-10-71-132-137.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944535 | 741 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Neurosurgery is a medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of disorders that affect the entire nervous system including the spinal column, spinal cord, brain and peripheral nerves.
Neurological diseases and injuries can affect persons of any age, gender or ethnicity. Each condition is unique and complex, presenting a set of challenges that can be physically and emotionally overwhelming for patients and their families.
I. Neurological Conditions
United Regional provides diagnosis and surgical treatment for a full range of neurological conditions that affect the brain, spinal cord and nerves:
- Brain injuries
- Brain tumors
- Cerebral blood clots
- Compressed nerves
- Spine injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Spinal cord compression
- Herniated spine discs
- Nerve injuries
- Pituitary tumors
- Slipped vertebrae
- Vertebral fractures
We also treat conditions such as:
- Hydrocephalus – Abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the cavities of the brain.
- NPH (normal pressure hydrocephalus) – Abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the cavities of the brain that puts pressure on the brain and interferes with healthy brain function.
- Spinal stenosis – Narrowing of areas of the spine creating pressure and discomfort.
- Ulnar entrapment syndrome – Compressed nerve in the arm.
II. Warning Signs of a Neurological Condition
There are many warning signs for neurological disorders and conditions. If you experience any of the symptoms listed below, be sure to contact your doctor immediately, or consult with a neurosurgeon at United Regional.
- Severe headaches
- Numbness or tingling in extremities
III. Neurosurgical Procedures
Our team of highly trained, board-certified Neurosurgery specialists performs life-critical procedures to treat a variety of neurological diseases and injuries:
For the spine:
Cervical, thoracic and lumbar fusion – Surgical addition of a bone graft to stop motion at a painful vertebra segment of the spine. Click here to read about the new robotic surgical guidance system for fusion surgery
Discectomy and microdiscectomy – Surgical removal of ruptured or herniated disc material in the spine.
Extreme lateral interbody fusion (XLIF) – Minimally-invasive spinal fusion surgery to treat leg or back pain. The procedure is performed through the patient’s side to avoid major back muscles.
Kyphoplasty – Minimally invasive surgical procedure using a balloon to restore height and shape to compressed vertebra in the spine.
Laminectory – Spinal operation to remove part of the vertebral bone (lamina).
Laminoplasty – A treatment for spinal stenosis through cutting the vertebral bone (lamina) and relieving pressure on the spinal cord.
Peripheral nerve release – Surgical procedure to remove pressure from the peripheral nerve in the spinal cord.
Sympathectomy –Surgical cauterization of the sympathetic nerve to eliminate excessive sweating or blushing.
Trans sacral lumbar interbody fusion– Minimally invasive surgical procedure where the front part of the lumbar is fused from below to treat painful disc generation in the spine.
Vertebroplasty – In order to stabilize a fractured vertebra, bone cement is surgically injected into the fractured area of the spine.
X-stop spacer– A surgical implant that lifts vertebra off of a pinched nerve in the spine to relieve pain.
For the brain:
Craniotomy – Surgical procedure under the bone flap of the skull to remove a tumor, clot or aneurysm.
Intracranial pressure monitoring – A surgically implanted device in the brain to monitor pressure levels and send them to a recording device.
VP shunts – Cerebrospinal fluid is surgically shunted from cavities in the brain into the abdominal cavity to relieve pressure.
IV. Advanced Technology Zeiss OPMI Pentero Neurosurgical Microscope
In delicate brain surgery, surgeons rely on advanced magnification and visual clarity to enhance their skill. In 2011, we acquired the Zeiss OPMI Pentero neurosurgical microscope, which provides surgeons with clearer and more powerful magnification, as well as inter-operative diagnostics and support of fluorescence-based procedures such as tumor removal and resections. With these capabilities, neurosurgeons can easily distinguish between the cancerous tumor and healthy tissue. Advanced technological features provide the surgeon:
- Crystal clear images with natural colors
- Spot illumination for higher contrast images in narrow and deep vessels • High-speed autofocus which delivers razor-sharp images
- Freedom of hand and instrument movement, with a short distance to the surgical field
- Video touchscreen with instantaneous access during surgery to important information such as patient files
- Technology to superimpose color data and combine diagnostic, navigation and system information while viewing the operating field
- Integration with the hospital network with access to pre-op findings and data from the operation
To find a physician in this medical specialty, please visit our Physician Directory,or contact United Regional Call-a-Nurse at (940) 764-8570 or (800) 982-9799. | <urn:uuid:29dc4205-4803-4d57-9350-9731b02bafcd> | CC-MAIN-2021-49 | https://www.unitedregional.org/medical-services/neurosurgery/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-49/segments/1637964358469.34/warc/CC-MAIN-20211128043743-20211128073743-00336.warc.gz | en | 0.884135 | 1,135 | 2.671875 | 3 |
The government offers a variety of programs for food assistance funded by grants, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, and the Women, Infants and Children program, also called WIC. The government also provides a number of different nutrition programs for children and the elderly.Continue Reading
One of the more popular food programs available from the government is SNAP. This program helps low-income individuals and families to buy food, and the programs are managed through state and county offices. This program was formerly known as Food Stamps.
The Seniors Farmers Market Nutrition Program provides grant money to states to provide low-income senior citizens with coupons that are exchanged for eligible foods, such as vegetables, fruits, honey and fresh-cut herbs. These coupons can be used at roadside stands, farmers' markets and agriculture programs supported by local communities.
The WIC program provides grants to states for health care referrals, supplemental foods and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, nonbreastfeeding, breastfeeding and postpartum women. Money is also provided for infants and children up to the age of five who are considered to be at a nutritional risk. Food distribution and school meal programs are also provided to states by funds from the federal government.Learn more about Social Services | <urn:uuid:540cf70a-dca5-4178-9703-1db823aa73fd> | CC-MAIN-2017-39 | https://www.reference.com/government-politics/different-government-grants-available-food-assistance-cdbbd90847662907 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-39/segments/1505818689102.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20170922183303-20170922203303-00385.warc.gz | en | 0.962891 | 252 | 3.140625 | 3 |
The deer will save the tundra from global warming
Climate change affects a variety of plants in the tundra, however grazing animals, such as deer, can mitigate the negative effects of global warming.
This is the conclusion reached by the authors of an article published in the journal Nature Communications.
Eating high and broad-leaved plants, deer give more light to other species that may benefit from a warmer climate.Elina Carlaarena from umeå University, the head of research
Previous studies have shown that the density of vegetation in the tundra warming will increase, however, the forecasts need to take into account the number of herbivores that live on these territories. To check existing assumptions, the researchers conducted experiments in which warmed 1-2°C some parts of the tundra. Some of them have been fenced from deer and rodents, while others are not. The observations were carried out for five years.
It turned out that the fenced areas large plants took advantage of the new conditions, expanded and closed the light smaller. Where the deer and the rodents ate part of the plant, a small species could survive along with the major. | <urn:uuid:d04a2a1a-f8f9-4502-9bc0-e1a9138e568f> | CC-MAIN-2018-34 | https://rusreality.com/2017/09/04/the-deer-will-save-the-tundra-from-global-warming/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-34/segments/1534221213158.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20180817221817-20180818001817-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.95894 | 241 | 3.421875 | 3 |
Freedom to explore the possibilities of life is a big part of what college is all about.
But college also can be physically and mentally demanding. Students may exercise their new-found freedom by:
- Studying too hard
- Working too hard
- Getting insufficient sleep
- Eating an unbalanced diet
- Playing too hard
- Ignoring a potentially serious illness
Issues about sex, sexuality, alcohol and drugs also confront today's college students. Is your child ready to handle these facts of life? Are you ready to have your student deal with these issues? Take time to discuss what to do in case of illness and the issues concerning alcohol and drug abuse. | <urn:uuid:9ad30f63-7eae-49e8-a4db-57aae0c3a12c> | CC-MAIN-2017-09 | http://www.ohe.state.mn.us/mPg.cfm?pageID=1186 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-09/segments/1487501172783.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20170219104612-00271-ip-10-171-10-108.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942255 | 136 | 2.5625 | 3 |
a splitting or separating into two or more parts.
a separation or dissociation of two groups or people.
Commerce. a process of reorganizing a corporate structure whereby all the capital stock and assets are exchanged for those of two or more newly established companies, resulting in the liquidation of the parent corporation.
Compare spin-off (def 1), split-off (def 3).
verb (used with object), split, splitting.
to divide or separate from end to end or into layers:
to split a log in two.
to separate by cutting, chopping, etc., usually lengthwise:
to split a piece from a block.
to tear or break apart; rend or burst:
The wind split the sail.
to divide into distinct parts or portions (often followed by up):
We split up our rations.
to separate (a part) by such division.
to divide (persons) into different groups, factions, parties, etc., as by discord:
to split a political party.
to separate (a group, family, etc.) by such division.
to cast (a ballot or vote) for candidates of more than one political party.
to divide between two or more persons, groups, etc.; share:
We split a bottle of wine.
to separate into parts by interposing something:
to split an infinitive.
Physics, Chemistry. to divide (molecules or atoms) by cleavage into smaller parts.
to issue additional shares of (stock) without charge to existing stockholders, thereby dividing their interest into a larger number of shares and reducing the price per share.
Slang. leave; depart from:
Let’s split this scene.
verb (used without object), split, splitting.
to divide, break, or part lengthwise:
The board split in half.
to part, divide, or separate in any way (often followed by up):
The group of children split up into two teams. We’ll split up here and meet later.
to break asunder, as a ship by striking on a rock.
to become separated, as a piece or part from a whole.
to part or separate, as through disagreement; sever relations:
They split up after a year of marriage. He split with the company after a policy dispute.
to divide or share something with another or others; apportion.
Slang. to leave; depart.
the act of splitting.
a crack, tear, or fissure caused by splitting.
a piece or part separated by or as by splitting.
a breach or rupture, as between persons, in a party or organization, etc.
a faction, party, etc., formed by a rupture or schism.
an ice-cream dish made from sliced fruit, usually a banana, and ice cream, and covered with syrup and nuts.
Also called, especially British, nip. a bottle for wine or, sometimes, another beverage, containing from 6 to 6½ ounces (170 to 184 grams).
a bottle, as of soda, liquor, etc., which is half the usual size.
a strip split from an osier, used in basketmaking.
Masonry. a brick of normal length and breadth but of half normal thickness, used to give level support to a course of bricks laid over one not level.
Often, splits. the feat of separating the legs while sinking to the floor, until they extend at right angles to the body, as in stage performances or gymnastics.
Bowling. an arrangement of the pins remaining after the first bowl in two separated groups, so that a spare is difficult.
Philately. bisect (def 5).
one of the layers of leather into which a skin is cut.
the act of splitting a stock.
that has undergone splitting; parted lengthwise; cleft.
a split opinion.
(of a stock quotation) given in sixteenths instead of eighths of a point.
(of a stock) having undergone a split.
split hairs. hair (def 11).
split the difference. difference (def 13).
verb splits, splitting, split
to break or cause to break, esp forcibly, by cleaving into separate pieces, often into two roughly equal pieces: to split a brick
to separate or be separated from a whole: he split a piece of wood from the block
to separate or be separated into factions, usually through discord
(often foll by up) to separate or cause to separate through a disagreement
when tr, often foll by up. to divide or be divided among two or more persons: split up the pie among the three of us
(slang) to depart; leave: let’s split, we split the scene
(transitive) to separate (something) into its components by interposing something else: to split a word with hyphens
(slang) (intransitive) usually foll by on. to betray the trust, plans, etc (of); inform: he split on me to the cops
(transitive) (US, politics) to mark (a ballot, etc) so as to vote for the candidates of more than one party: he split the ticket
(transitive) to separate (an animal hide or skin) into layers
split hairs, to make a fine but needless distinction
split one’s sides, to laugh very heartily
split the difference
to settle a dispute by effecting a compromise in which both sides give way to the same extent
to divide a remainder equally
the act or process of splitting
a gap or rift caused or a piece removed by the process of splitting
a breach or schism in a group or the faction resulting from such a breach
a dessert of sliced fruit and ice cream, covered with whipped cream, nuts, etc: banana split
See Devonshire split
a separated layer of an animal hide or skin other than the outer layer
leather made from such a layer
(tenpin bowling) a formation of the pins after the first bowl in which there is a large gap between two pins or groups of pins
(informal) an arrangement or process of dividing up loot or money
having been split; divided: split logs
having a split or splits: hair with split ends
a port and resort in W Croatia on the Adriatic: remains of the palace of Diocletian (295–305). Pop: 188 000 (2005 est) Italian name Spalato
v. split, split·ting, splits
To divide from end to end or along the grain by or as if by a sharp blow; tear.
To break, burst, or rip apart with force; rend.
To separate; disunite.
To break apart or divide a chemical compound into simpler constituents.
split the scene
- Split wings
plural noun 1. (angling) wings (of an artificial fly) that are dressed cocked up and separated into a V shape (as modifier): a split-wing pattern
noun 1. a large irregular spot or blot verb 2. (transitive) to mark (something) with such a blot or blots
verb 1. to splash or cause to splash about uncontrollably noun 2. an instance or sound of splooshing
noun, Scot. 1. a frolic; revel; carousal. 2. a commotion; disturbance. noun 1. (Scot) a revel; binge; escapade | <urn:uuid:923403f8-a781-43a8-830b-8d8e57fc3480> | CC-MAIN-2017-17 | http://definithing.com/define-dictionary/split-up/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-17/segments/1492917121000.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20170423031201-00116-ip-10-145-167-34.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90099 | 1,565 | 3.3125 | 3 |
Healthy fisheries are critical to the health of the world’s ocean, economic stability, and food security.
Our goal is to increase the sustainability of fisheries worldwide. We are particularly interested in technologies that reduce bycatch, which can significantly increase biomass in the ocean and help protect the livelihoods of fishers. We believe that by bringing transparency to the seafood supply chain and enforcing existing regulations, we can halt illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing and better preserve our world’s fisheries and oceans.
Case Study: Pelagic Data Systems
Producing a solar-powered, low-cost monitoring and tracking system for small fishing vessels that combats illegal fishing while also providing direct economic benefits to fishers.
Blue Ocean Gear
Developing fishing gear that enables more sustainable practices, such as the Smart Buoy system, which uses trackable buoys to prevent lost gear and send notifications about movement due to whale entanglement or other events.
Developing the SharkGuard, a technology that uses electricity to reduce shark and ray bycatch by repelling them from longlines.
Developing the Smart Scale to increase data collection and transparency to fisheries worldwide. In partnership with Osa Conservation, they are piloting their technology on the Osa Peninsula.
Developing Goldfish software that detects IUU illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing risk in seafood trade data.
Building LED-based systems that utilize specific wavelengths of light to either attract target species or repel unwanted species to reduce bycatch. The team is also developing new systems for fisheries data collection.
Conservation X Labs
Developed the NABIT, which allows field identification of fish and other samples, increasing transparency, especially in the realm of seafood mislabeling and illegal fishing.
Developing a hand-held spectrometer powered by an image-recognition algorithm that can identify fish species in real-time in order to cut down on seafood fraud.
Stanford Hopkins Marine Station – Block Lab
Developing FAST, the Fin Alert Shark Tag, to prevent and deter illegal fishing. The tag sends an immediate alert via satellite and reports its precise location when the animal to which it is attached is caught, allowing for real-time enforcement of fishing regulations.
An alternative trawling net outfitted with a cable-mounted disc system that ensures the net stays open and automatically controlled to prevent contact with the seafloor. This reduces drag, further reducing carbon emissions, fuel costs, and bycatch while also increasing fisher safety.
Trygg Mat Tracking
Data-rich and easy-to-use software that enables countries to make quick and informed decisions on who can enter their ports and what to target in their inspections to stop illegal fish landings.
Development and deployment of software that integrates fishing data with processing plant data to provide ocean-to-market tracking that helps prevent illegal fishing and connect small businesses to larger markets.
University of Haifa
A swarm of low-cost underwater autonomous robots that coordinate for better acoustic detection and size estimation of fish populations.
Centro de Ciencas do Mar
A redesigned fishing net, developed in partnership with fishers that could reduce bycatch in certain squid and other fisheries by 40%, reducing net damage and protecting sensitive habitats.
Aaron Rice, Ph.D., in association with Marc Dantzker, Ph.D. of Fisheye Acoustics are developing a new autonomous audio/video technology that allows researchers to identify which fish species emit which of the many different sounds that fish are known to make.
Arizona State University
Low-cost lights, powered by solar energy, that easily hook onto fishing nets and reduce bycatch of threatened species, including sea turtles and sharks.
An app that provides accurate fishing and vessel data to rangers to deter illegal fishing in marine areas and better protect marine wildlife and the coastal communities that depend on them.
View All Partners
For a full list of partners both past and present, visit the Schmidt Marine Partner Directory.
Want to Partner With Us?
Learn more about our process and submit your own proposal. | <urn:uuid:5bd54584-dab2-462a-ab7b-b46b7d90d29c> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://schmidtmarine.org/sustainable-fisheries/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679099514.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20231128115347-20231128145347-00604.warc.gz | en | 0.904945 | 835 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Red berries create green opportunities
Red. Ripe. Delicious. That’s how you might describe the baskets of strawberries you see at your local farmer’s market or neighborhood store. What you don’t see are the green opportunities behind the berry – both environmental and economic – long before the fruit lands on your shortcake. And farmers say this deserves some attention.
With growing concerns about the use of cancer-causing strawberry pesticide methyl iodide, some farmers are calling on federal officials to provide better guidance on how to grow the greenest berry possible. In particular, farmers call into question the use of fumigants, including methyl iodide, used to kill soil pests when growing strawberry seedlings before they are sold to the farm where berries grow on mature plants. Methyl iodide is a likely groundwater contaminant, and can cause cancer and miscarriages when airborne.
“Eliminating the use of pesticide fumigants is good for farmers, protects our health and creates jobs by clearing the way for innovation," said Larry Jacobs, owner of Jacobs Farm/Del Cabo in Pescadero, California.
Clear guidance around existing rules will spur innovation. Markets need clear signals to work well, and right now, the rules aren’t clear. —James Rickert of Prather Ranch
With clarity around existing rules, especially descriptions of which techniques are prohibited, farmers can develop new tools to grow healthier organic berries. And these emerging tools -including steam, solarization, and anaerobic disinfestation - control pests and create a stronger agroecosystem without the use of pesticides.
Farmers press for clear rules
Organic agriculture is already an economic engine in states like California, with over 3,500 organic farms, 150,000 acres in organic production and more opportunities on the horizon. Farmers assert that chemicals like methyl iodide jeopardize the state's sustainable and organic agricultural economy.
“Federal regulators have undermined small businesses that employ cutting-edge technology to produce organic strawberries,” explained James Rickert of Prather Ranch and an organic strawberry nursery grower in Palo Cedro, California. “Clear guidance around existing rules will spur innovation. Markets need clear signals to work well, and right now, the rules aren’t clear.”
In a letter filed last Friday with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, farmers made their case:
As organic farmers, we face many challenges — both on the farm and off — growing the best product possible and keeping it affordable.... we believe that the National Organic Program must act with some urgency to provide guidance to organic growers and certifiers and eliminate the use of these fumigants. With the prospect of methyl iodide use on the horizon, especially in California, this concern seems even greater.
Join farmers » Send a message to Governor Jerry Brown that a key first step in driving organic farming innovation is to take methyl iodide off the shelf. | <urn:uuid:60077f85-15e7-49d5-bbef-ccf8bd8cb285> | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.panna.org/blog/red-berries-create-green-opportunities?quicktabs_1=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246655589.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045735-00294-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.902228 | 608 | 2.90625 | 3 |
located in the south of Cuba's eastern region. It has an extension
of 6 162,1 sq km (2379 sq mi) and an estimated population
of 1 016 754 inhabitants (1996) distributed in 9 municipalities.
The province ranks eleventh in extension and second in population.
Most of the territory is covered by mountains: those of the
orographic group of the Sierra Maestra, being its higher point
the Turquino peak 1972 m (6468 ft); and the south portions
of the Sierra de Nipe and Sierra Cristal. The rest of the
territory is occupied by the eastern end of the Cauto plain,
the Santiago de Cuba basin, and the central valley. The most
important rivers are the Contramaestre, the Guaninicum, and
Insustrial activity is represented by coffee and sugar production,
port activity, and cattle raising.
03 San Luis
04 Segundo Frente
05 Songo La Maya
06 Santiago de Cuba
07 Palma Soriano
08 Tercer Frente | <urn:uuid:c0ebd91a-37d6-4836-8d86-ba6b8d9d1207> | CC-MAIN-2022-21 | http://cuba-santiagodecuba.net/en/geography.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-21/segments/1652663016853.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20220528123744-20220528153744-00693.warc.gz | en | 0.851089 | 252 | 2.828125 | 3 |
CONGRATULATIONS: if you are reading this then you are not one of the 437,000 people whose lives ended as statistics in a grisly report on murder published on April 10th by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.
The unfortunate half-million were all those around the world who were slain in 2012. The average person thus had roughly a one in 16,000 chance of being bumped off that year. But as the UN’s figures make clear, there is no such thing as an average person. How can you shorten your odds of making it through 2014?
First, don’t live in the Americas or Africa, where murder rates (one in 6,100 and one in 8,000 respectively) are more than four times as high as the rest of the world. Western Europe and East Asia are the safest regions.
And the safest countries? Liechtenstein recorded no murders at all in 2012, but its population could fit in a football stadium. Among those countries whose populations number in millions, the safest is Singapore, which clocked up just 11 murders in 2012, or one killing per 480,000 people.
In Honduras, the world’s most violent country, one in every 1,100 residents was killed.
Next, be a woman. Your chance of being murdered will be barely a quarter what it would be were you a man. In fact, steer clear of men altogether: nearly half of all female murder-victims are killed by their partner or another (usually male) family member.
But note that the gender imbalance is less pronounced in the rich world, probably because there is less banditry, a mainly male pursuit. In Japan and South Korea slightly over half of all murder victims are female.
Then, sit back and grow older. From the age of 30 onwards, murder rates fall steadily in most places. But not everywhere. Europeans are more at risk in middle age than in youth. European women cannot let their guard down even in retirement: those aged over 60 are more likely to be murdered than those aged 15-29.
The UN speculates that this may be because they are more likely to have partners, and those partners are more likely to drink. Other studies have found that alcohol featured in half of murders in Australia, Finland and Sweden, making it a more common factor than any weapon.
And if you are killed? The chances are no one will be convicted. Worldwide only 43% of murders result in someone being put behind bars. This, too, varies hugely: whereas Europe’s police solve eight out of ten murders and those in Asia clear up nearly half, three-quarters of killers in the Americas escape justice (a smaller share in North America; a higher one elsewhere in the region).
As long as that continues, there is little reason to think that the region’s fearsome murder rate will be tamed.
Click here to subscribe to The Economist. | <urn:uuid:737b9e94-f2d6-444e-81a6-4ed8c6db052b> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.businessinsider.com/the-un-offers-some-hints-on-how-to-avoid-being-bumped-off-2014-4 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476990033880.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020190033-00205-ip-10-142-188-19.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969101 | 605 | 2.578125 | 3 |
The winter is prime time for Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.) to take hold of people's moods.
S.A.D. impacts those who live in areas that receive less daylight during the winter season. Medical officials say the disorder leads to feelings of depression. The reduction of sunlight causes a drop in serotonin, a brain chemical that affects the mood.
The change in seasons can alter the balance of the natural hormone melatonin, which impacts sleep patters and mood. However, according to Laura Moski, a behavioral therapist at SwedishAmerican Hospital, there are ways to treat it.
"It's really important to engage in a lot of physical exercise," she says. "It's important to kind of plan your activities primarily for the fall and winter months if you know this is something you have difficulty with, because staying as active as possible is important."
S.A.D. is likely to occur among those who have family members prone to clinical depression or bipolar disorder. | <urn:uuid:2f81f5d1-18f6-487d-9cb2-50223934194c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wrex.com/story/20320044/2012/12/11/seasonal-affective-disorder-can-dim-mood | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702019913/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110019-00092-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967349 | 205 | 3.515625 | 4 |
Indian classical music is improvised during performance. While following the structure of a raga a musician improvises in several ways ranging from using the sound 'aa' to explore the melodic possibilities of the raga without adhering to any tala (set rhythm), to enunciating the names of notes as they are sung in a specific tala.
Aruna Sairam, Christian Bollman, & Rajika Puri, Aachen, 1999
South Indian, or Carnatic, music is organised around a system of 72 scales (melakarta ragas) and is today based on a large number of songs, composed mainly by three great composers - Shyama Shastri, Thyagaraja, and Muttuswamy Dikshitar. Nevertheless, in performance, vocalists and instrumentalists embellish each phrase, so that every performance of a composition is unique.
The music which accompanies dance, on the other hand, is often composed and set, especially when the dancer expresses rhythm and melody with the dance steps typical to a particular dance form. In Bharata Natyam, though the mime and hand gestures which express the meaning of songs are usually improvised, musicians are expected to follow the dancer. Thus dance musicians are usually distinguished from concert artists, and rarely would a musician of stature sing or play for a dancer.
Inspired by the wonderful music of Aruna Sairam, the internationally acclaimed Carnatic vocalist, Rajika Puri explores ways of adapting Bharata Natyam so that it can be improvised during a regular Carnatic music recital. She uses its vocabulary and specific style of mime to visualise the music as it is created by the singer - following the music rather than leading it, and attempting not to interfere with its flow.
In May 1999, Rajika joined the tour of ARUNA, a programme in which Christian Bollmann and Michael Reimann fuse European overtone music and the sounds of several international instruments with her singing.
In keeping with the sacred nature of Indian music, they performed in churches in Koln, Aachen, & Darmstadt, among other German towns.
In June-July 2000, Rajika will participate in Aruna's tour of Spain, during which they both wish not only to introduce Spanish audiences to Carnatic music, but also to meet with flamenco singers and guitarists, in the hope of future collaborations related to Flamenco Natyam. | <urn:uuid:6de5b969-4a55-4289-89ed-e83d5ed39a75> | CC-MAIN-2018-30 | http://www.rajikapuri.com/dance2music.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-30/segments/1531676589537.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20180717012034-20180717032034-00263.warc.gz | en | 0.956345 | 503 | 2.578125 | 3 |
1272 Edward I proclaimed King of England.
1316 Death of King John I of France (d. 1316)
1407 A solemn truce between John, Duke of Burgundy and Louis of Valois, Duke of OrlTans is agreed under the auspicies of John, Duke of Berry. OrlTans would be assassinated three days later by Burgundy.
1490 Joanot Martorell’s book Tirant lo Blanc is published for the first time.
1518 Death of Marmaduke Constable, English soldier
1529 Death of Karl von Miltitz, papal nuncio
1591 Death of Christopher Hatton, English politician (b. 1540)
1602 Birth of Otto von Guericke inventor (air pump).
1612 Death of John Harington, English writer (b. 1561)
1620 Birth of Peregrine White son of William and Susanna White, born aboard Mayflower.
1621 Birth of Avvakum, Russian priest and writer (d. 1682)
1625 Birth of Paulus Potter, Dutch painter (d. 1654)
1637 Peter Minuit and first Swedish immigrants to Delaware sail from Sweden.
1651 Death of Miko?aj Potocki, Polish soldier (b. 1595)
1660 Birth of Daniel Ernst Jablonski, German theologian (d. 1741)
1662 Death of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands (b. 1614)
1695 Death of Zumbi, Brazilian runaway slave
1695 Zumbi, the last of the leaders of Quilombo dos Palmares in early Brazil, was executed.
1700 At Narva, Swedish King Karl XII with about 10,000 men defeats the Russian army of 40,000.
1700 Great Northern War: Battle of Narva – King Charles XII of Sweden defeats the army of Tsar Peter the Great at Narva.
1726 Birth of Oliver Wolcott (Connecticut-Governor), signed Declaration of Independence.
1737 Death of Caroline of Ansbach, Queen of George II of Great Britain (b. 1683)
1742 Death of Melchior de Polignac, French diplomat (b. 1661)
1752 Birth of Thomas Chatterton English poet (Christabel).
1758 Death of Johan Helmich Roman, Swedish composer (b. 1694)
1761 Birth of Pius VIII 253rd Roman Catholic pope (1829-30).
1762 Birth of Pierre AndrT Latreille, French entomologist (d. 1833)
1764 Death of Christian Goldbach, Prussian mathematician (b. 1690)
1765 Birth of Sir Thomas Fremantle, British naval captain and politician (d. 1819)
1778 Death of Francesco Cetti, Italian Jesuit scientist (b. 1726)
1780 Britain declares war on Holland.
1789 New Jersey becomes first state to ratify Bill of Rights.
1789 New Jersey becomes the first U.S. state to ratify the Bill of Rights.
1805 The opera “Fidelio” is produced (Vienna).
1820 An 80-ton sperm whale attacks the Essex (a whaling ship from Nantucket, Massachusetts) 2,000 miles from the western coast of South America (Herman Melville’s 1851 novel Moby-Dick was in part inspired by this story).
1829 Jews are expelled from Russia’s Nikolayev and Sevastopol.
1839 Birth of Christian Wilberg, German painter (d. 1882)
1841 Birth of Sir Wilfrid Laurier (Liberal) 7th Canadian Prime Minister (1896-1911).
1851 Birth of Queen Margherita of Italy (d. 1926)
1858 Birth of Selma Lagerlof Sweden, novelist (Tales of a Manor-Nobel Prize 1909).
1862 Confederate army of Tennessee, organizes under General Braxton Bragg.
1864 Birth of Erik Axel Karlfeldt, Swedish writer (d. 1931)
1866 Birth of Kenesaw Mountain Landis judge/first commissioner of baseball.
1866 First national convention of Grand Army of the Republic (veterans’ organization).
1866 Howard University founded (Washington, DC).
1866 Pierre Lalemont patents rotary crank bicycle.
1869 Birth of Clark Griffith Missouri, baseball player/manager (New York Yankees).
1873 Birth of Daniel Gregory Mason Brookline Massachusetts, composer (Chanticker).
1878 War starts between Britain and Afghanistan.
1884 Birth of Norman Thomas Marion Ohio, socialist (presidential candidate 1928-48).
1886 Birth of Karl von Frisch zoologist/bee expert (Nobel Prize 1973).
1888 William Bundy patents the timecard clock.
1889 Birth of Edwin Hubble; astronomer (discoverer of galaxies, red shift).
1890 Pope Leo XIII encyclical On slavery in the missions.
1891 Birth of Leon Cadore pitcher (pitched all of 26 inning game).
1894 Death of Anton Rubinstein, Russian pianist and composer (b. 1829)
1894 US intervenes in Bluefields, Nicaragua.
1896 Birth of Yevgenia Ginzburg, Russian writer (d. 1977)
1900 Birth of Chester Gould cartoonist (gave Dick Tracy a job).
1901 The opera “GrisTlidis” is produced (Paris).
1902 Henri Desgrange and fellow journalist GTo Lefèvre dream up the idea of the Tour de France over lunch at the CafT de Madrid in Paris.
1903 Birth of Alexandra Danilova, Russian ballerina (d. 1997)
1907 Birth of Fran Allison LaPorte City Iowa, actress (Kukla, Fran and Ollie).
1908 Birth of Alistair Cooke in Manchester, England; actor (Masterpiece Theatre).
1909 Birth of Alan Bible (Senator-Democrat-Nevada, 1954-74).
1909 Jack Williams of Ottawa Rough Riders kicks 9 singles in a game.
1910 Birth of Willem Jacob van Stockum, Dutch physicist (d. 1944)
1910 Mexican Revolution: Francisco I. Madero issues the Plan de San Luis Potosi, denouncing President Porfirio Dfaz, declaring himself president, and calling for a revolution to overthrow the government of Mexico, effectively starting the Mexican Revolution.
1910 Revolution breaks out in Mexico, led by Francisco I Madero.
1911 Birth of Jean Shiley US, high jumper (Olympic-gold-1932).
1912 Birth of Otto von Habsburg, German head of the Austrian imperial family
1913 Birth of Judy Canova, American actress (d. 1983)
1914 Birth of Emilio Pucci Naples, fashion designer (Neiman-Marcus Award-1954).
1914 US State Department starts requiring photographs for passports.
1915 Birth of Kon Ichikawa Japan, director (Matatabi, Money Talks).
1916 Birth of Judy Canova Jacksonville Florida, comedienne/actress (Cannonball).
1917 Birth of Robert Byrd (Democrat-Senator-West Virginia) majority leader.
1917 Ukraine is declared a republic.
1917 Ukrainian Republic declared.
1917 World War I: Battle of Cambrai begins – British forces make early progress in an attack on German positions but are later pushed back.
1918 Birth of Dora Ratjen Germany, man posing as woman high jumper (Olympics-4th-1936).
1919 Birth of Evelyn Keyes actress (Adventure of Martin Eden).
1919 First municipally owned airport in US opens in Tucson, Az.
1920 Birth of Douglas Dick Charlestown West Virginia; actor (Carl-Waterfront).
1921 Birth of Phyllis Thaxter Portland Maine, actress (Nora, Fort Worth).
1923 Birth of Beryl Sprinkel in Missouri, USA; economist (Council of Economic Advisers).
1923 Garrett Morgan invents and patents the traffic signal.
1924 Birth of Benoit Mandelbrot Warsaw Poland, mathematician (proved Zipf’s law).
1925 Birth of Maya Plisetkaya; prima ballerina (Bolshoi Ballet).
1925 Death of Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom (b. 1844)
1926 Birth of Andrzej W. Schally, Polish-born endocrinologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
1927 Birth of Estelle Parsons, American actress
1928 Birth of Aleksey Batalov, Russian actor
1929 Birth of Kenneth DeWitt Schermerhorn in Schenectady, New York, USA; conductor (American Ballet).
1931 Commercial teletype service begins.
1932 Birth of Richard Dawson, British actor and game show host. Played Corporal Newkirk on “Hogan’s Heroes”
1934 Birth of Valentine J Peter in Omaha, Nebraska, USA; priest (Boy’s Town 1985-).
1936 Birth of Don DeLillo, American author
1936 Death of Buenaventura Durruti, Spanish anarchist (b. 1896)
1937 Birth of Eero Muntyranta in Finland; nordic ski relay (Olympic-gold-1960).
1938 First documented anti-Semitic remarks over US radio (by Father Coughlin).
1939 Birth of Dick Smothers, American comedian – member of the Smothers Brothers duo
1940 Birth of Bob Einstein in Los Angeles, California, USA; comedian (Officer Judy, Super Dave Osborne).
1940 Hungary signs the Tripartite Pact with Germany, Japan, and Italy.
1940 World War II: Hungary, Romania and Slovakia join the Axis Powers.
1941 Birth of Gary Karr in Los Angeles, California, USA; double-bassist (Oslo Philharmonic).
1942 Birth of Joseph R Biden Jr; American politician (Democrat-Senator-Delaware, Vice President 2009-).
1942 NHL abolishes regular season overtime until World War II is over.
1943 Birth of Veronica Hamel, American actress
1943 US forces land on Tarawa and Makin Atoll in the Gilbert Islanda.
1943 World War II: Battle of Tarawa begins – United States Marines land on Tarawa atoll in the Gilbert Islands and suffer heavy fire from Japanese shore guns and machine guns.
1944 Birth of Anthea Stewart in Zimbabwe; field hockey coach/player (Olympic-1980).
1945 Death of Francis William Aston, British chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1877)
1945 Nuremberg Trials: Trials against 24 Nazi war criminals start at the Nuremberg Palace of Justice.
1945 The first war crimes trial opens at Nuremberg, with 22 defendants.
1946 Birth of Duane Allman; rocker (Allman Brothers – “Jessica”, “Ramblin’ Man”).
1947 At Westminster Abbey in London, England, Princess Elizabeth marries Philip Mountbatten, former prince of Greece and Denmark.
1947 Birth of Joe Walsh in Wichita, Kansas, USA; guitarist/rocker (Eagles – “Take it Easy”).
1947 The Princess Elizabeth marries Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten at Westminster Abbey in London.
1948 Birth of John R. Bolton, U.S. Ambassador to the UN
1949 Birth of Juha Mieto in Finland; 15km skier (Olympic-silver-1980).
1949 In Kochi, Japan, a hot meteoritic stone enters a house through a window.
1950 Death of Francesco Cilea, Italian composer (b. 1866)
1951 Birth of David Walters, Governor of Oklahoma
1952 Sl�nsk� trials – a series of Stalinist and anti-Semitic show trials in Czechoslovakia.
1953 Scott Crossfield in Douglas Skyrocket, first to break Mach 2 (1300mph).
1954 Birth of Steve Dahl in California, USA; Chicago’s anti-disco DJ (WLS-FM).
1955 Bo Diddley becomes the first African American performer to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show. Apparently Sullivan was infuriated when Diddley sang his self-titled song instead of Tennessee Ernie Ford’s hit, “Sixteen Tons”.
1955 RCA offers a $35,000 contract for Elvis Presley.
1956 Birth of Mark Gastineau; NFL end (New York Jets, Pro Bowl 1981-85).
1957 Birth of Margaret Spellings, U.S. Secretary of Education
1957 Death of Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Russian-Lithuanian artist (d. 1875)
1959 Birth of James P. McGovern, U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts
1959 United Nations adopts the declaration of children’s rights.
1960 Death of Chris Whitley, American musician (d. 2005)
1961 Birth of Dave Watson, English footballer
1962 Birth of Steve Alexander; rocker (Brother Beyond – “Can You Keep a Secret”).
1962 Cuban Missile Crisis ends: In response to the Soviet Union’s agreeing to remove its missiles from Cuba, U.S. President John F. Kennedy ends the quarantine of the Caribbean nation.
1962 Jasper McLevy, socialist mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut, dies.
1962 US lifts blockade of Cuba.
1963 Birth of Timothy Gowers, British mathematician
1965 Birth of Mike D [Diamond]; rocker (Beastie Boys – “You Gotta Fight”).
1966 Birth of Kevin Gilbert, American musician (d. 1996)
1966 Cabaret opens at the Imperial Theatre, New York.
1966 Dallas Cowboys sack Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterbacks an NFL record 12 times.
1967 At 11 AM, Census Clock at US Department of Commerce ticks past 200 million.
1968 Vietnam War: Eleven men comprising a Long Range Patrol team from F Company, 58th Infantry, 101st Airborne are surrounded and nearly wiped out by North Vietnamese army regulars from the 4th and 5th Regiment. The seven wounded survivors are rescued after several hours by an impromptu force made of other men from their unit.
1969 In Southern West Virginia, a magnitude 4.5 earthquake occurs. This is the largest known historical earthquake in West Virginia.
1969 Pele scores his 1,000th soccer goal.
1969 Vietnam War: The Cleveland Plain Dealer publishes explicit photographs of dead villagers from the My Lai massacre in Vietnam.
1970 Birth of Matt Blunt, Governor of Missouri
1971 Birth of Joey Galloway, American football wide receiver
1973 Death of Allan Sherman, American comedian (b. 1924)
1974 The United States Department of Justice files its final anti-trust suit against AT&T. This suit later leads to the break up of AT&T and its Bell System.
1974 The United States Department of Justice files its final anti-trust suit against AT&T, which leads to the break up of AT&T and its Bell System.
1975 Birth of Dierks Bentley, American singer
1975 Death of Francisco Franco, Head of State of Spain (1936-1975) (b. 1892)
1975 General Francisco Franco, Spain’s dictator, dies in Madrid at age 82.
1976 Birth of Dominique Dawes, American gymnast
1977 Egyptian President Anwar Sadat becomes first Arab leader to address Israeli Knesset.
1977 Walter Payton (Chicago Bears) rushes for NFL-record 275 yards.
1978 Death of Vasilisk Gnedov, Russian poet (b. 1890)
1979 About 1,500 Terrorists revolt in Saudi Arabia at the site of the Kaaba in Mecca during the pilgramage and take about 6000 hostages in the Kaaba. The Saudi government received help from French special forces to put down the uprising.
1980 Billy Martin named American League Manager of the Year (Oakland Athletics).
1980 Death of John McEwen, eighteenth Prime Minister of Australia (born 1900).
1980 The Gang of Four trial begins in China.
1981 Anatoly Karpov, USSR, retains world chess championship.
1981 Birth of Kimberley Walsh; British singer (Girls Aloud).
1982 Andy Kaufman was forever voted off of Saturday Night Live by a live phone poll.
1982 University of California, Berkeley executes “The Play” in a college football game against Stanford. Completing a wacky 57-yard kickoff return that includes five laterals, Kevin Moen runs through Stanford band members who had prematurely come onto the field. His touchdown stands and California wins 25-20.
1983 Cleveland Browns shutout New England Patriots 30-0.
1983 In the U.S., an estimated 100 million people watch the controversial made-for-television movie The Day After, depicting a nuclear war and its effects on the United States.
1983 New York Giants’ Butch Woolfolk ties NFL record of 43 attempts rushing.
1984 SETI is founded.
1984 SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) is founded.
1985 Bill Scott, cartoon voice (Mr Peabody, Bullwinkle), dies at age 65.
1985 New York Yankees’ Don Mattingly named American League Most Valuable Player.
1986 United Nations’s World Health Organization announces first global effort to combat AIDS.
1989 Birth of Cody Linley, American actor.
1989 In Sichuan Province, China, a magnitude 5.2 earthquake occurs. Four people killed, 161 injured and at least 1,000 homes destroyed.
1989 In southern Iran, a magnitude 5.7 earthquake occurs.
1989 The number of potesters assembled in Prague, Czechoslovakia swells to an estimated half-million.
1989 Velvet Revolution: The number of protestors assembled in Prague, Czechoslovakia swells from 200,000 the day before to an estimated half-million.
1990 UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher fails to defeat Michael Heseltine’s bid for party leadership.
1990 US 68th manned space mission STS 38 (Atlantis 7) returns from space.
1992 In England, a fire breaks out in the Private Chapel room of Windsor Castle, rages for 15 hours, and seriously damages the northwest side of the building.
1992 In England, a fire breaks out in the Private Chapel room of Windsor Castle, rages for 15 hours, and seriously damages the northwest side of the building (an investigation found that the fire was ignited after a spotlight came into contact with a curtain over an extended period).
1993 An Avioimpex Yak 42D crashes into Mount Trojani near Ohrid, Macedonia. The aircraft was on a flight from Geneva, Switzerland to Skopje, but had been diverted to Ohrid due to poor weather conditions at the Skopje airport. All eight crew members and 115 of the 116 passengers are killed.
1993 Savings and Loan scandal: The United States Senate Ethics Committee issues a stern censure of California senator Alan Cranston for his “dealings” with savings-and-loan executive Charles Keating.
1994 Death of John Lucarotti, TV writer (born 1926).
1994 The Angolan government and UNITA rebels sign the Lusaka Protocol.
1994 The Angolan government and UNITA rebels sign the Lusaka Protocol in Zambia, ending 19 years of civil war (in 1995 localized fighting resumed).
1995 Sergei Grinkov, Soviet ice skater (Olympic Gold 1988, 1994) dies (heart attack) at age 28.
1998 A court in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan declares accused terrorist Osama bin Laden “a man without a sin” in regard to the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
1998 A court in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan declares accused terrorist Osama bin Laden “a man without a sin” in regard to the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
1998 Death of Galina Starovoitova, Russian politician (b. 1946)
1998 Galina Starovoitova, Russian legislator and democracy advocate, is assassinated in St. Petersburg, Russia.
1998 The first module of the International Space Station, Zarya, is launched.
1998 The first module of the International Space Station, Zarya, was launched.
1999 The People’s Republic of China launches the first Shenzhou spacecraft.
2000 Death of Mike Muuss, American computer programmer (b. 1958)
2000 Intel introduces the Pentium 4 processor, at speeds of 1.4 and 1.5 GHz, with a 400 MHz system bus. It features NetBurst micro-architecture, and incorporates 42 million transistors. The processor adds 144 new Streaming SIMD Extensions 2 multimedia instructions.
2000 The Gateshead Millennium Bridge is lifted into place in one piece by the Asian Hercules II floating crane.
2001 In Washington, D.C., U.S. President George W. Bush dedicates the United States Department of Justice headquarters building as the Robert F. Kennedy Justice Building, honoring the late Robert F. Kennedy on what would have been his 76th birthday.
2003 After the November 15 bombings, a second day of the 2003 Istanbul Bombings occurs in Istanbul, Turkey, destroying the Turkish head office of HSBC Bank AS and the British consulate.
2003 Death of Robert Addie, British actor (born 1960).
2003 Entertainer Michael Jackson is arrested by police on charges of child molestation.
2003 Michael Jackson is arrested by police on charges of child molestation.
2003 Several bombs explode in Istanbul, Turkey, destroying the Turkish head office of HSBC and the British consulate.
2004 Death of David Grierson, Canadian radio host (b. 1955
2005 Death of Sheldon Gardner, American psychologist (b. 1934)
2005 The Washington Post rebukes journalist Bob Woodward over his conduct in the US Central Intelligence Agency leak probe.
2006 Death of Robert Altman, American film director (born 1925).
2006 Iran and Syria recognize the government of Iraq, restore diplomatic relations, and call for a peace conference.
2006 Lee High School bus crash kills four students in Huntsville, Alabama.
2007 Death of Ian Smith, Prime Minister of Rhodesia (born 1919).
2007 The UK’s HM Revenue and Customs admits that it has misplaced two computer discs which contain the records of child benefit claimants data, including bank details and National Insurance numbers, in the United Kingdom, leaving up to 7.25 million households susceptible to identity theft.
2008 An estimated 10-tonne object explodes in the atmosphere over Canadian provinces Alberta and Saskatchewan, landing south of Lone Rock, Saskatchewan. Within weeks, 130 stony meteorites (type H4), totalling 40 kg are recovered.
2008 Argentine Congress approves nationalizing the private pension system.
2008 Canada’s S&P/TSX composite index drops below 8,000 points for the first time in more than five years, closing at 7,724.80. The day’s drop of more than nine percent is the second-largest on record.
2008 Death of Boris Fyodorov, Russian economic reformer, at age 50.
2008 Launch party for the Altantis hotel in Dubai, 2500 people on the guest list.
2008 Oil prices drop to below US$50 a barrel, settling at US$49.62 a barrel, the lowest since May 23, 2005.
2009 CERN restarts the Large Hadron Collider particle accelerator in Geneva, Switzerland; they had shut it down on September 19, 2008.
2009 Death of Lino Lacedelli, Italian mountaineer (born 1925). | <urn:uuid:5d9e114d-6871-4c0b-b87c-078b49e5dcc2> | CC-MAIN-2016-30 | http://www.k-talk.com/index.php/this-day-in-history-nov-21/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-30/segments/1469257824217.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20160723071024-00032-ip-10-185-27-174.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.890222 | 5,004 | 2.984375 | 3 |
Dr. Arbogast, co-scientific director and director of engineering for the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at CHOP and a research professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania, is part of the National Football League’s (NFL) $60 million commitment to improve player safety through encouraging advances in the engineering development of protective equipment. She is tackling concussions in the NFL from a unique vantage point — inside the players’ helmets.
Concussions can result from a blow or jolt to the head or body that causes the brain to deform within the skull. Football helmets were designed originally to prevent skull fractures and the most serious brain injuries, but not specifically to manage the rotational forces that are an important aspect of how concussions occur.
As a consultant for the NFL Players Association (NFLPA), Dr. Arbogast provides her expertise in traumatic brain injury prevention and the role of protective equipment in reducing injury risk. The NFL initiated an effort to catalyze transformations in helmet design, called the Engineering Roadmap, and reached out to Dr. Arbogast via the NFLPA to play a leadership role.
Dr. Arbogast’s scientific contributions to the project also will be a win for children. While the NFL’s game plan for precision protection is geared toward professional athletes, the results likely will spark new technologies for helmet designs and other protective equipment that will gravitate to youth sports.
Three years ago, as the NFLPA’s representative on the NFL’s Head, Neck and Spine Engineering Subcommittee, Dr. Arbogast helped to develop a helmet testing program using detailed statistical analysis to evaluate how helmets performed in a laboratory test designed to mimic impacts in the NFL. The committee completes testing annually and creates posters with these rankings that are posted in all NFL teams’ locker rooms so that equipment managers, trainers, and players can make informed choices about their protective equipment. The decision of which helmet to wear is ultimately up to the player who is permitted to use any model that is approved by the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment.
“I do think players are interested in their own safety,” Dr. Arbogast said. “Creating the posters has contributed to a depth of conversation between equipment managers, players, and the committee. We took engineering science backed by rigorous statistics to give players information.”
This effort gave rise to a concerted plan to encourage innovation in protective equipment. The NFL’s Engineering Roadmap launched in 2016. A main goal of the Roadmap’s research plan is to better understand the types of impacts that players are experiencing on the field: What is the magnitude of the impact, how much does the head rotate and how fast, from what direction are impacts coming from, and how do those factors vary depending on the position that they play? New insights about this “loading environment” will lay the groundwork for concepts such as designing position-specific helmets that could help keep players safer.
“An offensive lineman experiences different kinds of impacts than a wide receiver,” Dr. Arbogast said. “They have different pads. They might choose different shoes. Maybe they should have different helmets too?”
One way researchers are gathering this information is by using game-day videos to meticulously reconstruct concussions cases that have occurred in the NFL during the last two years. While this approach gives a view of what the helmet is doing, it does not show what happens to the head upon impact. Dr. Arbogast’s charge is to identify or develop a sensor package that would allow researchers to measure directly and accurately what the head is doing.
“We want to continuously gather data to get a comprehensive view of what the loading conditions are,” Dr. Arbogast said. “At the end of the game, we’d collect the sensor, download the data, and then analyze the accelerations and velocities that the players’ heads experience during the game … With this data, we would now know what types of impacts we need to ask the helmet to protect against. This would lead to the innovative helmet designs to meet these specifications.”
Dr. Arbogast and her colleagues first will assess the variety of sensors that are currently available in the marketplace for both commercial and research purposes. They also are speaking with athletic trainers, equipment managers, and players to find out which sensors would be accepted by players as a standard part of their equipment. Implementation of the sensor program requires approval from the NFLPA.
The Engineering Roadmap also creates opportunities for input and innovation from outside of the NFL. At a symposium held in November in Washington, D.C., the NFL issued the first HeadHealthTECH challenge, an open innovation and crowdsourcing program to solicit ideas for advances in protective equipment. Led by Barry Myers, MD, PhD, MBA, at Duke University, a scientific review panel will review the proposals and make recommendations for funding promising technologies. Dr. Arbogast spoke at the symposium, which was attended by researchers, biomechanics experts, engineering students, protective equipment and sensor manufacturers, and others. She applauded their pursuit of collaborative science.
“This body of work will be really fundamental in understanding, at a very detailed mechanical level, the scenarios in which injuries are happening,” Dr. Arbogast said. “And that, I think, will allow us to stimulate innovation in the right way, because you don’t just want to say to these innovators, ‘Oh go out and build a new helmet.’ With the Engineering Roadmap research plan, we’re going to have the data to really direct the development of these innovations in a way that’s evidence-based and real.”
As a leader in the field of child safety, Dr. Arbogast also wants to make certain that the voice of youth are heard during the Engineering Roadmap process, even though it centers on professional football athletes’ safety.
“I feel it’s my responsibility that, as we learn these new things, to say: What does this mean for kids?” Dr. Arbogast said. “I see this initiative as a way to ensure that other sports are played safer too. It is an opportunity to be part of team that could shape something that is very applied and that really affects the lives of kids.” | <urn:uuid:5e19fde0-9b50-4247-8cde-2fac078c6d98> | CC-MAIN-2019-04 | https://btob.research.chop.edu/research-first-line-of-defense-as-nfl-moves-to-improve-player-safety/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-04/segments/1547584415432.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20190123213748-20190123235748-00363.warc.gz | en | 0.958741 | 1,334 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Definition of scenical
a. - Of or pertaining to scenery; of the nature of scenery; theatrical. 2
The word "scenical" uses 8 letters: A C C E I L N S.
Direct anagrams of scenical:
Words formed by adding one letter before or after scenical (in bold), or to acceilns in any order:
t - canticles
All words formed from scenical by changing one letter
Browse words starting with scenical by next letter | <urn:uuid:10a3139d-b143-4375-b35d-511827dfa276> | CC-MAIN-2015-32 | http://www.morewords.com/word/scenical/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-32/segments/1438042988922.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20150728002308-00323-ip-10-236-191-2.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.854399 | 106 | 2.5625 | 3 |
(From Hart and Leininger's Oxford Companion to American Literature)
HAWTHORNE, NATHANIEL (1804-64) was born at Salem, Mass., of a prominent Puritan family, which had spelled the name Hathorne and included a judge at the Salem witchcraft trials, who figures as the accursed founder of The House of the Seven Gables. Nathaniel's father, a sea captain, died of yellow fever in Dutch Guiana in 1808, leaving his widow to mourn him during a long life of eccentric seclusion, and this influenced her son's somber and solitary attitude. During his childhood, he read extensively in the poets and romancers, and spent an impressionable year at a remote Maine lake, after which he attended Bowdoin College, graduating in 1825. Returning to Salem, he began to write historical sketches and allegorical tales, dealing with moral conflicts in colonial New England.
In 1828 he published anonymously, at his own expense, an immature novel, *Fanshawe, whose hero resembles the author at this period. The work went practically unnoticed, but interested S. C. Goodrich, who then published many of Hawthorne's stories in *The Token. These were reprinted in *Twice-Told Tales (1837, enlarged 1842) and included *"The Maypole of Merrymount," *"Endicott and the Red Cross," *"The Minister's Black Veil," *"Mr. Higginbotham's Catastrophe," *"Dr. Heidegger's Experiment," *"The Grey Champion," *"The Ambitious Guest," and the "Legends of the Province House," containing *"Lady Eleanor's Mantle" and *"Howe's Masquerade." These tales, which the author said had "the pale tint of flowers that blossomed in too retired a shade," deal with the themes of guilt and secrecy, and intellectual and moral pride, and show Hawthorne's constant preoccupation with the effects of Puritanism in New England. In imaginative, allegorical fashion, he depicts the dramatic results of a Puritanism that was at the roots of the culture he knew, recognizing its decadence in his own time.
In 1836 he emerged from the seclusion at Salem to begin a career of hack writing and editing. For Goodrich he edited the monthly American Magazine of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge (1836), and later compiled the popular Peter Parley's Universal History (1837), as well as writing such books for children as Grandfather's Chair (1841), Famous Old People (1841), Liberty Tree (1841), and Biographical Stories for Children (1842). Meanwhile he had also been employed in the Boston Custom House (1839-41), and now spent six or seven months at Brook Farm, where his sensitiveness and solitary habits, as well as his lack of enthusiasm for communal living, unfitted him for fruitful participation. He married Sophia Peabody, an ardent follower of the Concord school, but even this marriage, although it was a happy turning point in his life, did not bring Hawthorne to share the optimistic philosophy of Transcendentalism. Settling in Concord at the Old Manse, he continued his analysis of the Puritan mind in the tales that were collected in *Mosses from an Old Manse (1846), including *"Young Goodman Brown," *"The Celestial Rairoad"; *"Rappacini's Daughter," *"The Artist of the Beautiful," *"The Birthmark," and *"Roger Malvin's Burial."
As Surveyor of the Port of Salem (1846-49), he wrote little, but satirically observed his associates, as he described in the introduction to *The Scarlet Letter (1850). This novel, written after Hawthorne's dismissal from his post owing to a change of administrations, proved to be his greatest work, and indeed summed up in classic terms the Puritan dilemma that had so long occupied his imagination. Other books of this period include *The House of the Seven Gables (1851), another great romance, concerned with the decadence of Puritanism; *The Blithedale Romance (1852), in which he turned to the contemporary scene and his Brook Farm experiences; *The Snow-Image and Other Twice-Told Tales (1851), containing *"The Snow-Image," *"The Great Stone Face," and *"Ethan Brand"; and *A Wonder-Book (1852) and *Tanglewood Tales (1853), stories for children.
During these years, he lived for a time in the Berkshires, where he was friendly with his admirer, Melville. After he rote a campaign biography of his college friend Franklin Pierce (1852) he was rewarded with a consulship at Liverpool. His departure for Europe (1853) marks another turning point in his life. The ensuing years abroad were filled with sightseeing and keeping a journal, and, although his new cultural acquirements had little influence on his writing, they throw significant light on his character of mind. After his consular term (1853-57), he spent two years in Italy, returning to settle again in Concord (1860). *Our Old Home (1863), shrewd essays on his observations in England, and *The Marble Faun (1860), a romance set in Italy, were results of his European residence.
His last years, during which he continued to contribute to the Atlantic Monthly, were marked by declining creative powers. His attempts to write a romance based on the themes of an elixir of life and an American claimant to an English estate resulted only in four posthumous fragments: *Septimius Felton (1872); *The Dolliver Romance (1876); *Dr. Grimshawe's Secret (1883) and The Ancestral Footstep (1883). Other posthumous publications include Passages from the American Notebooks (1868), Passages from the English Notebooks (1870) and Passages from the French and Italian Notebooks (1871), all edited by his wife. The English Notebooks were newly edited from original manuscripts (1942) by Randall Stewart.
Hawthorne had long been recognized as a classic interpreter of the spiritual history of New England, and in many of his short works , as well as in The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables, he wrote masterpieces of romantic fiction. Like Poe, but with an emphasis on moral significance, he was a leader in the development of the short story as a distinctive American genre. The philosophic attitude implicit in his writing is generally pessimistic, growing out of the Puritan background, although his use of the supernatural has an aesthetic rather than a religious foundation, for he presented New England's early Puritanism and its decay in terms of romantic fiction. Emphasis on allegory and symbolism causes his characters to be recalled as the embodiment of psychological traits or moral concepts more than as living figures.
Fanshawe, romance by Hawthorne, published anonymously in 1828. It was probably written during the author's college years, and the background resembles Bowdoin.
Ellen Langton comes to live with a friend of her father, Dr. Melmouth, orthodox minister and head of Harley College. Her principal suitors are Edward Walcott, a normal young gentleman, and Fanshawe, a scholarly ascetic who now begins to lead a more worldly life, though he realizes that he can never have much in common with Ellen. The three are walking one day in the woods when an enemy of Ellen's father attempts to kidnap her. Fanshawe rescues her, and the kidnapper is killed in a fall from a precipice. Mr. Langton arrives, but Fanshawe refuses his offer of money. When Ellen offers to marry him, Fanshawe refuses because of their incompatibility. He goes away, devotes himself to his studies, and soon dies. A few years later, Ellen and Edward marry.
The Token, (1827-42), Boston gift book, published by S. G. Goodrich. It was the first medium to give Hawthorne's work wide circulation, and the Twice-Told Tales were mostly reprinted from The Token. Among other prose contributors were Timothy Flint, Lydia Child, Edward Everett, Longfellow, James Hall, Sarah J. Hale, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. lThe level of its poetry is indicated by the prominent representation of Goodrich and Lydia Huntley Sigourney, although Holmes, Longfellow and Lowell contributed occasionally. N. P. Willis edited the 1829 issue.
Twice-Told Tales, 39 stories by Hawthorne, printed in The Token, collected (1837) and enlarged (1842). Among the tales, many of them marked by the author's interest in the supernatural, are sketches of New England history, like *"The Grey Champion," *"Endicott and the Red Cross," *"The Maypole of Merrymount," and the four "Legends of the Province House," which include *"Howe's Masquerade" and *"Lady Eleanor's Mantle"; stories of incident, like *"Mr. Higginbotham's Catastrophe." and moral allegories, like *"The Minister's Black Veil," *"Dr. Heidegger's Experiment," and *"The Ambitious Guest."
The Maypole of Merrymount, allegorical tale by Hawthorne, publishedd in 1836 and collected in Twice-Told Tales (1837). It is based on historical accounts of the Anglican settlement at *Merry Mount.
Among the revelers about the Maypole at Merrymount are a handsome youth and a beautiful maiden, who, at the height of the festivities, are married by a jolly Anglican priest. At this moment the proceedings are interrupted by a raid of Endecott and his Puritan followers. The latter are dissuaded from punishing the pair when each pleads for the other, and they join the Puritan colony, becoming sober and respectable citizens.
Endicott and the Red Cross, story by Hawthorne, published in Twice-Told Tales (1837). It is a brief account of the rebellious gesture of the Puritan governor John Endecott, who, when Charles I decided to send an Anglican governor to [New] England, tore the Red Cross from the British ensign, because he wished to demonstrate the dislike of the Massachusetts Bay colonists for "the idolatrous forms of English episcopacy." A passage in the tale describes the punishment of an adulteress, later the theme of The Scarlet Letter.
The Minister's Black Veil, parable by Hawthorne, published in The Token (1836) and in Twice-Told Tales (1837).
The Rev. Mr. Hooper, a New England Puritan minister, appears one sunday with his face covered by a black veil. Refusing to explain his action to his terrified congregation, or to his fiancée, who leaves him, he goes through life concealing his face, saying only that the veil is a symbol of the curtain that hides every man's heart and makes him a stranger even to his friend, his lover, and his God.
Mr. Higginbotham's Catastrophe, story by Hawthorne, published in The Token (1934) and in Twice-Told Tales (1837).
Dominicus Pike, an itinerant tobacco peddler, is informed of the hanging of wealthy old Mr. Higginbotham of Kimballton. He spreads the rumor as he travels, only to have it denied by persons who have seen the old man since his supposed death. Hearing again of the hanging, and being contradicted by Higginbotham's niece, he goes to Kimballton and arrives just in time to save her uncle from actual murder. It is revealed that the murder was planned by three men, two of whom successively lost courage and fled, spreading the rumor. Dominicus is rewarded by becoming Higginbotham's heir, as well as marrying the niece.
Dr. Heidegger's Experiment, allegorical tale by Hawthorne, published in Twice-Told Tales (1837).
The doctor, an aged physician and scientist, invites four of his vernerable, eccentric acquaintances to take part in a test of some water from the Fountain of Youth. Medbourne, an impoverished former merchant, Gascoigne, a ruined politician, Colonel Killigrew, a goaty old wastrel, and the Widow Wycherly, a faded beauty, see the doctor restore a dried rose by applying the water, and are eager to try it. Dr. Heidegger declares he merely wishes to see the results, and does not drink, but serves his guests full glasses. They become increasingly younger until they reach gay and reckless youth, when the three then vie for the favors of the Widow. They accident tally upset the table, and spill the water. Then the doctor notices that his rose has faded again, and gradually his guests resume their aged appearance. He says that he has learned from the experiment not to desire the delirium of youth, but his frieds resolve to make a pilgrimage to Florida in search of the Fountain.
The Grey Champion, historical sketch by Hawthorne, published in Twice-Told Tales (1837). It is concerned with the appearance of the regicide Goffe in Boston, at a time when rebellion threatened the colony. In his intimidation of Andros, Goffe is presented as "the grey champion" of the spirits of independence and colonial rights.
Goffe, William (c. 1605-79), English Puritan, signer of the death warrant of Charles I. During the Restoration he fled to America, where he lived mainly in seclusion at Hadley, Mass. He is said to have been instrumental in repelling an Indian attack during King Philip's War. He figures in Cooper's The Wept of Wish-ton-Wish, Barker's Superstition, Paulding's The Puritan and His Daughter, Hawthorne's "The Grey Champion," McHenry's The Spectre of the Forest, and Delia Bacon's Tales of the Puritans, as well as in Scott's Peveril of the Peak. A factual account of Goffe is contained in Ezra Stiles's History of the Judges of Charles I (1794). His father-in-law and fellow regicide, Edward Whalley, accompanied Goffe to America.The Ambitious Guest, allegorical tale by Hawthorne, published in The Token (1835) and in Twice-Told Tales (1837).
A solitary youth stops for the night at a lonely cottage in the Notch of the White Mountains in New Hampshire. He tells of his hopes of fame and fortune, and each member of his host's family is moved to divulge his intimate desires. The head of the house would like "to be called Squire, and sent to General Court for a term or two"; the youngest child would like to go at once on an excursion to "take a drink out of the basin of the Flume"; his older sister hardly conceals her growing interest in the young stranger, and even the grandmother speaks of her wish to look well in her coffin. While they talk, a great landslide begins, which buries the whole company.
Lady Eleanor's Mantle, allegorical tale by Hawthorne, published in 1838 and reprinted in Twice-Told Tales (1842).
Lady Eleanore Rochcliffe comes to live at the Boston Province House, in the family of her guardian, Colonel Shute. Her haughty beauty distracts Jervase Helwyse, whose love she scorns, and affects all who see her. The curious mantle she wears is said to have supernatural powers and to have some influence in the epidemic of smallpox that soon breaks out, striking first the aristocratic circle of Lady Eleanore, and then the common people she despises. At last she herself is stricken, and as she is dying confesses, "I wrapped myself in Pride as in a Mantle, and scorned the sympathies of nature; and therefore has nature made this wretched body the medium of a dreadful sympathy." Helwyne takes her mantle, which is burned by a mob, an the pestilence begins to subside.
Howe's Masquerade, story by Hawthorne, published in Twice-Told Tales (1842).
At the Boston tavern, the Old Province House, once headquarters of the royal governors, the proprietor tells a visitor this legend. When Governor Howe gave an entertainment, the night before the patriots' victory in the siege of Boston, the guests were costumed as figures of history and fiction, with comic individuals in rags representing Washington and his generals. Late in the evening, a funeral march was heard, and a solemn procession of ancient figures passed through the ballroom. Colonel Joliffe, an aged patriot detained during the siege, was present with his granddaughter, and identified the apparitions as early Puritan governors, "summoned to form the funeral procession of royal authority in New England." According to legend, the procession reappears on each anniversary of the occasion.
Mosses from an Old Manse, tales and sketches written by Hawthorne during his residence (1842-46) at the Old Manse in Concord. They were published in two volumes (1846), with an introductory essay, "The Old Manse," followed by 25 short stories and historical sketches. Among them are historical pieces, like *"Roger Malvin's Burial"; satirical allegories, like *"The Celestial Railroad"; and allegorical tales of the supernatural, like *"Young Goodman Brown," *"Rappacini's Daughter," *"The Birthmark," and *"The Artist of the Beautiful."
Young Goodman Brown, allegorical tale by Hawthorne, published in The New England Magazine (1835) and in Mosses from an Old Manse (1846).
Goodman Brown, a Puritan of early Salem, leaves his young wife Faith, who pleads with him to to go, to attend a witches' sabbath in the woods. Among the congregation are many prominent people of the village and church. At the climax of the ceremonies, he and a young woman are about to be confirmed into the group, but he finds she is Faith, and cries to her to "look up to heaven, and resist the wicked one." Immediately he is alone in the forest, and all the fearful, flaming spectacle has disappeared. He returns to his home, but lives a dismal, gloomy life, dommed to skeptical doubt of all about him, and never able to believe in goodness or piety.
The Celestial Railroad, allegorical tale by Hawthorne, published in 1843 and collected in Mosses from an Old Manse (1846).
The narrator travels the way of Christian in Pilgrim's Progress, from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City. Instead of going afoot, he finds that modern achievement has made possible an easy, convenient Celestial Railroad, on which he rides in the company of affable, bluff Mr. Smooth-it-away, who scoffs at the difficult path of old-fashioned pilgrims. The ancient landmarks and institutions are all changed, and on arriving at the end of the line, the passengers expect to cross the river by steam ferryboat. But here Mr. Smooth-it-away deserts them, laughing and showing his identity by breathing smoke and flame. About to drown, the narrator suddenly awakens to "thank Heaven it was a Dream!"
Rappacini's Daughter, allegorical tale by Hawthorne, published in 1844 anbd reprinted in Mosses from an Old Manse (1846).
Giovanni Guaconti comes to study at the University of Padua and lodges next door to the house of Giacomo Rappacini, a doctor. In the latter's garden he sees and falls in love with Rappacini's daughter Beatrice, whose beauty strangely resembles that of her father's poisonous flowers. Pietro Baglioni, a friendly professor, warns Giovanni that Rappacini's love of science has led him beyond moral or humane considerations, and that the girls nature seems a product of his sinister art, but the yhoung man is undeterred. Under the scientific regard of her father, the affection of the two grows deeper, and Giovanni himself becomes tainted by the poisonous breath of the garden. Then he gives Beatrice a potion that Baglioni has supplied him as an antidote to all poisons. She drinks it, but "as poison had been life, so the powerful antidote was death; and thus the poor victim of man's ingenuity and of thwarted nature . . . perished there, at the feet of her father and Giovanni."
The Artist of the Beautiful, allegorical tale by Hawthorne, published in the Democratic Review (1844) and in Mosses from an Old Manse (1846).
Owen Warland, a youthful watchmaker, obsessed with a desire to create something ideally beautiful, loves Annie Hovenden, daughter of his former master. She is unsympathetic towards his aspirations and his delicate nature, and Peter Hovenden and the blacksmith, Robert Danforth, both rough and unimaginative, oppress Owen and destroy his inspiration. Annie marries Danforth, and for a time Owen forsakes his dreams for grosser practical activities, but then devotes himself to creating a mechanical butterfly, fragile, lovely, and endowed with living qualities. Whan he exhibits his work to Annie and her family, Danforth and Hovenden seem to oppress the insect as they do its creator, while Annie prefers to admire her child. The child, who resembles his grandfather, rudely crushes the butterfly, but Owen looks on calmly; "he had caught a far other butterfly than this."
The Birthmark, allegorical tale by Hawthorne, published in Mosses from an Old Manse (1846).
Aylmer, a scientist, marries Georgiana, a beautiful woman whose single physical flaw is a tiny crimson birthmark on her left cheek, resembling a hand. The mark repels Aylmer, who determines to use his scientific knowledge to remove it. Assisted by his rude, earthly servant, Aminadab, he unsuccessfully tries every known method, finally using a powerful potion which, although it causes the birthmark to fade, causes her death also. Aminadab laughs, and the author concludes:
Thus ever does the gross fatality of earth exult in its invariable triumph over the immortal essence which, in this dim sphere of half-development, demands the completeness of a higher state.
Roger Malvin's Burial, story by Hawthorne, published in The Token (1832) and in Mosses from an Old Manse (1846).
Two wounded survivors of a foray against Indians, led by John Lovewell, make their escape through the Maine woods. Roger Malvin, an old man mortally injured, urges his young companion, Reuben Bourne, to desert him, and seek safety. Reuben protests, but is finally persuaded and promises to send help. He makes his way home, but cannot bring himself to tell Dorcas Malvin of the circumstances in which he left her father. He claims to have buried him in the forest, is hailed as a hero, and soon married Dorcas. Their life is not happy, for his conscience disturbs him, and when their son Cyrus is 15, they leave the settlement to seek a new home in the wilderness. One evening Reuben accidentally shoots his son while hunting, and is horrified to discover the boy's body at the same spot where he left Malvin, years before. Dorcas discovers her son's death, and falls unconscious. The upper branch of an oak, where Reuben hung a bloody handkerchief as a signal, has withered and now crumbles and drops, while Reuben prays, feeling that at last his crime is expiated and the curse lifted.
The Scalet Letter, romance by Hawthorne, published in 1850. Based on a theme that appears in "Endicott and the Red Cross," this somber romance of conscience and the tragic consequences of concealed guilt is set in Puritan Boston during the mid-17th century. An introductory essay describes the author's experiences as an official of the Salem Custom House and his supposed discovery of a scarlet cloth letter and documents relating the story of Hester.
An aged English scholar sends his young wife, Hester Prynne, to establish their home in Boston. When he arrives two years later, he finds Hester on the pillory with her illegitimate child in her arms. She refuses to name her lover and is sentenced to wear a scarlet A, signifying Adulteress, as a token of her sin. The husband conceals his identity, assumes the name Roger Chillingworth, and in the guise of a doctor seeks to discover her paramour. Hester, a woman of strong independent nature, in her ostracism becomes sympathetic with other unfortunates, and her works of mercy gradually win her the respect of her neighbors. Chillingworth meanwhile discovers that the Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale, a revered, seemingly saintly young minister, is the father of Hester's beautiful, mischevious child, Pearl. Dimmesdale has struggled for years with his burden of hidden guilt, but, though he does secret penance, pride prevents him from confessing publicly, and he continues to be tortured by his conscience. Chillingworth's life is ruined by his preoccupation with his cruel search, and he becomes a morally degraded monomaniac. Hester wishes her lover to flee with her to Europe, but he refuses the plan as a temptation from the Evil One, and makes a public confession on the pillory in which Hester had once been placed. He dies there in her arms, a man broken by his concealed guilt, but Hester lives on, triumphant over her sin because she openly confessed it, to devote herself to ensuring a happy life in Europe for Pearl and helping others in misfortune.
The House of the Seven Gables, romance by Hawthorne, published in 1851. It is based on the tradition of a curse pronounced on the author's family when his great-grandfather was a judge in the Salem witchcraft trials.
In Salem stands the ancestral home of the Pyncheons, cursed by Wizard Maule when the first Colonel Pyncheon despoiled him of his wealth. In the mid-19th century, the house is owned by hypocritical Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon, whose studied benevolence makes him an honored citizen. He does not live in the dilapidated mansion, whose occupants are his poor cousin Hepzibah, reduced to operating a cent-shop; a country relative, Phoebe; a single lodger, the young daguerreotypist Holgrave, who falls in love with Phoebe; and Hepzibah's brother Clifford, ill and feeble-minded, just released from prison after a term of 30 years for the supposed murder of a rich uncle. Jaffrey, who had obtained Clifford's arrest, now harasses him in an attempt to find the missing deeds to their rich uncle's property, and threatens to have Clifford confined in an insane asylum. Hepzibah attempts to aid her brother and circumvent the judge, but the latter's sudden death frees them and makes them his heirs. Holgrave reveals that he is actually the last of the Maules, and that the judge, like the rich uncle, died by the curse on the house. Revealing the location of the missing deeds, he marries Phoebe, leaving the House of the Seven Gables, freed of its curse, to Hepzibah and Clifford.
The Snow-Image and Other Twice-Told Tales, 17 short stories by Hawthorne, published in 1851. The volume includes historical sketches, tales of the supernatural, and such allegorical stories as *"Ethan Brand," *"My Kinsman, Major Molyneux," and *"The Great Stone Face."
"The Snow-Image: A Childish Miracle" is an allegory in which Peony and Violet Lindsey, gay, fanciful children, build an image of snow, encouraged by their mother, who tells them it will be their snow-sister and playfellow. In their enthusiasm they are hardly surprised when the image comes to life as a beautiful child in a flimsy white dress, who plays with them in the garden. When the children's father, a matter-of-fact merchant, comes home, he disregards their remonstrances and takes the snow-child into the house, intending to clothe her, feed her, and take her to her own home. But the child vanishes, and only a pool of water remains before the stove. The author concludes that "should some phenomenon of nature or providence transcend" the system of men of Lindsey's stamp,, "They will not recognize it even if it come to pass under their very noses. What has been established as an element of good to one being may prove absolute mischief for another."
The Great Stone Face, allegorical tale by Hawthorne, published in The Snow-Image and Other Twice-Told Tales (1831). "Old Stony Phiz" is said to represent Webster.
In a mountain valley dominated by a towering rock formation that resembles a noble, majestic face lives the boy Ernest, who learns from his mother the legend that some day a great man bearing the features of the Face will visit the community. He eagerly awaits the coming of this man, but, though he grows to old age and sees Mr. Gathergold the banker, Old Blood-and-Thunder the general, and Old Stony Phiz the statesman, all reputed to resemble the face, his expectations are disappointed. He has meanwhile lived an honest, helpful life, communing with the spirit of the landmark, and has come to be honored and revered. A poet visits him, in whom again Erenst hopes to see the features of the image but fails. At an outdoor meeting where Ernest preaches, the poet sees that it is Ernest himself who resembles the Stone Face. The simple, venerable old man, unconscious of this, continues to await his hero.
Ethan Brand: A Chapter from an Abortive Romance, story by Hawthorne, published in The Snow-Image (1851).
Ethan Brand, formerly a lime-burner, has sought the Unpardonable Sin, and now returns to his New England home, announcing that he has found it in his own soul, in intellectual pride and in the separation of mind and heart. The townspeople do not understand him and consider him mad. He takes the place of his successor at the limekiln, and during the night lies down to perish in the furnace. When the other lime-burner returns in the morning, he finds the lime all burnt wnow-white, and on its surface a human skeleton within whose ribs is a piece of marble in the shape of a heart.
A Wonder-Book, tales for children adapted from Greek myths by Hawthorne, published in 1852. Tanglewood Tales (1853) is a similar collection.
Our Old Home, sketches by Hawthorne, published in 1863, describing his observations and experiences during his residence in England.
The Marble Faun, romance by Hawthorne, published in 1860. It was issued in England as Transformation.
Kenyon, an American sculptor, Hilda, a New England girl, and the mysterious Miriam are friends among the art students in Rome. They become acquainted with Donatello, Count of Monte Beni, a handsome Italian who resembles the Faun of Praxiteles, not only physically, but laso in his mingling of human and animal qualities, his amoral attitude, and his simple enjoyment of the life of the senses. The dark, passionate Miriam is loved by Donatello, but she is haunted by an unrevealed sin and by the persecution of a mysteriuos man who dogs her footsteps after an accidental meeting in the Catacombs. Donatello is enraged by this man, and after an encouraging lance from Miriam flings him to his death from the Tarpeian Rock. Thereafter they are linked by their mutual guilt, which they keep secret. Donatello becoems brooding and conscience-stricken, and, though humanized by his suffering, is a broken spirit when he finally gives himself up to justice. Hilda, who saw the crime committed, is also involved in the sin until she forsakes Puritan tradition and pours out her secret at a church confessional. The unhappy Miriam disappears into the shadowy world from which she came, and Hilda and Kenyon are married.
Septimius Felton; or, The Elixir of Life, unfinished romance by Hawthorne, posthumously published in 1872.
During the Revolutionary War, Septimius Felton, a scholar who seeks a method of attaining earthly immortality, kills a British officer who has insulted his fiancée, Rose Garfield. On the hill top where he has buried the officer, he meets Sybil Dacy, a strange, unearthly creature, who is looking for a flower she expects to grow from the grave, and they become close friends. Before he died, the officer gave Septimius an old manuscript, containing the formula for an elixir of life, requiring the juice of the flower Sybil seeks. A Dr. Portsoaken, her uncle, vistis Septimius and reveals that the scholar my be the heir to a British estate. Robert Hagburn, an American soldier and friend of Septimius, becomes engaged to Rose, after it is discovered that she is the scholar's half-sister. At the wedding of Robert and Rose, Sybil discloses to Septimius, who is about to drink the potion he has finally concocted, that the officer he killed was her lover, and that she has intended to seek revenge, but now loves Septimius. She drinks part of the potion, throws away the rest, and dies. Septimius disappears, and is believed to have gone to claim his English estate.
The Dolliver Romance, unfinished novel by Hawthorne, posthumously published in the Atlantic Monthly (1864, 1871) and in book form in 1876. The author's last work, it was an attempt to develop the theme of the elixir of life also essayed in Septimius Felton.
In a New England town lives an aged apothecary, with the sole remaining member of his family, his great-granddaughter Pansie. One day he tries a cordial presented to him by a stranger seven years before, and when the potion rejuvenates him he takes further doses. Colonel Dabney, an impetuous, sensual old man, comes to demand the cordial, which he says is rightfully his. When he threatens the apothecary with a pistol, he is given the drink. Swallowing a large amount of it, he rises to his feet, shrieks, and falls dead. The apothecary sees that for a moment the colonel's face becomes that of a young man, but then it is aged and withered in death. An inquest pronounces the death to have occurred "by the visitation of God."
Dr. Grimshawe's Secret, romance by Hawthorne, posthumously edited from an unfinished manuscript by his son Julian and published in 1883.
In a New England town in the early 19th century lives Dr. Grimshawe, an eccentric recluse, and two orphans, Ned and Elsie. The children are involved in a secret related to an estate in England, whence the doctor originally came. This estate has lacked a direct heir since the rign of Charles I, when the incumbent disappeared, leaving a bloody footprint on the threshold. After their guardian's death, the children are separated, but meet again years later in England. Ned, now Edward Redclyffe, is injured while investigating the estate and is befriended by Colcord, his boyhood tutor. Lord Braithwaite, the estate's present owner, invites Edward to live at the Hall, and recognizes him as the Sir Edward Redclyffe of the time of the bloody footprint. When the old man dies, colcord produces a locket that proves Edward to be the heir. | <urn:uuid:b0316854-4bc2-4f38-b692-a9f1488866d8> | CC-MAIN-2017-13 | http://vanityfea.blogspot.com/2017/01/nathaniel-hawthorne.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-13/segments/1490218186608.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20170322212946-00395-ip-10-233-31-227.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969592 | 7,592 | 2.96875 | 3 |
Keeping the heart fit keeps the brain fit
Researchers have found that adults who are fitter have more brain activity and score better on memory tests.
The desire to maintain brain health as we age is universal in nature. Scientists have come to the realization that it's helpful to stay fit to maintain a healthy brain.
Older adults who are fitter have increased brain activity while they are learning. In fact elderly adults with good cardiorespiratory fitness did better n memory tests than those with poor cardiorespiratory fitness.
Older adults who maintain cardiac fitness may also be keeping their brains in shape
What this means is that older adults who maintain cardiac fitness may also be keeping their brains in shape. This is believed to be the first study of its kind which has shown that older people who had good cardiorespiratory fitness did better on tasks dealing with memory than those with poor cardiorespiratory fitness. This is very significant in view of the fact that problems remembering new information is one of the most common complaints seen with aging. Furthermore one of the primary impairments seen with Alzheimer’s disease is lower memory performance.
In this study cardiorespiratory fitness was evaluated via measuring the ratio of inhaled and exhaled oxygen and carbon dioxide as participants walked and jogged on a treadmill. MRI scans were also done on these people to collect images of their brain as they learned and remembered names which were associated with pictures of faces which they were not familiar with.
Older adults who were in really good shape displayed better memory performance and increased brain activity
It was noted that in comparison to younger adults the older adults found it more difficult to learn and remember the correct name which was associated with each face. Age differences in brain activation were also noted. However the extent to which elderly adults had these age associated changes in memory performance and brain activity was observed to be largely dependent on their level of fitness. Older adults who were in really good shape displayed better memory performance and increased brain activity patterns in comparison to their peers who were not well fit.
The highly fit elderly people showed increased brain activation in regions of the brain that show typical age associated decline. This suggests that fitness may very well contribute to maintenance of the brain. It was also interesting to note that older adults with higher levels of fitness displayed greater activation than younger adults in some regions of the brain. This finding suggests that fitness may also play a compensatory role in age associated decline of memory and the brain.
There is a positive association between aerobic fitness and memory in older adults
This study has been published in the journal Cortex. Researchers have found that there is a positive association between aerobic fitness and memory in older adults. Fitness has also been found to be associated with increased brain activity and reductions in age differences in some regions of the brain. Clearly cardiorespiratory fitness may actually contribute to neuroplasticity which is associated with healthier brain functioning.
Many people think that psychiatrists will assist them in achieving and maintaining brain health. However this consistently turns out not to be true with the Citizens Commission on Human Rights offering good insights into the destructive nature of psychiatry. In consideration that psychiatrists have created an abusive discipline which feeds off of the dependency created by the poisonous arsenal of psychiatric drugs and other abusive interventions it would be wise to try to stay away from psychiatrists while adhering to a healthy active lifestyle in the best interests of the health of your brain. | <urn:uuid:7968ab4b-0a12-409f-b32c-b2d24cea46a7> | CC-MAIN-2018-09 | https://www.emaxhealth.com/11402/keeping-heart-fit-keeps-brain-fit | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-09/segments/1518891813602.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20180221083833-20180221103833-00597.warc.gz | en | 0.980792 | 694 | 2.921875 | 3 |
In this paper I argue that W. E. B. Du Bois’s conception of the black subject undergoes a radical transformation during the 1920s. During this decade Du Bois no longer attempts the impossible task of being “A Negro and an American” but instead crafts a transnational subject position from which to face racial injustice. We see the evolution of this critique throughout the decade of the 1920s, and the particular material differentiation in Du Bois’s writings during this period: Darkwater (1920), “The Negro Mind Reaches Out” (1925), and Dark Princess (1928). Informed by Du Bois’s aesthetic writings and John Bryant’s concept of the fluid text, I examine the fluidity of the subject during this decade and consider both the contrasts between these texts and the actual textual material as objects of interpretation. | <urn:uuid:99afbee8-af55-465e-b583-082d7b44ca98> | CC-MAIN-2019-04 | http://www.mwpweb.eu/InesValdez/news_987.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-04/segments/1547583668324.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20190119135934-20190119161934-00176.warc.gz | en | 0.904446 | 181 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Constitution of Tajikistan
|This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
The Constitution of Tajikistan adopted on 6 November 1994 and amended by referendum on 26 September 1999 and 22 June 2003 is the supreme law of the Republic of Tajikistan (Article 10). Amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Tajikistan in 1999 established a new bicameral parliament (Article 48) and extended the President's term of office from five to seven years (Article 65). The Constitution declares ideological and political pluralism, ensuring human rights and social-legal guarantees.
The Republic of Tajikistan is a sovereign, democratic, constitutional, secular, and unitary state.
The state language of Tajikistan is the Tajik language. The Russian language is a language for inter-ethnic communication. All national and ethnic groups residing on the territory of the republic may freely use their native language.
The capital of Tajikistan is the city of Dushanbe.
The life, the honor, the dignity, and other natural human rights are inviolable. Human rights and freedoms are recognized, observed, and protected by the state.
Public life in Tajikistan develops on the basis of political and ideological pluralism. No single ideology, including a religious ideology, may be adopted as the ideology of the state.
The state power is divided into legislative, executive, and judicial branches.
Tajikistan implements a peace-loving policy, respects the sovereignty and independence of other states, determines its external policy on the basis of international norms. War propaganda is prohibited.
The economy of Tajikistan is based on different forms of ownership. The state guarantees freedom of economic and entrepreneurial activity, equality of rights, and legal protection of all forms of ownership, including private property.
The land, the mineral resources, the water, the air space, the animal and plant kingdom, and other natural resources are the exclusive property of the state, and the state guarantees their efficient use in the interest of the people.
- Chapter 2 (Articles 14-47) deals with human rights, freedoms, and basic duties of citizens and residents
- Chapter 3 (Articles 48-63) is devoted to the legislative branch (Majlisi Oli). According to the 1999 Constitution, Majlisi Oli (Supreme Assembly) consists of two chambers: Majlisi milli (National Assembly, the upper chamber) and Majlisi namoyandagon (Assembly of Representatives, the lower chamber).
- Chapter 4 (Articles 64-72) is devoted to the President. According to the 1999 Constitution, the President is elected for a term of 7 years in direct popular elections. A president may not serve more than two consecutive terms (Article 65 as amended in the June 2003 referendum).
- Chapter 5 (Articles 73-75) is devoted to the executive branch
- Chapter 6 (Articles 76-80) deals with local government
- Chapters 8 and 9 (Articles 84-97) deal with the judicial branch
- The Constitution of the Republic of Tajikistan, September 1999 (Russian); the English version given on the official site is the old 1994 Constitution.
- The 1994 Constitution of the Republic of Tajikistan, in: Constitutions of the Participating Countries of the CIS, Russian Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law, Normal Publishing House, Moscow (2001), pp. 497-522. (Russian)
- The 1994 Constitution of the Republic of Tajikistan, English translation (raw draft)
- Law of the Republic of Tajikistan: A Guide to Web Based Resources | <urn:uuid:9c9b7369-15a2-4de2-8e4c-f942a62268bb> | CC-MAIN-2013-48 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Tajikistan | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-48/segments/1386164653483/warc/CC-MAIN-20131204134413-00017-ip-10-33-133-15.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.885891 | 749 | 3.1875 | 3 |
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ANZAC day is a time when we remember the people who've fought for Australia in wars. For anyone, that takes a huge amount of courage and determination. But imagine fighting for a country that didn't even see you as a citizen. Sarah looks at the sacrifice of Indigenous soldiers and meets some young people making sure it's not forgotten. And a warning to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers; this story contains images of people who have died.
In just about every town and city in Australia there are reminders of what the First World War cost the country. More than 60 thousand Aussies died and barely a community was unaffected. Raukkan, here in the South Australian Coorong, is no exception.
JAKE SHAW: I'm guessing it would have been hard for everyone on the community knowing that they might not return but deep down inside that they've fought for their country and even if they did not return knowing that they fought for their country and hopefully seen as equals in everyone's eyes.
Jake Shaw's great, great uncles Rufus and Cyril Rigney were amongst the 21 Ngarrindjeri men who went off to fight in the war. Rufus was the youngest. Because he was only 16, he had to lie about his age to enlist. And because he was Aboriginal he had to get special permission to leave his home.
Indigenous Australians weren't even considered citizens of their own country and yet they have fought in every single war that Australia has ever been involved in. It's thought that up to 800 Indigenous men enlisted in the First World War and in the second thousands signed up to fight. For many it was a chance to see the world and earn a decent salary. And while at home they were often denied basic rights, in the army they were treated the same as their fellow soldiers and some rose to high military positions.
JAKE: In the army they're all treated as one equal and as brothers.
But many didn't make it home. Rufus and his brother both died in Europe and for many years all their relatives had to remember them were photos and names on a plaque. Then, in 2004, a year 12 student called Donna Handke saw the memorial and decided to research the Ngarrindjeri ANZACs for her history project.
DONNA HANDKE (2005): I was in the camp and we found this little church with the 16 names and I was surprised that Indigenous Australians fought in World War One.
She found out that Rufus had a known grave in Belgium and, with her teacher and classmates, saved up for a trip to visit. She poured some Coorong sand on his resting place and took some soil from the grave home to his relatives in Raukkan so they could say goodbye in a traditional way.
But it didn't end there. Two years later, Jake's cousin Victor went to Belgium too, and performed a traditional fire dance for his great uncle Rufus. The trip became a regular pilgrimage called Connecting Spirits. Now every two years Indigenous and non-Indigenous students from around the Meningie region in South Australia travel to Europe to visit the graves of Aussie soldiers whose lives' they've researched. And last year it was Jake's turn.
JAKE: There's thousands of graves and it's just emotional because all the people who went to war and the people on the trip who had family from there it was just yeah a big thing.
He says it doesn't matter where the soldiers came from, or what the colour of their skin was their courage and sacrifice was the same. And it won't be forgotten. | <urn:uuid:cec1164f-ef52-4ad5-8459-d89781326d6b> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.abc.net.au/btn/classroom/indigenous-anzacs/10530758 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571996.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20220814052950-20220814082950-00018.warc.gz | en | 0.989703 | 788 | 3.46875 | 3 |
BMR 1,257 Calories per day
Your body will burn 1,257 calories each day if you engage in no activity.
This means that your body will burn 1,257 calories each day if you engage in no activity for the entire day.
The number of calories that your body requires per day in a resting state. It can vary from person to person and depends on your eating habits, body composition, and activity level.
The Basal Metabolic Rate is the amount of energy you need while resting in a temperature environment when your digestive system is inactive. In such a state, your energy will be used to maintain your vital organs.
The BMR decreases with age and increases with muscle mass.
1,257 Calories = 5.263 Kilojoules.
Calorie needs to to Lose Weight
To lose weight, you need to reduce your caloric intake below your total daily calorie requirements indicated by your Basal Metabolic Rate + your activity level.
Putting yourself in a 500-calorie deficit per day should result in the lost of one pound (0.5 Kg) per week.
In order to keep the weight off, you want to lose it slowly. This will help you develop lasting lifestyle changes that will help ensure the weight stays off.
Calorie needs to Maintain Weight
Once you have determined your BMR (1,257), you can multiply this number by the activity level that most suits your lifestyle, to determine the appropriate number of calories you need to consume to maintain your weight.
The more active you are the more calories you will require. This is because you are already burning the calories you need in order to sustain life.
How Many Calories to Gain Weight
If you ingest more calories than you expend, you will gain weight regardless of the types of calories you ingest.
To gain 1 pound of body weight (0.5 Kg) a week, you must increase your caloric intake by 3,500 calories per week (+500/day).
A steady, gradual weight gain is an easier adjustment for your body, making it safer for you. | <urn:uuid:a177ffe6-4aae-4a00-8b92-aee396ab7e5b> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | http://www.freebmrcalculator.com/1257/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335286.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20220928212030-20220929002030-00037.warc.gz | en | 0.906223 | 450 | 2.96875 | 3 |
A closer look
A contradiction in terms
Do pain relievers treat a headache,
or cause a headache?
Regular use of pain relievers — including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as aspirin and ibuprofen — can actually cause headaches. “Rebound” or medication-overuse headaches can occur when the medication is taken more than two to three days a week or more than the recommended dosage. For reasons not fully understood, a drop in the level of drugs in the blood precipitates another headache, which in turn precipitates another dose. The cycle continues resulting in chronic daily headaches with more severe and frequent pain. Rebound headaches can occur with prescription drugs as well.
Although it is not always possible to prevent a headache, it may be possible to reduce its frequency by determining and avoiding what cause it. Triggers are factors that spark a headache. Most triggers are related to migraines but may be related to cluster and tension-type headaches as well. | <urn:uuid:9d4faa95-9b8d-422f-95b9-f409dff4addd> | CC-MAIN-2014-10 | http://behealthy.baystatebanner.com/issues/2010/08-2010/printable/Triggers.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-10/segments/1394021306108/warc/CC-MAIN-20140305120826-00076-ip-10-183-142-35.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913284 | 203 | 3.203125 | 3 |
Programs and Services
A hazardous material must never be poured down the drain or placed in the domestic trash. Hazardous waste generators and their supervisors are responsible for the proper disposal of materials in their areas. Locations where hazardous materials or waste are used or stored must have signs posted near sinks and drains indicating proper disposal procedures for chemicals. Proper training is required for all personnel who generate, store or handle hazardous materials.
Hazardous Waste/Material Tag
Contact Environmental Health and Safety to obtain waste tags. Fill out all sections of the UNC hazardous waste tag and send the original copy to EHS at campus box 57. Securely fasten the remaining copies to the waste container using the attached wire.
The EHS Department must approve of any waste treatment procedure, which may also require State approval. Acid neutralization, distillation and evaporation are all examples of waste treatment. Contact EHS for additional information and authorization.
For training, hazardous waste questions, and disposal procedures you may review the Hazardous Materials Management Plan. For any additional information needed you may contact Environmental Health and Safety. | <urn:uuid:24508d45-b8a3-4d66-88b2-d7124a11c971> | CC-MAIN-2014-52 | http://www.unco.edu/facility/ehs/Programs%20and%20Services/disposal_procedures.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-52/segments/1418802768352.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20141217075248-00141-ip-10-231-17-201.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.874491 | 220 | 2.5625 | 3 |
In collaboration with professor Jinwen Zhang of Washington State University (WSU) in Pullman, Liu and ARS-WSU colleagues developed a biodegradable thermoplastic (meaning plastic that becomes soft when heated) that could be used in disposable food containers.
The bioplastic is manufactured from both sugarbeet pulp and a bio-degradable polymer called polylactic acid, or PLA, using a twin screw extruder. PLA is a commercially available polymer derived from the sugars in corn, sugarbeet, sugarcane, switchgrass and other plants/renewable feedstocks. Extrusion is a cost-effective manufacturing process that is popularly used in large-scale production of food, plastics and composite materials. Many biopolymers and their composite materials with petroleum-based polymers also can be extruded.
The scientists showed that up to 50% sugarbeet pulp can be incorporated with PLA, and the resulting thermoplastic composites retain mechanical properties similar to those of polystyrene and polypropylene — the compounds used to make white, spongy food packages. The new thermoplastic is cost competitive with commonly used petrochemical plastics. The study was published in Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research in 2008.
ARS-WSU researchers also developed other beet pulp materials. Under extrusion compounding, sugarbeet pulp was turned into a thermoplastic-like material with the assistance of water and/or glycerol. This material can be subsequently processed by extrusion or injection molding to produce neat (meaning pure) sugarbeet pulp products.
The resulting thermoplastic sugarbeet pulp possesses mechanical properties that are similar to those of low-density polyethylene — the commonly produced materials used for opaque plastic containers, bags and film coverings. It can also be blended with PLA and other biodegradable polymers for enhanced water resistance. The composite could function as a lightweight-bearing material comprising up to 98% sugarbeet pulp.
This continued development of the sugarbeet pulp plastic (for example, as yogurt cups, cottage cheese tubs or other thin, opaque plastic containers) could benefit sugarbeet growers and beet sugar processors. (More findings were reported in the Journal of Polymers and the Environment and Industrial Engineering Chemistry Research in 2011.)
The new composite plastics containing sugarbeet pulp are cost competitive when compared to materials that are made solely of PLA, according to Liu and Hotchkiss. “The technology is promising and provides a ‘green’ material for food packaging,” says Hotchkiss. — Rosalie Marion Bliss, ARS Information Staff | <urn:uuid:b8a8a3e1-3c7e-488d-8e22-192a2647a7f5> | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.sugarpub.com/features/new-beet-pulp-uses | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246633972.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045713-00007-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928332 | 542 | 2.84375 | 3 |
An allergen found in red meat can cause the buildup of plaque in the arteries, leading to an increased risk of heart disease, a study has found.
While high saturated fat levels in red meat have long been known to contribute to heart disease for people in general, the findings - published in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology (ATVB) - suggests that a subgroup of the population may be at heightened risk due to a food allergen.
"This novel finding from a small group of subjects from Virginia raises the intriguing possibility that allergy to red meat may be an under recognised factor in heart disease," said Coleen McNamara, a professor at the University of Virginia in the US.
"These preliminary findings underscore the need for further clinical studies in larger populations from diverse geographic regions and additional laboratory work," said McNamara.
The number of people with red meat allergies in the US is unclear, but researchers estimate that it may be one per cent of the population in some areas.
The number of people who develop blood antibodies to the red meat allergen without having full-blown symptoms is much higher - as much as 20 per cent of the population in some areas, researchers said.
Only in recent years did scientists identify the main allergen in red meat, called alpha-Gal, a type of complex sugar. They also found that a tick - the Lone Star tick - sensitizes people to this allergen when it bites them.
That is why red meat allergies tend to be more common where these ticks are more prevalent, such as the Southeastern United States, but also extending to other areas, including Long Island, New York.
Researchers have suspected for some time that allergens can trigger certain immunological changes that might be associated with plaque buildup and artery blockages, but no one had identified a specific substance that is responsible for this effect.
In the current study, researchers showed for the first time that a specific blood marker for red meat allergy was associated with higher levels of arterial plaque, or fatty deposits on the inner lining of the arteries.
The blood marker they identified is a type of antibody (immunoglobulin or IgE) that is specific to the alpha-Gal allergen.
The evidence for a link between red meat allergens and coronary artery disease is still preliminary, the researchers noted, so they plan to conduct detailed animal and human studies to confirm their initial findings.
Currently, the only treatment for red meat allergy once it is diagnosed is strict avoidance of red meat.
Red Meat, Allergy, Arteries, Plaque, Southeastern United States, Long Island, New York, Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology (ATVB), Heart Disease | <urn:uuid:c6dd7056-ba9a-4554-96b3-cc2fd5f2cbff> | CC-MAIN-2021-10 | https://www.asianage.com/amp/life/health/180618/allergen-in-red-meat-causes-heart-disease-study.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-10/segments/1614178362481.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20210301090526-20210301120526-00536.warc.gz | en | 0.945439 | 571 | 2.953125 | 3 |
I have been exercising for awhile. I can tell I've had weight loss but every time I get on the scale, it tells me that I weigh more. I can't be gaining weight although my pants and the scale tell me different. I've heard that if you gain muscles, you will weigh more. Is that true? Can you help because it's very discouraging.
Often when starting a weight loss program, the scale will show an initial loss due to water weight and fluid loss. But many times the scale will start to go up even though your pants feel looser. The lesson is to focus on your body, not your weight. If you are working hard to get fit and see a weight gain, you may be adding calorie-burning muscles! When determining your overall health, focus on your body fat ratio to lean muscle mass. A pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat. But the body fat is more "fluffy" and the muscle is more "dense and compact." Muscles take up less space in your body, so body weight may go up as you add compact, tight muscle mass.
[sidebar]How do you measure your ratio of body fat to lean muscle mass? There are three ways:
- Hydrostatic weight measurement involves being weighed underwater. But submerging your body in water isn't very convenient or fun!
- A bioelectrical impedance scale—or a body fat scale—is available at most sporting goods stores. When you stand on the scale, a safe, low-level electrical signal passes through your body. You can then compute the percentage of body fat based on the resistance the signal encounters as it travels through your body.
- Lastly, there's the body fat caliper. This is fairly accurate and easy to do. Your local gym should be able to help you out. A personal trainer will use this caliper to take a few measurements. Through a formula and calculation, you can determine your body fat.
Remember: Muscles need more calories a day, so the more muscles you have, the more calories you burn and the more weight loss you gain! | <urn:uuid:8b958e48-e7b3-455e-923d-26d0e94cac44> | CC-MAIN-2018-43 | https://www.prevention.com/fitness/workouts/a20452238/does-muscle-weigh-more-than-fat-0/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-43/segments/1539583511206.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20181017174543-20181017200043-00007.warc.gz | en | 0.947922 | 434 | 2.84375 | 3 |
In the vernacular, "Doppelgänger" has come to refer (as in German) to any double or look-alike of a person. The word is also used to describe the sensation of having glimpsed oneself in peripheral vision, in a position where there is no chance that it could have been a reflection. They are generally regarded as harbingers of bad luck. In some traditions, a doppelgänger seen by a person's friends or relatives portends illness or danger, while seeing one's own doppelgänger is an omen of death. In Norse mythology, a vardøger is a ghostly double who precedes a living person and is seen performing their actions in advance.
The word "doppelgänger" is a German loanword. It derives from Doppel (double) and Gänger (goer), although the German part word -gänger only occurs in compound nouns. As is true for all other common nouns in German, the word is written with an initial capital letter.
Percy Bysshe Shelley
On 8 July 1822, Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poet, drowned in the Bay of Spezia near Lerici. On 15 August, while staying at Pisa, Mary Shelley wrote a letter to Maria Gisborne in which she relayed Percy's claims to her that he had met his own doppelgänger. A week after Mary's nearly fatal miscarriage, in the early hours of 23 June, Percy had had a nightmare about the house collapsing in a flood, and ... talking it over the next morning he told me that he had had many visions lately — he had seen the figure of himself which met him as he walked on the terrace & said to him — "How long do you mean to be content" — No very terrific words & certainly not prophetic of what has occurred. But Shelley had often seen these figures when ill; but the strangest thing is that Mrs Williams saw him. Now Jane though a woman of sensibility, has not much imagination & is not in the slightest degree nervous — neither in dreams or otherwise. She was standing one day, the day before I was taken ill, [15 June] at a window that looked on the Terrace with Trelawny — it was day — she saw as she thought Shelley pass by the window, as he often was then, without a coat or jacket — he passed again — now as he passed both times the same way — and as from the side towards which he went each time there was no way to get back except past the window again (except over a wall twenty feet from the ground) she was struck at seeing him pass twice thus & looked out & seeing him no more she cried — "Good God can Shelley have leapt from the wall? Where can he be gone?" Shelley, said Trelawny — "No Shelley has past — What do you mean?" Trelawny says that she trembled exceedingly when she heard this & it proved indeed that Shelley had never been on the terrace & was far off at the time she saw him.
Percy Shelley's drama Prometheus Unbound (1820) contains the following passage in Act I: "Ere Babylon was dust, / The Magus Zoroaster, my dear child, / Met his own image walking in the garden. / That apparition, sole of men, he saw. / For know there are two worlds of life and death: / One that which thou beholdest; but the other / Is underneath the grave, where do inhabit / The shadows of all forms that think and live / Till death unite them and they part no more...."
Izaak Walton claimed that John Donne, the English metaphysical poet, saw his wife's doppelgänger in 1612 in Paris, on the same night as the stillbirth of their daughter.
Two days after their arrival there, Mr. Donne was left alone, in that room in which Sir Robert, and he, and some other friends had dined together. To this place Sir Robert returned within half an hour; and, as he left, so he found Mr. Donne alone; but, in such ecstacy, and so altered as to his looks, as amazed Sir Robert to behold him in so much that he earnestly desired Mr. Donne to declare befallen him in the short time of his absence? to which, Mr. Donne was not able to make a present answer: but, after a long and perplext pause, did at last say, I have seen a dreadful Vision since I saw you: I have seen my dear wife pass twice by me through this room, with her hair hanging about her shoulders, and a dead child in her arms: this, I have seen since I saw you. To which, Sir Robert replied; Sure Sir, you have slept since I saw you; and, this is the result of some melancholy dream, which I desire you to forget, for you are now awake. To which Mr. Donnes reply was: I cannot be surer that I now live, then that I have not slept since I saw you: and am, as sure, that at her second appearing, she stopped, looked me in the face, and vanished.
This account first appears in the edition of Life of Dr John Donne published in 1675, and is attributed to "a Person of Honour... told with such circumstances, and such asseveration, that... I verily believe he that told it me, did himself believe it to be true." At the time Donne was indeed extremely worried about his pregnant wife, and was going through severe illness himself. However, R. C. Bald points out that Walton's account "is riddled with inaccuracies. He says that Donne crossed from London to Paris with the Drurys in twelve days, and that the vision occurred two days later; the servant sent to London to make inquiries found Mrs Donne still confined to her bed in Drury House. Actually, of course, Donne did not arrive in Paris until more than three months after he left England, and his wife was not in London but in the Isle of Wight. The still-born child was buried on 24 January.... Yet as late as 14 April Donne in Paris was still ignorant of his wife's ordeal." In January, Donne was still at Amiens. His letters do not support the story as given.
Carl Sandburg's biography contains the following:
A dream or illusion had haunted Lincoln at times through the winter. On the evening of his election he had thrown himself on one of the haircloth sofas at home, just after the first telegrams of November 6 had told him he was elected President, and looking into a bureau mirror across the room he saw himself full length, but with two faces.
It bothered him; he got up; the illusion vanished; but when he lay down again there in the glass again were two faces, one paler than the other. He got up again, mixed in the election excitement, forgot about it; but it came back, and haunted him. He told his wife about it; she worried too.
A few days later he tried it once more and the illusion of the two faces again registered to his eyes. But that was the last; the ghost since then wouldn't come back, he told his wife, who said it was a sign he would be elected to a second term, and the death pallor of one face meant he wouldn't live through his second term.
This is adapted from Washington in Lincoln's Time (1895) by Noah Brooks, who claimed that he had heard it from Lincoln himself on 9 November 1864, at the time of his re-election, and that he had printed an account "directly after." He also claimed that the story was confirmed by Mary Todd Lincoln, and partially confirmed by Private Secretary John Hay (who thought it dated from Lincoln's nomination, not his election).
Brooks's version is as follows (in Lincoln's own words):
It was just after my election in 1860, when the news had been coming in thick and fast all day and there had been a great "hurrah, boys," so that I was well tired out, and went home to rest, throwing myself down on a lounge in my chamber. Opposite where I lay was a bureau with a swinging glass upon it (and here he got up and placed furniture to illustrate the position), and looking in that glass I saw myself reflected nearly at full length; but my face, I noticed had two separate and distinct images, the tip of the nose of one being about three inches from the tip of the other. I was a little bothered, perhaps startled, and got up and looked in the glass, but the illusion vanished. On lying down again, I saw it a second time, plainer, if possible, than before; and then I noticed that one of the faces was a little paler — say five shades — than the other. I got up, and the thing melted away, and I went off, and in the excitement of the hour forgot all about it — nearly, but not quite, for the thing would once in a while come up, and give me a little pang as if something uncomfortable had happened. When I went home again that night I told my wife about it, and a few days afterward I made the experiment again, when (with a laugh), sure enough! the thing came back again; but I never succeeded in bringing the ghost back after that, though I once tried very industriously to show it to my wife, who was somewhat worried about it. She thought it was a "sign" that I was to be elected to a second term of office, and that the paleness of one of the faces was an omen that I should not see life through the last term.
Lincoln was known to be superstitious, and old mirrors will occasionally produce double images; whether this Janus illusion can be counted as a doppelgänger is perhaps debatable, though probably no more than other such claims of doppelgängers. An alternate consideration, however, suggests that Lincoln suffered vertical strabismus in his left eye, a disorder which could induce visions of a vertically-displaced image.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Near the end of Book XI of his autobiography, Dichtung und Wahrheit ("Truth and Fiction"), Goethe wrote, almost in passing:
Amid all this pressure and confusion I could not forego seeing Frederica once more. Those were painful days, the memory of which has not remained with me. When I reached her my hand from my horse, the tears stood in her eyes; and I felt very uneasy. I now rode along the foot-path toward Drusenheim, and here one of the most singular forebodings took possession of me. I saw, not with the eyes of the body, but with those of the mind, my own figure coming toward me, on horseback, and on the same road, attired in a dress which I had never worn, — it was pike-gray [hecht-grau], with somewhat of gold. As soon as I shook myself out of this dream, the figure had entirely disappeared. It is strange, however, that, eight years afterward, I found myself on the very road, to pay one more visit to Frederica, in the dress of which I had dreamed, and which I wore, not from choice, but by accident. However, it may be with matters of this kind generally, this strange illusion in some measure calmed me at the moment of parting. The pain of quitting for ever noble Alsace, with all I had gained in it, was softened; and, having at last escaped the excitement of a farewell, I, on a peaceful and quiet journey, pretty well regained my self-possession.
This is a rare example of a doppelgänger which is both benign and reassuring.
Robert Dale Owen was responsible for writing down the singular case of Emilie Sagée. He was told this anecdote by Julie von Güldenstubbe, a Latvian aristocrat. Von Güldenstubbe reported that in the year 1845–46, at the age of 13, she witnessed, along with audiences of between 13 and 42 children, her 32-year-old French teacher Sagée bilocate, in broad daylight, inside her school, Pensionat von Neuwelcke. The actions of Sagée's doppelgänger included:
• Mimicking writing and eating, but with nothing in its hands.
• Moving independently of Sagée, and remaining motionless while she moved.
• Appearing to be in full health at a time when Sagée was badly ill.
Apparently, the doppelgänger also exerted resistance to the touch, but was non-physical (one girl passed through the doppelgänger's body).
Left temporoparietal junction
In September 2006 it was reported in Nature that Shahar Arzy and colleagues of the University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland, had unexpectedly reproduced an effect strongly reminiscent of the doppelgänger phenomenon via the electromagnetic stimulation of a patient's brain. They applied focal electrical stimulation to a patient's left temporoparietal junction while she lay flat on a bed. The patient immediately felt the presence of another person in her "extrapersonal space." Other than epilepsy, for which the patient was being treated, she was psychologically fit.
The other person was described as young, of indeterminate sex, silent, motionless, and with a body posture identical to her own. The other person was located exactly behind her, almost touching and therefore within the bed on which the patient was lying.
A second electrical stimulation was applied with slightly more intensity, while the patient was sitting up with her arms folded. This time the patient felt the presence of a "man" who had his arms wrapped around her. She described the sensation as highly unpleasant and electrical stimulation was stopped.
Finally, when the patient was seated, electrical stimulation was applied while the patient was asked to perform language test with a set of flash cards. On this occasion the patient reported the presence of a sitting person, displaced behind her and to the right. She said that the presence was attempting to interfere with the test: "He wants to take the card; he doesn’t want me to read." Again, the effect was disturbing and electrical stimulation was ceased.
Similar effects were found for different positions and postures when electrical stimulation exceeded 10 mA, at the left temporoparietal junction. Arzy and his colleagues suggest that the left temporoparietal junction of the brain evokes the sensation of self image—body location, position, posture etc. When the left temporoparietal junction is disturbed, the sensation of self-attribution is broken and may be replaced by the sensation of a foreign presence or copy of oneself displaced nearby. This copy mirrors the real person's body posture, location and position. Arzy and his colleagues suggest that the phenomenon they created is seen in certain mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, particularly when accompanied by paranoia, delusions of persecution and of alien control. Nevertheless, the effects reported are highly reminiscent of the doppelgänger phenomenon. Accordingly, some reports of doppelgängers may well be due to failure of the left temporoparietal junction.
*From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia | <urn:uuid:f4cf1a51-30d3-4ce0-9362-7a3da2f903e4> | CC-MAIN-2017-43 | https://othersiderainbow.blogspot.com/2016/04/doppelganger-pronunciation-helpinfo-or.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-43/segments/1508187820930.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20171017072323-20171017092323-00439.warc.gz | en | 0.984779 | 3,227 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Standard public health interventions to improve hand hygiene in communities with high levels of child mortality encourage community residents to wash their hands with soap at five separate key times, a recommendation that would require mothers living in impoverished households to typically wash hands with soap more than ten times per day. We analyzed data from households that received no intervention in a large prospective project evaluation to assess the relationship between observed handwashing behavior and subsequent diarrhea.
Methods and Findings
Fieldworkers conducted a 5-hour structured observation and a cross-sectional survey in 347 households from 50 villages across rural Bangladesh in 2007. For the subsequent 2 years, a trained community resident visited each of the enrolled households every month and collected information on the occurrence of diarrhea in the preceding 48 hours among household residents under the age of 5 years. Compared with children living in households where persons prepared food without washing their hands, children living in households where the food preparer washed at least one hand with water only (odds ratio [OR] = 0.78; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.57–1.05), washed both hands with water only (OR = 0.67; 95% CI = 0.51–0.89), or washed at least one hand with soap (OR = 0.30; 95% CI = 0.19–0.47) had less diarrhea. In households where residents washed at least one hand with soap after defecation, children had less diarrhea (OR = 0.45; 95% CI = 0.26–0.77). There was no significant association between handwashing with or without soap before feeding a child, before eating, or after cleaning a child's anus who defecated and subsequent child diarrhea.
These observations suggest that handwashing before preparing food is a particularly important opportunity to prevent childhood diarrhea, and that handwashing with water alone can significantly reduce childhood diarrhea.
Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary
Citation: Luby SP, Halder AK, Huda T, Unicomb L, Johnston RB (2011) The Effect of Handwashing at Recommended Times with Water Alone and With Soap on Child Diarrhea in Rural Bangladesh: An Observational Study. PLoS Med 8(6): e1001052. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001052
Academic Editor: Zulfiqar A. Bhutta, Aga Khan University, Pakistan
Received: October 1, 2010; Accepted: May 18, 2011; Published: June 28, 2011
This is an open-access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.
Funding: This program evaluation was funded by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) and UNICEF Bangladesh. UNICEF Bangladesh collaborated in the study design and reviewed and provided input on the manuscript. The first author developed the idea for the manuscript, conducted the analysis, drafted the manuscript and made the decision to publish.
Competing interests: SPL received a total of $3.2 million in research funding for 13 research projects on handwashing and household water treatment between 1996 and 2007 from the Procter and Gamble Company, a global manufacturer of soap.
Abbreviations: SHEWA-B, Sanitation, Hygiene Education and Water supply-Bangladesh
The resurgence of donor interest in regarding water and sanitation as fundamental public health issues has been a welcome step forward and will do much to improve the health of the 1.1 billion people world-wide without access to clean water and the 2.4 billion without access to improved sanitation. However, improving hygiene practices is also very important—studies have consistently shown that handwashing with soap reduces childhood diarrheal disease—but in reality is particularly difficult to do as this activity involves complex behavioral changes. Therefore although public health programs in communities with high child mortality commonly promote handwashing with soap, this practice is still uncommon and washing hands with water only is still common practice—partly because of the high cost of soap relative to income, the risk that conveniently placed soap would be stolen or wasted, and the inconvenience of fetching soap.
Handwashing promotion programs often focus on five “key times” for handwashing with soap—after defecation, after handling child feces or cleaning a child's anus, before preparing food, before feeding a child, and before eating—which would require requesting busy impoverished mothers to wash their hands with soap more than ten times a day.
Why Was This Study Done?
In addition to encouraging handwashing only at the most critical times, clarifying whether handwashing with water alone, a behavior that is seemingly much easier for people to practice, but for which there is little evidence, may be a way forward. In order to guide more focused and evidence-based recommendations, the researchers evaluated the control group of a large handwashing, hygiene/sanitation, and water quality improvement program—Sanitation, Hygiene Education and Water supply-Bangladesh (SHEWA-B), organized and supported by the Bangladesh Government, UNICEF, and the UK's Department for International Development. The researchers analyzed the relationship between handwashing behavior as observed at baseline and the subsequent experience of child diarrhea in participating households to identify which specific handwashing behaviors were associated with less diarrhea in young children.
What Did the Researchers Do and Find?
The SHEWA-B intervention targeted 19.6 million people in rural Bangladesh in 68 subdistricts. In this study and with community and household consent, the researchers organized trained field workers, using a pretested instrument, to note handwashing behavior at key times and recorded handwashing behavior of all observed household at baseline in 50 randomly selected villages that served as nonintervention control households to compare with outcomes to communities receiving the SHEWA-B program. The fieldworkers recruited community monitors, female village residents who completed 3 days training on how to administer the monthly diarrhea survey, to record the frequency of diarrhea in children aged less than 3 years in control households for the subsequent two years. The researchers used statistical models to evaluate the association between the exposure variables (household characteristics and observed handwashing) and diarrhea.
Using these methods, the researchers found that compared to no handwashing at all before food preparation, children living in households where the food preparer washed at least one hand with water only, washed both hands with water only, or washed at least one hand with soap, had less diarrhea with odds ratios (ORs) of 0.78, 0.67, and 0.19, respectively. In households where residents washed at least one hand with soap after defecation, children had less diarrhea (OR = 0.45), but there was no significant association between handwashing with or without soap before feeding a child, before eating, or after cleaning a child's anus, and subsequent child diarrhea.
What Do These Findings Mean?
These findings from 50 villages across rural Bangladesh where fecal environmental contamination, undernutrition, and diarrhea are common, suggest that handwashing before preparing food is a particularly important opportunity to prevent childhood diarrhea, and also that handwashing with water alone can significantly reduce childhood diarrhea. In contrast to current standard recommendations, these results suggest that promoting handwashing exclusively with soap may be unwarranted. Handwashing with water alone might be seen as a step on the handwashing ladder: handwashing with water is good; handwashing with soap is better. Therefore, handwashing promotion programs in rural Bangladesh should not attempt to modify handwashing behavior at all five key times, but rather, should focus primarily on handwashing after defecation and before food preparation. Furthermore, research to develop and evaluate handwashing messages that account for the limited time and soap supplies available for low-income families, and are focused on those behaviors where there is the strongest evidence for a health benefit could help identify more effective strategies.
Please access these Web sites via the online version of this summary at http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001052.
Intervention trials promoting handwashing with soap in communities with high child mortality consistently report a reduction in childhood diarrheal disease . Bolstered by these data, public health programs serving low-income populations commonly promote handwashing with soap. Across a wide range of low-income countries, however, handwashing with soap is uncommon. In a review of structured observations in 11 countries mothers of young children washed their hands with soap on average only 17% of the time after using the toilet . Barriers to washing hands with soap in low-income communities include the high cost of soap relative to household income, the risk that soap left out in a convenient place would be wasted by children playing with it or stolen, and the time required and inconvenience of fetching soap ,. In contrast to the low frequency of handwashing with soap, handwashing with water alone is more commonly practiced. In the same 11 countries study, mothers washed their hands with water alone 45% of the time after toileting . Because intervention trials of handwashing with soap consistently demonstrated a health benefit, handwashing promotion interventions focus almost exclusively on handwashing with soap .
A second common characteristic of handwashing promotion programs is a focus on five “key times” for handwashing. These include handwashing after defecation, after handling child feces or cleaning a child's anus who had defecated, before preparing food, before feeding a child, and before eating ,. Asking mothers of young children to wash their hands with soap after each of these critical times would typically translate into requesting busy impoverished mothers to wash their hands with soap more than ten times a day. If mothers also follow recommendations to wash hands after touching domestic animals, animal dung, potentially contaminated raw food, and after coughing or sneezing , the number of recommended times for handwashing with soap would often exceed 20 times per day. In low-income households, soap is used judiciously to preserve money for food and other essentials . Washing hands with soap this frequently, especially if practiced by all family members, would affect household finances. In order to preserve the household supply of soap, families commonly store soap away from the most convenient place to wash hands . Washing hands with soap 10 or more times per day also takes a lot of time, time that mothers in low-income settings do not have in abundance . The time required for handwashing with soap is especially onerous if lathering is continued for the full recommended 20 seconds and soap is not kept at the most convenient place to wash hands. A third barrier to promoting handwashing at five different key times is the complexity of the message. A critical review of health communication interventions in low-income countries concluded that interventions that focus on a few messages were more effective than communication interventions targeting many behaviors .
Two steps that might improve the effectiveness of handwashing promotion interventions would be to encourage handwashing only at the most critical times for interrupting pathogen transmission and clarifying whether handwashing with water alone, a behavior that is apparently much easier for people to practice, should be encouraged. There are however, few data available to guide more focused recommendations.
In 2007, the Government of Bangladesh Department of Public Health Engineering in collaboration with UNICEF and with support from the Department for International Development (DFID) of the British Government launched a program, Sanitation, Hygiene Education and Water supply-Bangladesh (SHEWA-B) that is among the largest intensive handwashing, hygiene/sanitation, and water quality improvement programs ever attempted in a low-income country. The intervention targeted 20 million people in rural Bangladesh. As part of the assessment of the program's impact, fieldworkers conducted household structured observations at baseline in 50 randomly selected villages that served as nonintervention control households to compare with outcomes to communities receiving the SHEWA-B program. Community monitors assessed the frequency of diarrhea in control households each month for the subsequent 2 y. We analyzed the relationship between handwashing behavior as observed at baseline and the subsequent experience of child diarrhea in these households. The objective of this analysis was to identify which specific handwashing behaviors were associated with less diarrhea.
UNICEF publicly requested bids for the evaluation of the SHEWA-B program. The International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) was selected through a competitive process and signed a contract with UNICEF for the evaluation. From UNICEF's perspective, and the perspective of the Government of Bangladesh, this was not a research contract. It was a contract to evaluate a US$90 million program targeting 20 million people across rural Bangladesh. The Government of Bangladesh separately contracted with 58 organizations to implement the intervention across 68 rural subdistricts on an aggressive launch schedule. The program evaluation required a preintervention baseline survey. If the evaluation team postponed field work for the 12- or more wk process that is characteristic for local human study participant protocol review and approval, ICDDR,B would have been unable to provide a preintervention measurement. This would have reduced the ability of ICDDR,B to assess the program, and would represent a failure to meet contractual obligations. We received ICCDR,B administrative approval to classify this activity as a nonresearch program evaluation that did not require independent human study participant review because the primary goal of this activity, particularly from the sponsor's perspective, was program evaluation and not generation of new generalizable knowledge.
The plan for the evaluation was reviewed by UNICEF and the Government of Bangladesh Department of Public Health Engineering, but was not reviewed by an independent human study participant committee. Each field worker received formal training in taking informed consent. As part of the consent process the field worker clarified how much time we were requesting from prospective participants. Field workers explained that there was no individual benefit or compensation for participation, that there would be questions about use of water, toilet facilities, and handwashing, and noted that these topics may be uncomfortable or that it may be uncomfortable to have a stranger in their home observing household activities. Twice during the consent process the field workers specified that participation was voluntary. They explained that even if the participant originally provided consent, he or she could withdraw consent at any time. Field workers secured written informed consent from each participant. Fields workers provided participants with contact information for the study coordinator and the research administration office of ICDDR,B if they had any questions. All collected information was kept in locked rooms. Only staff whose responsibilities included working with the data had access to the data. Study supervisors made unannounced visits to field teams to ensure that field workers properly implemented the enrollment and consent process.
The SHEWA-B program targeted 68 subdistricts (upazilas) in 19 districts. The government and UNICEF selected the specific intervention upazilas because of the perceived need and the absence of other active programs addressing water, sanitation, and hygiene in these communities. Upazilas are further subdivided into unions. We listed all of the unions and their populations in the 68 targeted subdistricts and randomly selected 50 unions with the probability of selection proportional to the size of the union. For each SHEWA-B intervention upazila where a union was chosen for evaluation we selected a control upazila that had similar geography, hydrogeology, infrastructure, agricultural productivity, and household construction, and where the government confirmed that no other major water-sanitation-hygiene programs were ongoing. We selected unions for evaluation in the control upazilas using the same probability of selection proportional to size used to select unions for evaluation in the intervention upazilas.
Within each selected union we listed all village names, and used a random number generator to select the evaluation village. Fieldworkers asked residents of the selected village to identify the village center. Fieldworkers identified the household closest to the village center that had a child <5 y of age and sought consent to permit a fieldworker to observe household practices for a single morning. To enroll the next household, fieldworkers looked for the next closest household with a child <5 y of age. Fieldworkers repeated the process for enrolling additional households until ten households in each selected village were enrolled for structured observation. Households enrolled for structured observation that had children <3 y of age, and so would remain <5 y of age during 2 y of follow-up, were also invited to participate in monthly disease surveillance.
Trained fieldworkers conducted a single 5-h structured observation of handwashing behavior of all persons in selected households between 9:00 AM and 2:00 PM, a culturally acceptable time for visitors and a typical time period for a range of personal hygiene and food preparation behaviors. Using a pretested instrument, fieldworkers noted handwashing behavior at key times—before preparing food, eating or feeding a child, and after defecating or cleaning a child's anus who had defecated. Fieldworkers recorded handwashing behavior of all observed household residents because multiple persons commonly perform various caretaking roles and have contact with young children and all of these interactions may transmit diarrheal pathogens.
When observing food preparation, fieldworkers classified the food preparer's hands as contaminated if at least one hand contacted raw food or soil. Once hands were contaminated, fieldworkers noted whether or not the food preparer washed her hands before touching food. For preparing a single food item, fieldworkers often observed multiple opportunities for the preparers' contaminated hands to touch food. The fieldworkers recorded the most commonly observed handwashing behavior following contamination for each food item prepared.
Two months after the structured observation, fieldworkers returned to the households and administered a cross-sectional survey. Questions included on the cross-sectional survey included demographic information as well as household construction and possessions to permit a measurement of acquired household wealth.
Fieldworkers recruited one woman (a community monitor) from each evaluation community who was at least 18 y of age and who had completed at least 8 y of formal education to visit each of the enrolled households each month and administer a brief questionnaire to collect information on each child <5 y of age. These community monitors participated in a formal training program to learn how to administer the questionnaire. The initial 3-d training included 2 d of classroom instruction with role playing followed by 1 d of field testing. After 12 mo the community monitors participated in a 1-d refresher training session. One of the monthly surveillance questions asked whether the child had diarrhea during the preceding 2 d. Another question asked if the child consumed only breast milk in the preceding 24 h. This surveillance continued for 24 mo following the cross-sectional survey. The community monitors were paid a modest stipend.
Drawing water from a hand pump to wash hands or pouring water from a pitcher requires one hand. Rural Bangladeshi residents commonly run water over the “dirty hand” to clean it. If they use soap they sometimes roll the soap within the one hand. For each of the five key handwashing opportunities we classified the handwashing behavior into one of five categories: (1) no observed handwashing, (2) washing one hand with water alone, (3) washing both hands with water alone, (4) washing at least one hand with ash or mud, and (5) washing at least one hand with soap. We selected these categories because across the five key handwashing opportunities these categories displayed a range of handwashing behaviors that generally included sufficient observations to support analysis of associations.
Within each household, during the 5 h of observation fieldworkers often observed multiple occasions of the same opportunity for handwashing. For example, because there may be multiple children in the household and multiple snacks in addition to the main meal, the fieldworkers might observe four opportunities to wash hands before feeding a child. The handwashing behavior might be different in each of these four episodes, and fieldworkers recorded each episode separately. We classified the thoroughness of handwashing along a scale: the least thorough handwashing was no handwashing, washing one hand with only water, washing both hands with only water, washing with mud/ash, and washing with soap were progressively classified as more thorough handwashing. The household's handwashing behavior for each key time was classified on the basis of the most thorough handwashing behavior observed.
We considered drying hands with a clean towel or allowing hands to air dry before touching another surface as optimal hand drying. We classified drying hands on a visibly dirty towel, drying hands on clothing, or not drying hands before touching another surface, as progressively less optimal hand drying. We classified the household's hand drying behavior for each handwashing opportunity on the basis of the most optimal hand drying behavior observed at that key time.
We used principal component analysis of 21 household characteristics (Table 1) to evaluate household wealth . We excluded hygiene and sanitary infrastructure, because we wanted to analyze the impact of wealth independent of the specific facilities that might contribute to handwashing. We analyzed variables in the wealth index by means or frequencies and calculated score coefficients. We used the correlation matrix of the 21 variables to calculate sample weights . We calculated the coefficients by rounding the expression (Loading/standard deviation)×100 to the nearest integer. We used the first principal component as the wealth score .
Modeling the handwashing–diarrhea relationship.
We calculated odds ratios to evaluate the association between the exposure variables—household characteristics and observed handwashing—and diarrhea. To account for the repeated observations for diarrhea in single households and the clustering of observations in villages we used general estimated equations to calculate these adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals .
We constructed a multivariate model for each of the key times when handwashing behavior was significantly associated (p<0.05) with diarrhea in the bivariate analysis. We began with a bivariate model that included handwashing behavior, and sequentially added each of the household characteristics that were associated with diarrhea in bivariate analyses. The final multivariate model retained all those variables that both significantly improved fit of the model (p<0.05) and were independently associated with diarrhea (p<0.05).
We used a nested correlation structure for all general estimated equations analyses to account for at the first level the clustering of measures within the same village, and at the second level the clustering of repeated observations within households. We used SAS for Windows (PROC GENMOD) Version 9.1 (SAS Institute) for the general estimated equations modeling.
The evaluation team completed structured observations, baseline cross-sectional interviews, and initiated monthly surveillance in 347 households that did not receive the SHEWA-B intervention. Community monitors collected data on 465 children who lived in these 347 households for at least 1 mo. In the first month of diarrheal surveillance, there were 379 children <5 y living in these households. Their mean age was 19.2 mo. During 24 mo of follow-up, 66 children were born into these households, 20 children moved into the surveillance households, 24 children moved or dropped out, one child aged out, and 12 children died. The mean age of participating children after 24 mo was 37.7 mo. Among the 10,234 potential monthly child assessments from the time a child was first identified in a surveillance household, community monitors completed data collection for 9,897 (97%).
A third of the fathers and more than a quarter of the mothers had no formal education (Table 1). Over 90% owned their own home, but their median land holdings were quite small. Over 80% collected drinking water from shallow tube wells and three-quarters had access to an improved latrine. There was little difference in household characteristics between the 347 households included in the general analysis and the 102 households where fieldworkers observed a handwashing opportunity after defecation, though households where fieldworkers observed defecation owned somewhat more agricultural land. Within a household on the day of observation, handwashing practices before preparing food and after defecation varied, but fieldworkers noted the most thorough behavior commonly among all observations (Table 2).
Caregivers reported that the child had diarrhea in the 48 h preceding the monthly interview in 947 (9.6%) of the 9,897 monthly assessments. In the bivariate analysis, household characteristics that were significantly associated with less child diarrhea included the mother or father having 7 or more years of education, a wealth index in the fourth quintile and ownership of a television, radio or mobile phone (Table 3). Children under the age of 2 y and observations during the first year of the surveillance were significantly more likely to have diarrhea (Table 3).
Mothers reported at least some breast-feeding of their <1-y-old children in the preceding 24 h in 93% of monthly visits and reported exclusive breastfeeding of their <6-mo-old children in the preceding 24 h in 55% of monthly visits. Young children were both more likely to be breastfed and more likely to have diarrhea. After adjustment for age, neither any reported breastfeeding nor exclusive breast-feeding was associated with significantly less diarrhea.
Fieldworkers observed at least one opportunity to wash hands before preparing food in 281 (81%) of the households during structured observation. Handwashing before preparing food was associated with less diarrhea in the subsequent 2 y of follow-up (Table 3). In households where food was prepared without washing hands, children had diarrhea in 12.5% of monthly assessments compared with 8.3% in households where one hand was washed with water only, 6.9% where both hands were washed with water only, and 3.7% where at least one hand was washed with soap (Table 3). Food preparers commonly washed one or both hands with water only, but fieldworkers observed food preparers washing at least one hand with soap in only three households (1%).
Fieldworkers observed at least one opportunity to wash hands after defecation in 102 (29%) of the households during structured observation. Fieldworkers observed only a single household where residents never washed their hands after defecation. Handwashing with soap was much more common after defecation than before food preparation. In 25% of households, at least one household resident washed at least one hand with soap after defecation. Among the 27 observed episodes of handwashing with soap after defecation, in eight (30%) both hands were washed with soap. Children who lived in households where fieldworkers observed at least one hand washed with soap after defecation experienced substantially less diarrhea in the subsequent 2 y of follow-up compared with children who lived in households where only one hand was washed with water after defecation (Table 3).
The fieldworkers' observations of handwashing before feeding a child, before eating, and after cleaning a child's anus who had defecated were not associated with subsequent diarrhea (Table 3).
Among household residents observed washing hands, fieldworkers observed optimal hand drying, either allowing hands to air dry or drying hands on a clean towel, uncommonly, ranging from 3% before eating to 17% after cleaning a child's anus who had defecated. Children who lived in households where optimal hand drying was observed had somewhat less diarrhea than other children, but none of the observed differences were statistically significant.
In the multivariate analysis of structured observations before preparing food, washing both hands with water only and washing at least one hand with soap were both independently associated with significantly less diarrhea morbidity during 7,999 subsequent monthly assessments for diarrhea (Table 4). The number of months since initiating surveillance, child age less than 24 mo, father's education, and household ownership of a mobile phone were also independently associated with diarrhea, but the odds ratios for the structured observation of handwashing before preparing food in the multivariate analysis were nearly identical to the bivariate odds ratios.
In the multivariate analysis of structured observations after defecation, washing at least one hand with soap was independently associated with significantly less diarrhea in the 2,952 subsequent monthly assessments (Table 4). With a smaller sample size, the month since initiating surveillance was the only other factor independently associated with diarrhea. The odds ratios for the structured observation of handwashing after defecation in the multivariate analysis were nearly identical to the bivariate odds ratios.
In 50 villages across rural Bangladesh where fecal environmental contamination, undernutrition, and diarrhea are common, in those households where fieldworkers observed food preparers washing their hands before handling food, children under the age of 5 y experienced less diarrhea over the next 2 y compared with children living in households where food preparers did not wash their hands before preparing food. This observation suggests that before preparing food may be a particularly important time to promote handwashing .
Tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, and various seasonal vegetables and greens are common components of meals in rural Bangladesh. Some of these vegetables are served raw but most are boiled and made into a curry that is commonly served with rice, the primary staple of the Bangladeshi diet. Many foods that are not further cooked, for example boiled root vegetables, fruits including bananas, and dried fish are often mashed and mixed by hand with spices and other ingredients during food preparation. Raw vegetables are commonly contaminated with pathogens and are a common vehicle for gastrointestinal pathogen transmission. Numerous outbreaks of gastroenteritis from a variety of pathogens have been traced to raw vegetables ,. The surface of raw cut lettuce and tomatoes is a hospitable environment for the growth of Shigella and Salmonella –. Similarly, there is considerable microbiological and epidemiological evidence that implicates cross-contamination of food as an important pathway for gastrointestinal pathogen transmission ,. Food that is inoculated with bacterial pathogens from contaminated hands may provide a nutrient rich environment that permits exponential growth for numerous pathogens –. The risk of diarrhea for many bacterial pathogens is proportional to the dose of the pathogens ingested ,. In several outbreaks of bacterial gastroenteritis, food that was contaminated several hours before serving was associated with high attack rates of gastroenteritis among persons who consumed it .
If persons preparing food did not wash their pathogen-contaminated hands before touching raw vegetables and rice, these foods may have become contaminated with gastrointestinal pathogens, which could subsequently multiply in a conducive growth environment before consumption. However, if the vegetables were cooked at a high enough temperature for a long enough time the pathogens would not survive and would not be transmitted. In future research, it would be useful to have fieldworkers specifically code the context of the handwashing opportunity around food preparation, so that the association between handwashing before handling raw vegetables and other foods that were subsequently cooked, handwashing before handling foods that were eaten raw, and handwashing before cross contaminating food that was not further cooked could be separately assessed.
In contrast to standard recommendations for handwashing that stress the central importance of using soap and specify detailed techniques for washing underneath fingernails, continuing lathering for over 20 s, and using either a clean towel or air drying to ensure effective handwashing , in this observational study, children who lived in households where food preparers practiced suboptimal handwashing (including briefly washing their hands with water alone) experienced significantly less diarrhea than children living in households where the food preparer did not wash hands at all. Fieldworkers did not directly measure the duration of handwashing with soap in this study, but in another study that used structured observation in urban Bangladesh to assess handwashing behavior and timed the duration of handwashing with soap with a stopwatch, the baseline mean duration of handwashing with soap was 5 s before preparing food and 11 s after defecation .
Although the benefits of handwashing with water alone observed in this evaluation conflict with standard recommendations, they are consistent with an older randomized controlled intervention study from urban Bangladesh. Stanton and Clemens used structured observation to observe handwashing behavior and noted an association between washing hands with or without soap and reported childhood diarrhea in a case control study in low-income urban communities in Dhaka Bangladesh . In a subsequent intervention study in households that received the intervention, food preparers were significantly more likely to wash their hands with or without soap compared with food preparers in nonintervention households (49% versus 33%) . Intervention households reported 26% less diarrhea than nonintervention households.
Microbiological studies demonstrate that washing hands with water alone reduces the concentration of various bacteria on hands ,–. The reduction in these bacteria is generally less than the reduction in hand contamination following handwashing with soap ,–. Field workers did not record the source of water used to wash hands, but the most common source of household water in rural Bangladesh is shallow tube wells. In other studies approximately 40% of water samples directly collected from shallow tube wells in Bangladesh were contaminated with fecal bacteria, though generally at a low-level of contamination ,. The present evaluation suggests that even the modest reduction in hand contamination achieved by washing with water alone reduces the risk of pathogen transmission at least during food preparation, albeit to a lesser degree than handwashing with soap.
The low proportion of households that followed recommended hand drying procedures suggests that substantial efforts would be required to change community habits to conform with hand drying recommendations. Since children living in households that practiced recommended hand drying behavior did not have significantly less diarrhea than other households, these data suggest that efforts to promote improved hand hygiene would be better focused on behaviors more strongly associated with child health, for example on handwashing before preparing food and after defecation, than on prescribing specific hand drying behavior.
People wash their hands more frequently when they know they are being observed –. In a previous study in rural Bangladesh that placed accelerometers within bars of soap to detect soap motion, the presence of an observer increased the frequency of soap motions consistent with handwashing by 35% . Since Bangladeshi culture views adult feces as impure , social desirability bias may have increased observed handwashing with soap, especially after defecation. In the Bangladesh motion sensor study, residents of households with more education and who owned a mobile phone or watch were more likely to increase handwashing in the presence of an observer, and in the present study households with more education and those that owned mobile phones or televisions had less diarrhea . Thus, an alternative interpretation of these observations is that the association between washing hands and subsequent childhood diarrhea is not causal. Rather, the observed reactive handwashing behavior might be an indicator of broader hygiene awareness that identified a subset of households that practiced a number of behaviors that contributed to less childhood diarrhea.
But there are two difficulties with this alternative interpretation. First, the strong association of handwashing with water alone before preparing food with diarrhea is less likely to result from social desirability bias, because there is no strong cultural norm for handwashing before preparing food. Indeed, only 1% of households washed hands with soap before preparing food. If household residents washed hands before preparing food because of social desirability bias that was then linked to other behaviors associated with less diarrhea, then we would also expect to find a significant association of diarrhea with handwashing before eating, before feeding a child, and after cleaning a child who defecated, associations that were not significant in this analysis. A second difficulty with attributing the observed associations to a theoretical unknown, unnamed, and unmeasured confounder is that the analysis implies that such a causal pathway for reduced diarrhea was independent of education, wealth, exclusive breastfeeding, and other evaluated household characteristics. An unmeasured personal or household characteristic that is so powerful that it dominates the relationship between handwashing and diarrhea, but is so elusive that we cannot even name it, seems a less likely explanation than pathogen contaminated hands and food, a biologically plausible explanation that invokes a pathway of gastrointestinal pathogen transmission repeatedly demonstrated in other contexts.
The observation in this evaluation that children living in households where residents washed their hands with soap after defecation had less diarrhea compared with children living in households where handwashing after defecation was less thorough is consistent with findings of previous intervention studies and with handwashing interrupting the transmission of pathogens from the gastrointestinal tracts of household members to a susceptible child. The lack of a significant association of diarrhea with handwashing after cleaning a child's anus who defecated or handwashing before feeding a child or before eating also have plausible microbiological explanations. A child's gastrointestinal tract and immune system has already been exposed to the organisms in his/her own feces. Further exposure to these organisms is unlikely to cause clinical illness in the child. Unwashed hands can transmit pathogens to food, but when contaminated hands contact food at the time of eating or feeding, the dose of ingested pathogen is limited to the number of organisms that are passively transferred from hand to food. In contrast, when pathogens are transmitted to food items that are stored and not further cooked, bacterial pathogen populations may reproduce exponentially, resulting in a much higher dose of pathogen and a greater risk of diarrhea.
An important limitation of this study is that measuring handwashing on a single day risks misclassifying exposure. Among mothers in Burkina Faso, observed handwashing behavior after cleaning a child who had defecated was concordant with observations on a different day between 57% and 73% of the time . This imperfect repeatability of handwashing assessments risks misclassifying exposure, which reduces the statistical power to identify associations. Such misclassification could explain why handwashing at some key times was not associated with less child diarrhea in this evaluation. However, handwashing in this evaluation was not classified on the basis of a single observation, but on the basis of the best behavior observed among multiple observations within the household (Table 2). Handwashing is a habitual behavior . For example, in the Burkina Faso study, not washing hands on one occasion was significantly associated with subsequent behavior . Importantly, even with reduced power from misclassification, the Bangladesh evaluation presented in this article identified associations between handwashing at two biologically plausible occasions with reduced prevalence of subsequent diarrhea.
A second limitation is that fieldworkers observed an opportunity to wash hands after defecation in only 29% of households. The resulting limited statistical power precluded a thorough assessment of the utility of washing hands after defecation with water only or with ash/mud, the contribution of other determinants of diarrhea, or a combined model that included both handwashing before preparing food and handwashing after defecation. However, even with limited power there was a strong association between handwashing with soap and less subsequent diarrhea, and the point estimates of the odds ratios are suggestive of less diarrhea for handwashing with water alone.
A third limitation is that different gastrointestinal pathogens have different routes of transmission within different contexts, which might limit the generalizability of this study. It is possible that transmission of gastrointestinal pathogens from hands to food during preparation is a less important route of transmission in other settings. Additionally, in settings where water to wash hands is more heavily contaminated with feces than available water in rural Bangladesh, washing hands with water alone may be less protective. However this evaluation was conducted in 50 rural villages in 26 districts across Bangladesh and Bangladesh is the eighth most populous country in the world, so the analysis is not identifying a highly isolated phenomenon. In an assessment of hygiene indicators in rural Nicaragua, washing hands before preparing food was the single hygiene indicator most strongly associated with child diarrhea . Nevertheless, it would be useful to conduct similar evaluations in other contexts.
A fourth limitation is that the program evaluation was not designed to evaluate the hypothesis that observed handwashing behavior was associated with a change in the prevalence of subsequent diarrhea. Because this is a secondary analysis of the data, there is some risk of data mining to identify an interesting but ultimately not robust finding. However, we planned these data analyses at the time we designed the program evaluation. There was a dose effect between thoroughness of handwashing before preparing food and subsequent observed diarrhea and the associated p-values were <0.005.
An important flaw in this evaluation was that we did not have the protocol reviewed by an independent human study participant committee. The amount of time we asked from participants, the intensity of the interaction with the field team, and the use of these data to draw generalizable insights to improve global scientific understanding mean that the activity had substantial research components and should have been reviewed by an independent human study participant committee. The study team did implement standard procedures to minimize risks and harms to evaluation participants, but similar future evaluations should be reviewed by human study participant committees. Rigorous evaluations of large public health programs provide insights that can translate into improved programs that save lives and improve community health. However large public health programs in low-income countries often have extremely tight implementation schedules. Human study participant committees in low-resource settings may need to develop additional capacities to provide appropriate independent review more promptly for these type of evaluations.
Most people living in low-income settings have apparently concluded that following recommendations that require them to wash hands with soap ten, 20, or more times per day is not feasible . The observations from this program evaluation suggest that to prevent childhood diarrhea the most important occasions for handwashing and the technique for effective handwashing differ from standard recommendations. Specifically, handwashing promotion programs in rural Bangladesh should not attempt to modify handwashing behavior at all five key times, but should focus primarily on handwashing after defecation and before food preparation. Because handwashing before food preparation is such a different context than after defecation, developing and evaluating strategies to promote handwashing before food preparation is an important area for future research.
The lower prevalence of childhood diarrhea seen in this evaluation among children living in households where residents washed hands with soap are consistent with the many intervention trials that demonstrate less childhood diarrhea in households where residents are encouraged to wash hands with soap . The findings from this study, that children living in households where field workers observed food preparers washing their hands with water alone before preparing food had less diarrhea compared with children living in households where fieldworkers observed that food preparers did not wash their hands, suggest that promoting handwashing exclusively with soap may be unwarranted. Handwashing with water alone might be seen as a step on the handwashing ladder: handwashing with water is good; handwashing with soap is better. Additional controlled trials evaluating the effect on child health of interventions that include encouraging handwashing either with water alone or with soap and water would be particularly helpful to guide public health programs. More generally, research to develop and evaluate handwashing messages that account for the limited time and soap supplies available for low-income families, and are focused on those behaviors where there is the strongest evidence for a health benefit could help identify more effective strategies.
Conceived and designed the experiments: SPL RBJ. Performed the experiments: AKH TH. Analyzed the data: SPL AKH. Wrote the paper: SPL AKH TH LU RBJ. ICMJE criteria for authorship read and met: SPL AKH TH LU RBJ. Agree with the manuscript's results and conclusions: SPL AKH TH LU RBJ. Wrote the first draft of the paper: SPL.
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- 44. Cousens S, Kanki B, Toure S, Diallo I, Curtis V (1996) Reactivity and repeatability of hygiene behaviour: structured observations from Burkina Faso. Soc Sci Med 43: 1299–1308. | <urn:uuid:624fc374-f75e-42de-92ed-41a6368b076d> | CC-MAIN-2016-36 | http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1001052 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-36/segments/1471982292330.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20160823195812-00122-ip-10-153-172-175.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942476 | 10,866 | 3.125 | 3 |
Electives are an important part of any child’s education, including the homeschooled child. They’re a very important piece of your child’s education, and nothing encourages the love of learning quite as well.
Let’s talk about homeschool electives!
Watch me talk about electives!
What is an elective class?
Electives are non-compulsory classes that a child takes of their own choosing. These are classes outside of the typical reading, writing, math, science, social science classes one takes in school. Electives include foreign language, art classes, home economics, and specialized courses in an area of interest.
Why are electives important for the homeschooled child?
Electives serve several purposes. Evaluators and colleges like to see electives to show that the child has a well-rounded education, and while that is important, it’s even more important on a personal level. Electives allow children to explore careers, to learn more about their interests, or to take the time to specialize in a topic they already know a lot about.
What is the difference between extracurricular activities and an elective?
It’s true that most homeschooled kids are exposed to far more “elective content” than kids who attend a traditional school. That doesn’t mean that everything your child does should qualify as an elective credit, however. There is a difference between taking a few art classes (extracurricular) and studying art (elective), for example. An elective needs to meet credit requirements to be counted (see my post about counting credits for more info). This doesn’t mean that those art classes aren’t important, it just means that you need to be intentional in determining what does and doesn’t make up a credit.
TIP: Both extracurricular activities and electives need to be listed on your child’s transcript and you can overlap them!
For the art student: Weekly art classes qualify as an extracurricular activity BUT if you add in some books about art theory and history you have an art elective!
For the sports star: Playing soccer on a team is a great extracurricular to list on your transcript. Add in some resources about learning the history of the game and how to referee and you have a PE elective!
Are there are any electives you recommend more than others?
There are only four electives I highly suggest: at least two consecutive full credits of the same foreign language, one high school credit of PE & Health (1/2 credit each), and at least 1 full credit of some kind of art (1/2 of which involves a performing art). Why? Because a lot of colleges like to see these credits even if they aren’t required for high school graduation.
The fourth elective I recommend is 1/2 credit in Driver’s Education, trust me when I say it makes your life a whole lot easier when your child starts driving.
How many elective credits does my child need?
First, check to see if your state has a requirement, if any state scholarships have requirements, and then look to see if the colleges in your area do. My state requires 8 credits for graduation. The major universities in my state require 4, 2 of which have to be consecutive foreign language.
Once you know any state requirements, the rest is up to you. It’s my experience that most homeschooled kids get way more elective credits than their traditionally-schooled peers because they have more time to pursue their interests.
What kind of electives have your kids taken?
I have two teenagers, one graduated and the other is a junior right now. Some of the electives they have taken are:
-Community volunteering (yes, I count it because they’ve done over 120 hours for the same organization)
-Home Ec (1/2 credit sewing, 1/2 credit cooking)
-Drama & Musical Theatre
-Spanish 1 & 2
-Japanese 1 & 2
-HOPE (Health Opportunities through Physical Education)
-Design Basics (completed via dual enrollment at the local community college)
-Entrepreneurship & Money Management
Can I count electives in the middle schools years as high school credit?
Yes. Also no.
See, it all depends on if the work is high school level. There are plenty of electives out there that a middle school child can do that would qualify, but that doesn’t mean you should list it on their high school transcript.
Most colleges are more interested in which classes were taken once the child is of 9th grade age. I generally suggest to have your child take the electives but not to put anything before 9th grade on their transcript.
Now, we’re homeschoolers so there is some wiggle room here. You need to decide if you want to go with 9th grade level work OR 9th grade level age, or even a mixture of both. Using Spanish 1 as an example, again: if your child takes Spanish 1 and Spanish 2 before 9th grade and then stops taking a foreign language I would list Spanish 1 & 2 on their transcript along with the years taken. If they continue to Spanish 3 & 4 I would only list those courses and not Spanish 1 & 2.
How do we decide what electives to take?
Again, look at high school graduation and college admission requirements, even if your child doesn’t want to go to college. Once you’ve done that:
-Ask your child if thy’d like to explore a specific career. Examples: military history, computer programming, car maintenance
-Choose skills that are beneficial to adult life. Examples: CPR/first aid, cooking, money management
-Go more in-depth in a something they already love. Examples: history of cinema, women in literature
-Pick something they’ve never tried. Examples: photography, sewing, animation
When should my child start taking electives?
I suggest allowing your child to take a few as young as middle school, but get really serious about them once your child has reached 9th grade. | <urn:uuid:c2c3fc49-f323-4119-9e14-9ef609865e4e> | CC-MAIN-2017-34 | https://homeschoolgameschool.com/homeschool-electives-how-why/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-34/segments/1502886109525.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20170821191703-20170821211703-00334.warc.gz | en | 0.963877 | 1,301 | 2.625 | 3 |
|PSY's Wiki Korea Introducing Unique Facets of Korean Culture|
In the Korean language, bul means fire and geum means Friday. This expression means to have fun and burn the night away on a Friday night with activities such as going to clubs or watching performances. Friday night, followed by the
weekend, is when Korean people have the most fun.
Meaning narrow path in Jeju dialect, “Olle” is a walking tour path that connects the beautiful paths scattered all around Jeju Island. Each course is around 15-kilometer long and takes five to six hours to complete. Mostly consisting of paths along the coast, Olle also takes people to forests, mountains and remote places offering unique views of Jeju.
Pojang macha or Pocha is a tent-style restaurant on the street. It sells a variety of dishes and drinks, and can be easily found downtown or on
small streets at night. This is where Korean people often go to when they feel like drinking and eating in a casual atmosphere with friends.
Located in Yongin City, Gyeonggi-do Province, Korean Folk Village is where visitors can experience the lifestyle and the natural atmosphere of the late Joseon Dynasty. The village features about 270 traditional houses from different regions. Korean Folk Village, where the past and history is well-preserved, is also a popular filming location for TV dramas and movies.
Temple stay lets visitors experience the life, traditional culture and spirit of Korean Buddhism while staying at a Buddhist temple. It became one of the most popular programs among those who are interested in Korean Buddhism or traditional culture. By engaging in monastic activities, people gain some peace of mind and feel refreshed after eating healthy food at a temple. More details can be found at the Temple Stay Information Center.
Dolharubang, meaning a grandfather made of stone, is a famous stone statue in Jeju Island. An old Korean anecdote says that a person who touches the statue’s nose will have a son and a person who touches its ear will have a daughter. In Jeju Island, it is believed that Dolharubang will preserve Jeju’s peace and order.
After the 2002 Korea & Japan World Cup, people started taking to the streets to cheer together during big events. Hundreds and thousands of people wearing the same-colored clothing cheer with their all their might to show their support. Red was the jersey color of the Korean soccer team during the 2002 Korea & Japan World Cup and the whole nation cheered on the streets while wearing red shirts.
Busan Haeundae is a well-known tourist spot in Busan, the place where Korea’s largest beach is also located. Haeundae is not only one of the most representative tourist attractions in Korea but is also a preferred venue of many international conferences, exhibitions and conventions.
This popular seafood market is located in Nampo-dong, Jung-gu and in Chungmu-dong, Seo-gu, Busan. The name Jagalchi was derived from a gravel field that reached all the way up to the present Chungmu-dong Rotary. This modernized seafood market has approximately 480 stores inside and sells cods, shells, marine plants and other seafood caught from the coast near Busan and the South Coast. | <urn:uuid:287a76e8-9d50-481f-a61c-210f5ea13860> | CC-MAIN-2015-32 | http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_6.jsp?cid=1821423 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-32/segments/1438042989142.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20150728002309-00165-ip-10-236-191-2.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959271 | 686 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Wed, Dec 19, 2018
Deep learning has changed the entire landscape over the past few years. Every day, there are more applications that rely on deep learning techniques in fields as diverse as healthcare, finance, human resources, retail, earthquake detection, and self-driving cars. As for existing applications, the results have been steadily improving.
In this article, I will present some of the main advances in deep learning for 2018. As with the 2017 version on deep learning advancements, an exhaustive review is impossible. I’d simply like to share some of the accomplishments in the field that have most impressed me.
In Natural Language Processing (NLP), a language model is a model that can estimate the probability distribution of a set of linguistic units, typically a sequence of words. These are interesting models since they can be built at little cost and have significantly improved several NLP tasks such as machine translation, speech recognition, and parsing.
Historically, one of the best-known approaches is based on Markov models and n-grams. With the emergence of deep learning, more powerful models generally based on long short-term memory networks (LSTM) appeared. Although highly effective, existing models are usually unidirectional, meaning that only the left (or right) context of a word ends up being considered.
Last October, the Google AI Language team published a paper that caused a stir in the community. BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) is a new bidirectional language model that has achieved state of the art results for 11 complex NLP tasks, including sentiment analysis, question answering, and paraphrase detection.
The strategy for pre-training BERT differs from the traditional left-to-right or right-to-left options. The novelty consists of:
The impact on business applications is huge since this improvement affects various areas of NLP. This could lead to more accurate results in machine translation, chatbot behavior, automated email responses, and customer review analysis.
We are quite used to the interactive environments of simulators and video games typically created by graphics engines. While impressive, the classic approaches are costly in that the scene geometry, materials, lighting, and other parameters must be meticulously specified. A very good question is; whether it is possible to automatically build these environments using, for example, deep learning techniques.
In their video-to-video synthesis paper, researchers from NVIDIA address this problem. Basically, their goal is to come up with a mapping function between a source video and a photorealistic output video that precisely depicts the input content. The authors model it as a distribution matching problem, where the goal is to get the conditional distribution of the automatically created videos as close as possible to that of the actual videos. To achieve this, they build a model based on generative adversarial networks (GAN). The key idea, within the GAN framework, is that the generator tries to produce realistic synthetic data such that the discriminator cannot differentiate between real and synthesized data. They define a spatio-temporal learning objective, with the aim of achieving temporarily coherent videos.
The results are absolutely amazing, as can be seen in the video below.
The input video is in the top left quadrant. It is a segmentation map of a video of a street scene from the Cityscapes dataset. The authors compare their results (bottom right) with two baselines: pix2pixHD (top right) and COVST (bottom left).
This approach can be applied to many other tasks, like a sketch-to-video synthesis for face swapping. In the filmstrip linked to below, for each person we have an original video (left), an extracted sketch (bottom-middle), and a synthesized video.
This approach can even be used to perform future video prediction; that is predicting the future video given a few observed frames with, again, very impressive results.
Since NVIDIA open-sourced the vid2vid code (based on PyTorch), you might enjoy experimenting with it.
Last year, I wrote about the importance of word embeddings in NLP and the conviction that it was a research topic that was going to get more attention in the near future. Anyone who has utilized word embeddings knows that once the initial excitement of checking via compositionality (i.e. King - Man + Woman = Queen) has passed, there are several limitations in practice. Perhaps the most important ones are insensitivity to polysemy and inability to characterize the exact established relationship between words. Synonyms? Hyponyms? Hyperonyms? Another limitation concerns morphological relationships: word embeddings are commonly not able to determine that words such as driver and driving are morphologically related.
In the paper titled, Deep contextualized word representations (recognized as an Outstanding paper at NAACL 2018), researchers from the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence and the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering propose a new kind of deep contextualized word representation that simultaneously models complex characteristics of word use (e.g. syntax and semantics) as well as how these uses vary across linguistic contexts (i.e. polysemy).
The central theme of their proposal, called Embeddings from Language Models (ELMo), is to vectorize each word using the entire context in which it is used, or the entire sentence. To achieve this, the authors rely on a deep bidirectional language model (biLM), which is pre-trained on a very large body of text. Additionally, since representation is based on characters, the morphosyntactic relationships between words are captured. Consequently, the model behaves quite well when dealing with words that were not seen in training (i.e. out-of-vocabulary words).
The authors show that by simply adding ELMo to existing state-of-the-art solutions, the outcomes improve considerably for difficult NLK tasks such as textual entailment, coreference resolution, and question answering. As in the case of Google’s BERT representation, ELMo is a significant contribution to the field, and therefore promises to have a significant impact on business applications.
We have compiled 11 essential questions to ask before kicking off a ML initiative.Go to the list
Are visual tasks related or not? This is the question addressed by researchers at Stanford and UC Berkeley in the paper titled, Taskonomy: Disentangling Task Transfer Learning, which won the Best Paper Award at CVPR 2018.
It can reasonably be argued that some kind of connection exists between certain visual tasks. For example, knowing surface normals can help in estimating the depth of an image. In such a scenario, transfer learning techniques – or the possibility to reuse supervised learning results – are very useful.
The authors propose a computational approach to modeling this structure by finding transfer-learning dependencies across 26 common visual tasks, including object recognition, edge detection, and depth estimation. The output is a computational taxonomy map for task transfer learning.
The figure above shows a sample task structure discovered by the computational taxonomy task. In this example, the approach informs us that if the learned features of a surface normal estimator and occlusion edge detector are combined, then models for reshading and point matching can be rapidly trained with little labeled data.
Reducing the demand for labeled data is one of the main concerns of this work. The authors demonstrate that the total number of labeled data points required for solving a set of 10 tasks can be reduced by roughly 2/3 (compared with independent training) while maintaining near identical performance. This is an important finding for real use cases, and therefore promises to have a significant impact on business applications.
Deep learning models have contributed significantly to the field of NLP, yielding state-of-the-art results for some common tasks. However, models are usually trained from scratch, which requires large amounts of data and takes considerable time.
In their work, Howard and Ruder propose an inductive transfer learning approach dubbed Universal Language Model Fine-tuning (ULMFiT). The main idea is to fine tune pre-trained language models, in order to adapt them to specific NLP tasks. This is an astute approach that enables us to tackle specific tasks for which we do not have large amounts of data.
Their method outperforms state-of-the-art results for six text classification tasks, reducing the error rate by 18-24%. Regarding the volume of training data, the results are also pretty astounding: with only 100 labeled and 50K unlabeled samples, the approach achieves the same performance as models trained from scratch on 10K labeled samples.
Again, these results are evidence that transfer learning is a key concept in the field. You can take a look at their code and pretrained models here.
As was the case last year, 2018 saw a sustained increase in the use of deep learning techniques. In particular, this year was marked by a growing interest in transfer learning techniques. From a strategic point of view, this is probably the best outcome of the year in my opinion, and I hope this trend continues in the near future.
Some other advances I do not explore in this post are equally remarkable. For instance, advancements in reinforcement learning such as the amazing OpenAI Five bots, capable of defeating professional players of Dota 2, deserve mention. So do spherical CNN, particularly efficient at analyzing spherical images, as well as PatternNet and PatternAttribution, two techniques that confront a major shortcoming of neural networks: the ability to explain deep networks.
The impact on business applications of all the above is massive, since they affect so many different areas of NLP and computer vision. We may observe improved results in the areas of machine translation, healthcare diagnostics, chatbot behavior, warehouse inventory management, automated email responses, facial recognition, and customer review analysis, just to name a few.
From a scientific point of view, I loved the review on deep learning written by Gary Marcus. He lucidly points out the limitations of current deep learning approaches and suggests that the field of AI would gain a considerable amount if deep learning methods were supplemented by insights from other disciplines and techniques, such as cognitive and developmental psychology, and symbol manipulation and hybrid modeling. Whether or not you agree with him, I think it’s worth reading his paper.
I hope you enjoyed this year-in-review. Please feel free to comment on how these advancements struck you. Are there any additional ones from this year that I didn’t mention here? Let us know!
We would love to chat with you. | <urn:uuid:b82e16b8-6782-4ade-9345-5d1284973583> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://tryolabs.com/blog/2018/12/19/major-advancements-deep-learning-2018 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030334332.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20220925004536-20220925034536-00337.warc.gz | en | 0.945926 | 2,171 | 2.65625 | 3 |
What is a database item?
A data item describes an atomic state of a particular object concerning a specific property at a certain time point. ... When looking at databases or XML files, the object is usually identified by an object name or other type of object identifier, which is part of the "data".
What are the objects in SQL?
A database object is any defined object in a database that is used to store or reference data. Some examples of database objects include tables, views, clusters, sequences, indexes, and synonyms. The table is this hour's focus because it is the primary and simplest form of data storage in a relational database.
What is an object of knowledge?
The object of knowledge involves the consciousness of the dis- tinction between the idea of an object and the object that warrants. the idea,- a distinction without which there would be no knowl-
What are the two main types of logic?
Logos and Logic. Logos: There are two types of logical argument, inductive and deductive. In an inductive argument, the reader holds up a specific example, and then claims that what is true for it is also true for a general category.
What is the material object of metaphysics?
The material object of metaphysics includes all things which fall under the notion of being, `such as actual or possible, abstract or concrete, material or immaterial, finite or infinite. The formal object of metaphysics is the study of 'being as being,' ens in quantum ens.
What are the 3 major categories of metaphysics?
Peirce divided metaphysics into (1) ontology or general metaphysics, (2) psychical or religious metaphysics, and (3) physical metaphysics.
What are examples of metaphysics?
Examples of metaphysical concepts are Being, Existence, Purpose, Universals, Property, Relation, Causality, Space, Time, Event, and many others. They are fundamental, because all other concepts and beliefs rest on them. All Knowledge and Value is based upon the definitions of these concepts.
Who is the father of metaphysics?
What is God in metaphysics?
The idea of God The claim that there is a God raises metaphysical questions about the nature of reality and existence. ... The Abrahamic religions are theistic; God is both the creator of the world and the one who sustains it.
What is metaphysical thinking?
Metaphysical - Longer definition: Metaphysics is a type of philosophy or study that uses broad concepts to help define reality and our understanding of it. ... Metaphysical ideas, because they are not based on direct experience with material reality, are often in conflict with the modern sciences.
What is metaphysical love?
In respect to this, what is metaphysical love? In metaphysical style It is the love relationship and the state of being in love which matter. And like Donne, Marvell conducts his argument through images, and images so far removed from the conventional imagery associated with the topic that they can be called conceits.
What are the basic issues in metaphysics?
Typical issues include transcendence, being, existence in its individual and communal dimensions, causality, relations, analogy, purpose, the possibility of metaphysics, and the relations of metaphysics to other disciplines.
What is a metaphysical person?
A person who creates or develops metaphysical theories is called a metaphysician. Common parlance also uses the word "metaphysics" for a different referent from that of the present article, namely for beliefs in arbitrary non-physical or magical entities.
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Could Solar Powered Flight Become a Reality?
According to Greek mythology, to escape imprisonment on Crete, the craftsman and inventor Daedalus made wings from wax and feathers for himself and his son Icarus. The legend then goes on to tell how Icarus flew too close to the sun, the wax melted, and he plunged into the sea and was drowned.
It seems that when it comes to human attempts at flight, the sun has not always been a help, but that may all be about to change, as a number of projects are poised to launch a range of solar-powered aircraft into the skies and, if all goes to plan, will soon see a two-man crew circumnavigate the globe.
Drone WarsUnsurprisingly, much of the interest in solar-powered planes has come from the military. Recent conflicts around the world have highlighted the benefits of remotely operated, pilot-less 'drones' - and not just those that are equipped with rockets and bombs. A tireless 'eye-in-the-sky' can be a real boon for a whole host of missions, from intelligence gathering to humanitarian operations such as search-and-rescue, particularly in relatively inaccessible regions of the planet.
While shifting the pilot out of the cockpit and onto a computer console hundreds if not thousands of miles away from the action gets around the problem of human fatigue, for a conventionally powered aircraft, no matter how good its fuel economy, sooner or later it has to leave its station and refuel. That problem goes away with photovoltaics (PV) powering your plane.
Satellite ReplacementIt's not, however, just about replacing those small pilot-less planes (or UAVs - unmanned aerial vehicles - to give them their proper title). Plans are afoot to put some truly massive solar-powered UAVs into the air.
A whole new class of unmanned aircraft are being developed that could revolutionise surveillance and communications forever, and provide a cheaper, more flexible - and vastly less energy-hungry - alternative to just about anything that you currently need a satellite to do. Instead of blasting cameras, sensors and sensitive scientific instruments into orbit on the backs of loud, flame-spewing rockets, the future could see the quieter and much less dramatic launches taking place of solar pseudo satellites - huge, long-endurance UAVs that can fly non-stop for years at a time.
Sounds a bit sci-fi? Not really; a number of aerospace companies around the world are already working on aircraft capable of doing just that - and two of the best candidates use engines designed at Newcastle University.
HAPS and HALEOriginally devised by QinetiQ, and now Airbus-owned as part of its High Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS) programme, Zephyr effectively broke the mould for solar-powered flight in 2010 when it smashed the then existing endurance record for UAV flight, flying to a height of 21,562 metres and for two-and-a-half weeks.
With a wingspan of nearly 75ft (22.5m), two 450W permanent-magnet synchronous motors, and with a lithium-sulphur battery to power the plane at night, Zephyr can cruise at 30 knots and at altitudes of up to 70,000ft or more.
Boeing's proposed Solar Eagle is set to be orders of magnitude bigger still, with a staggering 400ft (120m) wingspan - almost double a Jumbo jet's - and no fewer than 20 of the same engines that power the Zephyr, and it will have a performance to match. Officially dubbed a High Altitude, Long Endurance (HALE) aircraft, the Solar Eagle will ultimately be capable of flying for five years or more without needing to land.
Once that becomes a reality, PV pseudo satellites become a genuine alternative to real satellites, for everything from military reconnaissance to weather monitoring - and the savings in rocket fuel could be immense.
Round the WorldFlying UAVs - even these really big ones - by solar power is one thing, and it may even be the biggest potential use of PV in aviation for some time to come, but it is manned flight that really fires the imagination like nothing else.
Two Swiss pioneers - Bertrand Piccard, veteran of the first non-stop, round the world, balloon trip and André Borschberg - clearly agree. Having already successfully crossed the US from coast to coast in their solar powered Solar Impulse, together they plan to circumnavigate the globe.
Their 21,000 mile pioneering flight is scheduled to begin in March next year, heading east from the Persian Gulf, over India, China and the US before finally heading for home over either Europe or Africa.
Test of EnduranceAlthough it is not intended to be a non-stop trip, the total 25-day flight time being spread over the course of about five months, it will still be a major feat of endurance for the two pilots. Confined in their unpressurised cabin and travelling at up to 27,000ft, although they will be able to take 20-minute cat naps on longer legs of the flight, when the aircraft is safely away from inhabited areas, on flights of less than 24 hours, they will have to go without sleep. Oxygen masks are, however, supplied!
Borschberg has described the plane as "of unlimited endurance." No doubt everyone involved in the project hopes the same will hold true for two men in its cockpit.
The Solar Impulse is a remarkable machine, with a wingspan the size of a 747, but weighing about the same as the average car, and equipped with over 17,000 solar cells, its four twin-bladed propellers are driven with roughly the same amount of power that drove the Wright Brothers' first flights in the early 1900s. Had solar technology been around then, they probably would have used it themselves.
PV certainly isn't going to be powering your holiday flights anytime soon, but it certainly does show just how far clean technology has come - and how far it could yet go.
Like so many themes from the past, it seems the Icarus story just got a reboot! | <urn:uuid:a5677113-a544-4a12-a3e2-74ad2f0c6349> | CC-MAIN-2017-09 | http://www.energysavingsecrets.co.uk/could-solar-powered-flight-become-reality.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-09/segments/1487501170380.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20170219104610-00419-ip-10-171-10-108.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952655 | 1,285 | 3.28125 | 3 |
Effects Of War On The Us Economy Economics Essay
How Does War Affect The United States National Debt and Economy? Since the establishment of the colonies, that later became the United States, we have experienced the various influences that war has had on the national debt, economy, and more importantly, on individual lives. Before, national debt could be paid out gradually, it now increases with every second and is $12.4 trillion and rising. The effects can be clearly seen throughout American history, especially in times of war. The national debt is monitored by the U.S. treasury and its financial departments. It is predominantly made up of corporate and government stocks and bonds, T-bills, and notes, which are also referred to as securities. The trading of securities to raise money for infrastructures, developments, benefit programs, and also for the purpose of financing the wars that we can recall, such as the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and World Wars I and II, has brought us through periods of economic boom and depression, during and following these wars.
War bonds were the main securities issued by the government to pay for military operations. War bonds raise capital for the government and make the general population feel involved for a national and a military cause. This system was useful as a means of controlling inflation, which is an increase in the supplies of money in the marketplace relative to its demand, especially in a wartime overstimulated economy by removing the money from its circulation until the war is over. The government issues war bonds that have a yield which is the interest payment on the bond sold that is often below the value of many bonds found in the marketplace, which made it attractive and affordable to all citizens.
The Revolutionary War began as colonists protested the high taxes that colonial Britain imposed on the colonies and the profits they amassed through the practice of mercantilism without fair share. Once the war began, the British blocked the seas that interrupted trade and made goods more expensive. Further, inflation occurred as the Continental government continued to print currency, backed only by the guarantee of Congress and the States behind it. Congress also funded the war with loans from Britain’s competitors, such as France, the Netherlands, and Spain to purchase arms and supplies. The continental government also used domestic sources by selling bonds to individuals at a low and competitive interest rate. People such as Robert Morris and Haym Salomon took money out of their personal funds to finance the revolutionary effort as a form of patriotism. When the colonies won the war, high taxes and other limits on trade and industry ended. The new Americans could build new industries and expand in the West. Britain was no longer a trade partner with the new country, agricultural prices fell, and there were high unemployment rates. The war ended with the U.S. accumulating $37 million of debt on the national level and the value of the dollar quickly declined as a result of inflation. These problems were later solved when Alexander Hamilton established the First Bank of the United States. The First Bank unified the nation by creating a national bank instead of separate ones for each colony, ran an excise tax which taxed imported goods, and established financial order in the United States and credit for itself within the country and overseas. The Bank would be prohibited from purchasing government bonds and issuing notes beyond its supply of capital.
Before and during the Civil War, the North and South had their own reliable industries. The North was home to many factories which produced manufactured goods such as guns, bullets, cannons, boots, and uniforms. It had four times as many free citizens than the South. More than 70% of the country’s rail lines ran throughout the North. They even benefited from a strong navy and fleet of ships. The South was underdeveloped in its industry and had several economic weaknesses, such as financial and political problems and few forms of transportation. They also had a small population of about 9 million citizens, therefore, fewer soldiers to prepare for the war. Nevertheless, the South maintained strong agriculture, cotton mills and textiles products. Much of the success they gained was built on the labor of slaves. The two sides had many disagreements and threats to leave the Union ultimately led to the Civil War.
Despite advantages in the war, the North needed money. They issued a massive bond measure asking its citizens and financial institutions to purchase bonds to support the war. This effort did not raise the capital needed, so the government started to print paper money, which were called “greenbacks.” They were backed by gold and later bonds which the government guaranteed. The increase of greenbacks in the economy caused inflation to rise and was worth as much as a third less than its intrinsic value. The government, as a means to stabilize the rapid rise of inflation, raised the interest rate and made everyone accept it for goods and services, or "legal tender for all debts public and private," as stated by the Department of Treasury ustreas.gov. The government also introduced its first income tax in 1862 to find more ways of gathering money and established the Bureau of Internal Revenue, later known as the IRS. The Union never dealt with an inflation rate of more than 80%.
The South was even more desperate for money as its trade was cut off by the North and its banking system lost. They resorted to printing more money which was backed by their low reserves of gold. The South could not collect taxes because it was forbidden in its Confederate Constitution. The Confederacy was on the verge of bankruptcy and in 1864 it levied its first income tax. Nevertheless, the damage was already done with too much supply of money in the market and high inflation rates rose to as much as 9,000%. The South could not manage its short supply of food and ammunition, thus, many of its citizens starved. Robert E. Lee, Confederate general, realized this and withdrew from the war by surrendering for the Confederacy. During the Civil War, the national debt was $65 million in 1860 and surpassed $1 billion in 1863. This amount gradually decreased after the end of the war.
Before World War I began, the United States was in recession. During the war, the United States became involved, and its economy thrived on trade with Europeans producing war goods, and maintaining a neutral status that strengthened their economy. The U.S. entered the war three years later as a result of instigation from the Central Powers, threats to trade with their allies, and a sense of separation in the United States as of whether to be involved in the war. Entering the war in 1917 advanced our total debt to about $22 billion and increased federal spending to a total that would later amount to $112 billion; however, the U.S. enjoyed many benefits such as its competitive position in the world, agricultural boom, profit for many companies, and a decrease in the unemployment rate. Its success led the way for abundance in the Roaring 20’s. For example, new technologies such as mass production automobiles, moving pictures, and radios became an indispensable part of American homes.
The Great Depression of the early 1930’s devastated our country and even the world. It caused personal incomes, tax revenue, profits, and prices to drop and international trade plunged by 50% to 65%. The recovery from this economic depression was caused by World War II. It tremendously boosted the U.S. economy as we began to produce weapons, uniforms, and other supplies for war. It created jobs and increased wages throughout society. Much of our production was shipped overseas. Americans soon spent their money on things such as newspapers, movies, and entertainment. The War Advertising Council was formed and held more than 100 campaigns to sell war bonds, donate blood, conserve food, and enroll enlisters. Involvement in World War II and social programs during the presidencies of Franklin Roosevelt and Truman caused a sixteenfold increase in the total war debt, amounting from $16 billion in 1930 to $260 billion in 1950.
In conclusion, we can see the effect that money supply and war have on the United States national debt. It has caused dramatic decline and exponential growth in the economy during and following wartime. We have seen the effects of inflation and the outcome of the many battles from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War to our great World Wars. The national debt is a concern not only to the government, but also to its citizens. When the government debts increase, they use taxpayers’ money to handle the increasing costs in the economy. Some consequences are higher individual taxes, reduced benefits and programs, higher interest rates, and a weak dollar, which ultimately reduces the individual purchasing power and increases inflation.
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Eulemur fulvus fulvus (common brown lemurs), Eulemur fulvus albifrons (white-fronted lemurs), Eulemur fulvus collaris (collared lemurs), Eulemur fulvus rufus (red-fronted lemurs), and Eulemur fulvus sanfordi (Sanford's lemurs). They all have their own specific ranges within the larger range shared by the entire species.is found on Madagascar and the Comoro Islands. This species includes five subspecies. They are
Red fronted lemurs (E. f. rufus) are found naturally in western and eastern Madagascar. There is also a small introduced population in Southern Madagascar at the Berenty Private Reserve. Common brown lemurs (E. f. fulvis) are found in northwest portions of Madagascar. White-fronted lemurs (E. f. albifrons) are found throughout most of the remaining northeastern rain forest in Madagascar. Collared lemurs (E. f. collaris) are found in southeastern Madagascar, and Sanford's lemurs (E. f. sanfordi) have a very restricted range in northern Madagascar.
At some points, these subspecies exist sympatrically.
The habitat forvaries slightly for each of the included subspecies. Red-fronted lemurs are found in the canopy of deciduous forests in western and eastern Madagascar. Common brown lemurs and collared lemurs live in scattered forest fragments in the high plateaus of western Madagascar. White-fronted lemurs are found in rain forest fragments. Sanford's lemurs inhabit a very limited area of secondary forest.
As mentioned earlier, the habitats for these subspecies do overlap, since some of the groups exist sympatrically.
Brown lemurs, like all true lemurs, have binocular vision and long furry tails. They have a scent gland located at their wrist that is used in olfactory communication. This species is sexually dichromatic - its males and females have different fur patterns.
All the members of this species fall within the broad size range of 2 to 4 kg. This is about the size of a housecat. Each subspecies has its own unique markings on its fur.
Red-fronted brown lemurs have an average weight of about 2.7 kg and their average body length is 40 cm. The tail is about 55 cm long. The males are gray to gray-brown and have a reddish crown. The females are reddish-brown. All red-fronted brown lemurs have pale patches over their eyes.
Common brown lemurs, weigh around 2.6 kg. Their body length is 50 cm, as is their tail length. Both males and females are brown to dark-gray with light beards and dark faces.
White-fronted lemurs have a body weight of 2.3 kg, and body length of 40 cm, and a tail length of greater than 50 cm. Generally, this subspecies is dark brown with a lighter underside. Males have a white or cream colored head, ears and beard.
Collared lemurs are around 2.6 kg, with a body length of 50 cm and a tail length of 50 cm as well. Males are brownish-gray with a dark stripe down the back, a dark tail and tail tip, and a lighter underside. Females have a reddish to brown coat and a gray face. Both sexes have a distinct beard that is reddish-brown in females and cream to reddish-brown in males.
Sanford's lemurs weigh around 2.3 kg and have a body length of 40 cm with a tail length of 50+ cm. They can be distinguished from the other subspecies by their fur. Both sexes are dark brown with a lighter underside. Noses, snouts and the area between the eyes are black, and a dark "T" that connects the eyes and nose dominates the head. Males have white-reddish ear tufts and thick beards, providing them the illusion of a 'ragged mane' around their faces.
The mating system of these lemurs has not been reported. However, other species in the genus Eulemur are either monogamous or polygynous. It is likely that is similar. Unlike other members of the genus, females are not usually dominant to males, so the degree to which females exert active mate choice is not known. (Nowak, 1999)
Brown lemurs reach sexual maturity between 1 and 2 years of age. Their mating habits are very seasonal with mating occuring sometimes in late May (Sanford's lemurs only) but usually throughout June and July (all subspecies). The gestation period for these animals is approximately 120 days. Infants are born in the fall, between September and November. Only one infant is born per year to each mother.
For the first three weeks of their lives, young lemurs hang onto the mother's bellies. They alter their grasp only to nurse. After three weeks have passed, they shift and ride on the mother's backs. They then begin to take their first steps. Following this, they start to sample solid food, nibbling on whatever the other members of the group happen to be eating. This is their first sign of independence. Nursing continues but its importance in the infant's diet tapers. The young lemur is weaned after approximately 4 to 6 months - usually by January.
The role of males in parental care in this species has not been described.
One individual of this species lived over 36 years in captivity. It is likely that, as with other lemurs in the genus, the maximum lifespan in the wild ranges between 20 and 25 years.
This species forms multimale-multifemale groups. Depending on the subspecies and population, the size of these groups can vary, possibly including up to 40 individuals. Unlike most other lemurs, brown lemurs do not show signs of marked female dominance.
In red-fronted brown lemurs, the western and eastern populations of the same subspecies have different social behavior and group sizes. The western populations have groups of 4 to 17 individuals with an average group size of 9. In the east the group sizes range from 6 to 18 and the average is 8 individuals. Both populations have home and day ranges.
In the west, the home range is from 1.75 to 2.5 acres (.75 to 1 ha) and the day range is 125 to 150 m. The population density is higher in the west than in the east and can be as great as 10 individuals/ha. In the east, the home range can be up to 100 ha and the day range is 451 to 1471 m. The population density is comparatively much lower at .25 individuals/ha.
Common brown lemurs, white-fronted lemurs, and collared lemurs live in social groups of approximately 3 to 12. Group sizes of up to 29 individuals have been observed for common brown lemurs and collared lemurs. Their home range is around 17 to 50 acres (7 to 20 ha).
Sanford's lemurs live in groups of up to 15 animals although the average seems to be 3 to 9 individuals. The home range for this subspecies can be up to 35.5 acres (14.4 ha), with considerable overlap with other groups.
The species is arboreal and moves quadrupedally throughout the forest canopy. These lemurs are also capable of leaping and when they do, their long tails assist them in maintaining their balance.
Home range size varies by subspecies and location.
Grooming is a way forto establish and maintain social bonds. Their unique method of grooming is a result of their 6 lower procumbent teeth that form a dental comb. This instrument is used to groom their own fur and that of the other members in the group.
Communication is achieved by both olfactory and vocal means. Olfactory communication is extremely important and is made possible by the scent glands located at the wrist throat. This type of communication is used for transmitting physical state, location, and individual recognition.
The sounds brown lemurs use for vocal communication have been described and partly deciphered. A nasal sound used in maintaining group cohesion has been described as 'ohn'. A 'cree' or high pitched sound is used as a territorial call, and 'Crou' is the alarm call of this lemur.
In addition to these forms of communication, body postures and facial expressions are likely to be important visual signals.
This species is largely folivorous. It also eats flowers, fruit, and bark. The diet ofvaries slightly between subspecies and populations.
Red-fronted lemurs are mainly folivorous (leaf-eating). They also consume pods, stems, flowers, fruit, bark and sap of the kily tree (Tamarindus indica). However, they have very adaptable diets. These lemurs have the ability to shift their normally herbivorous diet to invertebrates and fungi when plant matter is scarce. Eastern populations are specifically known to include insects, bird eggs, and dirt in their diets. They are known to have higher dietary diversity than those populations found in the west and a unique predominance of fruit.
Common brown lemurs, white-fronted lemurs, and collared lemurs eat mainly fruit, young leaves and flowers. Sanford's lemurs feed on primarily fruit, occasional plant parts and invertebrates.
Predators of these lemurs have not been reported, although possibilities include fossas, raptors, and humans.
As frugivores, these lemurs are likely to aid in dispersal of seeds. As predators on insects and bird nests, they may affect relevant populations of animals. To the extent that these lemurs serve as prey for other species, they may have some impact on predator populations.
The protected areas of Madagascar, which many lemurs (as well as many other types of flora and fauna) reside in, have become quite an attraction for tourists. Communities in Madagascar benefit greatly from this. They receive fifty percent of national park entry fees. Local inhabitants also benefit by serving as guides and by selling handicrafts to the tourists.
Members of this species are sometimes hunted for meat.
has no known negative effects on humans.
The conservation status of brown lemurs is partially due to their restricted geographical area. Their primary threat is habitat destruction. Habitat destruction is largely the result of the explosive growth rate of the human population of Madagascar. This species is placed in a somewhat lower risk category (Vulnerable) because of its presumably large wild population and occurrence in a number of protected areas.
For red-fronted lemurs, the western habitats are largely at risk because of burning and clearing of land for pasture. In the east, the chief hazards are the slash-and-burn agriculture and forest cutting for fuel wood and construction. This subspecies occurs in some protected areas of Madagascar and can be found in captivity in 22 zoos worldwide where approximately 100 individuals are held.
Forest destruction is the primary threat to the survival of common brown lemurs. They are also hunted throughout much of their range. This subspecies is found in protected areas in Madagascar, and may be one of the lowest risk subspecies of brown lemur. Common brown lemurs have bred in captivity and there are currently about 140 animals at 40 institutions worldwide.
The white-fronted lemurs are threatened by the destruction of Madagascar's eastern rain forest for slash-and-burn agriculture. This animal is also hunted for food throughout most of its range. Presently, it does exist in protected areas in Madagascar. White-fronted lemurs do breed in captivity, and there are over 200 animals in captivity at more than 40 zoos worldwide.
Forest destruction is the primary threat to the survival of collared lemurs as well. They too, are hunted for food throughout much of their range. In addition to this, they are occasionally trapped for the pet trade. Collared lemurs occur naturally in only one of Madagascar's protected areas, but have been introduced into two others. Approximately 40 collared lemurs are currently in captivity in 6 institutions worldwide.
Sanford's lemurs are also threatened by forest destruction. This subspecies, however, does appear to be able to survive in slightly degraded habitats. Although Sanford's lemurs are found in protected areas in Madagascar, the level of protection varies among the reserves. This is because poaching and brush fires are common events in many of Madagascar's nature reserves. There are only two captive breeding groups of sanford's lemurs.
Nancy Shefferly (editor), Animal Diversity Web.
Nita Bharti (author), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Phil Myers (editor), Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
living in sub-Saharan Africa (south of 30 degrees north) and Madagascar.
uses sound to communicate
Referring to an animal that lives in trees; tree-climbing.
having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
active at dawn and dusk
ranking system or pecking order among members of a long-term social group, where dominance status affects access to resources or mates
humans benefit economically by promoting tourism that focuses on the appreciation of natural areas or animals. Ecotourism implies that there are existing programs that profit from the appreciation of natural areas or animals.
animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.
an animal that mainly eats leaves.
A substance that provides both nutrients and energy to a living thing.
forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality.
an animal that mainly eats fruit
An animal that eats mainly plants or parts of plants.
animals that live only on an island or set of islands.
offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).
having the capacity to move from one place to another.
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
rainforests, both temperate and tropical, are dominated by trees often forming a closed canopy with little light reaching the ground. Epiphytes and climbing plants are also abundant. Precipitation is typically not limiting, but may be somewhat seasonal.
communicates by producing scents from special gland(s) and placing them on a surface whether others can smell or taste them
breeding is confined to a particular season
remains in the same area
reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female
associates with others of its species; forms social groups.
uses touch to communicate
defends an area within the home range, occupied by a single animals or group of animals of the same species and held through overt defense, display, or advertisement
uses sight to communicate
reproduction in which fertilization and development take place within the female body and the developing embryo derives nourishment from the female.
"United States Agency for International Development: Preserving a Natural Paradise in Madagascar" (On-line). Accessed November 11, 1999 at http://www.info.usaid.gov/regions/afr/new_day/a56.txt.
Adams, J. 1994. "The Distribution and Variety of Equatorial Rain Forest" (On-line). Accessed October 13, 1999 at http://www.esd.ornl.gov/~vxk/rainfo.html.
Burton, F. 1995. The Multimedia Guide to the Non-human Primates. Canada: Prentice-Hall Canada Inc..
Duke University Primate Center, July 23, 1999. "Collared lemurs" (On-line). Accessed October 15, 1999 at http://primatecenter.duke.edu/animals/collared/.
Duke University Primate Center, Last Updated October 10, 1999. "Common brown lemurs" (On-line). Accessed October 15, 1999 at http://www.duke.edu/web/primate/brown.html.
Duke University Primate Center, "Red-fronted Brown Lemur" (On-line). Accessed October 11, 1999 at http://primatecenter.duke.edu/animals/brown/redfronted.php.
Duke University Primate Center, Last Updated July 28, 1999. "Red-fronted lemurs" (On-line). Accessed October 15, 1999 at http://www.duke.edu/web/primate/redfront.html.
Duke University Primate Center, Last Updated July 29, 1999. "Sanford’s Lemurs" (On-line). Accessed October 15,1999 at http://www.duke.edu/web/primate/sanford.html.
Duke University Primate Center, Last Updated July 23, 1999. "White-fronted lemurs" (On-line). Accessed October 15, 1999 at http://primatecenter.duke.edu/animals/brown/whitefronted.php.
International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, Cambridge, U.K., "ENDANGERED AND THREATENED PRIMATES" (On-line). Accessed October 11, 1999 at http://www.selu.com/~bio/cyto/text/iucn_redlist.txt.
Mittermeier, R., W. Konstant, M. Nicoll, O. Langrand. 1992. Lemurs of Madagascar: An Action Plan for their Conservation, 1993-1999. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group.
Nowak, R. 1999. Walker's Mammals of the World, Sixth Edition. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Olney, P., P. Ellis. 1992. Census of Rare Animals in Captivity 1991. International Zoo Yearbook, 31.
Tattersall, I. 1982. The Primates of Madagascar. New York: Columbia University Press.
Unknown, Last updated July 28, 1999. "Duke University Primate Center" (On-line). Accessed October 11, 1999 at http://www.duke.edu/web/primate/.
Wilkie, G. Updated December 1st, 1998.. "Godric's Lemur Gallery" (On-line). Accessed October 11, 1999 at http://www.gozen.demon.co.uk/godric/lemgall.html. | <urn:uuid:b11a5ee3-425c-4d09-b526-4f3f63f00711> | CC-MAIN-2020-29 | https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Eulemur_fulvus/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-29/segments/1593655897844.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20200709002952-20200709032952-00133.warc.gz | en | 0.941627 | 4,047 | 3.625 | 4 |
Monuments to Confederate leaders celebrate white supremacy and should be removed from public spaces, participants in a Bates panel agreed Monday night.
But removing such monuments would mean little without an understanding of why they were created, how racism persists today, and how to move forward.
“The value of history in relation to these debates is just as much about absence as it is about presence,” said Andrew Baker, a lecturer in history and Mellon Diversity and Faculty Renewal Postdoctoral Fellow.
The panel discussion, which filled a room in Pettengill Hall, was held to shed light on issues of white supremacy and Confederate monuments in the wake of violence in Charlottesville, Va. It was sponsored by the Department of History and the Office of Equity and Diversity and moderated by Christopher Petrella ’06, lecturer in humanities and associate director of programs at the OED.
The wide-ranging discussion encompassed the historical and geographic context of Confederate monuments and the intersection of anti-racist activism and academia, as well as issues of activism on social media and the role of violence in protests.
Baker said focusing only on Confederate monuments risks forgetting that racism and white supremacy were not unique to the South in the 19th century. In fact, monuments to Confederate leaders were erected in the early 20th century, partly in reaction to an emerging civil rights movement.
For their part, Northerners were complicit in advancing white supremacy, both before and after the Civil War, Baker said. For example, 20th-century historians whose work sought to legitimize the idea that slavery was positive and black suffrage negative were not primarily from Southern institutions, he said.
It is important, therefore, not only to remove Confederate monuments, but to look at history closer to home, Baker said — at, for example, Benjamin Bates, who made his fortune in Maine selling clothing made from slave-grown cotton and later gave some of that fortune to namesake Bates College.
People who live anywhere with a difficult racial history “generally like to say that it belonged to a different time,” Baker said. “I think we need to address that lie head on and recognize that these problems are everywhere, it’s always been a part of America itself, and so that touches all of us.”
Creating and focusing on Confederate monuments, added history department chair Margaret Creighton, meant that other stories from the Civil War are left behind. She recalled how, during fieldwork in Gettysburg, Pa., she and her students met an African American woman whose ancestors had lived in the town during the Civil War and either suffered under or fought against Confederate soldiers.
“We can talk all we want about the issue of erasing monuments, but there are many people for whom monuments were never built,” Creighton said. “Their history was never written. Filmmakers never made a documentary about them.”
Assistant Professor of History Patrick Otim, meanwhile, placed Confederate monuments in a global context. Otim said his native Uganda and other African countries are experiencing a similar conflict over their own set of monuments — ones that celebrate both European colonial powers and the dictators who took power in some countries after independence.
Africans, he said, are paying attention to the American debate.
“It will inform the sort of discussions that are going on in different African countries,” he said. “What goes on here, because of the power of the Internet or access to information in different parts of the world, will dictate what goes on in different African countries.”
As the discussion continued, a question emerged: How can professional historians and academics fight racism, when its negative effects seem so immediate?
Panelist Robin McDowell has experience in both fields: She is a doctoral candidate in African and African American studies at Harvard who also works in a group that fights to take down symbols of white supremacy in New Orleans. McDowell said activism and academia do not have to be separate — the organizers she works with have many roles, including as researchers.
The organization, Take ’Em Down NOLA, uses the fight for monument removal as a way to push toward broader racial and economic justice.
Discussing monuments as well as subtler forms of racism can be an effective way to build a coalition, McDowell said.
“That’s their access point, to start having conversations and start understanding,” she said.
But if Confederate monuments are removed, what to do with them afterwards is a complicated question. Audience member Mia Yinxing Liu, an art historian and assistant professor of Asian studies, said she wanted Confederate monuments to be removed from public spaces but asked the panel whether statues could be studied as art history.
“We [art historians] are supposed to be the ones who know who sponsored them, what places they are in. We are supposed to think about those issues,” she said.
Baker said he generally did not want to see Confederate statues in museums but thought art historians could work to dismantle the message of Confederate statues.
“It’s a very subtle and interesting way of reflecting on how we can repurpose these monuments, maybe in ways that wouldn’t occur to the average person,” he replied. “The art historian would think carefully about how to subvert their own purpose, the reason they were put up to begin with.”
A related question emerged: What, if anything, should replace a vanquished monument?
McDowell said implementing a new vision had to involve the people such a vision would affect. In New Orleans, she said, more than 200 local artists recently met to propose replacements for white supremacist monuments in the city.
“We can’t underestimate the imagination of our communities,” she said. | <urn:uuid:7ca96bde-bcb2-4a3f-a450-2c931392380c> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.bates.edu/news/2017/09/21/removal-of-confederate-monuments-is-meaningless-without-deeper-understanding-bates-college-panelists-say/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335355.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20220929131813-20220929161813-00127.warc.gz | en | 0.970118 | 1,194 | 3.015625 | 3 |
A wireless router typically has a range of 100 feet (30.5 m) or more. However, many factors can lower this range and zap its signal strength. Interference can be caused by metal, competing signals and other devices that use wireless frequencies (like cell phones and microwave ovens). Thankfully, there are many methods available to boost your signal strength. Here are a few.
Method 1 of 5: Look for Interference
1Replace devices in your home that can interfere with network traffic on the 2.4GHz frequency range. You can buy a wireless network analyzer to help you track down the source of interference. A sample of appliances that might be causing the problem include:
- Cordless phones,
- Microwave ovens.
- Baby monitors.
- Security alarms.
- Television remote controls.
- Automatic garage door openers.
2Check your router's signal strength with these devices. Compare power levels when each device is on and off to determine if they are the cause of your signal problems.Ad
Method 2 of 5: Switch Channels
1Change your signal channel. Routers can broadcast on a series of channels, between one and eleven. Change to a channel that will allow your router a clear signal between other wireless networks.
2Use a software utility to analyze which networks are using which channel and configure your system for an unused channel.Ad
Method 3 of 5: 802.11n
Method 4 of 5: Relocate
1Reposition your Router. Sometimes the solution is simple. All you have to do is find a new place to store your router.
- Raise as far as possible to increase the effective broadcast range.
- Place near the center of your house or apartment for wider coverage.
- Move closer to the receivers, if possible.
- Move away from any metal including metal shelving, filing cabinets and similar common objects.
- Move away from cordless phones and microwaves, which operate on the same 2.4-Ghz frequency.
2Be aware of external interference. Move your unit as far away as possible from your next-door neighbor's WiFi router. In addition, if you're living in an apartment building, there might be multiple routers in operation too. Note: make sure you're using a different channel than everyone else.Ad
Method 5 of 5: Upgrade
1Raise your transmit power. Check your router's documentation and configuration utility for the ability to change the Xmit power of your router: the amount of power it uses to transmit the signal. Generally, you can boost this number by up to 50mW. Keep in mind that you risk overheating or damaging your router.
2Replace the Antenna. Unscrew and replace the broadcast antenna on your router with a model that delivers more power. Not all routers allow for new antenna to be attached, but many do.
3Install a Repeater. A repeater is a piece of hardware that acts like a wireless network expander. The repeater takes the signal from your router and boosts it to increase the range.
- Wireless repeaters are increasingly common and affordable and will probably be available in your local computer store, or on the Internet.
4Install a Wireless Amplifier. Attach a wireless amplifier, also known as a booster, directly to your router. A booster can be more affordable than a repeater as they only increase the strength of your existing signal, rather than the strength and range.
- Use a bi-directional amplifier to increase both your inward and outbound speeds.
5Make a Reflector lulu with Tinfoil. Note that a tinfoil router may boost your signal, but will also make it more directional.
- Cut a tinfoil circle with the tinfoil on the inside of a piece of paper or some cardboard large enough to wrap around the router. If you want to get fancier than this, cut a shallow parabola and put the hole for the antenna at the focal point.
- Place the tinfoil circle over the router.
- Place the antenna in the center of the circle or parabola.
We could really use your help!
- Older and traditional homes have walls made from wooden studs, while newer construction in office buildings, malls, and condominiums are often constructed with metal studs in the wall. Metal studs can interfere with a router signal quite badly, so consider your building type when diagnosing your signal.
- Remember: in some countries, they will fine you if you exceed your power levels and they interfere with other services. It is most unlikely they will bother, as they will then use other channels.
- Do not overheat your router.
- Remember: in some countries, this can be illegal. Do your homework first.
Things You'll Need
- Router also known as an access point
- Paper or cardboard
Sources and Citations
- http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/80ce/ — A wiFi Spectrum Analyzer
- http://www.techiechips.com/how-to-boost-the-signal-of-your-wireless-router/ -Diff ways to Boost Signal of Wireless / WiFi Router
In other languages:
Français: booster le signal d'un routeur, Italiano: Amplificare il Segnale di un Router, Español: aumentar la señal del router, Deutsch: Das Routersignal verstärken, Português: Ampliar o Sinal de um Roteador, Nederlands: Zo versterk je het signaal van je router, 中文: 加强路由器信号, Русский: усилить сигнал Wi Fi роутера, Bahasa Indonesia: Memperkuat Sinyal WiFi
Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 1,313,730 times. | <urn:uuid:36273730-bf2c-4238-9dbb-5df7b70dc346> | CC-MAIN-2015-32 | http://www.wikihow.com/Boost-a-Wifi-Signal | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-32/segments/1438042991076.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20150728002311-00242-ip-10-236-191-2.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.868673 | 1,277 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Akanidi the Bright Sunbeam – A Siberian Tale
Clytie, the Heliotrope -An adaptation of the Greek myth
The Cricket’s Song - Guatemalan Folktale
Daffodeelia – A Sri Lankan Fairytale
The Flower Queen’s Daughter - By Andrew Lang
How the King of Birds Was Chosen: and other Mayan folk tales
The Language of the Birds
Why Cats Sit on the Doorstep in the Sun
I know school is out in many parts of the USA for the season but these sites may be useful in your storytelling and library programs this summer.
Flower Facts and Trivia – Add some interesting trivia about flowers to your storytelling or classroom lessson plans. http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/flowers/pcd11.html
Flowers in the Classroom - Grades 5 to 8 Language Arts: Legendary Flowers lesson plan including myths, folktales and legends of flowers. http://www.teachertube.com/support_files/1390.pdf
Honey Bees and Cultural Attitudes - Grades: 4-6 Essential Skills: Literature, Language Arts, Social Studies Students explore how honey bees are portrayed in art and literature. It also offers a comprehensive and age appropriate bibliography at the end. http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/insects/ahb/lsn25.html
The Teacher’s Guide: Plants and Flowers - Lots of lesson plans and ideas to keep the ideas blooming! http://www.theteachersguide.com/plantsflowers.htm
ChildFun.com - Summer brings a bounty of fresh fruit so why not have some fruity fun! http://tinyurl.com/m99dj4
Kaboose.com - Lots of fun Fourth of July crafts to make your holiday sparkle!
Kinderart - Summer is time to take the children to the zoo. Download some cute animal printables to keep your students and children roaring with delight long after the field trip!
Loowit Campfire Songs - Summer is just around the corner. Get ready for those scouting camp gigs with songs that will have them merrily singing long. http://tinyurl.com/kjfhqb
Bus Songs - We all know that sometimes our audiences need to “get the wiggles out” and what better way than to have them sing along! Your toes will be tapping and your fingers snapping as you explore this fun site full of songs that just add some extra Zip A De Doo Dah to your storytelling programs. http://www.bussongs.com/
Karen Chace 2010 ©
This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission please contact me at [email protected]. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity. | <urn:uuid:30013ed6-016c-4bc6-87c7-e11548e6a5e9> | CC-MAIN-2017-47 | http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2010/06/let-me-tell-you-bout-birds-and-bees.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-47/segments/1510934804724.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20171118094746-20171118114746-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.82962 | 646 | 3.390625 | 3 |
Dispersion of particles in another media (like liquid) is often refereed to as colloids, and the particles called colloid particles. A common example is milk. These system have very special physico-chemical and transport properties. In the case when the phase, in which colloid particles are dispersed, is a complex fluid itself, the properties of the colloid can be even more intriguing. To understand the physics of these systems, one needs to study the properties of various interfaces (such as interface between colloidal particles and the dispersion medium). Watch below a computer simulation movie of such a system.
Example of research
Pinna M., Pagonabarraga I., Zvelindovsky A. V., “Modelling of hybrid block copolymer-nanoparticle composite materials”, Macromolecular Theory & Simulations 20 (2011) 769–779. | <urn:uuid:f7f951c7-a3c5-4d26-958b-235098acbd67> | CC-MAIN-2017-34 | https://studyphys.wordpress.com/colloid-and-interface-science/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-34/segments/1502886105195.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20170818233221-20170819013221-00410.warc.gz | en | 0.88973 | 183 | 2.984375 | 3 |
|Immunization and Infectious Disease Update|
National Association of County & City Health Officials
Information and Resources for Local Health Departments
|Are You that Guy? Campaign Helps Kids Say "No!" to Spreading the Flu
The Are You That Guy?
influenza awareness campaign by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) focuses on educating parents and children about flu prevention, symptoms, and treatment. The campaign calls attention to "That Guy" - a person who despite experiencing flu symptoms, continues to go about his/her daily activities and as a consequence, may inadvertently spread the virus to others.
To help parents educate their children about the flu, NFID developed a coloring book
that teaches children about flu symptoms and good habits that may help prevent flu from spreading.
Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) Video
A new video on an "Overview of VAERS"
is now available on "CDC Streaming Health" that gives more information on who should report an adverse event following immunization and how. This video is also designed to give healthcare professionals an understanding of how rare adverse events following immunization can be detected through vaccine safety monitoring.
10th Annual Ready or Not? Report
The 10th annual Ready or Not?
report includes two indicators around vaccine issues - Medicaid coverage of flu vaccine without cost sharing and pertussis vaccination rates for 19-35 month olds.
CDC Published ACIP Recommendations
On December 6, 2012, CDC posted ACIP Provisional Updated Recommendations on Use of Tetanus Toxoid, Reduced Diphtheria Toxoid and Acellular Pertussis Vaccine (Tdap) for Pregnant Women
and Provisional Recommendations Prevention of Measles, Rubella, Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS), and Mumps
on its website.
Resources for Safe Patient Injections
The CDC and Safe Injection Practices Coalition recently released new materials for healthcare providers to learn about safe injection practices. Resources include a "Bloodborne Pathogen + Safe Patient Injections Training" presentation, a "How to Do It Right" animated video, a poster and brochure demonstrating proper use of insulin pens, and a digital press kit with an infographic, a podcast, fact sheets, and media information. To view more information about these resources, visit NACCHO's IDPC webpage
and look under the "In the Spotlight" box.
Joint Commission and Healthcare Worker Vaccination Against Influenza
Joint Commission Adds Additional Weight to Importance of Healthcare Worker Vaccination Against Influenza is an article on the Infection Control Today website that discusses the Joint Commission's recent progress in the area of healthcare worker vaccination against influenza. The Joint Commission now requires healthcare organizations to establish an annual influenza vaccination program for staff.
Online Social Health Network ... Sickness Forecasting & Mapping
Sickweather scans social networks for indicators of illness, allowing you to check for the chance of sickness as easily as you can check for the chance of rain. This uses social media platforms to track diseases real time to where you live and work.
CDC's Storage and Handling Toolkit is Now Available
The CDC's Vaccine Storage and Handling Toolkit is a comprehensive resource for providers on vaccine storage and handling recommendations and best practices. It includes strategies for maintaining the cold chain, routine storage and handling practices, inventory management, and emergency procedures for protecting vaccine inventories.
MedImmune Advocacy: Information on Cocooning
A new patient education piece on the importance of "cocooning" can be accessed here. Cocooning is a strategy used to protect infants and other vulnerable populations by immunizing everyone who comes in contact with them for vaccine-preventable diseases (e.g., Tdap and influenza).
NACCHO's Billing Toolkit for Immunization Programs
NACCHO recently released a toolkit with resources, templates, and tools for LHDs to use and develop capacity to bill third-party payers for immunization services. More than 150 resources are available from state billing guides, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, state health departments, LHDs, insurance companies, and vendors of products such as electronic medical records and billing clearinghouses. Specifically, the toolkit provides the following information:
- Details on how to get started, such as credentialing steps and contracting processes;
- How to submit claims; and
- Steps for establishing billing procedures for other clinical services.
To view and download these tools, please log in or create a NACCHO account here. You do not have to be associated with an LHD to access these, or any other tools, within NACCHO's website. If you would like to share your tools, resources, or best practices, please email Rebecca Gehring at [email protected]. All tools and resources will be credited to their original author and organization. For general reference, please see the provided fact sheet.
NACCHO Immunization Videos Page
NACCHO has gathered videos addressing vaccination into one convenient place. Watch short videos covering immunization issues, including influenza, pertussis, adolescent immunization, and personal stories about vaccine preventable diseases. Videos range from humorous to serious and target a variety of ages.
2013 Public Health Preparedness Summit: Infectious Disease Sessions
Join NACCHO at the 2013 Public Health Preparedness Summit March 12-15 in Atlanta! The goal of the summit is to strengthen and enhance the capabilities of public health professionals and other participants to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters and other public health emergencies.
A selection of sessions will examine infectious disease outbreaks and mass dispensing, including:
- New Strategies for Pandemic Antiviral Distribution and Dispensing: A Workshop for State and Local Public Health
- Public Health and the Law: Legal Tools to Assist Public Health Practitioners in Responding to Infectious Disease Outbreaks and Other Public Health Emergencies
- Supporting Healthcare Mass Dispensing Planning: New Tools for New Market Realities
- Innovative Use of Nurse Triage Lines during an Influenza Pandemic: Update on a CDC Collaborative Initiative between Public Health, Poison Control Centers, and Other Partners
- Enhancing Community Preparedness by Developing Closed PODs
For more details on the summit, including the full agenda and registration information, visit http://www.phprep.org/.
Public Health Uniform National Data System
NACCHO recently launched the Public Health Uniform National Data System (PHUND$), a web-based public health financial data collection and analysis portal hosted on the NACCHO website. PHUND$ was created to 1) Provide LHDs with timely, reliable and uniform data to support assessment and decision-making; 2) help NACCHO describe and monitor financial health and sustainability of public health systems; 3) provide LHDs the ability to proactively assess their financial and operational performance; 4) promote uniform public health financial management practices; and 5) increase public health agency transparency. For additional information, please contact Giselle Plata or 202-783-1376.
Clinician Telephone Consultation for Fungal Meningitis Cases
CDC established the Clinicians Consultation Network (CCN) to support clinicians in treating patients associated with the multistate fungal meningitis outbreak. The CCN is a free, telephone-based service of experts in fungal disease treatment and management. To access the service, physicians should call 1-800-CDC-INFO and then select the appropriate prompts. A CDC-INFO call agent will verify each physician's role in direct patient management before directing him or her to the CCN. Call operating hours are 8:00 AM - 8:00 PM EDT, Monday through Friday, except for federal holidays.
HealthMap Vaccine Finder: Become a Listed Provider for Immunizations List Your Influenza and Adult Vaccine Clinics with HealthMap Vaccine Finder! Local public health departments are encouraged to register their influenza and adult immunization services on HealthMap Vaccine Finder. The public can now find real-time influenza vaccination clinics at local health departments, pharmacies, and other influenza vaccination venues by using this free, online resource.
Clinical Vaccinology Course, Chicago, March 8-10, 2013
The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, the Emory Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, and the Emory Vaccine Center are sponsoring a
National Provider Call: Meaningful Use
CMS will host a National Provider Call on the first two stages of Meaningful Use under the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs on January 16, 2013 (2:00-3:30 PM EDT). The agenda and registration information will be available soon on the CMS National Provider Calls registration
2013 National Immunization Conference to be held June 3-6, 2013
The 2013 National Immunization Conference (NIC) is scheduled for June 3-6, 2013, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. Information regarding lodging, registration, and abstract submission guidelines will be posted on the NIC web section
as it becomes available.
Open Staff Positions at NACCHO
NACCHO is currently hiring for multiple positions in emergency preparedness, chronic diseases, and infectious diseases. For more information, please visit the NACCHO Career Network.
Submit a Tool to NACCHO's Immunization and Infectious Disease Toolkits
NACCHO's Immunization and Infectious Disease Toolkits are intended to provide LHDs with resources related to immunization and infectious disease prevention and control practices. Examples of tools include templates, guides, community resources and much more. Log in to submit your own resources to the Toolkit to share with other LHDs.
|Immunizations2009-2010 Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Coverage Among College Students from 8 Universities in North Carolina
Poehling KA, Blocker J, Ip EH, Peters TR, Wolfson M. J American College Health
. 2012 Nov 16; 60
(8): 541-47.Interventions to Improve Influenza and Pneumococcal Vaccination Rates Among Community-Dwelling Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-AnalysisLau D, Hu J, Majumdar SR, Storie DA, Rees SE, Johnson JA. Ann Fam Med. Nov/Dec 2012; 10(6):538-46
Infectious DiseasesAntimicrobial-Resistant Pathogens Associated with Healthcare-Associated Infections: Summary of Data Reported to the National Healthcare Safety Network at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009-2010
Sievert DM, Ricks P, Edwards JR, Schneider A, Patel J, Srinivasan A, et al. Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.
2013 Jan: 34
(1); 1-14.Differentiation of Reinfection from Relapse in Recurrent Lyme Disease
Nadelman RB, Hanincova K, Mukherjee P, Liveris D, Nowakowski J, McKenna D, et al. N Engl J Med
2012; 36: 1883-90.Efficacies of Sodium Hypochlorite and Quaternary Ammonium Sanitizers for Reduction of Norovirus and Selected Bacteria during Ware-Washing Operations
Feliciano L, Li J, Lee J, Pascall MA. PLoS ONE
. 2012 Dec 5; 7
(12): e50273.Highlights from State and Local Programs: TB Screening Practices of Civil Surgeons Evaluating Status Adjustors Seeking Permanent Residence in the United States - New England, 2011
Bernis K, Sosa L, Stratton A, Tibbs A, Cochran J, Lobato, M, et al. TB Notes Newsletter.
2012; 4: 4-5.Human Coronavirus EMC Does Not Require the SARS-Coronavirus Receptor and Maintains Broad Replicative Capability in Mammalian Cell Lines
Muller MA, Raj VS, Muth D, Meyer B, Kallies S, Smits SL, et al. mBio
. 2012 Nov/Dec; 3
(6): e00515-12.Mumps Outbreak on a University Campus - California, 2011MMWR.
2012 Dec 7; 61
(48): 986-89.Necrotizing Cutaneous Mucormycosis after a Tornado in Joplin, Missouri, in 2011
Fanfair RN, Benedict K, Bos J, Bennett SD, Lo YC, Adebanjo T, et al. N Engl J Med
. 2012 Dec 6; 367: 2214-25.Outbreaks of Acute Gastroenteritis Transmitted by Person-to-Person Contact - United States, 2009-2010MMWR
. 2012 Dec 14; 61
(SS-9): 1-12.Preventing Lethal Hospital Outbreaks of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
Sandora TJ, Goldmann DA. N Engl J Med.
2012 Dec 6; 367: 2168-70.
The mission of the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) is to be a leader, partner, catalyst, and voice for local public health departments.
For additional information about NACCHO, visit www.naccho.org. | <urn:uuid:c6c6bdef-f79a-41e1-954c-1b3a97a25b16> | CC-MAIN-2015-40 | http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs119/1101747410040/archive/1111822454575.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-40/segments/1443737958671.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20151001221918-00035-ip-10-137-6-227.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.858241 | 2,772 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Menstrual cramps, also known as dysmenorrhea, are a monthly nightmare for many women. Ranging from being a nuisance to debilitating, some women turn to over-the-counter or prescription painkillers to ease discomfort. Medication isn't the only remedy; specific foods may also help.
Relieve Menstrual Cramps With Food
Most women tend to eat more during their periods, thanks to hormone fluctuations. Unfortunately, many tend to eat unhealthy "comfort" foods that are high in sugar and fat. These foods may worsen menstrual symptoms such as bloating, mood swings and pain.
According to Tori Hudson's Women's Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine, the most important foods to avoid during menstruation are those that contain high levels of arachidonic acid. Arachidonic acid is used by the body to produce series-2 prostaglandins (PgE2) which cause muscle and uterine contractions. The book states that red meat, egg yolks and poultry are main sources of arachidonic acid. She suggests avoiding these foods during menstruation and also avoiding salt and saturated fats.
To help relieve your pain and other symptoms, Hudson advocates eating foods that increase antispasmodic prostaglandins. These include the following:
Calcium Rich Foods
It's unclear how calcium helps relieve menstrual pain but according to the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMM), it may help maintain muscle tone. Foods rich in calcium include beans, dark leafy greens and almonds. The daily recommended allowance of calcium per day is 1,000 mg. If you cannot obtain this through your diet, talk to your doctor about taking calcium supplements.
Hudson cautions that since many people are allergic or sensitive to dairy, dairy sources of calcium may worsen discomfort. As a result, she recommends obtaining calcium through non-dairy sources.
According to Natural Health's 1001 Natural Remedies, omega-3 fatty acids support the production of pain-relieving chemicals. Foods high in omega-3s include cold water fish such as salmon, cod, sardines and halibut; walnuts and flaxseeds, hemp seeds and pumpkin seeds. You can easily toss a handful of seeds into a smoothie or over a salad. UMM recommends eating 6 grams of omega-3s each day to help relieve cramps.
Whole Grains and Fiber
According to a PubMed abstract, a study showed that dietary fiber is "inversely proportional to menstrual pain." Fiber also helps regulate the bowel. Good sources of whole grains and fiber include beans, brown rice, oats, rye, barley, popcorn and whole wheat.
Hudson writes that "fruits are an excellent form of natural anti-inflammatory substances like bio-flavonoids and vitamin C." She indicates that these nutrients not only help strengthen the blood vessels but also reduce menstrual cramps thanks to their anti-inflammatory effects. Some great options are blueberries, cherries, citrus fruits and tomatoes. During your menstrual cycle, try to eat fruit with every meal or, better yet, regularly incorporate fruit in your diet on a daily basis.
Foods Containing Magnesium
UMM recommends getting 360 mg of magnesium for 3 days before your period starts to help relieve cramps. Although this can be done through supplementation, you can also obtain this amount through the foods you eat. Try these great magnesium sources:
- Peanut butter
- Black beans
When you plan your meals around these foods, you can easily hit the recommended amount. You can also combine magnesium foods. For example, slice a banana into your morning oatmeal or toss a handful of almonds and some diced avocado into a fruit smoothie.
Herbal teas were used to relieve painful periods long before NSAIDS or acetaminophen existed. Although most evidence supporting their use for cramps is anecdotal, women often experience significant relief.
Many herbal teas are believed to have natural antispasmodic effects on the uterus and also help relax nerves. Following are some teas commonly used to relieve menstrual pain. Try replacing your morning mug of coffee with one or sip a cup before bedtime.
- Cramp Bark
- Raspberry Leaf
To avoid potential side effects or drug interactions, do not use an herbal remedy without consulting your doctor or natural health practitioner, especially if you are pregnant or breast feeding.
A Healthy Diet Helps Relieve Cramps
When considering foods to eat to help with menstrual cramps, keep in mind that it can take weeks or months to see the full benefit. If the dietary changes approved by your physician don't help ease your pain, follow up with your health care provider.
Recommended foods for cramp relief are healthy overall and can easily be incorporated into a healthy diet. Eating these foods over the long term may not only relieve your pain but increase overall health. | <urn:uuid:5422f211-a77e-4011-8ad9-51356926e01d> | CC-MAIN-2019-39 | https://diet.lovetoknow.com/diets-health-conditions/foods-eat-help-menstrual-cramps | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-39/segments/1568514572879.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20190916155946-20190916181946-00391.warc.gz | en | 0.931626 | 997 | 2.515625 | 3 |
A concrete slab is the supporting base poured as a single, solid piece before building construction. A concrete slab can sit directly on the ground, but installation of a vapour barrier between the slab and the ground prevents moisture damage to the concrete.
Other People Are Reading
The soil or fill under a concrete slab retains moisture. This can be caused by a high water table or groundwater. It can also be caused by climate changes; frozen ground under a concrete slab produces moisture when it thaws. Such conditions make a vapour barrier necessary.
Properties of Concrete
Concrete is porous, so moisture under a concrete slab will deteriorate the concrete, causing it to crack and crumble, unless a vapour barrier is installed.
Without a vapour barrier, concrete that is subject to moisture deterioration will affect any surface installed over the concrete. Carpet, vinyl and hardwood flooring can be damaged by a concrete slab with high moisture content.
A vapour barrier acts like a "raincoat," keeping moisture away from the underside of a concrete slab. Vapour barriers are made from visqueen plastic, also called poly sheeting.
Properly installed during construction, a vapour barrier prevents moisture under the concrete from damaging the inside of a building.
A concrete slab poured without installation of a vapour barrier cannot be remediated after construction.
- 20 of the funniest online reviews ever
- 14 Biggest lies people tell in online dating sites
- Hilarious things Google thinks you're trying to search for | <urn:uuid:5e0c7132-3ade-477b-96cc-befb82a72a13> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.ehow.co.uk/way_5588931_use-laminate-floor-concrete-basement_.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988721392.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183841-00139-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.879925 | 312 | 3.40625 | 3 |
Neither the future nor science fiction should frighten us. Both may raise questions; any lack of preparedness to face them is where fear should lie. Given that we pride ourselves on our intellect relative to every other form of life on the planet – what is there actually to fear?
One of humanity’s greatest powers, with due respect to the domestication of fire and the worthy and opposable thumb, is our capacity to craft definitions. We apply this ability even to ourselves. How we define ourselves is, in fact, one of our obsessions.
In terms of sci fi there are two forces that potentially imperil our comforting view of we humans: augmentation – either by prosthetic or genetic means. During the mid- to late 1980s the first of these defined a large part of cyberpunk fiction and gaming. Robots and cyborgs, however, are older concepts.
Hephaestus in Greek mythology and Ilmarinen of Finnish folklore are both said to have created artificial people. In the first case, these inventions were vessels for some of the aspects humans celebrate about themselves – most notably intellect and wisdom. The Scandinavian example presents a being deficient in what we seek from others. Most fictional androids fall into this latter category and that reflects our concern in defending our definition of being human.
There are nervous jokes made about potential robot overlords. Artificial intelligence is very rarely portrayed as anything but a cause for suspicion. Genetic engineering does not fare better and there are more examples from history to explain why. The idea of using an understanding of DNA to improve humanity is about a century old. Within a generation of the suggestion eugenics earned a bad name. It still summons overlords of a different sort and often paints the consequences as grim. Even basic cloning gives some qualms.
We want to be better creatures and we’re impatient with evolution. At the same time we’re afraid of what may result from taking shortcuts. Cyberpunk, the roleplaying game by R. Talsorian Games, warned of cyberpsychosis and marked the upper limit for augmentation by a loss of Humanity Points. Arthur C. Clarke warned us in 2001 (technically beginning in 1948 and revisited twenty years later) that AI can go dangerously, artificially insane far faster than any biological mind.
About two months ago, I asked a number of friends what aspects of animal DNA they would want woven into their own genetic code. In science fiction terms this is part of what’s known as wetware. The answers boil down to a few categories.
Improve what works well. A more efficient metabolism and better respiration system would be key examples. The most preferred feature from this set was the regeneration of lost limbs and damaged organs.
Increase what is not adequate. The wish to be stronger, faster, and more durable is not exclusive to professional athletes. Many answers here pertained to making our sense of sight far better than it is now, up to and including the ability to see infrared and ultraviolet light. None of the other four faculties called to mind by the word “sense” were among the answers although both proprioception and equilibrium were found to be a bit lacking.
Add cool new features. Without any apparent concern for sensory overload, some would like to sense electric fields, as can sharks and bees. The core of what it means to be a homing pigeon (and to any human who doesn’t want to rely on maps or GPS) depends on magnetoreception and this was also a desired acquisition.
Establish a better perimeter. The chameleon’s talent for camouflage, the signature of the electric eel, and all venomous/poisonous creatures were also envied along with claws and fangs.
It seems odd that no one mentioned immunity to toxins or disease. Also absent was mention of the immortal jellyfish (Turritopsis dohrnii). And, while plants were left out of the initial question, no one went outside the envelope to suggest something from that kingdom.
Cyberpunk’s Chromebook series offered about 400 pages of comparable features and benefits from the technology-based potential sources of human modification.
In another century, we would probably recognize humans by our definition of the species and culture. That’s only five generations from now — the great great grandchildren of Jane and John Q. Public. People from one millennium past are, all things considered, not that different from us. Would cyber- and/or wetware actually change the contents or just the packing material?
Until innovation extends a lifespan along with the capacity to find an answer, I’ll offer this with hope: We may define ourselves as human so long as we remember to do so. | <urn:uuid:e1322956-316f-42bc-845d-ac39a2796cf9> | CC-MAIN-2020-05 | https://thomtruelove.com/2016/06/16/ceteris-paribus-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-05/segments/1579250597458.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20200120052454-20200120080454-00537.warc.gz | en | 0.957006 | 970 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Think like a wise man, but communicate in the language of the people. (William Butler Yeats)
This advice applies primarily to papers, but also to lectures and seminars (though one should also bear in mind that talks are not the same as papers).
On the one hand, one of the most important things in mathematics (though certainly not the only thing) is to get results, and prove them correctly. However, one also needs to make a good faith effort to communicate these results to their intended audience. (It may feel like you have attained some level of intellectual achievement if you can discuss a topic which is so difficult or jargon-heavy that most of your audience do not understand what you are talking about, but it is in fact a far greater intellectual achievement if you can actually communicate that difficult topic effectively to such an audience.)
Good exposition is hard work – almost as hard as good research, sometimes – and one may feel that having proved the result, one has no further obligation to explain it. However, this type of attitude tends to needlessly infuriate the very people who would otherwise be the strongest supporters and developers of your work, and is ultimately counter-productive. Thus, one should devote serious thought (and effort) to issues such as logical layout of a paper, choice and placement of notation, and the addition of heuristic, informal, motivational or overview material in the introduction and in other sections of a paper.
Ideally, at every point in the paper, the reader should know what the immediate goal is, what the long-term goal is, where various key statements or steps will be justified, why the notation, lemmas, and other material just introduced will be relevant to these goals, and have a reasonable idea of the context in which these arguments are placed in. (In short, a good paper should tell the reader “Why” and “Where” and not just “How” and “What”.)
In practice one tends to fall far short of such ideals, but there are often still ways one can make one’s papers more accessible without compromising the results. It sometimes helps to sit on a paper for a while, until the details have faded somewhat from your memory, and then reread it with a fresher perspective (and one closer to that of your typical audience); this can often highlight some significant issues with the exposition (e.g. use of some specialised jargon, without ever defining the term or citing a reference for it) which can then be easily addressed. | <urn:uuid:45e8ef68-6cc0-46dc-b89b-e562d18c4b30> | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | https://terrytao.wordpress.com/career-advice/be-considerate-of-your-audience/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246650671.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045730-00029-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959535 | 521 | 2.71875 | 3 |
What is Cause Marketing?
Social cause marketing has emerged from being thought of as a contradiction in terms to being a real force to be reckoned with, an attempt to combine powerful marketing methods, for the sake of health, education and raising awareness. Some marketing is conducted to directly address a social dilemma or cause. Cause- related marketing is done by a corporation to support a cause. Social marketing is done by a non profit or government organisations to further a cause, such as “say no to drugs” or “exercise more and eat better”. (Kotler and Keller, 2006)
Social marketing is distinct from Not- for- profit marketing, which includes marketing activities conducted by individuals and organisations to achieve some goal other than the ordinary business goals of profit, market share or return on investment. However, although a non- profit organisation main purpose is to attain those goals. Thus a charity, such as the Red Cross, must raise resources to support its generous work. Non- profit marketing can be separated into two categories: non- profit organisation marketing and social marketing. Non- profit organisation marketing is the application of marketing concepts and techniques to organisations such as hospitals and colleges. Social marketing is the development of programmes designed to influence the acceptability of social ideas, such as getting people to recycle more newspapers, plastics and aluminium, or promoting the regeneration of a deprived inner- city area. (Sally et al, 2006)
Social Marketing as defined by Rob Donovan is “The application of marketing concepts and techniques, to exchanges that result in the achievement of socially desirable aims, with objectives to benefit society as a whole.” (Perera, 2006)
Challenges for Social Marketing
The ideology of social marketing can relate to really varied set of social problems wherever the base line is influencing behaviour. However as managers and funding agencies begin to elongate the notion of social marketing into more unidentified area, it is important to repeat the subsequent cautions about the following basic principles, which- in their haste to adopt the very latest social engineering fad- they may ignore.
Social marketing is about behaviour change. It is not merely about education and propaganda, a person should not visualise they are doing social marketing if their prime motive is informing the community or trying to change some basic values. These are worthwhile goals and they may precede social marketing. But they are not to be bewildered with social marketing. In effect, social marketing is not social advertising. Although communications implements are often essential to social marketing programs, it is much more than just communication to the masses. (Goldberg, Fishbein and Middlestadt, 1997)
Social marketing cannot be cut up into its various constituent parts of concepts and tools (like focus group research), to be randomly used as needed or dispersed throughout conventional approaches like health, education. It has, first of all, a specific focus that puts customers at the core of everything that the marketer does. Second, it is a procedure of doing social marketing. This procedure involves persistently going back and forth to the target market before and after planning and before and after execution. And, it is finally, a set of synchronised interventions that do not rely on communications. Many of the complications and challenges faced by social marketers arise from the stark differences between the application of social marketing, compared with its progenitor, commercial marketing. (Goldberg, Fishbein and Middlestadt, 1997)
Social marketers must often deal with huge problems where the expectations of funding agencies, governments and the general public are very high. Yet, these very same problems usually involve very basic behaviours, attitudes and principles. Changing the way Pakistani men treat young women in their society is a lot more difficult than getting more kids in the USA to eat Froot Loops. As various scholars have noted, social marketers have several special issues with which to deal:
It is wrong to say that marketers create needs, but instead capitalise on needs that have previously been undetected for new categories of products. Social marketers however often have to deal with none- existent demand– for example, where targets of a contraceptive social marketing program are members of a particular religious group who believe that children are “Gods plan” and cannot be prevented or spaced. Even more challenging is overcoming negative demand– for example, where drivers feel that driving under 55 mph or wearing seat belts in too strict. (MacFadyen L et al, 1999)
Benefits of the product
This is linked very much to the challenges of varied demand. The benefit of the product may be invisible- for example where one is promoting driving under 55 mph or getting a child inoculated but where success means that nothing happened (preventative measures) (i.e. no accidents or no measles), which makes it hard for the target audience to see a connection between the recommended behaviour and specific outcomes. The benefit may be also of no personal consequence to the consumer– for example, where one is trying to get individual households to recycles even though they do not directly benefit and, in fact, pay real costs. Benefits are often hard to portray– for examples, where one would like to show the outcome of safe sex or family planning without using clichéd pictures of happy, healthy individuals and families. (MacFadyen L et al, 1999)
Complexity of the product
Traditional marketing has focused on substantial products that can be controlled in terms of its packaging, physical attributes etc, but with changes in the market’s scope, marketers have to adapt to strategies focusing on areas such as services. Social marketers have it even harder, trying to change ideas embedded in cultural beliefs. Problems arise from intense public enquiry- example, where village leaders feel that a new breast feeding or oral rehydration program is a hostile Western attempt to eliminate traditional values and social patterns. (MacFadyen L et al, 1999)
(The figure on the page illustrates the different types of social marketing product. Adapted from Kotler and Roberto, 1989).
Challenging Target Groups
Social marketers must often target groups who commercial marketers tend to ignore: the least accessible, hardest to reach and least likely to change their behaviors. These can include non- literate and/or extremely impoverished target markets– for example, when villagers cannot afford either the cost of condoms or, alternatively get the time to go to health clinics to get free ones and highly sensitive issues- for example, where one wishes to ask Muslim women about their sexual behaviours in order to develop a more effective safe sex campaign. (Goldberg, Fishbein and Middlestadt, 1997)
Social marketing is not a crowd marketing. Indeed, as noted later, one of social marketing’s important contributions is to insist that markets almost always need to be segmented, and in many cases segmented in alternative ways. Finally, changing behaviour in many cases is only the first step. Too many programs are short lived, designed as one- tome campaigns. For the difficult behaviours with which many social programs are involved, such as quick fixes are likely to have equally quick lifetimes. (Goldberg, Fishbein and Middlestadt; 1997) | <urn:uuid:441cc015-7e83-4aa4-a8ed-e6a98b022491> | CC-MAIN-2022-05 | https://marketingsol.in/2020/01/13/social-cause-marketing/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-05/segments/1642320301730.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20220120065949-20220120095949-00673.warc.gz | en | 0.954043 | 1,474 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Pollution is one of the biggest causes of death in the world and affects over 100 million people daily. Even in developed countries, pollution harms our air quality, ecosystems, and water supplies. Water pollution has one of the most significant effects on the globe, and polluted coast waters cost an estimated $12.8 billion USD due to the diseases and deaths they can cause. Much of that comes from untreated wastewater, especially when we waste water that could have otherwise been used. This type of waste accounts for over 1.2 trillion gallons dumped into U.S. waters each year.
However, there are plenty of ways to reduce water pollution, and part of that has to do with saving the water we use every day. Why is water conservation important? Saving water helps to provide more clean water for others, especially fresh water, which makes up just 2.5% of the world’s water supply. For easy water conservation tips, keep reading.
1. In the kitchen, there are plenty of ways to save water. One of the easiest water conservation tips, especially for doing the dishes, is to only use the water when you need it. Don’t leave the tap running while scrubbing dishes; instead, turn the water on just for rinsing. Also, if you use a dishwasher, be sure to select a high efficiency model that will reduce water usage. When you cook, select the right size pot if you have to boil water, so you don’t use too much.
2. The bathroom of a home is an easy place to use too much water. One of the easiest water conservation methods is to limit the amount of time you spend in the shower. Taking one shower can use several gallons of water, so try limiting showers to just a few minutes. Also, take a look at your fixtures. Older toilets can use several gallons of water to flush; selecting a water-efficient toilet can save water and save you money on your water bill each month, too. Keep an eye out for leaks in the bathroom and kitchen, too, since these can be costly wastes of water.
3. Like using water outdoors for your lawn or garden? Be sure to limit the amount you use on your plants and grass. Check the weather to find out if it will rain soon, so nature can take care of your yard for you. Also, some activities can also use too much water if you’re not careful, such as washing a car. Use a bucket of water with a sponge rather than spraying the car with a hose. For children, try to reduce summer activities that rely on water, such as water guns, water balloons, or running through a sprinkler.
4. Finally, one of the best water conservation tips for avoiding pollution, too, is to avoid drinking bottled water. Plastic water bottles are some of the biggest pollutants in the world, and they cause problems for fish and sea mammals when dumped into the water. Instead, drink water from the tap, and use a filter to improve the taste and reduce pollutants.
Have questions or suggestions for water conservation tips? Feel free to leave them in a comment. | <urn:uuid:dc1190e3-7d1c-4555-9061-05e141563431> | CC-MAIN-2024-10 | https://new-era-homes.com/2014/06/04/want-to-reduce-pollution-read-these-four-essential-home-water-conservation-tips/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-10/segments/1707947474440.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20240223153350-20240223183350-00895.warc.gz | en | 0.94782 | 641 | 3.390625 | 3 |
Teaching students about how to better care for the environment is a key skill all year long. One way we can help the environment is to use less paper and complete work electronically. This free Ecology Internet Scavenger Hunt gives students the option to work electronically. It also gives them two other options, including using QR codes. Download all three internet scavenger hunt formats in this one folder at my Teachers Pay Teachers store. | <urn:uuid:576fcd7f-5e69-42eb-a3f1-525fb218a1cc> | CC-MAIN-2022-27 | https://www.classroomfreebies.com/2015/09/let-students-explore-internet-and.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-27/segments/1656104204514.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20220702192528-20220702222528-00281.warc.gz | en | 0.919106 | 84 | 2.734375 | 3 |
The two Koreas agreed on Jan. 30, 2019 to allow civilian ships to navigate through the Han River estuary along their western border on a trial basis, starting in April, Seoul's defense ministry said.
The two sides held working-level military talks at the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom to discuss the joint use of the estuary, where civilian access has been limited due to tensions.
|South and North Korean military officials look at a new navigation chart for the Han River estuary during their working-level talks at the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom on Jan. 30, 2019, in this photo provided by Seoul's defense ministry.|
At the talks, the South delivered to the North a new navigation chart of the estuary for use in tourism, ecological protection and the collection of construction aggregate.
Seoul and Pyongyang agreed to devise military measures to jointly use the estuary under last year's military accord aimed at reducing tensions, preventing accidental clashes and building trust.
"In line with the military accord, (the Koreas) agreed to allow civilian vessels to sail through the estuary on a trial basis in April and expand their access to it in phases," the ministry said in a press release.
"Through the delivery of the navigation chart to the North, we have created an opportunity for free navigation in the estuary, where access has been restricted since the armistice agreement in 1953," it added.
South Korea completed the process to draw up the chart after it conducted a joint survey of the waterway with the North from Nov. 5 through Dec. 9.
The chart shows water depths, coastlines and the locations of reefs and other features. Later this year, South Korea's Hydrographic and Oceanographic Agency will create an electronic chart that also connects the existing maps depicting waters near the Han River.
The production of the chart is another step by the Koreas to enforce their military accord that their defense ministers signed after the third inter-Korean summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang last September.
The accord includes various trust-building and conventional arms control measures, such as disarming the Joint Security Area in the Demilitarized Zone and removing some border guard posts on a trial basis. (Yonhap)
Son Da-som [email protected]
<저작권자 © 코리아포스트, 무단 전재 및 재배포 금지> | <urn:uuid:a0bae060-75f2-456f-8167-e900a21cf8b9> | CC-MAIN-2019-51 | http://www.koreapost.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=8420 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-51/segments/1575540511946.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20191208150734-20191208174734-00024.warc.gz | en | 0.956282 | 558 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Comets contain some of the oldest and most pristine materials in our solar system. Understanding their unique chemistry could reveal much about the birth of our planet and the origin of organic compounds that are the building blocks of life. ALMA’s high-resolution observations provided a tantalizing 3-D perspective of the distribution of the molecules within these two cometary atmospheres, or comas.
“We achieved truly first-of-a-kind mapping of important molecules that help us understand the nature of comets,” said Martin Cordiner from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
The critical 3-D component of the ALMA observations was made by combining high-resolution 2-D images of the comets with high-resolution spectra obtained from three important organic molecules — hydrogen cyanide (HCN), hydrogen isocyanide (HNC), and formaldehyde (H2CO). These spectra were taken at every point in each image. They identified not only the molecules present, but also their velocities, which provided the third dimension, indicating the depths of the cometary atmospheres.
The new results revealed that HCN gas flows outward from the nucleus quite evenly in all directions, whereas HNC is concentrated in clumps and jets. ALMA’s exquisite resolution could clearly resolve these clumps moving into different regions of the cometary comas on a day-to-day and even hour-to-hour basis. These distinctive patterns confirm that the HNC and H2CO molecules actually form within the coma and provide new evidence that HNC may be produced by the breakdown of large molecules or organic dust.
“So, not only does ALMA let us identify individual molecules in the coma, it also gives us the ability to map their locations with great sensitivity,” said Anthony Remijan from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The observations were also significant because modest comets like Lemmon and ISON contain relatively low concentrations of these crucial molecules, making them difficult to probe in-depth with Earth-based telescopes. The few comprehensive studies of this kind so far have been conducted on extremely bright comets, such as Hale-Bopp. The present results extend them to comets of only moderate brightness.
Comet ISON was observed with ALMA on November 15–17, 2013, when it was only 46 million miles (75 million kilometers) from the Sun — about half the distance of Earth to the Sun. Comet Lemmon was observed June 1–2, 2013, when it was 139 million miles (224 million kilometers) from the Sun — about 1.5 times the distance of Earth to the Sun.
“The high sensitivity achieved in these studies paves the way for observations of perhaps hundreds of the dimmer or more distant comets,” said Stefanie Milam from Goddard Space Flight Center. “The findings suggest that it should also be possible to map more complex molecules that have so far eluded detection in comets.” | <urn:uuid:e1781b12-f902-4b7b-b8f9-b3f968313ba9> | CC-MAIN-2024-10 | https://www.astronomy.com/science/alma-confirms-comets-forge-organic-molecules-in-their-dusty-atmospheres/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-10/segments/1707947474569.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20240224212113-20240225002113-00331.warc.gz | en | 0.945967 | 631 | 4 | 4 |
Time brings all things to pass.
Aeschylus (c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient greek tragedian who was called the “father of tragedy”.
Perhaps, Dr. Michael DeBakey, the world-renown heart surgeon from Methodist Hospital in Houston, could be considered the modern father of aortic dissection.
Dr. DeBakey’s classification of aortic dissections is still used today to describe the different ways that aortic dissections manifest.
In the spirit of Aeschylus, and with a nod to Dr. DeBakey, let’s discuss ACUTE versus CHRONIC aortic dissections.
You may want to refresh yourself about aortic dissection from our previous posts HERE and HERE. Aortic dissection is a complex disease with many different forms of presentation. It is a spontaneous process which develops literally within a few heart beats. Because aortic dissection seems to come “out of the blue”, many patients are baffled about how they developed this problem.
Let’s be real. Patients can be walking around, with everything normal, and suddenly collapse with an instantaneous episode of disabling chest or back pain. Like many people with heart attacks, the sudden tearing of the layers of the aorta frequently develops without warning.
An ACUTE aortic dissection means that the dissection has been diagnosed within 2 weeks of the aortic dissection occurring. In fact, many patients are diagnosed in the emergency room within hours of the start of the aortic dissection.
Sadly, many patients with aortic dissection experience such a catastrophic series of emergent medical problems related to the aortic dissection, that they die instantly and never make it to the emergency room.
A CHRONIC aortic dissection refers to an interval of 4 weeks or more from the time when the aortic dissection started.
Later in this post, you will discover the medical and surgical implications of ACUTE versus CHRONIC aortic dissections.
Classification of aortic dissections
There are two major classification systems used to categorize the way aortic dissections occur. The underlying variables in both of these classification systems are:
In what part of the aorta (anatomically) does the aortic dissection start?
How much of an extent does the aortic dissection extend beyond the starting point?
As you recall from our previous post HERE, there are 4 main anatomic regions of the aorta: ascending aorta, aortic arch, descending thoracic aorta and abdominal aorta.
It is rare (but not impossible) for an aortic dissection to begin in the abdominal aorta. The entry tear (location where the ripping of the aortic layers begins) usually develops in either the ascending aorta or descending aorta. Aortic dissections can start in the aortic arch, but much less frequently.
The DeBakey and Stanford Aortic Classification systems are pictured below.
As you can see, there are a number of similarities between the classification systems.
ACUTE aortic dissections
Once again, an ACUTE aortic dissection refers to a 2 week interval from the time of onset of the aortic dissection. This 2 week interval is a very critical period in many ways. Within the first 2 weeks, the newly torn aorta is extremely fragile and prone to rapid deterioration. The initial line of treatment for acute aortic dissections is to control the blood pressure with medications.
Keeping the systolic blood pressure in a “normal” range (110-120 mmHg) lessens the chances that the tearing of the aorta could continue. Patients are almost always started on intravenous blood pressure medications (B-blockers) to immediately decrease the strain on the aorta. It is the physiologic pumping of blood within the aorta by the heart that continues to rip the aorta.
Even with optimal medical therapy (blood pressure control), the aortic dissection can worsen. Patients with acute aortic dissections are monitored in the intensive care unit, and have frequent examinations by nurses and physicians.
Patients with acute Stanford Type A aortic dissections are rushed off from the emergency room directly to the operating room for emergency open heart surgery.
Patients with acute Stanford Type B aortic dissections are evaluated for potential complications associated with the aortic dissection. Complications, such as sudden loss of blood flow to an important branch vessel off the aorta due to the dissection flap blocking blood flow to the vessel, require immediate surgical or interventional treatment in addition to medical therapy.
Other potential complications associated with an acute type B aortic dissection are resistance to the blood pressure medications or blood leaking from the torn aorta (hemorrhage). Once again, these complications require urgent treatment.
In a majority of circumstances, an acute type B aortic dissection will respond to medical therapy with blood pressure medications and not involve surgery.
CHRONIC Aortic Dissections
When an aortic dissection has been present for more than 4 weeks, then we call this a chronic aortic dissection. Remember, almost all Type A aortic dissections undergo emergency open heart surgery, so when we are discussing CHRONIC Type B aortic dissections, we are referring to patients with residual aortic dissections after their open heart surgery or Type B aortic dissections.
The significance in a dissection becoming CHRONIC, is that the whole torn aorta stabilizes and the body stabilizes the condition. This means that the torn tissues become more rigid and less likely to tear again or continue tearing (although that can rarely happen).
Approximately 1/3 of patients with chronic aortic dissections will experience slow expansion of the torn aorta. This expansion refers to a localized bulge of the aorta because of the weakened tissues. These patients can develop an aneurysm of the false lumen (blood channel created by the aortic dissection).
As a result, patients with chronic aortic dissections should be followed for life with annual CAT scans to detect this potential problem.
Implications for treatment
There is some early data to suggest that treating patients with aortic dissections in the “subacute” (2-4 week window) may be optimal.
Some authors are concerned that treating chronic aortic dissections with aortic stents may have limited efficacy, although others, like myself, believe that chronic aortic dissections can be treated successfully with an aortic stent-graft.
Aortic dissections are classified according to a number of variables including location of the tear, length of aorta affected by the tear and the duration of time since the tear originated.
All of these variables have an impact on the way that a particular case of aortic dissection is treated.
Do you know anyone with an aortic dissection? Have you personally experienced and aortic dissection?
Comment and share your story so that other people can learn from your personal experiences.
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After the Flood, by Bill Cooper
So that we may bring the subject we are about to study into its proper perspective, we must first allow that many of our preconceptions regarding ancient man are mistaken. It is commonly supposed, for example, that the nations if the world became aware of the God of Genesis only after they were evangelised by Christian missionaries. Only since the translation of the scriptures into their own language, it is assumed, did they become conscious of the Creation and the God who created it. It is further supposed that early pagan man can have had no concept of a divinity higher than that of an idol, because it is impossible to come to a knowledge of the one true God without that knowledge being given through the direct revelation of His Word, and so on. Popular thought seems never to have considered the possibility that pagan man was indeed aware of God and of His attributes and power, and that this awareness had existed and flourished for centuries without any recourse at all to the scriptures. So it is with something of a surprise that we meet with exactly that, a profound knowledge and appreciation of an eternal and almighty Creator God, His fatherhood of the human race and His infinite attributes in the writings of various historians in the ancient world and amongst the teachings of the earliest philosophers. It is of the utmost importance that we familiarise ourselves with this truth as we begin our investigations into the Table of Nations itself and the knowledge amongst the pagan nations of those patriarchs and events that are so familiar to us from the Genesis record.
So profound was the concept and knowledge of God amongst certain pagan peoples in the ancient world, and in particular the Greek and Roman worlds, that a controversy eventually arose and was to rage for marry centuries between those who propagated and preserved that knowledge of God as the Creator, and those who sought to destroy it by attributing the creation of the universe to purely natural forces. The marked similarity between that pagan controversy and the controversy that rages today between creationists and evolutionists is surprising and we shall be examining that controversy in this chapter. But first we must understand something of the sheer profundity of the pagan philosophical concept of the one true God. We meet with it in places as distant from each other as the world is wide, arid among cultures as socially and politically diverse as those of ancient Greece and China. For example, it is from the writings of the Taoist Lao-tzu, who flourished in the China of the 6th century BC, that the following profound statement concerning the existence and some of the attributes of God is taken:
'Before time, and throughout time, there has been a self-existing being, eternal, infinite, complete, omnipresent Outside this being, before the beginning, there was nothing.' (1)
It was clearly from no copy of Genesis that Lao-tzu could possibly have derived such an awareness of God. But then as other pagan philosophers from different cultures altogether were to add their convictions to that of the Chinese sage Lao-tzu, (and that takes no account of all those who lived before him), it becomes immediately obvious that no such copy was necessary. It would seem that, contrary to most of the assumptions of modern psychology on the matter, the knowledge of God is in fact and indeed innate within the human soul. It is a built-in awareness that may well be awakened and perfected with the reception of God's Word, but it is certainly something that exists quite independently of a knowledge of scripture. That is not to say that it was admitted to or proclaimed equally by all men in the ancient world. Many, of course, denied it just as they deny it today, for alongside every Lao-tzu who proclaimed the existence of God in the world of ancient China, there was a Kuo-Hsiang ready to dispute it:
'I venture to ask whether the creator is or is not. If he is not, how can he create things? The creating of things has no Lord; everything creates itself.' (2)
But such exceptions gloriously prove the rule. For the existence of the Creator to be denied by one philosopher, it first has to be expounded by another, and the question that interests us here is where did that knowledge come from? If not from scripture, which was unknown to these peoples, then from where? If not from Christian missionary teachers who did not yet exist, then from whom? For, imperfect as the concept of God may have been among the early pagans, it was nevertheless very real, often profound, and can only have been founded upon a body of knowledge that had been preserved amongst the early races from a particular point in history. What that point in history was may become evident as our study proceeds and as we meet with the families of humankind dispersing from a single point around the globe. But that it was profound and in many ways inspiring, can hardly be denied, as the following ancient text from Heliopolis in Egypt testifies:
'I am the creator of all things that exist...that came forth from my mouth. Heaven and earth did not exist, nor had been created the herbs of the ground nor the creeping things. I raised them out of the primeval abyss from a state of non-being...' (3)
It would not be overstating the case to say that the Egyptian concept of a divine creation of the universe was so strongly held that throughout Egypt it governed every sphere of thought and action, political, educational, philosophical and so on. And it is also noteworthy to consider that there is no record anywhere amongst the vast amount of literature to be recovered from ancient Egypt, that suggests that this view was ever challenged. Nowhere in all the long history of Egypt do we find that a philosopher arose who was prepared to propagate the notion that the universe came into being through the agency of non-divine forces and processes. There were indeed other types of heretic and dissident, notably the pharaoh Akhnaten who sought to bring all Egypt under the persuasion that there was but one god instead of the many that the Egyptians worshipped, but this was hardly atheism or a materialist concept that denied the place and reality of the Creator. (4) On the contrary, it was an effort, albeit an unsuccessful effort ultimately, on the part of Akhnaten to clear away much of the theological dross and debris that had obscured by his day the purity of the concept of such a Creator.
Curiously, we meet with the same lack of challenge to the creationist view almost throughout the ancient literate world. For example, we encounter this same absence of atheism or materialism in both Mesopotamia and early Israel, where records make no mention at all of any materialist thinker even by way of condemnation or refutation, save perhaps the solitary biblical observation that, 'the fool hath said in his heart, there is no God'. (5) This, of course, presupposes the existence of such fools at the time the statement was written, ca 1000 BC, yet not a shadow of a controversy has come down to us that so much as hints that the prevailing creationist view was ever challenged or even questioned in the ancient Middle East, so strongly was it held to in that region of the earth at least. And that is a notable fact that no one, to my knowledge, has ever sought to examine. (6) Indeed, in every major culture throughout the ancient world of which we have any record, the overwhelming consensus was that the universe had been created by often a single and usually supreme divine being (even in notoriously polytheistic cultures). But more remarkably, each culture was capable of expressing a view of the Creator that was not always perverse even though it flourished in the midst of an aggressive and thoroughly perverse paganism. For example, amongst the early Greeks we have in the Theogony of Hesiod (8th century BC) an account of the creation of the world that bears unmistakable and remarkably close similarities with the Genesis account:
'First of all the Void came into being ...next Earth ...Out of the Void came darkness ...and out of the Night came Light and Day...' (7)
And yet it is immediately obvious upon reading the whole of the Theogony that Hesiod did not get his information from the book of Genesis. This is evident from his debased view of the Creator alone. But even though Hesiod's debased view may have been typical, and indeed understandable, for one who lived in a thoroughly pagan society, it was by no means a view that was shared by all his fellow pagans. Xenophanes, for example, who lived some two centuries after Hesiod, held an altogether loftier view of the Creator and in a most inspiring passage sought to redress the theological balance:
'Homer and Hesiod attributed to the gods all the things which among men are shameful and blameworthy--theft and adultery and mutual deception...[But] there is one God, greatest among gods and men, similar to mortals neither in shape nor in thought ...he sees as a whole, he thinks as a whole, he hears as a whole ...Always he remains in the same state, changing not at all ...But far from toil he governs everything with his mind.' (8)
Xenophanes, typically, would have known the names of all the Greek gods as well as the multitude of functions that they were thought to serve. Yet, significantly, and it is a most significant point, he did not attempt to name or identify the God of whom he now spoke and whom he clearly admired. This God was not a Zeus or a Hermes. This God was ineffable, and His ineffability was a concept that was to persist in Greek thought for as long as Greek philosophy itself was to persist. The concept of this ineffable Creator God permeated the thought of Plato, for example, who sought to replace Hesiod's perverse concepts of the Creation with a more reasonable one, based no doubt upon philosophical concepts far more ancient than Hesiod's and certainly far more profound:
'Let us therefore state the reason why the framer of this universe of change framed it at all. He was good, and what is good has no particle of envy in it; being therefore without envy, he wished all things to be as like himself as possible. This is as valid a principle for the origin of the world of change as we shall discover from the wisdom of men...' (9)
Note the echo from Genesis: 'And God saw that it was good.' We may also note here that Plato had discovered this concept from the wisdom of philosophers who had gone before him, and that it was therefore not something that originated in Plato's thought alone. We can say though that, with the advent of Plato's refined and carefully reasoned model of the Creation together with his (and Xenophanes') higher concept of the Creator, it would seem that the classical Greek model of origins was changed for all time. Never again was it to revert to the divine capriciousness of the many Hesiodic gods for an explanation of the universe. The creationist concept of the ancient world was rather to become, under Plato's inspiration and that of his pupils, more 'scientifically' and logically based, with its firm belief in a single and almighty Creator. However, in its wake, something fir more serious than the earlier Hesiodic misconception was to occur.
It is with some irony that whilst the philosophically nurtured concept of the Creator was undergoing in ancient Greece such a profound shift towards a greater appreciation of His nature and attributes, there was taking place at the same time and in the same land the birth of another and hitherto unheard of concept amongst the Greeks, atheism. We simply do not know how atheism came to be born in ancient Greece, for, as we have seen, it was virtually an unheard of concept even in the most pagan cultures of the ancient world. But given the timing of its advent along with that of a higher concept of the Creator, which is of an equally mysterious source historically speaking, it would seem that the atheism of ancient Greece was conceived to directly oppose the burgeoning concept amongst the philosophers of a single supreme and omnipotent Deity. It is significant, no doubt, that no such concept as atheism arose earlier to deny the lesser pagan gods of Hesiod's philosophy. But with its advent we see the first beginnings of the great controversy that was to rage for centuries between those who held to the now reasonably argued belief in a Creator, and those who utterly denied it.
Thales of Miletus (ca 625-545 BC) is usually credited with having been the first materialist philosopher among the Greeks. But it is very doubtful that Thales was a materialist at all. All that we know of Thales comes to us through Later writers, Aristotle the most notable amongst them, and he simply described him as the 'founder of natural philosophy'. (10) It is upon little more than the strength of this one remark by Aristotle that the case against Thales rests. But against that must be set the aphorisms that are attributed by others to Thales, such as: 'Of existing things, God is the oldest--for he is ungenerated. The world is the most beautiful, for it is God's creation ...Mind is the swiftest, for it runs through everything..., and so on. All of which are classic creationist sentiments.
But Thales did have a pupil named Anaximander (ca 610-540 BC), and it is to him that we must look for the first recorded challenge to creationism from the materialist school. We must be careful, though, in assuming Anaximander to have been the very first materialist thinker amongst the Greeks, for the view held by Anaximander was nothing less than a fully developed theory of evolution. From Plutarch's pen we hear Anaximander propounding that, '...originally, humans were born from animals of a different kind... ' (12) and so on, the creative principle that brought the universe into existence being held to be entirely impersonal and 'natural'. This argument, of course, has a somewhat familiar ring to it in our own century, but we must ask ourselves whether it is likely that such a fully fledged evolutionary model of origins can have sprung from a single mind and in such a mature states especially from a thinker who was an immediate disciple of the creationist Thales. Or is it more likely that, for many years prior to Anaximander, there was at least some kind of materialist challenge developing perhaps even underground amongst certain thinkers in Greece, and that Anaximander simply plucked the baton from an unknown predecessor's hand? The laws of the time suggest strongly that such was the case, and our knowledge of just how the modern concept of evolution was nurtured and developed by a succession of thinkers across several centuries, virtually demands that we assume a similarly prolonged development in Greek materialist thought.
The evidence, such as it is, that is contained in the laws of ancient Greece against blasphemy and impiety, makes it certain that there were blasphemers and impious men to be legislated against, and such laws invariably prescribed death as the penalty for such a crime, the famous Socrates himself having finally fallen foul of such laws. And Plato, who was later to discuss in depth exactly how he thought the impious might be more effectively legislated against in the ideal city-state, (13) paints for us a picture of the condition of things in his own day, but speaks of the materialists as if they were an unlikely new breed of thinkers who had only just arrived on the scene:
'Some people, I believe, account for all things which have come to exist, all things which are coming into existence now, and all things which will do so in the future, by attributing them either to nature, art, or chance.' (14)
...going on to tell us how these thinkers define the gods as 'artificial concepts' and 'legal fictions'. He names the trend for what he thought it to be, a 'pernicious doctrine' that 'must be the ruin of the younger generation, both in the state at large and in private families'. (15) Unfortunately, Plato declines to name the thinkers who were responsible for this state of affairs and against whom he is contending. But this in turn only adds strength to the suggestion that atheism as an idea was more generally and anciently held, and more widespread amongst Plato's own contemporaries, than either the records of the time or Plato himself would lead us to believe. But whoever they were, Plato was to offer them a mightily effective challenge through his own refined creationist model of origins, for whatever the materialists proposed, Plato's model was of a higher concept altogether. For him, the Creator turned chaos into order simply because it was His good nature, and His good pleasure, so to do. He loved order rather than chaos, and to ensure the maintenance of that order everything He created was made according to an eternal and flawless pattern, Plato's justly famous Theory of Forms. But the real importance of Plato's model of origins for our enquiry is that it effectively silenced the materialist school for the next fifty years or so, that is until the time when Epicurus was to lay down his own counter-challenge to the creationist model. Aristotle had evidently already attempted to find some middle ground between the idealist Plato and his materialist opponents, but this did little or nothing to modify the scale of the philosophical provocation of what Plato had proposed.
Epicurus felt bound to oppose it, and he laid down his challenge around the close of the 4th century BC with a cosmology whose effects were to reverberate throughout the coming Roman world for many centuries to come. Indeed, it still survives in the elements of several modern philosophies.
The challenge issued by Plato's model of origins was met by Epicurus at every point, even on those more mundane matters that had merely to do with the city-state and jurisprudence. But in particular, Epicurus argued that it was insufficient to contend for the divine creation of the universe, as Plato did, from the assumption of a well-ordered cosmos, simply because the cosmos, in Epicurus's eyes, was not well-ordered. (16) It had culminated from a long, perhaps infinite, series of accidents resulting from the random jostling of atoms. But then, ever the sophist, Epicurus shrewdly shifted the ground a little so that any rebuttal from the creationist camp would need to take on board an added complication and consequently be more difficult to propound, for in spite of his unabashed materialism, Epicurus was careful to acknowledge the existence of the gods! He relegated them to a place of complete ineffectuality and disinterest in the cosmos, but he avoided an outright denial of their existence. Apart from the fact that he had to beware of the still-standing laws of the time against impiety and blasphemy, Epicurus knew that outright atheism is easily refuted by any philosopher with an eye for controversy, and the fact that few men in any age are outright atheists anyway would ensure scant support for his views. But, if the existence of the gods is acknowledged at the same time in which the divine creation of the universe is denied, then the arguments against the Epicurean view become infinitely more complex, affording the materialist with the subsequent ability to change ground at will. Such sophistry, of course, was entirely in keeping with the character of Epicurus who was roundly criticised for it on more than one occasion:
'Epicurus himself used to do the same thing. For instance, he saw that if those atoms of his were always falling downwards by their own weight, their motion would be fixed and predetermined, and there would be no room for free will in the world. So casting about for a way to avoid this determinism, which Democritus had apparently overlooked, he said that the atoms, as they fell, just swerved a little!' (17)
However, the acknowledgement of the existence of the gods did have the virtue of imparting to Epicurus control of the field and the ability to state the terms under which the ensuing controversy was to be fought. Or so he vainly hoped, for far from seeing creationism off the proverbial field, Epicureanism merely served to rally the creationist camp towards a better definition of its views, and the school of thought which raised itself to meet the challenge of Epicurean materialism was the Stoic school, founded by Zeno in ca 308 BC.
As events were to prove, Stoicism was to become a very effective challenge indeed in the pagan world against materialism in any guise or form, and that challenge was brought about by a most significant development. This development began with a far more profound concept of the Creator than had hitherto prevailed in Greek thought, whether that of Hesiod, of Xenophanes or even of Plato. Indeed, the incipient and lightly veiled atheism of Epicurus's philosophy was now answered by the Stoics in the most compelling terms, with Chrysippus giving it perhaps its most persuasive voice:
'If there is anything in nature which the human mind, which human intelligence, energy and power could not create, then the creator of such things must be a being superior to man. But the heavenly bodies in their eternal orbits could not be created by man. They must therefore be created by a being greater than man ...Only an arrogant fool would imagine that there was nothing in the whole world greater than himself. Therefore there must be something greater than man. And that something must be God.' (18)
This may be a good place to briefly reflect upon die somewhat mysterious source of such endearingly plain logic, a plainness of logic indeed that is quite uncharacteristic of Greek philosophy. What processes of thought can conceivably have led from the grotesque parodies of human corruption that one sees in the older Hesiodic creation model of the Greeks amongst beings that passed for 'gods', to the majestic and undeniably sublime concept of a supreme and omnipotent Deity that was now being voiced by Chrysippus and his colleagues? (19) The Christian faith had yet to be born, its influence on Greek thought still lying some centuries into the future. So could it perhaps have been through the agency of the recently Hellenized Jews who, albeit they horrified the orthodox of their faith by mingling much of Judaism with Greek thought and practices, unwittingly carried with them into the Greek camp an inherent knowledge of the God of Genesis in a kind of theological Trojan horse? The answer is no, for apart from the fact that one can hardly claim that Jewish philosophical thought was any less complex and sophistic than that of the Greeks, there are also strong historical and chronological grounds for denying Jewish influence in the sphere of Greek philosophy at this particular point in history.
The Greeks, it appears, first made contact with Judaism as early as the year 587 BC, when Greek mercenaries assisted the armies of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in the investing and destruction of Jerusalem. Along with the mercenaries, of course, would have been a smaller army of civil servants, spies and so on, many of whom during the long and enforced hours of leisure doubtless spent their time in philosophical discussion. But to suggest that this would have included the taking on board of Jewish thought is quite beyond the realms of probability. The Jews were invariably viewed with a poorly disguised contempt by the Greeks throughout their centuries of contact with one another, to the extent that many Jews found it politic to become Greek, or Hellenized, in order to survive at all. (20) The persecution of the Jews under Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-163 BC), and his determined attempt to expunge the Jewish faith altogether, is perhaps the most telling episode regarding the often mutual hostility that existed between the orthodox of either side. It has to be admitted, of course, that the Jewish Torah, which naturally included the book of Genesis, was translated into Greek in the year 250 BC, some seventeen years before Chrysippus became head of the Stoic school in 233 BC. But even the remarkable translation of Genesis into Greek did not take place until fifty-eight years after the foundation of the Stoic school by Zeno in 308 BC. So clearly Stoicism as a philosophy owed nothing to the book of Genesis, and the philosophical path that the Stoics trod in order to arrive at their conclusions must therefore remain a mystery to us.
However, apart from the new and lofty concept voiced by Xenophanes, Plato and Chrysippus of the Creator of the universe, another concept was to follow which, in the hands of Chrysippus and his colleagues, was to lend the voice of the Stoic school an almost irresistible authority. It was the concept of 'evidence from design', an argument for that divinely inspired intent and purpose which was observable throughout the universe and which convinced the Stoic, as it convinces the creationist of today, of the scientific and philosophical correctness of his model. Refined and brilliantly expressed by Paley at the beginning of the last century, the importance of evidence from design was not lost on earlier classical theorists who were quick to give it its permanent setting in the idea of creationism. A later Stoic, the Roman Cicero, was to give the concept perhaps its highest expression in pre-Christian times, and his words are worth quoting at a little length:
'When you see a sundial or a water-clock, you see that it tells the time by design and not by chance. How then can you imagine that the universe as a whole is devoid of purpose and intelligence when it embraces everything, including these artifacts themselves and their artificers? Our friend Posidonius as you know has recently made a globe which in its revolution shows the movements of the sun and stars and planets, by day and night, just as they appear in the sky. Now if someone were to take this globe and show it to the people of Britain or Scythia would a single one of those barbarians fail to see that it was the product of a conscious intelligence?' (21)
With these beautifully simple words, Cicero gives voice to an idea which even today is the most difficult for the materialist to refute, for it is nigh impossible to explain away convincingly, say, the indescribable complexity of living organisms, or even merely parts thereof, as the product of blind chance or accident. But Cicero was not just giving voice to one of creationism's most forceful ideas for its own sake. He was doing so by way of refuting the Epicurean notions of Lucretius, the Roman materialist poet and a contemporary of his, whose book (22) Cicero mentions in a letter to his brother Quintus in February 54 BC, and which he says was written 'with many highlights of genius, but with much art'. (23) Cicero's own dialogue, On the Nature of the Gods, was written some ten years later in ca 44 BC specifically as a rebuttal of Lucretius, and it is between Cicero and Lucretius that the controversy rages, with both sides using arguments which are still very familiar to us today.
One of those arguments concerned the trustworthiness or otherwise of the senses when it comes to deducing the validity of evidence from design. How, for example, can we be sure that we interpret that evidence correctly through our senses? This, for the Stoic, was the fatal weakness in the Epicurean argument which, as Lucretius stated it, runs:
The nature of phenomena cannot be understood by the eyes.' Lucretius said this not because he believed the eyes themselves to be at fault, but because it was a failing of the mind to perceive things correctly or accurately through the senses. In fairness to Lucretius, he did go on to qualify this statement, recognising that this dictum, though it appeared to answer the creationist on a philosophical level, could not usefully be translated into everyday experience, for: (24)
'This is to attack belief at its very roots--to tear up the entire foundation on which the maintenance of life is built. If you did not dare trust your senses so as to keep clear of precipices and other such things to be avoided and make for their opposites, there would be a speedy end to life itself.' (25)
But such sophistry was to cut no ice at all with the Stoic Cicero. It smacked too much of that special pleading for which Cicero, as an advocate in law, had little patience. For if our reasoning powers could be trusted to interpret what our senses were telling us on a day to day basis when it came to such vital matters as personal safety and survival, then they could surely be trusted to interpret less vital phenomena such as evidence from design in the universe around us, which spoke so eloquently and forcefully of the universe having been created by an infinite and omnipotent intelligence. As a creationist, the Stoic Cicero simply could not appreciate the Epicurean viewpoint of Lucretius:
'In the heavens there is nothing accidental, nothing arbitrary, nothing out of order, nothing erratic. Everywhere is order, truth, reason, constancy ...I cannot understand this regularity in the stars, this harmony of time and motion in their various orbits through all eternity, except as the expression of reason, mind and purpose ...Their constant and eternal motion, wonderful and mysterious in its regularity, declares the indwelling power of a divine intelligence. If any man cannot feel the power of God when he looks upon the stars, then I doubt whether he is capable of any feeling at ' (26)
To Cicero's mind, it was the greatest irony that a thinker like Lucretius who bleated most about his unshakeable faith in the innate powers of matter to create itself and arrange itself into a meaningful and purposeful order without any outside aid or influence, found himself unable to trust that same matter when it came to perceiving or even explaining this fact! It matters not, it seems, how eloquently one may fulminate against creationism, charging it with every superstition under the sun, if one then declares that the reasoning powers of him who so fulminates cannot be trusted. Whether expressed in ancient times or in modern, it is still a case of shooting oneself in the philosophical foot, and it has effectively disarmed the materialist cause at every turn. It bedeviled the 18th century Enlightenment philosopher David Hume, whose philosophy in a nutshell stated that it was only reasonable to believe in God. But as we know that God does not exist, then our reasoning powers cannot be trusted. What Hume, along with every other materialist philosopher, was really trying to say, of course, was that no one's reasoning powers could be trusted but his own, thus making himself the only sure point of reference in the -universe. But such was the philosophical mess into which this led him, that Kant, the inheritor of Hume's mantle, once painfully lamented the fact that:
...it remains a scandal to philosophy and to human reason in general that the existence of things outside us must be accepted merely on faith, and that if anyone thinks good to doubt their existence, we are unable to counter his doubts by any satisfactory proof.' (27)
No creationist could have expressed the materialist's dilemma more concisely, and Kant has highlighted a phenomenon that has not only ensured throughout history that creationism would always hold the higher ground when it came to the expression of simple logic, but which also led out of sheer frustration to the birth and rigours of the empiricist school of thought in the 1920s. But there is another element in the controversy that has also persisted down the ages concerning the part that chance might have played in the successful arrangement of matter whether animate or inanimate. The pagan Greeks had taken the argument down to the atomic level, and instead of the desperately sought-after simplicity of arrangement that was so necessary to the materialist's cause, they found only a greater and more mind-boggling complexity, which again only added to their difficulties in attempting to explain the allegedly accidental creation and mindless existence of the universe. Again, we turn to Cicero for a judgment on the scene:
'Is it not a wonder that anyone can bring himself to believe that a number of solid and separate particles by their chance collisions and moved only by the force of their own weight could bring into being so marvelous and beautiful a world? If anybody thinks that this is possible, I do not see why he should not think that if an infinite number of examples of the twenty-one letters of the alphabet, made of gold or what you will, were shaken together and poured out on the ground it would be possible for them to fall so as to spell out, say, the whole text of the Annals of Ennius. In fact I doubt whether chance would permit them to spell out a single verse!' (28)
Now where have we heard that analogy before? This argument, which was the Roman equivalent of today's monkeys and typewriters tapping out the works of Shakespeare, has endured simply because it has always proved to be unanswerable by the materialist in any but the most strained and unlikely terms. Though even this argument was hardly new in Cicero's day, but seems to have been merely part and parcel of the already ancient creationist armoury of vexing philosophical questions that the materialist could never satisfactorily answer.
The Epicurean school, through Lucretius, did attempt' to wreak a vengeance of sorts, for Lucretius went on to specify an idea that threatened to provide a stumbling-block to classical (i.e. pagan) creationism. Conceding the fact that the materialist's perception of the universe was marred somewhat by the alleged inability of human reason to perceive correctly the nature of the physical universe, Lucretius claimed that creationism likewise had a chink in its philosophical armour when it came to explaining the earth's place in the universe. The classical perception of the universe amongst the Greeks was that it was geocentric, the stars, planets and everything else revolving around a fixed and immovable earth. And Lucretius assumed, wrongly, that this was crucial to the creationist view. It gave a fixed point of reference to the universe, and it was a philosophical concept that allowed the teaching of absolute values. Lucretius, therefore, attempted to introduce a more relativistic framework by claiming that the earth was not fixed at all, but moved in an infinite space that possessed no centre. This was to counter the Stoic's view of a finite universe whose outer bounds were equidistant from the earth:
'It is a matter of observation that one thing is limited by another. The hills are demarcated by air, and air by the hills. Land sets bound to sea, and sea to every land. But the universe has nothing outside to limit it.' (29)
shrewdly going on to make his point that:
'There can be no centre in infinity.' (30)
With these ludicrously simple statements, Lucretius had put forward an idea that was truly revolutionary but for which he has received scant acknowledgement from historians of any hue. He did not develop the idea into that of a strictly heliocentric universe, as Copernicus was later to do, but he did depart radically even from the view of his materialist colleagues, for they too held that the earth was fixed and the universe revolved around it. Lucretius had hoped to rob the creationist camp of the finest weapon in its armoury, the argument for an ordered and hence designed universe, by introducing the concept of randomness, aimlessness and sheer relativism. But he was disappointed, for even his materialist peers were unable to follow him down that particular path. Ironically, this had nothing to do with the fact that the Greeks and Romans of the time were ignorant in any way. On the contrary, they were great observers, and the virtue of the geocentric model lay in the fact that it complied with all the observed facts of contemporary science. Indeed, few theories in the history of science have ever enjoyed such overwhelming and indisputable proofs as those which once graced geocentrism. And that, in this present age that virtually worships the concept of empiricism, has to be one of the greatest ironies of all.
To add to the irony, and contrary to all expectations from the materialist camp, when the Copernican revolution finally did arrive in the 16th century, it did not mean the end of creationism for a very good and simple reason. In creationist terms, it matters not a jot whether the earth revolves around the sun or the sun around the earth. For whichever model of the universe is the correct one, the question still remains --Who created it? How did it come into existence and whence came its astonishing degree of order and complexity? These are questions that have been asked by men since the beginning of time. And one of them, named Lucilius, had worked out the answer for himself without any help from either Christian or Jew, attributed the design, creation and maintenance of the universe to that Creator who:
'...is, as Ennius says, "the father both of gods and men", a present and a mighty God. If anyone doubts this, then so far as I can see he might just as well doubt the existence of the sun. For the one is as plain as the other. And if this were not clearly known and manifest to our intelligence, the faith of men would not have remained so constant, would not have deepened with the lapse of time, and taken ever firmer root throughout the ages and the generations of mankind.' (31) (Emphasis mine)
It is Lucilius's 'generations of mankind' that now must occupy our attention, for with his profound statement this present chapter must draw to a close. But what Lucilius was referring to is the fact that alongside even the very worst aspects of paganism in the ancient world, there was preserved a definite knowledge of God. The value of this lies in the fact that this knowledge existed (and still exists) quite independently of Genesis amidst cultures that were and are entirely antagonistic towards the concept of one God, the Creator of all things. We shall now encounter this same knowledge in the early genealogies and historical records of the early pagan nations, and note that their testimony is unexpected to say the least when we consider what the modernist school has been claiming all these years.
1. Lao-tzu. Tao-te-ching. tr. Leon Wieger. English version by Derek Bryce. 1991. Llanerch Publishers. Lampeter. p. 13.
2. Clarke, John. 1993. Nature in Question. Earthscan. p. 24.
3. My paraphrase of Wallace Budge's literal translation in The Gods of the Egyptians. Vol. 1. Dover. New York. 1969. pp. 308-313.
4. There is a superb account of the Akhnaten heresy in: Eliade, Mircea. 1979. A History of Religious Ideas: From the Stone Age to the Eleusinian Mysteries. Coffins. London. Vol. 1. pp. 106-109.
5. Psalm 14:1.
6. Not that such a task would be easy. One scholar, David Berman (author of A History of Atheism in Britain. Routledge. London. 1988), complains that atheism is hard enough to detect even when records, as for the last four centuries, are to be had in plenty. By the very nature of things, the task would be nigh hopeless when it comes to the woefully sparse, and doubtless sometimes heavily censored, records of the ancient world.
7. Hesiod. Theogony. (tr. Norman Brown. 1953). Bobbs-Merrill Co. New York. p. 15.
8. Barnes, Jonathan. 1987. Early Greek Philosophy. Penguin Classics. Harmondsworth. p. 95-97.
9. Plato. Timaeus and Criteas. (tr. Desmond Lee. 1965). Penguin Classics. Harmondsworth. p. 42.
10. Barnes. p. 61.
11. ibid. p. 68.
12. ibid. p. 73.
13. Plato. The Laws. (tr. Trevor Saunders. 1970). Penguin Classics. Harmondsworth. pp. 408-447.
14. ibid. p. 416.
15. ibid. p. 417.
16. Lund, Erik. A History of European Ideas C. Hurst & Co. 1976?. pp. 61-62.
17. Cicero. On the Nature of the Gods. (tr. Horace McGregor. 1988). Penguin Classics. Harmondsworth.
18. ibid. p. 130.
19. An excellent discussion of the development of (pagan) Greek theology is given in: Murray, Gilbert. 1925. Five Stages in Greek Religion. Oxford.--Murray traces the development of the primitive, anthropomorphic gods of Greece up to the concept of the First Cause, or Creator of the Stoics. The last chapter of the book, pp. 241-267, contains a particularly illuminating translation of Sallustius's On the Gods and the World.
20. This is very well documented in the apocryphal books of the Maccabees, and especially in: Josephus. (tr. Whiston). Pickering & Inglis. London. 1960. pp. 250-289 and 607-636 (Against Apion).
21. Cicero. p. 159.
22. Lucretius. On the Nature of the Universe. (tr. Ronald Latham.
1951). Penguin Classics. Harmondsworth. 23. ibid. p. 9.
24. ibid. p. 142.
25. ibid. p. 146.
26. Cicero. pp. 144-145.
27. Stroud, Barry. 1984. The Significance of Philosophical Skepticism. Oxford University Press. p. 141.
28. Cicero. p. 161.
29. Lucretius. p. 56.
30. ibid. p. 58.
31. Cicero. p. 124.
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ded up blessing them. He fo | <urn:uuid:8540f6ba-a141-41d1-8a62-a30ec088a804> | CC-MAIN-2017-43 | http://prophets-see-all.tripod.com/47589.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-43/segments/1508187823309.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20171019141046-20171019161046-00716.warc.gz | en | 0.974982 | 8,768 | 2.75 | 3 |
A new scientific paper last week seemed to have some good news on climate change: keeping warming to 1.5°C – the goal of the Paris agreement – may be less difficult than previously thought. Not that it removes the urgent need to decarbonise; rather, as lead author Richard Millar of Oxford University put it, “although 1.5°C is not yet a geophysical impossibility, it remains a very difficult policy challenge”.
The paper estimated that the remaining “carbon budget” is much higher than was previously reckoned. A carbon budget is a measure of how much the world can afford to cumulatively emit in total in the future, while keeping warming below a given level. Millar also wrote this non-technical overview.
We in Oil Change International have used carbon budgets to inform what needs to happen to the fossil fuel industries. Our Sky’s Limit report last year found that the oil, gas and coal in already-producing fields and mines (where the wells have been drilled, the pits dug, the pipelines and terminals built, the capital invested) would be enough to take the world beyond 2°C of warming. Even if coal extraction and burning were stopped overnight, the oil and gas alone would take us beyond 1.5°C. The report concluded that the world must stop developing new fields and mines, stop building fossil fuel infrastructure, and instead focus on a rapid and just energy transition.
In the Sky’s Limit report, we used the carbon budgets given in the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) – Table 2.2 of the Synthesis Report, to be precise. We will continue to use those numbers as our principal reference, because they represent a broad agreement among the scientific community, informed by and reconciling numerous individual papers. While Millar and his co-authors are experts in the field, and their paper was peer-reviewed, some other scientists have criticised the approach, on which more below. The findings will continue to be debated over the coming months and years, including in new peer-reviewed studies, and these debates and studies will, along with Millar’s, feed into the process of compiling the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report.
However, in this blog, let’s consider what the new paper would mean for our analysis if it turns out to be right. We’ll start with a quick summary of what the paper says.
Carbon budgets are generally calculated by using earth system models – basically, computer programmes that simulate the physics of the atmosphere – to estimate the quantity of emissions, beginning in pre-industrial times, that would cause a given level of warming. Taking off what has been emitted to date tells us how much more can be emitted as of now.
There are several uncertainties in the precise numbers, related to the complexity of the climate system, differing datasets on temperatures, and even uncertainties in the amount of historic emissions. Millar et al tried to factor out the historical uncertainties (in both the climate system and the emissions record), by starting the models from now (well, 2015), rather than from the Nineteenth Century. They estimated that the world has warmed about 0.9°C since pre-industrial times, and so used the models to estimate what emissions from 2015 would cause a further 0.6°C of warming.
Predictably, the tabloids and trolls jumped to claim the paper showed that climate models were wrong (and alarmist etc), a claim that was refuted in detail by Zeke Hausfather of U.C. Berkeley, and more briefly by the paper’s authors. However, it does potentially raise wider questions about climate models and parameters, as discussed by Glen Peters of CICERO.
Millar et al’s paper estimated the carbon budget for a 50-50 chance of keeping warming to 1.5°C at about 820 Gt CO2, as of start of 2015. This compared to 430 Gt estimated in the IPCC’s AR5.
One of the key criticisms other scientists have made is that 0.6°C overstates the further warming that can be tolerated while staying below 1.5°C. It potentially does so in three ways:
- The estimate of 0.9°C warming that has happened to date is based on one dataset (the Hadley Centre’s HadCRUT4) that generally gives lower estimates compared to others, as it excludes measurements of much of the arctic, where the greatest warming has taken place. Gavin Schmidt of NASA points out that other datasets suggest warming to date of 1.1 to 1.2°C.
- Millar et al referred to 0.9°C of warming since the base period 1861-1880, whereas the Industrial Revolution began in the second half of the Eighteenth Century, nearly a hundred years earlier. Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research estimates that pre-industrial temperatures were 0.2°C lower than those of this base period.
- The models predict air temperatures, whereas observations are based on a combination of air temperatures and sea temperatures, which leads to a mismatch because seas are warming more slowly than the air. Zeke Hausfather observes that this makes a further difference of nearly 0.1°C.
Putting these three factors together would suggest the 1.5°C limit equates to as little as a further 0.1°C. As Rahmstorf puts it, “the assumption by Millar et al that we still have 0.6 °C to go up to 1.5 °C is at the extreme high end of how you might estimate that remaining temperature leeway, and that is one key reason why their budget is large”. However, while 0.6°C was their headline figure, the authors also gave estimates for a range of different amounts of further warming (in Table 2 of the paper). So we can do some comparisons.
In the Sky’s Limit, we estimated the CO2 emissions from developed reserves of oil and gas at 517 Gt, and coal at 425 Gt CO2 as at start of 2016. We estimated that land use change and process emissions from cement manufacture could add a further 183 Gt from 2015 to 2100. These are compared in the chart below with three different carbon budgets: one from the IPCC’s AR5, one from Millar et al’s paper assuming a further 0.6°C of warming, and one from Millar et al assuming a further 0.3°C of warming (around the middle of the range discussed above). These all relate to January 2015, so as at September 2017, the budgets are about 110 Gt smaller than this [1(ii)].
What does this chart tell us? If for the reasons above we assume that the 1.5°C goal translates to 0.3°C of further warming rather than 0.6°C, the carbon budget is unchanged from the IPCC estimate. Alternatively, even if we accept the high end of 0.6°C, developed reserves of oil, gas and coal would still take us beyond 1.5°C.
Millar et al’s paper does not make any estimate of the carbon budget for staying within 2°C; however we can add 0.5°C to the 0.3°C further-warming estimate above – ie to look at the budget for an additional 0.8°C, in the chart below. (The paper did not give an estimate for a further 1.1°C, which would be the equivalent of the assumption that the 1.5°C limit means a further 0.6°C).
In this case, using Millar et al’s estimates (but a more modest translation into future warming) increases the 2°C budget compared to the IPCC value. Here developed reserves together with fairly optimistic projections of land use and cement emissions would leave 200 Gt of carbon budget available for development of new fields or mines, as of January 2015 – but more than half of this excess has been used already since then. A higher-end estimate of remaining tolerable warming would give a few years’ more space for new development – if we bet on every unknown going our way, and if we wrote off the Paris goal of 1.5°C, and with it the prospects of survival for some of the world’s most vulnerable nations.
So, in summary, these new numbers will certainly be debated further. If they turn out right, my colleague’s reaction sums up the implication: “This is actually making me pretty happy. I’m all for being less immediately doomed”. And with that, we can begin the managed decline of the fossil fuel industry, with a hopeful smile.
1: A few points to be careful with when using carbon budget numbers:
- (i) Tonnes of carbon or of carbon dioxide? Millar et al’s paper cites budgets in tonnes of carbon. We have instead used tonnes of CO2, in line with the more common usage in non-scientific literature. One tonne of carbon equals 3.67 tonnes of CO2.
- (ii) Start date? Since budgets are depleted over time, it matters which date a budget refers to. The IPCC’s AR5 gives budgets as at end of 2011, Millar et al’s paper at start of 2015, and the Sky’s Limit start of 2016. In this blog we’ve adjusted all to what they were at start of 2015 for comparability, by adding or subtracting the emissions that occurred in intervening years, as recorded by the Global Carbon Project.
- (iii) Probability of success? Since models are representing a complex system, there is some variation in their estimates – for this reason scientists refer to a probability of staying below a given temperature limit (or more precisely, the proportion of model runs that deliver that outcome). In the Sky’s Limit and in this blog, we use budgets for a 66% probability of staying below 2°C, the highest published by IPCC (since it is seen as an absolute maximum tolerable, a defence line that must be stringently defended). For 1.5°C, we use a 50% probability, since it is more of a goal, which governments agreed in Paris to “pursue efforts” to achieve.
- (iv) Assumptions about non-CO2 emissions? Carbon budgets relate only to CO2, and not to shorter-lived greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as methane. The estimate of a carbon budget depends on what assumptions are made about emissions of non-CO2 GHGs. In this blog, we assume non-CO2 GHGs follow the IPCC’s RCP2.6 scenario, which assumes robust action to reduce those emissions. (Millar et al give both this scenario, and another assuming very little action to reduce non-CO2 GHGs, namely RCP8.5). | <urn:uuid:43f6463b-45cb-43b0-9935-309e2ea83b52> | CC-MAIN-2021-43 | https://systemchangenotclimatechange.org/article/budge-carbon-budgets/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-43/segments/1634323585382.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20211021071407-20211021101407-00642.warc.gz | en | 0.949818 | 2,280 | 3 | 3 |
There are laws that protect the ideas of people. When it comes to the protection of the ideas of the people, we have laws that protect the ideas of the people, these laws are called intellectual property laws. People may have their own ideas which they value very much. When it comes to the copying of their ideas, they would not want other people to copy those ideas. They would want to sell there original ideas to the market by themselves.
When it comes to the security of the ideas, the inventors of the ideas would want those ideas to be safe from those people who like copying the ideas of other people. Very many people liked copying the ideas of other people people. The property intellectual laws came to implementation mainly because people liked copying other people’s original ideas.
The laws were implemented so that they can protect the original ideas of the people. The trademarks and the copyrights were the main reason to why the intellectual property laws laws were implemented. A large number of people who had unique ideas wanted to sell there unique ideas to the public by themselves. The intellectual property laws protected both the trademarks and the copyrights. The copyrights are the laws that protect the artistic ideas. When it comes to the selling of the original idea, the copyright provide security , they ensure that the people who sell the idea are the original pioneers of the ideas.
When it comes to the trademarks, they are the for the names and slogans of the inventors of the ideas. When it comes to the purpose of the copyrights and the trademarks, they are very different when it comes to there purpose. The trademarks play a big role when it comes to privacy, this is because they play a very big role in the prevention of privacy. When it comes to the roles of the copyrights, they play a very big role in the protection of the ideas of the people. They are very good since they play a big role in ensuring that the writers write there sell there origin books by themselves. When it comes to the misusing of the original idea, the copyrights are very good, this is because they play a big role in preventing the people from misusing other people original idea.
They are very good since they make sure that the original ideas of the inventor are protected. You can not stop people from thinking of the same Ideas. It is therefore your responsibility to make sure that people do not misuse your original idea. We have people why avoid the copyrights by developing ideas such painting t-shirts with the original idea of other people. They practice this so that they avoid paying some money. When it comes to the protection, the copyrights protect the artists while the trademarks protect the companies. | <urn:uuid:08a83a04-e740-40d2-afc2-14162bf570b0> | CC-MAIN-2019-22 | http://hwsd.info/the-key-elements-of-great.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-22/segments/1558232256997.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20190523003453-20190523025453-00474.warc.gz | en | 0.968905 | 542 | 3.015625 | 3 |
Short sentences are gospel truths when it comes to clear, concise writing.
In fact, no lesson about writing for the web is complete without the statement “use short sentences.”
And who is not going to use short sentences when they were cherished by Papa? Nobody. Because you don’t want Hemingway on your bad side.
Yet, instructions on how to actually write short sentences are in short supply. I aim to fix that today.
In this post, you’ll find six exercises that can help you write short, clear sentences that pack a punch — plus three tips on removing unnecessary words.
Don’t forget to download your free worksheet following the lesson. Have fun!
1. Describe a broad or complex subject in 100 words or fewer
Choose a subject you love. One you know well.
Maybe it’s quantum mechanics or the history of Western civilization.
It could be a current event with lots of twists and turns.
Once you’ve described the subject in 100 words or fewer, shoot for 50 words. Then 10 words.
Find a new topic, and repeat.
2. Describe a topic using only monosyllabic words
You know … monosyllabic … words created from just one syllable.
Like: bone, two, fierce, lie, spade, blow, hill, brain, dark.
Think this will be easy? It won’t.
To describe a table (a word with two syllables) I had to use 12 words (and one polysyllabic word): “Flat surface with four legs made out of wood, metal, or glass.”
Can you describe it with 12 or fewer?
You’ll probably need a thesaurus for this exercise. Then work your way through that list of monosyllabic words I listed above, starting with “bone.”
3. Write a 100-word article that contains only active verbs
Focus on the subject performing the action.
Active verbs are faster and more descriptive than if an object performs an action.
- “Dorothy yelled at the waiter.”
- “The rhino gored the pumpkin.”
- “The twister devastated Joplin.”
- “The waiter was yelled at by Dorothy.”
- “The pumpkin was gored by the rhino.”
- “Joplin was devastated by the twister.”
Those verbs are passive, and they inflate your word count.
There’s a more important reason to prefer active over passive voice: active assigns responsibility.
4. Write a 100-word article using only simple sentences
Revisit exercise number one above, but this time, limit your sentences to no more than four or five words. And don’t forget about single-word sentences.
Short and snappy will be the sound you hear when you read the article aloud.
Here’s what 52 words look like:
Dorothy watched the rhino. It sniffed the pumpkin. She sneezed. The rhino raised its head. Snorted. Dorothy waved. The rhino pawed the earth. She threw a high heel. It hit the rhino. The rhino ate the shoe. She yelled, “Hey!” Stomped her foot. “That was my shoe!” The rhino ate the pumpkin.
5. Describe a topic in a sonnet
This is another variation on exercise number one where you explain a broad or complex subject within the framework of a sonnet.
Here is my attempt at describing grief:
Everyone knows about love, but no one
really understands how it works. Death,
on the other hand, is pretty cut and dry.
And you can’t fight it off any more than
a small boy waiting up for his alcoholic
father can fight off sleep — it just arrives,
crashing through the blossoms, upsetting
a table, chairs. And you don’t need the Royal
Society of Medicine to tell you
what you already know: no one gets out alive.
What you need is someone to explain why,
when someone dies you’re unglued in an
apocalyptic way, cold as a urinal,
stiff like iron stairs and desperate to die.
As you can see, you don’t have to rhyme or get the perfect iambic pentameter for each line; just get your story into 14 lines and aim for about 10 syllables per line.
This will teach you how to write within boundaries, and you’ll learn a little about poetry, which can help define your style.
6. Describe a topic using the PAS formula
PAS stands for Problem-Agitate-Solve, and the formula helps you limit your idea to only two sentences or fewer per element.
It looks like this:
Insecure? Don’t worry; you’re not alone. However, stay that way and you’ll never accomplish anything of significance. Fortunately, there’s a book called Insecure No More, which will teach you how to be confident and courageous in just 30 days. Buy it now.
There was a period in my career when I had to write hundreds of succinct product descriptions.
The same is true when I wrote dozens of text ads for a long-running Google AdWords campaign. Without this formula, I would’ve struggled.
Your job is to look at 10 products or ideas you love and then write about them using PAS.
Now let’s look at a few tips about removing unnecessary words from your sentences.
Cut redundant words
Here are two different versions of similar phrases:
- “Added bonus” and “Bonus”
- “We currently have vacant rooms” and “We have vacant rooms”
- “Get to the point as quickly as possible” and “Get to the point”
All the italicized words waste space. They are useless.
We write this way because we often talk this way. We think we add severity by saying “Get to the point as quickly as possible.”
But when someone says, “Get to the point,” don’t we always snap to attention?
It’s like a crack of the whip.
Modifiers clutter up your copy. The following italicized words are modifiers:
- “That’s fairly good copy.”
- “I totally understand.”
- “Actually, that’s not what I meant.”
You can eliminate every single word I italicized without losing your meaning.
In fact, you can create a stronger sentence by replacing both the modifier and the word it modifies with a more detailed description or a stronger, more accurate word.
Eliminate the word “make”
The next time you write a first draft, review your document and count how many times you use the word “make” before you edit your text. My hunch is it will be a lot.
Make is the lazy writer’s favorite verb. (All first drafts are written by lazy writers.)
- “Make her give me my money.”
- “Who made up that song?”
- “Will you make me an iced tea?”
Replace “make” with active verbs:
- “Break her arm if she doesn’t give me my money.”
- “Who wrote that song?”
- “Will you brew me some iced tea?”
So, here’s the thing: don’t be overwhelmed by all these exercises.
Consider tackling just one exercise a day. Or one a week. But schedule a reminder so you don’t forget.
You can download our editable PDF worksheet (82 KB) to help you get started.
And when you are finished, feel free to share your exercises in our LinkedIn discussion.
I’ll be happy to comment on them. | <urn:uuid:e210a698-1556-495f-86cb-d52cc4125054> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.copyblogger.com/short-sentences/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719843.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00407-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928609 | 1,748 | 3.515625 | 4 |
posted on February 01, 1991 11:32
Gary A. Nelson and Michael R. Ross
Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003, USA
Source - Journal of Northwest Atlantic Fishery Science, Volume 11: 11-27
Trends in temporal and spatial abundance, and population size structure of the sand lance, Ammodytes dubius
, were examined based on trawl survey data from 1963 to 1988. Reproduction, age structure and growth were evaluated in 1986-88 from the Gulf of Maine to Middle Atlantic Bight region off eastern USA. Relative abundance indices which were near zero prior to 1976, increased dramatically (5-10 fold) from 1976 to 1981 in all regions studied. Subsequently, abundance dropped from 1982 to 1987.
Gonadal recrudescence of A. dubius begins in late July and males appeared to mature earlier in a reproductive season than females. Estimates of fecundity ranged from 1,169 to 22,904 ova per female for sand lance 137 to 213 mm total length. Maximum age estimated from otoliths and vertebrae was 5 years. Age at 50% maturity was age II for all regions in spring. Comparison of Von Bertalanffy growth curves derived for A. dubius from the study regions to published values from Newfoundland and Nova Scotia suggests a decline in length and age with declining latitude.
Language - English
Publisher - Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO), Dartmouth, N.S., Canada
Publication Date - February 1991
Publication Type - Journal Article | <urn:uuid:a782d4c2-5907-4f16-99d2-6b96c565bf0d> | CC-MAIN-2020-16 | https://journal.nafo.int/Volumes/Articles/ID/153/categoryId/19/Biology-and-Population-Changes-of-Northern-Sand-Lance-emAmmodytes-dubiusem-from-the-Gulf-of-Maine-to-the-Middle-Atlantic-Bight | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-16/segments/1585371662966.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20200406231617-20200407022117-00009.warc.gz | en | 0.924511 | 327 | 2.609375 | 3 |
We use first principles to solve problems.
Getting to the granular level of a problem reveals the fault.
The story of Elon Musk of wanting to reach space is legendary. Faced with a huge cost, he asks why? By deconstructing a rocket down to the materials, he discovers it isn’t rocket science to build one himself.
He then started Space X, and reduced NASA’s rocket costs by 90% in the process.
For many, the lesson ends there.
We miss the not-so-secret sauce. What makes us different to Musk is we think of reasoning from first principles as a process with a decision at the end. With Musk, first principles thinking form’s the foundation of his brain software.
It is the way he thinks.
Crucially, he is forming hypothesis’s and testing them – everywhere. It forms the building blocks of his wants, his – and others – ability to deliver them, and his goals and strategy to deliver them.
Musk is living in a continuous feedback loop.
The rest of us make some decisions and live out our lives accordingly. It’s as if we’ve walked into a puddle of quick-drying cement.
Life is a process of trial and error. You form an idea – you test it – and you learn from the outcome, revaluate and test again. With success, you can push the boundaries to make further improvements.
It is this continuous process we miss with Musk’s use of first principles. | <urn:uuid:54dfd183-fef7-4df7-8a8a-7dc9d482d299> | CC-MAIN-2023-14 | https://www.resolve.blog/articles/the-one-thing-most-of-miss-with-musks-use-of-first-principles | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-14/segments/1679296943747.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20230321225117-20230322015117-00376.warc.gz | en | 0.960586 | 320 | 2.8125 | 3 |
A land of plains, lakes and mountains, with a narrow, low-lying coastal belt, Tanzania is East Africa’s largest country and also one of its most diverse. Tanzania is home for more than 100 different ethnic groups, mostly of Bantu origin, each with its own language and customs.
Tanzania has one of the largest and wildest animal populations in the world. Wildebeest, monkey, antelope, lion, cheetah, crocodile, gazelle, and flamingo – you name them. Blessed with some of the world’s largest game reserves, the country also has one of the highest concentrations of elephant, buffalo, hippo, wild dog and chimpanzee.
Its spectacular topography includes The Great Rift Valley, Mt Kilimanjaro and famous parks such as the Serengeti and the wonderful Ngorongoro Crater.
Offshore are idyllic islands with beautiful palm-fringed beaches and turquoise seas that surround pristine coral reefs. The archaeological treasures of Tanzania include hominid fossils, which are more than 300 million years old. Tanzanian music and dance dominates much of East Africa.
Strong in rhythm and renowned for hard-hitting lyrics, the country’s Swahili-based sounds are kept very much alive by a thriving dance-band scene. Nyama choma (barbecued meat) has taken over in a big way, especially in restaurants with attached bars. But on the coast, on Zanzibar and Pemba islands, there’s a decent range of traditional Swahili dishes based on seafood.
Recorded history begins around 1800, when the Masai warrior tribes were migrating from Kenya to Tanzania. It wasn’t until the middle of the 18th century that Arab traders and slaves dared venture into Masai territory in the country’s wild interior. European explorers began arriving in earnest in the mid-19th century, the most famous being Stanley and Livingstone. The famous phrase ‘Dr Livingstone, I presume’, stems from the duo’s meeting at Ujiji on Lake Tanganyika.
Tanganyika won independence in 1961 with Julius Nyerere as the country’s first president. Nyerere, whose secret ingredient was radical socialism, gained widespread respect and is seen as one of the most influential leaders Africa has ever had. Zanzibar was stuck for another two years, after which the mainland forged a union comprising Zanzibar and the nearby island of Pemba. Thus Tanzania was born.
There is a wide range of optional activities to make your experience in Tanzania absolutely unforgettable. Some great views can be experienced while floating in a hot-air balloon over the Serengeti. While swimming with dolphins is all the rage on the island of Zanzibar. Snorkelling and scuba diving is equally popular due to the world-class coral reefs off nearby Pemba and Mafia islands.
Lying in a shallow depression at the base of the western wall of the eastern arm of the Rift Valley, Lake Manyara typically shimmers in a lilac and gold heat haze, sometimes streaked pink with thousands of flamingos. Backed by a narrow band of forest, it rises to the dramatically sheer red and brown cliffs of the Mto wa Mbu Escarpment. The Park includes not only a substantial portion of the lake and its shores but also large areas of ground-water forest with giant fig and mahogany trees alternating with acacia woodland and open. The name is derived from the Maasai word for the Euphorbia tirucalli bush, which the tribesmen plant as a living stockade to keep their cattle from straying.
Often referred to as ‘the eighth wonder of the world' the Ngorongoro Crater is one of Africa's best-known wildlife arenas. A World Heritage Site, it is also one of the largest volcanic craters in the world (almost 20 kilometres wide, 610-760 metres deep and covering a total area of 264 square kilometres). An utterly unique biosphere, the Crater harbours grasslands, swamps, forests, saltpans, a fresh water lake and a glorious variety of birdlife, all enclosed within its towering walls. Due to its high concentration of wildlife, close-range viewing opportunities and striking scenery it is also Tanzania’s most visited destination.
A pristine and largely undiscovered wilderness, the 12,950 square-kilometre Ruaha National Park is Tanzania's second-largest park. An unforgettable landscape, one of the last remaining tracts of the original Africa as it existed millions of years ago, the park is dominated by the Great Ruaha River, from which it takes its name (Ruaha means ‘great'). Wildlife highlights: lion, leopard, cheetah, elephant, buffalo, greater and lesser kudu and Grant’s gazelle. Birds: more than 400 species of birds have been recorded.
The spectacular Selous Reserve is the largest expanse of game reserve in Africa. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is four times the size of the Serengeti, home to one third of Tanzania's wildlife and provides sanctuary for the largest concentration of elephants in the world. And yet, despite its unique collection of hippo, buffalo, crocodile and lion, this magnificent ecosystem remains virtually untouched by man. Largely undiscovered, utterly pristine and virtually unvisited, it remains the last wilderness frontier.
The Serengeti, whose Maasai name ‘Siringet' translates as ‘the endless plains', offers unparalleled ornithological opportunities and an unrivalled natural arena wherein the glory and harmony of nature can be appreciated as nowhere else on earth. The vast and sensational Serengeti, covering 14,763 sq km of endlessly rolling savannah plains, is Tanzania’s first-established, largest and most famous park wherein tens of thousands of hoofed animals roam in a constant and unremitting search for the fresh grasslands upon which their survival depends.
Tarangire, named after the Tarangire River which runs through it, is an arid haven, peppered with ancient baobab trees, towering termite mounts, and home to huge herds of elephant. Only 30km from the Rift Valley escarpment, Tarangire falls outside the nutrient-rich volcanic belt and therefore its annual rainfall is very low (550mm). As a result, much of the park is semi-arid, dominated by baobabs, acacias and Doum Palms, often festooned with the nests of African palm swifts. 120 km south-west of Arusha, the greatest concentrations of animals are seen between June and November.
For centuries past, cardamom, clove and cinnamon culled from the fabled spice gardens of the enchanted island of Zanzibar have been prized by sultans and princes alike. Now you can pick them for yourself on a spice tour that takes you from the winding alleys, carved doors and cool courtyards of Stone Town, through the slave caches of the coral bays, past the blue-domed bath-houses of long dead sultans and out onto the silver and blue ribbons of Zanzibar's perfect beaches.
Z Hotel Zanzibar
Check out the Z Hotel Zanzibar, a boutique beach hotel and book your stay. | <urn:uuid:6626824d-0bcc-4112-a341-3429a7bbcff3> | CC-MAIN-2020-16 | https://www.thesafaripartners.com/destination/tanzania/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-16/segments/1585371620338.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20200406070848-20200406101348-00409.warc.gz | en | 0.929868 | 1,538 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Walking on Ganghwado Island never leaves you bored of the view. South Korea’s fourth-largest island, located at the northwest end of the country, has a variety of landscapes that reflect its dramatic history.
Several times a key place where Korea resisted foreign invaders ― not always successfully ― the island features well-preserved historic remains, in the downtown area, rural villages and along the coastline.
The island is also a place where hikers can get a close look at North Korean territory just across the strait. North Korea’s Gaepung-gun can be seen from Ganghwado Island’s northeast.
The island takes walkers past prehistoric sites, old battlefields, heavily fortified walls and barbed-wire fences along the borders with North Korea.
Lesson in history
|A mountain trail on Mt. Buksan (Lee Woo-young/The Korea Herald)|
The first course is a 17.2-kilometer moderate-level walking course that takes about six hours to complete. It crosses some of the island’s most important historical sites, as well as quiet rural villages and mountain trails.
From Ganghwa Bus Terminal, the first stop of the trail at Yongheunggung is a 30-minute walk. The former residence of Joseon King Cheoljong (1831-1863) is hard to find as it is hidden in a small alley among houses and eateries. The small house also shows no sign of extravagance compared to other houses of aristocrats. Inside sits a simple, frugal house with a small back door close to the front gate of Korea’s first Anglican church.
Established in 1890 by the Korean Anglican Church’s first priest John Corfe, the church is worth a visit for its rare architectural form, built in traditional Korean style.
The next historic site is Goryeo Palace, which served as a shelter and defense point for Korean kingdoms against foreign invasions. When the Mongols invaded Goryeo Kingdom in 1232, the royal family of Goryeo designated Ganghwado Island as their second capital and stayed at the palace for 39 years while defending the country. Today, only the front gate of Goryeo Palace remains.
The buildings within the gate date back to the Joseon era. Here sits a royal library, Oegyujanggak, which was in the limelight recently as royal books containing texts and hand-drawn illustrations of royal ceremonies, taken by the French forces during their invasion in 1866, were repatriated.
The journey along Ganghwa’s historic pathway continues as the trail leads to a shrine Queen Myeongseong of Joseon built to bring good fortune to the kingdom.
The road continues into a hanok village and to Ganghwa Girls’ Middle and High School. From the school, the mountain trail leads to a more energetic walk to the North Gate, where walkers can take a break at a local coffee shop, which also serves as a guesthouse.
A sign near the North Gate directs walkers to the “Water Way and Wind Way Coffee Shop and Guest House,” which is about 300 meters from the gate. The venue offers accommodation to those who need more than one day to explore Ganghwado Island.
It has a big room for groups and dormitory rooms, which can accommodate up to 30 people. The price per person is 15,000 won, including a breakfast of coffee and toast. It offers a 20 percent discount for groups of more than 10 people.
“There are not many guesthouses offering inexpensive rates for guests on the island along the Ganghwa Nadeulgil walking trails. Ganghwado Island has more large pensions than small guesthouses,” said Kim Ae-young, who runs the guesthouse.
“The Jeju Olle now has many guesthouses along the paths, but Ganghwado still lacks good accommodation where walkers can drop in and take a break without worrying about the price,” she said.
After more walking on the mountain trail from the North Gate, the trail enters a village with vast rice fields and a few eateries. The first course has no more than five restaurants so it’s a good idea to eat well before walking or to try to drop by what local restaurants there are.
Yeonmijeong Pavilion, standing at the end of the village, is also an important historic landmark, and bore witness to a shameful chapter in Korean history. Here King Injo of Joseon surrendered to and signed a humiliating accord with the Qing Emperor Taizong in 1637.
From the pavilion, you can see the North Korean village across the narrow Yeomha Strait. The sight where barbed-wire fence running alongside ancient military watch points here shows the strategic role the island has had in Korean history.
From the pavilion, a long seaside trail continues down to Gapgot Dondae Fortress, which was one of the strategic defense points against Mongol invasions. Island made for walking
Ganghwado Island has a total of 15 walking trails, completed in 2009. The diverse landscape of the island makes it perfect for a fun, breezy and refreshing walk.
Spring and fall seasons are the best time of the year for a brisk walk, but early summer also offers a refreshing experience walking amid lush green forests on courses that cross the inland part of the island (courses 3, 5, 6, 14 and 15).
Some courses take walkers close to prehistoric cemeteries ― the island boasts some of the highest density and diversity of dolmen sites in the world. The coastline trails (courses 2, 4, 7 and 8) offer a chance to have local seafood and go into the sea during low tide.
Adjacent islands such as Gyodongdo Island and Seokmodo Island offer scenic coastline walks.
Along the trails, directional arrows are painted on telephone poles or on streets in pink and blue. On mountain trails, yellow and green ribbons are hung on trees for directions. If you face two diverging paths, you are advised to ask locals or other walkers. Travel tips
It’s easy to get to Ganghwado Island from downtown Seoul as bus No. 3000, a non-stop bus, leaves from Sinchon to Ganghwa Bus Terminal. The trip to Ganghwa Bus Terminal takes one hour and 45 minutes. The Ganghwado Tourist Information Center at the bus terminal offers information on Ganghwa Nadeulgil, public transportation and travel maps, as well as some useful tips on where to eat and how to return to the starting point. The travel center opens from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, call (032) 930-3515.
By Lee Woo-young ([email protected]) | <urn:uuid:de5d88cc-76b2-440f-89bb-b87dff6f7e6f> | CC-MAIN-2014-41 | http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20130612001018 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-41/segments/1412037662880.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20140930004102-00183-ip-10-234-18-248.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949833 | 1,444 | 2.890625 | 3 |
In today’s calorie-obsessed culture, it can be hard to find the truth among all of the health-conscious noise. Often times, Bangor residents are misinformed and mislead about the health benefits of trends like as cleanses, sugar alternatives, diets, organic vs. nonorganic, and a myriad of other common topics. Today Dr. Sevey & Dr. Atwell would like to clear up any misconceptions about dental health and diet soda. If you have any questions please call us at Creative Dental Solutions.
Are Diet Sodas Healthy?
The short answer is no. Originally conceived as low-calorie alternatives to one of America’s first commercial legacies, diet sodas have become extremely popular amidst our country’s battle to lose weight. There’s only one little problem – diet sodas are only marginally better than regular soda. Compared to water, diet soda has zero nutritional value and contains many ingredients that are harmful outside of moderation.
Diet Soda & Dental Health
Diet soft drinks are not good for your teeth. Although they are better than regular sodas, which usually have around 45g of sugar per serving, sugar is not the only problem with soda. For example:
- Phosphoric acid and citric acid (present in nearly all diet soda) eat away at your enamel, causing acid erosion. If you like to sip soda throughout the day, your teeth may be under soda-fueled acid attack for several hours per day.
- Carbonated colas have been shown to cause bone loss. As part of the body’s attempt to neutralize the disruption to pH levels in the stomach, calcium and other basic (ph of 7+) minerals are leached from the bloodstream to maintain equilibrium.
- Artificial sweeteners in diet sodas, such as aspartame and sucralose, may help stall tooth decay, but health advocates warn that they may cause problems such as toxicity to brain cells, headaches, and have been linked to weight gain.
- Diet sodas often contain caffeine, which has diuretic and laxative properties. Combined with the fact that drinking diet soda regularly means you are drinking less water, this can cause a chronic dehydration problem. This can lead to dry mouth, bad breath, and increased risk of gum disease and tooth decay.
Do You Have to Give up Diet Soda?
We know that lots of Bangor folks love their soda and Dr. Sevey & Dr. Atwell won’t tell anyone what they can and can’t drink. We at Creative Dental Solutions provide this information so that you can make informed decisions about your health. We want everyone in Bangor to have beautiful smiles and healthy teeth, but it’s up to you to maintain healthy habits that keep your teeth safe between visits to Dr. Sevey & Dr. Atwell. If you have any questions or would like to visit us for an evaluation, schedule an appointment today. | <urn:uuid:39ec9c0a-125e-4053-8ace-ae380c60a06f> | CC-MAIN-2018-09 | http://drsevey.com/diet-soda-dental-health-need-know/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-09/segments/1518891812938.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20180220110011-20180220130011-00065.warc.gz | en | 0.932749 | 610 | 3.0625 | 3 |
|The importance of Caravaggio in 17th century painting is undeniable. He has been described as the greatest Italian painter of his time. His innovative departure from the idealised style of the 16th century, when painting religious themes, brought much criticism, but was influencial in the development of many artists to come.
Many of Caravaggio's early works are disturbingly erotic, revealing a tempestuous and volatile character. His life was indeed as much a drama as the images he portrayed in his paintings. Caravaggio had a violent temper and was uncompromising with many who crossed his path. The real life plot of his life drew to a tragic climax when his passionate behaviour led to a charge of murder. It is said that he fought over the score of a court tennis match, killed his opponent and fled.
With his art Caravaggio was just as uncompromising. He approached all he painted with an extreme conviction. He once said that only an artist that could "paint well and imitate well" deserved to be called a man. His paintings reflect the drama in his life with intense chiaroscuro effects - light often flows into dark shadowy scenes, at a dramatic angle from an unknown source, illuminating the focal point which as can be seen in one of his most famous works Supper at Emmaus, is Christ.
The most characteristic aspect of Caravaggio's paintings is his portraying of biblical characters as everyday, ordinary people. Described as a 'naturalist' Caravaggio prided himself on working directly from nature. He replaced conventional forms and manners with the insistance on painting entirely from the model in the studio.
In The Death of the Virgin we can clearly see this natural approach in the face of the virgin, usually idolised and shown in absolute perfection, in Caravaggio's piece she is a very ordinary woman. Lighting effects emphasise the shape of her body and her humanity. | <urn:uuid:c1fd2457-5f72-442f-a64a-1856d429d451> | CC-MAIN-2016-36 | http://www.theartgallery.com.au/arteducation/greatartists/caravaggio/about/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-36/segments/1471982953863.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20160823200913-00279-ip-10-153-172-175.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987245 | 398 | 3.4375 | 3 |
History From America's Most Famous Valleys
The Story of Mrs. Martin J. (Nancy) Van Alstine
from Woman of the American Frontier
by William W. Fowler, M. A.
Contributed by Margaret Johnson
Born near Canajoharie, about the year 1733, and married to Martin J. Van Alstine, at the age of eighteen, she settled with her husband in the valley of the Mohawk, where the newly wedded pair occupied the Van Alstine family mansion.
In the month of August, 1780, an army of Indians and Tones, led on by Brant, rushed into the Mohawk Valley, devastated several settlements, and killed many of the inhabitants; during the two following months, Sir John Johnson made a descent and finished the work which Brant had begun. The two almost completely destroyed the settlements throughout the valley. It was during those trying times that Mrs. Van Alstine performed a portion of her exploits.
During these three months, and while the hostile forces were making their headquarters at Johnstown, the neighborhood in which Mrs. Van Alstine lived enjoyed a remarkable immunity from attack, although in a state of continual alarm. Intelligence at length came that the enemy, having ravaged the surrounding country, was about to fall upon the little settlement, and the inhabitants, for the most part women and children, were almost beside themselves with terror.
Mrs. Van Alstine's coolness and intrepidity, in this critical hour, were quickly displayed. Calling her neighbors together, she tried to relieve their fears and urged them to remove with their effects to an island belonging to her husband, near the opposite side of the river, believing that the savages would either not discover their place of refuge or would be in too great haste to cross the river and attack them. "
Her suggestion was speedily adopted, and in a few hours the seven families in the neighborhood were removed to their asylum, together with a store of provisions and other articles essential to their comfort. Mrs. Van Alstine was the last to cross and assisted to place out of reach of the enemy, the boat in which the passage had been made. An hour after they had been all snugly bestowed in their bushy retreat, the war-whoop was heard and the Indians made their appearance. Gazing from their hiding place the unfortunate women and children soon saw their loved homes in names. Van Alstine's house alone being spared, owing to the friendship borne the owner by Sir John Johnson.
The voices and even the words of the Indian raiders could be distinctly heard on the island, and as Mrs. Van Alstine gazed at the mansion untouched by the flames she rejoiced that she would now be able to give shelter to the homeless families by whom she was surrounded. In the following year the Van Alstine mansion was pillaged by the Indians, and although the house was completely stripped of furniture and provisions and clothing, none of the family were killed or carried away as prisoners.
The Indians came upon them by surprise, entered the house without ceremony, and plundered and destroyed everything in their way. " Mrs. Van Alstine saw her most valued articles, brought from Holland, broken one after another, till the house was strewed with fragments. As they passed a large mirror without demolishing it, she hoped it might be saved; but presently two of the savages led in a colt from the stables and the glass being laid in the hall, compelled the animal to walk over it. The beds which they could not carry away they ripped open, shaking out the feathers and taking the ticks with them. They also took all the clothing. One young Indian, attracted by the brilliancy of a pair of inlaid buckles on the shoes of the aged grandmother seated in the comer, rudely snatched them from her feet, tore off the buckles, and flung the shoes in her face. Another took her shawl from her neck, threatening to kill her if resistance was offered."
The eldest daughter, seeing a young savage carrying off a basket containing a hat and cap her father had brought her from Philadelphia, and which she highly prized, followed him, snatched her basket, and after a struggle succeeded in pushing him down. She then fled to a pile of hemp and hid herself, throwing the basket into it as far as she could. The other Indians gathered round, and as the young girl rose clapped their hands, shouting "Brave girl," while he skulked away to escape their derision. During the struggle Mrs. Van Alstine had called to her daughter to give up the contest; but she insisted that her basket should not be taken.
Winter coming on, the family suffered severely from the want of bedding, woolen clothes, cooking utensils, and numerous other articles which had been taken from them. ' Mrs. Van Alstine's arduous and constant labors could do but little toward providing for so many destitute persons. Their neighbors were in no condition to help them; the roads were almost impassable besides being infested with the Indians, and all their best horses had been driven away.
This situation appealing continually to Mrs. Van Alstine as a wife and a mother, so wrought upon her as to induce her to propose to her husband to organize an expedition, and attempt to recover their property from the Indian forts eighteen or twenty miles distant, where it had been carried. o But the plan seemed scarcely feasible at the time, and was therefore abandoned.
The cold soon became intense and their necessities more desperate than ever. Mrs. Van Alstine, incapable longer of witnessing the sufferings of those dependent upon her, boldly determined to go herself to the Indian country and bring back the property. Firm against all the entreaties of her husband and children who sought to move her from her purpose, she left home with a horse and sleigh accompanied by her son, a youth of sixteen.
Pushing on over wretched roads and through the deep snow she arrived at her destination at a time when the Indians were all absent on a hunting excursion, the women and children only being left at home. On entering, the principal house where she supposed the most valuable articles were, she was met by an old squaw in charge of the place and asked what she wanted. "Food," she replied; the squaw sullenly commenced preparing a meal and in doing so brought out a number of utensils that Mrs. Van Alstine recognized as her own. While the squaw's back was turned she took possession of the articles and removed them to her sleigh. When the custodian of the plunder discovered that it was being reclaimed, she was about to interfere forcibly with the bold intruders and take the property into her possession. But Mrs. Van Alstine showed her a paper which she averred "was an order signed by "Yankee Peter," a man of great influence among the savages, and succeeded in convincing the squaw that the property was removed by his authority.
She next proceeded to the stables and cut the halters of the horses belonging to her husband: the animals recognized their mistress with loud neighs and bounded homeward at full speed. The mother and son then drove rapidly back to their house. Reaching home late in the evening they passed a sleepless night, dreading an instant pursuit and a night attack from the infuriated savages.
The Indians came soon after daylight in full war-costume armed with rifles and tomahawks. Mrs. Van Alstine begged her husband not to show himself but to leave the matter in her hands. The Indians took their course to the stables when they were met by the daring woman alone and asked what they wanted. " Our horses," replied the marauder. "They are ours," she said boldly, "and we mean to keep them." The chief approached in a threatening manner, and drawing her away pulled out the plug that fastened the door of the stable, but she immediately snatched it from his hand, and pushing him away resumed her position in front of the door. Presenting his rifle, he threatened her with instant death if she did not immediately move. Opening her neck-handkerchief she told him to shoot if he dared.
The Indians, cowed by her daring, or fearing punishment from their allies in case they killed her, after some hesitation retired from the premises. They afterwards related their adventure to one of the settlers, and said that were fifty such women as she in the settlement, the Indians never would have molested the inhabitants of the Mohawk Valley.
On many subsequent occasions Mrs. Van Alstine exhibited the heroic qualities of her nature. Twice by her prudence, courage, and address, she saved the lives of her husband, and family. Her influence in settling difficulties with the savages was acknowledged throughout the region, and but for her it may well be doubted whether the little settlement in which she lived would have been able to sustain, itself, surrounded as it was by deadly foes.
Her influence was felt in another and higher way; She was a Christian woman, and her husband's house was opened for religious worship every Sunday when the weather would permit She was able to persuade many of the Indians to attend, and as she had acquired their language she was wont to interpret to them the word of God and what was said by the minister. Many times their, rude hearts were touched, and the tears rolled down their swarthy faces, while she dwelt on the wondrous story of our Redeemer's life and death, and explained how the white man and the red man alike could be saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ In after years the savages blessed her as their benefactress.
Nearly a hundred summers have passed since the occurrence of the events we have been describing. The war-whoop of the cruel Mohawk sounds no more from the forest-ambush, nor in the clearing; the dews and rains have washed away the red stains on the soft sward?, and green and peaceful in the sunshine lies the turf by the beautiful river and on the grave where the patriot mother is sleeping; but still in the memory of the son sand daughters of the region she once blessed, lives the courage, the firmness, and the goodness of Nancy Van Alstine, the guardian of the Mohawk Valley.
Copyright © 1998, -- 2003. Berry Enterprises. All rights reserved. All items on the site are copyrighted. While we welcome you to use the information provided on this web site by copying it, or downloading it; this information is copyrighted and not to be reproduced for distribution, sale, or profit. | <urn:uuid:4c50edb6-21f4-48f5-aec8-64a965a1f368> | CC-MAIN-2018-13 | http://threerivershms.com/Van%20Alstine.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-13/segments/1521257645413.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20180318013134-20180318033134-00293.warc.gz | en | 0.985231 | 2,206 | 3.140625 | 3 |
Welcome to English at St Nicolas and St Mary CE Primary School
Here you will find our English curriculum maps showing the journey our readers take through years 1 -6 (using a range of engaging texts) and an insight into the genres our children work in whilst writing for a purpose.
The tabs to the right explain our school approach to each area of English learning including details of our phonics programme. Within each tab you will also find some handy resources and links so that you can support your child at home.
Our English vision
Our vision is to empower pupils to express themselves confidently and creatively through their speech and writing. Pupils will leave our school with the tools needed to read, write and present their work in a range of contexts. Teachers will provide access to a wide variety of texts and experiences which stimulate the imagination and inspire writing outcomes. Our pupils will develop a love for reading that will broaden their horizons and also equip them with the skills necessary to access all other curriculum areas. Pupils will learn to write for real audiences and purposes through exciting, cross-curricular units of work.
Our Reading Map
Please take time to have a look at our Reading Map which details the key texts used in each year group over the course of the year. We do ask politely, that you do not purchase or go through these texts with your child beforehand to allow each class to explore all aspects of the stories together.
Our Writing Map
Please take time to have a look at our Writing Map which details the units of writing in each year group over the course of the year. For more information on the way writing is taught at our school, please read the information found in the writing tab.
Please enjoy this video showcasing English at our school.
Book Week 2021
Despite the challenges of lockdown, we celebrated our enjoyment of reading during the 2021 Book Week. We hope you enjoy the video of staff in fancy dress! | <urn:uuid:0cfb141f-cb27-4950-8c83-15774359e1dd> | CC-MAIN-2022-49 | https://www.stnicolasmary.w-sussex.sch.uk/page/?title=English&pid=68 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-49/segments/1669446711108.34/warc/CC-MAIN-20221206124909-20221206154909-00434.warc.gz | en | 0.943702 | 396 | 2.96875 | 3 |
latitude and longitude
Latitude and longitude are a pair of numbers (coordinates) used to describe a position on the plane of a geographic coordinate system. The numbers are in decimal degrees format and range from -90 to 90 for latitude and -180 to 180 for longitude.
For example, Washington DC has a latitude
38.8951 and longitude
-77.0364. In API calls you will often see the numbers placed together and separated by a comma:
-77.0364,38.8951. In some cases, altitude can be included as a third value.
Different Mapbox services handle coordinate order differently, so check the service's documentation to see how the latitude and longitude should be formatted. For instance, Mapbox GL JS and most Mapbox web services APIs use the format
longitude,latitude, while the Mapbox Maps SDK for iOS uses the format | <urn:uuid:f8b1d0e0-57d7-44a5-b667-0feaebb4037e> | CC-MAIN-2020-34 | https://docs.mapbox.com/help/glossary/lat-lon/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-34/segments/1596439737172.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20200807083754-20200807113754-00023.warc.gz | en | 0.743657 | 188 | 3.546875 | 4 |
By Holly Rodriguez
Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Richmond Free Press
The problems driving dissatisfaction among African-Americans in the 1960s – discriminatory police practices, unemployment, unequal pay, poverty and more – continue to plague many people in the African-American community today. That was the assessment of Dr. Elsie Harper-Anderson, assistant professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University. She and a panel of experts spoke Oct. 17 at the daylong Wilder Symposium at VCU, located in Richmond, the former capital of the Confederacy.
The theme: “Race and American Society: 50 Years After the Kerner Commission Report.” The Kerner Commission Report was ordered by President Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the cause of riots in several U.S. cities in the summer of 1967. Completed in March 1968, the commission identified 164 “disorders” contributing to the civil unrest and advised immediate action.
Former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder talks about conditions in Richmond during his childhood during the symposium on race and American society at Virginia Commonwealth University. The Wilder Symposium explored the commission’s recommendations, whether they were implemented, and the report’s influence on race relations and equality today.
“The freedoms and opportunities of all Americans are diminished and imperiled when they are denied to some Americans,” the report stated. The “unrecoverable loss to the nation which this denial has already caused – and continues to produce – no longer can be ignored or afforded.” Dr. Harper-Anderson said she was most “struck by the fact that I could take the dates out (of the 1968 report) and the information applies to today.”
A study of area residents’ perspectives on race relations, conducted by the Center for Public Policy at the Wilder School, indicates that 72 percent of Richmond area residents believe race relations in the United States is a major problem and has gotten worse in the last five years. While residents are concerned about race, 60 percent believe that the police in their community are doing a good job, the study found.
Former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, 85, after whom the symposium is named, offered a personal narrative to provide a snapshot of African-American life in Richmond as he was growing up.
“If we are going to move toward a more perfect union, the truth of the times must be told,” he said.That truth includes the poor public grade schools Gov. Wilder said he attended, with hand-me-down books, an outhouse for a bathroom, no cafeteria and no gym. The ability to excel, he continued, came from the teachers and professors who nurtured him and other leaders. As he remembered the leaders of racial justice from the past, he left the audience with the question, “Where are our leaders today?”
Joe Madison, Washington, DC-based Sirius/XM Satellite Radio talk show host, said leadership starts at home, and called upon African-American families to root education in homes, churches, communities and prisons. “Education is the new currency of the 21st century,” he said. In the future, “there will be those who are educated and those who or not.” The suffering of the uneducated will only continue to expand, he said.
Panel discussions included expanding education and leadership. Distribution of power and resources, the role of faculty in student civic engagement and the relationship between the police and the communities they serve also were addressed. In order to improve the African-American community’s relationship with police, said Dr. William V. Pelfrey Jr., associate professor in the Wilder School’s Criminal Justice Program, “the police need to be able to admit when they have made a mistake.”
He continued, “This is a sacrifice for them…but this is the start to be able to resuscitate these relationships.” U. S. Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-Va.), who represents Richmond in the 3rd Congressional District, said the need for criminal justice reform is critical, with the police practice of aggressive patrolling is the first of many problems that needs to be addressed.
“Massive incarceration is creating crime … because so many children are being raised … with their parents in jail,” he said. Proper police training, body cameras for police and youth programs are among the suggested solutions he offered. The Nov. 8 elections are an opportunity to move toward the resolutions outlined in the Kerner Commission Report. He said, “Jobs, funding education and criminal justice reform are key in the 2016 elections.” | <urn:uuid:3ea59a20-23c6-48ed-a6da-032dd0818202> | CC-MAIN-2017-34 | http://thenewjournalandguide.com/2016/10/27/vcu-panel-says-old-problems-still-plague-black-community/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-34/segments/1502886123359.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20170823190745-20170823210745-00200.warc.gz | en | 0.965991 | 987 | 2.609375 | 3 |
The earliest accounts of vampires in the territory known back then as Silesiago back to the late 16’th century. It is the account of a shoemaker who killed himself in the year 1591 in the town of Breslau. His family covered up this disgrace and so he was given a proper Christian burial – in accordance to the rituals of the day.
Even thou rumors about the true circumstances of his death broke out, the family stood by the original story and the body remained in ground for 8 full months.
But then the specter of the shoemaker began to appear during mid-day and at night and things got out of control. At night, it appeared to those who had been sleeping and terrified them: he would lie close to the sleeper, nearly suffocate him, and pinch him, leaving not only bruises but the impression of his fingers on the sleeper’s body. The terror grew so strong that people would gather together in candle-lit rooms at night and took turns sleeping.
The corpse was exhumed on April 15, 1592. It was found to have not suffered any signs of decay and it had a magical mark in the form of a rose on the right big toe. The corpse was kept out of the earth for 3 days and since there were no signs that it was decaying, it was reburied under the gallows… but not even this measure could stop him from his nightly visits.
It was at that point that the widow went before the local magistrate and confessed the true circumstances of her husband’s death. On May 7, the corpse was then exhumed again. This time, the arms, legs, and head of the corpse were cut off. The heart was removed from the body and all the pieces were cremated. The ashes were gathered together and poured in a river.
The shoemaker was never seen again.
* The tale was written down by Henry More in his “An Antidote to Atheism”
๑۞๑ Related: ๑۞๑
† Vampire Accounts | <urn:uuid:a9a438c8-8d63-49bd-9cbc-8a35c5ab007a> | CC-MAIN-2018-34 | https://scarlettmemories.com/tag/showmaker/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-34/segments/1534221212323.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20180817123838-20180817143838-00144.warc.gz | en | 0.989936 | 429 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Where are you at? Use insights from positive psychology to improve your wellbeing
Over the last few years, more and more attention has been paid to student wellbeing. This is not surprising. Student wellbeing is an important factor in later career outcomes and wellbeing later in life. A recent study has shown that many students are struggling with mental health issues. In this article, we dive into popular positive psychology models on wellbeing and provide you with a reflection exercise that gives your insight into your wellbeing.
To increase (student) wellbeing and prevent mental health issues, the field of positive psychology researches what makes humans flourish in life. After decades of researching the flaws and deficiencies of the human mind, the psychologist Martin Seligman began to research what makes us happy in the 90’s. Since then, the principles of positive psychology have been applied in all kinds of fields such as education, health care and within organisations.
In his research on wellbeing, Seligman (2011) summarised five pillars of wellbeing in the acronym PERMA:
- Positive emotion
These pillars can be seen as the starting point of living a fulfilling life. Pursuing each of these elements is intrinsically motivating and can contribute to wellbeing. Actively reflecting on the aspects of PERMA can enhance your wellbeing, but also decreases psychological distress.
Let’s discuss what each of these pillars stand for.
Positive emotions include hope, inspiration, fun and curiosity. Barbara Frederickson (American psychologist and expert in the field of positivity) describes in her broaden-and-build theory that people who experience these positive emotions are better able to deal with change and can be more creative. When you experience positive emotions in your learning activities, this contributes to processing information quicker and being able to keep an open mind without jumping to conclusions. Experiencing positive emotions at work also has its benefits, an experiment showed that people in negotiation situations came up with more creative solutions when they had been “positively” influenced by having received a small gift prior to the negotiation. Stimulating positive emotions is different for everyone. Ways to discover what works for you are thinking about things that brought you joy in your youth and tracking your positive emotions for a week.
Csikszentmihalyi (an American/Hungarian psychologist) has done extensive research on engagement and ‘flow’. He describes flow as the state you are in when you are completely absorbed in your work or studies. When you are in a state of flow it seems as if time stands still and you forget the world around. To increase flow set clear goals for your tasks, ask for quick feedback and use your strengths to achieve difficult (but achievable) tasks).
Humans are inherently social beings. Here relationships refer to the feeling of being supported and valued by others. Having relationships with others such as friendships, feeling connected to your study group, bonding with your housemates or belonging to a student association, has many beneficial effects such as it can help you manage stress, increase your resilience and general health. How do you make time and create opportunities to feel a sense of belonging and connectedness to the people in your class and in your study programme?
Meaning is understood here as: having the feeling of contributing to something greater than ourselves. It relates to the feeling of purpose in your life or studies. Having some sense of working towards a meaningful goal is important for experiencing a sense of flourishing. A way to find meaning is going back to the question: What made you choose your current study programme? The answer to this question might change over time but can lead you to your bigger goal in life. There are also many small ways to experience meaning by looking at how your activities are contributing to society. Are you an active plogger (a combination of jogging with picking up litter)? Do you organise events for your study association? Participate in volunteer work?
By setting realistic goals and working towards them, you can get satisfaction from your work or studies. In their self-determination theory, Ryan and Deci describe that accomplishments are a basic human need. By achieving large or small successes you gain more self-confidence and are more inclined to share your knowledge and skills with others. By breaking up big goals into smaller goals you increase your sense of success. Accomplishments can be getting a good grade, achieving a career goal or something much smaller as being able to run a kilometre more than last month or trying a new recipe and enjoying a delicious diner.
Download “where are you at?” to check how you are doing on each of the PERMA elements
More resources on wellbeing
- If you are struggling with mental health issues reach out to the student psychologist
- Want to learn more about setting goals and creating a reflection habit, check out this article.
- Curious to how you can use positive psychology insights to increase your work efficiency and fun, check out this article
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- Seligman, M. E. P. (2011). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. New York, NY: Free Press.
- Bannik, F. (2016) Positieve psychologie – de toepassing. Boom.
- Frederikson, B. (2004) The broaden–and–build theory of positive emotions. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B3591367–1377 | <urn:uuid:902b736d-e770-4792-ad8f-e88a85e7c4bd> | CC-MAIN-2023-14 | https://www.leidenlearninginnovation.org/stories/where-are-you-at-use-insights-from-positive-psychology-to-improve-your-wellbeing/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-14/segments/1679296950363.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20230401221921-20230402011921-00631.warc.gz | en | 0.941895 | 1,266 | 3.0625 | 3 |
What you'll needNewspapers or almanacs as guides for sunrise or sunset times A chart for recording observations of sunrise and sunset timeA series of landscape drawings (one set of the eastern landscape and one of the western landscape) An observation area Be careful: Do not look directly at the Sun or observe alone in an isolated or otherwise unsafe location! Make sure to get your parents' permission.What to do
1. Review safety procedures for observing the Sun.
2. Go over observation tips:
- Observe a landmark in the distance to avoid the effects of parallax
- Keep the same position for observations
- Use the same landmark for observations
- Define what "sunset" will be and what "sunrise" will be — sunrise is the time that the center of the Sun's disk is on the horizon and sunset is when the center of the Sun's disk first touches down on the horizon
3. Make several pairs of landscape diagrams that indicate your landmark (one eastern and one western).
4. Label north and south on the landscape diagrams.
5. Observe the rising and setting of the Sun over several weeks or months, if possible.
6. Record the times and dates on your chart and positions on your diagrams.
7. Answer the following questions:
- Did the position of sunrise or sunset change? How?
- Did the time of the sunset change? How?
If observations occur in early fall expect earlier sunsets, and later sunrises, and southward shifts. If observing in the beginning of the year, expect later sunsets, earlier sunrises, and northward shifts. "Solstice" means "standing still," and you should expect very little change in the weeks prior to and after the solstices (near December 21–22 and near June 20–21). Around equinoxes (near September 22–23 and near March 20–21), sunset time, and position changes are dramatic. | <urn:uuid:3a456761-f479-4087-a92b-87f9b55b62c4> | CC-MAIN-2015-32 | http://www2.astronomy.com/observing/astro-for-kids/2008/03/sunrise-sunset | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-32/segments/1438042989507.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20150728002309-00320-ip-10-236-191-2.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918532 | 403 | 3.53125 | 4 |
British Railways carriage print of the 1950s showing Edward V (1470-1483) being arrested by his uncle, Richard, Duke of Gloucester (1452-1482). Edward became King of England in 1483 after the death of his father, Edward IV (1442-1483). However, shortly after his accession, Edward and his younger brother Richard, the Duke of York, were taken to the Tower and never seen again. Their uncle, who is widely believed to have murdered them, then took the throne, becoming Richard III on 6 July 1483.
© NRM / Pictorial Collection / Science & Society Picture Library | <urn:uuid:58265ed4-647a-4809-973a-b8dacf113a29> | CC-MAIN-2017-43 | http://www.ssplprints.com/image/209312/whitear-edward-v-1483-c-1950s | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-43/segments/1508187823350.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20171019160040-20171019180040-00553.warc.gz | en | 0.978555 | 132 | 3.3125 | 3 |
Model-based systems engineering A graphical representation relates the various subsystems or parts of a system through functions, data, or interfaces.
You Will Study Example Course Descriptions The mechanical engineering program is designed to prepare students for employment in research, development, design and production in industry or government, as well as to assure a high level of preparation for those students who continue to advance their studies.
Mechanical engineering majors take various core and elective courses including: Engineering Graphics This course is an introduction to the principles and applications of engineering graphics. Students learn drafting conventions and the concepts of engineering documentation, orthographic sketching and drawing, auxiliary views and cut sections.
Manufacturing Lab The manufacturing processes laboratory provides students with the opportunity to study selected aspects of manufacturing processes.
Students can set up and operate machines, manufacture simple parts samplesmeasure process variables and inspect manufactured elements. The laboratory includes facilities to demonstrate and explore examples of machining processes and rapid prototyping.
Turbomachinery Design This course includes application of general principles of fluid mechanics to fluid machinery design. In this course, students study design principles of centrifugal and axial compressors, degree of reaction estimates, blade design, state performance calculations, axial flow turbines and design calculations of blade stresses, disc stresses and thermal stresses.
The Core's design offers students a defined, integrated, shared experience as the foundation for their undergraduate program.Hi I'm Michael, I love all things Science, Engineering, & 3D Printing.
If you are a student or are technically inclined this blog is for you. Here you'll find the things I wish I learned in school and the best tools I can find/create to help people like us!
Show Cause Notice to the DMRC employees absenting from duty unauthorisedly. Candidate Information Form Standards of Medical Examination in DMRC. CDR Sample for Mechanical Engineering Discipline - ANZSCO Code: CAREER EPISODE – 1. Introduction: The project on ‘Solar Car’ is the foundation of my first career episode and this was completed by me while completing my graduations.
SayTooLoud gives the worldwide users an insight into resume writing, interview tips, entrance exam preparations, career guidance etc.
timberdesignmag.com: System Dynamics for Mechanical Engineers (): Matthew Davies, Tony L.
Schmitz: Books. Mechanical Engineering Magazine is is the award-winning monthly flagship publication of ASME. Published since , the magazine delivers an interdisciplinary view into engineering trends and breakthroughs, giving readers a roadmap to better understand today's . | <urn:uuid:1f624249-e3fa-4fee-a0c0-4d1ae2eb3ea8> | CC-MAIN-2021-39 | https://coharydemutohu.timberdesignmag.com/an-introduction-to-the-career-of-a-mechanical-engineer-23892bz.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-39/segments/1631780057403.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20210922223752-20210923013752-00016.warc.gz | en | 0.914777 | 522 | 2.5625 | 3 |
The Jim Crow Routine
Everyday Performances of Race, Civil Rights, and Segregation in Mississippi
By Stephen A. Berrey
352 pp., 6.125 x 9.25, 9 halftones, 1 map, notes, bibl., index
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-4696-2093-0
Published: April 2015
eBook ISBN: 978-1-4696-2094-7
Published: April 2015
Buy this Book
- Paperback $37.50
- E-Book $19.99
Free E-Exam Copies
In this study of Mississippi race relations in the final decades of the Jim Crow era, Berrey argues that daily interactions between blacks and whites are central to understanding segregation and the racial system that followed it. Berrey shows how civil rights activism, African Americans' refusal to follow the Jim Crow script, and national perceptions of southern race relations led Mississippi segregationists to change tactics. No longer able to rely on the earlier routines, whites turned instead to less visible but equally insidious practices of violence, surveillance, and policing, rooted in a racially coded language of law and order. Reflecting broader national transformations, these practices laid the groundwork for a new era marked by black criminalization, mass incarceration, and a growing police presence in everyday life.
About the Author
Stephen A. Berrey is an assistant professor of American culture and history at the University of Michigan.
For more information about Stephen A. Berrey, visit the Author Page.
“Break[s] new ground in the study of white resistance to racial change during and after the civil rights movement.”--Journal of American History
“A multifaceted study that employs a variety of lenses that are missing in more reductive works on race in America.”--American Historical Review
"An important, original book that challenges how we understand Mississippi, the nature of segregation, and Black and white roles within it."--Canadian Journal of History
"Stephen A. Berrey's The Jim Crow Routine is a pathbreaking study of segregation and desegregation in twentieth-century Mississippi. Writing with admirable clarity and grace, Berrey makes outstanding use of the concept of performance to illuminate the everyday practices and often unwritten rules at play in Mississippi's race relations, both before and after the civil rights movement. The result is an elegant and insightful book that reminds us that segregation was never just a matter of law and shows us that massive resistance was almost as quotidian as segregation itself."--Mia E. Bay, Rutgers University
"Stephen Berrey has written the cultural history of Jim Crow's demise in Mississippi. To a degree unmatched by previous scholars, he emphasizes the everyday interactions and cultural dynamics of a transformation more commonly viewed through the lens of politics, law, economics, and social movements. His study opens up new avenues of inquiry and forever alters how scholars will think and write about the life, death, and legacies of Jim Crow."--Jason Morgan Ward, author of Defending White Democracy: The Making of a Segregationist Movement and the Remaking of Racial Politics, 1936–1965
Multimedia & Links
Follow the author on Twitter @Sberrey. | <urn:uuid:791786af-7cbb-4bb9-94b0-651bcbde29ab> | CC-MAIN-2023-14 | https://uncpress.org/book/9781469620930/the-jim-crow-routine/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-14/segments/1679296948868.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20230328170730-20230328200730-00419.warc.gz | en | 0.907828 | 681 | 3.03125 | 3 |
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an autistic jigaboo who was terrible at following directions. Many people in the United States mistake her for some sort of Civil Rights Activist. Due to her jiggery pokery, Parks now has a whole day named after her, “Rosa Parks Day,” which is her date of birth as well. On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks was having an autistic episode when bus driver, James F. Blake, ordered her to give up her seat in the nigger section to a white passenger after the racially superior section was filled. Parks was confused-- as she was a retarded nigger-- and did not get her ass up. So, being the good samaritan that Mr. Blake was, he called the fuzz on her black ass. She was immediately arrested and booked and put in a coon cage-- as even the jails were thankfully segregated.
Alabama Bus Laws
In 1900, Alabama made a law that stated that niggers had to sit in the back of the bus due to their loud, obnoxious, and crass behavior. They also smelled like Murray’s Pomade and shit. Under this law, bus drivers were able to pimp slap the fuck out of colored minorities when a glorious white person had to sit down. Also under the law, it was mandatory that only peckerwoods could sit in any bus’ front four rows. Even though niggers were the huge majority of those who rode the buses because they were too poor and couldn’t afford cars with their welfare checks, occasionally, if the bus driver was a nigger-lover, they were allowed to sit in the white seats. At all times, it was illegal for a black person to look a white person in the eyes while on the bus, or they would face immediate conviction without trial and be lynched downtown as a spectacle and warning for other degenerate porch monkeys. Since nignogs smelled so bad, they also had to get off the bus after they paid and enter from the back because no white person wanted to smell their greasy negro scent. Niggers everywhere in the south complained and bitched about these laws for years and years.
Parks' Later Years
For the rest of her life, Parks was seen as some sort of chocolate mistress of Coonfrican-American right activists. She appeared on many television shows, was featured on thousands of newspapers, and the radios wouldn’t shut the fuck up about it. The NAACP (Now Apes are Called People) took its massive purple-headed cheese dick out and slapped every American in the face with it, while stirring up this whole clusterfuck of racial injustice bullshit, and now, unfortunately today, white people have to share everything with black people. Rosa Parks killed herself in 2005 during one of her autistic nigger episodes-- ironically, she ran in front of a bus and was fucked.
In fact, Parks was not the woman who led the abolition of segregation. The "Bus Stunt" had been premiered a few months earlier. But the negress who is the real civil rights hero in this tale was (1) less photogenic than Rosa Parks and (2) got knocked up with an out-of-wedlock niglet soon after. So the Alabama negroes, true to form, dumped her and immediately moved on a slimmer and more attractive woman, who didn't wear glasses, and wasn't inconveniently pregnant. TNB.
Rosa Parks is part of a series on
Visit the Social Justice Portal for complete coverage.
|Featured article April 4 & 5, 2016|
| Preceded by
Dead or Alive
|Rosa Parks|| Succeeded by| | <urn:uuid:d497d1cb-d3ab-4b60-9906-39ea45841404> | CC-MAIN-2019-04 | https://encyclopediadramatica.rs/Rosa_Parks | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-04/segments/1547584518983.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20190124035411-20190124061411-00319.warc.gz | en | 0.984925 | 776 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Of course they don’t. It’s just a saying based on the fact that cats are very good at surviving because of their sharp senses and agility. Cats are also good at getting into trouble because of their inquisitiveness so they need their skills to get out of it. They are resilient and tough which led to the idea that they had more than one life. The reason why the number 9 came into being is because “in ancient times nine was considered a particularly lucky number because it was a trinity of trinities and therefore ideally suited for the lucky cat” so writes Dr Desmond Morris in his excellent book Catwatching. This is the best book on cat behaviour anywhere. It is also the slimmest book and it was written a long time ago in 1986. Nothing since has surpassed it. I advise you to buy it.
P.S. The Trinity is 3 persons within the Godhead; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Therefore a trinity of trinities is 3×3=9.
P.P.S. In an ancient book it was said that a witch could take on the body of her cat nine times:
It was permitted to a witch to take on her catte’s body nine times. – from the book: Beware of the Cat.
I believe that this book was written by a printer’s assistant and a poet: William Baldwin.
Some more on cats’ survival skills – cats in emergencies
Superb Ukrainian animal rescuers dodge bombs and bullets to rescue dogs and cats stranded in floodwaters
Please search using the search box at the top of the site. You are bound to find what you are looking for. | <urn:uuid:afa17b19-396e-4024-8121-45ad0a3d50fb> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://pictures-of-cats.org/do-cats-have-nine-lives.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100550.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205073336-20231205103336-00384.warc.gz | en | 0.981237 | 349 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Includes web, iOS and Android access via Exact Editions apps.
Soddisfatti o rimborsati con un rimborso totale entro 30 giorni.
Si ricorda che si sta per procedere all’acquisto di un abbonamento online , non di una copia stampata ed inviata per posta.
This title is available in the following collections: The Worth History Series
Humans have always strived to learn. The tribe with the better weapons can hunt more efficiently, defend itself better and take what it lacked from its neighbors. With the advent of farming and the ability to domesticate wild animals, the first civilisations began to form. Better housing, advances in medicine and the ability to pass knowledge down through the generations increased humanity’s knowledge of himself and his environment.
The History of Science follows this incredible journey from primitive stone tools and weapons, through the Bronze and Iron Ages, via the Renaissance and on to a quest for the stars. With informative text, illustrations, diagrams and a continuous timeline, The History of Science will take you on a journey the like of which has never been seen before. | <urn:uuid:8a2c0b13-0a96-464e-aa3e-44dfd459822e> | CC-MAIN-2020-40 | https://shop.exacteditions.com/it/the-history-of-science | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-40/segments/1600400188841.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20200918190514-20200918220514-00343.warc.gz | en | 0.873871 | 245 | 2.5625 | 3 |
|Rating||(log in to rate this project)|
|Spend the time||outdoors|
|Appropriate for kids||no|
Global positioning system (GPS) device is recommended but not required.
South Asian Bat Monitoring Program
The South Asian Bat Monitoring Program relies on volunteers who identify Indian flying fox bats and commit to studying them and obtaining population information on a regular basis. It consists entirely of volunteers and is the first such network to monitor the population of a species in South Asia. The information from all these sites will be compiled and analyzed for trends in the population of Indian flying fox (Pteropus giganteus), identify key threats to roosts and provide recommendations for their conservation.
The program aims to create awareness about bat conservation issues, involve and educate biologists and nature-lovers in studies about the biology of bats, and establish a conservation action plan. The Program will initially focus on one species, Pteropus giganteus, as it is the most known and recognizable bat species in South Asia.
Although there are anecdotal accounts that indicate that populations and roosts of many bat species are decreasing, there is no hard evidence. There is thus an urgent need to assess the populations of bats and to monitor them on a regular basis to determine population trends. | <urn:uuid:ed918c4e-f3c3-471c-8750-90f1d75112d9> | CC-MAIN-2016-18 | http://scistarter.com/project/372-South%20Asian%20Bat%20Monitoring%20Program | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-18/segments/1461860118790.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20160428161518-00108-ip-10-239-7-51.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.896494 | 264 | 3.359375 | 3 |
Why Storytelling Works: The Science
The human brain has a strong tendency to lose focus. It is estimated to engage in up to 2,000 daydreams a day and to spend up to half its waking time wandering.
It’s no secret that storytelling is a powerful way to communicate information, build relationships, sell products and ideas, and inspire others. But why does it work so well? Recent research into how the brain processes stories gives us some compelling clues:
Stories synchronize the listener’s brain with the teller’s brain.
When the brain sees or hears a story, its neurons fire in the same patterns as the speaker’s brain. This is known as neural coupling. “Mirror neurons” create coherence between a speaker’s brain and the brains of his/her audience members.
Storytelling connects listeners to the storyteller emotionally.
Through a process psychologists call “narrative transport,” good stories engage listeners emotionally. Engaged emotions create empathy with the speaker.
Stories “light up” more of the brain than factual reporting.
When the brain is presented with factual information, only two of its regions activate. FMRI studies show that storytelling causes many additional areas to light up. The brain responds to the story events as if they were actually happening to the listener.
Storytelling enhances memory.
It’s easier to remember facts when they’re told in a story—think Isaac Newton and the apple. Perhaps that’s because the part of the brain involved in memory is the same part involved in imagination and story work.
Stories command human attention.
The human brain has a strong tendency to lose focus. It is estimated to engage in up to 2,000 daydreams a day and to spend up to half its waking time wandering. In the presence of an interesting story, though, this mental meandering goes to zero.
Stories can change the brain’s chemistry.
When captivated by an emotionally engaging story, the brain produces oxytocin, a substance shown to increase generosity, compassion, trustworthiness, and sensitivity to social cues.
Stories affect behavior.
Pioneer “neuroeconomist” Dr. Paul Zak has shown that people are far more likely to donate to a cause after viewing an emotionally impactful story. In a recent social experiment, testers were able to sell $129 worth of trinkets on eBay for over $8000 by crafting personal stories for each object.
Did I miss anything? What are other factors that make storytelling so powerful?
Caveat: We aren’t neuroscientists over here…this is where we got our information. Feel free to suggest updates in the comments below.
This blog was originally published on October 1, 2014 and was updated November 30, 2017 for accuracy. | <urn:uuid:e844010b-f102-491e-b555-e93fc5ba763e> | CC-MAIN-2021-17 | https://www.arielgroup.com/why-storytelling-works-the-science/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-17/segments/1618038072082.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20210413031741-20210413061741-00617.warc.gz | en | 0.928454 | 597 | 3.734375 | 4 |
Intro to Swimming Orca Overview Program the Orca to swim in a circle once, then have it follow where your fingers touch the screen. Complete two additional challenges to make the Orca swim in a circle forever, and see if you can program it to swim in a Figure 8. Objectives Become familiar with visual programming. Program the Orca to swim using basic motion commands. Understand sequential execution of commands and repetition (forever and repeat loops). Understand the concepts of Cartesian coordinate system. Steps Create an Orca Project Open Tickle app and go over the welcome tutorial that shows you how to drag and drop coding blocks. You can replay the tutorial in Settings -> Show Introduction as needed. If you don't already have a Orca project open, create a new one by tapping + New Project in "MY PROJECTS". Choose the template with the name "Orca". Let's Swim! Tap the green Play button and see how the Orca swims in a circle. Move your fingers to different parts of the ocean, and see how the Orca follows your fingers. Swim and Follow Finger Touches To make Orca swim in a circle, we program the Orca to move forward 10 steps, and then turn by 10 degrees. Because turning a full circle is 360 degrees, we need to repeat the move and the turn blocks 36 times each. Here we use the repeat 36 times block, and add the move and turn blocks inside this yellow block so that each will executed 36 times. To make the Orca forever follow your finger touches on the ocean stage, add a forever block and add the go to ... block inside it. Set the go to ... block to go to last touch point. Tip: try changing the number of steps to 20 and see what happens. Change the number of degrees to 20 and see what happens. Challenge 1: Make the Orca Swim in a Circle Forever Tip: By adding a forever block around the repeat 36 times block, the Orca will continue to swim in circles forever (until you hit the Stop button). Challenge 2 (Advanced) : Make the Orca Swim in Figure 8. A figure 8 is composed of moving in two circles, with the second circle in the opposite direction. In the following sample code, the Orca turns right by 10 degrees each time for the first circle (clockwise for 360 degrees). It then changes direction, and turns left (counter-clockwise) for 360 degrees. Tickle’s Coordinate System The coordinate system of Tickle is a 2-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system. The origin (0, 0) is at the center of the stage. The X axis ranges from -240 to +240, and the Y axis ranges from -180 to +180. All characters starts with a direction of 0 degrees. The degrees increases counterclockwise from 0° which points to the right. | <urn:uuid:cf986cdc-bd75-47f6-be1a-4829c22c17b6> | CC-MAIN-2020-34 | https://tickleapp.com/hour-of-code/orca/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-34/segments/1596439738819.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20200811180239-20200811210239-00050.warc.gz | en | 0.87404 | 585 | 3.515625 | 4 |
One sector of the economy that has been dramatically altered by technology is the travel industry. The rise of travel sites like Expedia, Travelocity etc. has resulted in a dramatic decline in the number of travel agents and ultimately given the consumer the power and the tools to become their own booking agent. But, be that as it may, travel industry shows and travel fairs are more popular than ever and attendance figures at these events are significant.
With these facts in mind, I recently had my students investigating the rise of sustainable tourism or eco-tourism and it's importance as a growth segment within the travel industry. In determining a way for students to demonstrate their knowledge and share it with one another, I decided that students would conduct their research and then create an exhibit that they would then promote at a travel fair.
The results of this approach were overwhelmingly successful. Students demonstrated a great deal of engagement in the completion of the task and relished the opportunity to showcase their work. Through peer-evaluation, they carefully analyzed each others work and concurrently learned about various sustainable tourism initiatives throughout the world. The competitive nature of having their work standing side-by-side with their classmates created a climate of healthy competition that raised the quality of their work dramatically.
My takeaway from this experience was that the creation of a meaningful learning task that allows students to demonstrate their knowledge and then apply it remains as important as ever. But the creation of an environment in which we can all learn from one another offers the greatest benefit.
How does this relate to Technology?
The ultimate reward that technology offers to education is the its ability as a communicative tool to help, inform and educate others. In designing assessments for my students in the future I will continue to seek learning opportunities that allow students to showcase their skills, expertise and knowledge to a wider audience and not just exclusively to the teacher. | <urn:uuid:5c3a770f-941c-4241-87ad-d0fc04b30e4c> | CC-MAIN-2017-30 | http://littletechtalk.blogspot.com/2012/03/teaching-tourism-and-technology.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-30/segments/1500549423183.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20170720121902-20170720141902-00468.warc.gz | en | 0.976225 | 378 | 2.671875 | 3 |
This image of a cross in Santa Fe, New Mexico..
The Cross is one of the most ancient of human symbols. It has represented the four basic elements: earth, air, fire, and water. It has also been used to depict the point of union of divinity, the vertical line, and humanity, the horizontal line.
The Christian Cross is widely known as the symbol of Christianity. It serves as a reminder for Christians of God’s love and the sacrifice of His own Son for humanity and the victory over sin and death.
The Easter celebration date moves in time from year to year, unlike other fixed holidays. The first Sunday after the full moon on or closest to march 21st was chosen for the date by the Council of Nicea, so the date varies between March 22nd and April 25th. Easter Christians, who use the Julian calendar, celebrate between April 4th and May 8th.
The cross is a prominent feature in feast of Easter and the Holy Week that precedes it. These ceremonies recall the events leading to the crucifixion and death of Jesus and His resurrection from the dead. Easter Sunday celebrates His resurrection from the dead.
Easter customs are practiced around the world, including sunrise services; decorating Easter eggs as symbols for the empty tomb; and using the Easter lily as a symbol of resurrection.
Some other familiar celebrations that are enjoyed around this holiday do not necessarily have religious connections. These include the celebration of spring, the Easter Bunny, Easter egg hunts and Easter parades.
Spring, a time of growth, renewal, rejuvenation and new life, is the climatic season that follows the typically three coldest months of the year, winter, and precedes summer, typically the three warmest months of the year. Meteorologists usually define three month season of spring as March, April and May in the northern hemisphere and September, October and November in the southern hemisphere. In either case, spring is the result of increasing warmth from the change in the orientation of the Earth’s axis in relationship to the Sun. The astronomical March Equinox is frequently used as the marker for the first day of spring in the north. Erratic, unstable and severe weather patterns are most common in the spring due to the collision of warm and cool air masses. In the U.S., Tornado Alley is most active at this time of year.
In some regions in the Northern Hemisphere, the astronomical March equinox (varying between 19 and 21 March) is taken to mark the first day of spring, and the Northern solstice (around 21 June) is taken as the first day of summer. Human beings have celebrated the return of the lengthening days of light and the increasing warmth with festivals from the beginning of time. Some of these celebrations include Carnival – South America, Easter - Christian, Passover - Jewish, Holi – Nepal, India, Mayday, Beltane - Europe, Sinhalese New Year – Sri Lanka and Nevruz -Turkey.
Jeanette French, paintings, photographs, canvas prints framed prints, metallic prints, acrylic prints, greeting cards, gift cards, fine art.
Creating portals of light, love, joy, beauty, compassion, hope and gratitude is my lifelong passion and gift for the earth, hence the name of my art business, For the Earth. My mother painted in oils when I was young and encouraged my own drawing, painting and handcrafting in all forms. My father, the photographer, gave me my first camera at age 8. As a result of these loving influences, I am a lifelong student of both mediums. I am grateful to my wonderful Pacific NW painter teachers, Stan Capon and Edi Olson, for training my eye and technique. I hope you will enjoy this image as much as I enjoyed its creation. More gifts for the earth can be found at these websites: jeanette-french.artistwebsites.com and jeanette-french.pixels.com.
February 4th, 2015
Viewed 648 Times - Last Visitor from Beverly Hills, CA on 03/22/2023 at 2:39 PM | <urn:uuid:8d176a7c-e704-43ed-b8b5-99d9aa8ce43b> | CC-MAIN-2023-14 | https://jeanette-french.pixels.com/featured/easter-morning-jeanette-french.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-14/segments/1679296949097.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20230330035241-20230330065241-00213.warc.gz | en | 0.94958 | 856 | 3.375 | 3 |
The pelvic floor muscles (PFM) refer to a group of muscles inside the pelvis running from the pubic bone to the tailbone and sides of the pelvis. These muscles are most famous for their sphincteric role—meaning they hold back urine and stool. What many people do not realize, however, is that the pelvic floor muscles have other equally important functions. The PFM also work with ligaments and fascia to support the organs of the pelvis, play a crucial role in sexual functioning, and activate in coordination with a team of muscles to properly stabilize and support the spine and the pelvis. At One on One Physical Therapy, we are fortunate to have a fantastic team of skilled clinicians who specialize in treating pelvic floor dysfunction.
The pelvic floor muscles work with the transverse abdominis (deep lower abdominal muscles), multifidus (back muscles), and diaphragm (breathing muscle) to create what is known as the “anticipatory core.” These muscles fire together before a person bends, moves, lifts, walks, etc. to control pressures through the abdomen and the pelvis and to stabilize the spine and pelvis with movement. A study by Hodges and Sapsford in 2007 found that the pelvic floor muscles worked with the diaphragm to preactivate before a person performed arm movements. This helped in the understanding that the pelvic floor was not just a “bathroom muscle,” but rather played a crucial role in the movements of the rest of the body.
Our team of physical therapists at One-on-One Physical Therapy strive to provide comprehensive patient care. In short, we treat the person—not just the muscle or joint. Often times we find that patients presenting with a problem in one area (i.e. Low back, hips, etc.) may have dysfunction in another area that is contributing to the current problem—and this area may include the pelvic floor muscles. So, how do you know if you have a pelvic floor muscle problem contributing to an orthopedic problem?
Dysfunction in the pelvic floor muscles often presents in a few different ways:
1. Underactivity/Weakness: This is a common occurrence in men and women with generalized low back pain or hip pain, and is often present in people with global joint hypermobility. This can also occur after having multiple surgeries in the abdomen or pelvis.
2. Overactivity/Tension:This is a common occurrence in men and women with low back pain, hip pain, sacroiliac joint pain and pelvic pain. Trigger points in the pelvic floor muscles and obturator internus (a deep hip rotator sitting next to the pelvic floor within the pelvis) can refer to the low back, lower abdomen, sides of the hips, fronts and backs of the thighs and the buttock. Often times, these trigger points are very treatable and can lead to a significant reduction in pain for the people experiencing them.
3. Poor Timing: This is also a common occurrence in men and women with pain in the spine (cervical, thoracic, or lumbar), rib pain, hip or pelvic pain, and many more. In this situation, the pelvic floor muscles are able to activate and relax, but they are not working together as a team with the other muscles of the anticipatory core. This can lead to other muscles being “overworked” and create pain for the patient. Often times, retraining the proper sequencing of these muscles helps significantly in improving functional movement patterns and reducing pain.
Some people believe that if a person has pelvic floor muscle problems, he or she will definitely have urinary or bowel problems too. Although this is sometimes the case, it often is not. If you are a current patient in physical therapy and you think your pelvic floor muscles are involved with your problem, talk to your physical therapist and he or she may refer you for consultation with a skilled pelvic PT. If you are not in physical therapy and you think you have a pelvic floor problem, consider contacting us to see Anisha or myself for an evaluation.
Evaluation will include an examination of the pelvic floor muscles along with the associated muscles around the pelvis. Examinations can be performed with palpation externally near the perineum, but is best performed with an internal vaginal or rectal examination. This allows the physical therapist to assess the flexibility of the pelvic floor muscles, localize any trigger points/painful areas, assess strength/endurance, and evaluate how the pelvic floor muscles are working with the rest of the “team.” These examinations are highly beneficial in truly discovering where dysfunction is present and in identifying the best possible treatment techniques to aid in speedy recovery. (Note: If you are feeling uncomfortable with an internal exam, do not let that limit you from coming in! Talk with your physical therapist to modify the exam and treatment to your needs.)
Following the consultation, your physical therapist will discuss her findings with you and develop a plan with you to help you achieve your goals and see results! If you are seeing another physical therapist, we will partner together to design the most optimal strategy for you!
As always, know that our ultimate goal is to partner with you for your recovery and help you reach your goals as quickly as possible!If you have any questions or would like to speak with me or another one of our pelvic specialists, please feel free to call our office!
Jessica Reale, PT, DPT, WCS is a doctor of physical therapy and board-certified specialist in Women’s Health. She treats men, women and children with pelvic floor dysfunction and orthopedic problems. Jessica writes regularly on all issues related to pelvic health at her blog, www.jessicarealept.com. | <urn:uuid:225ca7d0-0fd3-4c7b-838f-d0029e512ba0> | CC-MAIN-2021-31 | https://onetherapy.com/the-role-of-the-pelvic-floor-muscles-in-common-orthopedic-complaints/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-31/segments/1627046154320.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20210802110046-20210802140046-00421.warc.gz | en | 0.94925 | 1,189 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Such a picture of accomplishment is appropriate for a novel like Ayn Rand’s since Rand was all about the glorious nature of human achievement. Born during the days of upheaval in early 20th century Russia, she never embraced the tenets of communism. Later emmigrating to the United States, she developed a philosophy of her own called “objectivism.” At the center of her vision is an heroic image of the individual who can accomplish anything he or she sets her mind to achieve. In that sentence, the key word is “mind.” For many pages toward the end of the novel, Ayn Rand becomes Ayn Rant as she excoriates those who have neglected the mind to favor either the body or the soul, observing: “Man has a single basic choice: to think or not, and that is the gauge of his virtue” (969-70).
The life of the mind and its resulting achievement has many enemies. The novel centers around Dagny Taggart, the female archetype of Ayn Rand’s philosophy. Taggart is vice-president of operations for a transcontinental railroad. As the collectivist philosophy gains a strangle-hold on the country, Dagny struggles first to keep trains running on-time, then to keep them running at all. Her arch-nemesis is her own spineless brother, Jim, who is president of the railroad and a tool of the oppressive and stifling government bureaucracy. Dagny allies herself with other captains of industry who keep alive a vision of progress even as the world crumbles around them, the logical consequence of a worldview that punishes intelligence and excellence. One inventor has seen enough, and hastens the world’s decay by doing the one thing that the present system cannot accept. What is that inventor’s name? What does he do? Therein lies a tale.
In a post-script to her book, Ayn Rand summarizes her system of thought:
“My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.”
Unfortunately, in one area, Ayn Rand sets up a straw man only to knock it over. She portrays belief in the supernatural as an enemy and altruism as nonsense. This flies in the face of the Protestant principle, the bedrock of the work ethic in America. Far from being “mystic moochers,” as she labels people of faith, it is because one realizes that work is peformed to the glory of God that one must do one’s best. Further, Christ’s command to love God includes the command to love Him with all one’s mind. There is no conflict between the life of faith and productive, intelligent work here on this earth. Belief in a hereafter does not negate the importance of the here-and-now. As servants, we look to a day when the master will come and find us working. Yet Jesus’ command to love God includes the love of neighbor. Having done our purposeful best for God, whatever the task at-hand, we will help a down-and-out neighbor so that he or she in-turn can find a place of purposeful and thoughtful labor, to the glory of God.
Ayn Rand’s philosophy has merit. A central theme to Atlas Shrugged is the issue of how we treat our best and brightest. Do we reward them for their initiative and hard work, or do we punish them as “selfish”? Have we inadvertantly rewarded mediocrity, then scratched our heads when all we end up with is mediocrity? These are timely questions as the United States slips further behind other countries in test scores in math and the sciences. Does “no child left behind” focus our efforts on making the mediocre a little less mediocre, thereby letting the gifted languish in boredom, talents buried and potential untapped? Why should they pursue excellence when the superior income that excellence one day brings will only be taxed at a higher level? Atlas Shrugged, written in 1957, still has something to say in today’s politial dialogue.
Ayn Rand will remain an innovative and intriguing figure in philosophy. While her objectivism is blind to what Christian faith has contributed to the advance of the United States, her unique background gives her a positive spin on capitalism that we hear too little these days. As a novelist, her skills are average. The reader can’t help but think that a book half as long would make the same point more powerfully. Despite its weaknesses, Atlas Shrugged is worth the effort and will stretch your thinking. | <urn:uuid:85588c36-5a58-43ad-b49e-1c0936b1c23c> | CC-MAIN-2020-29 | https://gregorycrofford.com/2011/05/03/atlas-shrugged/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-29/segments/1593655883439.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20200703215640-20200704005640-00293.warc.gz | en | 0.961741 | 983 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Here’s an incomplete list of Communist symbols which Russia retains:
1) Military banners which include communist and tsarist symbols alike.
2) The Lenin Mausoleum.
3) The Statue of Felix Dzierzynski (the founder of the VChK, the precursor of the NKVD), which was formerly at Lubyanka Square, is still in Moscow – in a park in a Moscow suburb.
4) In Russia, there is still a city called Dzierzynsk.
5) The district around Petersburg is still called Leningradskaya Oblast (Leningrad District).
6) The district around Yekaterinburg is still called Sverdlovskaya Oblast (Sverdlovsk District; Sverdlovsk was the former name of that city).
7) In Russia, there is still a city named Kaliningrad and a district named Kaliningradskaya Oblast, named after Mikhail Kalinin, one of Stalin’s most loyal allies.
8) The special division of the Internal Troops of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs is still named after Felix Dzierzynski.
9) In Yekaterinburg, there is still a street named after Vladimir Lenin, and there are probably many other streets named after Lenin in Russia. The HQ of the Volga-Urals Military District is located on bldg #71 of that street. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volga-Urals_Military_District; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prospekt_Lenina,_Yekaterinburg)
10) The city of Simbirsk, where Vladimir Lenin (Vladimir Ulyanov) was born, is still named Ulyanovsk, and the district around it is still named the Ulyanovsk District.
11) The melody of the Russian anthem is the same as the melody of the Soviet anthem. | <urn:uuid:31850bbd-3a97-4423-8a0c-3631b81acded> | CC-MAIN-2018-13 | https://zbigniewmazurak.wordpress.com/2010/06/30/communist-symbols-in-russia/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-13/segments/1521257646189.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20180319003616-20180319023616-00634.warc.gz | en | 0.941535 | 416 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Coming full circle from Nationalization to a complete Privatization
When government should be exploring alternative sources of energy, it seems India has chosen to back the fossil fuel industry at least for the near future.
Coal has been part of India's history since time immemorial. It was first commercially mined in 1774 from Raniganj coalfield, West Bengal. Introduction of steam locomotives and the First World War were major events which spurred both the production as well as the importance of coal in India. The exploitation of coal miners and their abysmal working conditions have been captured in many a Bollywood movie over the years. Coal played a major role in Britain's industrial revolution, which in turn had a trickle-down effect in India. Our country yet again became the perfect host for British imperialistic greed. Post-Independence, the coal industry became synonymous with the exploitation of workers. What is surprising is that this remained so till as recently as 2014 when the Supreme Court decided to sanitise the industry from some of the entrenched unscrupulous practices such as allocation of coal blocks in an opaque manner causing huge revenue loss to the exchequer.
Coal industry's ground reality was brought to the fore in a landmark PIL judgment, Manohar Lal Sharma v. Principal Secretary and Ors.; (2014) 9 SCC 516 passed by the apex court. The basic grouse raised by means of the PIL along with other similar petitions was the complete disregard for applicable laws and tenets of propriety during the allocation of coal blocks in the country. For a developing economy like ours, coal is the backbone mineral and one of the most important natural resources, if not the only one. Any impropriety in its commercial exploitation is a fatal blow to the future of the country. It was in this context that the Supreme Court treated the issue with the sincerity it deserved. The operative period under consideration was the allocation of coal blocks for the period between 1993 and 2012. The PIL sought a quashing of all allocations made during this time period along with a court-monitored investigation of the allocations.
The court observed in the PIL judgment that the practice and procedure of allocation of coal blocks by the Central government through the administrative route was clearly inconsistent with the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR Act) and the Coal Mines (Nationalization) Act, 1973 The Court stated that the allocation of coal blocks for captive consumption by the Central Government was clearly incongruous with the role of state governments outlined in the MMDR Act. The state governments were rendered powerless by-standers which was never the legislative intent to begin with. It was further held that the grant of coal blocks amounted to grant of largesse as the letters of allocation issued by the Central government paved the way for grant of prospecting license or mining lease.
On the aspect of transferring and alienating natural resources, emphasis was laid on the duty of the State to adopt a method of auction that enables everyone to participate by giving wide publicity. The court noted that auction as a method had to be considered in two ways. Firstly, "Legitimate Deviations from Auction" and secondly, "Potential of Abuse". Under the former while relying on the Constitution Bench Judgment in the matter of CPIL v. UOI; (2012) 3 SCC 1, it was reiterated that there is no constitutional mandate in favour of auction under Article 14 of the Constitution. Under the latter, it was reiterated that the potential for abuse can never be the sole factor for holding a method including auction as unconstitutional. It was also clarified by the court that it is not in its domain to do a comparative analysis of competitive bidding along-side other methods of transferring and alienating natural resources. However, if such a method falls foul of Article 14 of the Constitution then certainly consequences will follow. The court undertook a detailed exercise to outline various infirmities in the allocation of coal blocks after a Screening Committee was set up under the aegis of the Central government and also under the government dispensation route.
In a subsequent judgment, the Court in the matter of Manohar Lal Sharma v. Principal Secretary and Ors.; (2014) 9 SCC 614 further clarified the consequences of the aforementioned judgment delivered in the PIL. The court observed on a cautionary note that it hoped the government would not deal with natural resources that belong to the country as if they were at the personal disposal of a few individuals. The court also imposed a compensatory levy on the coal extracted from a part of the allottees even as it directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to take the investigation pending against certain allottees to its logical conclusion. The investigation conducted by the CBI was analysed threadbare and various directions were issued by the Court in the matter of Manohar Lal Sharma v. Union of India; (2017)
The scrapping of coal block allocations led to the enactment of Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act of 2015 aimed at bringing the coal blocks back to the private sector by means of auctions. The Coal Block Allocation Rules, 2017 were also enacted to pave the way for competitive bidding of coal blocks. As recently as June 2020, the Central government initiated auction of 41 coal blocks leading to an investment potential of Rs. 33,000 crore of capital investments over the coming years apart from allowing hundred percent foreign direct investment. With the introduction of the Mineral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2020, the private entities who could only use coal for captive consumption till now have been allowed to sell coal as well. Thus, the coal industry has come a full circle from nationalisation to a complete privatization. The PIL was also speculated to have far reaching effects on the power and banking sector.
To conclude, the role of the Supreme Court in in ensuring fairness and transparency to a process which has been historically marred by opaque governing policies needs to be applauded. The PIL judgement was a clear indictment of crony capitalism and a signal that the status quo needs to change. Certain sectors have complained that such a decision has had an adverse effect on the economy. However, it should be noted that the court has balanced economic interests with procedural propriety while issuing directions such as scrapping of coal block allocations. Another aspect is the introduction of competitive bidding thereby making way for private entities to enter the field. The Central government has opened the doors wide open for both private as well as foreign players. Skeptics, however, have criticised the move saying it comes at the expense of neglecting environmental concerns.
India being a signatory to Paris Agreement has pre-defined carbon emission reduction goals. With these developments, the Central government has sent a signal that coal still remains a predominant source of energy for the country. In today's times when governments should be increasingly exploring alternative sources of energy, it seems India has chosen to back the fossil fuel industry at least for the near future. Leaving aside environmental concerns, certain questions have also been raised with regard to the Central government policy of allowing not only private players but also foreign players into the fray. No doubt such a decision will incentivise optimal extraction of coal, however, the attending cost needs to be kept in mind. Entry of foreign players will pose a challenge to domestic private players, who until now were largely protected. Foreign players also may not have domestic interests in mind.
Although, the previous conduct by the state in so far as questionable allocation of coal block was concerned is exactly what has led us down this rabbit hole, we must be mindful of the fact that it is the State which is in the best position to assess the needs of a sector. The concept of State and also jurisprudence pertaining to any particular field is never a static concept. Therefore, we must put our faith in the State to enact the best policies that balances commercial interests with a public purpose. It is towards this end that we must put faith in the state as many concerns have been raised due to recent policies and it is the duty of the State to acknowledge and address them.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances. | <urn:uuid:453a911d-e619-4fea-9ccc-a12eba40f45f> | CC-MAIN-2020-45 | https://webiis05.mondaq.com/india/constitutional-administrative-law/986834/a-brief-history-of-coal-in-india?type=related | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-45/segments/1603107880878.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20201023073305-20201023103305-00714.warc.gz | en | 0.975708 | 1,664 | 2.84375 | 3 |
- Open Access
Optimizing yield of improved varieties of millet and sorghum under highly variable rainfall conditions using contour ridges in Cinzana, Mali
Agriculture & Food Security volume 6, Article number: 11 (2017)
Low productivity of cereals, the staple food, in Sahelian zone of Cinzana in Mali is caused by a range of factors including but not limited to inherent low soil fertility, and insufficient and inadequate distribution of the rainfall due to high climate variability. In addition, the small amount of rain falls as heavy storms in very short periods of time leading to water losses by runoff which in turn causes a lot of erosion. The two phenomena therefore call for a combination of both strategic (combating erosion) and tactical (coping with inter- and intra-annual rainfall variability) measures to cope with the production uncertainties in such risk-prone environment. As opposed to most farmers’ practice of using the same variety, a tactical solution of using varieties of different cycles for different rainfall amounts/patterns was thought to be worth testing. Varieties of different cycles for different rainfall amounts/patterns were combined with a well-known soil and water conservation practice which is the contour ridge tillage (CRT). The combined effects of the two measures on the production of different varieties of sorghum and millet as well as on soil water content were assessed in on-farm participatory trials in five villages. The experiment was run during three consecutive years (2012, 2013 and 2014).
A key finding of this research is that regardless of the yearly rainfall amount and provided CRT is used, there were large differences in yields between improved varieties and local ones. This is a result of higher soil water conservation and better response of the improved varieties.
The use of CRT increases considerably the yields of improved varieties of the most important staple crops of the Cinzana commune which are millet and sorghum. Thus, the use of these early maturing improved varieties, along with CRT, could be an accessible adaptation strategy to climate variability by farmers.
In sub-Saharan Africa region, 97% of the agricultural land is rainfed with crop yields of about 0.5–1 t ha−1 . The most common crops in the Sahelian part of this region are cereals (millet, sorghum, maize, rice, etc.) as a staple food. For instance in 2008 in Mali, 1,615,450 ha were planted with pearl millet (Pennisetum spp) with an average yield of 768 kg ha−1. Equivalent figures for sorghum (Sorghum spp) were 986,367 ha and 943 kg ha−1 . Millet occupies a larger area than sorghum because of its higher plasticity. Average yields for millet and sorghum in Cinzana commune, Mali (Ségou region), were, respectively, 822 and 926 kg ha−1 reflecting national trends . Obviously the yield values mentioned above are below the potential of most grown varieties of these staple crops [4, 5]. The low yields are attributed not only to climate change-related decreases in rainfall amount but also to variability of water availability related to the erratic rainfall patterns leading to water stress at some critical plant-growth stages and inherent low soil fertility . In addition, rain storms generate runoff and associated soil erosion [8–11]. This later phenomenon reduces top soil layer depth and soil organic matter content leading to weak soil water-holding capacity. The combined effects of all the above-mentioned factors will induce low water infiltration rates with only 10–15% of rainfall that will be used by crops for transpiration [6, 13]. Thus, water availability to crop roots in the soil profile constitutes a major constraint for sustainable production systems [14–17]. Because of unpredictable rainfall and decreased agricultural productivity, many soil and water conservation technologies such as stone lines, half-moons, contour hedgerows, rock bunds, filter walls, zaï, agroforestry, contour ridges, benches and no-tillage have been developed and are now widespread [19–23]. Tested technologies have shown that they can reduce runoff [16, 24–26] and soil erosion [27–29], improve water infiltration [12, 22, 30] and increase soil moisture [20, 23, 31–33]. However, their adoption did not always meet the expectations probably due to the promotion of a limited number of options everywhere as if “one size fits all.” Actually, some analysis has revealed that the effects of such technologies depend on a number of factors such as rainfall (some performed better than others in drier areas, while others performed better in humid zones), soil productivity potential (some performed better in less fertile soils) and labor availability [31, 32]. All these observations call for local testing and adaptation of even the proven practices to make them context specific .
Because the farmers of Cinzana collaborate with the Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) project and are therefore well aware of the advantages of soil and water conservation techniques and crop diversity to buffer climate change effects, a diagnosis including key stakeholders was realized in this village. Despite the awareness of the contour ridge tillage technique (CRT), there is a weak adoption of this practice and a need for training. The participatory selection of the technologies (the selection of technologies was done with the active participation of farmers) to be tested led to the choice of contour ridge tillage technique (CRT) and the use of improved sorghum and millet varieties among several adaptation strategies proposed to mitigate the observed erratic rainfall patterns. These improved varieties were chosen because of their performance on station trials, although local varieties are sometimes considered better adapted to high stress and low productivity conditions typical of smallholder farms. In Mali, CRT, referred to as “Aménagement en courbes de niveau” [12, 6, 35], is a water conservation technique locally developed in the early 1990s by Institut d’Economie Rurale (IER) and Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD). According to Kablan et al. , the innovation of CRT resides in the fact that it is a holistic landscape level method for managing surface water on farmers’ fields. Indeed, the contoured ridges decrease runoff, increase water infiltration and, therefore, capture rainfall close to the crop root system. The technology has been applied in the Sudanian area with rainfall varying from 600 to 1200 mm in southern Mali where runoff still occurs in fields with a slope as low as 1 to 2%, . As a consequence of increased water infiltration due to CRT [8, 12], an increase in crop yields of 30–50% was reported for millet, sorghum, maize, groundnut and cotton [30, 36]. This is probably due to the fact that water availability is important for evapotranspiration, but also for releasing nutrients in the rooting zone of the crops. Without CRT, runoff varied from 25–55% (unavailable water for crops) while its implementation reduced runoff to 10% of annual rainfall. Although the CRT was introduced since early 1990s , its effects on crop yield in the Sahelian area of Mali are not well documented. Indeed, improved varieties along with CRT could help in addressing both the short- and long-term climate-related stresses and improve the resilience of the agro-ecosystems and farmers’ income. We therefore hypothesized that improved crop varieties as opposed to the local ones will make a better use of a higher soil water storage using the CRT technique in the Sahelian zone of Cinzana in Mali.
Materials and methods
This on-farm trial was conducted in the Cinzana rural commune, which belongs to the Sahelian agroecological zone of Mali (Fig. 1). The trial area is located between 13°53′N and 13°14′N latitude and 5°63′W–6°15′W longitude. Participating villages are distributed within a radius of 30 km and are represented by the stars in Fig. 1. Rainfall was measured in Cinzana Research Station which is the closest meteorological weather station. Rainfall is uni-modal with the maximum of rain events occurring in July and August (Fig. 2) with a long-term average annual rainfall of 680 mm (Fig. 3b). The first useful rains (which provide enough soil moisture at time of planting without prolonged dry spells that could prevent the survival of seedlings after sowing ) occur in May and the rainy season ends in October. An analysis of rainfall patterns in Cinzana was performed using decadal (10-day) intervals in the month (Fig. 3b). Low temperatures occur in December through February (18 °C monthly average low), and high temperatures occur in April and May (40 °C monthly average high) (Fig. 2a). The daily evapotranspiration is 6–7 mm day−1 in the dry season and 4 mm day−1 during the rainy season. The main soil types of the area are classified as leached tropical ferruginous soils with spots and concretions and Alfisols according to U.S. Soil Taxonomy , with many Paleustalfs and frequent Plinthustalfs [12, 40]. Ustalfs are highly weathered and highly leached soils. Plinthustalfs are of special concern because they contain a plinthite layer of soft iron (Fe) and aluminum (Al) oxides that will harden irreversibly into lateritic stone if exposed.
For both millet and sorghum, planting dates were 2–3, 11–12 and 3–4 July in 2012, 2013 and 2014, respectively. Sorghum and millet seeds were placed at 0.5-m intervals within rows and 0.8-m intervals between rows, and seedlings were thinned to two plants per hill 15 days after emergence to ensure the targeted population of 50,000 plants ha−1 which is the density advised by extension services in Cinzana area. Immediately after thinning (i.e., the same day), the trials were hand-weeded using a hoe and again 30 days after crop germination.
Fertilizer was uniformly applied to the trial at the rate of 37.5 kg ha−1 of NPK (15–15–15) and 37.5 kg ha−1 of urea (46% of nitrogen), respectively, 15 and 30 days after germination. Fertilizer was buried in microdoses (1.5 g per hole) 5 cm below and 5 cm away the plant rows.
Sorghum and millet grains were harvested on 20–21 October, 5–6 November and 25–26 October in 2012, 2013 and 2014, respectively, and sun-dried straw measured 21 days after.
The field of each farmer was divided into two parts: one with contour ridges and the second part without contour ridge. The trial was established as a randomized complete block design with farmer fields or sites as replicates. This disposal allows a first examination of the global trend of the results for the control and the CRT plots. This pair of plots was treated the same way with regard to sowing dates, crop species and other cropping operations, except the ridging mode which was tested. Varieties were randomly distributed in each part of the experimental field. Plot sizes were 42 m2 in 2012 and 2013 and 98 m2 in 2014 for demonstrative purpose.
The trial started in 2012 with three farmers in each village (Moussawere, Sorobougou and Ngakoro), and two factors were studied which are field preparation (contour ridging and control) and varieties for each crop. Two varieties were tried in 2012 for both sorghum (local Jacumbe and Seguifa) and millet (local Toronion and Syn 0006) and the trial replicated three times. These varieties were chosen by farmers during a field visit in Cinzana research station. In 2013, two more villages (Tongo and Dougakoungo) were included in the trial as well as two more fodder crop “stay green” varieties, i.e., they remain green as fodder after harvesting the panicles (Seguifa and Tiandougou). The trial was therefore replicated five times for three varieties of sorghum (local Jacumbe, Seguifa and Tiandougou) and three varieties of millet (local Toronion, Syn 0006 and Soxat). Based on the outcomes of the first two years of trial and to facilitate the monitoring, the experience was conducted in two villages (Tongo and Ngakoro) in the third year, but was expanded to ten farmers for each of the two crop species (millet and sorghum), giving a total 20 farmers involved. Tested varieties were local Boboni, Soxat, improved Toroniou and HKD for millet and local Kenikeni, CSM 219, Seguifa and Sangatigui for sorghum.
Data collection and analysis
Composite soil samples were collected only in May 2012 at 0–20 cm soil depth before establishing the trials on each site. Composite samples were made of 20 soil samples taken in an asterisk shape pattern in the field. Samples were analyzed for both physical and chemical properties. Particle size (soil texture) analysis was performed by the hydrometer method ; pH was determined by the electrometric method in a soil solution with a soil/water ratio of 1:2.5; soil organic C was determined by the modified Walkley–Black wet oxidation method as outlined by Nelson and Sommers ; total nitrogen was determined by the modified Kjeldahl digestion method ; bases, effective cation exchange capacity (CEC) and available P were determined as described in Page et al. .
In 2012 and 2013, soil moisture was measured first in the dry season (mean dry soil) and in the rainy season at 15-day interval period in Sorobougou village to illustrate water conservation related to the use of CRT. Soil was sampled using an Edelman Combination Auger (4 cm core) of 1.2 m length at three locations in both plots in each field. Soil was sampled at four depths (0–10, 10–20, 20–40 and 40–60 cm) until a hardpan layer was reached, which in general was at about 60 cm depth. Soil samples were sent to the laboratory after securing them in a double plastic bag to avoid moisture loss. Gravimetric soil water content was determined at the same soil depths by weighing soil samples to obtain their wet mass, followed by oven-drying at 105 °C during 24 h until constant mass and weighing them again for their dry mass. Gravimetric soil water content was calculated as:
From the data collected throughout the rainy season, dates were chosen to represent the beginning, the middle and the end of the rainy season and are plotted in Fig. 4.
As soil bulk density changes very little with time, we decided to use values obtained in a previous study in 2011 along the 0–60 cm profile which includes most of the root system of cereals [45, 46]. The values for soil bulk density were 1.67 ± 0.02, 1.61 ± 0.01, 1.48 ± 0.01 and 1.45 ± 0.00 g cm−3 for 0–10, 10–20, 20–40 and 40–60 cm depths, respectively . Soil moisture storage (SMS, mm) for each layer was calculated from gravimetric soil water content (GSW), soil bulk density (Db) and soil layer depth (H) as follows:
where SMSi is the soil moisture storage for a certain soil layer depth (mm), SGWi is the gravimetric soil water content (g g−1) at such soil depth, Dbi is the soil bulk density (g cm−3) at such depth, H is the soil layer depth (mm), i is the soil sequence and n is the number of measured layers.
Crop yields were measured in central rows of each plot by discarding two rows along the border of each side of the plot. At harvest, total panicles, grain and stems dry weight were recorded in the central subplot as indicated above and data extrapolated from the subplot size to ha.
At the beginning of data processing, each part of the experiment plot was analyzed as a simple trial and the means and residual values used to pool the trial following two hierarchized factors (CRT-Ctrl; varieties) to just determine the global significance of data using STATBOX 7.4.4. Then, data were analyzed using Genstat statistical software (Release 14 for Windows) where crop data were subjected to a factorial analysis considering the individual effects of CRT and crop variety as well as their interaction. Because the numbers of replications and crop varieties varied from year to year, the data were analyzed separately per year. Finally, the three years were pooled to statistically assess the interaction between CRT and varieties. The effects of the treatments were considered significant at the probability threshold of P < 0.05. Newman–Keuls test was used to separate means for significant differences between treatments.
Rainfall pattern in the study area
Maximum amount of 166 mm of rain was received in the first decadal (10-day) interval of August in 2012, where July and August represented 77% of the total amount of rainfall (Fig. 3b), with no significant dry spell during this period. Dry spell of 6 days occurred once in the second decade of June. In September, dry spells of 7 and 8 days occurred in the second and third decades, respectively. The dry spells coincided with the development of reproductive organs of millet and sorghum. In 2013, the longest dry spell lasted 14 days and occurred in second and third decades of June, before crop sowing. A 9-day dry spell also occurred in July (second and third decades) and a 11-day one in September (second and third decades). In 2014, the longest dry spell was 5 days and occurred in the second decade of September, suggesting that rainfall was evenly distributed throughout the cropping season. This relatively short dry spell was adequate to allow weeding, mounding and other crop management operations.
The soils of Ngakoro and Tongo sites displayed more silt content and less clay than those of other villages, whereas mean sand content was less variable between villages with a value around 90% (Table 1). Soil pH (water) of the study sites was generally slightly acid, but more acid at the Sorobougou village site. The Ca and Mg contents at this latter site had double the values observed on the other sites. However, considering other physicochemical characteristics, Moussawere village appeared to have the poorest soil with phosphorus content at least twice lower compared to other sites. The CEC was also higher in all sites in comparison with Moussawere, except Tongo. All soils showed very low values in organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus (Table 1).
Figure 4 shows that gravimetric soil water content (GSW) was frequently greater in CRT than in the control (P = 0.04). In general, soil was drier in 2012 compared to 2013. Rainfall was more abundant in 2012 but less well distributed compared to 2013 because of two heavy rain events of 70 and 80 mm in less than two hours (Fig. 3b). In July at the beginning of the rainy season, CRT exhibited greater differences from control in 2013 compared to 2012. Differences were only noticeable at the 10–20 cm soil depth in 2012 but were noticeable in the whole soil profile in 2013. CRT differences from control were also more noticeable at the 10 to 20 cm soil depth in early August 2012 and 2013 when rainfall events were still frequent and differences were more pronounced at the 10–20 cm soil depth in 2012 when soils were drier compared to 2013. This difference appeared at 10 cm and was maintained up to 60 cm in 2012. In 2013, when rainfall was much lower, CRT displayed only higher soil water content in the 10–20 cm depth.
Water storage reached a maximum of 42 mm in August 2012 and a maximum of 68 mm in August 2013 (Fig. 5). Water storage decreased regularly until November when both CRT plot and control displayed similar values of 13.4 mm in 2012 and 21.8 mm in 2013. Water storage was always higher in CRT plot compared to control plot with a surplus of 0.23 mm day−1 in 2012 and 0.43 mm day −1 in 2013 in the CRT plots over the monitoring period.
Millet and sorghum yield
Average millet grain yield was 783 kg ha−1 in 2012, 1424 kg ha−1 in 2013 and 1301 kg ha−1 in 2014 (Table 2a). Millet grain yield in 2012, 2013 and 2014 was statistically higher in CRT plots compared to the control (all P < 0.01) with yield difference ranging from 301 kg ha−1 in 2012 to 622 kg ha−1 in 2013. These values correspond to an increase of 60 and 56%, respectively. Improved varieties produced more than the local ones, and the average increase was +25% in 2012 and +35% in 2014 (Table 2a). There were significant interactions between variety and tillage mode in 2012 and 2014 (P < 0.029 in 2012 and P < 0.002 in 2014).
Millet straw production differed statistically according to varieties only in 2014 (P = 0.01) during the three years (Table 2b). Straw production was statistically greater in CRT plots compared to control plots in 2013 and 2014, but not in 2012. The effect of CRT on straw yield varied from 881 kg ha−1 in 2012 to 2654 kg ha−1 in 2014 corresponding to an increase of 32–61%.
Sorghum yield did not differ significantly under the CRT technique in 2012 as opposed to the two following years during which CRT displayed statistically higher values compared to the control plot (all P < 0.05). Yield increases related to the CRT technique were 613 kg ha−1 in 2013 and 616 kg ha−1 in 2014 or, respectively, 85 and 58% yield increases compared to the control plot (Table 3a). In the overall, average sorghum grain yield increased consistently from 461 kg ha−1 in 2012 to 1378 kg ha−1 in 2014. Improved varieties produced on average 55% more yield than the local ones (Fig. 6). There were significant effects of CRT on sorghum grain production in 2013 (P < 0.04) and 2014 (P < 0.001). There was, also, significant interaction in 2014 between variety and tillage mode (P = 0.001).
Table 3b shows sorghum straw production for which significant differences were only observed in 2014 for both varieties and the tillage modes but the interaction between these two factors was not significant (P > 0.05). Straw biomass increase due to CRT was 3363 kg ha−1 in 2014, representing 61% more biomass, while increase due to improved varieties was much lower (17%).
For both crops, the statistical analysis showed inconsistent interactions between variety and tillage mode each year which is characteristic of on-farm trials. However, when plotting grain yield against the tillage modes, another interaction is revealed, which is an interaction between CRT mode and improved varieties. In general, without CRT there were no much differences between local and improved varieties of both millet (Table 2a) and sorghum (Table 3a). However, improved varieties produced better under CRT compared to the local ones. Moreover, such difference is larger in sorghum compared to millet, particularly for Sangatigui (Fig. 6) which out-yielded the other sorghum varieties.
An increasing but non-consistent trend in both grain and straw biomass yields was observed for millet (Table 2) and sorghum (Table 3) from the first to the third year. Such trend cannot be easily related to the amount of rainfall recorded during the three years of testing. Indeed, the amount of rainfall recorded in 2013 (692 mm) and in 2014 (725 mm) was almost half of the volume in 2012 (1051 mm), yet better yields were recorded in 2014. Better production in 2014 might therefore be due to better rainfall distribution during the rainy season of that year. Decadal rainfall analysis revealed the occurrence of several dry spells in September during the grain filling period which might have affected the yields in both 2012 and 2013 (two very contrasting years in terms of rainfall amount) independently of the total amount of rainfall received in a given year. These observations are supported by Sivakumar who widely reported similar trends when studying the relation between climate and soil productivity in Sudanian and Sahelian zones of Africa. Indeed, high inter-annual rainfall and within-season variability of rainfall typify the West Africa Sahel climate [47–49]. A supplementary explanation may be the cumulative effect of fertilization which would make the comparison between years inappropriate in the absence of soil data for each year.
The overall low grain yield of the tested varieties for both millet and sorghum, with highest grain yield inferior to 1500 kg ha−1, might stem from a combination of limited water availability (due to poor within-season distribution) and poor soil fertility. The laboratory analyses have revealed that the soils of the study sites have a low fertility and are slightly acid. They all showed a very high proportion of sand of about 90% and very low nitrogen and soil organic matter contents as well as low CEC values (Table 1). Tropical ferruginous soils are characterized by a high water infiltration rate (leading to high drainage) in sandy soils and a low water-holding capacity unless soil organic matter content is improved [9, 11]. In fact, low activity of kaolinite (1:1 clay type) which is the dominant clay in these soils suggests that other fine elements (e.g., silt) intervene in complexes with soil organic matter and play a certain role in soil chemical (CEC) properties by influencing its capacity for storage and exchange of nutrients as reported by previous workers [9, 50]. In such sandy soils, an increase of 1 g kg−1 of organic carbon leads to an increase of 4.3 mol kg−1 of CEC . Improved varieties as expected performed better than the local ones for both crops (Tables 2 and 3). Indeed, Fig. 6 shows that a marginal difference was found between improved varieties and local ones with the control tillage mode and a much larger difference was found between these two types of varieties under CRT. Improved varieties with a higher yield potential likely took advantage of the higher available water under CRT to produce higher yield. Accumulated water in CRT may delay water stress [6, 30, 52] while being more available for the crop to accomplish its physiological processes of biomass accumulation and grain filling [53, 54]. This finding corroborates Gigou et al. who estimated water supply through modeling and concluded that more significant water was available in CRT field when compared to the control in South Mali. The use of CRT can result in reducing soil erosion by reducing precipitation water runoff. It allows more time than the control for rainwater to infiltrate, therefore increasing water storage. This leads to better growth and higher yield during cropping seasons with unpredictable rainfall or low total rainfall as reported by many authors [12, 29, 30, 52].
The higher grain and straw biomass yields could also be attributed to growth and genetic characteristics of the crop. Improved varieties have a greater ability to convert assimilates to grain and biomass. In fact, genetic characteristics could explain variability of sensitivity of crop to water deficit or availability. There is a very large plant genetic variability of growth sensitivity related to water deficit as reported by Tardieu , who mentioned that sensitivity of leaf growth to evaporative demand and soil water deficit can be translated into biomass accumulation in the field. The different responses of improved vs local varieties to water availability could be attributed to this difference in biomass accumulation both in grain and straw.
The substantial response of millet and sorghum to the use of CRT indicated that in Sahelian area such as the Cinzana zone, this soil and water conservation technique should be largely recommended as a sustainable agronomic practice. Indeed, results clearly showed that realizing some of the increased potential of these new varieties requires improved water management. However, as mentioned by Mcauley et al. , additional support is required to strengthen production and delivery systems of improved seed varieties while encouraging farmers to better manage their natural resources with the CRT technique.
The current investigation highlighted the importance of rainfall variability during the cropping season in comparison with inter-annual variability of total rainfall. Fortunately, there are management practices like the CRT that can help buffering the effects of the uneven distribution of rainfall within a season. The results also showed that the effects of the efforts and resources put in realizing the CRT may be optimized by using improved varieties of the most important staple crops of the Cinzana rural commune and its region which are millet and sorghum. Thus, the use of the tested early maturing varieties of the two crops could be an accessible adaptation strategy to climate variability by farmers. Ridging being already traditionally practiced in different farmer communities, the additional step will be the implementation of ridge tilling in contour lines and mechanization of the operation to reduce human labor (otherwise this operation can be done by hand hoe but takes more time and effort in this case). This finding is very important but may gain more attention if the social acceptability of the tested practice (CRT) is assessed through a cost–benefit analysis. Such investigation also needs to be validated on a larger scale by involving more farmers of different wealth status and by including more agroecological zones.
Institut d’Economie Rurale
World Agroforestry Centre
contour ridge tillage
Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security
Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement
effective cation exchange capacity
soil moisture content
soil moisture storage
soil bulk density
Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
Canadian International Development Agency
Danish International Development Agency
International Fund for Agricultural Development
participatory action research on climate smart agriculture
Association Malienne d’Eveil pour le Developpement Durable
Association pour le Renforcement des Capacités pour une Agriculture Durable
Ecole Normale Supérieure Agronomique de Montpellier
Food and Agriculture Organization
Sous-Secteur d’Agriculture de Cinzana
Institut de Recherche en Agronomie Tropicale
Institut de Recherche pour le Développement
Office de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique Outre-mer
United States Department of Agriculture
United States of America
District of Columbia
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Bayala J, Sileshi GW, Coe R, Kalinganire A, Tchoundjeu Z, Sinclair F, et al. Cereal yield response to conservation agriculture practices in drylands of West Africa: a quantitative synthesis. J Arid Environ. 2012;78:13–25.
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Gigou J, Traoré K. Rapport Analytique du Projet: Fertilité des champs au Mali-sud. Institut d’Économie Rurale, Ministère du Développement Rural et de l’eau, Bamako. 1997.
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KT, DKS and HC designed the experiments, the data collection instruments and gathered the data, and helped in analysis and write-up. JB provided guidance, corrections and supervision to the entire research and critically read and amended the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
KT is a researcher in the Soil–Water–Plant Laboratory of the Institut d’Economie Rurale (IER) in Mali. He holds a doctorate degree in Soil Sciences from the University of Montpellier II, ENSAM, France. DKS is a researcher in the Program of Forest Resources of the Institut d’Economie Rurale (IER) in Mali. He holds a PhD in Agroforestry from the University of Bangor, UK. HC is a researcher in the Soil–Water–Plant Laboratory of the Institut d’Economie Rurale (IER) in Mali. He holds a doctorate degree in Regional Human Geography and Economy from the University of “Paris Ouest Nanterre La Defense,” France.
This work was funded by the CGIAR Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), which is a strategic partnership of the CGIAR and Future Earth. The CCAFS Program is carried out with funding by CGIAR Fund Donors, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) and the European Union (EU), with technical support from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The world Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) is also acknowledged for coordinating the participatory action research on climate smart agriculture (PAR-CSA) in West Africa. Additional funding from the Institut d’Economie Rurale du Mali is also gratefully acknowledged. We are grateful to AMEDD and ARCAD NGOs for supporting farmer exchange visit in the PAR site. We are grateful to farmers of Nkakoro, Tongo, Sorobougou, Moussawèrè and Dougakoungo. We thank a lot Youssouf Coulibaly (extension agent in Cinzana) and Oudou Cissé (technician of the project) for facilitating the implementation of research activities and data collection. Dr. Coe Richard is acknowledged for his support for the data analysis and comments on the earlier version of this article.
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Consent for publication
The Institut d’Economie Rurale and ICRAF, the researchers (Dr. Kalifa Traore, Dr. Daouda Kalifa Sidibe and Dr. Harouna Coulibaly, Dr. Jules Bayala) and farmers involved in this research gave their consent for this publication.
Ethical approval and consent to participate
Generating scientific knowledge, technological innovations and decision support tools for improving agricultural sector in Mali is part of the mandate and missions of Institut d’Economie Rurale (IER, http://www.ier.gouv.ml/), institution to which belong Dr. Kalifa Traore, Dr. Daouda Kalifa Sidibe and Dr. Harouna Coulibaly. Such research involves active participation of local stakeholders to help implementing trials. The protocol of the current study was submitted to the scientific and ethical committee of IER and was approved. Before starting the field work, farmers in the community were informed about the context of the study and the willingness to participate. They have all given their consent and participated to all field works.
This work was funded by the CGIAR Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), which is a strategic partnership of the CGIAR and Future Earth.
About this article
Cite this article
Traore, K., Sidibe, D.K., Coulibaly, H. et al. Optimizing yield of improved varieties of millet and sorghum under highly variable rainfall conditions using contour ridges in Cinzana, Mali. Agric & Food Secur 6, 11 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40066-016-0086-0
- Climate variability
- Soil moisture
- Improved varieties | <urn:uuid:b08f644c-9232-4999-8fbb-21e265e060a8> | CC-MAIN-2021-17 | https://agricultureandfoodsecurity.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40066-016-0086-0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-17/segments/1618039526421.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20210421065303-20210421095303-00150.warc.gz | en | 0.882147 | 10,774 | 2.875 | 3 |
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In 1851 a Charter was granted to the city of Portland by the Legislature of Oregon. By this instrument corporate powers were lodged in the “People of the city of Portland,” constituting them “a body politic and corporate in fact and law” with all necessary legal privileges. The city limits were to be fixed by a line beginning at the northwest corner of the donation claim of Finice Caruthers, running thence easterly by the north line of that claim to the river bank, and by a projection of the same to the middle of the Willamette; thence northerly by the middle of the river to the projection of the north line of Couch’s claim; thence west seventy chains and south to the place of beginning.
There was little that was peculiar about the charter. It provided that the officers should be mayor, recorder, treasurer, marshal and assessor. There should be a common council of nine members. All of the above offices were to be filled by election of the voters of the city. By appointment of the city council there were to be city attorney, street commissioner, city surveyor and city collector. Election day was fixed on the first Monday in April, yearly.
Elections were to be by ballot and a residence in the town of thirty days in addition to the qualifications of voters in the then territory, was required. No election was to be held in a saloon, or any place where ardent spirits were sold. Proper provisions for appointment in case of absences were also made.
The common council was invested with the usual powers, being authorized to pass ordinances not in conflict with the constitution of the State or the United States; to collect taxes, provide water, and guard against fires, diseases, nuisances, and disorders; to license taverns, and all other forms of business or trade usually put under some sort of restriction; and to suppress gambling houses and other immoral things. Property outside of the city limits for such necessary purposes as pest house, water works, etc., might be purchased and owned. Duties of officers were carefully specified.
Among provisions likely to be amended was that forbidding the mayor and members of the common council to receive pay for their services; to allow a protest of the owners of one-third of the property on a street to stop improvements ordered thereupon, while two-thirds of the expense of all improvements of streets was to be borne by the property adjacent; and the provision that land within the city limits not laid out in blocks and lots should not be taxed by the city.
Among miscellaneous provisions were that fixing the beginning of the fiscal year on July 1st; that giving the decision of a tie vote at any election to the common council; that no officer in the city government should have any interest in city contracts; that an oath of office must be taken and that any ordinance calling for an expenditure of above one hundred dollars must lie ten days before passage.
In 1858 certain amendments were made, by which the city was to be divided into three wards, each electing three members to the council; to allow collection of port dues on ships and steamers; and to pay the councilmen three dollars per day for actual service. In 1860 this provision for paying councilmen was repealed. In 1862 an amendment was added, relating principally to street improvements, providing that half the expense of such improvements should be borne by the owners of adjacent property, and that a protest of the owners of two-thirds of the property must be obtained to arrest any street work ordered by the council.
In 1864 the entire instrument was revised and written in a more perspicuous style. The limits of the corporation were extended so as to include the Caruthers Claim. The mayor was to serve two years; the election was to be on the third Monday in June. The fiscal year was to begin with January, the city was not to incur an indebtedness of above fifty thousand dollars; a dredger might be owned and operated by the city on the lower Willamette. The mayor and the councilmen should receive no compensation. In 1865 an amendment was made in regard to laying out new streets; and constructing sewers and drains.
In 1872 a new charter was granted, which was quite a voluminous document, and introduced many changes. The limits of the city were extended so as to include the whole of the Caruthers and Couch claims, and a space seventy chains and over still to the west. The city was divided into three wards, the first including all that portion north of Washington street; the second, that between Washington and Main streets, and the third, all south of Main street. Each ward was to elect three members to the common council for three years each. The mayor was to be elected for two years, and was invested with the veto power, requiring a two-thirds vote to pass an ordinance without his approval. The treasurer and assessor were to be chosen by the common council, and the attorney, street commissioner and surveyor were to be appointed by the mayor, with the consent of the council. The office of. recorder was abolished and a police judge was instated to succeed him. This officer was to serve for two years, holding regular court, and came to his position by appointment of the mayor. The office of marshal was also abolished, and the police department was placed under the supervision of three police commissioners appointed by the governor. The mayor and council-men were forbidden to receive a salary, or other compensation; the rewards of the other officers were definitely fixed, that of police commissioner being three dollars per day for actual service. Special policemen were allowed, but they were not to receive pay from the city-being left, it would seem, to obtain their wages from private persons asking their services. It has recently been earnestly recommended to abolish the “specials.”
The street commissioner was invested with large powers. Street improvements were to be paid by tax on property adjacent and could be discontinued upon the remonstrance of two-thirds of the property holders interested, Changes of grade were to be paid for out of the general fund. Taxes, except for the dredging of the river, were not to exceed one and one-half per centum of the assessed value of city property per annum. The indebtedness of the city was not to exceed one hundred thousand dollars. The financial needs of the Police Department were to be determined by the police commissioners, and the sum requisite was to be provided by the common council by tax.
The details of the instrument. are very minute, and some features, as the last mentioned, were likely to produce friction in working.
By the charter of 1882, which, with various amendments, is still in force, the boundaries of the city were so extended as to embrace the Blackistone place on the north, and some additions on the south and west, while the middle of the Willamette was still left as the limit on the east. City authority is vested in mayor, common council and board of. police commissioners. The three wards are continued with substantially the same boundaries as before, each of which is entitled to three members in the common council. Councilmen, mayor and treasurer come to their office by vote of the electors of the city. The auditor is elected by the common council, holding his term at their pleasure. The attorney, street superintendent and surveyor are appointed by the mayor, with the consent of the council, and are removable for cause. Election is the third Monday in June. A residence of six months in the city and of ten days in the ward, in addition to qualifications as elector of the State, is required of the voter. Careful rules of election and regulations as to vacancies and absences are provided.
The common council is invested with ample powers to carry on the business of the city, to secure good order, to regulate dangerous occupations, to prevent the introduction and spread of disease, and to suppress nuisances and immoral business. Authority is granted to impose a tax of three mills for general municipal purposes, and three and a half mills each for the support of the paid Fire Department and of the Police Department. Assessments of property in the city are made according to the assessment rolls of Multnomah County.
The mayor is the general head of the city government, making an annual message to the common council, in which he reports upon the state of the city and recommends such measures as he deems proper. No ordinance may become a law without his approval unless passed subsequently by a two-thirds vote of the council. The treasurer is held to keep a strict account of the funds of the city, and the auditor keeps full record of all warrants and bills, issues licenses and makes annual lists of all property subject to taxation. The city attorney attends upon all actions to which the city is a party, prosecutes for violation of city ordinances, and prepares for execution all contracts, bonds or other legal instruments for the city. The street commissioner exercises a general care over the streets, the public squares and the parks; supervises surveys, and requires improvements ordered by the council to be fully and faithfully completed.
The Police Department is under the police commissioners, who are elected by the voters of the city and serve without salary. They organize and supervise the police force. The police judge, however, who must be an attorney of the degree of an attorney of the Supreme court of the State, and whose court is of the degree of that of justice of the peace, is appointed by the mayor, with the consent of the common council. He has jurisdiction of all crimes defined by city ordinance. His salary is not to exceed $2000 per annum. All police officers are strictly forbidden to receive compensation other than that provided by ordinance, under the general regulation.
The Fire Department is under three commissioners who are appointed by the mayor with the consent of the council. Their term of office is for three years. Compensation of all officers or employees of the Fire Department is prescribed in the legislative act erecting the same.
The City Water Works are, by this charter, placed in the hands of a committee appointed by the legislature with the power to fill all vacancies occurring in their own body. They are independent of all other departments of the city government.
A fuller account of these two latter departments is given further down in this volume.
Much care and expense have been bestowed on the police department. There is difficulty always in a city in securing enforcement of the laws against certain forms of vice and immorality. These often find refuge in the cupidity of property-owners and others and the law can seldom be enforced with vigor. But on the whole good order is maintained in Portland.
The police force of the city consisted at first simply of the marshal. As his duties became too great for his personal attention, deputies were appointed by him, or by the council.
By the Act of 1872 a regular police system was inaugurated. The office of marshal was abolished, and the management was given to a board of three police commissioners holding office three years, elected each year in order. The board was to be responsible to the people only. The office of recorder was succeeded by that of police judge, who was first appointed by the mayor. The system remains substantially as at the present time. The expenses of the department are to be determined by the commissioners and the necessary sum may be raised by the common council by tax not to exceed 3 1/2 mills.
Below are given the names of the policemen from 1872, the time of the new order. The names of marshals and judges will be found in the list of city officers.
1872. Police Commissioners-A. B. Hallock, Pres., W. P. Burke, Eugene Semple. Chief-J. H. Lappeus. Police-J. R. Wiley, first captain; A. B. Brannan, second captain; H. M. Hudson, W. M. Ward, D. Norton, D. Walton, B. P. Collins, J. W. Kelly, C. F. Schoppe, T. Burke, Thos. Gale. Specials-W. M. Hickey, B. O’Hara, J. M. McCoy, M. F. Sherwood, Paul Marten. Poundmaster—Charles Lawrence.
1873. Police Commissioners-A. B. Halleck, W. P. Burke, ,O. Risley. Police- J. H. Lappeus, chief; J. R. Wiley, A. B. Brannan, captains; Thos. Burk, J. W. Kelly, C. F. Scheppe, D. Norton, J. Corcoran, H. M. Hudson, J. K. Mercer, B. P Collins, J. D. Yates, O. D. Buck, A. J. Barlow, F. Reardon, M. T. Sheehan, B. O’Hara, J. M’Coy, J. Sloan. P. Shea, J. O’Neil, P. Martin.
1875-6. Police Commissioners-Shubrick Norris, J. R. Foster. M. S. Burrell. Police -J. H, Lappeus, chief; B. P. Collins, J. Sloan, captains; Thos. Burke, A. B. Brannan, B. T. Belcher, Chas. Gritzmacher, J. W. Kelly, J. T. Watson, J. W. Hain, H. M. Hobson, J. S. Hamilton. Specials-J. McCoy, B. O’Hara, M. T. Sheehan. Poundmaster-Charles Lawrence.
1877-8. Police Commissioners-R. R. Riley, Wm. Connell, E. W. Connell. Police-Chief, L. Besser; H. S. Allen, J. W. Kelly, captains; C. P. Elwanger, H. M. Hudson, J. W. Kelley. Specials J. McCoy, Barny O’Hara, M. F. Sheehan, C.W. Howard. Poundmaster-M. B. Wallace. | <urn:uuid:71723b58-08f8-46db-997a-128f5f904962> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.accessgenealogy.com/oregon/portland-oregon-city-charter-and-government.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279650.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00499-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978708 | 2,967 | 3.03125 | 3 |
The students write a letter to one of the characters in the play from the perspective of another character. For instance, the students may choose to write to Badua and Osam from the perspective of Anowa. This letter acts as the embodiment of everything the character is unable to say, but may want to say throughout the course of the play.
Each character has different characteristics that defines them. The students create flash cards with the characters name on one side and the characteristics on the other. They then play flash cards with another student, keeping track of how many the answer correctly.
The students create crossword puzzles, using clues from the text to answer the crossword puzzle questions.
Each student dresses up like a character from the play, and introduces themselves to the class, then speaks briefly on the elements...
This section contains 696 words
(approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) | <urn:uuid:86d6f191-a7f8-4b92-8d52-c8ce99b4f7d5> | CC-MAIN-2016-50 | http://www.bookrags.com/lessonplan/anowa/funactivities.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-50/segments/1480698543577.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20161202170903-00142-ip-10-31-129-80.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919194 | 183 | 4.28125 | 4 |
Religious Studies Curriculum Overview
“When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That’s my religion.” Abraham Lincoln
Being part of the Academy Transformation Trust family, we ensure our curriculum is ambitious and enjoyable through knowledge and skills developed throughout their time at Bristnall Hall. It is inclusive and knowledge rich and it is broad in terms of coverage and (at least) encompassing the breadth of the 2014 English National Curriculum. We ensure it meets the needs of our students and helps to develop character, personal pride and the highest moral standards.
In Humanities and Social Sciences, we aim to create global citizens equipped to make independent judgments, who are aware of the past, present, people and future of the world around them. Through questioning, investigation and critical thinking, BHA learners are discovering their place in the world, as well as their own values and their responsibilities. The curriculum focuses on developing knowledge and skills which will give learners a firm foundation for their further study and later life. Furthermore, it allows all learners to have the best possible chance to feel confident in their own abilities and build on previous learning.
In Religious studies learners explore religious teachings from the around the world and apply these to a variety of themes that have a real-life application. We encourage learners to have an open mind and accept the differences between people and their faith. Learners develop their critical thinking through debates to make informed judgments. Furthermore, learners develop an ability to think about how society is made up and to embrace other cultural differences. Our young people discover how differences can make a community more successful and how it links to contemporary events in the world. Our curriculum is balanced so Learners can draw comparisons between different cultures and beliefs, so they are more accepting of an ever-increasing diverse population.
Our curriculum intends to:
- develop knowledge of specific religious beliefs
- develop an understanding of how to apply religious beliefs to key themes
- equip learners with the skills to evaluate the impact religious teaching can have on people today
- Miss R Bi (Maternity cover subject lead)
- Ryan Devine
- Reece Bhatoe
- Steven Ramsey
- Sarah Holden
- Dawn Winters
- Beverley Sanders
- Nicola Barnsley
- Nicola Griffiths
Useful websites/resources for students and parents | <urn:uuid:1351ed65-3189-4c27-bf52-ce396c22f953> | CC-MAIN-2021-17 | https://www.bristnallhallacademy.attrust.org.uk/curriculum-area/religious-education/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-17/segments/1618038084765.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20210415095505-20210415125505-00014.warc.gz | en | 0.945661 | 483 | 3.3125 | 3 |
Hoist & Crane Definitions and Terms
Below is a list of common terms used in the hoist & crane industry. The terms are from the Crane Manufacturers Association of America (CMAA).
Abnormal Operating Conditions
Adjustable or Variable Voltage
Auxiliary Girder (Outrigger)
Bearing Life Expectancy
Boom (Overhead Crane)
Efficiency of Gearing and Sheaves
Electric Top Running Crane
Electrical Braking System
Industrial Duty Crane
Load Carry Part
Main Line Disconnect Switch
Manual-Magnetic Disconnect Switch
Mechanical Load Brake
Mean Effective Load
Mill Duty Crane
Multiple Girder Crane
Overload Limit Device
Overload Protection (Overcurrent)
Pendant or Pushbutton Station
Pitch Diameter (Rope)
Plain Reversing Control
Remote Operated Crane
Remote Radio Control
Strength, Average Ultimate
Top Running Cranes
Torque, Full Load (Motor)
Torsion Box Girder
Under Running Cranes
Wheel Load, Bridge
Wheel Load, Trolley
Below is a list of common definitions used in the hoist & crane industry:
Abnormal Operating Conditions:
- Environmental conditions that are unfavorable, harmful or detrimental to or for the operation of a crane or hoist; conditions such as excessively high or low temperatures, corrosive fumes, dust laden or moisture laden atmospheres and hazardous locations.
Adjustable or Variable Voltage:
- A method of control by which the motor supply voltage can be adjusted.
- A crane which, when activated, operates through a preset cycle or cycles.
- A backup hoisting unit usually designed to handle lighter loads at a higher speed than the main hoist.
Auxiliary Girder (Outrigger):
- A girder arranged parallel to the main girder for supporting the platform, motor base, operator’s cab, control panels, etc., to reduce the torsional forces such a load would otherwise impose on the main girder.
Bearing Life Expectancy:
- The L-10 life of an anti-friction bearing is the minimum expected life, hours of 90% of a group of bearings which are operating at a given speed and loading. The average expected life of the bearing is approximately five times the L-10 life.
- Brinell hardness number, which is a measurement of material hardness.
Boom (Overhead Crane):
- A horizontal member used to permit hoisting as well as lowering the load at a point other than directly under the hoist drum or trolley. The boom is mounted on a trolley.
Boom (Gantry Crane):
- A trolley runway extension often used to obtain clearance for gantry travel by retracting or raising.
- The rectangular cross section of girders, end trucks or other members enclosed on four sides.
- A device, other than a motor, on a hoist or crane that stops or pauses motion by power or friction.
- The circuit conductors between the final overcurrent device protecting the circuit and the outlet(s).
- The part of an overhead crane consisting of girders, end trucks, end ties, walkway and drive mechanism which carries the trolley and travels in a direction parallel to the runway.
- The electrical conductors located along the bridge structure of a crane to provide power to the trolley and hoisting machineries.
- The rail supported by the bridge girders on which the trolley travels.
- An energy absorbing device for reducing impact when a moving crane or trolley reaches the end of its permitted travel, or when two moving cranes or trolleys come into contact.
- The slight upward vertical curve given to girders to compensate partially for deflection due to hook load and dead weight of the overhead crane.
- The maximum rated load which a crane is designed to handle. Usually in tons (1 ton= 2,000 LBS).
- Minimum distance from the extremity of a crane to the nearest obstruction.
- Crane Manufacturers Association of America.
- Canadian Standards Association. In Canada, a crane, as an entire assembly, must be CSA certified.
- Indicator appearing adjacent to the CSA mark signifies that the industrial control equipment meets U.S. standards.
- Contacting devices for collecting current from the runway or bridge conductors. The mainline collectors are mounted on the bridge to transmit current form the runway conductors, and the trolley collectors are mounted on the trolley to transmit current from the bridge conductors.
- An electro-magnetic device for opening and closing an electric power circuit.
- A device for regulating in a predetermined way the power delivered to the motor or other equipment.
- Equipment is designed and manufactured with different materials to prevent corrosion of materials.
- A method of speed control by which the motor is reversed to develop power to the opposite direction.
- The shaft extending across the bridge used to transmit torque from motor to bridge drive wheels.
- An electrical or mechanical method for reducing the rate of acceleration of a travel motion.
- The loads on a structure which remain in a fixed position relative to the structure. On a crane bridge such loads include the girders, footwalk, cross shaft, drive unites, panels, etc.
- Displacement due to bending or twisting in a vertical or lateral plane, caused by the imposed live and dead loads.
- A plate or partition between opposite parts of a member, serving a definite purpose in the structural design of the member.
- The assembly of the motor and gear unit used to propel the bridge or trolley.
- The girder on which side the bridge drive machinery is mounted.
- Means to limit the drop of a bridge or trolley in case of wheel or axle failure.
- The cylindrical member around which the hoisting ropes are wound for lifting and lowering the load.
- An operator’s compartment or platform on a pendant or radio controlled crane, having no permanently mounted electrical controls, in which an operator may ride while controlling the crane.
- A method of control by which the hoist motor is connected in the lower direction, that when it is over-hauled by the load, it acts as a generator and forces current either through the resistor or back into the life. i.e., regenerative braking.
- A method of control by which the motor drives through an electrical induction load brake.
Efficiency of Gearing and Sheaves:
- The percentage of force transmitted through these components that is not lost to friction.
Electric Top Running Crane:
- An electrically operated machine for lifting, lowering and transporting loads, consisting of a movable bridge carrying a fixed or movable hoisting mechanism and traveling on an overhead runway structure.
Electrical Braking System:
- A method of controlling crane motor speed when in an overhauling condition, without the use of friction braking.
- A conductor or group of conductors substantially enclosed to prevent accidental contact.
- A housing to contain electrical components, usually specified by the NEMA or CSA classification number.
- The minimum horizontal distance, parallel to the runway, between the outermost extremities of the crane and the centerline of the hook.
- A structural member other than the end truck which connects the ends of the girders to maintain the squareness of the bridge.
- Load-bearing overhead crane component that supports the bridge beam and consists of a frame, wheels, axles, etc.
- A device to limit travel of a trolley on the crane bridge. This device is normally attached to a fixed structure and normally does not have energy absorbing ability.
- Equipment designed in accordance with existing codes and standards such that it will operate in a specified hazardous environment without causing an explosion. If there is a spark, explosion proof reduces the risk of explosion as a result of the spark.
- A provision designed to automatically stop or safely control any motion in which a malfunction occurs. See E-stop pendants.
- Wiring and support system that delivers power to a trolley hoist across bridge or runway beam.
- The wiring required after erection of the crane.
- An axle which is fixed in the end truck and on which the wheel revolves.
- A crane that is pendant controlled by an operator on the floor or an independent platform.
- The walkway with handrail and toeboards attached to the bridge or trolley to access the crane.
- A crane similar to a top running crane except that the bridge for carrying the trolley or trolleys is rigidly supported on one or more legs running on fixed rails.
- A Single Leg Gantry Crane is a crane that is designed to have one ‘leg’ of the crane support an end of the bridge while the other end is supported by an end truck that runs along an elevated rail.
- A Double Leg Gantry Crane is a crane that is designed to be supported by two or more ‘legs’ that move along fixed rails that are embedded in the floor.
- A Portable Gantry Crane is a normal gantry crane that is fixed to a wheel base (as opposed to the floor). This design allows for movement of hard to budge equipment.
- The principle horizontal beams of the crane bridge, which supports the trolley, and are supported by the end trucks.
- The distance from where suspension of the track to the palm of the bottom hook.
- A machinery unity that is used for lifting and lowering a load.
Air Chain Hoists
- An air driven machinery unit, utilizing chain as its lifting medium, and used for the lifting and lowering of a freely suspended (unguided) load. Often used in an environment that requires electric spark avoidance due to a potentially explosive atmosphere.
Air Wire Rope Hoists
- An air driven machinery unit, utilizing wire as its lifting medium, and used for the lifting and lowering of a freely suspended (unguided) load. Often used in an environment that requires electric spark avoidance due to a potentially explosive atmosphere.
Electric Chain Hoists
- A suspended machinery unit that is powered by electrically driven motors and is used to lift or lower a freely suspended (unguided) load, using chain as its lifting medium.
Electric Wire Rope Hoists
- A suspended machinery unit that is powered by electrically driven motors and is used to lift or lower a feely suspended (unguided) load, using wire as its lifting medium.
Hand Chain Hoists
- A suspended machinery unit that, by use of manual operation, is used for lifting or lowering of a freely suspended (unguided) load and uses chain as its lifting medium.
Ratchet Lever Hoists aka Come- Along Hoist
- A lever operated manual device used to lift, lower or pull a load and to apply or release tension. Utilizes a ratchet and pawl mechanical configuration to incrementally raise or lower a load or to apply or release tension.
- A friction brake that automatically prevents motion when power is off.
- The minimum horizontal distance between the center of the runway rail and the hook.
- A brake that provides retarding or stopping motion by hydraulic means.
- A sheave used to equalize tension in opposite parts of a rope. Because of its slight movement, it is not termed as a running sheave.
- Additional hook load assumed to result from the dynamic effect of the live load.
- Equipment is designed and manufactured to be weatherproofed for outdoor use.
Industrial Duty Crane:
- Service classification covered by CMAA Specification No. 70 and Specification No. 73, 'Specification for Electric Overhead Traveling Cranes'.
- Motor winding insulation rating which indicates its ability to withstand heat and moisture.
- A Floor Supported Jib Crane is a jib crane where the boom is connected to a heavy pipe column and is base plated to the floor/foundation and is designed to rotate 360 degrees.
Column Supported (Tie Rod)
- A Column Supported (Tie Rod) Jib Crane is a jib crane that is supported by a wall column and has an additional tie rod connected to the boom and is designed to allow for 180 degrees of rotation.
Column Supported (Full Cantilever)
- A Column Supported (Full Cantilever) is a jib crane where the boom is connected directly to a wall column. A full cantilever jib crane is ideal for a lower ceiling where maximum head room is required and is designed to allow for 180 degrees of rotation.
- Kips per square inch, measurement of stress intensity.
- A unit of force, equivalent to 1000 pounds.
- KiloNewton, a metric unit of force, equivalent to mass (kg) times gravity (9,81).
- The diagonal structural member joining the building column and roof truss.
- Horizontal forces perpendicular to the axis of the member being considered.
- Maximum safe vertical distance through which the hook, magnet or bucket can move.
- Single lifting and lowering motion (with or without load).
- Buckets, magnets, grab and other supplemental devices, the weight of which is to be considered part of the rated load, used for ease in handling certain types of loads.
- A device designed to cut off the power automatically at or near the limit of travel for the crane motion.
- A contactor to disconnect power from the supply lines.
- A load which moves relative to the structure under consideration.
- The assembly of hook, swivel, bearing, sheaves, pins and frame suspended by the hoisting ropes.
Load Carry Part:
- Any part of the crane in which the induced stress is influenced by the load on the hook.
- One lift cycle with load plus one lift cycle without load.
- Horizontal members attached to the web of the bridge girder to prevent web buckling.
- A means of controlling direction and speed by using magnetic contactors and relays.
Main Line Disconnect Switch:
- A manual switch which breaks the power lines leading from the main line collectors.
Manual-Magnetic Disconnect Switch:
- A power disconnecting means consisting of a magnetic contactor that can be operated by remote pushbutton and can be manually operated by a handle on the switch.
- A manually operated device which serves to govern the operation of contractors and auxiliary devices of an electric control.
- Identification of non-interchangeable parts for re-assembly after shipment.
Mechanical Load Brake:
- An automatic type of friction brake used for controlling loads in the lowering direction. This unidirectional device requires torque from the motor to lower a load but does not impose additional load on the motor when lifting a load.
Mean Effective Load:
- A load used in durability calculations accounting for both maximum and minimum loads.
Mill Duty Crane:
- Service classification covered by AISE Standard No. 6, ‘Specification for Electric Overhead Traveling Cranes for Steel Mill Services’.
- A Curved Monorail System allows for transportation of product along a fixed, curved path along a single beam. The monorail system is mounted to an existing overhead structure to allow for more floor space.
- A Monorail System with Switches allows for transportation of product along a fixed path to anywhere in the facility along a single beam.
Multiple Girder Crane:
- A crane which has two or more girders for supporting the live load.
- The operator’s compartment from which movements of the crane are controlled. To be specified by the manufacturer as open, having only sides or a railing around the operator, or enclosed, complete with roof, windows, etc.
- Any load greater than the rated load.
Overload Limit Device:
- Mechanical or electrical apparatus that prevents the crane from lifting loads greater than the safe working load.
Overload Protection (Overcurrent):
- A device operative on excessive current to cause and maintain the interruption or reduction of current flow to the equipment governed.
Pendant or Pushbutton Station:
- Means suspended from the crane operating the controllers from the floor or other level beneath the crane.
Pitch Diameter (Rope):
- Distance through the center of a drum or sheave from center to center of a rope passed about the periphery.
Plain Reversing Control:
- A reversing control which has identical characteristics for both directions of motor rotation.
- A control function which accomplishes braking by reversing the motor line voltage polarity or phase sequence.
- An assembly containing overload and undervoltage protection for all crane motions.
- A mechanical device attached to the end truck of a bridge or trolley, located in front of the leading wheels, to remove foreign objects form the rail.
- A method of controlling speed in which electrical energy generated by the motor is fed back into the power system.
- A function which tends to maintain constant motor speed for any load for a given speed setting of the controller.
Remote Operated Crane:
- A crane controlled by an operator, by any method other than pendant or rope control.
Remote Radio Control:
- A cordless means of control, utilizing analytical or digital radio signals to secure controls even in noisy environments.
- Rating established by NEMA, which classifies resistors according to percent of full load current on first point and duty cycle.
- A sheave which rotates as the hook is raised or lowered.
- The rails, beams, brackets and framework on which the crane operates.
- The main conductors mounted on or parallel to the runway, which supplies current to the crane.
- The rail supported by the runway beams on which the bridge travels.
- A grooved wheel or pulley used with a rope or chain to change direction and point of application of a pulling force.
- The angle by which the load block is being operated outside of the vertical lifting place.
- Lateral forces on the bridge truck wheels caused by the bridge girders not running perpendicular to the runways. Some normal skewing occurs in all bridges.
- The horizontal distance center-to-center of runway rails.
- Equipment designed in accordance with existing codes and standards such that it will operate in an environment with no hazardous gas present.
- A method of switching electrical circuits without the use of contacts.
- A type of control system with infinite speed control between minimum speed and full force.
- A type of control system with fixed speed points.
Strength, Average Ultimate:
- The average tensile force per unite of cross sectional are required to rupture the material as determined by test.
Top Running Cranes:
- A Single Girder Bridge Crane is an overhead bridge crane that has one bridge girder that supports the trolley and hoist. The trolley and hoist ride on the bottom flange of the bridge girder. The single girder bridge crane is considered top running when the bridge girder rides on top of the runway beams and can hold between 250lbs and 15 ton.
- A Double Girder Bridge Crane is an overhead bridge crane that has two bridge girders that support the trolley and hoist. The trolley and hoist ride on top of the two bridge girders. The double girder bridge crane is considered top running when the bridge girders ride on the top of the runway beams and can hold between 10 ton and 160 ton.
Torque, Full Load (Motor):
- The torque produced by a motor operating at its rated horsepower and speed.
Torsion Box Girder:
- Girder in which the trolley rail is located over one web.
- Forces which can cause twisting of a member.
- The unit carrying the hoisting mechanism which travels on the bridge rails.
Manual Trolley or Push Trolley
- A machinery unit that runs along the top or the underside of a bridge beam either by pulling or pushing.
- A machinery unit that runs along the top or the underside of a bridge beam by gears which are controlled by a manual chain.
Motor Driven Electric Trolley
- A machinery unit that runs along the top or the underside of a bridge beam by an electric motor.
Motor Driven Air Trolley
- A machinery unit that runs along the top or the underside of a bridge beam by an air motor.
- The basic structure of the trolley on which are mounted the hoisting and traversing mechanisms.
- Condition under which the load block or load suspended from the hook becomes jammed against the crane structure preventing further winding up of the hoist drum. Can also be inadvertent physical contact between the load black and the upper block or other part of the trolley.
Under Running Cranes:
- A Single Girder Under Running Bridge Crane is a bridge crane where the bridge girder rides below the runway beam. In contrast to a top running bridge crane where the bridge girder rides on the top of the runway beams. The runway beam for an under running bridge crane is typically ceiling mounted. Under running bridge cranes usually do not exceed 10 tons in capacity.
- A Double Girder Under Running Bridge Crane is two bridge girders that ride below the runway beam as opposed to on top in a top running bridge crane. The runway beam for an under running bridge crane is typically ceiling mounted and can hold up to 25 tons but the practical limit is more like 15 tons.
- A Patented Track Crane is a standard under running crane with one exception. The bottom flange is wider with a raised tread, creating the perfect rolling surface. Patented Track Cranes are designed for high-repetition and harsh environments as well as for precise engineering and installation tolerances you would find in military or aircraft maintenance facilities.
- A device operative on the reduction or failure of voltage to cause and maintain the interruption of power in the main circuit.
- A method of control by which the motor supply frequency can be adjusted.
- The loss of voltage in an electric conductor between supply tap and load tap.
- The vertical plate connecting the upper and lower flanges or cover plates of a girder.
- A stationary machinery unit that, geared by either electricity or air, pulls a load along a relatively level surface.
- Distance from center-to-center of outermost wheels.
Wheel Load, Bridge:
- The vertical force (without impact) produced on any bridge wheel by the sum of the rated load, trolley weight and bridge weight, with the trolley so positioned on the bridge as to give maximum loading.
Wheel Load, Trolley:
- The vertical force (without impact) produced on any trolley wheel by the sum of the rated load and the trolley weight. | <urn:uuid:cb664ab8-1396-47ff-96ce-073709c9bba7> | CC-MAIN-2023-23 | https://www.hoistsdirect.com/hoist-crane-definitions-and-terms | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-23/segments/1685224649518.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20230604061300-20230604091300-00666.warc.gz | en | 0.895141 | 5,769 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Useful hints and tips for travelers in Germany
The Christstollen, or more commonly known as Stollen, is the traditional German Christmas cake. It was first made in Dresden, in the XIV century, but today it has become a tradition throughout Germany, although some local variations have been introduced. As the Milanese Panettone, this is a cake based on sweet yeast dough, containing lots of butter, dried fruit (especially almonds), candied fruit, raisins, and candied citron and orange peels.
The history of Christstollen comes from far away: the first news date back to 1300, and regard an early recipe created in Naumburg, Hesse, but only in late 1400 it was codified in Dresden, and since then it has become the city’s official Christmas cake.
Stollen is a bread-like cake similar to Panettone, but with greater consistency, and declined in several versions depending on the city or Land it comes from, including the addition of marzipan, wine, apples, plums, etc.
You can find Stollen recipes anywhere on the Internet, but the original one is prepared with the following ingredients:
Flour: 750 g
Yeast: 50 g
Milk: 1/8 of a liter
Butter: 200-250 g plus a small quantity to grease the baking tray
sugar: 150 g
Egg Yolks: 2
Candied citrus and orange peel: 100 g
Bitter almonds: 4
Almonds 50 g
Currants: 100 g
Grapes: 50 g (berries)
Rum: 3 tablespoons
Preparation Method: Make the dough and then add the eggs, sugar, milk and melted butter. Beat well and knead in the citrus and orange peel, the almonds and currants – previously softened in warm water.
Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, and then deflate it and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface inside a greased baking tray. The rise ends directly into the pan. Baked in a preheated oven to medium heat for about 90 minutes.
The finest German housewives prepare the dough the night before and make it stand all night. Moreover, Stollen is not to be eaten immediately: after cooking, it should “rest” at room temperature for 10-15 days.
Photo von Josef Türk Reit im Winkl Chiemgau
There are no comments on this entry. | <urn:uuid:76a29c5c-b8de-4aa9-a98e-02a92fd68ded> | CC-MAIN-2018-13 | http://www.around-germany.com/864/christmas-in-germany-the-german-version-of-italian-panettone-stollen/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-13/segments/1521257647545.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20180320224824-20180321004824-00551.warc.gz | en | 0.933285 | 519 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Verden an der Aller or simply Verden is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. Along the course of history, this plot of land seems to witness many happenings. One of them is the Massacre of Verden in 785.
The year was 785 that the Aller and Weser rivers were full of blood. Charlemagne was the Roman Catholic King of Franks, King of Lombards, and later Roman Emperor. He ordered a mass execution of 4,500 Saxons who took the roles of chieftains and the heads of the families. Charlemagne believed that these victims were those who led the revolt against his project to convert the their tribe into Christians. During the time, Charlemagne was attempting to spreading his power in many regions. And he came up with the idea that: to control a nation, control their religion.
Charlemagne set out to convert his victims into Christians.
Ten years before the Massacre of Verden, the Saxons raided and plundered a Frankish Christian church. Gradually, the pressure of these new comers made the King come into a decision to remove these pagans.
The angry Charlemagne in 785 in the name of revenge for his nobles in the battle against the pagans carried out the massacre. However, many scholars believed that revenge was just a superficial reason. And Charlemagne was motivated by the lust of conquest.
When the king heard of this disaster he decided not to delay, but made haste to gather an army, and marched into Saxony. There he called to his presence the chiefs of the Saxons, and inquired who had induced the people to rebel. They all declared that Widukind was the author of the treason, but said that they could not produce him because after the deed was done he had fled to the Northmen.
But the others who had carried out his will and committed the crime they delivered up to the king to the number of four thousand and five hundred; and by the king’s command they were all beheaded in one day upon the river Aller in the place called Verden. When he had wreaked vengeance after this fashion, the king withdrew to the town of Diedenhofen… | <urn:uuid:108b82ee-5795-4bee-abda-93fdddf33665> | CC-MAIN-2019-39 | http://maryarrchie.com/2019/07/29/massacre-of-verden-4500-victims-got-slain/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-39/segments/1568514572484.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20190916035549-20190916061549-00195.warc.gz | en | 0.985892 | 456 | 3.6875 | 4 |
Design Elements Of Theatre. Sets, props, costumes, makeup, lighting, sound). Set design the set design is possibly the most important of the elements in the overall design for a play.
Look in our reading list for texts on the subject. Effective and clear sound design is essential to creating an enjoyable listening experience for. 85 terms 5 (2) fiestabutterfly.
Scenic Design (Also Known As Scenography, Stage Design, Set Design, Or Production Design) Is The Creation Of Theatrical, As Well As Film Or Television Scenery.
Focus is created through stage composition and lighting. Look in our reading list for texts on the subject. As theatre is an art that occurs over time, the composition of the stage set can change from light cue to light cue.
It Is The Actual Physical Feel Or Surface Appearance Of A Furn….
What are the 3 main components of a musical? The design of the set, lighting, music, sound and costumes, and the way digital technology is used all contribute to the audience's experience. Those elements of the design of a theatre that serve primarily the aesthetics of theatre performance are the stage and the stage support facilities, often referred to as backstage spaces (though the spaces will not necessarily be behind the stage or even in the same building as the stage).
The Working Title Is Shakespeare North And It's A Fascinating Project.
85 terms 5 (2) fiestabutterfly. To enhance your understanding of good theatre design, observe the theatres you visit and pay attention to the details that make them successful (or not!) for you. Solve design problems ( **the following is from cameron and gillespie.
Costumes, Another Design Element In Theatre Are Stylized, Exaggerated And Projected.
Help tell the story 2. I'm currently helping to design a theatre in knowsley, near liverpool. • characters • plot • theme • dialogue • convention • genre • audience the modern theater
Theatre Sound Design Includes Everything The Audience Hears, Such As Sound Effects, Music, Props That Generate Noise And Similar Components.
Develop a design concept consistent with the director's concept 4. Theatre design can be a lifetime study, so these four principles are only a brief introduction. The list of essential elements in modern theater is as follows: | <urn:uuid:776040a5-7b52-4e77-8f6f-e59d36ec1040> | CC-MAIN-2022-27 | https://frenchpressmemos.com/design-elements-of-theatre/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-27/segments/1656104189587.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20220702162147-20220702192147-00747.warc.gz | en | 0.911144 | 479 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Uric acid is a by-product created when the body performs the chemical process of breaking down purines. Purines are found in many foods and beverages, and it is also a naturally-occurring substance found in the DNA. It is a natural by-product of the body, but like any other substance, too much uric acid can be dangerous to an individual’s health.
Excessive uric acid in the blood is called hyperuricemia. Meanwhile, the excessive uric acid in the urine is called hyperuricosuria. In the blood, excessive amounts of uric acid can cause different forms of diseases. Gout is the most common of these, which is characterized by the formation of uric acid crystals that settle on the joint, causing joint pain, inflammation, and infection. This disease usually affects the big toe. Lesch-Nyhan syndrome is also caused by excessive uric acid in the blood. Some of its symptoms may be similar to gout. Diabetes as well as cardiovascular problems may also be caused by excessive uric acid in the body. Uric acid stones may also develop and settle in the kidneys, and these are one of th most common forms of kidney stones. Putting it simply, high uric acid level is never good for the human body. That is why it is important for an individual to prevent the elevation of uric acid levels in the body, and the most effective method of doing this is by uric acid reduction.
To reduce uric acid, one should be mindful of what he eats. There are a lot of foods that have purines, the substances where uric acid comes from. Purine-rich foods need to be avoided, and some of these include yeast, pork, lamb, shrimps, anchovies, hearts, mussels, sardines, livers, kidneys, sweet breads, mushrooms, spinach, cauliflower, dried beans, peas, asparagus, turkey, goose, chicken, oatmeal, bacon, liquors, and soft drinks. It can be observed that foods high in proteins are mostly high in purines as well. Therefore, a purine-free diet consists mostly of carbohydrates and fibrous foods.
Some of the foods which are beneficial for lowering uric acid are potatoes, avocadoes, dried peaches, oranges, apples, bananas, milk, yogurt, yams, tofu, berries, tea, celery, parsley, cabbages, and tomatoes. Other foods low in protein and purine include eating foods such as eggs, salmon, butter, cheese, corn, gelatin, peanut butter, cherries, pasta, rice, whole wheat breads, and cereals.
Regular intake of foods rich in vitamin C can also prove to be beneficial in reducing uric acid levels. These include citrus fruits like oranges, lemons, limes, and pineapples. Fatty acids found in herbs and organic substances like olive oil and flax nuts are also good for keeping the body at a normal acidity rate.
Of course, water is a very effective acid neutralizer because it is alkaline in nature. It can dilute acidic substances, and drinking adequate amounts of water daily can be very helpful in reducing the levels of uric acid in the body. Not only that, the kidneys will also be cleansed by the water, and other metabolic processes will be aided by the abundant supply of water in the body.
There are also medications for reducing uric acid levels like allopurinol and potassium citrate. Taking calcium supplements may also help since lack of calcium is one reason for the formation of excessive uric acid.
It is difficult to know whether you have low or high uric acid levels, since it is unlikely for a healthy person to undergo blood or urine tests frequently. Nonetheless, it is important for you to be aware of your health. In the event that you experience unusual changes in your body, as well as unexplainable pains, you should immediately consult a medical professional so that your disorder may be diagnosed and you may receive the proper treatment that you need. | <urn:uuid:5b110fd2-7e55-4624-b9b0-5ab17e8c19d2> | CC-MAIN-2015-48 | http://bestnaturalhealthproducts.net/uric-acid-reduction-828.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-48/segments/1448398454553.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20151124205414-00134-ip-10-71-132-137.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961044 | 842 | 3.203125 | 3 |
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