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[IAEP] [etoys-dev] TED - Alan Kay - Example(8:44)
K. K. Subramaniam
subbukk at gmail.com
Tue Feb 23 11:42:55 EST 2010
On Tuesday 23 February 2010 09:13:59 pm Edward Cherlin wrote:
>We also know that simply asking the question and making careful observations
>also gives astonishing results, as, for example, in the careers of Maria
>Montessori and Jean Piaget. Also Jerome Bruner
Yes. But these people followed the child. Jean Piaget discovered that children
in the 2-7 age group do not comprehend conservation of quantity or use logical
thinking. Children don't come with fast forward buttons :-).
>> > Concepts
> > like product (a*b), square, square root, symbols to represent quantity
> > and manipulating them will take some more time. The constructional
> > technique adopted by Julia Nakajima is so beautiful because it uses
> > growth instead of symbols.
> Can you give me a URL for that?
See page 7 second last para of
I typed the name wrong :-(. The correct name is Julia Nishijima.
Also see http://dobbse.net/thinair/2008/12/growth-and-polygons.html
More information about the IAEP | <urn:uuid:30fa8348-a8b2-40d1-8a7e-7cdc84c4df82> | CC-MAIN-2015-06 | http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/iaep/2010-February/010102.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-06/segments/1422115861027.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20150124161101-00246-ip-10-180-212-252.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.805028 | 295 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Written by Georgina Gustin / Inside Climate News
As agriculture expands, habitats will shrink. That will likely lead to higher numbers of the species that transmit deadly diseases.
As panicked consumers flock to grocery stores, emptying shelves in preparation for homebound quarantines that could last for weeks, the coronavirus pandemic is revealing an alarming longer-term concern about the world’s growing appetites and the stresses they impose on a warming planet.
Zoonotic diseases—those that spread between animals and humans—represent the biggest proportion of new, emerging diseases like COVID-19, which scientists believe originated in bats.
Most of these diseases originate in wild animals whose forest habitats are being destroyed, largely for agriculture and mostly for cattle or the crops used to feed them.
As global population climbs, and demand for food along with it, these habitats will continue to disappear or change. And the animal species that proliferate in these transformed landscapes, especially bats and rats, are uniquely good at passing on deadly viruses, researchers say.
In other words, our growing global appetite will stoke populations of the very species best designed to kill us with new viruses.
Climate change presents one of the greatest challenges to global food production, with drought, flooding and increasingly unpredictable weather being only the most obvious problems. It will also force agriculture into new areas, as some regions become too hot or wet, which probably will mean yet more conversion of natural habitat into crop land.
With the global population expected to soar to 11 billion people by 2100, humans will need much more food and much more land to produce it, accelerating the loss of biodiversity that helps shield people from zoonotic disease.
“Population growth is on steroids and we’re blowing the hinges off the doors in terms of risk,” said Dennis Carroll, a prominent “virus hunter” who has led government programs tracking viral epidemics. “Land-use change is the biggest driver of risk.”
Carroll helmed the U.S. Agency for International Development’s emerging threats unit for 15 years, and also launched the agency’s Predict program in 2009 in response to the 2005 avian influenza outbreak. The project, which investigated the sources of new zoonotic diseases, discovered 2,000 new viruses and worked in 30 countries in Asia and Africa.
The Trump administration ended funding for the project in 2019, along with shelving other key efforts for studying the spread of infectious diseases.
But researchers, including Carroll, say even had it continued, the program and other efforts underway are inadequate to the task of tracking and managing these viral outbreaks, which requires a coordinated global response
“There was a lot of good work done,” said Christopher Whittier, a specialist in infectious diseases and wildlife at Tufts University, who was involved in the Predict project. “But it’s a relative drop in the bucket compared to what the world needs to be doing.”
The shuttering of the program at USAID is part of a broader pattern in which the Trump administration has attempted to sideline research into zoonotic diseases, like COVID-19.
In an analysis released Tuesday, the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the “nation’s flagship disease fighting agency,” has suffered a “slow but corrosive decline in available resources” under the Trump administration, with the yearly budget dropping 4 percent between 2016 and 2019.
The administration’s annual attempts to cut the CDC’s budget have mostly been turned back by Congress, but the Trump administration has taken direct aim at the agency’s Emerging and Zoonotic Disease program every year since Trump took office. Though the budget for the program has nearly doubled, to about $635 million over the past decade, Trump proposed cutting it by 20 percent in the current fiscal year and in 2021. The administration also sought to stop funding for a global health security program co-run by the CDC and USAID, and successfully got rid of most of CDC’s staff working on global health security in China, the analysis found.
‘Climate Change is a Stressor’
Last year, in a landmark report on the state of global ecosystems and biodiversity, the United Nations Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), projected that 1 million species could be extinct within decades. The report called the loss of biodiversity as great a threat to the planet as climate change—and pointed to agriculture as the key driver.
“We have a population problem and a consumption problem. It’s not either or,” said Felicia Keesing, an ecologist at Bard College who has written extensively on biodiversity and infectious diseases.
A changing climate complicates the situation. “Climate change is a stressor. If a species has reduced range because of habit conversion or fragmentation, and then that species experiences atypical climate signals—like spring happening earlier—that limited range may be beyond its tolerance, so climate change can be a driver of biodiversity loss,” Keesing explained.
She added, “The connection with disease is: The species that thrive when biodiversity declines are the species that are best at transmitting diseases.”
Larger animals, especially predators, need bigger ranges to survive, so when their habitat shrinks or fragments or disappears altogether, they die off. These animals typically have fewer offspring and live relatively long lives.
But “weedy” species, like rats and bats, breed rapidly.
“They have a live-fast-and-die-young history. They crank out tons of babies and then they drop dead,” said Richard Ostfeld, an ecologist with the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, in Millbrook, New York. “They tend to allocate their energy into breeding rather than living a long time, and they tend to have permissive immune systems and are breeding grounds for pathogens.”
As species’ habitats shrink or change, the animals move into new and closer quarters.
“Creatures big and small, on land and in sea, are being pushed to the poles to get out of the heat,” said Aaron Bernstein, the interim director of The Center for Climate, Health and the Global Environment at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health “That makes them come into contact with animals that they wouldn’t otherwise.”
Given that scientists believe the new coronavirus came from bats, Bernstein added: “If you took a bat and gave it lots of places to call home, the odds of it spreading a virus to its fellow bats is relatively smaller than if you locked it up in a phone booth with 100 other bats.”
Researchers Link Agriculture to ‘Spillover’
All of these pressures—growing population, increased demand for food, shrinking habitat, species movement and climate change—will lead to more “spillover,” with animal diseases spreading to humans.
“Feeding 11 billion people—and the associated increase of land converted to agricultural production and livestock grazing—is expected to cause a surge” in contact between humans and animals, “increasing the likelihood of ‘spillover’ events,” Ostfeld and co-authors wrote in a paper in Nature Sustainability last year.
Ostfeld and his co-authors reviewed scientific studies going back to 1940, finding that agricultural drivers were responsible for 50 percent of zoonotic diseases that emerged in human populations—”proportions,” they wrote, “that will likely increase as agriculture expands and intensifies.”
And agriculture will do just that, researchers say.
Global population has climbed in the past 60 years, but so have global appetites for livestock-based foods, including beef and dairy, which have a bigger carbon footprint.
“There’s this insidious cycle. Climate change is driven, obviously, by changes in gases. Those are driven by animals, both directly and indirectly, as you clear out space for them to graze or for the grains you feed them,” Carroll said. “That’s a very strong connection between climate change and these diseases.”
Projections suggest that the appetite for meat will only climb more, especially in the developing world.
Those predictions underlie recent suggestions, in reports from academic and government sources, including the United Nations, for people to consume less beef and dairy, especially in developed countries—for reasons of both climate and biodiversity.
Researchers continue working to identify just how the new coronavirus originated and spread, but they know that it stems from a “wet market” in Wuhan, China, and mostly likely spread from a bat through an intermediary, possibly the widely-trafficked pangolin.
Like the avian influenza of 2005, it can be traced to places where humans consume or slaughter animals that have been crammed together in unnatural ways.
“People were responsible for transporting animals into brand new habitats, meaning a wet market, where species that never, ever come into contact in nature, come together in proximate and very unhygienic situations, surrounded by gazillions of people,” Ostfeld said. “It was human activity, clearly, that created the species jump.”
And the more human appetites and climate change interfere with natural habitats, the more that will occur.
“We’re not doing anything at rates to suggest anything will get better,” Keesing said. “The assumption is that we’ll only see this happening at a greater rate, because we’ll continue to see habitats disappear.”
Biodiversity loss, much like climate change, can feel like an abstract problem to the humans causing it. But experts hope that the immediacy of COVID-19 could at the very least help reinforce how dangerous these intertwined problems are. | <urn:uuid:eb42d8e8-2ae8-425a-b801-7a789f5d532c> | CC-MAIN-2024-10 | https://cncl.info/human-society/our-growing-food-demands-will-lead-to-more-corona-like-viruses/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-10/segments/1707947476532.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20240304200958-20240304230958-00396.warc.gz | en | 0.946457 | 2,079 | 3.90625 | 4 |
Mary Mallon was a super-spreader before the term existed, a disease carrier so notorious she acquired a celebrity nickname: Typhoid Mary.
Mallon showed no symptoms but was infected with typhoid and triggered multiple outbreaks in New York at the turn of the 20th century.
She was a cook for affluent families, and everywhere that Mallon went the bacterial infection followed, sickening one household after another.
In 1907 a medical researcher identified her, leading to Mallon being forcibly quarantined for the rest of her life on North Brother Island, a containment site on New York’s East River.
She died in 1938, aged 69, vilified in folk memory as “the most dangerous woman in America”, a patient zero who needed to be isolated and locked up, a de facto prisoner, until death.
A century later it is the turn of cruise ship passengers, air travellers and millions of people in Italy, China and other countries to be quarantined – temporarily – in the battle to control coronavirus.
Measures range from pleas for social distancing and self-isolation to travel restrictions, bans on public gatherings and strict surveillance. A church congregation at the centre of an outbreak in South Korea has been accused of murder. In some parts of China there are rewards for informing on sick neighbours.
China’s drastic measures seem to be working, fuelling debate about how far to curb individual liberty in order to protect public health.
Mallon’s fate offers a cautionary tale about getting the balance wrong, according to scholars who started revisiting her case in the wake of HIV, Sars and other epidemics.
They cast Mallon, an Irish immigrant, as a victim of public hysteria and official overreach, a woman who committed no crime but ended up incarcerated and dehumanised as a metaphor for contagion.
“It is very difficult for most healthy Americans to envision themselves as the ones whose liberty might be threatened in the effort to protect the health of the community,” Judith Leavitt, a historian, wrote in her book Typhoid Mary: Captive to the Public’s Health.
Mallon was born in 1869 in Cookstown, County Tyrone. She emigrated to the United States as a teenager and from 1900 started working as a cook for wealthy New York families.
A pattern emerged. Her employers and other domestic staff members became feverish and nauseous – stricken with typhoid, some fatally – while Mallon, busy in the kitchen, remained healthy. Oblivious to her infection, she would move on to another household.
In 1906 Mallon cooked for the family of Charles Henry Warren, a banker, at their rented house in Oyster Bay, Long Island. When six of the 11 people in the household fell ill, the owners hired George Soper, a civil engineer, to investigate.
Through a process of elimination he tracked down Mallon as the source – the US’s first confirmed asymptomatic carrier of the disease. Seven of eight families she had worked for had become infected.
Mallon denied any responsibility and reputedly rebuffed Soper’s request for stool and urine samples by brandishing a carving fork. After Soper published his results in the Journal of the American Medical Association authorities detained her.
She did not go quietly. Five policemen were involved in her capture. An official who had to sit on her in the ambulance compared it to being “in a cage with an angry lion”.
Mallon insisted she was healthy and felt unjustly held in isolation at a clinic on North Brother Island. After three years, in 1910, she was released on condition she no longer cook.
Mallon worked in laundries but the pay was poor so she changed her name to Mary Brown and resumed working in kitchens, including the Sloane Hospital for Women. It had a typhoid outbreak in 1915.
Mallon was exposed and returned to quarantine for the rest of her life, linked to dozens of infections and three deaths. Lurid rumours claimed she had infected thousands.
On the island she was frequently tested and prodded but left largely ignorant about her condition. “I have been in fact a peep show for everybody,” she wrote in a letter. “Even the interns had to come to see me and ask about the facts already known to the whole wide world. The tuberculosis men would say ‘There she is, the kidnapped woman’.”
Mallon’s refusal to recognise the danger she posed to others, and act responsibly, put authorities in a difficult position.
However, Leavitt and other scholars believe that as a poor, unmarried Irish immigrant, and a woman, she suffered prejudice not shown to other asymptomatic typhoid carriers, including some who infected more people than Mallon but were quarantined for only a few weeks.
In a 2001 book the late television chef Anthony Bourdain defended Mallon as a kindred rebel spirit who worked because she needed to work. “Cooks work sick. They always have. Most jobs, you don’t work, you don’t get paid. You wake up with a sniffle and a runny nose, a sore throat? You soldier on … it’s a point of pride, working through pain and illness.” | <urn:uuid:6a0716d1-f553-4936-a216-282c30d49856> | CC-MAIN-2021-10 | https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/mar/10/typhoid-mary-super-spreader-history | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-10/segments/1614178366477.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20210303073439-20210303103439-00403.warc.gz | en | 0.973948 | 1,115 | 3.015625 | 3 |
By Dan Berman
The average retirement
age will climb to at least 67 for both men and women by 2050, according to a report by an organization that represents 34 countries.
The Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development, based in Paris, found that even the later retirement age might not be enough to compensate for changes being made to public and private pension plans. Those changes include lower benefits for those entering the workforce now.
Those lower benefits could lead to more poverty later, the OECD said. For now, it said, poverty among retirees was being held at bay in almost every country studied. But as benefit payments decrease for future retirees, the OECD said many would likely not seek safety-net payments because of shame or lack of information.
For 2010, the most recent year looked at, the poverty rate among those 65 and older was 12.8 percent, down from 15.1 percent in 2007.
The U.S. poverty rate for the elderly dropped from 22.2 percent in 2007 to 19.9 percent in 2010. Only Canada, Poland and Turkey saw an increase in those living in poverty. In 18 of the OECD countries, retirees were less likely to be poor than the general population.
The OECD also found that the percentage of retirement income that comes from public transfers, such as Social Security, would vary widely for future retirees. Lower wage earners would have 70 percent of their working income replaced through public transfers. The highest wage earners would get 48 percent from those sources, but would have savings to rely on. Those in the middle would face the biggest squeeze, receiving 54 percent of their income while having saved less for retirement.
“Raising retirement ages and promoting private pensions are all steps in the right direction but alone they are insufficient,” said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría in a statement. “Governments need to consider the long-term impact on social cohesion, inequality and poverty. Ensuring everyone has a decent standard of living after a life of work should be at the heart of policies.”
Originally published on BenefitsPro.com | <urn:uuid:c77de3e8-0cc5-4be3-af1c-8f0469a33798> | CC-MAIN-2015-11 | https://www.producersweb.com/r/pwebmc/d/contentFocus/?pcID=348da9958055e10950021def47e495d6 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-11/segments/1424936463658.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20150226074103-00112-ip-10-28-5-156.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974678 | 424 | 3.046875 | 3 |
20 Aug IMPORTANCE OF CIRCUMCISION Penis before and after circumcision
Circumcision is the surgical removal of the skin covering the tip of the penis. The procedure is fairly common for newborn boys in certain parts of the world especially Muslim world.
For some families, circumcision is a religious ritual. The procedure can also be a matter of family tradition, personal hygiene or preventive health care.
Sometimes there’s a medical need for circumcision, such as when the foreskin is too tight to be pulled back (retracted) over the glans. In other cases, circumcision is recommended for older boys or men to reduce the risk of certain sexually transmitted infections.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says the benefits of circumcision outweigh the risks.
Circumcision might have various health benefits, including:
• Easier hygiene. Circumcision makes it simpler to wash the penis. However, boys with uncircumcised penises can be taught to wash regularly beneath the foreskin.
• Decreased risk of urinary tract infections. The risk of urinary tract infections in males is low, but these infections are more common in uncircumcised males. Severe infections early in life can lead to kidney problems later.
• Decreased risk of sexually transmitted infections. Circumcised men might have a lower risk of certain sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Still, safe sexual practices remain essential.
• Prevention of penile problems. Occasionally, the foreskin on an uncircumcised penis can be difficult or impossible to retract (phimosis). This can lead to inflammation of the foreskin or head of the penis.
• Decreased risk of penile cancer. Although cancer of the penis is rare, it’s less common in circumcised men. In addition, cervical cancer is less common in the female sexual partners of circumcised men.
Circumcision might not be an option if certain blood-clotting disorders are present. Also, circumcision might not be appropriate for premature babies who still require medical care in the hospital nursery or for babies born with abnormalities of the penis.
Circumcision doesn’t affect fertility, nor is circumcision generally thought to enhance or detract from sexual pleasure for men or their partners. | <urn:uuid:7b9d18b4-7e49-4cc6-9a64-b5f04da4f9bd> | CC-MAIN-2021-10 | http://drrizwangohar.com/importance-of-circumcision-penis-before-and-after-circumcision/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-10/segments/1614178378043.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20210307170119-20210307200119-00373.warc.gz | en | 0.925103 | 456 | 2.75 | 3 |
Robotics' History: From GM Work Floor to Collaborative Robots
Posted on Apr 24, 2015 11:04 AM. 5 min read time
A couple of weeks ago I saw this video from the SciShow and I thought: THAT would be a great blog article. Most of our readers have been swimming in the actual robotic world, yet I am pretty sure that most of us don't really know the history behind all the robotic evolution we experience daily. Well, here we go, I have put together some kind of a timeline to remind you where robots started and the road that we have travelled. The future however is up to you!
But for now take a look at this funny video from the SciShow.
The first industrial robot (UNIMATE) is installed in a General Motors automobile factory in New Jersey. The assembly line robot is controlled step-by-step by commands stored on a magnetic drum; the 4,000-pound arm sequenced and stacked hot pieces of die-cast metal. The robot was a work in progress by George Devole and Joe Engleberger - since 1954, nearly 70 years!
The first artificial robotic arm to be controlled by a computer is designed at Rancho Los Amigos Hospital in Downey, California as a tool for the handicapped. The Rancho Arm’s six joints gave it the flexibility of a human arm. Stanford University acquired the arm that same year. The robot arm was featured in the film Demon Seed in 1977, Yikes!
Victor Scheinman, a Mechanical Engineering student working in the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab (SAIL) creates the Stanford Arm. It was the first successful electrically powered, computer-controlled robot arm. By 1974, the Stanford Arm could assemble a Ford Model-T water pump, guiding itself with optical and contact sensors.
ASEA, the Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget (English translation: General Swedish Electric Company) who later merged with the Swiss company Brown, Boveri & Cie to form ABB designed IRB 6 for material handling tasks. The robot allowed movement in 5 axes with a lift capacity of 6 kg. It was the world's first fully electrically driven and microprocessor-controlled robot, using Intel's first chipset.
Fanuc of Japan and General Motors form a joint venture: GM Fanuc. The new company is going to market robots in North America. The new company was 50 percent owned by each partner and was based in Detroit, with GM providing most of the management and Fanuc the products. By linking up with its largest single potential customer in the United States, Fanuc all but assured itself of a lucrative share of the U.S. market. Smart move that!
LEGO and the MIT Media Lab collaborate to bring the first LEGO-based educational products to market. Precursor of the ever popular Mindstorms.
Honda begins a robot research program that's starts with the premise that the robot "should coexist and cooperate with human beings, by doing what a person cannot do and by cultivating a new dimension in mobility to ultimately benefit society". They start with the experimental “E-series” between 1986 and 1991.
The first RoboCup football tournament is held in Nagoya, Japan.
The Pathfinder Mission lands on Mars. Its robotic rover, Sojourner, rolls down a ramp and onto Martian soil in early July. It continues to broadcast data from the Martian surface until September, fully 3x longer than anticipated.
Honda debuts a new humanoid robot, ASIMO, the next generation of its series of humanoid robots.
The UN estimates that there are 742,500 industrial robots in use worldwide. More than half of these are being used in Japan.
Built by MD Robotics of Canada, the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS, also known as the Canadarm) is successfully launched into orbit and begins operations to complete assembly of the International Space Station.
The first DARPA Grand Challenge race is held. This race for autonomous ground vehicles over 143 miles in the desert south-west of the United States is called off after the most successful team made it only 7 miles. Not unproductive however, as present day driverless cars can be traced to the innovation sparked by this challenge.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) estimates the number of installed robots to be around 800,000 (not counting small service or entertainment robots).
Robotiq launches its first version of the 3-Finger Adaptive Gripper. The project that came out of the Robotics Laboratory at Laval University, Quebec, Canada.
Universal Robots launches its first version of the UR5 collaborative robot, initially available only on the Danish and German markets.
The DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) is a prize competition funded by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The goal is to develop semi-autonomous ground robots that can do ‘complex tasks in dangerous, degraded, human-engineered environments’.
A UNECE/IFR (International Federation of Robotics) pilot study indicated that the global robotic population is over one million…actually 1,235,000.
After this things really start to explode exponentially, so it is quite hard to note down everything that has happen. Indeed I must have neglected or forgotten some of your special robot projects. Robotics is a very wide market and it is spread across the global scene. It is certainly hard to be aware of everything. However, I suggest that you tell us of anything we’ve forgotten. You can leave a comment and tell us what you consider the real deal or your turning point in robotics. We will add it to the article so we can build a really solid robotic history.
Leave a comment | <urn:uuid:3c455027-e188-41f4-ac34-a355174fda21> | CC-MAIN-2023-14 | https://blog.robotiq.com/robotics-history-from-gm-workfloor-to-collaborative-robots | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-14/segments/1679296949694.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20230401001704-20230401031704-00556.warc.gz | en | 0.937301 | 1,216 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Trees seem to be the basis for a great deal of many earthly endeavors. Vast amounts of trees cover great expanses of our earth. Trees absorb carbon dioxide, the primary gas causing global climate change. Trees retain the carbon from the CO2 molecule and release oxygen (O2) into the atmosphere. Trees form the frames of our houses. They grace our yards and landscapes with their beauty. Trees assist in cleaning our atmosphere and provide the basic product for our recreational campfires.
The trees we carry are grown by the finest of nurserymen and given supreme care all the way from their facilities to our customer’s doorstep. Depending on what is in stock, we offer around 50 different tree species. The species offered range from the popular Crape Myrtles to the diminutive Green Giant Arborvitae. We offer types of trees for every need.
You will find a tree species that can fill a fall landscape with gorgeous color or find a tree that does not shed its leaves for those who despise raking. Our trees provide boundary delineation, windbreaks, privacy, fruit for your table, or evergreen boughs for holiday decorations. Planting a tree for any need is rewarded on at least 2 levels: 1) The beauty of our environment is enhanced and 2) The tree helps provide for a cleaner atmosphere.
There are some very good things you can do to promote heathly, long-lived trees. And there are a number of things you will want to avoid.
Do not plant a new tree with a wire basket, rope, or anything that may constrict or "girdle" the roots. Girdled roots seriously affect the health and the stability of a tree. Plan where you want to plant a new tree based on its type and mature size. Be cautious when planting trees near a home foundation, patio, driveway, under power lines, or under a home's eaves.
The frequency of watering depends of the type of soil and the amount of rainfall. Water must be allowed to soak deep into the ground. The most beneficial time to water trees is in the early morning. Water slowly or use drip irrigation until the water has moistened down to the roots. Do not allow water to puddle or accumulate and runoff. This is wasteful and can be detrimental to root growth and function.
Trees require certain essential elements to function and grow. Fertilizing a tree can increase growth, reduce susceptibility to certain diseases and pests, and can help reverse declining health.
For more information about trees or for help deciding which type of tree is right for you, come see us at the nursery or give us a call at 501-407-2729! | <urn:uuid:710aaf91-d6ac-4909-bbb5-62fcfa742f2a> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.horticare.net/nursery/trees.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609537864.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005217-00310-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937933 | 549 | 2.90625 | 3 |
After the Kinsey Reports came out in the early 1950s, findings suggested that historically and cross-culturally, extra-marital sex has been a matter of regulation more than sex before marriage (Christensen, 1962). The Kinsey Reports asserted that about one half of men and a quarter of women had committed adultery (Greely, 1991). The Janus Report on Sexual Behavior in America also reported that one third of married men and a quarter of women have had an extramarital affair (Greeley, 1991).
According to The New York Times, the most consistent data on infidelity comes from the University of Chicago's General Social Survey (GSS). Large-scale interviews conducted since 1972 by the GSS of people in monogamous relationships reveals that the number of men admitting to extramarital affairs is 12 percent and for women, 7 percent. Results, however, can be variable depending on the year data is gathered, and also based on the age groups surveyed. For example, one study conducted by the University of Washington, Seattle found slightly, or significantly higher rates of infidelity for populations under 35, or older than 60. In that study which involved 19,065 people during a 15 year period, rates of infidelity among men were found to have risen from 20 to 28%, and rates for women, 5% to 15%. In more recent nationwide surveys, several researchers found that about twice as many men as women reported having an extramarital affair (Wiederman, 1997) A survey conducted by Choi, Catania, and Dolcini in 1990 found 2.2% of married participants reported having more than one partner during the past year. In general, national surveys conducted in the early 1990s reported that between 15-25% of married Americans reported having extramarital affairs. Treas and Giesen (2000) found that the likelihood of sexual infidelity was higher for those who had stronger sexual interests, more permissive sexual values, lower subjective satisfaction with their partner, weaker network ties to their partner, and greater sexual opportunities Studies suggest around 30–40% of unmarried relationships and 18–20% of marriages see at least one incident of sexual infidelity. Men are more likely than women to have a sexual affair, regardless of whether or not they are in a married or unmarried relationship.
Rates for females are thought to increase with age. In Blow's data set, men were found to be only “somewhat” more likely than women to engage in infidelity, with rates for both sexes becoming increasingly similar
(Blow & Harnett, 2005). A study done by Liu (2000) found that the likelihood for women to be involved in some type of infidelity reached a peak in the seventh year of their marriage and then declined afterwards; whereas for married men, the longer they are in relationships the less likely they are to engage in infidelity, except during a critical point in the eighteenth year of marriage where at that point the chance that men will engage in infidelity increases | <urn:uuid:a3a34e7a-1ce5-4cd7-b668-7f64a4a3d4a3> | CC-MAIN-2020-10 | https://www.operationshapeup.com/blog/infidelity-part-2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-10/segments/1581875145708.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20200222150029-20200222180029-00013.warc.gz | en | 0.976112 | 620 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Press Release (excerpt) by Walter Arendt, German Federal Minister for Work and Social Order
Social legislation is presently splintered into numerous individual laws. The citizens for whom the laws are made face a jungle in which very few can find their way. We want to change that. By creating a social code, we aim to consolidate, coordinate, and simplify the social legislation based on uniform principles. The social legislation is to be made transparent for the citizens. At the same time, their understanding of the law and their trust in the social welfare state based on the rule of law is to be promoted, legal certainty guaranteed, and the administrative and judicial application of law facilitated.
[ . . . ] The social code is designed to make the social welfare state clause in the Basic Law more concrete by means of social rights, that is, a social charter for the citizens. These rights demonstrate the main ideas of our progressive social policies. They are binding for administration and jurisprudence and must therefore be observed in applications of the law, especially as regards interpretations, closing up loopholes, and exercising discretion.
Detailed information for citizens in the form of introductory instructions constitutes a main focus of the bill. It is assumed that informing and advising citizens of their rights and obligations are among the essential social responsibilities of our time. Anyone seeking advice or information in social matters in the future is entitled to be served thoroughly and quickly by the competent office in the social administration. No one should fail in his or her request because several different offices might be responsible. For this reason, in addition to obligatory consultation services by the competent service provider, there are also provisions for certain local offices, independent of their specific areas of competence, to provide information on all social matters. The law itself is also intended to contribute to better informing the citizen by offering an authoritative summary of all social benefits and the respective service providers.
Another focus of the bill is to strengthen the legal position of individuals through common basic regulations for all areas of social benefits. These regulations are based on the idea that, according to today’s understanding of social benefits, they are no longer provided from the “top down,” but are a self-evident responsibility of the social welfare state. Consequently, it follows that, for example:
- A legal right to social benefits exists in cases of doubt.
- Advances and provisional benefits are to be paid in appropriate cases.
- Interest must be paid on overdue financial benefits under certain circumstances, and upon the death of the entitled party such benefits are transferred to the legal successor.
- Social benefits cannot be totally removed from legal proceedings; instead, they can be transferred and attached under preconditions that are reasonable in terms of social policy. Furthermore, the mutual trust between citizens and the social administration shall be improved, for example, by regulations on legal hearings and confidentiality of the private sphere, and by a precise description of the participatory duties of the individual. Integration of the disabled into the community shall be intensified through additional joint regulations.
Source: Press Release from April 4, 1973; reprinted in Arnold Harttung et al., eds., Willy Brandt, Zum sozialen Rechtsstaat. Reden und Dokumente [Willy Brandt. On the Social Constitutional State. Speeches and Documents]. Berlin, 1983, pp. 353-54.
Translation: Allison Brown | <urn:uuid:5e7acb2f-94c9-402d-b8b7-38d31782e47d> | CC-MAIN-2018-22 | http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=906 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-22/segments/1526794864872.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20180522190147-20180522210147-00247.warc.gz | en | 0.94256 | 692 | 2.78125 | 3 |
For 130 years the Anderson family has farmed in the Bonanza Valley near Belgrade, a small town in central Minnesota with a population of fewer than 800 people. Jim Anderson is a fourth generation farmer. He, along with his three sons (5th generation), and his brother John run the family farm today. At Anderson Farms, they harvest light- and dark-red kidney beans, maize, and sugar beets; and raise cattle and swine. With so many demands, soil conservation is important to the farm’s future. Jim took time out of his schedule to talk with us about various sustainability practices used on the farm:
“With our dry edible beans, there are two primary concerns: soil erosion by wind and water; and the transfer of nitrogen into the water. Year-round crops help us address both.”
During spring, as the ground thaws from a rough northern winter, the Andersons plan to plant oats. The oats won’t actually be harvested; instead when they are dead, the crop creates a ground cover that prevents spring rains from washing away soil. The leaves, stems and roots create a bed of protection for the young red kidney beans that are planted in early summer and also help build organic matter as these crop residues break down.
In the fall, after the beans are harvested, the Andersons apply liquid manure from the swine barns, work it into the earth, and plant cereal rye as the winter cover crop. The thick cereal rye protects the soil from harsh winter winds. When the rye crop is growing, its roots will capture nitrogen in the top soil, necessary for the maize crop the following year.
By using oats and rye as cover-crops, the Andersons protect the soil from wind and water erosion; and by rotating the summer crop between dry edible kidney beans, maize and sugar beets, the farm better manages soil nutrients such as nitrogen.
According to Jim Anderson, even though it costs a bit more to use cover crops because the farm is planting crops that won’t sell, the long-term effects across 10 or 20 years of not doing so can be more damaging. “For every 1% increase of organic matter [e.g. decomposed oats, weeds, and rye] on a field, the soil’s water holding capacity increases by 2.54 cm (one inch),” he said. For a place where typically only the top five to eight centimeters (two to three inches) of soil holds moisture, increasing moisture holding capacity through natural means is a necessary tool that pays itself back quickly.
While soil conservation has always been important to the Andersons, it wasn’t until he saw firsthand the biblical city of Ephesus in Turkey, that Anderson understood its global importance. During his trip, Anderson noticed the swamp-like state of a strip of land that once was the oceanfront of the ancient city of Ephesus. He jokingly said to his tour guide, “Some farmer must’ve really let the soil go.” The tour guide turned to him and said, “You’re exactly right.” According to the guide, the land on the hills surrounding Ephesus had once been fertile farm land, but centuries of over grazing, poor soil management and desertification had changed the landscape. The unfortunate condition of what was once green pastures and robust farmland illustrated to the Minnesota farmer the importance of being attentive to the land and employing methods— such as the use of cover crops— that help to conserve soil.
Anderson, along with his sons and his brother, are teaching their children and grandchildren how to be responsible stewards of the land. He is confident, that with ever-improving technology, the farm will be even more sustainable for future generations.
From left to right: Jim, Jack, Erin, (John’s daughter), Sue holding Andie, John, Noah holding Laken, Amanda holding Nolan, Shirley, Grant, Heidi holding Whitney. | <urn:uuid:eb75f209-b1d3-4f46-a0a8-dd6971fa2702> | CC-MAIN-2020-40 | https://thesustainabilityalliance.us/soil-conservation-dry-bean-farmer/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-40/segments/1600400244231.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20200926134026-20200926164026-00501.warc.gz | en | 0.961332 | 820 | 3.25 | 3 |
Who Was St. David?
As records of his life are somewhat questionable, St. David is a bit of an enigma. It is believed that he was born around 500 to Non, his mother, and Sant, his father, and that he was the grandson of a king. He lived in Pembrokeshire and was educated in a monasteryby a blind monk. He became a well-regarded teacher and monk himself, and some accounts claim that he eventually became an archbishop.
A missionary, he founded many churches and a monastery in Wales currently known as the Cathedral of St. David. He and his monks were renowned for their austerity and simplicity. They worked in silence without the assistance of labor animals, and ate only bread, water, herbs, and vegetables.
The miracle that is most associated with St. David asserts that he was speaking to a large crowd in Ceredigion, Wales, and the people were having trouble hearing him. The ground rose up under him to form a small hill, and a small white dove settled on his shoulder. The people could then hear his words. Even today, St. David is often depicted in art imagery with a white dove on his shoulder.
Legend also has it that St. David helped the Welsh army defeat Saxon invaders by recommending that they place leek plants in their helmets, so that the Welsh soldiers could better distinguish their own brothers in arms from the similarly clothed Saxons.
It is believed that St. David died on March 1 sometime in the late 6th century (most accounts say either 589 or 601). His last words to his followers were, “Be joyful, brothers and sisters. Keep your faith, and do the little things that you have seen and heard with me.”
The Feast of St. David, also known as St. David’s Day, is now celebrated on or around March 1 each year. In Wales, citizens celebrate with multi-day parades, concerts, and food festivals. At St. David’s on-the-Hill, parishioners have worn daffodils to represent leeks and shared leek quiches to honor the patron saint.
St. David portrayed in stained glass at his namesake cathedral in Wales.
St. David's Cross, believed to be the first flag of Wales
St. David's Cathedral, Wales, United Kingdom
At right: Detail from the window honoring our patron saint at St. David's on-the-Hill.
The quote is from St. Paul's letter to the Ephesians 6:13, and may refer to the fact that three tribes — the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes — were all initially pagans when they invaded Britain during St. David's time.
Another part of the window states "He shall build a house in my name," honoring St. David's work to establish many churches in England.
St. David's window is located in the passageway from the sanctuary to the lower hall.
Graphics and research provided by Glen Birk. | <urn:uuid:07182663-3588-4077-8280-c3537d7ff7b1> | CC-MAIN-2019-51 | https://www.stdavidsonthehill.net/who-was-st-david | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-51/segments/1575540507109.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20191208072107-20191208100107-00527.warc.gz | en | 0.987146 | 631 | 3.484375 | 3 |
Many health concerns have been raised following the devastating floods that hurricane Harvey brought to Texas. Civilians and first responders have been wading through debris ridden flood waters which increase the possibility of disaster-related injuries. Due to the contaminated flood water, the risk of exposure to higher levels of bacteria that is normal is increased. Because of these conditions, questions have been raised about the increased risk of contracting tetanus from wounds … [Read more...] about Does Exposure to Floodwaters Increase My Risk For Tetanus
You may have heard about shingles from commercials advertising a vaccine but do you know what it is and how you become infected? Shingles is known to the medical community as the Herpes Zoster virus. It is actually the reactivation of a previous infection of chicken pox, the Varicella Zoster virus. After a person recovers from chicken pox, the virus lays dormant or inactive in the body, usually in the nerve roots that control sensation. For reasons unknown to scientists, the virus … [Read more...] about How Do You Become Infected With Shingles?
Fever blister, also known as cold sores are a nuisance that cause annoyance and discomfort to millions of Americans. The condition is caused by a contagious herpes virus, either herpes simplex one or herpes simplex 2. Over 95% of cases are caused by herpes simplex virus one (HSV1). The virus causes “blisters” or small sores that are found on the face, lips, or in the mouth or in the nostrils. These sores cause pain, itching, and burning before crusting over. Most people who carry the … [Read more...] about What Causes Fever Blisters?
Most of us have heard of meningitis, but what most of us are not aware of is that there are actually many causes of meningitis. Meningitis is a clinical syndrome characterized by inflammation of the meninges, which are the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. The inflammation is usually cause by an infection of the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Meningitis can be caused by many different pathogens, including bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites and … [Read more...] about What Are The Causes of Meningitis?
With summer on the way, it's time to get our and enjoy the outdoors. In addition to being exposed to the hot and steamy Houston summer, you'll also be exposed to mosquitoes and therefore mosquito bites. Mosquito bites are not only itchy but can also be a vector for a number of serious illnesses. A few of mosquito-borne illnesses you've surely been hearing in the media lately include Zika, Wesst Nile, Eastern Equine Encephalitis, and St. Louis Encephalitis. These viruses are transmitted by the … [Read more...] about Preventing Zika, West Nile Virus and Other Mosquito-Borne Diseases
We have all heard more and more about concussion in the news lately, especially regarding athletes. The term concussion protocols for athletes returning to play after a head injury has been particularly talked about. But athletes are not the only individuals who can suffer from concussions. A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury -MTBI, is a type of brain injury that is defined as a short loss of normal brain function after a head injury. While this is commonly associated … [Read more...] about How Should You Treat A Concussion?
We have all been sick with a viral illness at one time or another in our lives. As a matter of fact, viruses are one of the most common causes of fever in children. So you may be wondering exactly what a virus is. It is a molecule with genetic material, it can only replicate inside of the living cells of other organism. The virus’s genetic material takes control of the host cell and forces it to reproduce. Viruses can infect all types of life forms, including plants, animals and bacteria. … [Read more...] about How Is a Virus Different From A Bacteria
When you become a patient either with a new physician or in the hospital you are always asked if you have any allergies to medications. Several different type of symptoms can result from an allergic reaction, from a mild localized rash to serious effects on organs. The body’s response can effect any organ system, but the skin is the most commonly affected. All medications have the potential to cause side effects, but only about 5-10% are allergic reactions. Most reactions occur hours to weeks … [Read more...] about What Causes Allergic Reactions To Medications
Diabetes mellitus is a medical condition most people have heard talked about. In fact this medical condition is so prevalent, most people probably know someone who has this condition. So what is diabetes mellitus? It is a disease of the pancreas, an organ located in the abdominal cavity. The pancreas is part of the endocrine system and the digestive system. It produces digestive enzymes to break down food for digestion and absorption in the small intestines. As part of the endocrine … [Read more...] about What Are The Warning Signs of Diabetes?
October is breast cancer awareness month, which is an annual campaign to raise awareness of breast cancer as well as raise money to advance breast cancer research. Breast cancer affects one in eight women and 100 times more common in women, but men can also have breast cancer. It is the most common type of invasive cancer in women worldwide. With early detection 90% of individuals with breast cancer have a 5 year survival rate. What are the signs and symptoms of breast cancer? Usually … [Read more...] about When Should I Get A Breast Cancer Exam? | <urn:uuid:09d9ff01-ff52-419b-8e9f-89c45c6e4b95> | CC-MAIN-2018-30 | https://elitecarehouston.com/author/abuford/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-30/segments/1531676589536.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20180716232549-20180717012549-00226.warc.gz | en | 0.954867 | 1,157 | 2.765625 | 3 |
Resuming a multi-year mission to map Antarctic ice in mid October, NASA researchers discovered a miles-long crack in a major glacier that marks the beginning of a new mammoth iceberg. Operation IceBridge scientists flying in a specially instrumented DC-8 jet returned soon after to make the first-ever detailed airborne measurements of giant iceberg calving in progress.
The crack in Pine Island Glacier, which extends at least 18 miles (29 km) and is 165 feet (50 meters) deep—enough to swallow up the Statue of Liberty— could break free a chunk of ice more than 340 square miles (880 square km) in size from the vulnerable West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
Pine Island Glacier’s ice shelf mostly floats, extending its unstable arm as many as 30 miles (48 km) away from the Antarctic landmass that grounds it some 500 meters (1,640 feet) below the surface. As the glacial ice inland flows slowly toward the sea and feeds the shelf, the arm eventually breaks, calving huge icebergs.
Pine Island Glacier last calved a significant iceberg in 2001, and some scientists have speculated recently that it was primed to calve again. But until an Oct. 14 IceBridge flight of NASA’s DC-8, no one had seen any evidence of the ice shelf beginning to break apart. Since then, a closer look back at satellite imagery seems to reveal the first signs of the crack beginning to cut across the ice shelf in early October.
“It’s part of a natural process, but it’s pretty exciting to be here and actually observe it while it happens,” says Operation IceBridge project scientist Michael Studinger of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
The IceBridge team thinks that once the iceberg breaks free, it will leave behind the shortest extending arm of the Pine Island Glacier since recordkeeping began in the 1940s.
Pine Island Glacier is of particular interest to scientists because it is big and unstable, which makes it one of the largest sources of uncertainty in global sea level-rise projections. A collapse of the entire West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is one of the nightmare scenarios climate forecasters envision in a warming world. If the WAIS were to melt, it could raise sea levels worldwide 20 feet.
NASA’s Operation IceBridge, the largest airborne survey of Earth’s polar ice ever flown, is in the midst of its third field campaign from Punta Arenas, Chile. The six-year mission will yield an unprecedented three-dimensional view of Antarctic ice sheets, ice shelves, and sea ice. | <urn:uuid:1e42528d-2f65-4310-8f02-cbd40145848a> | CC-MAIN-2015-11 | http://blog.ametsoc.org/news/nasa-mission-monitors-birth-of-antarctic-iceberg/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-11/segments/1424936463104.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20150226074103-00157-ip-10-28-5-156.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926671 | 535 | 3.4375 | 3 |
New drug wipes out deadliest malaria parasite by starving it to deathPublished On: Thu, Dec 8th, 2011 | Malaria | By BioNews
A newly developed anti-malarial agent clears infections caused by the malaria parasite most lethal to humans – by literally starving the parasites to death.
The drug BCX4945 developed by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University could bolster efforts to develop more potent therapies against one of the world’s leading killers.
Plasmodium falciparum, the malaria species most likely to cause severe infections and death, is very common in many countries in Africa south of the Sahara desert.
The Einstein researchers led by Vern Schramm, Ph.D., professor and Ruth Merns Chair in Biochemistry exploited what is arguably P. falciparum’s Achilles’ heel: it can’t synthesize purines, vital building blocks for making DNA.
Instead, the parasite must make purines indirectly, by using an enzyme called purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) to make a purine precursor called hypoxanthine.
By inhibiting PNP, the drug BCX4945 kills the parasites by starving them of the purines they need to survive.
After BCX4945 showed potency against laboratory cultures of P. falciparum, owl monkeys were chosen as the non-human primate model for further testing of the drug.
Three animals were infected with a strain of P. falciparum that is consistently lethal without anti-malarial therapy.
Orally administering BCX4945 twice a day for seven days cleared the infections from all the animals between the fourth and seventh day of treatment. The monkeys remained parasite-negative for up to nine days post-treatment.
Parasitic infection eventually returned in all three monkeys after treatment ended, although a lower rate of parasitic growth was observed. No signs of toxicity were observed during the study period (30 days after the first dose).
“Inhibiting PNP differs from all other current approaches for treating malaria,” said Dr. Schramm.
“For that reason, BCX4945 fits well with the current World Health Organization protocols for malaria treatment, which call for using combination-therapy approaches against the disease,” he added.
The study was published in the November 11, 2011 issue of PLoS ONE. | <urn:uuid:71720dbe-17c7-427a-b1e7-c12770a4a8c3> | CC-MAIN-2015-22 | http://news.bioscholar.com/2011/12/new-drug-wipes-out-deadliest-malaria-parasite-by-starving-it-to-death.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-22/segments/1432207927824.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20150521113207-00097-ip-10-180-206-219.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941356 | 504 | 2.75 | 3 |
Honey bees also spelled honeybees are a subset of bees in the genus Apis, primarily distinguished by the production and storage of honey and the construction of perennial, colonial nests out of wax.
There are 7 species of honey bee, with 44 subspecies.
Because honey bees have been domesticated to produce honey for human consumption, they are now found all over the world in different habitats.
They can survive in almost every climate except for those that have frigid temperatures year round.
While honey bees can thrive in domesticated or natural environments, they generally prefer living in meadows, orchards, woodlands, gardens and any other areas where there is an abundance of flowering plants.
Researchers believe that the original habitats of the honey bee are tropical climates and heavily forested areas.
Many people believe that honey bees originated in Africa and spread to northern Europe, eastern India, China and the Americas.
All honey bees are social and cooperative insects. They live in sophisticated, well organised societies.
Honey bees live in hives (or colonies).
Members of the hive are divided into three types: workers, a queen, and drones.
Workers are the only bees that most people ever see. These bees are females that are not sexually developed. Workers forage for food (pollen and nectar from flowers), build and protect the hive,
clean, circulate air by beating their wings, and perform many other societal functions. The life span of a worker bee depends on the season, but it ranges from 6 weeks to 5 months.
One queen runs the whole hive. Her job is to lay the eggs that will spawn the hive’s next generation of bees. The queen may lay up to 2,000 eggs per day. The queen also produces chemicals that guide the behaviour of the other bees. If the queen dies, workers will create a new queen by feeding one of the female larvae an exclusive diet of a food called “royal jelly.” This elixir enables the worker to develop into a fertile queen. The life span of a queen is from 3 to 5 years.
Male bees are called drones and their purpose is to mate with the queen. Several hundred live in each hive during the spring and summer. But come winter, when the hive goes into survival mode, the drones are kicked out! At the most, drones may live for up to 4 months.
Honey bee colonies consist of a single queen, hundreds of male drones and 20,000 to 80,000 female worker bees. Each honey bee colony also consists of developing eggs, larvae and pupae.
All members of a honey bee colony undergo complete metamorphosis, passing through the egg, larval and pupal stages before becoming adults.
The number of individuals within a honey bee colony depends largely upon seasonal changes.
Honey bees live on stored honey and pollen all winter, and they cluster into a ball to conserve warmth.
Honey bees perform a group of movements, known as the waggle dance. They do this to inform other worker bees of the exact location of the food source. Some of these locations are over 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) from their hive.
It is clear that honey bees use the sun to navigate and to communicate, but source of bees’ knowledge of the sun’s motion is still unclear. When navigating, the bees are able to use the sun as a fixed reference point. This allows them to fly in a compass direction simply by keeping the angle between their line of flight and the sun constant. Bees that have successfully found food are then able to share the location through their dance language.
When a forager, or scout bee, returns to the hive she performs a round dance to communicate the location of food sources close to the colony (less than 30 meters (100 feet) away). The bee moves in a circular pattern. The waggle dance is used for communicating more distant nectar sources or pollen sources.
The Hive and the Honey Bee, the “Bible” of beekeeping, indicates that a bee’s flight speed averages about 25 kilometers (15 miles) per hour and they’re capable of flying 32 kilometers (20 miles) per hour.
Honey bee beat their wings 230 times per second!
An industrious worker bee may visit 2,000 flowers per day. The nectar she gathers goes into a special area of her body called the ”honey stomach”. When the honey stomach is full, the bee must return to the hive to disgorge its contents into the cells of the honeycomb.
While inside the bee’s stomach for about half an hour, the nectar mixes with the proteins and enzymes
produced by the bees, converting the nectar into honey.
Honey bees also collect pollen in their pollen baskets and carry it back to the hive. In the hive, pollen is used as a protein source necessary during brood-rearing.
Honey bees are able to detect scents with their mouths, antennae and tips of their legs (tarsi). In all these areas bees have sensilla: tiny, hair-shaped organs that incorporate receptor nerve cells. They have 170 of these odor receptors in their antenna.
All honey bees live in colonies where the workers sting intruders as a form of defense, and alarmed bees release a pheromone that stimulates the attack response in other bees.
When a honey bee stings, it cannot pull the barbed stinger back out. It leaves behind not only the stinger, but also part of its abdomen and digestive tract, plus muscles and nerves. This massive abdominal rupture kills the honey bee. Honey bees are the only bees to die after stinging.
Sadly, over the past 20 years, colonies of bees have been disappearing, and the reason remains unknown. Referred to as ‘colony collapse disorder’, billions of Honey bees across the world are leaving their hives, never to return. In some regions, up to 90% of bees have disappeared!
As pollinators, honey bees are critical to the environment and the food supply.
Human beekeeping or apiculture has been practised for millennia, since at least the times of Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece.
The honeybee dance language was first decoded by Austrian scientist Karl von Frisch who was awarded a Nobel prize in 1973 for the discovery.
Scientists argue that honey bees and some other insects may have the capacity for awareness.
The study of bees including honey bees is known as melittology.
A community of honey bees has often been employed throughout history by political theorists as a model of human society: this image occurs in Aristotle and Plato; in Virgil and Seneca; in Erasmus and Shakespeare; in Marx and Tolstoy. | <urn:uuid:2319614e-ce24-4cb9-9d49-4fb186093766> | CC-MAIN-2021-43 | http://justfunfacts.com/interesting-facts-about-honey-bees/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-43/segments/1634323585121.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20211017052025-20211017082025-00522.warc.gz | en | 0.942036 | 1,397 | 3.53125 | 4 |
Transferring the readers-writers workshop model to a primary math curriculum
The research question addressed in this project is, how can the readers-writers workshop format be used to create a kindergarten math resource guide? This math resource guide would supplement the current math curriculum being used. The author acknowledges her own dislike for math as having a key influence on creating a math curriculum that combines best practices from her literacy instruction and research-based math strategies. This capstone addresses the ineffectiveness of current math instruction, such as using drill practice and memorization and focuses on four teaching methods proven to increase math ability: using manipulatives, reflection, choice, and problem solving. The author developed a kindergarten Math Workshop Curriculum Guide that includes 31 lessons. Each lesson has a suggested read aloud, teacher talking points for the mini lesson being taught, suggestions for what students and teacher should do during the work time, and materials needed to complete the lesson.
Erickson, Anne M., "Transferring the readers-writers workshop model to a primary math curriculum" (2011). School of Education Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations. 840. | <urn:uuid:67f985a1-d6aa-4ff6-944b-cb40c9967238> | CC-MAIN-2018-09 | https://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/hse_all/840/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-09/segments/1518891814249.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20180222180516-20180222200516-00027.warc.gz | en | 0.893884 | 229 | 3.453125 | 3 |
NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Maths Chapter 1 Exercise 1.2 Number Systems in Hindi and English Medium for academic session 2023-2024. Question answers are updated according to new textbooks issued for CBSE 2023-24 following the rationalised syllabus.
NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Maths Chapter 1 Exercise 1.2
NCERT Solutions 2023-24 can be viewed in Video Format or download in PDF for CBSE Board students as well as UP Board High School students (According to UP Board Syllabus). You can download (Exercise 1.2) or view it online. Download NCERT Solutions Offline Apps 2023-24 or get Solutions of All Chapters in PDF.
|Chapter: 1||Number Systems|
|Exercise: 1.2||NCERT Textbook Solution|
|Mode:||Online Text and Videos|
|Medium:||Hindi and English Medium|
9th Maths Chapter 1 Exercise 1.2 Solution
NCERT Solutions Class 9 Maths Chapter 1 Exercise 1.2 of Number Systems is given below to use online or download in PDF for session 2023-2024. Visit to Discussion Forum to ask your doubts and reply to your friend’s questions.
9th Maths Exercise 1.2 Solutions in Hindi & English
Hindi Medium solutions for High School students are given to download free for session 2023-24. Use it online or download from the link given at the top of the page. NCERT Solutions of other subjects of class 9 are also available in downloadable format. These solutions are updated again for the current academic year based NCERT (https://ncert.nic.in/) Syllabus 2023-2024 to help the students of Uttar Pradesh as well as CBSE board based students.
Feedback & Suggestions
Solutions are available to view online both Hindi medium and English medium to use without download. But the links to download are also given at the top of the page. Videos related to every exercise are available for session 2023-2024 for better understanding. Download all the solutions of class 9 Maths Chapter 1 at once on one page.
Practice Questions on 9th Maths Exercise 1.2
- Represent √3 on the number line.
- Find two irrational numbers between 2023 and 2024.
- Check whether the following rational number will have a terminating decimal expansion or a non-terminating repeating (recurring) decimal expansion?
- Are there two irrational numbers whose sum and product both are rational? Justify.
- State whether the following statement is true or false: There are infinitely many integers between any two integers.
Important Questions on 9th Maths Exercise 1.2
1. Maan leejie kee ek parimey sankhya hai aur ek aparimey sankhya hai. kya aavashyak roop se ek aparimey sankhya hai? ek udahaaran dvaara apane uttar ka auchity deejie.
2. Aisee do sankhyaen likhie jinake dashamalav prasaar anavasaanee anaavartee hon.
3. √5 ko sankhya rekha par pradarshit keejie.
nimnalikhit mein se pratyek mein sahee uttar likhie:
4. Sankhya √2 ka dasamalav prasaar
(a) ek parimit dashamalav
(c) asaant aavartee
(d) asaant anaavartee
5. Nimnalikhit mein se kaun see ek aparimey sankhya hai?
(A) 0.14 (B) 0.14161616… (C) 0.14161416… (D) 0.140140014000…
Ask your doubts and share your knowledge with your friends and other users through Discussion Forum. You can ask questions related to NCERT Books or other books following CBSE Syllabus.
Which section of ex. 1.2 of Class IX Maths are important?
In exercise 1.2 of class 9 Maths, there are four questions and two examples (examples 3, 4). Questions 1, 2 of this exercise are important. Question 3 and examples 3, 4 of this exercise are most important from the exam point of view. Examples 3, 4 and question 3 are of the same type. From this exercise, one mark, two marks and three marks questions can come in the exam.
How many sums of exercise 1.2 class 9th Maths are are difficult?
Questions 1, 2 are the easiest questions of exercise 1.2 (class 9th Maths). Question 3 and examples 3, 4 are little difficult questions compared to questions 1, 2. Question 4 is a classroom activity.
Which is the best question of exercise 1.2 class 9 Maths for terminal exams?
Question 2 (Are the square roots of all positive integers irrational? If not, give an example of the square root of a number that is a rational number.) is the best question of exercise 1.2 of class 9 Maths. This question is very interesting, logical and good.
How easy to do exercise 1.2 class 9th Maths?
Students need a maximum of one day to do exercise 1.2 (chapter 1) of class 9th Maths. This time also depends on student’s speed, efficiency, capability, and many other factors. | <urn:uuid:caf1670d-39be-4265-8b3f-039035a839a3> | CC-MAIN-2023-23 | https://www.tiwariacademy.com/ncert-solutions/class-9/maths/chapter-1/exercise-1-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-23/segments/1685224654031.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20230608003500-20230608033500-00228.warc.gz | en | 0.834093 | 1,203 | 3.1875 | 3 |
Nearly 200 nations adopt historic Paris Agreement, set path for action on climate change
World leaders here Saturday evening, Dec. 12, reached the first-ever globally binding deal to address climate change, concluding two weeks of the "most complicated and difficult," and, at times sleepless, negotiations among nearly 200 nations.
Catholic activists said the Paris Agreement marks "the end of the fossil fuel era" and provides a roadmap for the next several decades, but at the same time still "lacks ambition" in terms of providing necessary protection for the most vulnerable from climate impacts.
The United Nations climate change conference in Paris, or COP21, was set as a type of second-chance after a similar effort six years ago in Copenhagen failed to procure a binding deal. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told journalists Friday the talks have been the “most complicated, most difficult” he has attended.
As diplomats reviewed the text line by line Saturday, thousands of people formed their own red lines across Paris in demonstrations aimed at symbolizing their resolve to not quit pushing for ambitious action on climate change. | <urn:uuid:942dfb30-74db-4e11-831e-1ccf0b3b3b4e> | CC-MAIN-2018-34 | https://www.globalsistersreport.org/news/environment/nearly-200-nations-adopt-historic-paris-agreement-set-path-action-climate-change | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-34/segments/1534221218357.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20180821151743-20180821171743-00268.warc.gz | en | 0.950386 | 226 | 2.875 | 3 |
Media Literacy II: Teaching Kids How to Deconstruct Images
The media showcases advertisements and images that are beautiful, appealing, and inspiring. Behind each of these images is a message–sometimes deliberate, sometimes accidental. Media and social media messages can sometimes be positive while others are destructive.
It’s important kids understand how to read these messages and DECONSTRUCT them, so they can avoid the pitfalls of low self-worth when comparing themselves to false advertising and social media messages. We can also help our kids reject unrealistic expectations of products, people, and relationships and instead embrace the realities of life and the joys and sorrows of real people, real situations, and real results.
Teach your child how to deconstruct images and see the underlying messages each image has to share. It’s important to teach there are both positive and negative messages and share the aspects of photoshop and editing. If your child can learn how to deconstruct images, they will reach realistic goals rather than deceiving ones.
Lots of great advertisements for you and your kids to discuss, plus tons of great discussion questions to help you make this lesson easy and meaningful.
Looking for a great children’s book that will make understanding media, including social media, easier for you AND your kids? Check out Petra’s Power to See: A Media Literacy Adventure. | <urn:uuid:4d3f5203-4429-47c0-9952-212520ceaaa3> | CC-MAIN-2019-39 | https://educateempowerkids.org/7116-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-39/segments/1568514571027.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20190915093509-20190915115509-00359.warc.gz | en | 0.906202 | 279 | 3.859375 | 4 |
|Understanding Students’ Source Choices: Insights from the Citation Project and LILAC Project|
|Session: D.19 on Mar 22, 2012 from 3:15 PM to 4:30 PM||Cluster: 10) Research|
|Type: Concurrent Session (3 or more presenters)||Interest Emphasis: Not Applicable|
|Level Emphasis: All||Focus: First-Year Composition|
|Description of session: When instructors read students’ researched writing, they assess the sources in the bibliography and the ways in which sources are cited in the text. The results of two separate research projects, however, provide important new information about how and why students choose the sources they do; what kinds of sources are chosen; and how the source choices affect the intellectual and rhetorical quality of the students’ written work. Speakers in this session describe pedagogical changes that are suggested by the research results.|
Speaker One Abstract:
TITLE: Statistical Analysis of Students' Source Choices
The Citation Project has studied almost 1,000 sources cited in 175 student researched papers from FYC classes at 16 colleges across the US, and the correlation between the type and difficulty-level of the source and students’ use of it. This presentation will discuss these findings and related questions about how we describe and they assess sources. There is much room for confusion when we say “peer reviewed” to mean “reviewed by academics” but wikipedia is also “peer reviewed,” and there is more confusion regarding bias. McClure and Clink’s 2009 study of 100 student essays found that sources they classified as “advocacy” were the most frequently cited, followed by “News” and “Informational” (“How Do You Know That?”). A 2011 whitepaper by Turnitin.com, “Plagiarism and the Web,” uses six classifications, and notes that material in “Homework and Academic” is the second most frequently used (25% of 140 million content matches). This category includes www.coursehero.com, which boasts “more than 6,500,000 student-uploaded documents from over 5,000 universities around the world” but would probably not be classified as “academic” by most FYC faculty. Another Turnitin grouping, “News and Portals,” includes The New York Times and answers.yahoo.com (the 2nd most frequently used source after wikipedia). Turnitin studied “content matches” and didn’t distinguish between quoted or correctly cited and uncited work. The citation project only codes cited source use and classifies sources into much finer categories, yet some of the findings match those of Turnitin and both studies conclude that we need to teach students to incorporate source material more effectively. But this research also confirms that students in FYC are failing to use appropriate sources, and suggests that rather than trying to teach them how to find those sources—or using computer programs to monitor which sites they use and how they use them—FYC should stop assigning the research paper.
Speaker Two Abstract:
TITLE: How Students Find and Evaluate Sources
This presentation will report on the LILAC Project’s pilot study of students’ information-seeking behavior (ISB). Using a “research-aloud protocol” (RAP), along with interviews and surveys, we attempt to discover what students are taking away from current classroom- and library-based information literacy instruction so that we can make recommendations for equipping students with research skills that will transfer beyond the first-year classroom. In the past few years, research into and testing of students’ skills in information literacy, usually defined as the ability to locate and use information from outside sources, has proliferated. The results of most of these tests and studies, however, is to tell us what we, as educators, already know: whatever we are doing now to teach essential information literacy skills to our students is just not working. Even though teachers and librarians have tried a wide variety of ways to teach these skills, students continue to fare poorly in assessments of those skills. While there are problems with many of these assessment instruments, we are right to be concerned, as the RAPs I describe in this presentation will show. The problem is not a lack of instruction or a lack of instructional materials dealing with information literacy; of these, we have an embarrassment of riches. Instead, we may need to reconsider how, when, and where we provide students with this instruction.
Speaker 3 Abstract:
TITLE: Pedagogical Causes and Rhetorical Consequences of Students' Source Choices
A rhetorical analysis of papers studied in the Citation Project reveals that what often seem to be stylistic infelicities, underdeveloped or disorganized writing, misuse of sources, or excessive reliance on sources cannot be remedied in late stages of composing. The Citation Project research reveals that instead, these issues often derive from “quote-mining” sources rather than reading them; overvaluing brevity and ease of reading as criteria for source selection; and focusing on correct citation without actually engaging with or even reading the sources. Passages from an array of student research papers illustrate problems in style and academic integrity that result from attenuated and cursory source selection and incomplete reading. These results suggest that it may be useful to redefine “early” and “late” stages of students’ writing from sources, with drafting categorized not as an “early” stage but a “late” one. It may be useful, too, to consider the extent to which correct citation is being overvalued in the assessment of student writing. Even when poor sources have been chosen and read only for the discovery of “killer quotes,” the paper may appear to handle sources well. Speaker 3 will offer concrete principles for what seem necessary and extensive pedagogical and curricular reforms. | <urn:uuid:a21d6288-2c3e-444e-8c16-a329273825f3> | CC-MAIN-2017-34 | http://lilac-group.blogspot.com/2012_03_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-34/segments/1502886102757.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20170816231829-20170817011829-00445.warc.gz | en | 0.943738 | 1,255 | 2.71875 | 3 |
What is the difference between sleep apnoea and snoring?
Snoring is a condition where something in the nose mouth throat or lungs blocks breathing while sleeping producing a soft or loud and unpleasant sound. It is a sign or first alarm of OSA (obstructive sleep apnoea)
Sleep Apnoea is where there are one or more pauses in breathing while you sleep. Pauses may last a few seconds to minutes, and as many as 30 times an hour. Breathing usually restarts with a loud snort or choking sound. Sleep apnoea may be obstructive, central or a combination called complex sleep apnoea.
When a person sleeps, the air passage’s muscle collapse due to which the airways in the windpipe get narrow. Because of this a person has a problem in breathing during sleep
Snoring and obstructive sleep apnoea: In the nose, a crooked nose bone or polyps are common causes, in the throat, throat muscle weakness, loose or tight jaw, fat in the neck, thick tongue, loose low roof of mouth, or tongue falling back while sleeping on the back. Relaxants like alcohol or some medicines also cause this.
Medical: All treatments for snoring and sleep apnoea try to fix the blockage or bypass it. These include special pillows; devices to keep the jaw aligned or the nose open, machines that continuously blow air into the nose and throat to keep them open (CPAP). These are all for mild to moderate cases.
What a patient can do to help themselves?
- Lose weight
- Exercise or brisk walking
- Make lifestyle changes
- Make use of mouthpieces and other breathing devices.
- Identify other conditions causing obstruction like allergies and avoiding anything that causes allergies and blocked nose.
- Quitting drinking, smoking and avoid taking sleeping pills or sedatives of any kind.
- Avoid caffeine and heavy meals two hours before sleeping.
- Do yoga to strengthen the muscles of the throat.
- Maintain a regular sleep time.
- Sleep on the side (or ask bed partner to roll you over if you snore), wedge a pillow stuffed with tennis back behind the back to prevent rolling onto the back, elevate the head of the bed by 4 to 6 inches.
- If the cause of sleep apnoea is heart or nerve problems or any kind of brain damage or diabetes, get it treated by a specialist.
- Get a sleep apnoea test called a polysomnography done.
- Learning to play blowing instruments and singing can also strengthen throat muscles and reduce sleep apnoea
A home exercise for sleep apnoea:
- Press the tongue down and brush top and sides of tongue with toothbrush.
- Press the tongue up against the roof of mouth and hold it there for 3 minutes a day
- Purse the lips as if going to kiss and move them up and to the right, then up and to the left 10 times. Repeat again 3 times.
- Blow a balloon by breathing in through nose and out through mouth 5 times.
- Gargle with water five minutes, twice a day
- Lightly hold the tongue in teeth and swallow five times. Repeat this 5 to 10 times a day.
The author is a Mumbai-based Consultant ENT and Head and Neck surgeon, attached to Jaslok Hospital and Desa hospital | <urn:uuid:245ad88b-f161-46a2-843d-e22b2429885a> | CC-MAIN-2019-13 | http://www.mymedicalmantra.com/what-is-sleep-apnoea-know-about-its-causes-and-treatment/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-13/segments/1552912202125.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20190319183735-20190319205735-00260.warc.gz | en | 0.908202 | 710 | 3.15625 | 3 |
When someone receives a diagnosis of cancer it is the beginning of a long, lonely journey. Demystifying cancer is crucial, according to oncologist Dr. Robert Buckman, and leads to a greater ability to cope. Buckman is the author of a new book called Cancer is a Word, Not a Sentence, in which he gives readers clear, calm and concise explanations of a range of cancers from diagnosis to treatment. His aim is to help people recently diagnosed with cancer, to get over the initial shock and cope better with the facts of their situation.
In the book, Buckman gives clear advice on the do’s and don’ts following diagnosis.
DO try to a get a reasonable, general overview of your type of cancer.
DO get a small amount of trustworthy current information from a few reputable cancer websites.
DO accept, which means admit and acknowledge to yourself any uncertainty about the diagnosis and/or treatment. Uncertainty is always unpleasant but easier to cope with if you acknowledge that fact.
DO ask your medical team a few specific questions once you understand the general overview of your situation.
DO get a second opinion if you really think you need it.
DO talk to your friends and family.
DO breathe. Do spend a little bit of time every day doing something you really enjoy and thus look forward to it.
DON’T respond simply to the word cancer as a universal and total signal of doom and gloom.
DON’T go to the internet and collect hundreds of different views, opinions, home remedies and fringe medications.
DON’T think that things won’t change after you hear the first view of the diagnosis and treatment. Plans may well change as time goes on, so try to stay as flexible as possible.
DON’T or try not to ask the same questions too often. Asking over and over again usually means that it’s difficult for you to accept the answers.
DON’T get a third opinion if the second opinion is the same as the first.
DON’T feel you have to hold all your concerns and worries in until you know all the answers.
DON’T panic. There is plenty of time to get informed and make decisions.
Adapted from Cancer is a Word, Not a Sentence by Dr. Robert Buckman (Collins UK £9.99)
Cancer threatens fundamental assumptions about our lives. People’s personalities, coping styles, expectations, and past experiences all influence the impact of a cancer diagnosis. This book aims to help those with cancer understand better every aspect of their disease so that they can let go some of their fears and face the facts. Sound advice indeed. | <urn:uuid:164b7ae1-4242-455c-a399-05752b552390> | CC-MAIN-2018-05 | https://biopsy.wordpress.com/category/a-lonely-journey/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-05/segments/1516084888077.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20180119164824-20180119184824-00043.warc.gz | en | 0.950105 | 560 | 2.984375 | 3 |
The story of Detroit's Republican Mayor Hazen Pingree (Mayor from 1889–1897) is quite an illuminating one.
The Detroit News: Hazen Pingree: Quite possibly Detroit's finest mayor
Note that the man who is considered Detroit's finest mayor took office over a hundred years ago and you begin to see the problem.
Detroit's problems remain much the same as they did then:
Mayors did not run Detroit at that time; the city was controlled by a "corrupt political machine, in the hands of a small group of men," as city historian George Catlin described it. The nomination of 32 aldermen was dictated by this machine; some of the characters nominated were capable, but many "were notorious for past political malfeasances and corrupt practices."
Detroit was politically a city of Democrats, but despite their lock on the ethnic wards, differences in nationalities, especially Germans and Irish, kept the council in a state of war. A large number were German saloon owners and bartenders, led by President John Chris Jacob. "Boss Jacob" was a cynical and tough-minded ward boss. His German accent was heavy and his language profane. If someone threatened to cast an adverse vote he would drown them out with his booming voice, physically intimidate them or make up some parliamentary rule to send everyone to a rule book and stall the process.
Graft and corrupt contractors resulted in the sewer scandal of 1890. Pingree took a group of aldermen down into the sewers where he showed them concrete as soft as mush, bricks falling from the wall at a touch, crumbling mortar, mud and effluence pouring through the walls.
Detroit's corrupt Democrats sure haven't changed much in over a hundred years. Instead of the Augean Stables, Detroit has the Augean Sewers. | <urn:uuid:7e518840-4eb9-4e72-9ea1-eb01fcd5abde> | CC-MAIN-2015-11 | http://shekel.blogspot.com/2013/01/detroits-democrats-havent-changed-all.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-11/segments/1424936465069.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20150226074105-00256-ip-10-28-5-156.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982584 | 372 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Deal takes NC science museum out of seized venomous snake business
Posted November 20, 2015
Raleigh, N.C. — An agreement reached this week will make the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences a safer place, as venomous snakes seized by law enforcement agencies across the state will no longer be housed there.
State lawmakers two years ago began requiring the museum to take in venomous snakes because the staff has the expertise to identify and care for the animals.
The museum has a number of venomous snakes on display, but the confiscated serpents were housed separately. At one point, the museum had to put some in a converted bathroom in the basement.
" I think we had, at one point, over 50 animals potentially involved," said Dr. Dan Dombrowski, chief veterinarian at the museum, noting the collection has included a Gaboon viper, a cobra and a sidewinder. "You sort of never know what could come in."
Last year, the General Assembly added a twist to the law, requiring museum staff to euthanize any snakes for which no antivenom was available, unless it is protected under the federal Endangered Species Act. The idea was to improve safety for the museum staff, but Dombrowski said it did the opposite.
"What's not obvious on paper is that, even to get animals in and to identify them and see what's there and to humanely euthanize them, you still have contact, and you still have to work with the animals," he said.
Museum director Emlyn Koster said the science museum is trying to gain accreditation by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, "so we have to hold ourselves to serious standards of animal care like any zoo or aquarium or museum."
The problem was solved when the museum signed a formal agreement with Alligator Adventure, a North Myrtle Beach, S.C., facility that specializes in dangerous reptiles. Venomous snakes seized by North Carolina law enforcement or animal control agencies will now go there instead of the museum.
"This is the safe and right way to go, and we're delighted to have the collaboration that allows us to do that," Koster said.
The transfer agreement has been approved by the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, he said, but legislators will likely need to modify the 2014 law during next year's short session.
Dombrowski said museum staff will continue to be available as an informational and educational resource for law enforcement and animal control statewide. | <urn:uuid:fc74c654-56fd-4bd9-a2f8-1351d022bff1> | CC-MAIN-2017-13 | http://www.wral.com/deal-takes-nc-science-museum-out-of-seized-venomous-snake-business/15123975/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-13/segments/1490218186353.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20170322212946-00630-ip-10-233-31-227.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965713 | 515 | 2.546875 | 3 |
St. Thomas’s Day School is a lively place where children are actively engaged in learning. The smallness of our school is the ideal setting for a dynamic, experiential learning program. We celebrate, nurture, and protect the special qualities of childhood – exuberance, a sense of wonder, imagination, creativity, and innovation. There is a wonderful bond between younger and older children. Our program provides opportunities for children from different grades to interact and develop cross-grade social relationships.
Our instructional program is designed to provide continuity and balance while enhancing the development of foundational skills and concepts. The intimacy of small group instruction ensures attentiveness to each child’s maturity and achievement level. Creative projects, hands-on experiences, and collaborative learning opportunities inspire problem-solving and critical thinking skills – the building blocks necessary for thriving in a rapidly evolving world.
The core Academic Program includes the language arts (reading, writing, listening, and speaking), mathematics, and social studies. Special subject curricular areas include art, computer science and digital literacy, library, music, physical education, religious education, science, and Spanish. An important aspect of the richness of the St. Thomas’s Day School experience is provided through coordination and integration across these special subject areas.
Our broad-based program includes a wide range of enrichment experiences and activities. Students explore their world through an extraordinary series of day and overnight field trips. These trips are an integral component of the St Thomas’s Day School experience and serve as a springboard to deepen learning.
Language Arts/Reading: Every teacher is a teacher of language arts. Listening, speaking, reading and writing are tools of communication; the application of these tools is the common thread that unifies the school program. The overall purpose of the Language Arts Curriculum is to inculcate in each student active and engaged listening abilities, skillful speaking, and to develop an enduring appreciation and understanding for the written word, as readers and writers.
The nature of the Language Arts program requires a course of study that recognizes two basic elements – the “interrelatedness” of the language arts and their integration across the curricular areas. The “interrelatedness” of the language arts: Listening, speaking, reading and writing are taught in relation to one another and not as isolated activities. The “integrated program”: An integrated curriculum enhances skill development in the language arts, and it enables students to handle content area subjects with greater ease and deeper understanding.
The program strives to expose students to a wide range of language experiences so that they can derive pleasure from reading, writing, articulating and communicating their thoughts and views. The clear, correct and imaginative use of language enables students to absorb the world around them and respond insightfully.
The program is based on the developmental needs, interests and capabilities of children. Learning by doing is the emphasis in the language arts classroom. Children are both the receivers and producers of language. Experimenting with language creates results in mastering the form and function of language. Dramatic play, public performances, debates, and presentations empower students to communicate effectively across the discipline areas.
Reading skills are developed in a spiraling fashion under the direction of the teacher in small group settings. The reading program provides instruction in the five key elements of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. Reading skills are introduced in Kindergarten and are taught, taught again and refined to more sophisticated levels as the student progresses through the School.
The writing program is rooted in the writing process. The program is structured to develop personal, expressive writing that draws on perceptions and interests of students. Practical (informational) writing skills are integrated across the curriculum. The mechanics of writing and grammar are taught as focus areas and students apply these skills in their written work.
Mathematics: The mathematics program is a comprehensive, developmentally based, sequential program designed to empower children to explore, discuss, practice and apply mathematical concepts. The study of mathematics enables students to investigate alternate strategies or solutions. We strive to create an atmosphere in which children are stimulated by the excitement of discovery and the satisfaction derived from understanding, learning, and knowing.
The program develops skills in a spiraling fashion across the grades, resulting in a deeper and more refined understanding of mathematical concepts. This process-oriented curriculum is based on the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Principles and Standards that emphasizes the mathematical processes as problem solving, reasoning, communicating connecting and representing. Curriculum content includes: number and operation, data analysis and probability, patterns and functions, algebra, geometry, and measurement.
The sequential and thoughtful use of appropriate manipulatives enables students to see and understand the relationship of the concrete, the representational and the abstract. The aims of the program include mastery of mathematical concepts and basic facts and recognition of mathematics as an important part of everyday living.
The math program is designed to develop a strong academic foundation that enables children to expand their knowledge, interpret information, make reasonable decisions and solve increasingly complex problems using a variety of approaches. Through their mathematics experiences, children develop an understanding and appreciation of its beauty, as well as its utility, in life’s activities in our ever-changing digital world.
Social Studies: The social studies program is designed to develop values of citizenship including sensitivity, tolerance, respect, and appreciation for others, all of which are required for participating in a democratic, multicultural society. We prepare children to enlarge their understanding of citizenship to extend beyond their local community, state and nation, and to recognize their role as responsible members of the “Global Village”. The curriculum is sequentially and developmentally based. It includes a wide range of activities and experiences from Kindergarten through Grade Six so that acquisition of knowledge is set in a meaningful context.
The content of the program includes: history (time and change), the five themes of geography (location, place, human-environment, interactions, movement and regions), government, economics and social institutions. The curriculum develops ever-widening circles of themes and knowledge that begins in Kindergarten and expands sequentially through Grade Six. The program comprises the following sub-themes:
- Understanding of the individual in the family, school, local, State and National communities;
- Knowledge of the foundations of U.S. history and the roots of civilizations;
- Awareness of key issues and events of the contemporary world;
- Awareness of world cultures and cultural universals (food, clothing, shelter, economics, social and political institutions, religion, and art).
Our social studies program reinforces the School’s core mission to, “make it a better world and let it begin with me.” | <urn:uuid:906ea41d-f291-4363-b56c-d2c8d2540914> | CC-MAIN-2019-18 | https://www.stthomasday.org/core-program/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-18/segments/1555578533774.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20190422015736-20190422041736-00368.warc.gz | en | 0.938715 | 1,382 | 2.515625 | 3 |
With its lush green forests, and rich flora and fauna, Sikkim is truly one of the most beautiful states in India. Much of this is credited to the policies of the Forests, Environment, and Wildlife Management Department.
According to The Hindu, a more recent addition to Sikkim’s nature conservation policies makes an effort to encourage citizens to preserve nature by forming lasting bonds with trees.
If you were to open the Sikkim Forest Tree (Amity and Reverence) Rules for 2017, you would come across a section which states the following:
“The State Government shall allow any person to associate with trees standing on his or her private land or on any public land:
(i) by entering into a Mith/Mit or Mitini relationship with a tree in which case the tree shall be called a Mith/Mit tree;
(ii) by adopting a tree as if it was his or her own child in which case the tree shall be called an adopted tree;
(iii) by preserving a tree in remembrance of a departed relative in which case the tree shall be called a Smriti tree”
So, what is “Mith”?
Also called Mitini, this refers to the practice of forging a relationship with the tree in which the man or woman regards the tree as his or her brother.
This follows the age-old tradition of the relationship between man and nature, and any tree protected by this relationship cannot be felled or damaged, as per government rules.
The process is simple.
1. Pick a tree
This tree can be both on your personal property, or in a public area. If you would like to adopt a tree on someone else’s property, Sikkim’s rules require that the owner be compensated the full amount of the market value of the timber to be obtained from the tree, and both parties must enter into the agreement.
You may also like: The Inspiring Story of How Sikkim Became India’s Cleanest State
2. Fill out the required forms
Depending on the type of relationship you would like to forge, the government has a special form. This is available on the government website and requires you to detail the reasons why you wish to adopt a tree.
3. Assessment by the Assistant Conservator of Forests
The Assistant Conservator of Forests will investigate whether or not the tree is available for adoption, to form a Mit/Mith or Mitini relationship. Once the tree is approved, the Assistant Conservator will provide you with a date, in which you can perform any ritual you see fit and make an entry in the official register.
After this process is completed, the department issues a certificate with the coordinates of the tree and just like that; you can now be family to a tree!
Speaking to The Hindu, Thomas Chandy, Principal Secretary and Principal Chief Conservator of Forests said, “We will take up the issue in a major way at the upcoming Paryavaran Mahotsav being organised by the Sikkim government.” | <urn:uuid:e6ca18b9-5afc-46d2-b619-fcb3def890a9> | CC-MAIN-2020-45 | https://www.thebetterindia.com/128336/sikkim-forest-tree-mith-mitini-fraternity/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-45/segments/1603107902038.86/warc/CC-MAIN-20201028221148-20201029011148-00254.warc.gz | en | 0.957058 | 638 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Which Of These Tools Brought File Sharing Widespread Public Attention?
As long as there have been computer networks, there have been ways for people to share files. In the early days, however, sharing files was the sole province of the computer savvy. The general public wasn’t dialing into “warez” bulletin board systems and downloading ebooks, games, and music files (in the early days, bandwidth constraints put everything but simple images, text documents, and MIDI files beyond the reach of home users).
The public awareness of the concept of file sharing and the actual use of such all changed radically in 1999 when the music sharing service Napster burst into the public sphere.
Although certainly limited by today’s standards (you could only trade music files), Napster was the public’s first taste of peer-to-peer file sharing. Unlike the more esoteric and difficult to use methods that relied on downloading and reassembling file binaries from Usenet or dialing into private servers, people could just download Napster, start searching for MP3 files, and via the Napster server system, they would be connected with someone somewhere else in the world that had the file they were looking for. Almost overnight it became trivial for the average person to swap files.
While quite popular, Napster was quickly sued out of existence thanks to its centralized server model (later returning as an identically named but different music service that wasn’t focused on illegal file sharing). It was quickly replaced by a flood of decentralized apps like Bearshare, Kazaa, and Gnutella. Eventually those apps in turn were replaced with the rise of the BitTorrent file sharing protocol, long after the file sharing genie was out of the bottle.
More Trivia Questions
Kingsnakes Derive Their Name From Their?
What Song Meant Hardware Failure On Some Older Motherboards?
In The Song Bohemian Rhapsody, “Scaramouche” Is A?
The Comet Lovejoy Is Notable For Leaving A Trail Of?
What Did The Inventor Of The Pet Rock Later Try To Sell Americans Bit By Bit?
Until Legislation In The 1990s Mandated It, British Appliances Rarely Came With?
Which of These Animals Secretes Sun Screen?
Which Of These Bird Species Spends More Time Aloft Than Any Other?
If You’ve Written A Typo Undetectable By Spellcheck, You’ve Created What? | <urn:uuid:6ddcbd3d-7f2d-416d-b851-857473ee22c1> | CC-MAIN-2023-23 | https://www.mindbounce.com/trivia/which-of-these-tools-brought-filesharing-widespread-public-attention/?answer=1&ord=WyJCZWFyc2hhcmUiLCJCaXRUb3JyZW50IiwiTmFwc3RlciIsIkthemFhIl0- | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-23/segments/1685224645810.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20230530131531-20230530161531-00445.warc.gz | en | 0.903473 | 550 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Some Aztec gods include Macuiltochtli, one of the gods of excess, Huitzilopochtli, Tlaloc and Tonatiuh. Other gods include Atlacoya, the goddess of drought, Tlilhua, Cinteotl, Itzpapalotltotec and Quetzalcoatl.Continue Reading
The Aztecs had five gods of excess that comprised a collective called Ahuiateteo. One god of excess, Macuiltochtli, symbolized both excess and the consequences of excess.
Huitzilopochtli was the patron god of the Aztecs in that he was believed to be the one who guided them to their traditional lands. He indicated where they should settle and build their capital, Tenochtitlan.
Tlaloc was the rain god and is associated with fertility and agriculture. Often, sacrifices to Tlaloc included sacrificing children because the Aztecs believed that childrens' tears were sacred to Tlaloc.
Tonatiuh was the sun god. He too represented fertility. Sacrifices to him were thought to require blood, and he was the patron of warriors.
Quetzalcoatl was believed by the Aztec to be the creator of mankind. He is represented by a feathered serpent and is frequently depicted in Aztec art.
Itzpapalotltotec was the goddess of sacrifice. Her name means Obsidian Butterfly, and she ruled over Tamoanchan, the paradise of victims of infant mortality.
Cinteotl was one of several gods of maize. He is associated with maize and subsistence and often depicted as a young man with a yellow body.Learn more about Ancient America | <urn:uuid:6316d344-3ec1-4b9f-9359-b2db2e9e4fd6> | CC-MAIN-2018-30 | https://www.reference.com/history/were-aztec-gods-996c9028091883b8 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-30/segments/1531676593302.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20180722135607-20180722155607-00596.warc.gz | en | 0.97724 | 365 | 3.703125 | 4 |
The water pollution today has increased to the high-level alarm proportions. This has now become the most threatening issue of environment in India and globally. The increase in water pollution every year is because of both domestic and industrial reasons. With the rapidly growing urbanization, the level of contamination has reached to the danger zone. Even after the multiple efforts by the government in towns and cities, the amount of wastewater which is treated and recycled is only 10 percent wherein the rest is still flowing directly in the rivers, oceans, ponds. This is now directly affecting the plants, animals, and humans as well. We now have to understand the need for saving water.
Let us first under the effects of water pollution on plants and animals.
The increase in the toxic substance.
Indians have always regarded the river Ganga as a sacred. Due to their beliefs, they take a holy dip in the river to purify themselves and their souls. This has also made the river Ganga polluted. It is the same belief with the rivers Yamuna, Gomati, Jhelum and many others. This has established the effects of poisoning water on plants and animals.
The Natural beauty is getting spoiled.
The water pollution is not only responsible for unfit drinkable water but is also affecting the agriculture practices. It is also accountable for spoiling and ruining the beauty of many rivers and lakes.
The growth of the Aquatic plants is getting harmed.
The water pollution is directly affecting the aquatic plants. The plethora of moss, which is in the polluted water, is not letting the sunlight reach to the depths of the rivers and the growth of the aquatic plants is getting sacrificed. In addition to this, the sewage water is also getting mixed with the rivers that cause fungus, bacteria, and algae which start to eject faster.
The suffocation of aquatic plants.
The life of the marine animals is getting miserable because of the water pollution. It reduces the oxygen level which makes the water suffocating for them. The amount of oxygen in water was around 2.5 cubic centimetre in 1950 which is now has decreased to 0.1 cubic centimetres only. The oil which contains hydrocarbons gets mixed with the water and gets spread over the surface of the ocean or river because of which the aquatic and marine animals do not get the appropriate amount of oxygen and subsequently die because of it.
Now let us discuss the effects of water pollution on human health.
The worst effect of polluted air is on human beings. According to the reports of World Health Organization (WHO), around 50 million people die every year because of contaminated water. Even in India, approximately 360 people in one lakh are dying because of the same reason, and the number of patients who are getting admitted in the hospitals is more than 50 percent. There are few other countries with an even worse situation where 80 percent of the populations are suffering from the waterborne diseases.
The unrequited amount of salt, toxins, and microbes in water causes many diseases. More than 80 percent of the people all over the world are suffering either directly or indirectly because of water pollution. As per the survey, in about 34000 villages in India, more than 2.5 billion people are suffering from cholera approximately. The absence of sewage system also causes pollution in water. Diseases like malaria, jaundice, cholera, polio, fever, viral, and more happen because of the polluted water.
The pollution in water has made a significant effect on the drinking water as well. The taste of the water has become unpalatable because of the microbes present in the water. The water has evidently become smelly as well.
It is quite noticeable that the water pollution dangerously affects all forms of life in this universe. To protect plants, animals and all human being it is essential to start thinking about the ways to save water. This is not a task for an individual but requires collective efforts of individual, government and society. | <urn:uuid:8d76dd39-67ed-4759-8c61-c0386fe108a8> | CC-MAIN-2019-30 | https://clensta.com/2019/01/09/effects-of-water-pollution/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-30/segments/1563195525500.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20190718042531-20190718064531-00035.warc.gz | en | 0.963218 | 804 | 3.296875 | 3 |
Enter the speed of light and the wavelength in the calculator to determine the frequency of light.
- Photon Energy Calculator
- Energy to Wavelength Calculator
- Wavenumber Calculator
- Light Intensity Calculator
Frequency of Light Formula
The following equation can be used to calculate the frequency of light.
f = c/w
- Where f is the frequency
- c is the speed of light
- w is the wavelength
To calculate the frequency of light, divide the speed of light by the light wavelength.
Frequency of Light Definition
The frequency of light is defined as the inverse of the total time it takes light to travel one wavelength.
Frequency of Light Example
How to calculate the frequency of light?
- First, determine the speed of light.
The speed of light in a vacuum is 299 792 458 m / s.
- Next, determine the wavelength.
Calculate the wavelength of the light photon.
- Finally, calculate the frequency.
Calculate the frequency using the formula above.
Frequency is the inverse of the time it takes something to travel one wavelength, measure in s^-1 or Hz/ | <urn:uuid:c8227bbf-faee-4441-bcf9-e0338d52b439> | CC-MAIN-2023-06 | https://calculator.academy/frequency-of-light-calculator/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-06/segments/1674764501066.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20230209014102-20230209044102-00144.warc.gz | en | 0.850508 | 244 | 3.375 | 3 |
The new USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans were released January 31, 2011. Updated every five years, the main message of the new guidelines is to get off the SOFAS. In other words, kick the Solid Fats and Added Sugars. What are the worst food offenders?
- Grain-based desserts (cookies, cakes, and other pastries) and dairy desserts (ice cream) are top losers in all three categories: solid fats, saturated fat, and added sugars.
- Sodas and sugar-sweetened drinks top the added sugars list.
- Cheese and pizza are giving us our daily dose of saturated fats.
How to Develop Healthy Eating Patterns
More than just telling us what not to eat, the new guidelines make recommendations on the kinds of foods we should eat. So what makes a healthy diet? It should include the following:
1. Abundant in vegetables and fruits.
2. Emphasizes whole grain
3. Moderate in protein (seafood, beans and peas, nuts, seeds, soy products, meat, poultry, and eggs).
4. Limited in added sugars and may include more oils than solid fats.
5. Low in full-fat milk and milk products.
6. Has a high unsaturated to saturated fatty acid ratio and a high dietary fiber and potassium content.
7. Low in sodium compared to current American intake. | <urn:uuid:4f00bd16-1358-4ac6-8615-1744754d4225> | CC-MAIN-2013-48 | http://www.rd.com/health/healthy-eating/usda-message-for-a-healthy-diet-get-off-the-sofas/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-48/segments/1386163936569/warc/CC-MAIN-20131204133216-00069-ip-10-33-133-15.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931048 | 285 | 3.40625 | 3 |
Chips for chips19 February 2013
Plastic disposable electronics: doesn’t exactly sound sustainable. Still, these alternative electronics may contribute to a reduction of food waste, and so to a better environment. TU/e researcher dr.ir. Eugenio Cantatore and his colleagues developed a plastic AD converter - a breakthrough that was considered a highlight at this week’s ISSCC in San Francisco, the world’s foremost conference on electronic chips. About electronics in a bag of those other chips.
In developed countries, the average person throws away about one hundred kilos of food every year, partly because the expiration date on the packaging has come and gone. This waste is a problem for economic as well as environmental reasons. The main issue is that it’s hard to determine when food goes bad. The freshness of refrigerated products, for example, depends on the exact storage temperature, which is why producers of food are forced to make a fairly conservative estimate as far as the expiration date goes.
One of the ways to prevent food waste is by equipping packaging with an electronic food sensor that monitors the food’s acidity. A scanner can read the sensor to see if your steak is decomposing or whether your chips are still crispy or not. Technically, this idea is already feasible, says Eugenio Cantatore, associate professor at Mixed-signal Microelectronics. “All you need is a sensor and some basic electronics to read out the sensor. Standard silicon chips would be fine for that, except they’re too expensive.”
According to Cantatore, a simple silicon chip costs ten eurocents easily. While that’s not a lot when used in a computer or smartphone, it’s a substantial amount for a bag of chips worth less than a euro. “We’re working on electronic chips in which the semiconductor isn’t made of silicon, but of organic material. Plastic electronics, so to speak. These chips can be put into plastic packaging right away.” If dissolved in water, the plastic semiconductor can even be printed onto all kinds of flexible surfaces such as paper and wrapping plastic, not unlike ink. And that makes plastic electronics cheaper than silicon electronics – sensor circuits at less than a cent are realistic - and they’re suitable for uses where conventional electronics just won’t do.
The fact plastic chips are flexible makes them unique, the Italian explains. “Current silicon chips are produced at high temperature, up to over a thousand degrees for crystalline silicon computer chips. Even the production of amorphous and polycrystalline silicon, which is used in monitors for example, requires a temperature of six hundred degrees. Because of these high temperatures, a substrate is needed: solid bedding that won’t melt. For computer chips that’s silicon, and for monitors it’s glass. Our semiconducting materials can be processed at temperatures below two hundred degrees. That means they can be applied to plastics like polyethylene naphthalate, a cheap and flexible plastic related to PET that many bottles are made of.”
Of course, there are downsides to working with plastic electronics as well: there’s a reason silicon is still the standard. The basic components of electric circuits are transistors. And plastic transistors work according to a different principle than silicon specimens, says Cantatore. “They are accumulation transistors and that has a major influence on their characteristics.”
The electric characteristics of ‘ordinary transistors’ are very predictable, because all transistors in a single circuit are practically identical. “Plastic transistors, however, vary widely”, Cantatore explains. “The disadvantage of a cheap production process at low temperatures is that all plastic transistors differ. And that makes it much harder to create circuits. After all, you have to take into account the variability of the electric characteristics of the transistors. It requires complex mathematical models to predict the behavior of a circuit consisting of plastic electronics properly. We are experts in the field of designing circuits, but we also know about the physics of the transistors, and about mathematical models.”
With all that knowledge on board, Cantatore and his colleagues at Mixed-signal Microelectronics (MsM) have managed to build two different plastic ADCs (analog-to-digital converters) as a result of two different collaborations. Both results were heralded as one of the highlights of the authoritative electronics conference ISSCC in San Francisco earlier this week.
With an ADC, analog signals (the measuring signal of a sensor, for example) are converted into digital data. Until now, there were only two plastic ADCs. “We’ve added two new ones to the collection, doubling the world production”, the Italian researchers laughs. “One of the circuits, made within the European collaborative project COSMIC, is the very first printed ADC ever. On top of that, we’re using p-type as well as n-type transistors in this specific ADC, making it much easier to create all kinds of functionalities.” The researchers used screen printing to ‘stencil’ the circuits into the plastic.
With the development of plastic ADCs, implementation in the food and pharmaceutical industry is suddenly within reach. The fact is a sensor circuit consists of four components: the sensor itself, an amplifier, an ADC that digitalizes the signal, and a radio that enables distance reading. There are already plastic sensors measuring pressure, temperature, light intensity and certain chemicals. And even amplifiers for radio stations like RFID are readily available in plastic. ADC then, is the last link in the chain.
The characteristics of the plastic ADC are not very mind-blowing yet: its maximum resolution is seven bits and speeds come in at a few Hz. Plastic electronics are much slower than silicon ones anyway. It’s not just the components that are larger -several micrometers at least- but the signal speed is slower by a factor of a thousand as well.
A smartphone with plastic electronics won’t be happening, then. But for a sensor that monitors temperature for several weeks, or sends out a warning signal as soon as the steak starts going bad, size doesn’t matter. The same applies for a related use: plastic solar cells. Progress is being made in this field as well, thanks in part to the group of TU/e professor René Janssen. It seems plastic electronics and a sustainable future can go hand in hand, after all.
In the picture: the analog-to-digital converter (ADC). In this model, the conducting connections are made of gold and printed silver paste (a polymer in which drops of silver have been dissolved). Resistors are shown in black. The inset pictures the ADC by the COSMIC project. The ADCs from the ORICIS project are visible in the background. Left and right PhD students Sahel Abdinia and Daniele Raiteri. In the center: Eugenio Cantatore.
The traditional cantus – non-alcoholic this time – marked the end of Intro2014. The Czech zero-percent pilsner wasn’t a very popular beverage, but it was a perfect liquid to throw around.
Soon, TU/e will have to decide on the opening of a mini supermarket on campus. In a few months, the facility was to open in Flux, the new home to Applied Physics (TN) and Electrical Engineering (EE). TN has now indicated their department desperately needs the area for teaching.
The Central Intro Committee (CIC) can look back on a rather successful week. CIC chairman Tim Beishuizen: “The trainings on Thursday were perfect. The event at IJzeren Man is another one to remember for next year. Although we know it’s very dependent on the weather, Thursday’s a good day to freshen up. Lunches have improved greatly compared to last year. “It tasted better and there were more options. Out lunch packages were too big, however. We advise next year’s committee to pack smaller lunches, so there’s extra food for those who’d like more.
The news spread like wildfire on Twitter last Tuesday: ‘Starbucks opens branch at TU/e’. An employee of the US coffee company on the High Tech Campus is reported to have said so a day earlier. TU/e has confirmed Starbucks’ interest in opening a branch on campus, but there are no real plans yet.
Lake ‘Karpendonkse Plas’ set the scene for last Saturday’s Holi Fusion Festival. Armed with sachets full of colored ‘Holi powder’, thousands of youths and adults painted the town red on the tunes of Vato Gonzalez and La Fuente, while slowly transforming into a massive, life color palette. Among them, also a handful of spirited TU/e students: “This should have been part of the introduction week.” | <urn:uuid:8cd6e17a-0d39-455d-ace9-773f225a8fea> | CC-MAIN-2014-35 | http://www.cursor.tue.nl/en/news-article/artikel/chips-voor-chips/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-35/segments/1409535921318.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20140909051124-00304-ip-10-180-136-8.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942309 | 1,902 | 3.234375 | 3 |
Written almost 200 years ago, "Frankenstein" is a story of a man obsessed with creating artificial life. Yet some basic themes of Mary Shelley's novel eerily echo today's discussions on fetal tissue research, artificial intelligence, life-extension, and human cloning. This talk addresses why the novel continues to fascinate us, and why the story of Victor Frankenstein and his tortured creation lives on in popular culture through films, plays, musicals, parodies, and comic books. How could such an immortal work have been thought up by a sixteen year old girl in an era when women were not expected to write novels at all, let alone ones with such disturbing and provocative themes?
Funded project of the New York Council for the Humanities. The New York Council for the Humanities distributes federal funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities directly to notable projects created by museums, libraries, historical societies, and other cultural and educational organizations. | <urn:uuid:c031ef4e-4761-46d0-ac44-ba022e2738af> | CC-MAIN-2016-36 | http://www.neh.gov/events/2014/09/09/frankenstein-lives-the-continuing-relevance-mary-shelleys-novel | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-36/segments/1471982295424.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20160823195815-00098-ip-10-153-172-175.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956611 | 193 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Notice small tension in your body, your tone of voice, and level of frustration.
Are you getting activated?
ABOUT ANGER MANAGEMENT
Anger is a normal, healthy emotion, but when constant and explosive anger spirals out of control, it can have serious consequences for your relationships, your health, and your state of mind. Developing important insight about the real reasons for your anger, you can learn to keep your temper from hijacking your life.
The emotion of anger is neither good nor bad. Like any emotion, it’s conveying a message to our brain, telling you that a situation is upsetting, or unjust, or threatening. If your knee-jerk reaction to anger is to explode, that message never has a chance to be expressed verbally, but we act behaviorally off. So while it’s perfectly normal to feel angry when you’ve been mistreated or wronged, anger becomes a problem when you express it and act it out in a way that harms yourself or others. That’s where anger management comes in.
The aim of anger management isn’t to suppress feelings of anger but rather to understand the message behind the emotion and express it in a healthy way without causing harm. When you do, you’ll not only feel better about yourself, you’ll also be more likely to get your needs met, be better able to mediate conflict in your life, and strengthen your relationships. Mastering the art of anger management takes work, but the more you practice, the easier it will become.
Myths and facts about anger
Myth: "I got angry because I was drunk or high... Its the Alcohol's fault!"
Fact: Most people do not engage in harmful behavior while being under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Non-abusive people do not assault their partners even if they had too much to drink. The people who assault their partners while under the influence ALSO engage in patterns of coercive and controlling behavior. When they are sober they also tend to believe they have a right to control their partners in an assaultive manner. In other words substance abuse just makes their abuse worse, but it not the cause of anger.
Myth: I shouldn’t “hold in” my anger. It’s healthy to vent and let it out.
Fact: While it’s true that suppressing anger is unhealthy, venting is no better. Anger is not something you have to “freely let out” in an aggressive way in order to feel bette. In fact, outbursts and tirades only fuel the fire and reinforce your anger problem and can be perceived as threatening and intimidating to others wether you meant it or not.
Myth:Being aggressive and tough helps me earn respect and get what I want.
Fact: Respect doesn’t come from bullying others, respect is earned by modeling itself. People or your children may be afraid of you, but they won’t respect you if you can’t control yourself or handle opposing viewpoints. Others will be more willing to listen to you and accommodate your needs if you communicate in a respectful way.
Myth: I can’t help myself. My anger isn’t something I can control... It just happens!
Fact: Domestic violence offenders have complete control of their anger and use it to help coerce their partner.
Picture this: You are standing in front of a DV judge who is telling you committed an offense.
1- Do you explode in court and tell the judge off while insulting him/her?
2- Or do you carefully manage NOT to explode knowing the following consequences of a potential arrest?
Offenders are very capable to control their anger because they know there would be serious consequences if they failed to do so. They abuse their partners behind doors because there is no accountability, and an offender often thinks he/she is entitled to do so. And there is a long history of acting abusively with no accountability consequences to them.
You can’t always control the situation you’re in or how it makes you feel, but you can control how you express your anger. And you can express your anger without being verbally or physically abusive. Even if someone is pushing your buttons, you always have a choice about how to respond.
Anger Management: why is it important?
Anger Management tips
1-Explore what’s really behind your anger
Anger problems often stem from what you’ve learned as a child. If you watched others in your family scream, hit each other, or throw things, you might think this is how anger is supposed to be expressed.
Anger is often a cover-up for other feelings. In order to express your anger in appropriate ways, you need to be in touch with what you are really feeling. Is your anger masking other feelings such as embarrassment, insecurity, hurt, shame, or vulnerability?
If your knee-jerk response in many situations is anger, it’s likely that your temper is covering up your true feelings.
This is especially likely if you grew up in a family where expressing feelings was strongly discouraged.
As an adult, you may have a hard time acknowledging feelings other than anger. Anger can also be a symptom
of underlying health problems, such as depression, trauma, or chronic stress.
2-Clues that there’s more to your anger
You have a hard time compromising. Is it hard for you to understand other people’s points of view, and even harder to concede
a point? If you grew up in a family where anger was out of control, you may remember how the
angry person got his or her way
by being the loudest and most demanding.
Everyone has those emotions so you may be using anger as a cover for them.
Reconnect with your emotions to manage anger. If you are uncomfortable with different
emotions, disconnected, or stuck on an angry one-note response to situations, it’s
important to get back in touch with your feelings.
3: Recognize anger warning signs and triggers
Anger fuels the body’s “fight or flight”response so while you might feel that you just explode
without warning, there are physical warning signs that your body is preparing to react.
Recognizing these signs allows you to take steps to manage your anger before it boils over.
Identify negative thought patterns that trigger anger. You may think that external things— frustrating people or situations—are causing your anger. But anger problems have more to do with negative thinking patterns, such as having a rigid view of the way things should be and getting angry when reality doesn’t match up. Or maybe you overlook the positive things while letting small irritations mount? Or do you blame others for bad things that happen
rather than taking responsibility for your own life?
Recognize situations that trigger anger.
Stressful events don’t excuse anger, but understanding how these events affect you can help you avoid
4- Learn ways to diffuse anger
Once you recognize the warning signs, you can take steps to manage your anger before it spins out of control.
Manage stress: The more stressed you are, the more likely you are to lose your temper. But no matter how stressful your life seems, there are steps you can take to relieve the pressure and regain control.
5- Manage anger in the PRESENT
In certain situations—an argument with your boss, for example—taking time out to go for a walk or hit the gym may not be practical. These tips can help you cool down in the moment:
6: Know when to seek professional help. CALL US (805) 242-2502
If you’ve tried these anger management techniques and your anger is still spiraling out of control, you may need more help. There are many therapists, classes, and programs for people with anger management problems. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness.
Consider professional help for anger management if:
You may feel like you’re constantly walking on eggshells, but remember you’re not to blame for your loved one’s anger management problem.
And there’s no excuse for physically or verbally abusive behavior.
Dealing with a loved one’s anger management problem
While you can’t control another person’s anger, you can control how you respond to it:
ANGER IS NOT THE REAL PROBLEM IN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS
Despite what many believe, domestic violence and abuse is not due to the abuser’s loss of control over his temper, but a deliberate choice to control. If you are in an abusive relationship, know that your partner needs specialized treatment.
Domestic violence and abuse can happen to anyone, yet the problem is often overlooked, excused, or denied. This is especially true when the abuse is psychological, rather than physical. Noticing and acknowledging the signs of an abusive relationship is the first step to ending it. No one should live in fear of the person they love. If you recognize yourself or someone you know in the following warning signs and descriptions of abuse, reach out. There is help available.
Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE). Available for both women and men
You are now triggered, yelling, hurtful, and talking does not help.
to cool down for 20 minutes and return only when cooled off.
You are now BEHAVING AGGRESSIVE AND PHYSICAL/VERBAL VIOLENCE IS HAPPENING. You are risking to cause serious harm to yourself or to others. STOP EVERYTHING, STOP TALKING AND WALK AWAY IMMEDIATELY - BREATHE!
ANGER MANAGEMENT SPECIALISTS
domestic violence anger management court certified programs for Santa Barbara County | <urn:uuid:dfd688c1-1601-490a-b195-ef734474794b> | CC-MAIN-2024-10 | https://www.amspecialists.org/about-anger.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-10/segments/1707947474676.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20240227153053-20240227183053-00684.warc.gz | en | 0.932455 | 2,070 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Van der Wal, Rene and Bardgett, Richard D. and Harrison, Kathryn A. and Stien, Audun (2004) Vertebrate herbivores and ecosystem control : cascading effects of faeces on tundra ecosystems. Ecography, 27 (2). pp. 242-252. ISSN 0906-7590Full text not available from this repository.
We tested the hypothesis that large herbivores manipulate their own food supply by modifying soil nutrient availability. This was investigated experimentally the impact of faeces on grasses, mosses and soil biological properties in tundra ecosystems. For this, we increased the density of reindeer Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus faeces and studied the response of a tundra system on Spitsbergen to this single faecal addition treatment for four subsequent years. From the third year onwards faecal addition had unambiguously enhanced the standing crop of grasses, as evidenced by an increase in both shoot density and mass per shoot. Although reindeer grazing across experimental plots was positively related to the abundance of grasses in anyone year, the increase in grass abundance in fouled plots failed to result in greater grazing pressure in those plots. Faecal addition enhanced soil microbial biomass C and N, particularly under wet conditions where faecal decay rates were greatest, whilst grasses appeared to benefit from faeces under dry conditions. Whilst growth of grasses and soil microbial biomass were stimulated by faecal addition, the depth of the extensive moss layer that is typical of tundra ecosystems was significantly reduced in fouled plots four years after faecal addition. The greatest reduction in moss depth occurred where fouling increased soil microbial biomass most, suggesting that enhanced decomposition of moss by a more abundant microbial community may have caused the reduced moss layer depth in fouled plots. Our field experiment demonstrates that by the production of faeces alone, vertebrate herbivores greatly impact on both above- and belowground components of tundra ecosystems and in doing so manipulate their own food supply. Our findings verify the assertion that grazing is of fundamental importance to tundra ecosystem productivity, and support the hypothesis that herbivory is instrumental in promoting grasses whilst suppressing mosses. The widely observed inverse relationship between grass and moss abundance in the field may therefore reflect the long history of plant-herbivore interactions in tundra ecosystems.
|Journal or Publication Title:||Ecography|
|Subjects:||Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301 Biology|
|Departments:||Faculty of Science and Technology > Lancaster Environment Centre|
|Deposited By:||Prof Richard Bardgett|
|Deposited On:||10 Jul 2008 16:52|
|Last Modified:||17 Sep 2013 10:48|
Actions (login required) | <urn:uuid:8ff56e57-5f2e-4efa-9f54-b39bc8b1fe79> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/10259/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223207046.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032007-00446-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.900461 | 596 | 2.59375 | 3 |
In Sophocles ‘ calamity, Antigone, Sophocles uses several techniques to steer the audience ‘s respond to the cardinal characters and action. Sophocles uses Antigone and Ismene ‘s duologues to put up the narrative and acquire the audiences ‘ attending. He uses support characters to do the narrative flow swimmingly. Throughout the drama, Sophocles uses different techniques such as symbolism, enunciation, imagination and foils to assist the audience focal point in on the action and cardinal characters.
In Antigone, Sophocles uses Antigone ‘s foil, who would be Ismene because every bit much as Antigone is compelling and willing, Ismene is inactive and cowardly. When Antigone asks Ismene if she wants to travel bury their brother, Ismene responds with the inquiry “ Will you defy the jurisprudence? ” ( 2 ) . Normally, when person agrees with a proposal, there is no expostulation. A inquiry normally contradicts the suggester ‘s thought. Because Ismene ‘s nature is opposite of her sister ‘s, the inquiry therefore shows the reader Ismene ‘s concerns with authorization. The technique that uses a foil to stress a character ‘s personality or ideals guides the audience to understand the characters emotions and interior ideas. When Ismene says “ I have no strength to interrupt Torahs that were made for the public good [ … ] ( 4 ) , Ismene shows her concern for Antigone while seeking to conceal cowardliness. Bing Antigone ‘s foil, she gives off the feel that she submitted to the province, so she would non even bury her ain brother. Sophocles uses this foil to farther stress Antigone ‘s strength. Sophocles uses Antigone ‘s strength subsequently on so when Ismene comes to take her portion in the penalty, it makes Antigone look even braver. The usage of foils gives the audience a better apprehension of each character and how each character will impact the drama.
Another technique that Sophocles uses in the calamity is symbolism. When the lookout explains what happened when he found Antigone he says “ I have seen a female parent bird come back to a stripped nest, heard her shouting bitterly a broken note or two for the immature 1s stolen [ … ] ” ( 15 ) the female parent bird symbolizes Antigone as a protective figure. A mother bird normally takes attention of her immature and the immature that is being depicted in that statement is her dead brother. The same manner that Antigone takes attention of her dead brother is the same manner the lookout pictures a female parent bird shouting for her lost immature. Another usage of symbolism in the calamity is when Creon abuses Teiresias for vaticinating for gold. Creon says “ No, Teiresias, if your birds — if the great bird of Joves of God himself should transport him stinking spot by spot to heaven, I would non give [ … ] ( 36 ) . When he refers to the bird of Joves to Teiresias, this symbolizes that Teiresias is the will of the Gods. Zeus ‘ marks are the lightning bolt and bird of Joves. In the Odyssey, before Odysseus reveals himself and murder all of the suers, there was a lightning work stoppage and an bird of Jove. Those were all portion of the prognostication that the dead Teiresias had given to Odysseus. Whenever there are the marks of Zeus, it is the mark of his presence or command. Such symbols play an of import portion in steering the audience ‘s attending and responses because it gives the audience a better position of the drama.
Sophocles ‘ enunciation besides gives the audience the counsel to the cardinal characters. When Creon says, “ The State is the King! “ ( 25 ) , this pick of words show Creon ‘s power maltreatment and besides use theanthropism to give the audience a acquaintance. Sophocles uses these words to show the lunacy that Creon fumes out with his choler towards his boy. By giving the province a human-like quality of being a swayer, he tries to do himself seem lupus erythematosuss. Diction, along with it, has tone. When Creon uses those words, he is besides giving an indicant of his power maltreatment to his audience and that he is outraged by the rebelliousness of Antigone. Creon says, “ You excessively, Ismene, serpent in my ordered house, sucking my blood stealthily [ … ] ( 18 ) comparing Ismene to a serpent. He used a serpent because they are normally hidden off someplace until they see the opportunity to strike you. In “ The Epic of Gilgamesh ” , when Gilgamesh eventually acquires the flower to give drawn-out life, a serpent from a lake ambuscades him and takes the flower. Snakes, being inhuman excessively, Creon besides suggest to the audience that Ismene is evil and in a manner something that could be potentially unsafe later in the hereafter. With the pick of words, Sophocles is able to direct the audience ‘s attending to the chief characters and the action.
Sophocles usage of imagination helps the audience visualize the scenes in the calamity. When the Chorus enters it duologue, they say “ He was thrown back, and as he turned, great Thebes- – No stamp victim for his noisy power- Rose like a firedrake behind him, shouting war ” ( 6 ) painting the image of a firedrake. A firedrake being known as a fierce animal gives the audience the feeling that Polyneices struck back with such power. With this imagination, Sophocles gives the audience a comparing with his brother. His brother, Eteocles fights a firedrake ( Polyneices ) , which besides goes under the class of intension. By murdering the firedrake, he could salvage the metropolis, like the knights in reflecting armour. In the terminal he was defeated and therefore was defeated by the firedrake. Another usage of imagination that Sophocles uses in the calamity uses the grave that Antigone gets imprisoned in. Antigone says, “ O grave, vaulted bride-bed in ageless stone, shortly I shall be with my ain once more where Persephone welcomes the thin shades underground: and I shall see my male parent once more, and you, mother, and dearest Polyneices — dearest so to me, since it was my manus that washed him clean and poured the ritual vino: And my wages is decease before my clip! [ … ] ” ( 32 ) , so she has submitted herself to decease. This imagination gives the audience the feeling that she is happier to decease and see her household. By vacating herself to decease, she allows Ismene to populate and she has control over some destiny. Subsequently, by taking her ain life, the image it creats for the audience shows that she merely made her ultimate destiny come faster.
By utilizing imagination, foils, symbolism and enunciation, Sophocles was able to catch rhe audience ‘s attending and concentrate it on the cardinal characters and action. With symbolism and imagination, he paints the audience a image and connects those scenes to his audience. With enunciation, he creates tone and temper which makes the narrative more dramatic and cliff-hanging. And with foils, he gives the other characters ‘ strengths a encouragement, while doing the foils ‘ failing even more evident. By utilizing these techniques, Sophocles grabs the audience ‘s attending and ushers it towards the cardinal characters and action.
“ Anitgone.pdf. “ A Http: //thetalon.org/ANTIGONE.pdf. Trans. Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald. N.p. ,
A ” Entombment. “ A Shmoop. N.p. , n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2012.
A Fitzgerald, Robert. “ Anitgone.pdf. ”
A Http: //thetalon.org/ANTIGONE.pdf. Trans. Dudley Fitts. N.p. ,
“ What Were Zeus ‘ Symbols? “ A WikiAnswers. Answers, n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2012. | <urn:uuid:73236fb7-a123-4092-ad35-b100ecd8a2f0> | CC-MAIN-2018-26 | https://e-hipokrates.com/how-words-affect-the-audience-english-literature-essay/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-26/segments/1529267864191.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20180621153153-20180621173153-00543.warc.gz | en | 0.944399 | 1,788 | 3.59375 | 4 |
, Research Paper I. Background of Organization A. History of Organization Today?s elderly nutrition programs in the United States trace their roots back to Great Britain during World War II. When German planes bombarded English soil, many people in Britain lost their homes and subsequently their ability to cook meals for themselves.
, Research Paper
I. Background of Organization
A. History of Organization
Today?s elderly nutrition programs in the United States trace their roots back to Great Britain during World War II. When German planes bombarded English soil, many people in Britain lost their homes and subsequently their ability to cook meals for themselves. The Women?s Volunteer Service for Civil Defense responded to this emergency by preparing and delivering meals to their disadvantaged neighbors. The women also brought refreshments in canteens to servicemen during World War II. The canteens came to be known as ?Meals-on-Wheels.?
Meals-on-Wheels is truly a volunteer-driven agency. Caring individuals go out each day and deliver a nutritious lunch and dinner to needy seniors. Giving of their time to serve others is what makes our volunteers special. They bring our clients not only food, but important personal social contact that improves the quality of life for homebound seniors. The meals are delivered 7 days a week with two meals being delivered during lunch hour: a hot dinner for immediate consumption and a cold ?sack? supper for later.
Today, Meals-on-Wheels is preparing for a dramatic increase in clients. The fastest growing population are people over 85 years of age. Serving the needs of this population will be challenging. Meals-on-Wheels is ready to grow with the changing needs of the community. Increasing our volunteers will be a priority.
The IRS considers donations of cash, securities, and property as charitable deductions for income tax purposes. Sometimes people are surprised to learn that only two percent of funding for Meals-on-Wheels comes from government sources. That is why Meals-on-Wheels relies so heavily on charitable contributions.
A. Identify internal publics
Our internal publics are our administration and volunteers which include the people who assist in preparing, packaging and delivering meals, as well as the dieticians and chefs. Also people are needed for fundraising. These volunteers could be made up of students, churches, families, the AARP and many others. The internal publics might include civic groups such as Civitan or Rotoract. Involving the participation of church groups and specifically the Southern Baptist Convention, Meals-on-Wheels can lay a foundation of volunteers.
B. Identify external publics
Our external publics include two groups. There are those who are not able to prepare meals and have a need for food, usually 6o and over, at any income level, living on their own, but unable to prepare meals. Younger, disabled adults may also be eligible if they are homebound, and there are openings on the route. There is no minimum or maximum income level for eligibility. I thought this was interesting because this need transcends social class, race, or income level. Meals-on-Wheels continues to deliver to anyone that has a need: white, black, rich, or poor. The other group of external publics might be the general public, specifically those who may not be willing to volunteer but willing to make a donation. It is important that Meals-on-Wheels maintain a positive image to this certain publics.
A survey was administered to gather information about volunteering and fundraising ideas. If the administration knows the underlying motives for volunteering, perhaps they can get a better grasp on how to increase their volunteer work force. It was decided a questionnaire about volunteering was needed. We will assume the sample size of the survey was adequate and representative of the population. I have picked out certain questions that reveal certain aspects about volunteering. By no means is this survey all-inclusive, but we hope it will let us get a better grasp on motivating factors.
D. Survey Analysis:
· It was found that 32% volunteer at a hospital/hospice or clinic, 24% don?t volunteer, 16% with some other type of volunteering, 8% with children, and 8% with elderly programs such as Meals-on-Wheels.
· Of those that don?t volunteer, it is not surprising to find almost 70% are male.
· Females comprise the majority of the volunteer positions.
· 40% spent 1-7 days a year volunteering as opposed to only 8% spending two months or more.
· When polled about interest in fundraising events, there was a close tie for an outdoor concert and banquet fundraiser. Less than 15% showed an interest in a 5k Charity Run.
· It was decided a combination approach of the outdoor concert and banquet might serve as an idea for a fund raising approach.
· One of the main reasons people volunteer is to know they made a real difference in someone?s life. Religion did not seem to be a predominant reason.
· Getting out to meet new people (social motivator) is another major motivating factor in volunteering.
· The majority of people agreed or strongly agreed with a willingness to volunteer for Meals-on-Wheels. But saying one thing in a survey and actually volunteering are two entirely separate things. This survey tried to focus on the motivating factors of volunteering.
Attached is a copy of the survey and charts showing certain trends in the data.
III. Define Strategy
The strategy of Meals-on-Wheels is consistent with its mission statement. The main strategy is to help seniors remain independent members of society. The strategy also is to help seniors maintain their health, manage their own affairs, and live with dignity. The main strategy for public relations is to fundraise, promote image, and increase volunteers.
IV. Define Goals and Objectives
After communicating with the client, specific goals and objectives were set forth. Kathy Bates, coordinator for Meals-on-Wheels, specified many goals to be put in action to help them reach their overall strategy. Their main goal is provide for those unable to afford or prepare their own meals. There are many specific objectives.
· The client wanted to see a 25% increase in volunteers and donations by the year 2001.
· Meals-on-Wheels wanted to project its image to contributors as one that funneled all of its money back into the cause. Perhaps a fund allocation chart would be insightful.
· Many people had not heard about Meals-on-Wheels and they wanted to increase their exposure.
· They also wanted to increase volunteers specifically on the weekends.
· They had exhausted all their ideas for fundraisers, so they wanted some specific suggestions and ideas for unique fundraisers
· Wanted to increase participation with local companies and civic groups.
· Wanted to get a spokesperson or celebrity involved
V. Communication Step:
A. Establish which station or print piece you intend to use:
Since Meals-on-Wheels operates on a limited budget and is a non-profit organization, it cannot afford local or national broadcast advertising. Although it will not completely ignore advertising, it will pursue other venues that cost little or no money. The majority of the budget will go to a fundraiser at Bravo! and Hal & Mal?s. The media that we have chosen to use to communicate to our publics includes the following. The Clarion Ledger runs a weekly guide to entertainment every Thursday. It charges no money for a listing in this guide. Also, we have had many talks with the Southern Style staff editor, Susan Bartley, and after interviewing Horace Goodman, Meals-on-Wheel?s Volunteer of the Year, she has decided to run at least 2 stories featuring Meals-on-Wheels. The exposure that our organization will receive is invaluable and definitely promotes their image. Print and evening news would be a good media for the target audience, but we do not have the resources. The case tells us the financial base is located in the church, so use the church newsletter would be a useful and cost-efficient way to spread information and recruit volunteers. A public service announcement would be an excellent media source as well. Some radio stations allow guests to come in and talk about certain issues for a worthy cause. This would be an excellent idea to mention the fundraiser. It was decided that the only media time to be bought at the present time is 60 spots @ $15.00/spot on WHJT, a Christian radio station.
B. Define a schedule for the run
It was decided to run 60 spots, 2 a day for a month, prior to the fundraiser on February 14th. The spots would be scheduled during the drive home spots, occurring around 5-7 P.M. These time slots were thought to capture a certain demographic who might be geared towards volunteering and perhaps attending the banquet fundraiser. When future budgets allow, more money will be spent on advertising. A schedule for running the other types of media that do not cost money can be found in the timetable.
C. Write the spots, or newspaper releases. See attached
D. Define a budget for the plan. See attached
The time frame is hypothetical and considerably more time would be needed to administer the plan. See attached
VII. Describe how you intend to evaluate the plan
Most of the budget will concentrate on the banquet fundraiser. Any funds generated through this can be used for future advertising. The results of the survey revealed most people would like to attend a banquet fundraiser. After calling several restaurants, Dan Bloomenthal at Bravo! agreed to donate his time and services to the cause. He would only charge for food at cost. After Mr. Bloomenthal turned in his menu (see attached), he expressed that Randy Keitel, owner of Hal & Mal?s, desire to contribute as well. He donated use of his courtyard for an outdoor concert. When the ?Naturals? of MC agreed to perform, everything seemed to be coming together. The manager of Kinko?s also agreed to sponsor us and offer us discount on any work be done. Invitations for the event were created and mailed out to various civic groups and companies. Flowers, decorations and sound system were taken care of. There was a multitude of volunteers from local civic groups that really helped out. After Bernie Ebbers agreed to become spokesperson, it looked like the event would have an amazing turnout.
I decided that everyone in our PR group should volunteer at least twice a month on the weekends to get to know everyone one at Meals-on-Wheels. This is when we met Horace Goodman. Mr. Goodman, who is 63 years old and oxygen-dependent, continued to deliver over 1000 meals a year. He truly proved to be an inspiration to us as well as the public. He was the major stimulus for Susan Bartley to write the feature stories in The Clarion Ledger. A news release featuring him as Volunteer of the Year is released.
A press kit is assembled for the press conference announcing Bernie Ebbers, CEO of MCI/WorldCom as spokesperson for Meals on Wheels. Horace Goodman as Volunteer of the Year was also announced. Contents of the press kit might include a copy of the news release, a brochure about Meals on Wheels, copy of feature story in Clarion Ledger, and a volunteer sign-up sheet.
A public service announcement on the radio informed listeners that companies and civic groups that their employees can join our Meals-on-Wheels ?Adopt a Route Program?. Just two hours during lunch, and two employees with access to a vehicle, are all it takes to get started. The frequency of participation is tailored to fit the company?s operations. The public service announcement would also seek volunteers for weekends.
Kathy Bates, Meals-on-Wheels coordinator, expressed genuine appreciation at the success of the fundraiser. She also expressed a willingness to use us in the future. It made us feel good about ourselves to know we helped Meals-on-Wheels to achieve their overall strategy: to help seniors remain independent members of society.
|◯||Meals On Wheels Essay Research Paper In|
|◯||Meals On Wheels Essay Research Paper INTRODUCTIONMotivated|
|◯||Public Relations Essay Research Paper Public RelationsPublic|
|◯||Public Relations Essay Research Paper Public RelationsGood|
|◯||Place and role of political relations in the aggregate of public relations|
|◯||Что такое PR PUBLIC RELATIONS|
|◯||Public Relations: світовий та український досвід|
|◯||Public Relation Essay Research Paper What Is|
|◯||Организация public relations| | <urn:uuid:25c8f247-d261-4c3d-bd87-a8530bf2aaa2> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://mirznanii.com/info/a56019_meals-on-wheels-public-relations-plan-essay | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988718309.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183838-00399-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959128 | 2,689 | 2.953125 | 3 |
June 5, 2009 Researchers at Stanford University have discovered a more reliable way of printing semiconducting organic compounds which also delivers improved performance - a breakthrough which could finally pave the way for the mass production of plastic electronics.
The concept of using cheaper carbon-based materials in place of silicon to produce transistors is not new. In late 2005, Chemnitz University in Germany developed an intriguing method for printing integrated circuits on paper, cardboard and plastic. The process was later abandoned, however, because the gap in performance between the carbon-based and silicon components was too noticeable.
Research led by Stanford associate professor Zhenan Bao has produced a set of techniques for manufacturing organic films that can be placed directly underneath electron-carrying organic semiconductors. Such films are consistently smooth at a molecular level, which helps conduct electrical particles and improve the components' performance by up to two orders of magnitude. The smooth layers were produced via spin-coating, a common process already used in the production of CD and DVD layers.
When Bao's group tested the film with pentacene, one of the most commonly used organic semiconductors, its ability to carry an electrical charge improved 100-fold, with other semiconductors showing comparable performance gains. Nevertheless, several further improvements still need to be made, including better electrical contact between the crystals forming the smooth surface and the components' electrodes.
While organic electronics are cheaper than their silicon-based counterpart, further breakthroughs are needed before performance is on a par. Until then, organic electronics are likely to be used only in embedded systems, where performance requirements aren't as high as those needed in personal computer microprocessors. | <urn:uuid:d6b4ac08-c11e-4dfb-b29f-56a7a6b3019f> | CC-MAIN-2016-22 | http://www.gizmag.com/stanford-research-plastic-electronics/11890/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-22/segments/1464053209501.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20160524012649-00143-ip-10-185-217-139.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952603 | 338 | 3.875 | 4 |
Remember The Alamo
Remember the Alamo
The story of the siege of the Alamo is well known, but its historical context is not. This revealing documentary tells the story of Jose Antonio Navarro, leader of the Mexican community in Texas, and his efforts to protect the sovereignty of his homeland.
More than two decades before the battle at the Alamo, Tejanos (Mexican Texans) in San Antonio waged an unsuccessful rebellion, which Navarro and his family helped to lead. At the time, Texas was part of Mexico, which was under Spanish control. By the time Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821, Navarro had returned to San Antonio, where he was quickly appointed mayor. By the early 1830s, Texas was home to more than 20,000 settlers from the US and a campaign for self-rule was gathering momentum. In February 1836, Navarro and other Texan leaders gathered at Washington on the Brazos, 150 miles east of San Antonio, to declare independence. Mexican President Santa Anna's reprisals, which included the siege of the Alamo, were swift and brutal, but the Texan people's demands were not to be denied. A Texan army led by General Sam Houston inflicted a decisive defeat on Santa Anna's forces at the battle of San Jacinto, forcing Santa Anna to grant independence to the newly constituted Republic of Texas. Navarro's dream had become reality.
Wednesday 27 February at 9pm | <urn:uuid:40deba19-ede7-4d3a-88d2-200c6eaf580d> | CC-MAIN-2014-10 | http://www.pbsamerica.co.uk/remember-the-alamo | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-10/segments/1394011030107/warc/CC-MAIN-20140305091710-00072-ip-10-183-142-35.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982163 | 296 | 3.9375 | 4 |
An Invisible Man with perfect vision sounds like a superhero from a comic, but may be close to reality thanks to scientists at the University of St Andrews.
A team of physicists are one step closer to creating a Harry Potter-style invisibility cloak, with a new form of material that could also be attached to contact lenses to provide ‘perfect’ eyesight.
Using tiny atoms that can interact with light, the St Andrews’ researchers have developed a flexible new ‘smart’ material that could theoretically appear invisible to the naked eye.
It is the first practical breakthrough in a much-theorised area of physics that has inspired characters such as the Invisible Woman and Harry Potter.
Although cloaks designed to shield objects from both Terahertz and Near Infrared waves have already been designed, a flexible material designed to cloak objects from visible light poses a greater challenge because of visible light’s smaller wavelength and the need to make the metamaterial’s constituent part – meta-atoms – small enough to interact with visible light.
The St Andrews’ research team, led by EPSRC Career Acceleration Fellow Dr Andrea Di Falco, have developed an elaborate technique which frees the meta-atoms from the hard surface (‘substrate’) they are constructed on. The researchers predict that stacking them together can create an independent, flexible material, which can be adopted for use in a wide range of applications.
Dr Di Falco commented, “Metamaterials give us the ultimate handle on manipulating the behaviour of light. The impact of our new material Meta-flex is ubiquitous. It could be possible to use Meta-flex for creating smart fabrics placed on disposable contact lenses to create superlenses that could further enhance vision. Typical lenses generally have some form of limitation, such as aberration or limited resolution, but these perfect lenses would have none of these deficiencies.”
Other scientist have used paper to store energy. | <urn:uuid:360fbac7-a90e-4357-b996-f3471f1f8ddb> | CC-MAIN-2015-14 | http://www.epidemicfun.com/2010/scientists-create-invisible-material/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131296587.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172136-00100-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929436 | 403 | 3.328125 | 3 |
A New Definition of Symptoms & The Gift of Wonderment
By Dr. Nicole Cain
Do you remember the story about the woman who received treatment for her diagnosis of Lupus?
Her story goes beyond what we typically expect to see from a medical encounter. Not only did she enjoy the absence of disease, but she also enjoyed the presence of health.
In today’s blog I’d like to talk about the gift of wonderment but before we can do that, we have to understand the difference between the presence of health and the absence of symptoms.
First, we must go back in time.
Medicine in the 1800’s was abysmal at best. Disease was defined by observing clusters of symptoms that matched those of other sufferers and categorized based on what treatments were indicated. Treatment was considered successful when the patient’s original disease symptoms disappeared.
Methods used included: leeches, bloodletting (removing a patient’s blood to treat an illness, eg: Egyptians used it for migraines, Greeks for fevers, and others to get demons out of the blood), and poisoning with toxic compounds.
If a patient, for example, had a case of syphilis, typhoid or parasites, his or her doctor might recommend high doses of mercury (which we know now is extremely toxic to the human body). The patient was prescribed increasing doses of mercury until one of three outcomes occurred:
While you may not be taking mercury for parasites, the American Medical system has become increasingly dependent on the use of medicines in eradication of symptoms. A patient suffering from paranoia is given Riseperidone (an antipsychotic medication), and then they gain weight and develop high cholesterol, so they are then started on Topomax (which is often given to help with antipsychotic-induced weight gain) and a Statin (to reduce their cholesterol). They also develop tremors from the antipsychotic and are given Tetrabenazine to stop the jerking. It goes on and on.
Another example is a patient had a back injury and he is prescribed Oxycodone. Oxycodone is known for causing depression and constipation, which the patient then starts to experience. He is given Zoloft for the depression and Miralax for the constipation. But the patient develops gas and bloating from the Miralax and insomnia due to the Zoloft. He is given Prilosec for his stomach, and is also prescribed Trazodone to aid in sleep.
Are you seeing a pattern?
This method of medicine is like the game whack-a-mole. You have a hammer in your hand and every time a furry little critter pops his head up, you whack it. Just like when a pesky little symptom occurs, you whack it with another prescription.
Doctors spend all their time whacking with their prescription hammers instead of figuring out where the moles are coming from to begin with. This results in more and more moles getting whacked, costing our health care system more money, and causing us as patients to become sicker, and sicker.
While in the 1800’s and until now, the whack-a-mole method of medicine predominated, there were and are other clinicians practicing a form of medicine called vitalism. What made vitalistic practitioners different is their unique understanding health and disease. It was this alternative perspective that made all of the difference for their patients.
Hahnemann describes his and his colleagues observations of their patient outcomes in his book entitled The Organon of Medicine, which states: “In the state of health, the spirit-like vital force (dynamis), animating the material human organism, reigns in supreme sovereignty. It maintains the sensations and activities of all the parts of the living organism in a harmony that obliges wonderment. The reasoning spirit who inhabits the organism can thus freely use this healthy instrument to reach the lofty goals of human existence.”
To summarize: In a state of health, the person is uninhibited. Their body functions in a way that is admirable, harmonious, and vital (powerfully alive). The person not only feels vital and powerfully alive, but they function so well that the people around them look at them with wonderment. The person can then live to their highest purposes in life.
This is wonderment.
Hahnemann saw wonderment in his practice, as did a small number of other clinicians who chose to deviate from the modernized trajectory of their colleagues. By understanding that a symptom is a sign of a deeper imbalance, and by seeking to understand what that imbalance is, there is hope. Once the obstacle to cure is gone, we can give the body what it needs to heal, we can promote the body’s natural ability to self-correct, we can tonify weak and damaged systems and promote the elimination of toxic waste. The body can become healthier and once that occurs, the body will no longer need symptoms in order to indicate that it is sick. Because the sickness has resolved.
This is possible for all people, and it is possible for you.
While Hahnemann reflects upon the wonderment observed by others, I urge you to focus rather, on the wonderment of the self.
You are unique, beautiful, powerful, and you have a purpose. You are reading this blog for a reason. Perhaps you were lead here by a friend, or via a winding journey of late-night-Google-searching.
Health is a gift, and our symptoms are the guideposts towards the treasure that health is. Health is not an outcome—health is a journey.
Take this gift… go on the journey.
The woman who recovered from Lupus has a wonderful story. The difference between her and the woman with the LupusMe license plate is how she thought about her health and her disease. The woman with the license plate was lupus. She said, “I AM MY DISEASE.” The woman who recovered said, “these symptoms are not me, I am a healthy vital being” and with treatment, her symptoms went away and her health blossomed.
Believe you have potential.
Believe your body is wise.
Believe you can heal.
Believe you have a purpose.
Our outward manifestations of our inward experiences (aka: symptoms) are the truest canaries available to us (see my other blog about the canaries). The canaries saved hundreds upon hundreds of lives of hard-working miners and your canary is speaking to you.
Will you chose to listen?
What will you chose to do?
Read below for some quick tips to help you get started, and some “food for thought.”
I look forward to seeing you next time.
How to get Healthy: 4 Tips For success
Reflection questions: Am I truly healthy? | <urn:uuid:8304744a-4d5a-4f0c-9200-f02b0b10a562> | CC-MAIN-2017-43 | http://mymentalhealthdoc.drnicolecain.com/whack-a-mole-medicine-versus-vitalism-medicines-dark-and-dirty-secrets-exposed/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-43/segments/1508187823731.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20171020044747-20171020064747-00745.warc.gz | en | 0.959896 | 1,436 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Definitions of Financial Aid
Scholarship: Scholarships are a gift award of money, generally in combination with other types of aid, to a student of at least average academic qualifications with an amount determined by financial need.
Grant: Grants are a gift award of money based upon financial need.
Loan: A loan is financial aid that requires repayment. All applicants for loans, except parents applying for PLUS loans, are required to file a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Eastern Gateway participates in the Federal Direct Stafford Loan Program (DL).
• Direct Subsidized Loan – This is a loan for a student based on financial need as determined by federal regulations. No interest is charged while you are in school at least half-time or during deferment periods.
• Direct Unsubsidized Loan – This is a loan for a student that is not based on financial need. Interest is charged during all periods. With the unsubsidized Stafford loan, you can defer the interest payments until after graduation by capitalizing the interest. This adds the interest payments to the loan balance, increasing the size and cost of the loan. Important Note: All students, regardless of need, are eligible for the unsubsidized Stafford Loan.
• Direct ParentPLUS Loan – Parents of dependent students may borrow an unsubsidized loan. PLUS loans help pay for education expenses up to the cost of attendance minus all other financial assistance. Interest is charged during all periods. Parent PLUS loan borrowers cannot have an adverse credit history (a credit check will be done). In addition, parents and their dependent child must be U.S. citizens or eligible noncitizens, must not be in default on any federal education loans or owe an overpayment on a federal education grant, and must meet other general eligibility requirements for the Federal Student Aid programs. There are no set limits for Direct PLUS Loans, but you may not borrow more than the cost of your child’s education minus any other financial aid received, such as a Direct Subsidized or Unsubsidized Loan. The school will determine the actual amount you may borrow.
Work Study: Federal Work Study allows students with demonstrated financial need, enrolled at least half time, to earn money at an on-campus or off-campus job to help pay for their educational expenses. | <urn:uuid:d9e83b1f-128c-4449-a196-58131b06023c> | CC-MAIN-2019-18 | https://egccresources.com/financial-aid-definitions/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-18/segments/1555578528058.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20190419201105-20190419223105-00221.warc.gz | en | 0.956055 | 473 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Eight years ago, middle school students in Xiamen, China, proposed a new design for an aerial bike lane for the city, suspended under an elevated road used for bus rapid transit. The city eventually decided to build it. After six months of design and construction, it’s now open for trial use.
The route stretches almost five miles, making it the longest elevated bike path in the world. It has 11 exits that link to six public transit hubs. If someone doesn’t have a bike, and just wants to get to the next subway or bus station quickly, they can rent one of hundreds of bikes provided on-site; the bikes can also be dropped off at other locations throughout the city.
It’s a little like the “Cycle Snake” elevated bike path in Copenhagen, which links between bridges over a crowded pedestrian area (and a little like a crazier design once considered, and abandoned, for a bike path between the roofs of skyscrapers in the Danish capital). But the Xiamen path will happen at a larger scale.
At rush hour, the path will be able to accommodate more than 2,000 bikes an hour; gates at the entrance automatically close if it gets too full. Designed to help decrease traffic on the city’s roads, and the accompanying air pollution, it’s meant to be a viable alternative to driving. | <urn:uuid:76b70573-f2cc-4eab-b5ce-338561c0cdef> | CC-MAIN-2017-34 | https://www.fastcompany.com/3068063/this-is-the-longest-aerial-bike-path-in-the-world | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-34/segments/1502886105455.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20170819143637-20170819163637-00443.warc.gz | en | 0.943185 | 286 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Student develops Mouse Glove
A 16-year-old student from Wales is looking for funding to develop a wearable mouse device. The "Mouse Glove" was developed by Tobias Patterson-Jones, who is currently studying at Coleg Powys, Brecon.
The glove-like prototype fits on the hand and allows the user to control a computer in much the same way a mouse would.
The invention was featured on a TV programme on The Discovery Channel after Tobias was named as one of four people chosen to pitch their ideas to a panel of experts experienced at turning ideas into commercial products.
The mouse glove is designed to help people who suffer with Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). It also thought it could be employed by the computer games industry.
Earlier this week US-based Essential Reality named EB Games (formerly Electronic Boutique) as one of a handful of companies to flog its new peripheral product, the P5.
The P5 is a hand-worn controller that lets users interact with their PC without having to touch their keyboard or mouse. ® | <urn:uuid:85b00b2e-8de4-4688-a31a-1fe7896e7b7d> | CC-MAIN-2022-21 | https://www.theregister.com/2002/10/18/student_develops_mouse_glove/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-21/segments/1652662570051.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20220524075341-20220524105341-00061.warc.gz | en | 0.975429 | 221 | 2.953125 | 3 |
|This article does not cite any references or sources. (September 2014)|
A mezcal worm is an insect larva found in some types of mezcal produced in Oaxaca, Mexico. The larva is usually either a gusano rojo ("red worm") or a chinicuil ("maguey worm"), the caterpillar of the Hypopta agavis moth.
The other variety of "worm" in mezcal is the larva of a weevil known as picudo del agave, Scyphophorus acupunctatus, the agave snout weevil, that infests certain species of yucca and maguey. They are not related to edible maguey worms (in reality moth larvae) of central Mexico.
The weevil is a pest that can severely damage agave plants, by eating the plant to death from the inside. If only a few infest the plant, they can still carry and infect the plant with harmful bacteria leading to plant death. In some cases, up to 40% of a maguey harvest has been lost to weevil infestations. Infection-resistant varieties of the plant are being developed.
Picudo larvae may be roasted and eaten; they are a seasonal specialty of markets in southeastern Mexico.
Although the custom is relatively recent, larvae are used frequently by several brands of mezcal to give flavor to the drink. A whole larva is deposited in the bottle, normally after having previously been cured in pure alcohol. Nacional Vinicola (NAVISA) was the first company to add a worm to its Gusano Rojo mezcal. Andres Paniagua and Jacobo Lozano, creators of Gusano Rojo and Dos Gusanos, first introduced the practice of adding larva to mezcal. Today, several brands are doing this.
|This beetle-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.|
|This Mexican cuisine–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.| | <urn:uuid:49725c4b-71e1-4635-a538-51d42a909913> | CC-MAIN-2015-22 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mezcal_worm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-22/segments/1432207928350.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20150521113208-00079-ip-10-180-206-219.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935583 | 429 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Attitudes about Aging: A Global Perspective
Chapter 2. Aging in the U.S. and Other Countries, 2010 to 2050
Although the population in the U.S. is getting older and growing more slowly than in the past, the demographic future for the U.S. is robust in comparison with other countries. In particular, the U.S. population is projected to grow faster and age slower than the populations of its major economic partners in Europe and Asia. These demographic trends may enhance future opportunities for the U.S. in the global economy.17
Population Change: India and Nigeria Lead the Way
The U.S., with 312 million residents, was the third most populous country in the world in 2010. China was the leader with 1.4 billion residents, and India was close behind with 1.2 billion. Only one other country—Indonesia—had more than 200 million residents in 2010. Six countries—Brazil, Mexico, Russia, Pakistan, Japan and Nigeria—had populations of 100 million to 200 million in 2010.
India, it is projected, will secure global demographic primacy by 2050. The population of India is expected to increase by more than 400 million from 2010 to 2050, to 1.6 billion. Meanwhile, the population of China may increase by only 25 million, remaining at about 1.4 billion. The U.S. is projected to add 89 million residents by 2050. However, the U.S. is likely to be displaced by Nigeria as the third most populous country. In 2050, India alone may be home to nearly as many people as China and the U.S. combined.
Four other countries—Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria and Kenya—are expected to add at least 50 million people each to their populations from 2010 to 2050. Nigeria stands out in this list because the increase in its population—280 million—is exceeded only by India, a country with a much larger base.18 The populations of several major countries—Russia, Germany, Italy and Japan—are expected to shrink.
In percentage terms, the growth in the U.S. population (28%) should exceed the growth in two of its major Latin American partners—Argentina (26%) and Brazil (18%). Among other countries where populations are on the rise, the U.S. is likely to outpace Britain, France, Spain, China, South Korea and South Africa. With populations in Russia, Germany, Italy and Japan on the decline, the U.S. population is expected to increase in size relative to several of its major economic partners.
The most dramatic growth in population is projected to be in Nigeria (176%) and Kenya (138%). Nigeria is likely to move from being the seventh most populous country in 2010 to the third most populous by 2050. The populations of several other countries also are expected to grow at a faster rate than the U.S. population: Pakistan (57%), India (34%), Indonesia (34%), Israel (60%), Egypt (56%), Iran (35%), Turkey (31%), and Mexico (32%).
Immigration and Population Change
Population growth in the U.S. is robust in comparison with European countries and also in comparison with other economic powers such as Brazil, Japan, China and South Korea. The principal driver of U.S. population growth is immigration. The U.S. is home to more immigrants than any other country—42.8 million in 2010, compared with 12.3 million in Russia, the second largest. The share of immigrants in the U.S. population (13.8%) is the third highest of all countries featured in this report, behind only Israel and Spain.19
Immigrants have added to the U.S. population generally and to the population of women in their childbearing ages. They also have brought relatively higher fertility rates with them.20 The importance of these factors has increased over time as fertility rates for native-born women in the U.S. have fallen steadily. The Pew Research Center estimates that, from 1960 to 2005, immigrants and their descendants accounted for 51% of the increase in the U.S. population. Looking ahead, from 2005 to 2050, immigrants and their descendants are projected to contribute 82% of the total increase in the U.S. population.21 Without immigration, U.S. population growth from 2005 to 2050 would be only 8.5%, more on par with that of European nations.22
Given the role immigration can play in sustaining growing populations, the question that arises is whether aging countries could offset the process through immigration. The realistic answer, it turns out, is no. A UN report that examined the issue finds that Japan, South Korea and countries in Europe would have to raise their immigration levels multiple times beyond current levels just to maintain a constant total population.23 For example, to prevent their populations from decreasing, Germany would have to roughly double its annual intake of immigrants between now and 2050 and Russia would have to quadruple its annual inflow.
Because immigrants are not immune to getting older, preventing population aging is even harder. The UN report also finds that immigration rates would have to increase by a factor of 46 in Russia and by a factor of 18 in Germany to prevent old-age dependency ratios from rising through 2050.
Even in the U.S., keeping the old-age dependency ratio constant through 2050 would call for immigration inflows that are 15 times the present rate.
The Graying of Countries
Aging of societies seems inevitable. Regardless of their initial size or the rate of growth in their populations, all countries included in this study are projected to experience a rise in median age from 2010 to 2050. Also, the share of the population ages 65 and older is expected to increase in all countries.
Median Age: South Korea and Japan Projected to be the Oldest by 2050
Amid this “epidemic” of aging, the U.S. is projected to get relatively younger by virtue of being among those countries that are aging the slowest. The projected increase in the median age in the U.S., from 37 in 2010 to 41 in 2050, is matched in its moderation only by Britain, France, Russia and Nigeria. The other countries in Europe are likely to age faster than the U.S. Spain leads the way, with its median age increasing from 40 in 2010 to 50 in 2050. Generally speaking, European populations are older than the U.S. today, and that gap should stretch further between 2010 and 2050.
Sharp increases are expected in the median age in Latin American countries. Mexico, Brazil and Argentina populations are currently seven to 11 years younger than the U.S. However, in 2050, the median age in Brazil should be 44, three years older than in the U.S. Mexico may also turn older than the U.S. with a median age of 42, and Argentina will nearly catch up to the U.S.
Countries in Asia and the Middle East are also turning gray rapidly. The median age should increase by 16 years in South Korea, from 38 in 2010 to 53 in 2050.24 Double-digit increases are also expected in India, China, Indonesia, Pakistan, Iran, Egypt and Turkey. The median age in China, Iran and Turkey is younger than the U.S. at the moment but should become older by 2050.
Japan currently has the oldest population in the world, and the median age there is projected to increase from 45 in 2010 to 53 in 2050. South Korea is expected to catch up to Japan by 2050 as its median age also increases to 53 by mid-century. By then, the median age in Germany (51), Italy (50) and Spain (50) will not be far behind. China’s population, with a median age of 46 in 2050, is expected to be older than those in Russia, France and Britain by that date.
There are only a few instances of moderate aging. Israel is expected to remain relatively young, with its median age rising from 30 in 2010 to 36 in 2050. Nigeria and Kenya will remain even younger. The median age in these countries in 2010 was only 18 and 19, respectively. By 2050, it should increase to 21 in Nigeria and 25 in Kenya. Thus, people in these two populous countries in Africa will remain half the age as those in the oldest countries included in this study.
Proportion of People Ages 65 and Older Increases in All Countries
The rapid increases in median age are a reflection of the rising proportions of seniors (65 and older) in the populations of all countries. In the U.S., the share of seniors is expected to increase from 13.1% in 2010 to 21.4% in 2050. But it may triple in Mexico, from 6.0% to 20.2%, and in Brazil, from 6.9% to 22.5%. The share almost doubles in Argentina, rising to 19.4% in 2050.
A doubling to tripling of the share of seniors is also expected in the Middle East and Asia. The most notable gains are in China, from 8.3% in 2010 to 23.9% in 2050, Iran (5.2% to 21.5%), and South Korea (11.1% to 34.9%). Japan, where the share is already quite high, is projected to experience an increase from 23.0% in 2010 to 36.5% in 2050.
European countries that are likely to track the Japanese experience include Germany, Italy and Spain. They, too, will likely find that about one-third of their population is ages 65 and older in 2050.
Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa are expected to retain the distinction of having the lowest proportions of people 65 and older in their populations. In 2050, only 3.8% of the population in Nigeria, 6.3% of the population in Kenya and 10.5% of the population in South Africa should be ages 65 and older.
Proportion of Children Younger than 15 Decreases in Most Countries
The population segments of children younger than 15 are projected to decrease in almost all countries. Indeed, most countries should experience a crossover between the share of their population that is 65 and older and the share that is younger than 15. In the U.S., for example, 13.1% of the population was 65 and older in 2010, and that was less than the 19.8% share that was younger than 15. In 2050, however, 21.4% of the U.S. population is projected to be 65 and older, greater than the 18.2% of the population that will be younger than 15.
Other countries that are projected to have more seniors than young children in their populations in 2050 include Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Iran, Turkey, Russia, Britain, France, China and South Korea. Germany, Italy, Spain and Japan have already reached this milestone, while Egypt, Israel and India may be approaching the tipping point by 2050. However, the population of children younger than 15 is expected to continue to outnumber the population of seniors by large magnitudes in Pakistan, South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria.
Most Countries Projected to Have Relatively More Dependents in the Future
The principal economic implication of an aging population is that it potentially reduces the share of the population that is in the prime of its working life. This can slow overall economic growth, absent a compensating rise in productivity.25 At the same time, the share of the population that depends on those at work may increase. The “dependent” population includes most seniors who, in addition to their savings, depend on family transfers, private pensions and social insurance. Children younger than 15, are, of course, principally dependent on their parents.
The potential burden on the working-age population to provide for the dependent population is measured by the dependency ratio. The old-age dependency ratio is defined as the number of people ages 65 and older per 100 people of working age (ages 15 to 64). The child dependency ratio is the number of children younger than 15 per 100 people of working age. Finally, the total dependency ratio is the overall number of dependents (people younger than 15 or older than 64) per 100 people of working age.26
The total dependency ratio is expected to increase in most countries in the years ahead. This transformation will be felt most strongly in Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan and South Korea. In 2050, the dependency ratio in these countries is expected to range from 83 in Germany to 96 in Japan. This means that these countries will have almost as many dependents as working-age people in 2050.
Countries poised to experience potentially more favorable demographic change include Egypt, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. In these countries the working-age population is projected to increase in size relative to the youth and senior populations combined by 2050. Thus, relatively more resources may be freed up for economic development.
The most significant declines in the dependency ratio are expected to be in Pakistan, Nigeria and Kenya. These three countries currently have high levels of dependency ratios because of their significantly large populations of children. In the future, those children will stream into the labor markets in these countries in large numbers.
Increases in old-age dependency ratios, or aging, explain why total dependency ratios are generally on the rise. In the U.S., for example, the total number of dependents per 100 working-age people is expected to increase by 17 from 2010 to 2050, and this is entirely due to the increase in the number of seniors.
With the exception of Nigeria and Kenya, all countries in this study are set to experience large, proportional increases in the old-age dependency ratio. For example, the number of seniors per 100 working-age people in Mexico and Brazil are projected to more than triple from 2010 to 2050. Growth of this magnitude or more is also expected in Iran, Turkey, China, Indonesia and South Korea. Some countries that are already among the oldest in the world—Germany, Italy, Spain and Japan—may find that their old-age dependency ratio has doubled by 2050.
In several countries, expected decreases in the child dependency ratios will more than compensate for increases in the old-age dependency ratios. In India, for example, the number of seniors per 100 working-age people is projected to increase from 8 in 2010 to 19 in 2050, but the total dependency ratio will fall from 54 to 48. That is because the number of children younger than 15 per 100 working-age people in India is expected to fall from 47 to 29. Similar patterns are projected for Egypt, Pakistan, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa.
Is Demography Economic Destiny?
The growth in a country’s population and changes in its age composition are often linked to the economic prospects for that country. A workforce that is growing in size relative to the youth and elderly populations sets the stage for more rapid economic growth. However, that demographic dividend, as it is generally described, dissipates with time because people age up and out of the workforce. That in turn sets the stage for slower economic growth.
Are these economic outcomes inevitable? Research demonstrates, for example, that the demographic dividend played a significant role in the emergence of Asia’s economic tigers in the latter half of the 20th century.27 But the dividend does not appear to be automatic because historically not all countries are observed to benefit in like fashion from demographic transitions.
It has been noted by researchers that countries that benefited the most from demographic transitions also had complementary forces at work. These include good governance; high saving rates; investments in infrastructure, schooling and public health; policies promoting gender equity; and openness to trade and foreign investments.28 The implication is that countries currently on the cusp of the demographic dividend—India, Pakistan, Egypt, Nigeria and Kenya—perhaps cannot assume that economic benefits will automatically flow to them. India, for example, ranks very low on indicators of nutrition, health and education for its youth population and has regressed on these fronts in recent years.29
By the same token, it is not inevitable that the aging of a country’s population portends gloom for its economic prospects. Several potential antidotes can address a shrinking workforce. One is to raise productivity, and that may happen with more investment in capital and with innovations that emerge in response to the growing scarcity of labor. It is also possible to boost the size of the workforce through immigration.
People may also choose to work longer in aging countries, especially since life expectancy is increasing and health outcomes for older people are improving.30 In the U.S., for example, labor force participation among those 65 and older has risen from a low of 10.8% in 1985 to 18.7% in 2013. In 1948, the first year for which data are available, the labor force participation rate for people 65 and older was 27.0%.31
- The 23 countries covered in this chapter include nine of the 10 most populous countries in the world in 2010. In order of population, they are China, India, U.S., Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Nigeria, Russia and Japan (Bangladesh, which ranks eighth, is not included). The other countries, except for Israel, were among the 35 most populous countries in 2010. ↩
- Other countries whose populations are expected to increase by more than 50 million but that are not a part of the analysis in this report are Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Uganda, Philippines, Niger and Bangladesh. ↩
- Immigration estimates are from the World Bank (http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SM.POP.TOTL.ZS and World Bank, 2011). ↩
- In 2010, there were 87.8 births per 1,000 immigrant women ages 15 to 44 in the U.S. compared with 58.9 births per 1,000 native-born women of the same age group (Livingston and Cohn, 2012). ↩
- Immigrants and their descendants are projected to account for all of the growth in the populations of children (17 and younger) and working-age adults (ages 18 to 64) in the U.S. from 2005 to 2050 (Passel and Cohn, 2008). ↩
- See Passel and Cohn (2008). Australia and Canada are notable examples of developed economies that have immigration policies designed to sustain population growth. Immigrants accounted for 21% of the population in each country in 2010. According to the UN projections, Australia’s population will increase by 51% from 2010 to 2050 and Canada’s by 33%. ↩
- United Nations (2001). ↩
- The difference of 16 years is computed from unrounded figures for the median age. ↩
- Gordon (2012), Bloom, Canning and Fink (2011), and Freeman (2006) are among those who examine this issue. Although overall economic growth may slow, per capita output may not be affected. Freeman (2006) argues that per capita output, not total output, is the more appropriate metric for economic policy. ↩
- Alternative measures of dependency ratios define the working-age population to be ages 20 to either 64 or 69. ↩
- Mason (2005). ↩
- Bloom, Canning and Sevilla (2003) and Gribble and Bremner (December 2012 and September 2012). ↩
- Kundu (2012). ↩
- Freeman (2006), Gordon (2012), Bloom, Canning and Fink (2011) and Sanderson and Scherbov (2008). ↩
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. ↩ | <urn:uuid:d23891ef-96a5-4b8f-8238-c59428bc37d8> | CC-MAIN-2015-14 | http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/01/30/chapter-2-aging-in-the-u-s-and-other-countries-2010-to-2050/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131304625.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172144-00180-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957374 | 4,028 | 2.96875 | 3 |
Many people assume that an original work must be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office for the creator to have a copyright. Registration does not grant a creator a copyright. It simply provides a public record of the copyright ownership so that the creator of an original work can defend his interests if anyone infringes upon his rights.
"Copyright" is the right of a creator of an original artistic work to the exclusive use, benefit and republication of the work. These rights are based on equitable principles rooted in English common law and attach automatically upon publication of the work. This means that a creator has an automatic copyright in his work, whether or not he decides to register his copyright with a government agency. Registration brings significant advantages, however, that make it an essential step in protecting the creator's rights.
There are four basic advantages to copyright registration. Registration allows a copyright holder to sue an infringer in federal court, an option that is not available to copyright holders that have not registered. It serves as an automatic indication that the registrant is the actual owner of the copyright, making it the infringer's responsibility to prove differently. It enables the copyright holder to sue an infringer for statutory damages so that he doesn't have to prove that the infringer's use of the work actually damaged him. Finally, registration provides notice to the world of the copyright holder's claim of rights, preventing an infringer from claiming that he used the work innocently, without knowledge of the creator's existing interests.
There are no actual disadvantages to copyright registration. Registration conveys additional rights and benefits, making it easier for the owner of an original work to protect it against infringers. Registration does not take any rights away from the creator of the work. Perceived disadvantages can only be viewed from a functional or theoretical perspective. Functionally, the need to complete a registration takes time and costs money. Theoretically, some activists think copyrights stifle the creative landscape, preventing people from taking works and using them to make new works that will further contribute to society.
It is important to realize that the federal government has preempted state registration of copyrights. The only place a copyright registration can be completed is through the U.S. Copyright Office. Moreover, if a copyright is not registered, an owner cannot sue an infringer in state or federal court. Since the government has preempted copyright through a federal statute, the only option for a copyright holder is to put himself under the federal statute by registering and creating the standing to sue in federal court. Without registration, the copyright holder has no recourse to stop infringers from using his work.
- Comstock/Comstock/Getty Images | <urn:uuid:d004c552-1819-40fd-8034-440f0b61d35c> | CC-MAIN-2017-34 | http://smallbusiness.chron.com/copyright-registration-advantages-disadvantages-12029.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-34/segments/1502886108268.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20170821114342-20170821134342-00713.warc.gz | en | 0.944494 | 541 | 3.296875 | 3 |
Malaria Diagnosis (U.S.) - Microscopy
Microscopic examination remains the "gold standard" for laboratory confirmation of malaria. These tests should be performed immediately when ordered by a health-care provider. They should not be saved for the most qualified staff to perform or batched for convenience. In addition, these tests should not be sent out to reference laboratories with results available only days to weeks later. It is vital that health-care providers receive results from these tests within hours in order to appropriately treat their patients infected with malaria.
(See DPDx specimen preparation) A blood specimen collected from the patient is spread as a thick or thin blood smear, stained with a Romanovsky stain (most often Giemsa), and examined with a 100X oil immersion objective. Visual criteria are used to detect malaria parasites and to differentiate (when possible) the various species. (See DPDx Plasmodium species comparison chart) Wright’s stain, which is commonly used in hospital laboratories for examining blood (called a CBC with manual differential), can be used if Giemsa stain is not available. However, species determination might be more difficult.
Microscopy is an established, relatively simple technique that is familiar to most laboratorians. Any laboratory that can perform routine hematology tests is equipped to perform a thin and thick malaria smear. Within a few hours of collecting the blood, the microscopy test can provide valuable information. First and foremost it can determine that malaria parasites are present in the patient’s blood. Once the diagnosis is established – usually by detecting parasites in the thick smear – the laboratorian can examine the thin smear to determine the malaria species and the parasitemia, or the percentage of the patient’s red blood cells that are infected with malaria parasites. The thin and thick smears are able to provide all 3 of these vital pieces of information to the doctor to guide the initial treatment decisions that need to be made acutely.
Microscopy results are only as reliable as the laboratories performing the tests. In the United States, there are, on average, 1500 cases of malaria diagnosed and reported each year. Thus, the average laboratorian does not perform this test regularly, and may not be maintaining optimal proficiency.
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What Life Skills Do Our Kids With Autism Need to Succeed?
At some point we all have to face our children growing up. For those of us with kids on the spectrum, this milestone can seem even more daunting. For some parents, even getting their kids into winter clothing can seem next to impossible, so teaching other life skills can seem overwhelming. Even the word “succeed” might be misleading. Each child with autism will have a different measure of success. For some, putting on clothing, remembering to eat, or simply being able to navigate daily tasks will be the goal. For others, it will be remembering to get to class, or performing tasks at their jobs. Now that my children are in their teens, I am starting to see some of the early work on life skills paying off in certain areas. In some areas, they might always need support (don’t we all?). Below is a helpful list of categories for the basic skills necessary to meet individual levels of success.
The Seven Categories of Life Skills Necessary For Success For People With ASD
- Executive Functioning Skills: These are organizational skills that are needed to plan the day, break down a task, create a “to do” list, and plan ahead for chores, outings etc…It will be an on-going process to build this skill, as it is something that is challenging for most of those with ASD. Michelle Garcia Winner, SLP, offers excellent advice and exercises to build executive functioning skills for high-functioning individuals through her Social Thinking Program. We are also hosting a conference with Joyce Cooper-Kahn in Halifax in 2016 to help youth build better executive functioning skills. Can’t make it to the conference? Her book: Late, Lost, and Unprepared: A Parents’ Guide to Helping Children with Executive Functioning, is a must have for any parent or caregiver for a child with autism.
- Practical Living Skills: These skills encompass finding information (internet, books, newspapers etc.), money skills (budgeting, bank accounts, credit cards, making change), travel (reading a map, using transportation, planning a trip), clothing (care, laundering, organizing), home care (garbage day, housecleaning, doing dishes) cooking, and shopping. One of the best ways to teach these skills is through involving your child in your daily routine, rather than doing everything for them. The earlier you include your child in activities such as cooking, cleaning, and laundry, the longer they have to develop comfort and routines in these important areas.
Superstore offers a cooking/shopping program for people with disabilities in Edmonton, AB. The program involves choosing a recipe, shopping for the groceries, then preparing the food. Check with your local grocery story, or kitchen shop to see if they offer (or are interested in offering) such a program. There are many resources available for segments of this kind of learning, please check our resources page for classes, courses, or support in your area.
- Personal Care: This would involve personal daily hygiene, exercise, nutrition, dealing with an illness such as a cold, and coping with stress. Create and rehearse relaxation routines, make task breakdown lists for showering, toileting or toothbrushing if steps are missed without prompting. Some of of my favourite resources for teaching hygiene to youth is are: 101 Tips for the Parents of Boys with Autism or 101 Tips for the Parents of Girls with Autism . If these don’t sound like what you are looking for, we have many many resources in our Life Skills Section of our store to check out. There is something for everyone.
- Job Skills: How do you look for a job? Create a resume? Get work experience? Be a good employee? A good place to start to gain job experience may be through volunteer work. If parents volunteer for an organization, take the child along too to gain some experience. My two children have shadowed me in the past at my volunteer position at our local farmer’s market. They will get to know the vendors which could perhaps lead to a job later on.Other volunteer avenues to try are through churches, sports clubs, Guides or Scouts, museums, parks and recreation, the library – the list is endless. Try to find a good fit with the child’s interests.
- Personal Safety: A tough topic to teach! Many children will memorize rules like don’t talk to strangers, but will not know when to break those rules if necessary. Under stress, some people lose their ability to speak. It may be a good idea to carry around a card with a few statements on it for those stressful moments when it can be hard to gather one’s thoughts. Teach what risks are, and how to avoid unsafe situations. For example, one rule may be not to use public transportation after dark if in a big city. Another may be not to do favours for an unfamiliar person. An excellent book to start off the topic with younger children is An Exceptional Children’s Guide to Touch: Teaching Social and Physical Boundaries to Kids. It has a number of short stories that illustrate different kinds of touch from accidental to friendly to harmful, and helps to illustrate appropriate boundaries.
- People Skills – This would fall under the topic of social skills. Areas that need to be developed are working in a group, making friends, asking for help, dealing with family relationships, communicating over the phone, conversation etc. Social skills is a broad topic. Although social rules and etiquette can be taught, if the child is high functioning enough, think about teaching flexibility in thinking and perspective taking. Good books for this are Teaching Your Child the Language of Social Success, Thinking About You, Thinking About Me, and Teaching Children with Autism to Mind Read.
- Self-Advocacy : A topic which is often forgotten, children need to be taught how to get their needs met effectively. They need to know how and when to ask questions, who to approach for help, when to give their opinion, and how to say no. I just wrote a blog post about how Judy Endow – one of my favourite authors on the spectrum – opened my eyes to what seems like an implicit problem of class for those with disabilities, that makes teaching self-advocacy more important than ever. Two books that do a great job of outlining how to provide your child with self-advocacy skills are: Ask And Tell, and Autism Life Skills: From Communication and Safety to Self-Esteem and More .
The acquisition of life skills is an on-going process. All skills take time to acquire and become fluent with. It is ideal to start working on all of these skills while the child still lives at home. Make sure your child’s school has a life skills program as this should be an integral part of every child’s education. My top recommended life skills books to start with for both teachers, therapists and parents are Darlene Mannix’s Life Skills Activities for Special Children or Life Skills Activities for Secondary Students with Special Needs and Tasks Galore for the Real World, suitable for ages 10 and up.
Editorial Policy: Autism Awareness Centre believes that education is the key to success in assisting individuals who have autism and related disorders. Autism Awareness Centre’s mission is to ensure our extensive autism resource selection features the newest titles available in North America. Note that the information contained on this web site should not be used as a substitute for medical care and advice.
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The world’s cheapest car, the Nano, rolls out in India this week. Manufacturer Tata Motors says it will change the way Indians drive, for the inauguration places the personal car within the reach of people who once could only dream of owning one. Indeed, the Nano has been marketed as an ‘aspiration’—the right of every Indian to a car. No quibble here. There is no question an affordable car is better than an expensive one; or that a small car, being more fuel efficient, is better than a big one. No question, too, that every citizen of India has as much right to a car as every citizen of America, where vehicle numbers are obscene: some 800 vehicles for 1,000 people (old and young) against our measly 7 per 1,000 people (urban and rural).
Let me roll out my concerns. The issue is not the Nano. The issue is all cars and whether cars still are the future of the world economy. Over years, in different continents, vehicle manufacturers invented and re-invented this appliance for self-mobility, for different market segments. In India, two-wheeler manufacturers can rightly claim that over the 1980s they, too, provided technology innovation and affordable mobility for vast numbers. They can also claim they were the first to break the class barrier. Then, in the early 1990s, when Sanjay Gandhi’s people’s car, the Maruti 800, hit the roads, gender barriers also fell—this was a car women could drive and it gave new freedoms. No question, therefore, of what Nano will bring to new owners.
But this launch comes at a time when the production of personal vehicles itself is becoming old-economy. It is not surprising the car industry has become the first big dinosaur of the 21st century. Every country today is working to bail out its automobile industry. The big four companies are still on the brink of closure. There is huge over-capacity in the world of cars—sales are down and the industry is bleeding. You might think it is a temporary phase: cars will zoom again, as recession blues turn pink. But this is far from the reality.
The fact is cars could only make it big in the old economy because they were highly subsidized, or incentivized through cheap bank loans. If people could not afford the next car, the bank worked overtime to make sure the loans kept rolling, even if that eventually broke the bank’s back. But that is the past. The future, too, will not be too different. The bank might recover, but the cost of the fuel to drive the dream vehicle will not. Oil experts will tell you black gold prices will rise again, when the world economy re-boots.
Add to this what can only be called the mother of all subsidies—the free-ride personal vehicles have got, in the world, to emit large amounts of greenhouse gases and pump them into a common atmospheric space. As the rights over this ecological commons will be determined, as they must, carbon dioxide emissions from the cars of the rich will have to be limited and taxed. This will cost. It will make driving more expensive.
The global automobile industry knows it is not our future. It is our past. Unfortunately, this message has not yet come home. Unlike the car-saturated West, we still have a large number of people who are potential buyers. But the fact is in India, because of the even greater price-sensitivity, personal vehicles are viable only if they are subsidized to the brim.
Take the Nano. My colleague Chandra Bhushan has calculated the incentives rolled out by Narendra Modi’s Gujarat government amount to a fat write-off—as much as Rs 50,000-60,000 per this Rs 1 lakh car. In other words, its cost is so low only because the state has doled out a largesse. Every past and present automobile has got this benefit (more or less). We can afford a car because our government pays for it. We can also afford it because we are not asked to pay the price of its running—the tax on cars is lower than what buses pay in our socialist country. We do not pay for its parking, a cost, which, if added, would make us think twice before we bought or drove our new dream vehicle, whatever the variant.
As the Nano rolls out, think of how we subsidize the car and tax the bus. Public buses pay taxes as commercial passenger vehicles, each year and based on the number they carry. In many states, they pay over 12 times more tax than cars. Think of the public transport bus service in your city and ask how much of its revenues go in taxes: half, in most cases. Think also that the same Tata company, that has managed to roll out the car of our dreams in record time, does not possess the capacity to build the buses cities need.
Such an old-economy approach becomes completely perverse when one considers that already today, and definitely tomorrow, the greater proportion of people who are or will commute are using and will continue to use public transport—a bus or a train. Today, as much as half of rich Delhi takes a bus, and another one-third walk or cycle because it is too poor to even take the bus.
Think again about the car inequity in India—7 per 1000 people. Can the government write off the costs—Nano style—so that all can buy the car? Can the government pay for our parking, our roads and our fuel, so that all can drive the car? If not, then is this the right right at all?
The issue, then, is not the right to own a Nano. The issue is the right to a slice of the public subsidy so that everybody has the right to mobility. There is no other right.
— Sunita Narain
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A number of distinguished botanists have been associated with the Missouri Botanical Garden throughout its history. Their work enhanced the Garden's research program and made a lasting contribution to botanical science.
George Engelmann (1809-1884) founded the St. Louis Academy of Science and was the principal scientific advisor to Henry Shaw. Engelmann was a German-born physician and botanist and a noted authority on plants, particularly the cacti and conifers of the middle and southwestern territories that later became part of the United States.
William Trelease (1857-1945) was the first Engelmann Professor of Botany at Washington University and the first director of the Garden after Shaw. As director from 1889 to 1912, Trelease immediately established programs in exploration, scientific publications, herbarium building, and graduate education, while maintaining and enlarging Shaw's horticultural displays.
Jesse More Greenman (1867-1951) came to the Garden in 1913 as the first curator of the herbarium. He arranged the collection, which grew from 600,000 specimens into a well-organized research tool of about 1.5 million, and supervised a large number of graduate students. Many, including the late Mildred Mathias and Julian Steyermark, went on to distinguished careers in botany.
Edgar Anderson (1897-1969) was an early student of the importance of hybridization in the evolution of plants. A gifted teacher, he popularized botany for non-scientists through his many delightful articles for the Garden's Bulletin and his book Plants, Man and Life (1952). Anderson served briefly as director of the Garden from 1952 to 1956 but always preferred the simple title, Botanist.
Robert E. Woodson Jr. (1909-1963), a native St. Louisan, earned his Ph.D. in 1929 under Greenman and was curator of the Garden herbarium until his death. After several collecting and exploring expeditions to Panama, Woodson initiated the Garden's first long-term tropical floristic study, Flora of Panama, which was completed in 1982.
Julian A. Steyermark (1909-1988) was St. Louis born and bred, earning his Ph.D. through Washington University in 1933. Although he spent most of his career in Chicago and Caracas, his Flora of Missouri (1963) is a classic. Steyermark also produced numerous tropical American floras and returned to the Garden in 1984 to work on Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana. He was credited in the Guinness Book of World Records for collecting 138,000 plant specimens during his lifetime.
Alwyn H. Gentry (1945-1993) became interested in plants of the tropics as a student of tropical ecology in Costa Rica in 1967. After receiving his degree from Washington University in 1972, he continued as a Garden curator until his death in a plane crash while exploring the forests of Ecuador. Gentry specialized in Bignoniaceae, the trumpet creeper or catalpa family, and was renowned for his extraordinary expertise in identifying all woody groups of tropical plants. | <urn:uuid:b3fef453-81bd-4f1e-8a6b-b5cba1a49fcf> | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/Research/unseengarden/knowledge7.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1430448955185.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20150501025555-00077-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967764 | 644 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Understanding the importance of working out will help you make it a routine.
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With 206 bones and more than 600 muscles, your body was designed to move.
Think about it. Your mother experienced your first movements while carrying you during pregnancy. Your parents tried their best to keep up with you when you were a toddler as you bounced from one place to the next, seemingly never running out of energy.
As you entered adolescence, you probably still played and exercised for hours on end. In fact, you were likely in the best shape of your life.
But as you grew older, you may have found yourself busier. Adult responsibilities including holding a job, paying bills, and other obligations began to fill your days. And even though it may sound counterintuitive, this busyness probably led you to become more sedentary.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), “…less than 5% of adults participate in 30 minutes of physical activity each day.” Nearly one-third of the country’s population older than six years of age do not get any form of exercise.
More troubling is that the last few decades have shown that today’s children, who traditionally were always active, are part of this worsening trend. They “now spend more than seven and a half hours a day in front of a screen,” according to the HHS.
Even though society is becoming increasingly sedentary, this does not have to include you. With a few simple changes—you can stay fit!
The less you exercise, the more at risk you are of suffering adverse effects. Therefore, concreting in your mind why keeping fit is important will help you squeeze in exercise daily.
Research by the Mayo Clinic revealed that being sedentary for long periods is linked to obesity and metabolic syndrome, which includes excess body fat, abnormal cholesterol levels, high blood sugar, and high blood pressure. The findings demonstrated that people who spent more than four hours a day in front of a screen had a 50 percent increased risk of dying by any cause—and a 125 percent increased risk of heart problems!
One of the study’s researchers, Dr. James A. Levine, even coined the phrase “sitting is the new smoking” since there is substantial evidence that sitting results in similar serious conditions as smoking cigarettes.
Findings published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute support the fact that being sedentary can also result in lung, colon and endometrial cancers. More alarming is that with every additional two hours of sitting, the risk of developing these three types of cancers increased 6 percent, 8 percent, and 10 percent, respectively.
The HHS reported that obesity affects a third of American adults, and almost 17 percent of children. In addition to the effects of metabolic syndrome, it also results in joint problems—and even early death.
Those suffering from such ailments impact overall healthcare costs. The annual medical costs of obesity alone in the United States are $147 billion, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and obesity-related problems cost another $190 billion each year, according to the Harvard School of Public Health.
These increasing costs are being pushed to private and government insurers, and affect what their clients and taxpayers—you—pay.
The human body is an engine. As with any system, it requires energy and must be properly maintained to function at its peak.
Energy for the body is generated by a combination of oxygen and certain nutrients. Oxygen-rich air is inhaled and carried by the blood to cells. Through a chemical reaction, oxygen converts fat and the nutrients from food (such as protein and carbohydrates) into usable energy.
Regular exercise improves this energy-producing process. Increased cardiovascular activity causes more blood to flow to your skeletal-muscle tissue, skin, intestinal organs, kidneys and brain.
The body’s requirement for energy causes it to first burn what is available in the digestive system and blood stream, and then eventually what is stored as body fat. Consistent physical activity strengthens your muscles, conditions your heart and lungs, increases your energy, improves your brain function and concentration, and helps ensure harmful metabolic waste is removed.
But the benefits do not end there.
In addition to helping control your body weight and burn calories, you are more likely to feel less stressed and sleep better.
On a genetic level, exercise unlocks certain genes that are in muscles, which are helpful in resisting cancer.
An active lifestyle further prevents chronic diseases such as hypertension, stroke and diabetes, and reduces the risk of heart attack.
On top of all these benefits, physical activity helps to curb cravings for junk food and cigarettes, and has been proven to prevent migraine headaches. Moderate exercise coupled with a healthy diet and proper water consumption can also help treat constipation as increased circulation helps food and nutrients more easily move through the body.
With all the facts in place about how exercise leads to a healthier, longer life, what can you do to ensure you reap its benefits—and stay committed?
Start small: Staying active and healthy does not require a lot of time or money—you can benefit from exercise intervals as short as 10 minutes. As a rule of thumb, the American Heart Association recommends “at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity at least 5 days per week for a total of 150 minutes.”
But you do not have to begin this way. Instead, start small and make 30 minutes a long-term goal you work toward, especially if you have not been physically active for some time.
Before implementing an exercise routine, determine your level of activity on a scale of one to 10. One would be not active at all (needs much improvement), five would be moderately active (needs some improvement), and 10 would be highly active. Be honest in your assessment.
For a score of five and below, work toward a moderately intense exercise routine, one that requires a medium amount of effort and increases your heart rate. If your body is not used to exercising regularly, focus first on maintaining a certain level of activity for a set time period—a full 10 minutes, for example.
According to the World Health Organization, moderately intense exercises include brisk walking, dancing, gardening, housework and playing with your children. Of these, walking is the most practical and easy-to-begin activity.
As you improve your score higher than five, add more vigorous exercises that require greater effort and a more rapid increase in your heartrate. These include running, walking uphill, fast cycling, swimming, participating in competitive sports, heavy shoveling, and carrying loads of more than 40 pounds.
If you have not been active for a long period, it is recommended that you first consult a physician and gradually increase the intensity of your exercise.
Use what you have: Exercising at work or in your home can be just as beneficial as having a gym membership or expensive equipment. This is an important part of fitting exercise into a busy schedule.
For example, there are numerous ways to stay physically active throughout the workday.
If possible, walk or ride a bicycle to your job at least twice a week. Also, use your work environment to your benefit. Park on the far end of the parking lot and walk to the entrance. Instead of sitting, walk around your office while talking on the phone. Take the stairs to a meeting rather than the elevator.
During lunch, walk to a city park or to a location down the street. This will not only give you a workout, but it can also help refresh your mind and keep you sharp while performing afternoon duties.
After work, exit the bus a few blocks from home and walk the remaining distance or walk a few laps around the parking lot before taking off for the day.
Many workplaces offer recreational activities for employees or even an office gym. Participating in these activities will not only help you get in shape, but also become better acquainted with colleagues.
If you really want to fit in a routine and it is appropriate for your work environment, your office can be an effective place to do additional exercise during a lunch break. Start with stretches, arm raises, leg raises, or standing for intervals of time.
Later you can upgrade to walking, jogging or running in place, doing push-ups, squats, calf-raises while standing behind your chair, and lunges.
While it may seem unusual to do these kinds of exercises at work, this is how many are fitting physical activity into increasingly busy schedules. (Search online on various exercise websites for other ways to stay active while at work.) Since such exercises stimulate the brain, those who do them during the workday receive the added benefit of staying more alert. They all involve using your bodyweight as resistance, meaning you do not need any equipment, which multiplies the possibilities of working out effectively.
Sets of 10 to 15 repetitions at a time can easily be squeezed in between tasks or during breaks. Smaller weights to exercise the arms and upper body can also be stored in a desk drawer.
Big or small, your home adds to these possibilities. You may want to designate an area in your home where you feel comfortable exercising.
But remember to start small. A walk around the neighborhood or to the grocery store can be a great way to get moving. These walks can serve as family outings or ways to spend time with your spouse.
Other family activities, such as a hike in the woods or tossing a ball in the backyard, can help lead to better physical health and build stronger bonds between you and your children. The main thing to keep in mind, though, is whether at work or at home, get started now.
While you may be busy—and probably feel as though you do not have time to fit exercise into an already demanding schedule—incorporating just a few small changes into your daily routine will do wonders. And because staying fit can extend your lifespan, it will ensure that you have even more time to do other things in the long run. | <urn:uuid:a86d8d29-c2c2-4812-b7f2-9c4cd4079679> | CC-MAIN-2019-35 | https://rcg.org/realtruth/articles/170626-001.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-35/segments/1566027313996.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20190818185421-20190818211421-00200.warc.gz | en | 0.960876 | 2,072 | 3.046875 | 3 |
Based at the Irving K. Barber Centre at the University of British Columbia, Indigitization is a collaborative project that provides grants and training to First Nations community groups to support their digitization projects. Digitizing First Nations materials involves unique challenges around access to information, storage of digitized material, and culturally appropriate knowledge organization systems. On June 10-12, 2016, past program participants met alongside others concerned with digitization practices and the management of Indigenous knowledge in communities to participate in the Indigitization Futures Forum. The Forum provided space to discuss past and future projects, share knowledge and best practices, and to work together to envision future paths for the community-based digitization work that Indigitization supports.
At the forum, past participants spoke to the power of rooting their digitization projects within community, and discussed how specific community needs and protocol have shaped the outcome of their work. Joey Caro, from the Hul’qumi’num Treaty Group and Penelakut, discussed the need to prioritize traditional land use information according to which areas of the territories have projects proposed for them. Rory Housty from the Heiltsuk Cultural Education Centre spoke about his practice of digitizing recordings from families with upcoming potlatches, so that they can have access to those materials to help guide their practices. Other participants spoke of the complexity of representing sacred traditional knowledge within information systems, and shared the many ways in which communities have come together to augment existing systems to work for their needs, in some cases creating whole new open source systems to contain the knowledge.
Presenters demonstrated their deep personal connections to the work, and teased out ways of incorporating these relationships into the projects themselves. Several panel members spoke to the importance of engaging both elders and youth within their projects, to both help shape the outcome and provide hands-on access to the materials. Marvin Williams from Lake Babine generously shared some of the history of the people that was learned through their digitized tapes. They are keeping their culture strong by passing this knowledge and techniques to their youth.
Kate Hennessy discussed a project with the Dane-zaa people that incorporated participatory media making, where community members could come together to help curate the physical material which was to be digitized for the online gallery. This long-term approach to curation gave people time to raise and discuss concerns over local rights and the circulation of materials as they arose, and helped support participants’ ownership of the final galleries. Sherry Stump from the Tsilhqot’in Nation spoke about the Nation’s digitization of Traditional Use Studies, which took place from 1999-2001. Because the first release form did not account for digital access, the project has created a new form that specifically asks participants about their comfort with having information shared; elders can choose to make the materials publicly available for use only in educational purposes, or to keep it confidential.
Alongside presentations from past grant participants, Futures Forum attendees also heard speakers from various universities and organizations. During the lunchtime keynote address, UBC faculty enriched the conversation with perspectives from further afield; Dr. Candace Kaleimamoowahinekapu Galla discussed some of the ways in which technology is being harnessed to support language revitalization in Hawai’i, and Dr. Mark Turin shared his experiences helping to leverage collections back into community hands with the Digital Himalaya project.
With the focus of the weekend’s forum on looking to the future, presentations also contributed to the discussion of how community projects and the Indigitization program might evolve in the coming years. Panel guests provided plenty of inspiration and advice for those thinking about next steps in their projects. For many of those looking beyond their audiocassette digitization projects, the next big challenge is preserving the material housed on other deteriorating formats. Elizabeth McManus from Musqueam Archives discussed the idiosyncrasies of digitizing reel-to-reel audio recordings, and shared some of the unique aspects of the materials she’s handled in her work with Musqueam. Gerry Lawson from the Museum of Anthropology brought up ways in which digitization technology has changed over the past decade, and spoke to the need to move quickly with these projects, both to preserve deteriorating materials and to take advantage of the digitization technology while it is still available.
At the end of the forum, participants came together to brainstorm and share their knowledge needs around project management, funding, communities of practice, and digitizing other media formats. The consensus of these conversations highlighted both the diverse and deeply important work already being done to support community-based digitization work, and the desire for greater connection among community projects to learn and discuss ideas.
After this weekend of knowledge sharing and discussion, Indigitization hopes that the conversation will continue. The steering committee is excited to move forward, taking the stories and reflections shared at the forum and letting those guide the shape of the future of Indigitization. They hope to continue to create opportunities for communities to share experiences and knowledge.
The Futures Forum program, including video recordings of some presentations, can be viewed at the Stories from the Forum webpage. For more information about Indigitization and its grant program, please visit Indigitization.ca.
Michelle Kaczmarek is a PhD student and Emily Guerrero is a Master’s student at the University of British Columbia’s School of Library, Archival and Information Studies. Emily and Michelle are Research Assistants with the Sustaining Information Practices team. The team’s work with Indigitization is made possible by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada | <urn:uuid:0c7b5488-a9ad-4c77-9771-407bdc40d839> | CC-MAIN-2017-39 | https://bclaconnect.ca/perspectives/2016/11/01/indigitization-futures-forum/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-39/segments/1505818688103.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20170922003402-20170922023402-00402.warc.gz | en | 0.948172 | 1,162 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Economic decline: the critical role of agriculture
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Although there is no one single reason that could by itself explain Ghana's rapid economic decline, it is safe to say that at the root of the problem were the severe economic disequilibria caused by the insistence on a fixed exchange rate regime and the lack of proper macroeconomic policies to support it.
Agriculture in general and the cocoa sector in particular played critical roles in the economic crisis. Although the growth of the cocoa sector was essential for foreign exchange receipts and fiscal revenue collection, macroeconomic policies discriminated against cocoa, both directly and indirectly: i) by direct taxation of the cocoa industry in terms of high shares of the cocoa price being used to cover the expenses of an inefficient and highly expensive parastatal bureaucracy; ii) by indirect taxation of real domestic prices as a result of the overvaluation of the currency, high domestic inflation and the relative protection accorded nonagricultural sectors.
In a well-known study, direct and indirect taxation of cocoa in 1975-79 and 1980-84 were calculated and compared. The results show that, for the 1975-79 period, there was a 26 percent direct subsidization (negative taxation) of cocoa producers because of the low world cocoa prices and the system of payments as described above. During the same period, indirect taxation of cocoa was 66 percent. The net result was a total taxation (or negative protection) of cocoa amounting to 40 percent. The situation worsened during the 1980-84 period during which, although direct subsidization increased to 34 percent, indirect taxation increased to 89 percent for a net tax of 55 percent. The situation was very different with imported food products: the data for rice show that, while it was subject to a negative indirect protection of 66 percent in 1975-79, rising to 89 percent in 1980-84, it enjoyed direct protection of 79 and 118 percent, respectively. The combined effect was a positive overall protection for the two periods of 13 and 29 percent, respectively. Those results are in broad agreement with the overall government policy on tradable food commodities, as described previously.
The excessive cocoa taxation policies exacerbated the impact of declines in world prices of this commodity and reduced production by an average of 6.1 percent per year in 1970-83. A comparison with Côte d'Ivoire demonstrates that the loss in cocoa output was not just a result of changes in the world price. While Ghana's world market share changed from 26.3 percent in 1970 to 14.5 percent in 1983, Côte d'Ivoire increased its share from 11.6 percent in 1970 to 25.8 percent in 1983.
The disincentive effects of policies on cocoa production created a vicious cycle for the Ghanaian economy. Declines in production and exports meant declining fiscal revenues and foreign exchange receipts, a situation that was dealt with by imposing more controls and increasing inflationary deficit financing, which increased inflation and dampened production incentives. The emphasis on increasing controls to stave off the crisis caused Ghana to become one of the world's most distorted economies during 1970-1980.
Macroeconomic reforms. When the Provisional National Defence Council took over in December 1981, Ghana was on the brink of economic collapse after initial attempts to deal with the crisis through tighter controls on foreign exchange, stricter border surveillance and an anti-corruption campaign. The government first adjusted the exchange rate in April 1983 by establishing a system of export bonuses and import taxes that amounted to a 900 percent devaluation of the exchange rate.
In 1983, in response to the deepening economic crisis, the government launched the economic recovery programme (ERP), covering the period 1983-1986. This was followed by the first phase of the structural adjustment programme (SAP I), covering the period 1987-1988, and by the second phase (SAP II), from 1989 to 1990. In 1983 the ERP was accompanied by nominal devaluations, first to keep the real exchange rate at its April 1983 value and later to create further real devaluations. Two major institutional reforms practically eliminated the overvaluation of the cedi: establishing the exchange rate auction in September 1986 and the launching of the interbank market in April 1992.
Fiscal policies succeeded in broadening the tax base and increasing tax revenue from 4.6 percent of GDP in 1983 to 11.2 percent in 1986 without a major increase in tax rates. Non-tax revenue also increased as a share of total revenue, mainly as a result of the grants which increased from 0.6 percent of total revenue in 1983 to 5.9 percent in 1992. Higher fiscal revenues permitted increased spending on civil service salaries, infrastructure rehabilitation and social services and programmes without increasing the deficit. Thus, total fiscal deficit as a percentage of GDP, which stood at 2.7 percent in 1983, became a surplus 1.5 percent in 1992. The structure of spending also changed: the share of capital spending in total central government expenditures increased from 7.9 to 20.1 percent while current expenditures fell from 89.3 to 76.7 percent.
The conduct of monetary policy in Ghana is complicated by large official capital inflows. The need to replenish the foreign exchange reserves of the central bank as well as the need to use foreign aid to finance the domestic expenditure and fiscal revenue gap have been major sources of monetary growth. Thus, growth of the broad money supply increased at an average annual rate of more than 40 percent in 1984-1988. Since 1989, domestic credit policy has been used to offset the growth of foreign assets, so money supply growth decelerated between 1989 and 1991 although it exploded in 1992, an election year. The cause was an 80 percent wage increase for civil service staff, which set the stage for private sector wages to increase by 500 percent. The inflation rate has been decelerating, Wing from about 40 percent in 1987 to 10 percent in 1992. On the trade side, most quotas and import restrictions have been removed and tariffs for a wide array of goods have been reduced.
Agricultural sector reforms. Agricultural sector reforms started relatively late in the SAP. Exchange reforms succeeded in raising producer prices despite failing world prices. Thus, real cocoa prices increased continuously between 1983/84 and 1987/88, despite. the collapse of world cocoa prices in 1965. As the devaluation effects bottomed out, real producer prices declined sharply in 1989/90 (14.5 percent) and continued declining at a rate of about 5 percent per year between 1989/90 and 1991/92. Farmers benefited from a premium paid to them after harvest (albeit often with a delay). This price compensation ranged from 0.9 percent of the producer price in 1986/87 to 15.2 percent in 1989/90.
There have been gradual reforms in the cocoa marketing system, including the restructuring of the CMB - renamed the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) - and a reduction of its activities. Thus, the Board has shed some of its plantations, its majority ownership of a pesticide factory and the responsibility of maintaining feeder roads. More than 40000 workers were laid off in 1985 (some of them ghost workers) and an additional 12000 were retrenched in 1987. In 1992, competition was introduced in the internal marketing of cocoa. Two new buyers were allowed to buy cocoa from producers alongside the Produce Buying Company, a subsidiary of COCOBOD. Since 1987, the reforms have reduced COCOBOD's operating costs by one-third. Full liberalization has been stalled by, inter alia, the fear that the credit market is not capable of handling a large private cocoa trading sector.
The Ghana Cotton Company's monopoly on cotton buying and ginning has been abolished. The government withdrew from fixing producer prices for cotton and lifted the restrictions on cotton exports.
With respect to food crops, the guaranteed minimum price for maize and rice was abolished owing to the ineffectiveness of the scheme and the high costs associated with it. The Ghana Food Distribution Corporation controlled only 10 percent of the market while the rest was controlled by private traders. The government transferred some of its rice mills to the Divestiture Implementation Committee and operates others on a fee basis.
Ghana has also abolished subsidies and price controls on fertilizers and is encouraging private importation, wholesaling and distribution. A phased marketing privatization was launched over a three-year period ending in 1990. In January 1989, the Ghana Seed Company was dissolved to enable the reorganization of the entire seed industry. Imports of agricultural inputs are duty-free.
Policy reforms. assessing the effects and charting the future. The effects of policy reforms in Ghana have been impressive. Overall growth in real GDP increased from an annual average of 1.5 percent in 1970-83 to about 4.7 percent in 1983-91 and 4 percent in 1992. Assuming population growth of 2.6 percent, there has been a real per caput growth rate of more than 1.9 percent per year. The fact that the rate of growth remained continuously positive in per caput terms since 1984 (with the exception of 1990) is also impressive.
Agricultural GDP, which had declined by about 1 percent annually between 1970 and 1983, increased by 1.9 percent between 1984 and 1991, and fell again by 0.6 percent in 1992. Thus, overall per caput growth in agricultural GDP has been negative throughout the post-adjustment period, except for short-term recoveries such as that following the severe drought of 1983.
In response to devaluation and increased domestic price incentives, cocoa production is slowly recovering from the record low level of 1983/84. This partly reflects the diversion of cocoa from the parallel to the official markets. FAO data show that a 6.1 percent average annual decline in production between 1970 and 1983 has been turned into an annual increase of 6.75 percent between 1984 and 1992. However, cocoa production has not reached the high levels registered in the 1960s to the mid-1970s.
The production of non-traditional export commodities (pineapples, cola nuts, cotton seed, yams, fish and lobsters) has also picked up as a result of the higher incentives provided by the devaluation. Export earnings from nontraditional export crops increased by 66 percent between 1966 and 1990.
The privatization and liberalization of agricultural inputs has had mixed results. In the case of fertilizers, consumption has been down from its peak levels of the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the subsidy sometimes reached 80 percent of the fertilizer price. The relative absence of private sector interest in marketing and distribution is due, inter alia, to inconsistencies in the fertilizer privatization process. Namely, government control on fertilizer distribution margins and an indirect subsidy to the Farmer Service Companies have discouraged the participation of private dealers. Problems associated with credit availability are also inhibiting activity by the private sector in the marketing of inputs. Declining fertilizer imports cause increases in the per-unit price because of the consequent loss of cost savings associated with bulk orders.
In this context, it is worthwhile mentioning the activity of Global 2000, a non-governmental organization (NGO) whose activities have contributed significant productivity gains for the participating -1 farmers. Global 2000 provides extension and payment in kind (for example, maize in return for fertilizer) to farmers participating in the scheme. Many of Global 2000's resources (staff, capital and physical flows) are provided by the government. Despite the positive results achieved so far, the scheme may be inhibiting efforts to increase private participation in the distribution process.
From adjustment to growth: constraints, prospects and the role of agriculture
Ghana is one of the few countries in sub-Saharan Africa where issues concerning the transition from stabilization to a sustainable growth path are now being raised. Despite the courageous steps that it has taken towards policy reform and despite its impressive overall growth performance, it is still one of the poorest countries in the world, with a per caput income of $390. It has been estimated that, even if the past decades's high growth rates were to continue, the average Ghanaian would rise above the poverty line 50 years from now. The World Bank estimates that, under the best of circumstances, it will take ten years before Ghana finds itself on the "threshold" of rapid growth.
Future economic role of agriculture. The performance of Ghana's different economic sectors after 1983 leaves some questions to be answered. Given the reversal of the indirect taxation of agriculture, one would expect prima facie the sector to show a strong recovery, given the more favourable domestic environment. This has not happened so far. While industry and services grew on average by about 7.5 percent per year between 1983 and 1990, agriculture only increased by 2.5 percent during the same period.
The explanation for the growth of industry and services rests largely with: i) the availability of substantial unused capacity in factories and mines because of the state of the economy which was near to collapsing before 1983; and ii) heavy government activity in the areas of electrification and road and other infrastructural construction, which accounts for the bulk of non-agricultural investment. The explanation for the lack of a strong response from the agricultural sector lies in: 0 the continuous declines in world cocoa prices which eventually reversed the effects of devaluation; ii) the accumulated effects of unfavourable domestic real returns for cocoa producers on tree planting and replanting; iii) the limited price benefits of liberalization on food crops; and iv) structural constraints that dominate the agricultural sector and inhibit its response to price signals.
In any case, overall growth in Ghana will continue to be largely dependent on agricultural growth for many years to come. This is so in view of the importance of the sector to employment and export revenue as well as its strong input and output links with other sectors (demand for agricultural products, demand for transport services, links with agro-industry). The high proportion of the poor who live in rural areas and depend on agricultural activities make it unlikely that any broad-based poverty-reducing development strategy can be successful without the growth of the agricultural sector.
It is unlikely that the current pattern of sectoral growth led by manufacturing and services is sustainable. Continuous growth of manufacturing and services will require significant increases in capital investments by the private sector as well as improvements in human capital resources and infrastructure, which take time to build up. investment as a percentage of output stood at around 19 percent of GDP in 1993, a rather low percentage since it is estimated that a 13 percent share is required for replacement investment.
Furthermore, the current pattern of agricultural growth is unsustainable: recovery has been based largely on increases in cultivated area rather than yield responses. Despite some improvements in productivity, which have followed policy reforms, Ghanaian Government estimates show that food crop yields are still as low as 40 percent of potential. Likewise, in the cocoa sector yields are low compared with other world competitors. For instance, while Ghana's 300 kg per hectare average yield compares favourably with those of Nigeria and Cameroon (200 and 260 kg per hectare, respectively), they are far from those of Côte d'Ivoire Malaysia and Indonesia (600, 800 and 1100 kg per hectare).
The availability of land resources is not a critical constraint in the short term, but their abundance may be exaggerated. Despite Ghana's undulating topography, 70 percent of the territory is subject to sheet and gully erosion. In the longer term, extensive farming may not be possible without jeopardizing the sustainability of the resource base (forests and wetlands). Population pressure causes increased settlement of fragile lands, thus exacerbating the serious sheet and gully erosion of the soils. Therefore, the extensive frontier, although not reached yet, may be rapidly declining.
Ghana's accelerated growth strategy aims at maximizing value added in agriculture rather than gross volume increases. Expanding yields rather than the area under cultivation will reduce the volume of investment required for supporting infrastructure, minimize marketing and distribution problems associated with extending the production area and be environmentally friendly.
This discussion leads to two major conclusions: i) the growth of agriculture is necessary if Ghana is to achieve a poverty-reducing development path; ii) agricultural growth should mainly be productivity-based.
Policies for increasing agricultural productivity. Stimulating agricultural productivity in an environment of failing real world and domestic agricultural prices is a major challenge facing policy-makers in Ghana. Given the market-oriented direction that Ghana is following with respect to economic management, trade and prices, policy solutions to low productivity are being sought in largely non-distortive interventions rather than policies directly affecting the prices of outputs and inputs. Such policies try to alleviate the structural problems and bottlenecks facing Ghanaian agriculture.
Increasing the use of modern inputs is the key to increasing soil fertility and productivity in Ghana. Yet there is a decline in the use of fertilizer and agricultural chemicals to which several factors have contributed:
i) An increase in the relative price of fertilizer vis-à-vis that of agricultural commodities following devaluation and the abolition of the subsidy. in order to overcome this constraint, policies are concentrated on improving the performance of the marketing system, reducing marketing margins and improving relative prices for the producer.
ii) Reluctance by traditional farmers to expose themselves to the risks of using new technologies with uncertain returns.
iii) A lack of access to credit by small farmers.
iv) A lack of appropriate technologies and inputs (especially seeds).
Constraints ii) and iii) are interrelated. Namely, the lack of a well-functioning rural credit system reduces the risk-taking capacity of farmers who have to rely either on their own savings or on informal credit. The problem is accentuated by the investment uncertainty associated with Ghana's land tenure system which is dominated by traditional tenure arrangements. The legacy of suspicion and harassment of the private sector associated with past policies in Ghana has deprived the country of a class of large traders who could extend credit to small farmers. Constraint iv) is associated with a long-neglected research and extension system which is now undergoing a complete reorganization.
Technology for increasing labour productivity is also necessary. There are already labour shortages in critical periods of the production cycle (land preparation, harvesting) and this is expected to worsen as competition for labour increases from other sectors. At the root of the low level of farm productivity is the very low-level technology, especially tools and implements (even the use of animal traction is rare). Research and extension are critical for developing and disseminating technical packages based on simple technologies and improved cultural practices geared towards small producers who constitute the majority of the rural population and produce the bulk of the nation's food. The Medium-Term Agricultural Development Programme plans a drastic reform of agricultural support services, including unification of the fragmented research and extension services.
If agriculture is to benefit from the demand generated by a growing economy, linkages with other sectors must be strengthened. Thus, the creation of conditions for the smooth functioning of markets is considered essential. From the policy point of view, this means enhancing the physical infrastructure of rural and urban markets including improvements in telecommunications and storage facilities. The public sector will play a key role with a view to leasing or selling the services to the private sector.
Farmers and sellers face an acute lack of adequate storage facilities. Estimated storage lows for all food crops (including cereals, roots, tubers and plantain) are between 15 and 30 percent. Proper storage facilities could reduce losses by 30 to 50 percent. This means that much of the harvest must be sold immediately weakening the flexibility and bargaining power of sellers and eventually discouraging surplus production. The role of the public sector in planning and constructing storage facilities, with a view to leasing or selling them to the private sector, is essential. To encourage medium-level storage as a part of its Food Security Strategy, Ghana has asked bilateral donors to finance small to medium-sized storage facilities for the private sector. This, along with other measures aimed at a smoother market functioning, will create the conditions for Increased arbitrage and the smoothing out of extreme interseasonal and interregional price fluctuations.
In Ghana high transport costs incurred by the poor state of rural roads is considered the single most important factor preventing the integration of small farmers in the market economy. During the crisis years in Ghana, a lack of foreign exchange and fiscal revenues limited the ability of the country to buy spare parts and keep up regular road maintenance. The problem of costly transportation is particularly acute for non-tradable food crop, since such costs represent a large part of their value. The deterioration of roads and the incapacitation of 70 percent of the truck fleet through a lack of spare parts and tires has resulted in 70 percent of the farmers head-loading crops to markets.
The feeder road density in Ghana averages 89 m per km² for a total of 21300 km. Of those, 12900 km are considered to be in poor or very poor condition while only about 3200 km are motorable year-round. Head-loading produce to markets causes long delays in delivery, increases wastage and poses serious health risks. It also inhibits the smooth functioning of the rural labour markets. The Ghanaian Government has established the National Feeder Road Development Programme (NFRDP 1992-2000), under which 2500 km of selected feeder roads will be fully rehabilitated and another 3500 km will be regravelled. Cocoa roads will also be rehabilitated to facilitate the linking of cocoa production areas to ports.
A major source of vulnerability of the agricultural sector derives from the fact that 87 percent of agricultural production is sent without processing for final sales and consumption. The development of agro-industry will permit the carryover of food products between seasons, thus increasing the shelf-life of perishable commodities. Studies have shown that agroprocessing and other value added activities contribute to the revitalization of the rural non-farm sector through a number of input, output and labour market linkages. The government has tried to stimulate investment in agroprocessing by increasing incentives through the waiver of import duties on equipment. Such policies have led to the diversion of equipment to other uses. The use of the corporate tax structure may be more effective for such a purpose.
Poverty alleviation. Box 5 shows the dimensions of the rural poverty problem in Ghana and outlines some of the policies that the Ghanaian Government is implementing with the aim of poverty alleviation. Although the majority of the poor are rural poor, one-third of them live in the urban areas. The government has identified the urban unemployed and those with meagre earnings, especially in the 18- to 25-year-old bracket, as a target group in its poverty alleviation scheme. In contrast to the rural poor, policy reforms have negatively affected the urban poor and have created a new class of poor through the retrenchment of workers from the civil service, state-owned enterprises and inefficient enterprises that closed as a result of market liberalization. In the urban context, and for the unemployed who have not returned to rural areas, the government has introduced a programme of initiatives to help distressed industries. The First Finance Corporation was established to provide venture capital and expertise in restructuring in management, production marketing and finance.
Ghanaians have made a choice as to what the main directions of their economic system should be: a market-based, private sector-driven economy with pragmatic government policies and the concentration of state activity in the areas of education, Infrastructure, market development and poverty alleviation. While consolidating the gains from policy reform is a fundamental task for the short term, it is equally important that the benefits of growth be shared widely among population groups. The achievement of these objectives is critical if economic development is to be sustained. Continued support from donors will go a long way in helping the Ghanaian Government cope with the structural problems that have to be resolved if the economy is to be put on a sustainable growth path.
BOX 5: Reform and rural poverty in Ghana
To understand the impacts of the policy reforms on the poor in Ghana, one has to have a good idea as to i) who and how many the poor are; ii) where they live; iii) their sources of income; and iv) their consumption patterns. If the poor are defined to include those who live in households with a per caput expenditure below two-thirds of the mean (one-third for the extremely poor), according to an analysis of household data in the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS), about 80 percent of the poor live in the rural areas. Thus, poverty is primarily a rural phenomenon. For Ghana as a whole, 35 percent of the population fall below the poverty line while, for the rural areas, 43 percent are considered poor. Further analysis has demonstrated that, amid wide regional variations, the rural poor are "poorer" than their urban counterparts. For instance, the savannah region of the country, with a population share of 12 percent, has 18 percent of the country's poor and 35 percent of the extremely poor. The heads of most poor households are self-employed, poorly educated and own no cocoa land.
Poor and non-poor alike spend a large share of their budgets on food (69 and 66 percent, respectively) but the poor depend on home-produced food for 33 percent of their total food consumption, compared with 22 percent for the non-poor. Thus, the poor depend on the market for a large proportion of their food consumption.
About 88 percent of the total income of the poor comes from self-employment (65 percent from agricultural income and 23 percent from non-farm self-employment). Almost two-thirds of the income derived from agricultural activities constitutes consumption of home-produced commodities, while about one-third constitutes (net) income from sales of commodities. Cocoa and cereals have equal shares in the total crop revenue (about 20 percent each). The data also show that the poor do not dominate the production or consumption of any single commodity vis-à-vis the non-poor. On the other hand, sorghum and millet seem to be the principle elements of diets in regions where malnutrition is the highest and are also the main income sources in those regions (the Upper and Eastern regions and the entire savannah agro-ecological zone).
The data on poverty presented above indicate that macroeconomic policies favouring the agricultural sector in terms of better incentives for cocoa production tend to help the poor and extremely poor who live in the cocoa-producing zones directly (i.e. as producers and as labourers), while their impact on other regions can be positive through labour migration linkages.
As a high proportion of the income of the poor is derived from self-consumption, it is correspondingly isolated from market shocks. On the other hand, the amount of income derived from market sales of commodities is not negligible, implying that market conditions and prices do matter to the rural poor. The smooth functioning of prices and markets also matter for net consumers of purchased food. The data indicate that real prices of food consumed by the poor have probably followed a declining trend since 1984. The decline in real food prices occurred despite the increase in average per caput incomes and increasing demand, thus reflecting increases in food production. The prevalence of parallel markets in Ghana, especially at the peak of the economic crisis, means that the poor had to pay market prices for food. Thus, the removal of price controls may not have caused a deterioration in the ability of the poor to buy food.
As the rural poor derive 88 percent of their income from self-employment, they are unlikely to have been affected by the retrenchment of the state and the reductions in the civil service. Although devaluation tends to increase the cost of living through its effects on import prices, one has to take into account that imports had all but collapsed before the devaluations took place. The role of the parallel markets and the fact that controlled items found their way into those markets means that the biggest effect of devaluation has been on those earning high rents from the previous system. A significant effect of the combined devaluation/liberalization policies on the poor was through increases in the price of kerosene on which the poor largely depend.
Data show that public expenditures on health increased from an average 0.8 percent of GDP in 1981-86 to 1.3 percent of GDP in 1987-90. For the same periods, education expenditures increased from 2.2 to 3.4 percent of GDP. The large external flows into the country following reform have permitted the government to spend more on social services. Although the analysis above suggests no deterioration in the position of the rural poor as a result of policy reforms, the eventual benefits may not have been large enough to permit a drastic change in the overall poverty situation in its several manifestations (malnutrition, poor health, etc.). Overall growth has not been strong enough to make a serious dent in poverty.
Despite the fact that health expenditures have increased in the post-reform period, nutrition and the level and quality of health services provided in Ghana are still extremely low. A 1990 report by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), showed that 30 percent of all Ghanaian children are malnourished to some degree, 28 percent of the 12- to 23-month-olds were considered wasted and 31 percent of 24- to 59-month-olds were considered stunted.
Even under the most optimistic growth assumptions, it will take several years before Ghana will able to make a substantial step forwards in poverty alleviation. Thus, although growth is probably the ultimate sustainable answer to the poverty problem, parallel direct interventions are needed to broaden the benefits of such growth to the poorest segments of the population and improve their living and education standards.
The fact that the majority of the poor live in the rural areas emphasizes the need for agricultural growth as a necessary step towards poverty alleviation. Increases in agricultural productivity will greatly improve the position of the poor in the rural areas in terms of higher farm earnings and lower food costs. on the other hand, the fact that the poor do not seem to dominate any one commodity group means that price-based measures (as production or non-targeted consumption subsidies) to help the poor will be associated with high leakages. The building of rural infrastructure, in addition to its beneficial effects on productivity and overall development, can in the short term be an income-generating activity that will contribute to the revival of the rural communities. income-generation through employment is an important element in the government's new anti-poverty policy. In this context, the government is promoting projects such as the construction of labour-intensive feeder roads, hand-dug wells and low-cost sanitation, priority public works and non-formal education as part of the mainstream development programme.
Asia and the Pacific
Over the last 25 years, Asian and Pacific developing countries grew at an average annual rate of 6.5 percent compared with the average 4.5 percent for all developing countries. This strong performance continued in 1993, and the Asian Development Bank (AsDB) estimates the average growth for the region to be 7.4 percent for 1993 and 7 percent for 1994. The high-growth economies include China, Malaysia, Thailand and Viet Nam, but almost all countries performed well except Pakistan and the Philippines. In general, countries throughout the region stabilized their economies, reducing fiscal deficits, improving their balance of payments and containing inflation rates.
Major factors contributing to this overall growth performance include market-oriented policies aimed at enlarging private sector participation, enhancing competitiveness in the economic system, attracting foreign investment and participating to a greater extent in world trade. There is a greater convergence of policies followed by Asian countries than ever before.
The overall figures, however, do not tell the full story. There have been significant intracountry and interregional differences in economic growth, daunting poverty problems still persist in many countries and the quest for rapid growth is placing increased pressure on environmental resources while threatening long-term sustainability.
Although the share of agriculture in the region's GDP has declined from around 30 percent in the mid-1980s to 22 percent in recent years, agriculture remains the driving economic force and major employer in many countries. Moreover, the Asian region is the world's fastest-growing import market for agricultural commodities. The region's share of global agricultural imports has increased from 17 percent in the early 1980s to nearly 25 percent today; agricultural imports are increasing by around 6 percent per year, accounting for the bulk of the increase in global imports.
Table 4 provides an overview of recent agricultural GDP performance and the AsDB's estimates for growth rates in 1994. Following are some individual country experiences.
Figure 6: ASIA AND THE PACIFIC; Source: FAO
TABLE 4: Growth rates in agricultural GDP
Source: AsDB, Asian Development Outlook 1994. Manila.
Public and private sector roles under policy reforms
The positive results of market-oriented policies among the early reformers has encouraged several other countries to follow similar paths of economic and institutional reforms. The basic strategy is to reduce public sector dominance, liberalize markets and emphasize private sector participation. For example, since July 1991, India has made considerable progress in liberalizing the investment, trade and foreign exchange regimes. While agricultural subsidies for water, electricity and fertilizers still exist and trade policy remains biased against the sector, the government's direct involvement in agricultural activities is being reduced gradually.
In recent years, former command economies (Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, Viet Nam and six central Asian former Soviet republics) either initiated or made substantial progress towards a more market-oriented economic system. The policy reorientation aims to improve overall sectoral efficiency and performance while preserving the natural resource base and keeping macroeconomic, fiscal and external imbalances within manageable limits. A concurrent concern is to minimize or offset the negative effects on the poor.
Among the command economies, however, the pace of reform, the difficulties encountered and the record of success in surmounting them are quite diverse. For instance, Viet Nam is continuing structural reforms and the economy is performing well; the agriculture sector is responding to improvements in land tenure security, liberalization of input and output prices and an increase in farm credit. In Laos, on the other hand, the privatization plan appears to have slowed down. Only 5 percent of state enterprises have been privatized so far, although the government plans to privatize all such enterprises by 1996.
In Mongolia and the central Asian republics, high rates of inflation and unemployment, failing output levels and constraints to the financing of social safety nets over the last three years have resulted in a gradual erosion of living standards and considerable increases in poverty. These problems are being addressed by reverting to price controls on selected basic goods and services such as food, public transport and housing rent or, where possible, cash compensation to the affected population. Even in China, steps have been taken to control prices of some basic commodities and services in recognition that measures to curb money supply growth and credit restrictions are not enough to curtail the double-digit inflation rate (currently exceeding 20 percent in the cities).
The varied experience with structural adjustment programmes in the market-oriented and transitional economies demonstrates that the design of policy reforms should take into account the country-specific comparative advantage of the private and public sectors for economic functions and support services. In particular, such experience underscores the public sector's role in addressing market failures to enhance private sector efficiency, improve competitiveness and quality of service, and fulfil long-term social welfare objectives, including environmental protection. Moreover, it has also indicated that a conducive institutional framework for a market system must be created prior to, or concurrently with, policy reforms. Without the appropriate institutions, the expected supply response would not occur and the process would consequently lead to high inflation and impoverishment of the population.
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Samples suitable for laboratory testing
Getting suspect material tested for AFB spores can be a useful tool in eliminating AFB. Also samples of abnormal brood can be examined in the laboratory for the presence of AFB spores. It is also possible to test samples of bees or honey from beehives for the presence of spores. See more on sample types.
What the tests involve
Two tests are used. The first is a microscopic analysis, and is only used for samples of suspect larvae or pupae. The test involves making a smear on a microscope slide, fixing the smear to the slide using heat and carbol fuchsin stain, and then examining the smear for AFB spores using the oil immersion objective of a microscope. The total magnification required is 1000x.
The second test is a culture test, and involves growing out bacterial cultures of AFB. The test can be used with samples of adult bees, honey, or suspect larvae/pupae, and can be carried out in a home laboratory. A dilution of the sample is prepared, and then heated at 92°C for 20 minutes to kill all competing bacteria, but not the AFB spores. A small amount of the liquid is applied to a Petri dish containing sterile brain heart infusion agar, and then the plate is incubated at 37°C for three days. The plate is then inspected for the presence of AFB bacterial colonies.
Laboratory testing is free of charge
The cost of testing suspected larvae or pupae in New Zealand is currently paid for by the AFB NPMS. If you wish to get a sample tested, contact the Management Agency for instructions and a laboratory submission form. | <urn:uuid:0aad43cb-8713-4502-9657-e907937a19f6> | CC-MAIN-2018-13 | http://www.afb.org.nz/laboratory-diagnosis-of-afb | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-13/segments/1521257647892.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20180322151300-20180322171300-00285.warc.gz | en | 0.919054 | 332 | 2.59375 | 3 |
TAKE THIS QUIZ TO SEE WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT 2ND-3RD GRADE VOCAB FROM BOOKS!
Words nearby almandite
Example sentences from the Web for almandite
The so-called almandine garnets of the jeweler are frequently of the almandite class and tend to purplish red.
Both are dark red, but while almandite tends toward a violet tone, pyrope shades toward yellow.
Pyrope, the magnesian variety of garnet, does not differ much in color from almandite.
Two varieties of garnet, almandite and pyrope, may exhibit the dark blood-red color especially ascribed to garnet.
Almandite garnet, the "almandine" of the jeweler is less abundant than pyrope, when of gem quality. | <urn:uuid:7ce71225-a60e-44d7-96ff-fc12a13737e4> | CC-MAIN-2020-29 | https://www.dictionary.com/browse/almandite | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-29/segments/1593655886516.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20200704170556-20200704200556-00503.warc.gz | en | 0.868936 | 181 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Open Education Handbook/Open data for education: LinkedUp Challenge
The LinkedUp Project organised the LinkedUp Challenge: three consecutive competitions looking for interesting and innovative tools and applications that analyse and/or integrate open web data for educational purposes. Here are some of the highlights from the shortlists.
LinkedUp Veni Shortlisted Entries - use cases[edit | edit source]
There were 8 shortlisted entries in the LinkedUp Veni competition. They offer real-world examples of how linked and open data can be used in an educational way. Three of the shortlisted demos and tools show how linked data from various resources allows learners to explore resources, concepts, ideas and objects in various areas.
- Knownodes is a collaborative websites that enables relating, defining and exploring connections between web resources and ideas, making use of graph visualizations. Knownodes scored high on educational innovation.
- Mismuseos connects museum data with sources including Europeana, Dbpedia and Geonames. With Mismuseos, learners can browse and explore the backgrounds and relations between objects from multiple Spanish museums.
- ReCredible is a browsable topic map with wikipedia-like content next to it. The topic library showcases interesting topics varying from dog breeds and alternative medicine to nanotechnology and information systems.
Another focus, which can be seen in the next three shortlisted candidates, is how open and linked data can be used for enriching resources, making it easier to share and find them, and how to personalize the way they are presented.
- DataConf is a mobile mashup that enriches conference publications. The reviewers applauded its nice and effective design. DataConf is especially useful at the graduate education level.
- We-Share is a social annotation application for educational ICT tools. We-Share can help educators to find tools to support teaching at all educational levels, and received high scores on educational innovation.
- YourHistory is a Facebook app that makes history tangible by showing historic and global events that are related to your own life events and your interests.
Last but not least, the next two applications are less generic than the previous ones, but both of them are great examples on how effective use of linked data can help to learn about and make sense of the world we live in.
- Globe-Town is a ‘fun to use’ tool that lets users find out the most important trade partners, migrant populations and airline routes of their own countries. It also provides infographics on issues regarding society, environment and economy.
- Polimedia connects transcripts of the Dutch parliament with media coverage in newspapers and radio bulletins. Polimedia employs innovative information techniques and provides an attractive front-end that invites exploration and browsing.
LinkedUp Vidi Shortlisted Entries - use cases[edit | edit source]
In the LinkedUp Vidi Competition we asked for tools and demos that analyse or integrate open web data for educational purposes. We received fourteen submissions with innovative ideas in areas such as agriculture, arts and medicine.
Apart from innovative aspects, attractiveness, usefulness and other forms of ‘awesomeness’, our evaluation panel also looked at the relevance for education, the usability and performance of the tools, the data it uses or provides, and the way privacy and other legal aspects were dealt with.
It was not an easy task to select the nine submissions for the shortlist, and not all of the panelists’ personal favorite submissions are included. What we do all agree upon is that the following demos and tools are really outstanding examples on how to use open data for education.
Open track submissions[edit | edit source]
The open track received seven submissions that all aim to make it easier to find or explore data. Some tools even allow you to connect data.
Two submissions seem to provide just a simple search box, but there is far more behind it.
- AGRIS links bibliographic references from the agricultural domain to external datasets, among others DBPedia, World Bank and nature.com. For end-users – researchers, scientists, cataloguers – it is simply a single point of access to these resources. AGRIS also provides a Sparql endpoint. Read more about AGRIS
- Solvonauts is an open educational search engine, which searches over 1,500 open educational resource end points. All resources are licensed Creative Commons or Public Domain. They also have plugins for Moodle and WordPress. Read more about Solvonauts
The following tools have been made for connecting things and people with one another.
- Rhizi is the revamped version of KnowNodes, which was submitted to our Veni competition. Rhizi allows users to make connections between things, such as blogs, research data, video segments and people. The site is interactive, with chat, commenting, notifications, voting and a reputation system. Read more about Rhizi
- Konnektid is all about connecting people for educational purposes. When you want to learn something you can ask the people nearby to help you. If you allow the system to do so, it creates your personal profile based on data from Facebook, Google+, Twitter and Linkedin. Read more about Konnektid
- LOD Stories lets you connect artworks, artists and places into a chain that functions as a storyboard.
The cool thing is that you can actually transform the storyboard into a narrated video. In order to get this done, LOD Stories exploits DBPedia. Read more about LOD Stories
Finally, the next two tools help you to make sense of data with various visualizations.
- DBLPXplorer is a browsing and exploration interface for the DBLP computer science bibliography, which provides insight in research published at conferences. The attractive visualizations are made with D3 and based on DBLP data, annotated using WikipediaMiner. They also expose the DBLP data via a Sparql endpoint. Read more about DBLPXplorer
- TuVaLabs has a growing number of interesting datasets on various topics, including drought in California, AIDS and Barbie. Students and teachers can explore and visualize these datasets and teachers can create activities or assignments around them, to stimulate them to think critically about data. Read more about Tuvalabs
Focused track submissions: Simplificator[edit | edit source]
The Simplificator track called for applications that make access to complex information easier by summarizing them in a simpler form. We received two interesting submissions.
- This visualization of labour conflicts in the Netherlands for the last 700 years connects statistical data on strikes with articles from the Dutch KB newspaper archive. It provides several timeline and map overviews that allow you to zoom in to a particular period. Read more about visualization of labour conflicts in the Netherlands for the last 700 years
- eDL is an app that can be used for creating semantically enriched electronic Discharge Letters, for patients who leave the hospital. eDL uses various knowledge sources and vocabularies to ensure that patient information can be automatically translated into another language. Patients can use the eDL for finding relevant background information about their diagnoses. Read more about eDL
LinkedUp Vici Shortlisted Entries - use cases[edit | edit source]
The LinkedUp Vici Competition is the last competition on tools and demos that use open data for educational purposes. This time we asked for mature prototypes that are actually in use or that have been used.
We received thirteen submissions that have been evaluated by a panel of experts, who rated the submissions on their innovative aspects, attractiveness, usefulness, usability, performance, use of data, and the way privacy and other legal aspects were dealt with.
We are happy to announce the shortlist of ten submissions, which are all running sites or apps that you can try out yourself.
Several submissions bundle and offer open educational resources to growing educational communities.
- AGRIS from the FAO of the United Nations provides access to publications on food and agriculture. Linked data and mash-up techniques are used to create one hub for different repositories. “Even though the application displays a lot of information in a single page, it is still easy to use”, according to one reviewer.
- Didactalia, developed by the people from GNOSS (who participated before), helps you to browse, find and use learning material on many different topics, for different age groups and from various educational repositories. The reviewers found it an outstanding initiative. Currently, most material is in Spanish.
- LearnWeb-OER gives users the opportunity to search for resources from the Web and to reuse them in a learning context. The platform allows for collaborative searching and sharing. The reviewers could see that the tool would be very useful to students and teachers alike.
Two other submissions use and enhance existing material to provide users with novel opportunities for learning.
- FLAX is a site that helps you to learn a language by reading and watching open source material, varying from TED talks to academic collections. Learn to distinguish different word types and the context in which particular words are typically used. The reviewers called it a “very sophisticated application that is also easy to use”.
- As the name already indicates, HyperTED lets you explore TED talks. It automatically annotates the textual material, recognizes where the main concepts and topics are discussed and provides quick links to reference sites while you watch. The reviewers found it a great addition to watching ‘talking heads’ online.
- GroupMOOC is not a site but an app (for the iPhone) that you can use for creating course plans based on MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses). You can check your workload and deadline, and connect and collaborate with groups of friends. The reviewers noted that “A MOOC agregator with social network functionality addresses a real need”.
The final two submissions to the open track use visualization techniques for making it easier to find and connect information.
- ResXplorer focuses on scientific publication and shows you relations between authors, papers and conferences. By clicking on an author, paper or conference you make it the center of the next round of exploration. The reviewers found it “a good looking site with actionable information’.
- Histropedia lets you interactively build and publish timelines that give an overview on events in history, based on data in Wikidata and Wikipedia. Teachers can create their own timelines by combining events that they think should be included. “A powerful tool for fast timeline creation.”
Last but not least, the shortlist contains two submissions to the Focused Tracks of the competition. The creators of these submissions spent a great of effort to work with the data required for these tracks and to address the track-specific goals.
- ISCOOL is a serious game, submitted to the focused track ‘Supporting Developing Countries’. It is an informal learning environment that creates a visual game based on the text that you provide. The reviewers found it “a very innovative idea that could help particular aspects of the learning very well”.
- The visualization of Water Resources & Ecology provides rich means to search journals, tweets and Wikipedia annotations. The interactive visualizations address the targeted content track, proposed and supported by Elsevier, to see how linked data can be used for making the learning experience more appealing and enhanced. The reviewers spent quite some time clicking around and were “overall happy with the interface and with the data”. | <urn:uuid:f76e2920-f1c7-412a-88a2-3d5b506eed3f> | CC-MAIN-2021-49 | https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Open_Education_Handbook/Open_data_for_education:_LinkedUp_Challenge | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-49/segments/1637964363332.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20211207014802-20211207044802-00281.warc.gz | en | 0.931715 | 2,372 | 3.09375 | 3 |
A Theirworld campaign is inspiring children to show what they are learning at home during the school closures that have disrupted education for more than one billion students.
The children’s charity founded by Sarah Brown has launched the #StillLearning campaign to share playful activities that are educational and enjoyable.
It kicked off with a challenge from children’s author and illustrator Nick Sharratt, who is a Theirworld ambassador. He designed a poster which shows what he has been learning during lockdown and asked children to do the same and share their drawings on social media.
Nick also made this video to show children how to take part.
Nick has provided the drawings for almost 250 books – including titles by Julia Donaldson and Jacqueline Wilson – as well as writing about 40 of his own.
He said: “The main reason I fell in love with drawing as a youngster was that it stimulated my imagination like nothing else. Drawing took me to a safe place where anything was possible – where I could live out dreams, have adventures, meet anyone I wanted, be anyone I wanted, all via my mark-making.
“In these current times, drawing can provide a simple, effective form of escape from the real world for a while.” | <urn:uuid:cc22c146-28ca-416a-b561-08ecdab11ff9> | CC-MAIN-2021-10 | https://gordonandsarahbrown.com/2020/05/theirworld-and-illustrator-nick-sharratt-ask-children-to-show-how-they-are-stilllearning/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-10/segments/1614178363809.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20210302095427-20210302125427-00387.warc.gz | en | 0.984356 | 255 | 2.53125 | 3 |
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite statistic (index) that measures key dimensions of human development:
– a long and healthy life (here is the Our World in Data entry on Life Expectancy)
– and have a decent standard of living (here is the Our World in Data entry on GDP Growth).
# Empirical View
# The very long run perspective on human development through the HDI
The economic historian Leandro Prados de la Escosura calculated the HDI over the course of 2 centuries. This data is shown below to give a long run perspective on human development.
Human development across world regions, 1870-2007 – Prados de la Escosura (2014)1Full screen view Download Data
# Country by country perspective over the last 3 decades
The HDI is published by the United Nations Development Programme and this data is shown in the time-series chart below. Add other countries to see the change over time.
# World map of the HDI
The HDI data published by the United Nations Development Programme is shown in this map – move the slider below the chart to see the change over time.
Human Development Index by world region, 1980-20132Full screen view Download Data Download as static image
# Global Convergence of the Human Development Index
The following graph shows that there is strong convergence between countries of the world. Those countries that had the lowest HDI in 1980 experienced generally the largest improvements over the following 33 years! This is not only due to some components of the HDI having an upper bound (like literacy rate); there has also been convergence in aspects that have no upper bound like income (Our World in Data entry on the World Income Distribution) and life expectancy (Our World in Data entry on Life Expectancy).
Convergence of the Human Development Index: HDI in 1980 vs average annual growth rate, 1980 and 20133Full screen view Download Data
Number of countries per HDI category, 1990, 2000 and 2012 – Human Development Report 20134
# Data Quality & Definition
The measure is explained here by the United Nations Development Programme.
# Data Sources
# United Nations Development Programme
- Data: The United Nations Development Programme is the institution that publishes the Human Development Index.
- Geographical coverage: Globally – by country, world region, and HDI level
- Time span: From 1980 onwards
- Available at: United Nations Development Programme data page | <urn:uuid:c47094bd-dd96-4408-a0ce-1e2dd00c1c53> | CC-MAIN-2016-50 | https://ourworldindata.org/human-development-index/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-50/segments/1480698542828.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20161202170902-00451-ip-10-31-129-80.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.839527 | 501 | 3.3125 | 3 |
One in eight children in remote Fitzroy Crossing has permanent intellectual and physical damage – including facial deformities and memory loss – caused by their mother's drinking while pregnant.
It is the highest rate of foetal alcohol syndrome ever recorded in Australia, and it is likely to be similar in other remote communities, researchers say.
"The problems we face are not unique to the Fitzroy Valley," said June Oscar, the chief executive of Marninwarenitikura Women's Resource Centre and a chief investigator of the joint study. "We know that there are many other communities across Australia who are worried about the damage that alcohol is causing their children."
The landmark study, the first of an entire population, found one in eight children aged seven to nine years has foetal alcohol syndrome. That's 120 per 1000 children, according to the study, published in the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health.
A recent study of babies born in Western Australia from 1980 to 2010 with foetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) estimated the rate to be lower, at four children in 1000.
One reason the rate is so high in the new study was that the participation rate was higher than any other known in the world. Researchers believe the respondents were more honest than others because of the role of community "navigators".
The Lililwan study, meaning "all of the little ones" in Kimberley Kriol, was initiated by the local Aboriginal community in Fitzroy Crossing.
Female elders asked researchers at the George Institute for Global Health and the University of Sydney to uncover the full size of the problem in Fitzroy Valley that was causing intellectual problems, behavioural problems and low birth rates among children.
Because foetal alcohol syndrome is a permanent disability that is often invisible to others, children with the syndrome are more likely to be jailed and more likely to end up in trouble with the police, or admitted to hospital with mental illness.
About 95 per cent of 127 children born in 2002 and 2003 in the Fitzroy Valley, and their parents or caregivers, were interviewed in depth.
The children were tested by specialists over many days.
Prenatal exposure to alcohol was confirmed in all of the 13 children diagnosed with full or partial foetal alcohol syndrome.
We must commend, rather than punish, this community for leading the way and shining a spotlight on a problem that exists across all Australia.
Among the mothers of the children diagnosed with the syndrome, 80 per cent drank in the first trimester and 50 per cent drank throughout their pregnancy. Ten of 13 mothers had AUDIT-C scores – a test determining the number of drinks and the number of days someone drank – and all drank at a high-risk level.
About 50 per cent of all Australian women report drinking during pregnancy despite advice warning of its dangers. A range of research finds indigenous women are less likely than non-Indigenous women to drink during pregnancy, but those who do drink tend to do so at more dangerous levels.
Chief investigator Jane Latimer, of the George Institute for Global Health and the University of Sydney, commended the people of the Fitzroy Valley as "courageous and brave for taking responsibility for the past and working towards a better future".
"These women did not know they were harming their babies by drinking when they were pregnant. They live in very remote, disadvantaged communities and 10 years ago, when their children were born, they had no information about the dangers of alcohol.
"We must commend, rather than punish, this community for leading the way and shining a spotlight on a problem that exists across all Australia," Professor Latimer said.
The study was initiated by a group of grandmothers and mothers in Fitzroy Crossing who thought the problems they were seeing among their children and grandchildren were caused by drinking during pregnancy.
"Some of the grandmothers and the great-grandmothers realised there was something different about the grandchildren and the great-grandchildren they were caring for," she told Fairfax Media. "Their need for attention and care was very different from their own children." The women say they cannot leave them alone. The children often cannot remember instructions, they have trouble controlling their emotions, and some don't learn as quickly as they should.
In response, the community introduced a ban on takeaway alcohol and has expanded pre-natal education. As a result the number of children being born at low birth weight, an indicator of foetal alcohol syndrome, has improved.
"Many mothers were grief stricken when we explained that the problems with their child's behaviour and learning may be due to the alcohol they consumed during the pregnancy," says Professor Latimer, a principal research fellow with the George Institute.
Didn't they know about the risks of drinking during pregnancy? "Ten or 11 years ago, FASD wasn't talked about all," she said. | <urn:uuid:6b2d5b03-ebe3-4f56-a7de-a00c3b291e2e> | CC-MAIN-2019-39 | https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/foetal-alcohol-syndrome-one-in-eight-children-has-permament-damage-in-fitzroy-crossing-caused-by-mothers-drinking-20150116-12rxs8.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-39/segments/1568514573368.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20190918213931-20190918235931-00217.warc.gz | en | 0.979764 | 991 | 2.984375 | 3 |
What if I told you that chocolate actually tastes better when you take fat out of it?
You wouldn’t believe me, right?
Our experience with taking fat out of food tells us that it generally tastes like cardboard unless we add a whole lot of extra sugar which just negates the positive of taking the fat out in the first place. So why would chocolate be any different?
It’s all about the process.
As is so often the case with so many of our great discoveries, this one happened by accident.
The Mars candy company was having a problem. The chocolate was clogging the machinery.
Cocoa beans are typically dried and then roasted before they are ground and liquefied. The result is a liquor (what gives the chocolate its intense flavor) that is blended with the cocoa butter (or the fat, which gives it the rich, creamy texture).
This is where the problem arises.
Though the substance appears uniform in it’s liquidity to the naked eye, the reality is that it’s really only the melted fat and oil portion that is truly liquid. At a microscopic level, tiny little balls of cocoa solids bump up against each other amidst the liquid. This affects the viscosity of the chocolate. In other words, there has to be a certain amount of the liquid (the cocoa fat) to keep the chocolate at the right consistency so that it flows at the proper pace. Too little fat and the substance becomes too thick and clogs up the pipes.
With this problem in mind, a consulting company for Mars reached out to a physicist named Rongjia Tao from the Temple University in Philadelphia hoping that he might be able to adapt a technique he had used to improve the viscosity of crude oil to also work for chocolate. His technique increased the viscosity of the oil making it easier to transport it through the miles of underwater pipelines–in theory this same principle should work with chocolate.
Pulling from his work with oil, Tao decided to try running the liquid chocolate through an electric field. What he found was that as the chocolate passed through the field, it changed shape. Instead of the cocoa solids being in circles, the solids became elongated, or pill shaped, which allowed the solids to be packed more tightly together. This improved the viscosity of the chocolate.
Tao then realized that, if the changed shape of the solids could change the viscosity, he didn’t need the cocoa butter to do it. It gave him the opportunity to decrease the amount of fat in the chocolate without having to worry about clogging up the machinery.
He found that they were able to remove up to 20% of the fat while, according to some, making the end product tastier. Here are his findings
For perhaps the first time, we have a product that tastes better after taking out the fat (well some of it).
Granted, it’s not the absence of the fat, but rather the process itself that makes the difference, but who cares about those details anyway? The fact is, tastier chocolate makes me happy, and chocolate with less fat makes my waistline happy.
I’m putting this one in the win win column. | <urn:uuid:d662a049-6c35-464f-93f2-2b89635e4ce3> | CC-MAIN-2017-17 | https://heatherlgraham.wordpress.com/category/today-i-learned/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-17/segments/1492917121778.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20170423031201-00636-ip-10-145-167-34.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97056 | 671 | 2.671875 | 3 |
If you want to write a good work plan is needed. After all, writing without a plan is chaotic, not thought out, the idea of “wandering circle”. So, we need to learn how to write a paper fast and to properly execute the plan. And it’s not easy.
How to quickly write a paper
As the title of the plan submitted, as a rule, not single words and not sentences, and detailed phrases. Individual words are too narrow, specific, main idea or theme them to transfer quite difficult. But complex sentences are not suitable, because what is already finished and completed the thought. Everything I wanted to say is said. It was the phrase more appropriate for the plan. It is a kind of semantic unity that carries information in a collapsed view. And in the writing of this information “takes place”, the idea is disclosed. The purpose of an outline for an informative essay is to make a structure of essay before writing.
But there is language in the form of questions that work answers.
It is important to remember that the plan carries information about how you constructed your reflection essay outline. Specific information on the content of each part. The essay must be “viewed” through the plan.
Every essay consists of three parts.
- The main part (which includes a few paragraphs).
The nature of the work should correspond to the subject, to be logically consistent. Remember: the plan you write primarily for yourself!
Although clean copy plan you may not require, in the draft it better be it will help you organize your thoughts, select the appropriate material, to reject the unnecessary.
Given a concrete plan how to write an essay on the exam on social science. It consists of 7 important items:
- The problem raised by the author; its relevance.
- The meaning of the utterance.
- Own point of view.
- The argument on a theoretical level.
At least annotated outline example of social practices, history and/or literature, which confirms the accuracy of the opinions voiced. Conclusion.
Now consider step by step all the recommendations that are important to consider when writing an essay. Comment on each item of our plan for the essay.
- Selection statements:
- Selecting statements for essays, you need to be sure that you own the basic concepts underlying the science to which it relates;
- clearly understand the meaning of the utterance;
- can Express own opinion (completely or partially agree with the statement or to refute it);
- know social science terms that are necessary for the proper justification of personal positions on a theoretical level (the used terms and concepts must clearly correspond to the topic of the essay and not to go beyond it);
- will be able to give examples of social practices, history, literature, and personal life experience to confirm their own opinions.
- Definition of the problem statement.
For a more precise formulation of the problem, we offer you a list of possible language problems, which occur most frequently.
To the problem it is necessary to return periodically throughout the process of writing an essay. This is necessary in order to correctly reveal its contents, and do not accidentally go beyond problems and not get involved in arguments not related to the meaning of this statement (this is one of the most common mistakes of many essays).
- The wording of the main idea statements
Next, you need to uncover the meaning of the utterance, but do not repeat verbatim the statement. In this case you can use the following body outlines templates.
- The definition of its position to the statement
Here we can agree with the author fully, partially, denying a certain part of the statement, or argue with the author, expressing the opposite opinion. You can make use of phrases, clichés. Argument their own opinions.
Next, you must justify your own opinion on this issue. This requires identifying arguments (proofs), that is, remember the basic terms, theoretical terms.
The argument must be made on two levels:
Theoretical level it is the basis of social science knowledge (concepts, terms, controversies, schools of thought, relationships, and opinions scientists, thinkers).
Experiential level here two variants are possible.
The proposed form allows to strictly control the adequacy of the arguments being presented and prevent “avoiding the topic”.
Finally, it is necessary to formulate a conclusion. An outline for an informative essay should not literally be the same judgment, according to the study: it brings together in one or two sentences the main ideas of the arguments and sums up the arguments, confirming the fidelity or infidelity of the judgment which was the subject of the essay. | <urn:uuid:6ba8ca74-25e9-42ff-a82b-1c9e2091cf68> | CC-MAIN-2021-04 | https://vivu.tv/how-to-use-a-flat-outline-to-write-outstanding-papers/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-04/segments/1610704803308.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20210126170854-20210126200854-00782.warc.gz | en | 0.914099 | 966 | 3.25 | 3 |
How Candles Were Helpful Before Electricity
Candles have been around for centuries, and they were once the primary source of light for people all over the world. Before electricity was invented, candles were used for everything from providing light for everyday tasks to creating a festive atmosphere for special occasions.
Candles Were Used for Everyday Tasks
In the days before electricity, candles were used for a variety of everyday tasks, such as:
- Lighting the way: Candles were used to light the way in homes, businesses, and public spaces.
- Providing light for reading: Candles were used to provide light for reading, sewing, and other activities that required good lighting.
- Cooking: Candles were used to cook food in areas where there was no access to other sources of heat.
- Warming up: Candles were used to warm up homes and businesses in cold weather.
Candles Were Used for Special Occasions
In addition to being used for everyday tasks, candles were also used for special occasions, such as:
- Religious ceremonies: Candles were used in religious ceremonies to symbolize light, hope, and faith.
- Celebrations: Candles were used to celebrate special occasions, such as birthdays, weddings, and holidays.
- Romantic dinners: Candles were used to create a romantic atmosphere for dinner parties and other special occasions.
How Candles Can Still Be Helpful Today
Even though electricity is now the primary source of light for most people, candles can still be helpful in a variety of ways. For example, candles can be used:
- To create a relaxing atmosphere: The soft light and flickering flames of candles can create a relaxing atmosphere that is perfect for winding down after a long day.
- To add a touch of elegance: Candles can add a touch of elegance to any room, making it the perfect setting for a special occasion.
- As a gift: Candles make a thoughtful and appreciated gift for any occasion.
How Our Handmade Candles Can Help You
Our handmade candles are made with high-quality ingredients and are hand-poured in small batches. This ensures that our candles have a clean, long-lasting burn and a beautiful, even flame. We also offer a wide variety of scents to choose from, so you can find the perfect candle to suit your mood or need.
We believe that candles can be a great way to add a touch of beauty, elegance, and relaxation to your home. Our handmade candles are a perfect way to do just that.
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Nowadays, our children are victims of the modern world, in which technology is the leading example of how to NOT get raised properly. We let our children expose themselves to the world through their mobile and desktop devices and often forget how exercise is important.
Apart from exercise and movement as a prerequisite of every child, the values in life such as self-control, confidence, strength and even self-defense are values that cannot be picked online. That is why sports are important for every kid, and signing your child to martial arts class is the best way to raise a healthy and stable individual child..
Below are a few reasons why your children should definitely learn martial arts:
- Teaching Respect – Respecting the body is the main thing that martial arts teach kids. A positive influence on this comes from watching and learning this form of an art. Adopting discipline as the core example on how to use self-defense in the right way is what every child should learn.
- Teaching Self-Control – If your children don’t learn self-control from their early years, they can end up in being scared, unhappy and often misguided young adults turning your life upside down. On the other side, martial arts teach your kids the right meaning of discipline – how to control their energy, focus on tasks before them and learn how to protect their body through proper discipline and movement.
- Body Coordination – Balance, coordination, and having a fit body are some of the great benefits that children embark when starting off with martial arts. The sooner your child starts learning martial arts, the better the body will form achieving high levels of movement.
- Teaching To Appreciate Art – Your children can learn how to appreciate art even if it’s not ballet, painting classes or music involved in their life. Martial arts focus on precise movements and many levels, which makes every child appreciate the finer details of execution and exercise.
- Teaching Patience – ‘Best things in life come to those who are patient’ is a saying that is not wrong at all. As soon as your child enrolls in martial arts and starts getting what the discipline of this sport is all about, he or she will learn about the belt system and the patience needed for every new achievement to be completed successfully.
Martial Art for children, however, just like anything else – might not simply be for your child. But if he or she is interested and ready to give it a try – you should make the most of it by signing him up for a martial arts class and letting them learn some of the most valuable lessons from the art.
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Words Their Way Within Word Pattern Spellers Unit 6
Diphthongs and other Ambiguous Vowel Sounds
Picture and Word Cards for Teaching
Diphthong Dudes Book/Craft Activity Sorts
No Prep Sort Color Sheets.
No Prep Word Work Sheets
Draw the Word Foldable Booklets (oy, oi, oo, oo, aw, au, wa, al, ou, ou, ow)
You can also click here and buy this in my bundle of Units 6-10
*I have laid out how I personally would teach each day. Please change as needed for your classroom needs. I recommend doing these small group.
**This in no way replaces the book Words Their Way, but gives you ways to supplement the program to better accommodate your learners. You will need the book Word Sorts for Within Word Pattern Spellers to be able to fully use this product
*** I am not affiliated with Words Their Way in anyway. This product was created by a teacher in Washington. | <urn:uuid:cf498fd0-22dc-4ba0-a9cd-5ccd391f737f> | CC-MAIN-2018-30 | https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Words-Their-Way-Within-Word-Pattern-Spellers-Unit-6-Diphthongs-2748590 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-30/segments/1531676589980.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20180718002426-20180718022426-00497.warc.gz | en | 0.914774 | 213 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Home > Introduction Korea > Language
Han-guel (the Korean Alphabet)
“Han-guel” is the official name for the Korean alphabet. Because spoken languages have some limits in communication, mankind invented letters. However, there are less than 100 alphabets now in use in the world while at the same time there are over thousands of spoken languages. Han-guel ranks in the world’s most used written languages. Han-guel is unique because it was invented by one person over a short period of time and became established as a nation’s alphabet system. Moreover, the inventor published a book on the usage of the language with explanations of the alphabet system. This was a unique historical event that no precedent. Scholars in linguistics all over the world acknowledge that the explanation is logical and systematic. Han-guel was invented by King Sejong and his scholars in Jib-hyeon-jeon in the 15th century. It was called “Hun-min-jeong-eum” at the time of its invention. It is known as one of the most scientific and practical alphabet systems and served as basis for the development of Korean culture and science. Hun-min-jeong-eum is a National Treasure (#70), and was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage in 1997.
CharacteristicsHan-guel is one of the most inventive and original alphabets in the world and has unique characteristics as follows: First, while it is unknown who is responsible for creating most alphabet systems in the world, Han-guel was invented by King Sejong of Joseon and his scholars in 1443. Second, Han-guel was not influenced by other countries’ alphabet systems, and was invented originally by taking the shape of the vocal organs as well as the shape of heaven, earth, and humankind.
|Consonants||ㄱ||Shape of tongue blocking the throat|
|ㄴ||Shape of tongue sticking to upper tooth|
|ㅁ||Shape of lips|
|ㅅ||Shape of teeth|
|ㅇ||Shape of throat|
|Vowels||.||Shape of round heaven|
|-||Shape of flat earth|
||||Shape of a human standing|
Third, the Korean alphabet is based on a systematic and scientific principle, and you can produce almost limitless number of characters by combining the basic five consonants of ㄱ, ㄴ, ㅁ, ㅅ, and ㅇ and the three basic vowels, ㆍ, ㅡ, andㅣ
|Consonants||Add lines to the basic consonants||ㄱ → ㅋ, ㄴ → ㄷ, ㅁ → ㅂ, ㅅ → ㅈ, ㅇ → ㅎ .....|
|Repeat the same letter or add another letter||ㄱ → ㄲ, ㄷ → ㄸ, ㅂ → ㅃ, ㅅ → ㅆ, ㅂ+ㅅ→ㅄ ......|
|Vowels||Vowels||ㅣ+ㆍ→ㅏ, ㆍ+ㅡ →ㅗ, ㅗ+ㅏ→ㅘ .....|
Fourth, as Korean characters are phonetic symbols, any pronunciation can be written correctly and easily in Korean letters. Fifth, from the perspective of modern linguistics, science, and technology, the Korean alphabet is easy to type or print out on computers as well as to send text messages on cell phones. | <urn:uuid:24aa6b1e-74ec-441e-b94a-d40c890e9d31> | CC-MAIN-2015-35 | http://www.studyinkorea.go.kr/en/sub/korea_info/language.do | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-35/segments/1440645348533.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20150827031548-00308-ip-10-171-96-226.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947452 | 792 | 3.59375 | 4 |
They judge whether something is good or bad, better or worse than something comparable.
Evaluation Synonyms, Evaluation Antonyms | Merriam-Webster
What is student evaluation? - Teachers
The text makes it clear to the reader why the argument or claim is as such.EVALUATION METHODS TIP SHEET QUANTITATIVE METHODS: Quantitative data collection methods consist of counts or frequencies, rates or percentages, or other statistics.
UKEssays Services Example Essays Law Definition Of Consent For The Purposes Of Sexual Offence.Aldous Huxley, a leading essayist, gives guidance on the subject.This lecture will guide you toward the draft of your Critical Evaluation Essay, and along the way, ask you to complete two assignments.Card R, Sexual Offences: The New Law (rev edn, Jordans 2004).
So most of the time we resort to other methods like flirting with that person.Like the KSAs, ECQs are used along with resumes to determine who the best applicants are when several candidates qualify for a job.On the main information pages for each volume, you can also download full versions of Volume 1 or Volume 2.A definition essay traditionally defines a particular word, a term, or a certain concept in depth by means of providing a.Techniques and strategies for using terms and directives for writing essays, reports, and answering questions.This form benefits from presenting a broader perspective while countering a possible flaw that some may present.To be evaluative is to consider or judge something carefully.
A film essay is a movie that often incorporates documentary filmmaking styles, and focuses more on the evolution of a theme or idea.Writing evaluation papers asks them to question why they feel the way they do.The presumption in regard impersonation also has limitations.If you do not know the standards usually used to evaluate your subject, you could do some research.For example, those with obsessive- compulsive disorders find that their obsessions (some maybe socially acceptable behaviour such as hand- washing) make them feel happy.
evaluate - Dictionary Definition : Vocabulary.comDid the author engage the audience, or was the piece lacking something.This sense has mostly gone with the divergent spelling assay.
Rubric Definition - The Glossary of Education ReformBefore progressing further, we can already identify clear issues with such a definition.
Most academic institutions require that all substantial facts, quotations, and other porting material in an essay be referenced in a bibliography or works cited page at the end of the text.
Evaluating Reasoning in an Essay or Article - VideoChoosing a Definition Choosing a definition is a key step in writing a definition essay.I have written, that is okay, no one person can sum everyone.You also need the know- how of driving a car of that power and a base of knowledge of other cars that you have tested to compare it to.This essay was produced the country wife essays by our professional writers as a learning aid to help you with your studies.While you read the work, keep in mind the criteria you are using to evaluate.
The second limitation is some of its criteria depend on subjective judgements of other people.A descriptive essay allows you to paint private equity mba essay a picture for your reader in words Be prepared definition evaluate essay.United States and Canada), essays have become a major part of formal education.
Purdue OWL: Essay WritingFor example, if you are reviewing a film, you could read a few recent film reviews online or in the library, noting the standards that reviewers typically use and the reasons that they assert for liking or disliking a film.This topic also brings us a new idea. Friend D. Now you know everything about this person both as a.As such, a critical essay requires research and analysis, strong internal logic and sharp structure.The key weakness of the deviation of social norms is cultural relativity.
I would like. to take the other road and continue on about relationships as they become more involved.Can this truly be described as freedom even if there is no threat of actual removal.This essay was produced by our professional writers as a learning aid to help you with your studies.This essay focuses on personal love, or the love of particular persons.
In this list you will find 30 inspiring ideas for your papers.These forms and styles are used by an array of authors, including university students and professional essayists.Social norms are the approved and expected ways of behaving in a particular society.The knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary for the successful performance of a position are contained on each job vacancy announcement.Under the SOA, consent is now defined by s.74 as the ability to consent by.Another example would be a more personal thing like crying in front of. | <urn:uuid:b3227500-7b21-4d80-badd-f04f1a08dc75> | CC-MAIN-2017-51 | http://musicalinstrumentsforsale.us/widyr/evaluate-definition-essay-269.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-51/segments/1512948542031.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20171214074533-20171214094533-00255.warc.gz | en | 0.924983 | 988 | 2.796875 | 3 |
In this section
Many people in the community have seizures. 1 in 20 children (5%) will
have a seizure of some form during childhood. About 1 in 200 children (0.5%) have epilepsy, a neurological condition where children have a
predisposition to recurrent, unprovoked seizures.
There are many different types of epilepsy, especially in infancy,
childhood and adolescence. Epilepsy can be thought of in terms of
Genetic epilepsies (formerly called idiopathic or primary epilepsies) occur in an otherwise normal person and are due to a
genetic predisposition to seizures. Some epilepsies are due to an underlying abnormality of the brain
structure or chemistry (formerly called symptomatic or secondary epilepsies). Other epilepsies have no known cause.
Seizures occur when there is a momentary 'imbalance'
within electrical and chemical circuits in the brain, such that
groups of brain cells act in an excessive fashion.
This may create a temporary disturbance in the way the brain
controls awareness and responsiveness and may cause unusual
sensations or abnormal movements and postures. What happens during
a seizure reflects what parts of the brain are involved.
There are many different types of seizures, but the major
distinction that doctors try to make is between focal seizures,
where the seizure arises in one part of the brain (usually on one side of the brain) and generalised seizures, where epileptic
activity begins all over the brain (on both sides of the brain) simultaneously.
Focal seizures occur when the seizure arises in a
localised part of the brain, usually on one side. Focal seizures
used to be called partial seizures. Consciousness may or may not be
impaired. The manifestations of a focal seizure depend on
the part of the brain involved with the abnormal brain cell
activity. Focal seizures used to be classified
according to whether there is impairment of consciousness or
Formerly called simple partial seizures, these arise in parts of the brain not responsible
for maintaining consciousness, typically the movement or sensory
areas. Consciousness is NOT impaired and the effects of the seizure
relate to the part of the brain involved. If the site of origin is
the motor area of the brain, bodily movements may be abnormal (e.g.
limp, stiff, jerking). If sensory areas of the brain are involved
the person may report experiences such as tingling or numbness,
changes to what they see, hear or smell, or very unusual feelings
that may be hard to describe. Young children might have difficulty
describing such sensations or may be frightened by these.
Formerly called complex partial seizures, these arise in parts of the brain responsible
for maintaining awareness, responsiveness and memory, typically
parts of the temporal and frontal lobes. Consciousness is lost and
the person may appear dazed or unaware of their surroundings.
Sometimes the person experiences a warning sensation or 'aura'
before they lose awareness , essentially the simple partial phase
of the seizure. Behaviour during a complex partial seizure relates
to the site of origin and spread of the seizure. Often the person's
actions are clumsy and they will not respond normally to questions
and commands. Behaviour may be confused and they may exhibit
automatic movements and behaviours e.g. picking at clothing,
picking up objects, chewing and swallowing, trying to stand or run,
appearing afraid and struggling with restraint. Colour change,
wetting and vomiting can occur in complex partial seizures.
Following the seizure the person may remain confused for a
prolonged period and may not be able to speak, see, or hear if
these parts of the brain were involved. The person has no memory of
what occurred during the complex partial phase of the seizure and
often needs to sleep.
Focal seizures may
progress due to spread of epileptic activity over one or both
sides of the brain. Formerly called secondarily generalised seizures, bilaterally convulsive seizures look like generalised tonic-clonic
The distinction between simple and complex partial seizures is
often unclear and the terminology may be confusing. For these
reasons those terms are falling out of favour and more descriptive
terminology is used for focal seizures.
Generalised seizures occur when epileptic activity begins all
over the brain simultaneously. Consciousness is always impaired in
Tonic-clonic seizures produce sudden loss of consciousness, with
the person commonly falling to the ground, followed by stiffening
(tonic) and then rhythmic jerking (clonic) of the muscles. Shallow
or 'jerky' breathing, bluish tinge of the skin and lips, drooling
of saliva and often loss of bladder or bowel control generally
occur. The seizures usually last a couple of minutes and normal
breathing and consciousness then returns. The person is tired
following the seizure and may be confused.
Absence seizures produce a brief cessation of activity and loss of
consciousness, usually lasting 5-30 seconds. Often the momentary
blank stare is accompanied by subtle eye blinking and mouthing or
chewing movements. Awareness returns quickly and the person
continues with the previous activity. Falling and jerking do not
occur in typical absences.
Myoclonic seizures are sudden and brief muscle contractions that
may occur singly, repeatedly or continuously. They may involve the
whole body in a massive jerk or spasm, or may only involve
individual limbs or muscle groups. If they involve the arms they
may cause the person to spill what they were holding. If they
involve the legs or body the person may fall.
Tonic seizures are characterised by generalised muscle stiffening,
lasting 1-10 seconds. Associated features include brief cessation
of breathing, colour change and drooling. Tonic seizures
often occur during sleep. When tonic seizures occur suddenly with
the child awake they may fall violently to the ground and injure
themselves. Fortunately, tonic seizures are rare and usually
only occur in severe forms of epilepsy.
Atonic seizures produce a sudden loss of muscle tone
which, if brief, may only involve the head dropping forward ('head
nods'), but may cause sudden collapse and falling ('drop
From these descriptions, it can be appreciated that the exact
type of seizure may be difficult for a witness to determine. For
example, a seizure with stopping and staring could be a complex
partial (focal) seizure or an absence (generalised) seizure. A
convulsive seizure may be a generalised tonic-clonic seizure
or focal seizure which became bilaterally convulsive. A
sudden fall to the ground ('drop attack') can occur with myoclonic,
tonic or atonic seizures or a focal seizure involving the
movement areas. Determination of the exact type of seizure is
important and is obtained from patient and observer descriptions,
home video recordings, EEG testing and sometimes video EEG
It is also important to remember that many episodic behaviours
and disorders in children can mimic epilepsy, including breath
holding spells, sleep movements, day dreaming, fainting, migraine,
heart and gastrointestinal problems, and psychological
The most important aspect of the evaluation of a child or
adolescent with a suspected seizure disorder is the clinical
assessment by a specialist paediatrician or child neurologist. This
clinical assessment typically involves obtaining a detailed
description of the child's episodes, medical history, development,
learning and behaviour. Crucial outcomes of the assessment are to
Paediatricians are often the most accessible and experienced
child health specialists when it comes to assessing a child with a
suspected seizure disorder. The Neurology Department
provides a consultative service to general practitioners and
paediatricians for children with uncertain, poorly characterised or
Special tests are performed in many children with epilepsy. The need for tests is
determined following the detailed clinical assessment by
a paediatric specialist experienced in seizure disorders.
Tests are generally performed to:
Tests are not performed to determine if a child has epilepsy or
not. This is a clinical judgement made by a specialist.
Children who present to their doctor or an emergency department
with a first major seizure will usually have a blood test to
check the sugar, calcium, magnesium and salt levels, as
abnormalities of body chemistry can lead to seizures.
In a child
with epileptic seizures, a recording of brainwave activity (EEG) and a picture of the
brain (MRI) may be
obtained, where necessary. In special circumstances, some children
with seizures may have an examination of the spinal fluid (lumbar
puncture), metabolic testing of the blood or urine, or genetic
tests. Children with uncontrolled epilepsy sometimes undergo
detailed EEG (video-EEG monitoring) and more specialised imaging studies (SPECT and/or PET), to accurately localise the source and determine the cause of their
seizures, with a view to specialised treatments.
Children with seizures do not always need treatment. In many
instances, explanation and reassurance by the doctor and advice
about safety precautions and first aid management for possible
future seizures is all that is required. Many children with
epilepsy have only a single seizure and do not require
For children with recurrent seizures, the decision to prescribe
medication depends on the type of epilepsy and seizure, the age of the
child, the presence of associated developmental and behavioural
problems, and the attitudes and lifestyle of the child and family.
Medical treatment usually means prescription of antiepileptic
medication to prevent further seizures, but occasionally medication
is prescribed to treat seizures only when they occur.
General treatment options for children with epilepsy include:
For children with uncontrolled epilepsy, that is epilepsy in
which seizures are not adequately controlled by medication, other
treatments are available, including: | <urn:uuid:4c667a8e-4589-411d-8502-7d2dc8ddfbf2> | CC-MAIN-2015-32 | http://www.rch.org.au/neurology/patient_information/about_epilepsy/?doc_id=3243 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-32/segments/1438042981969.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20150728002301-00322-ip-10-236-191-2.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90166 | 2,090 | 3.96875 | 4 |
Offensive Strokes in Ping Pong
A direct hit on the ball propelling it forward back to the opponent. This stroke differs from speed drives in
other racket sports like tennis because the racket is primarily perpendicular to the direction of the stroke and most of the energy applied to the ball results in speed rather than spin, creating a shot that does not arc much, but is fast enough that it can be difficult to return. A speed drive is used mostly for keeping the ball in play, applying pressure on the opponent, and potentially opening up an opportunity for a more powerful attack.
Perfected during the 1960s, the loop is essentially the reverse of the speed drive. The racket is much more parallel to the direction of the stroke ("closed") and the racket thus grazes the ball, resulting in a large amount of topspin. A good loop drive will arc quite a bit, and once striking the opponent's side of the table will jump forward, much like a kick serve in tennis.
The counter-drive is usually a counterattack against drives, normally high loop drives. The racket is held closed and near to the ball, which is hit with a short movement "off the bounce" (immediately after hitting the table) so that the ball travels faster to the other side. A well-timed, accurate counter-drive can be as effective as a smash.
When a player tries to attack a ball that has not bounced beyond the edge of the table, the player does not have the room to wind up in a backswing. The ball may still be attacked, however, and the resulting shot is called a flick because the backswing is compressed into a quick wrist action. A flick is not a single stroke and can resemble either a drive or a loop in its characteristics. What identifies the stroke is the backswing is compressed into a short wrist flick.
The offensive trump card is the smash. A player will typically execute a smash when his or her opponent has returned a ball that bounces too high or too close to the net. Smashing is essentially self-explanatory—large backswing and rapid acceleration imparting as much speed on the ball as possible. The goal of a smash is to get the ball to move so quickly that the opponent simply cannot return it. Because the ball speed is the main aim of this shot, often the spin on the ball is something other than topspin. Sidespin can be used effectively with a smash to alter the ball's trajectory significantly, although most intermediate players will smash the ball with little or no spin. An offensive table tennis player will think of a rally as a build-up to a winning smash. | <urn:uuid:20f85d53-38a5-4acb-a25f-665f0cb6238a> | CC-MAIN-2023-14 | https://pingpong.coolonlinegames.org/offensive-strokes-in-ping-pong.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-14/segments/1679296949642.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20230331113819-20230331143819-00772.warc.gz | en | 0.966504 | 553 | 2.90625 | 3 |
Criminal law can be also named penal law can be used to refer to any of the bodies that rule different areas in an effort to impose punishment to individuals or persons that have failed to comply with the same.
Such punishment may vary with the severity of the crime that is being looked into. Sometimes, the severity of the crime might lead to the execution of the perpetrator.
A criminal law degree will help one to be able to understand the legal guidelines as well as the punishments that are given for breaking such laws in the different areas.
Different countries have different laws. For example, in most Muslim countries, they use the Sheria laws which are very strict.
Crimes like robbery are punished by the cutting off of the perpetrators hand while adultery is a very serious crime which leads to death by stoning.
If you want to study a law degree in such countries, this is what they will be learning.
When you compare such laws and their punishments to other countries, you will find that they are too strong because in some countries adultery is not a crime that can be punishable by law.
There are different ways that you can be able to study criminal law. You can choose to take an associate’s degree where you will be able to learn law enforcement, corrections, paralegal careers etc. which is normally completed in two years.
An associate’s degree however will have less training than a law degree.
This is why you will find most people will prefer to have a bachelor’s degree as they will be more qualified than when they have an associate’s degree.
Additionally, you can be able to qualify for various jobs such as social work, correctional treatment specialist.
You should also be aware that a normal bachelor’s criminal law degree might be gotten after about four years of study.
Once you have gotten this degree, you can be able to easily secure a job and then you can decide whether to continue to a master’s level or stay with the bachelor’s degree.
Doing a master’s program has got several benefits. The first benefit is that you will be qualified for higher and more challenging jobs than when you had a bachelor’s degree.
This means that you will have a wider experience when it comes to law matters. Secondly, you will also be able to earn far much more than when you had a bachelor’s degree. | <urn:uuid:6134081f-7f17-4233-80d2-750ea9dc89f9> | CC-MAIN-2019-26 | https://mixedspecial.com/criminal-law-degree-programs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-26/segments/1560627997801.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20190616062650-20190616084650-00518.warc.gz | en | 0.975729 | 496 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Sintered & Cast Magnets
The sintering process involves compacting fine powders at high pressure in an aligning magnetic field, then sintering into solid shape. After sintering, the magnet shape is rough, and will need to be machined to achieve close tolerances. The complexity of shapes that can be thus pressed is limited.
Sintered Rare Earth magnets from NdFeB or SmCo are Anisotropic and the strongest magnets on the market today. | <urn:uuid:4c4fa16b-43c0-4590-8658-914d79993d54> | CC-MAIN-2018-26 | http://suramagnets.se/magnets-materials/sintered-magnets/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-26/segments/1529267867644.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20180625092128-20180625112128-00366.warc.gz | en | 0.872196 | 101 | 2.78125 | 3 |
I recently completed a course on Creativity, Innovation and Change on Coursera. It lasted for 8 weeks and it was a pretty hard commitment, provided that I had plenty of other things going at the same time but it was good, and it was so good that it’s the first course I feel like detailing somewhere, so that I leave it with enough knowledge and learning as possible.
I’ve been keen on courses on creativity for a while, as I thought there must be a process, a method to unleash the creativity within me, and help me make up tons of ideas from nothing. Because this is how I saw creativity: “making something out of nothing”. But I couldn’t have been more wrong!
So, following this course and the Design Thinking Lab on NovoEd, I made some epic discoveries – which may seem trivialities for a person who does creative work since forever, but for me those are beautiful new concepts to play with:
1) We are all creative! Yes, my first discovery is a very much used cliché. But we don’t really believe in it, do we? We think creativity is something that certain people were born with – you know, the ones that were drawing and writing as kids while we were wasting time playing basketball or doing whatnot. We think we’re not creative and most of the time we pass the work that requires innovation and new ideas to “the creative ones”. Well this time, we are the creative ones. You are creative, get used to it!
2) Creativity doesn’t come from thin air. There is a process one can follow – a thinking process, a creating process, whatever you want to call it – to reach innovative ideas or ideas in general.
3) There is structure in the creative process, which is a paradox as every structure is enabling and limiting at the same time. The trick is to use this structure wisely, so that you don’t limit yourself too much but at the same time you build limits so that your idea is effective and practical.
4) We are not creative in the same way. The concept of Creative Diversity was one of the most interesting concepts I read about so far. The creativity differences vary depending on several variables and there is no one combination of these variables that is ideal all the time:
- Creative level: refers to your mental capacity => one example is a special talent for math vs. a talent for art
- Creative style: how your brain is creative in different ways, from person to person; some people are more structured, others are more …chaotic so to say
- Creative motive: what motivates us determines how we create, how we apply our energy to create
- Creative opportunity: we all see opportunities differently (or we don’t see opportunity, but that’s another topic)
5) Creativity involves many skills, not just one or mainly one skill. It is basically the result of a system of skills and processes coming together. You can summarize these skills in the acronym CENTER – see below, which is a good exercise to figure out which one of these pieces is important to you and how you can use them to change yourself:
- Character: I am … and I will be the best I can be
- Entrepreneurship: I take smart risks and run smart experiments towards my dream of …
- owNership: I choose … (fill in your choice)
- Tenacity: I will hold on in my pursuit of …
- Excellence: I will commit and focus to …
- Relationship: My family / home / friends are …
6) There are all kinds of “villains” that stops us from being creative:
- We’re scared
- We lack focus
- We are afraid to experiment – for the above reasons
7) Failure is a natural part of the creative process. The Intelligent Fast Failure concept uses failure as a method of experimentation to obtain good results in the end. Because the final result is the most important and can not be obtained without experimenting, and experimenting means failing. But you can maximize the acquisition of knowledge through failure. Intelligent Fast Failure means:
- Conduct experiments using minimum resources in the shortest time possible (fast)
- Sub-optimal outcomes that are inherent when exploring new creative and innovative ideas (failure)
So, surprisingly, but not so much: YOU ARE CREATIVE! There are no more excuses now, you know, for the thing that you are not doing, even though you think about, but you’re not good enough for, you have no time for, you’re scared it won’t work, you can’t focus on and so on (villains!).
Below a video that I really appreciated – even though the book not so much – on how we’re all little geniuses: | <urn:uuid:03029ea5-6ec4-4943-ae79-1d58ba5d0771> | CC-MAIN-2021-04 | https://andreeazone.com/2013/10/21/we-are-all-creative/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-04/segments/1610703515235.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20210118185230-20210118215230-00529.warc.gz | en | 0.957466 | 1,016 | 2.796875 | 3 |
I came across this document awhile back on Twitter.
The link to this document is here. The poster has 100 questions for teachers to ask students to promote mathematical thinking and classroom discussion. I was really drawn to these and wanted a way to implement these in my classroom. Many of these questions I ask on a regular basis but felt that many of these questions would be very useful for my students to ask themselves as well. My problem was how to interpret these and display these in a helpful way.
Then yesterday I saw these on Twitter: Continue reading
Why is it that so few of my pupils have a real understanding of performing calculations with negative numbers.
I have recently been working on finding the equation of a line in slope-intercept form with my S3 class. They investigated how to calculate gradient and have a great understanding of how to calculate gradient. The problems arose when actually calculating the gradient. So many errors with calculations such as -4 – (-5).
Listening to conversations at various tables I hear statements like “two negatives make a positive” and “I hate negative numbers”. The main misconceptions seem to be that since 6 – (-3) = 9 then -3 + (-4) = 7 since two negatives make a positive. Continue reading
I’m always setting myself too many unachievable goals. This year I’m going to keep it simple. Continue reading
What am I looking forward to in 2016?
There are a few things that come to mind straight away:
- writing my blog – this is very new to me and so far I have enjoyed writing my posts. It has helped greatly having the #MTBoS12days to base my posts on. When I don’t have them I will have to think a lot more about what I want to blog about and why.
I am very lucky. I have a lovely large classroom with beautiful views of the river. Also, my department is very well stocked with equipment, paper, card, stationery and resources.
However, I do have a few classroom wishes – some more attainable than others: Continue reading
As a maths teacher I face new challenges every day but my biggest challenge recently involved my other job.
As well as being a maths teacher I am the Principal Teacher of Achievement. This is a promoted post that I have been in since September 2014. The post involves recognising and celebrating achievement in the school.
I was asked to lead an improvement team to develop a new merit award system. The moment that challenged me – when the Head Teacher informed me that I had to speak at assemblies to launch the new system.
One thing I want to improve this term … this is the Yule Time Challenge set. This is incredibly difficult to decide upon because there are so many areas where I feel I need to make improvements.
However, if I want to make significant changes and have them be effective then it is wise to focus on one or two small changes and build from there.
One area which has always been a struggle for me is dealing with pupils who have been absent. Whether an illness or appointment or school trip or family holiday, pupils tend to expect to walk back into class and somehow magically catch up with the rest of the class. One of my biggest frustrations is when a pupil leaves a homework or test question blank and says “I was off when you did this”. Continue reading
I call this task “Red Amber Green” – not the most imaginative name I know. There are three levels of questions – Red Amber and Green. The questions increase in difficulty with Green being the basic core skills and Red being the most challenging.
Pupils work in pairs or small groups – it works best if they work with others of a similar pace and ability to them. All the questions are placed in trays at the front of the room (or stuck on the whiteboard) and pupils come up and take a question back to their table.
The fifth task for the Yule Blog Challenge is to reflect on last term (or semester) and consider what will I start, stop and continue. I’m new to blogging and this is the first task which has really made me think about my teaching and learning over the last term.
What will I start:
I am going to start using these Problem Solving Bookmarks that I found online (don’t have the original link). I find that my pupils are very quick to say they “cannae dae it” when they see a tricky problem before even giving themselves time to think. I would like to give all my pupils a copy of the bookmark and make a real effort to refer to it during lessons.
I love to read but don’t always make time to read.
My early Christmas present to myself is “Make It Stick” P C Brown.
I have seen lots of recommendations for this book on Twitter and really want to read it and hope I can use it to help my pupils improve their learning.
I have borrowed a copy of “War and Peace” Leo Tolstoy from my mum. Haven’t started it yet and now the BBC is showing a six part series in the New Year. Dilemma – do I watch the series then read the book or vice versa? | <urn:uuid:3409ab8f-7779-4b3a-a724-1ac7de95979a> | CC-MAIN-2020-40 | https://fractionfanatic.wordpress.com/tag/mtbos/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-40/segments/1600402131777.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20201001143636-20201001173636-00072.warc.gz | en | 0.971388 | 1,096 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Circular Dichroism (CD) is an excellent method for analyzing protein and nucleic acid secondary structure in solution. It
can be used to track changes in folding as a function of temperature, and is also useful for measuring protein-ligand and
nucleic acid-ligand interactions.
CD measures the difference in absorption between left- and right-circularly polarized light as a function of wavelength. When
light passes through an optically active chromophore, differential absorption results in light with an electronic vector that
is elliptical rather than circular.
Wallace has speculated on the future of this method. "Synchrotron radiation sources produce much brighter light than can be
obtained from Xenon arc lamps now used as the light sources in commercial CD instruments. As a result, a Synchrotron Radiation
Circular Dichroism (SRCD) instrument will enable more-accurate spectra to be measured to lower wavelengths. One of two places
in the world where such an instrument now exists is at the Centre for Protein and Membrane Structure and Dynamics located
at the Daresbury Lab in Cheshire UK."8
Electrons have a shorter wavelength than light allowing magnifications up to many thousand times. The theme in this older
technology is automation, resolution, and speed. FEI Company has published a useful, amusing instructional booklet on this
On April 18, 2005 FEI reported that the Titan 80-300, its newest scanning electron microscope, achieved atomic scale imaging
with a resolution below 0.7 Angstrom.10 FEI claims this as a new record for a commercial tool. On August 1, 2005 this firm
released new software and hardware for the Tecnai G2 transmission electron microscope.11 Technai 3.0 software runs under Windows XP and takes full digital control of the microscope and detectors.
The separation of proteins, DNA, RNA, and peptides in an electric field is based on their relative electric charge. Greater
charges migrate faster. BioPharm International published an application article in April 2005; which discussed a case study of developing analytical methods for an API.12 One that was improved is SDS-PAGE. The excerpt from the article follows:
"GEL ELECTROPHORESIS Formulation development could not progress until an initial method to evaluate product quality was available. Although not
required as a release method, sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) was the first technique
established because of the simplicity of method development. SDS-PAGE separates proteins based on size and can be used to
detect impurities, truncation, or aggregation. All materials used for SDS-PAGE were purchased from Invitrogen.
SDS-PAGE was used to analyze all early formulation development samples and was invaluable in identifying formulations prone to aggregation.
In particular, a significant dimer band was observed in samples freeze-dried with only mannitol and stored at 37°C for two
weeks. Dimer was not observed in frozen controls or frozen solutions of the same formulation. Also, dimer was not observed
in samples freeze-dried with only sucrose, or with mixtures of sucrose and mannitol.
SDS-PAGE required little development time, but it was not an ideal product release method. The technique was useful for comparing
the purity of samples within one analysis, but intermediate precision was generally poor. An analysis of the purity results
by densitometry was subjective because streaks, bubbles, and background must be excluded from the purity calculation. In addition,
the limit of quantitation (LOQ) was high. While not experimentally determined, the LOQ can be estimated from linearity data
to be approximately 60 μg/mL or 10 percent aggregates (proteins stuck together but still soluble). Aggregates are undesirable
because there are concerns that they can cause immunogenic reactions in patients.
SDS-PAGE was optimized during initial method development. We loaded samples at 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 μg to determine optimum loading
conditions. The gel was scanned with a desktop scanner and analyzed by gel analysis software. We then plotted the amount of
protein loaded against optical density to determine the linear range of staining, which was from 0.5 to 3μg with a 0.999 coefficient | <urn:uuid:55293730-5f80-42cb-ad40-036c90c506ea> | CC-MAIN-2014-23 | http://www.biopharminternational.com/biopharm/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=185585&sk=&date=&pageID=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-23/segments/1405997874283.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20140722025754-00212-ip-10-33-131-23.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928449 | 919 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Portfolio of High and Low Culture in Madrid, Spain
Media Geographies - 3CP060 Assignment 2 - Portfolio
Name: Jessica Louise McCartney Student Number: 110027335
Plaza Del Mayor
Introduction This portfolio shall discuss high and low culture using the case study of Spain’s capital city, Madrid. In particular this study aims to explore how Madrid utilises its culture through identifying that both exist within the city’s space. Exploration will be made into the segmentation of these spheres of high and low culture by using the contemporary examples of street art and artwork in museums. The theories of Michel Foucault will be used in order to define different spaces and how they operate with relation to each other. It is important to note that this study is not offering a critique of high and low culture by stating that they signify good and bad, they are merely different portrayals of which and operate as differences in taste. I shall begin this study by focussing on high culture by discussing the case study of Madrid’s museums.
Artwork in the Museo Sofia
High Culture: Museums and Art Galleries For this section exploring high culture in Madrid I will use the example of museums and art galleries to show how Madrid utilises this culture in order to present Spanish history in the way in which they want to portray it. This is a representation of their cultural identity and effort is made to utilise it. Reference will be made to the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39 and the work of Guernica by Pablo Piccasso. Other notable artists will be discussed in this section including Diego Velázquez and Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes. In terms of theoretical concepts I shall discuss the theories of Michel Foucault. The “Golden Triangle of Art” is a term coined by the tourist industry to refer to the three main art museums located in the centre of Madrid. These are Museo Nacional del Prado, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia and Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. This can be described as being a Bilbao effect in that it is an area which is specifically aimed at tourists and its location reflects this as they are placed close to each other and easily accessed. For this portfolio I will use the study of the two museums I visited whilst in Madrid, the Museo del Prado and Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. This is so that I can offer my own experiences to ensure that I capture an accurate portrayal of high culture. Museo del Prado is Spain’s main national art museum. The artworks in this museum are mainly historical and religious presenting the best of 19th Century Spain, with the most notable artist being Francisco de Goya. While the Museo Reina Sofia is famous for displaying the 20th Century surrealistic artworks of Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali, including Picasso’s world famous painting of the Guernica. High culture is defined as being products which are deemed to be held in the highest esteem, this is often
Las Meninas (Maids of Honor) - Velazquez (1956-57), Museo del Prdao
associated with art. Art galleries and museums can be perceived as being a form of high culture in that in the past it was generally just the middle-classes who were considered to have an appreciation of art. Many of the paintings in the del Prado are that of portraits of wealthy inhabitants, particularly those painted by Diego Velázquez. The realist artist painted portraits of the Spanish royal family, in particular King Philip IV, and other European figures of note. This is emblematic of high culture in that it was only the wealthy people from middleclass backgrounds and higher who could afford to have their portraits taken. The paintings indicate a sense of power, status, patronage and wealth. While these artworks are currently accessible to all to view, there is the notion that you must be part of the cultural elite and highly educated in order to interpret and gain enjoyment from such experiences. Its social role indicates that of status and high education. Museums can be considered to operate as private spaces. Marcel Henaff and Tracy Strong state that “private space is to be understood as distinguished from public as much by virtue of ownership as by virtue of the standards that have to be met in order to enter” (Henaff and Strong, 2001, p. 2-3). This can relate to an art museum in that to gain access you must ensure that you have a valid ticket which is obtained through purchase. In many cases you must also allow any personal possessions you have on you to be scanned to ensure that you are not a threat to the museum and have anything which may be damaging. Once inside, you then must operate under the museum’s rules. Foucault’s (1984) notion of a sense of heterotopia can be claimed to operate in these spaces with regards to how we must operate within the space. We are limited to where we can go and where we cannot. This exists as part of our subconscious and we are aware of what it is that is forbidden. We are aware that in that these spaces we must be quiet and not touch any of the artwork, while there are no signs which state this. Foucault (1984) states that museums are “heterotopias of indefinitely accumulating time”, they operate as an archive which hold representations of the time period in which they are portraying. This contradicts the perceived low culture of street art in that anyone can produce this, they do not need to be a recognised artist and this can be displayed anywhere within the city. There is also no such conditions which have to met by the
Guernica - Pablo Picasso
The Third of May 1808 - Goya (1814) Museo del Prado
people viewing the work. These museum spaces are selective in the artwork in which they choose to display as it is operates as a representation of the area. In the case of Madrid, art museums mainly display works in which celebrate Spanish history, showing that Spain is proud of its historical past. The main example of this is Goya’s artwork in the Museo del Prado, which exists as a permanent collection with other 100 works being displayed across three floors of the museum. The fact that this is a permanent collection offers the notion that his artwork is one in which Spain is proud of and the representations are ones in which they want to be portrayed. Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes is considered to be the most important Spanish artist of his time. His artwork reflects the historical changes Spain was experiencing at the beginning of the 19th century. Goya’s artwork portrays a change in Spanish culture, at the time of Charles IV’s reign his artwork was light hearted yet following the French invasion Goya began to produce scenes of violence. Once Charles IV’s son Ferdinand VII became the predecessor and began a reign of terror, Goya’s artwork became dark and pessimistic as he became isolated from patriarchy. Examples of which being the notorious Saturn Devouring His Son. Much of Goya’s work depicts the violence associated with such religion. While Spain is shown to be proud of its history, there are very few depictions of the Spanish Civil War. This could be due to the fact that debates are still ensuing as to whether Spain should remember or forget such a time. During the time of the Civil War, the inhabitants of Spain were politically divided between right-wing Nationalist and left-wing Republican parties, while mostly being largely fascistic. Franco ruled between 193975 and represented a fascist ruling. The reasons why Spain might wish to forget such a time is that the Civil War, while only lasting three years from 1936-39, split up families as people fled the country and children were evacuated at an estimated 450,000 while almost an equal number at 500,000 people were killed. The Pact of
Guernica - Pablo Picasso (1937), Museo Reina Sofia
Forgetting has been instated as a way of coping and to ensure that Spain looks towards a more positive and utopian future. One example of the few depictions of the Spanish Civil War is Picasso’s Guernica which is displayed in Museo Nacional De Arte Reina Sofia. This piece depicts the bombing in Guernica at the time of the Spanish Civil War, showing the tragedies of which were experienced at this time in portraying soldiers, grief and terror. This is a cultural icon which is well-known across the world. Art finds ways to smuggle in messages through what is referred to as codified discourse. This is subliminal in interpretation and exists as a resistance to rules. Guernica reflects this and art historians have attempted to interpret its symbolism by understanding the bull and horse as signifiers of Spanish culture. This famous artwork brought the war to the world’s attention. Moving this painting to the Reina Sofia was controversial as Picasso wanted the work to be displayed in the Prado. The displays in the Museo Nacional Del Prado mostly depict religious signs and signifiers, this is due to Spain being a predominantly Catholic country. Many of the paintings represent the birth of Jesus Christ and depictions of the Virgin Mary. Spain also seems to be proud of its religious heritage.
Street Art in Madrid
Low Culture: Graffiti and Street Art
This section explores the notion that street art is an element of low culture. Foucault’s notion of public spaced is used to describe the background of such art and how it exists within contemporary societies. Reference is also made to Banksy as a contrast to perceived notions of street art. Low culture operates as a form of a critique against popular culture. Gans states that low culture refers to a lack of “explicit concern with abstract ideas or even with fictional forms of contemporary social problems and issues” and states that it is an aspect of working class societies (Gans, 1999, p. 8-10). This contrasts to the notion of high culture in that operates within the societies of the middle-class and higher. As an aspect of working class societies it is also arguable one of the lower classes, existing as a subculture for the urban youth. In feeling disenfranchised from opportunities they feel that they are able to make their mark on the world and express their opinions through graffiti in order to gain empowerment. This is seen to be a form of low culture as it is created outside of the cultural conventions of art and the notions of an important educational system. Street artists do not need to be adept at producing art, it is accessible to anyone mainly the working classes as Gans notes. While to be an artist in contemporary times there is the notion that they must have attended university and gained a high degree. They represent a separation from institution. Understanding that street art is an integral aspect of Madrid is noted upon directly arriving in the city. The roads leading to the centre are surrounding by walls covered in graffiti. The graffiti counterculture movement mainly came to exist after the end of Franco’s dictatorship of Spain in 1975. This movement was named la Movida Madrileña, standing for the Madrilenian scene. This came as a form of expression for the people of Madrid to represent newfound freedom and the challenging of taboos. The spread of hip-hop culture in the 1980s continued this movement. At this time artist Juan Carlos Argüello
Graffiti in Madrid
began producing his logo of Muelle, Spanish for spring, and represented new beginnings for Spain. Many graffiti artists have since created their own works based on this. This became a counterculture for the youths in Madrid. It is important to note that Spain was not the first country to create the form of graffiti, it originated in America in the 1960’s. While graffiti is not legal in Spain, Madrid embraces its low culture of graffiti and street art. Although as is the case for many countries, graffiti is illegal, Madrid is a city which allows graffiti artists to successfully make a living. It has been accepted by the public and shop owners pay these artists to spray paint their shop fronts to prevent unwanted arson from anyone else. These are mainly produced on the shutters of their stores and become noticed mostly at night. This can be a form of commercialisation and advertising. Street art is adapted by its surroundings, whether this is by the subject of the graffiti or how it is displayed as there may be obstacles such as doors and windows. They are a creative form of expression in they are not limited by a set frame as standard artworks are. Street art and graffiti is a form of covert prestige in that celebration is made towards the taboo and socially uncouth. Street art relates directly to Foucault’s (1984) perception of public space. The spaces in which hold street art and completely public. In contrast to the private spaces in which museums exist in, there are no rules which protect street art as it is considered to be an illegal form of expression referred as graffiti. Street art is also not protected as it is in museums such as Del Prado. There is nothing to prevent it from being removed by the authorities as it is viewed as an act of vandalism or painted over by other artists. If it is removed then it brings reinforces the notion that governments are controlling the images in which we see. This form of art is different to the artwork displayed in private spaces which is produced by artists as their work remains anonymous. While the artworks in galleries and museums have signs to tell visitors who produced the work, graffiti has no such equivalent. Though many of the signs and symbols these artists use operate as their
Graffiti in Madrid
‘tag’ in recognising their work. While graffiti can be accepted as a valid art form, it can also be dismissed of this in that there is a lack of art history. The graffiti is seen almost everywhere in the city, with exception being made to the Paseo del Prado where this space is limited to embracing the high culture of the city through the stretch of museums and galleries which are located here. There is a sense of overt prestige in this area whereby pride is made in monarchy and maintaining a disciplined world. This is a subliminally understood code that this area should not be altered by the use of street art. High and low culture is thus separated not only in the work in which they produce, but also in terms of the space in which they operate. Generally street art is seen to have lesser merit than any other artwork. Exception is made to the street artist Banksy who is celebrated for his work. In this example the perceived low culture of graffiti is recontextualised as an element of popular culture. By displaying this work in a museum it is given a higher regard and is praised in society. This changes our perceptions of it. This is ironic as the original intent is to serve as a parody to high culture by remarking the art institution. Dickens suggests that Banksy offers “a critique of the undemocratic, elite nature of the art establishment,” which he describes as, “a rest home for the over-privileged, the pretentious, and the weak” (Dickens, 2008, p. 476). In critiquing the high culture of art and how it is elitist he is attempting to make it more accessible by producing his street art. This blurs the segregation of high and low culture. In contrast to standard street artists, Banksy profits from his work by selling his prints. While he remains anonymous in that he operates under a disguise, his work is universally recognised as being his own.
Exit Through the Gift Shop - Banksy Graffiti in Madrid
While there is the division of high and low culture this portfolio has recognised that there are examples which go against this perceived notion. Examples of which being the work by the world-famous street artist, Banksy. While in the past it was easier to understand these cultures as they related to the classes, this boundary has been somewhat blurred in recent times. This study has also observed how art operates within Madrid and what each of these cultures represent. While the work chosen to be in the museums offer a representation of Spain in which they wish to offer to visitors, street art portray the feelings of the public themselves. The perceived high culture artwork offers the notion that Spain is strong and proud of its past, while low culture shows that they are positive for the future.
Bibliography Adorno, T. (1991) Culture Industry Reconsidered. In: The Culture Industry: Selected Essays on Mass Culture. London, Routledge. Dickens, L. (2008) Placing Post-Graffiti: The Journey of the Peckham Rock. Cultural Geographies. 15, pp. 471-496. Foucault, M. (1984) Of Other Spaces: Utopias and Heterotopias. Architecture/Mouvement/ContinuitĂŠ, 5, pp. 46-49. Gans, H. J. (1999) Popular Culture and High Culture: An Analysis and Evaluation of Taste. 2nd ed. Basic Books, New York. Henaff, M. and Strong, T. B. eds. (2001) Public Space and Democracy. Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press. | <urn:uuid:129f65dc-1d41-41c0-9204-90fae83055af> | CC-MAIN-2017-47 | https://issuu.com/jessica.mccartney/docs/mccartney_110027335 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-47/segments/1510934805894.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20171120013853-20171120033853-00241.warc.gz | en | 0.970036 | 3,576 | 2.59375 | 3 |
The ear-tufts of the Short-eared Owl are rarely seen and so do not represent a good field mark. This owl is rare in Tennessee and only occurs in the state during the non-breeding season. It is most likely to be seen at dawn or dusk hunting low over open ground, locating prey by ear. The Short-eared Owl is one of the most widely distributed owls in the world, breeding throughout much of North America, Eurasia, South America, and even on islands including Iceland, the Hawaiian chain, and in the Galápagos! In winter the northern-most North American birds retreat to southern Canada and southward into Mexico.
Description: This medium-sized owl has a large, round head, with a dark patch around the yellow eyes. The back is mottled brown, and the chest is pale with thin streaks. In flight, the wings are long and narrow, with a large buffy patch on the outer end. They fly close to the ground with an easy, floating flight.
Weight: 12 oz.
Voice: The song is an emphatic wheezy bark.
- Barn Owl is paler and has a white heart-shaped face, a pale tawny brown back, and a mostly white chest.
- Long-eared Owls, rare in Tennessee, look similar in flight, but are darker, with prominent ear tufts, and barring on the belly.
Habitat: In Tennessee, found in open areas, especially brushy fields.
Diet: Small mammals and sometimes birds.
Nesting and reproduction: There are no known nesting records for this species in Tennessee.
Status in Tennessee: The Short-eared Owl is a rare, but regular migrant and winter resident primarily in West and Middle Tennessee. Numbers vary from year to year. They arrive in the state by late November and depart by mid-March.
Dynamic map of Short-eared Owl eBird observations in Tennessee
- During the breeding season, this owl hunts both day and night. During the winter, it mainly hunts at dawn and dusk. When hunting, they fly low over open ground, locating small mammals by ear.
- Short-eared Owls roost communally on the ground during the day.
Best places to see in Tennessee: The most regular place to see Short-eared Owls is over brushy, or agricultural fields in the Reelfoot area and elsewhere near the Mississippi River.
Robinson J. C. 1990. An Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Tennessee. Univ. of Tennessee Press, Knoxville.
Sibley, D. A. 2000. The Sibley Guide to Birds. A. A. Knopf, New York, NY.
Wiggins, D. A., D. W. Holt and S. M. Leasure. 2006. Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus), The Birds of North America, No. 62 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. | <urn:uuid:5bc7aef5-5377-4142-a22d-c41e08fecc78> | CC-MAIN-2018-51 | http://tnbirdingtrail.org/birddetails.cfm?habitat=Grassland%20and%20Shrubs&sort=aounumber&typename=TENNESSEE'S&uid=09041918583830228&commonname=Short-eared%20Owl | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-51/segments/1544376824448.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20181213032335-20181213053835-00593.warc.gz | en | 0.926095 | 645 | 3.4375 | 3 |
Pronunciation: (shut'l), [key]
—n., v., -tled, -tling.
1. a device in a loom for passing or shooting the weft thread through the shed from one side of the web to the other, usually consisting of a boat-shaped piece of wood containing a bobbin on which the weft thread is wound.
2. the sliding container that carries the lower thread in a sewing machine.
3. a public conveyance, as a train, airplane, or bus, that travels back and forth at regular intervals over a particular route, esp. a short route or one connecting two transportation systems.
4. shuttlecock (def. 1).
5. (often cap.) See space shuttle.
to cause (someone or something) to move to and fro or back and forth by or as if by a shuttle: They shuttled me all over the seventh floor.
to move to and fro: constantly shuttling between city and suburb.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease. | <urn:uuid:12be0d20-de19-4b40-b5ac-0cf3c406d285> | CC-MAIN-2016-07 | http://dictionary.infoplease.com/shuttle | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-07/segments/1454701146302.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20160205193906-00276-ip-10-236-182-209.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908014 | 234 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Plant clinic data collected by Plantwise countries in East Africa has corroborated a statement from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) which said maize lethal necrosis disease (MLN) is “under control but not eradicated”.
MLN is a destructive disease of maize caused by co-infection of Maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV) and any virus in the Potyvidrae family. Symptoms include mottling on leaves, leaf necrosis, stunted growth, dead heart, poor seed set, premature aging and death of plants. Early infection can result in total yield losses, further compounded by the possible disappearance of symptoms during the growing season, making disease detection more difficult. The disease can spread via insects such as thrips, aphids and beetles, as well as through seed contamination.
Originating in the Americas, MLN was first reported in Africa in Kenya in 2011. During 2012-2014, the disease spread rapidly throughout East Africa, threatening the livelihoods and food security of farmers in the region, as well as those in as yet unaffected areas across Africa. The effects of MLN are severe, as coupled with the losses of crops caused by the disease, trade is often embargoed between locations which are known to harbour infection and those that aren’t.
The table below demonstrates estimated current and future losses attributed to MLN in Africa. The potential scale of the destruction inspired a multi-organisational and -national response to prevent the disease taking hold in Africa, including efforts by CIMMYT, CGIAR, USAID, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and CABI to name a few.
Due to the rapid detection of MLN and the response of the countries involved, it has been reported that the disease is under control but not eradicated. “We have managed to contain the spread within the region but continue to monitor its movements” says Dr Prasanna, Director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program. This comes after survey work conducted in eastern and southern Africa in 2018, which showed no MLN in Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia, and incidence in Kenya is falling.
CABI has confirmed this by using Plantwise plant clinic data with no records of MLN in Malawi, Mozambique or Zambia. Diagnosis of MLN has indeed seen a fall in Kenya since 2014, despite more maize plants being seen in plant clinics than in previous years. This, along with the survey results, demonstrates the success of the governments, farmers and research institutions in Kenya to diminish the impact of MLN. Quarantining maize from infected regions; crop rotation; use of certified, clean seeds and hybrid, tolerant plants; stringent monitoring; and insecticide application to reduce transmission by insects were employed to minimise spread in Kenya.
Due to the potential rapid emergence of the disease, it can be “difficult to predict where it will be spotted next” claims Dr Prasanna, “hence the need to intensify awareness among farmers”. CABI Plantwise clinics are one of the ways this message has been shared, and a way of detecting new areas of the disease. In fact, MLN was first discovered in Rwanda when it was brought into a clinic. Materials for farmers, such as this flyer from CIMMYT and the CABI factsheets distributed at clinics are another way to increase awareness and vigilance. When plant doctors give advice at plant clinics, they select a “recommendation type” for that advice.
The majority of the advice was “cultural”, which is mostly delivering factsheets to farmers, helping to spread awareness and circulate the most current advice from relevant organisations on controlling the disease. The next most common recommendation was insecticide; promoted to prevent transmission, followed by monitoring and then the use of resistant varieties. The latter has been the subject of much research, and there are now seven hybrid, resistant varieties in Kenya.
As well as plant clinics helping in detecting and controlling the spread of emerging diseases, the resulting data collected can also be extremely useful to ensure surveillance of established diseases. When used in conjunction with data produced by other organisations, such as CIMMYT and CABI, it can help to substantiate these findings, as has been seen here; survey data from CIMMYT has been validated by the diagnoses being delivered in clinic, providing more depth and clarity to the picture being seen on the ground.
Although the picture at the moment is looking very positive, “absence of proof is not proof of absence”. The successes of the MLN interventions can’t lead to complacency. According to CIMMYT, the disease has spread to new areas in Uganda. Farmers, CABI, governments and other organisations must keep up efforts to monitor and control MLN in Africa to minimise the effects on livelihoods throughout the continent.
- MLN information portal
- Maize Lethal Necrosis: An Emerging, Synergistic Viral Disease, 2018
- First Report of MLN in Kenya, 2012
- Plantwise Factsheet and PMDG
- Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN), an Emerging Threat to Maize-Based Food Security in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2015
- First Report of MLN in Rwanda, 2014
- Economic impacts of invasive alien species on African smallholder livelihoods, Pratt et al., 2017
Data correct as of 22/03/2019. Data analysed from 01/01/2011- 01/01/2019
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This article was originally published on aesa – Agricultural Extension in South Asia E-Plant clinics are meeting places where local agricultural advisory officers, known as plant doctors, help farmers struggling with plant pests and diseases. During th…
22 July 2020 | <urn:uuid:ae2632bb-47dd-44e5-8a46-c3104996264a> | CC-MAIN-2020-34 | https://blog.plantwise.org/2019/04/17/maize-lethal-necrosis-disease-on-the-decline-in-kenya/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-34/segments/1596439738960.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20200813043927-20200813073927-00453.warc.gz | en | 0.954775 | 1,208 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Today, the use of iPad in schools, colleges, universities, institutes and other educational companies is increasing. There are many parents out there who still don't realize the benefits of using an iPad for educational purposes.
Here are 5 great and basic benefits of using an iPad for education. Let's take a look at this:
The iPad is the best device for students because its use allows them to study in any subject with just one touch. All students can also learn big topics in a fun and interesting way through the app. Therefore, there is an increase in sales of wholesale iPads for schools.
Image Source: Google
There are many applications that use games to teach subjects such as science, languages, maths and more. Therefore, the iPad is a great option for students to do research throughout the day.
The great thing about the iPad is that it allows all students to enjoy textbooks in an extraordinary way. Yes, you read them in a new way so that students can enjoy the textbooks called iBooks.
This allows all students from different regions to grapple with the contents of their textbooks and experience them with their own eyes. With a variety of photos and voices, iPad textbooks enable students to learn best at all grade levels.
If you plan to use the iPad for educational purposes, the first thing to pay attention to is the ease of use. The user interface of this device is very simple but easy to use so that students of all standards will have no problem using the device. Additionally, they can find lots of videos online to help them navigate the iPad effectively. This allows students to use iPad and makes learning easier. | <urn:uuid:7fcb9ec0-8b9e-4e6c-905c-b2a74019b3ef> | CC-MAIN-2020-40 | https://mondomoda.org/benefits-of-using-ipads-for-education/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-40/segments/1600400209665.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20200923015227-20200923045227-00688.warc.gz | en | 0.961097 | 329 | 2.65625 | 3 |
For the Orthodox Christian the Lord's Day is the first day of the week. Often it is also called the eighth day in honor Our Lord's Resurrection and the new life he brought. In the English language, and other languages of Germanic origin, the day is called Sunday or some linguistic variation. In many languages around the Mediterranean Sea the name for this day is derived from Lord's Day, while other languages including Slavic languages use a word derived from the word Resurrection.
In the Judeo-Christian Scriptures, in Genesis, the seven-day week is defined after the description of God's efforts in establishing the world, and universe with the seventh day being the Sabbath, commemorating God's day of rest. In Apostolic times the practice is noted in Acts of meeting together on the first day of the week for Eucharistic Sacrifice which is called the Lord's Day in remembrance of our Lord's Resurrection. By the second century the Lord's Day was looked upon as the day of rest and the day for celebrating the Divine Liturgy, replacing the Jewish Sabbath. Then in 325, the Council of Nicea formally declared that the Lord's Day, Sunday, was the day of worship for Orthodox Christians.
Naming of the days of the week began when the Romans adopted the seven-day week from Egypt during the early centuries of the Christian era using names from the then-known planets. When the Germanic peoples adopted the seven-day week from the Romans, they applied the names of the Teutonic deities to the days of the week. These Roman and Teutonic names have continued to be used today except that in some languages the first day has been renamed for the Lord's Day or the Resurrection while the seventh day may be called the Sabbath.
In a large part of the world, the civil calendars have been altered, making Monday the first day of the week, thus placing Sunday as the seventh day.
The practice of observing the Divine Liturgy on the first day of the week has its origin in Apostolic times. Then, the first day of the week was a day of special observance for the Christian community as it assembled to celebrate the breaking of the bread as indicated in Acts 20:7 and I Cor 16:2. Later, the Didache of the second century gives the injunction: "On the Lord's Day come together and break bread. And give thanks, after confessing your sins that your sacrifice may be pure." The Christian writers St Justin Martyr and Tertullian of the third century mention assembling for worship on the first day of the week. By the fourth century the practice of the earlier times of setting aside first day of the week for assembly and rest began to be codified in both civil and church canons and specifically for the Orthodox Church in the canons of the Council of Nicea.
- "Orthodox Worship" (cf. "Beginning the day and the week") by Rev. Alciviadis C. Calivas, Th.D. (GOARCH)
- Questions & Answers (cf. Question 3) (GOARCH)
- Q & A About Orthodoxy by Fr. John Matusiak (OCA)
- Post-Easter Sundays from The Orthodox Faith by Fr. Thomas Hopko (OCA)
- Sunday: Catholic Encyclopedia | <urn:uuid:85d365e9-e546-4531-8716-c6b81df85f72> | CC-MAIN-2014-52 | http://orthodoxwiki.org/index.php?title=Lord's_Day&oldid=28444 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-52/segments/1419447554191.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20141224185914-00002-ip-10-231-17-201.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942693 | 677 | 3.46875 | 3 |
As the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE) was formed in 2008, its founders conceptualized an e-textbook related to the issues of health and environment. On November 11, 2016, the free, open-access textbook Environmental Health in Nursing went live on ANHE’s website. “As front-line health care providers, nurses can make a difference in identifying and responding to environmental health risks and exposures, so this e-text is offered widely to help nurses, nursing students, and nursing faculty be prepared to address those risks and exposures within their practice settings,” explains Ruth McDermott-Levy, PhD, MPH, MSN, RN, associate professor and director of the College of Nursing’s Center for Global & Public Health. She is an inaugural member of the group, chairperson of the education workgroup, and co-editor for the textbook.
“The drive for a free, open-access e-text was based on recommendations of the 1995 IOM report, Nursing, Health and the Environment: Strengthening the Relationship to Improve the Public's Health, that reported that nurses were not adequately educated and prepared to assess environmental risks and exposures or to make appropriate referrals related to environmental risks,” notes Dr. McDermott-Levy. Progress was slow and ANHE saw the need for education. This ultimately set in motion the ANHE endeavor of gathering e-text authors who are environmental health nursing experts from around the country and represent a variety of practice settings. Dr. McDermott-Levy contributed sections on faith communities, Immigrants and Refugees as a Vulnerable Population, ToxTown as a environmental health learning resource, and a section highlighting her fracking research.
She believes providing nurses with the knowledge they are missing in this area is critical for holistic care of patients and communities. “There are communities and specific populations across the lifespan that are at greater risk of environmental exposures that effect their health,” says Dr. McDermott-Levy, “Flint, Michigan's water crisis is just one example that made the news. But there are other cities and communities at risk of environmental exposures every day.” | <urn:uuid:f671cfd3-a568-40aa-ac68-077fb289edc8> | CC-MAIN-2018-34 | https://www1.villanova.edu/villanova/nursing/newsevents/archives/2016_1116.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-34/segments/1534221210058.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20180815102653-20180815122653-00494.warc.gz | en | 0.963565 | 446 | 3.15625 | 3 |
Have you ever noticed your cat’s legs twitching or seeming to be asleep? Just like humans, cats can experience a sensation of their legs "falling asleep.
" This phenomenon occurs when there is a temporary disruption in blood flow to the legs, leading to a tingling or numbness sensation.
In this article, we will explore why cats’ legs can fall asleep, what causes it, and how you can help your feline friend when it happens.
Understanding Feline Circulation
Before we delve into why cats’ legs can fall asleep, let’s first understand how circulation works in feline bodies.
Like humans, cats have a complex network of blood vessels that transport oxygen and nutrients throughout their bodies.
The heart pumps oxygenated blood through arteries, which then branch out into smaller vessels called capillaries.
These capillaries deliver oxygen and nutrients to the cells and tissues, and the deoxygenated blood returns to the heart through veins.
Why Do Cats’ Legs Fall Asleep?
When cats’ legs fall asleep, it is usually due to a temporary disruption in blood flow. This can happen for several reasons:
1. Pressure on Nerves
One common cause of cats’ legs falling asleep is pressure on the nerves that supply the legs.
This can occur when a cat sits or lies in a position that compresses these nerves, restricting blood flow.
The pressure on the nerves can lead to a tingling or numbness sensation, similar to what humans experience.
2. Poor Circulation
Cats with poor circulation may also experience their legs falling asleep more frequently.
Conditions such as obesity, heart disease, or diabetes can affect blood flow, leading to reduced circulation in the legs. When blood flow is compromised, the legs may feel tingly or numb.
3. Prolonged Rest
Have you ever noticed your cat sleeping in the same position for an extended period? Cats are known for their love of napping, and when they remain in one position for too long, it can lead to temporary blood flow disruption.
This can cause their legs to fall asleep.
How to Help Your Cat When Their Legs Fall Asleep
If you notice your cat’s legs falling asleep, there are a few things you can do to help alleviate the discomfort:
1. Gently Massage the Legs
Gently massaging your cat’s legs can help stimulate blood flow and relieve the tingling sensation.
Use gentle, circular motions to massage the affected area, being careful not to apply too much pressure.
2. Change Their Position
If you suspect that your cat’s legs have fallen asleep due to prolonged rest in one position, gently encourage them to change their position.
This can help relieve the pressure on the nerves and restore normal blood flow.
3. Encourage Exercise
Regular exercise is essential for maintaining good circulation in cats. Encourage your cat to engage in playtime and provide them with opportunities for physical activity.
Exercise helps improve blood flow and can reduce the likelihood of their legs falling asleep.
While it may be alarming to see your cat’s legs fall asleep, it is usually a temporary and harmless condition.
Understanding the causes and taking appropriate measures to alleviate the discomfort can help ensure your feline friend’s well-being.
If you notice persistent or concerning symptoms, it is always best to consult with your veterinarian for a proper diagnosis and guidance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can cats have PTSD?
A: Yes, cats can experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) just like humans. Traumatic events such as abuse, accidents, or witnessing violence can lead to PTSD symptoms in cats.
Q: What are the symptoms of PTSD in cats?
A: Symptoms of PTSD in cats may include hypervigilance, avoidance behavior, aggression, excessive grooming, changes in appetite, and litter box issues.
Q: How can I help my cat with PTSD?
A: If you suspect your cat has PTSD, it is essential to create a safe and secure environment for them.
Consult with a veterinarian or animal behaviorist for guidance on behavior modification techniques and possible medication options.
Q: Can cats develop anxiety disorders?
A: Yes, cats can develop anxiety disorders. Common anxiety disorders in cats include separation anxiety, noise phobias, and generalized anxiety.
Q: What are the signs of anxiety in cats?
A: Signs of anxiety in cats may include excessive vocalization, hiding, aggression, destructive behavior, excessive grooming, and changes in appetite or litter box habits.
Q: How can I help my anxious cat?
A: Creating a calm and predictable environment, providing hiding spots, using pheromone diffusers, and engaging in interactive play can help reduce anxiety in cats.
Consult with a veterinarian for additional guidance and possible medication options. | <urn:uuid:758eea74-0dea-4e4a-93d6-79d21d6fb0bc> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://bowpurr.com/can-cats-legs-fall-asleep/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100184.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20231130094531-20231130124531-00005.warc.gz | en | 0.902457 | 1,018 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Why Alaska might seriously consider a carbon tax
Alaska isn’t exactly the first state you’d expect to embrace a price on carbon. Yet the state legislature will likely be weighing one after the November elections. When carbon taxes keep getting scrapped by blue states like Washington and Oregon, why would such a plan succeed in Alaska: a red state where oil companies are a major economic lifeline?
Necessity is one explanation. Alaskans have been at the forefront of climate change for decades now, facing melting permafrost, coastal erosion, and rising seas. And dealing with these problems — building new infrastructure and relocating communities, for instance — is expensive. By 2030, climate change could add another $3 to $6 billion in costs to public infrastructure alone. A carbon tax could help pay for the state’s ballooning climate costs.
Last year, Governor Bill Walker, an Independent, established a group to figure out how to address the state’s climate issues. The Climate Action for Alaska Leadership Team — a group of 20 scientists, policy wonks, indigenous representatives, and oil executives — recently released a draft proposal. Lo and behold, it includes a carbon tax.
The plan is expected to reach Walker’s desk in mid-September, marking the first time the state has seriously considered a price on carbon. The details of the proposal are vague at this point, and it’ll be some time before discussion about the tax really ramps up. The governor isn’t expected to throw his support behind a controversial tax during election season.
The leadership group wants a price on pollution for practical reasons: Alaska doesn’t have a lot of revenue. With just 700,000 people, it’s one of the least populous states in America. And its residents don’t pay income or sales taxes.
If Alaska manages to implement a carbon tax — and that won’t be easy — it could tackle two huge problems at once, says Chris Rose, a member of the leadership team and the founder of the Renewable Energy Alaska Project.
“Maybe a carbon tax can be the tax that we employ to deal with our revenue shortfall and climate change at the same time,” he says.
A solid majority of Alaskans, 63 percent, said they support taxing fossil fuel companies while equally reducing other taxes, according to data released this week from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. That’s not precisely the kind of proposal Rose’s team is cooking up, but it indicates that Alaskans have something of an appetite for a carbon tax.
Rose is also buoyed by the fact that the state’s residents are used to the idea of paying for pollution. Alaskans have to take either their own garbage to the landfill or pay out of pocket for a company pick it up.
“Likewise,” he says, “I don’t think people would have as much objection to paying a fee for emitting carbon dioxide if they really understood that CO2 is the primary cause of climate change.”
Next up for the Climate Change Strategy and Climate Action for Alaska Leadership team? Educating the public about the benefits of a carbon tax. That way, when the Alaska legislature starts considering one, its constituents know what’s at stake. | <urn:uuid:8744b96e-43f1-4c90-88c2-91f6a8750ad9> | CC-MAIN-2020-10 | https://grist.org/article/why-alaska-might-seriously-consider-a-carbon-tax/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=daily | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-10/segments/1581875146414.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20200226150200-20200226180200-00547.warc.gz | en | 0.955277 | 687 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Japan has been ordered to end whale hunts in the Antarctic in a historic ruling that saw United Nations judges dismiss longstanding Japanese arguments that the hunting of more than 900 whales a year was carried out for scientific research purposes only.
The International Court of Justice’s ruling, which was made today at The Hague, is binding on Japan and cannot be appealed following a case bought by Australia in 2010.
The decision raised hopes that commercial whaling could be totally eradicated by putting pressure on Norway and Iceland, the other two nations which have continued killing and selling whales in their territorial waters, despite an international ban since 1986.
Japan had justified the slaughter of more than 10,000 whales in the Southern Ocean in the past 25 years on the grounds that it was done for scientific purposes, even though it sold them on commercially. This exempted Japan from the 1982 Whaling Moratorium, which came into effect four years later, the country claimed.
However, the UN’s International Court of Justice dismissed Japan’s claim that the cull was motivated by the need to study such things as the whales’ migratory patterns and their impact on ocean ecosystems.
“Japan shall revoke any existent authorisation, permit or licence granted and refrain from granting any further permits in pursuance to the programme,” Judge Peter Tomka said.
“Japan has violated the memorandum on commercial whaling in each of the years during which it has set catch limits above zero for minke whales, fin whales and humpback whales,” he added.
Under its Antarctic programme Japan has a target of 850 minke whales, 50 fin and 50 humpback whales.
The ruling noted that Japan had not considered a smaller programme or methods of studying whale populations that did not involve killing them, while critics have repeatedly said that the sale of the meat to restaurants and supermarkets – while legal under the research exception – raises questions about the real intention of the science programme.
“Special permissions granted by Japan are not for purposes of scientific research. The evidence does not establish that the programme’s design and implementation are reasonable in relation to its stated objectives,” the court ruling said.
The ruling – given in response to a suit brought by Australia – was welcomed by campaign groups around the world who have been protesting against whaling for decades. Members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society have been particularly dogged in disrupting culls by obstructing Japanese whaling ships with small high-speed boats as well as other less conventional tactics, such as bombarding their crews with rancid butter. Japan’s fishing ministry responded by sending support ships to try and ward off the protests.
“The International Court of Justice findings that Japan’s whaling is illegal vindicates a decade of courageous actions,” said Sea Shepherd Australia Chairman, Bob Brown.
Willie MacKenzie, UK Oceans Campaigner at Greenpeace, another long-term whaling activist, added: “This is hugely significant. We welcome this verdict which will hopefully mark the end of whaling in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. The myth that this hunt was in any way scientific can now be dismisses once and for all.”
An official at the Japanese Fisheries Agency stood by his country’s claim that its whaling programme was primarily concerned with science.
“Japan’s whaling is purely for the purposes of obtaining scientific data, so that whale resources can be sustainably maintained,” he said. In its defence, Japan cited two peer-reviewed papers relating to its science programme and contended that it only hunted whales whose populations have recovered to sustainable levels.
However, Japan promised to abide by the ruling. Its Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman said Japan “regrets and is deeply disappointed” by the decision.
“But as a state that respects the rule of law and as a responsible member of the global community, Japan will abide by the ruling of the court,” he said.
Although the ruling halts by far the biggest source of whale killings, it does not mark an end to the practice altogether. Japan has a second, smaller programme in the northern Pacific, while Norway and Iceland continue to kill whales and ship them to Japan. However, campaigners are optimistic that the UN’s decision could have a domino effect on the remaining activities.
Patrick Ramage, director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare’s whale programme, said: “The ruling certainly has implications ultimately for whaling by Iceland and Norway as well. I think it will increase pressure on those two countries to reexamine their own whaling practices and the various reasons and pretexts given for that whaling activity,” he added.
Sarah Gregerson, a whaling lawyer at Client Earth, said the court ruling left the door open for Japan to create a new Southern Ocean whaling programme for the purposes of scientific research – but pointed out that any new programme will need to prove the necessity of killing the whales. Paul Jepson, a wildlife population researcher at the Zoological Society of London, said it would be hard to prove that the cull was necessary to any scientific research.
The decision could make for a fraught meeting in Tokyo next week when Australian prime minister Tony Abbott is due to meet Shinzo Abe, his Japanese counterpart, for talks to try and agree a free trade deal.
Australian officials are expected to play down the whaling case which was launched under former prime minister Kevin Rudd in 2010, following a pre-election pledge he made a time of significant public anger over Japanese whaling. | <urn:uuid:af9a3e1b-4dd0-41b6-918b-7a56f705b532> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/victory-for-campaigners-as-un-judges-order-japan-to-stop-hunting-antarctic-whales-9226621.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988720737.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183840-00375-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965 | 1,140 | 2.6875 | 3 |
This blog post is part of Build Your Stack,® a new initiative focused exclusively on helping teachers build their book knowledge and their classroom libraries. It was written by NCTE members Tammy Mulligan and Clare Landrigan.
When students read fiction, they pay close attention to the characters. They notice their small actions, what they say, and sometimes they even hear the characters’ internal dialogue. Readers also pay attention to how the setting impacts their characters’ lives and the ways characters interact. As students notice these details, they understand how characters’ internal feelings and external actions may or may not match, they see characters change their thinking, and they ponder the life lessons characters learn.
While students are appreciating the craft moves authors make to bring their stories to life, we also want students to see how characters can become their mentors and friends. Memorable characters can help students solve difficult situations, understand life from a new perspective, and develop a greater appreciation of their own unique qualities. We can promote these connections by teaching students that memorable characters are always with us, even when we finish reading their stories. We can think about these characters at any moment and bring them to life again whenever we need them.
- What did this character learn that I can learn too?
- How might _____________ (character’s name) handle this situation?
- What did __________(character’s name) do to celebrate her unique qualities? How can I do that?
- How am I like ___________(character’s name) and how am I different?
- What did __________ (character’s name) teach me that can help me understand myself and others?
Here are three new picture books with strong characters that can help students grow academically, socially, and emotionally:
Always Anjali by Sheetal Sheth; illustrated by Jessica Blank
Always Anjali is a beautiful book about celebrating who you are and a good book to talk about ways we can respond to other people’s critical statements. The main character, Anjali, loves her name until she tries to purchase a personalized license plate for her new bike. When Anjali can’t find a license plate with her name like her friends do, she wants to change her name. Then Anjali learns the meaning of her name in Sanskrit and hears her mom’s words, “To be different is to be marvelous.”
Many readers in grades 1–3 will connect with this story and will enjoy thinking about how Anjali’s internal feelings change as she becomes more self-confident. Don’t miss the end pages of this book—actors, activists, CEOs, musicians, and writers all share experiences about when they were teased about their names. We hope Sheetal Sheth and Jessica Blank turn this book into a series.
I Love My Purse by Belle DeMont; illustrated by Sonja Wimmer
This is a sweet book with a big message. Charlie, the main character, can’t find anything he likes in his closet except his bright red purse. As he goes through his day, many people ask why he is wearing a purse. Charlie simply responds, “Cause I want to” and “I love my purse.” His responses inspire others to branch out to make their own decisions without worrying about what other people think.
We hope kids see how the main character did not read into people’s comments. Instead of viewing comments as judgmental, Charlie took the comments at face value and continued to believe in himself. His conviction and strength inspired others to make their own decisions, worry less, and be their true selves. When students hear comments from others, we hope they can remember Charlie’s self-conviction and how his sense of self impacted others.
Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love
It is hard to find words to describe the beauty inside this picture book. Julián Is a Mermaid is a story about a boy who wants to dress as a mermaid and his Abuela who accepts how Julián wants to dress. There are many powerful messages about self-acceptance, identity, and love throughout this book. If you are looking for a new book to read aloud or for book clubs in K–2 classrooms, don’t miss this one! Julián and his Abuela might just be the friends your readers need for a bit of inspiration to follow their own path.
These three books are in our stack in hopes that a character in one of these stories will connect with our readers.
Tammy Mulligan and Clare Landrigan are staff developers who are still teachers at heart. They are authors of It’s All About the Books, published by Heinemann, and Assessment in Perspective, published by Stenhouse. You can find them online at Teachers for Teachers, where they blog about books and the art of teaching, and on Twitter at @ClaireandTammy. | <urn:uuid:051143d0-0111-489a-a4a6-e50299dd7ab2> | CC-MAIN-2019-04 | http://www2.ncte.org/blog/2018/12/build-stack-fostering-self-acceptance/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-04/segments/1547584328678.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20190123085337-20190123111337-00477.warc.gz | en | 0.968207 | 1,035 | 3.625 | 4 |
Misc.: This species has been (and is still) widely hunted throughout its range for sport, for the fur trade, and for the traditional Asian medicine market. For the medicine trade - no part of the Tiger's body goes unused. The tiger is one of the best known mammals, and has become a symbol everywhere for conservation. Today, sadly, there are more tigers in captivity then exist in the wild. There are only 500 Siberian tigers left in the wild and less than 400 Sumatran Tigers as of 2006. There are thought to be more than 10,000 tigers in cages and 90% of them are in miserable roadside zoos, backyard breeder facilities, circus wagons and pet homes.
Size and Appearance: The largest of all the living cats, the tiger is immediately recognizable by its unique reddish - orange coat with black stripes. Stripe patterns differ among individuals and are as unique to the animal as are fingerprints to humans. The dark lines above the eyes tend to be symmetrical, but the marks on the sides of the face and body can be different. Males have a prominent ruff or collar, which is especially pronounced in the Sumatran tiger. White tigers have been seen in the wild in India, and 1 single white cub taken by the name of Mohan was the progenitor of most white tigers now in captivity. White tigers would never survive in the wild as the white coat is only produced through severe inbreeding. White tigers have brown stripes and crystal blue eyes, and some specimens in captivity have no stripes at all. Black tigers have been reported, but only a single pelt from illegal traders remains the only evidence. The pelt shows that the black only occurs on the top of the head and back, but turns into stripes down the sides, unlike in other cats that are completely and truly black (or melanistic). Body size of the tiger varies with latitude, the smallest occurring at low latitudes in Indonesia and the largest at high altitudes in Manchuria and Siberia. The largest, the Siberian tiger can reach weights exceeding 700 pounds and reach lengths of 10+ feet, and the smallest, the Indonesian or Bali tiger weighing a mere 200 pounds with a total length of 7 ft.
Habitat: Tigers occupy a wide variety of habitats including tropical evergreen forests, deciduous forests, coniferous woodlands (Taiga), mangrove swamps, thorn forests and grass jungles. The common factors of all of the tiger's habitats, is some form of dense vegetative cover, sufficient large prey, and access to water. Tigers are extremely adept swimmers and readily take to water. They have been recorded easily swimming across rivers achieving distances of just under 20 miles. The tiger also spends much of its time during the heat of the day during hot seasons half submerged in lakes and ponds to keep cool. Indian tigers generally have a range of 8-60 square miles, based on availability of prey. Sumatran tigers have a range of about 150 square miles. Due to the severity of the climate and lack of prey, the Siberian tiger can require a range of 400 square miles.
Distribution: Indian subcontinent, Amur River region of
Reproduction and Offspring: Tigers will mate throughout the year, but most frequently between the end of November to early April. After a gestation of 103 days a litter of up to 7 cubs, although averaging 3, is born. Cubs will leave their mothers as young as 18 months old, or as old as 28 months old. During the first year, mortality can be as high as 35%, and of that 73% of the time it is the entire litter that is lost. The main causes of infant mortality are fire, floods, and infanticide, with the latter being the leading cause. Females tend to reproduce around 3 ½ years and males just under 5 years. In captivity, females have produced through age 14.
Social System and Communication: Tigers, like most cats are solitary, however, they are not anti-social. Males not only come together with females for breeding, but will feed with or rest with females and cubs. There have actually been reports of some tigers socializing and traveling in groups. Females with cubs have also been seen coming together to share meals. Most likely, in all of these cases they are somehow related. Males will kill cubs from other males, so it is likely that the offspring in question is his own. The females most likely are mother and daughter with overlapping home ranges.
Hunting and Diet: Tigers hunt primarily between dusk and dawn, and they attack using the same method as do the lions. They stalk, chase, and attack, bringing down and killing the prey with usually a bite to the nape of the neck or the throat. The bite to the throat allows the tiger the ability to suffocate the prey bringing death relatively quickly and painlessly. Smaller animals are often killed with the bite to the nape of the neck allowing the tiger to to fracture the vertebrae and compress the spinal chord of its victim. Once killed, the tiger either drags or carries its meal into cover. The tiger's enormous strength allows it to drag an animal that would require 13 adult men to move. Tigers consume anywhere from 35 - 90 pounds of meat at one sitting, beginning at the rump of the prey. If undisturbed, they will return to the carcass for 3-6 days, feeding until it has completely consumed its kill. Because tigers are not the most successful of hunters, only killing 1 in every 10-20 attempts, it may be several days before it has its next meal. In the wild, cooperative hunting among tigers has also been observed where couples and families hunted like a pride of lions. This, however, is the exception not the rule. Unlike the other felids, man is a regular part of the tiger's diet and has earned them greatest reputation as man-eaters. The most common prey items are various species of deer and pig, but they will also take crocodiles, young elephants and rhinos, monkeys, birds, fish, leopards, bears, and even their own kind. They have also been reported to eat carrion.
How rare is this cat? The largest wild population of tigers are in India. According to statistics released in 2007 there are 1,200 - 1,500 tigers left
Common Name: Tiger
Phylum: Chordata (Vertebrata)
Genus: Pantherinae Panthera
Bengal Tiger - Panthera tigris tigris
Siberian (Amurian) Tiger - Panthera tigris altaica
Sumatran Tiger - Panthera tigris sumatrae
Indo-Chinese Tiger - Panthera tigris corbetti
South China Tiger - Panthera tigris amoyensis
Javan Tiger - Panthera tigris sondaica - extinct since early 1980's
Bali Tiger - Panthera tigris balica - extinct since the 1940's
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An influential hypothesis of developmental psychology states that, in the first months of their life, infants perform exploratory/random movements ("motor babbling") in order to create associations between such movements and the resulting perceived effects. These associations are later used as building blocks to tackle more complex sensorimotor behaviours. Due to its underlying simplicity, motor babbling might be a learning strategy widely used in the early phases of child development. Various models of this process have been proposed that focus on the acquisition of reaching skills based on the synchronous association between the positions of the postures that cause them. This research tries to understand, on a computational basis, if the principles underlying motor babbling can be extended to the acquisition of behaviours more complex than reaching, such as the execution of non-linear movement trajectories for avoiding obstacles or the acquisition of movements directed to grasp objects. These behaviours are challenging for motor babbling as they involve the execution of movements, or sequences of movements, in time, and so they cannot be learned on the basis of simple synchronous associations between their neural representations and perceptive neural representations. The paper aims to show that infants might still use motor babbling for the development of these behaviours by overcoming its time-limits on the basis of complementary mechanisms such as Pattern Generators and innate reflexes. The computational viability of this hypothesis is demonstrated by testing the proposed models with a 3D simulated dynamic eye-arm-hand robot working on a plane.
Using motor babbling and Hebb rules for modeling the development of reaching with obstacles and grasping
Contributo in atti di convegno
International Conference on Cognitive Systems (CogSys2008), Karlsruhe, Germany, 2-4/04/2008 | <urn:uuid:551f98d3-044c-4844-8394-bf01795c2195> | CC-MAIN-2020-34 | https://www.istc.cnr.it/en/content/using-motor-babbling-and-hebb-rules-modeling-development-reaching-obstacles-and-grasping | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-34/segments/1596439735990.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20200806001745-20200806031745-00100.warc.gz | en | 0.941911 | 347 | 2.640625 | 3 |
While modern advances make our lives easier, they have also caused us to become more sedentary. Several negative health consequences have been linked to spending time in sedentary behaviors, which leads some to ask,” Is sitting the new smoking?” Researchers increasingly test interventions to promote all-day movement to encourage people to move more. But, is movement truly important?
Studies have linked prolonged periods of sitting with a variety of health problems. Among the possible health risks are obesity and a variety of conditions related to the metabolic system, such as high blood pressure, increased blood sugar, excess body fat, and out-of-range cholesterol levels. Sitting for long periods of time and too much sitting, in general, may also create a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer.
In a review of 13 studies examining sitting time and activity levels, researchers found that sitting for more than eight hours a day without physical activity increased the risk of death similar to smoking and obesity. However, some researchers claim that moderate physical activity - 60 to 75 minutes a day - is beneficial for combating the effects of long periods of sitting.
Generally, movement (no matter how leisurely) has profound positive effects. First of all, it helps burn calories. Losing weight and increasing energy are likely results. It is also important to perform physical activity to maintain muscle tone, movement and flexibility, and mental health, especially as you age.
How to best sedentary lifestyle
Given the recent situation and the growth in the number of people working from home, nowadays sedentarism became a more prominent problem than in the past. Even though working from home has several benefits, it can also lead to sedentary habits. It is critical to plan your movement and exercise into your daily routine when you only commute from your bedroom to your home office or living room.
According to research, you must exercise every 90 minutes if you want to shift your energy levels. It is crucial for you to manage your energy if you wish to keep your mind sharp and productive. Regardless of what you choose, just make some steps. You can get up and walk around, take the stairs, go to a coffee shop for a break, or do anything else that suits you. With Deeprio smartwatches, there is the possibility to schedule a smart reminder to notify you when 90 minutes have passed. If you have other preferences, you can simply change the time period between the alerts.
There's often a moment in the middle of the day when you realize that you haven't taken many steps in a day. You were absorbed in your work and sitting at your desk. Once you begin measuring your movements consciously, it is rare to experience this kind of realization. Using a step counter can be an excellent tool for both getting you to realize that you are moving, as well as working with the movement reminder to make sure you are moving more.
Keeping an eye on how active you actually are can help you identify patterns or habits that might be contributing to a sedentary lifestyle. After you pinpoint the main source of the problem, finding opportunities to move more will help combat sitting too much's effects.
A Deeprio smartwatch does more than track your steps, or alert you when to move - it also tracks your calories in and calories out, and your daily activity levels. It also tracks your heart rate, sleep, and other vital signs.
Movement reminder as a smartwatch feature
Now, a variety of smartwatches and fitness trackers include a movement reminder. In recent years, smartwatches have gained mass appeal due to their portability, ease of use, and personalized insights. A smartwatch is loved due to its features and ease of use. Smartwatches from Deeprio offer a wide range of health-related features.
In addition to the notifications you receive on your wrist, Deeprio's smartwatches have their own specific features. For example, with Deeprio smartwatches, you are offered a smart reminder, which is one of the best features. You can customize the reminder for things that matter to you. The watch will vibrate when it is time to remind you of things that are important to you.
The biggest advantage of Deeprio's smart reminder is that it isn't just useful for movement reminders. Other fitness trackers also offer the option of a movement reminder, but when it comes to the reminder offered by Deeprio’s devices the context of the reminder is vaster. If you want to drink more water, stay active, take mindfulness breaks during the day, or call someone, the smart reminder can do them all. The smart reminder included in Deeprio's smartwatches may just be your new best friend.
The movement reminder is especially important for people who are not accustomed to being active or who are always highly engaged in their work. Fitbit conducted a study that showed its wearable devices' movement reminders boosted activity levels in sedentary people.
After just two weeks of using a fitness tracker with movement reminders, 70% of the sedentary people involved in the study increased their movement levels. Moreover, 60% of the participants maintained their higher daily activity levels two months after beginning the study. The sedentary users moved more, received fewer reminders, and increased their number of steps each day.
Having a smartwatch with movement reminders is probably the best and easiest way to ensure increased activity and adjust the body to a more active lifestyle. The smart reminder offered by the Deeprio smartwatches offers you the alarms regarding being more active or drinking more water, but not only that. Using Deeprio's smartwatches, you can set reminders for the things that are important to you, and they will vibrate and let you know when they are due.
How to move more:
- Start moving more by setting a goal
Any time is a good time to set a goal to move more. Whether it's the new year or not, set yourself a goal and start a resolution to move more. You can set movement reminders on your smartwatch, fitness tracker, or phone to help you stay motivated, and stick to that goal despite any obstacles.
2. Make the most of your daily movement
Discover ways to incorporate more movement into the things you're already doing. You may also add some stretching at your desk, just so you will not get stiff while not being able to move too much. If you commute by car to work, choosing a parking spot near the front door is a pretty popular idea, but not the best. Rather than parking closer to the door, park farther away and take more steps each day.
Additionally, you may choose to use the restroom at the opposite end of the building while working. Even better, you may choose to climb the stairs on another floor to reach the restroom. And the list can go on.
- Walk indoors
According to most experts, you should walk at least 10,000 steps a day. If you want, you can take those steps indoors. For instance, you can choose to walk to the colleagues from the other department and talk with them face to face about your task, not simply sending an email.
Walking inside is the best option if it's raining, too hot, too cold, or if you just don't want to leave your house. There are plenty of great walking workout programs, another idea is that you could do some movement and have a higher number of steps by simply doing your chores, or can try to walk every time when you are on the phone. Additionally, if you are home, you can choose to have a stepper or a treadmill and exercise using those.
- Speed up the pace
Modest aerobic activity, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is anything that makes your heart beat faster. This means any activity you do as part of your daily routine can qualify as exercise if you speed it up or make it more intense.
It helps you burn more calories and strengthen your legs when you walk faster, even if it's just to your car. Perhaps you can also do your errands outside your house on foot, or even walk to work and forget about the car. Move faster to get the most out of your movements.
- Boost the beat
You can gain more benefit from the movements you make by increasing the speed at which you perform them. When you walk or exercise while listening to music, you can benefit more from them. You can also increase your speed by listening to alert-beat music. While exercising, you work harder when the music is between 120 and 140 beats per minute (bpm).
- Make Moving Fun
There is no need to add yet another task or chore to your list when it comes to moving more. Instead, think of it as a "play" activity. How? Making it fun! You can take a dance class, for instance. Not only is it fun, but it can also teach you something new. If the young spirit is still with you or you simply want to play, you could get a mini-trampoline, you'll get plenty of exercises and have lots of fun.
- Plan how much time you will spend sitting
Alan Hedge, an ergonomics professor at Cornell University, says neither sitting all day nor standing all day is good for you. He states that, to do your best, you should break up your activities between the different parts of the day.
According to Hedge, people should take the following breaks every half hour they spend in an office:
- Spend 20 minutes sitting
- Spend 8 minutes standing
- Move around and stretch for two minutes
In spite of the many health benefits of regular movement, some people struggle to incorporate it into their daily routines. Those are some solutions to become more active in your everyday life, and a movement reminder can aid you to put those solutions into practice! The smart reminder from Deeprio was specially designed to keep you from letting anything slip from your mind, whether it is moving, drinking water, or any other important activity.
Smartwatches come with various features and benefits, including a movement reminder, fitness tracking, and many more. Deeprio’ smartwatches include those features, but also a heart rate monitor, sleep tracker, activity monitor, blood oxygen level monitors, blood pressure monitors, breathing guidance, water consumption reminders, and female-specific health features. These functions allow users to track your health and vital signs.
In order to live a healthy life, you should keep active and move. To become more active is to improve your quality of life. Exercise and sports are not the only ways to stay active, but also add more movement to your daily routine. A smartwatch such as the ones offered by Deeprio that include a smart reminder for movement or drinking water may be your next best friend.
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Choke Points: Our energy access points
What is a choke point?
More than half of the world’s oil is transported by sea, making maritime security one the most crucial factors of energy security. Before getting to U.S. consumers and industry, oil leaves ports and harbors around the world and passes through global choke points – narrow sea lanes that are often highly vulnerable to disruption.
Throughout history, the world’s largest choke points have been the target of attacks, including piracy, robbery, and mining by hostile nations. These vulnerabilities continue today, and in some cases are on the increase, such as Iran’s current threat to mine the Strait of Hormuz.
The Department of Energy, the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the Department of Defense and other national and international organizations closely monitor these chokepoints due to the potentially catastrophic nature of a choking off of the global oil supply, which could drive up costs and threaten critical energy supply.
Below is a rundown of the world’s largest choke points and the main threats they face.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration
It was the president’s judgment that we were overweighted in some areas and regions, such as our military commitments in the Middle East, and at the same time, we were significantly underweighted in some regions, including and specifically the Asia-Pacific region
- National Security Advisor Thomas E. Donilon said in a Nov. 15 speech at the Center For Strategic and International Studies in Washington
Strait of Hormuz
MANAMA, Bahrain—For more than 40 years, the U.S. Navy has used the Naval Support Activity base, a sprawling coastal compound in Bahrain’s capital city, as a global oil police headquarters, projecting vast amounts of military power to ensure that oil from the Middle East gets to its intended consumers—especially those in the United States and its allies.
Protecting oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passage off the coast of Iran and the United Arab Emirates, is one of the critical missions of the Navy here. It is also expensive. By some estimates, the United States has spent as much as $8 trillion on maintaining such a menacing military presence in the region in recent decades, including aircraft carrier groups bristling with jet fighters, to make sure countries like Iran don’t choke off the world’s oil supply.
Roger Stern, a professor at the University of Tulsa National Energy Policy Institute, came up with the $8 trillion calculation in a 2010 study published in the Energy Policy Journal. He concluded that the U.S. has spent that sum on protecting oil resources in Persian Gulf since 1976, when it first began increasing its military presence in the region following the first Arab oil embargo.
Estimates of the actual cost vary. According to a 2009 study by the RAND Corporation, there is no official public U.S. accounting of the costs of protecting U.S. oil interests in the Persian Gulf or elsewhere. However, others like Stern have come up with numbers ranging from $13 billion to $143 billion per year.
According to Stern, U.S. officials spent the money out of fear that oil supplies would run out and concerns about containing Soviet expansionism—and access to oil—in the Middle East.
“The fear grew out of a belief not just in a global peak oil, but a strong CIA conviction, that was shared by the National Security Council, that the Soviets were running out of oil, that their production was going to tank in just a few years and the Soviets [had] no choice but to march to the Persian gulf to get oil, so that was the rationale for the idea that a force was needed,” Stern said in an interview.
But, Stern added, “I am just not one who believes that the supply was ever threatened.”
In 2001, the U.S. reached its peak in terms of importing oil from the Persian Gulf – a little less than 2.8 million barrels a day. By 2011, imports from the region had fallen from 23 percent of the U.S. total in 2001 to 16 percent. And that trend is expected to continue, as the U.S. develops better ways to conserve fuel while relying more and more on new technologies and its own production of alternative sources of energy like shale oil and natural gas.
Today, most of the oil exported from the Middle East goes elsewhere, especially to emerging powers in Asia such as Japan, China, India and South Korea. But none of those countries have any substantial military presence in the Persian Gulf, instead relying on the United States to protect the free flow of oil.
Gary Sick, a retired Navy captain and former National Security Council official under Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, is one of many Gulf watchers who argue that as the U.S. becomes more energy self-sufficient, there may be fewer reasons to keep a large force in the Gulf– especially since most of the oil is going elsewhere.
“We are sort of the sheriff that watches over the oil flow to make sure they get [oil] because if Japan is cut off or Europe is cut off, that has huge implications for the world economic well-being and our own security,” Sick said in a recent interview.
“Nobody else is willing to pick up that responsibility,’’ he added, “so at the moment we have almost sole responsibility.”
Steve LeVine, author of The Oil and the Glory and an energy security professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, said allies like India, which receives about 13 percent of Gulf oil, and Japan, recipient of about 20 percent of the oil, should help the U.S. either patrol the Strait of Hormuz or pay for the security. “Why should we be paying for Japan’s national security?” he asked.
A more politically sensitive question, according to LeVine and others, is whether China should also play a bigger role in securing the Middle Eastern sea lanes, relieving the U.S. of some of the burden. That could allow a nonallied country with its own agenda to fill a potential power vacuum in the Gulf, but, conversely, it could also help stabilize the region at no cost to the U.S., they say.
NEW REALITIES AND CHALLENGES
As it enters its second term, the Obama administration acknowledges that it has some tough decisions to make about its global military footprint, including whether it will maintain its current military posture in the Gulf. With costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan winding down, the military is also facing massive budget cuts, and a shift of assets to the Pacific in a show of force against an expansionist China.
“We looked around the world and asked a very basic question: ‘Where is the United States overweighted in terms of its presence and resources and efforts, and where is it underweighted?’’’ National Security Advisor Thomas E. Donilon said in a Nov. 15 speech at the Center For Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
“It was clear to us that there was an imbalance in the projection of focus of American power around the world,’’ Donilon said. “It was the president’s judgment that we were overweighted in some areas and regions, such as our military commitments in the Middle East, and at the same time, we were significantly underweighted in some regions, including and specifically the Asia-Pacific region.’’
Some key current and former U.S. national security officials said the Obama administration is firm in its commitment to maintaining a significant presence in the Gulf, especially given a potential showdown with Iran over its alleged illicit a possible nuclear weapons program and other security threats in the region.
Prompted by economic sanctions and intensified political rhetoric from regional powers, Iran has threatened since 2008 to close the strait or to use mines to shut down global shipping.
In response, the U.S. and its allies also deployed more military assets to the Gulf. Early in 2011, the Pentagon converted a 40-year-old amphibious assault ship, the USS Ponce, to support countermining and special operations missions in the Middle East.
And last September, the 5th Fleet hosted the largest naval exercises ever in the Middle East with militaries from more than 27 nations to practice coordinating a response to potential disruptions to the freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz – specifically from mines. The exercises were intended to enhance interoperability between the U.S. and its allies and to also send a signal to Iran that attempts to disrupt the sea lanes will be met with force. [See video of exercises above]
“I think it’s important to note that there is a broad international commitment to this, in one facet or another, and a broad understanding of the imperative that the global commons are safe for transit,” Vice Admiral John W. Miller, commander of the 5th Fleet, said.
Indeed, during the exercise, a multiplicity of flags waved above different mine sweeping ships. An English vessel sailed alongside a Japanese one, simulating support efforts in the event one vessel was in danger. U.S. carriers launched and retrieved jets, helicopters and drones. A Japanese vessel deployed a mine hunting submarine and an Iraqi frigate participated in an emergency drill against a potential approaching enemy ship.
Recently, Iran also stepped up its naval presence by showcasing two new submarines and two hovercrafts. On Dec. 28, it launched its own naval maneuvers in the strait and the Sea of Oman. The six-day exercise was designed to showcase Iranian capabilities to defend its maritime borders and respond to any force used against it.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has repeatedly announced that it is capable of establishing security in this vital and strategic region, especially with the cooperation and coordination of regional countries,” Iran’s Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari told Iranian television.
In part due to Iran’s saber-rattling, the United States continues to expand its presence in the Gulf, even as the Obama administration promises a new emphasis on Asia. A 2012 report by the Congressional Research Service, the independent research arm of Congress, said that the U.S. military began a planned $580 million military construction program in Bahrain in May 2010, which will allow larger ships to dock at the naval facility and for more military planes to be stationed there. About $19 million of the budget is allocated for a Special Operations Forces facility. The project is expected to be completed by 2015.
“There’s a lot of things that go on in Bahrain, the headquarters of the anti-piracy, anti-smuggling, anti-terrorism, maritime operations are headquartered over there,” said Kenneth Katzman, a Middle East affairs specialist with the Congressional Research Service. “The US is always – every year or two – trying to get agreements with the government [of Bahrain] trying to keep expanding that facility and keep improving that facility so that it has more capacity.”
A LONG HISTORY OF INVOLVEMENT
The United States’ presence in the Middle East began in the early 1900s with American companies joining their French and British counterparts in oil exploration. However, close U.S. government involvement only began after Saudi Arabia’s vast oil supply was discovered in 1938. By the late 1940s, Saudi Arabia had become the largest oil exporter, and while the U.S. strengthened its ties with Arabian kingdom, it was not yet a main importer of Saudi oil. This is may explain the low military presence in the region and low interest in oil security in the beginning half of the 1900s.
The U.S. military deployment began in 1948, with the establishment of its first bases in countries like Bahrain. But the U.S. military presence only truly escalated after the Iranian Revolution in 1979, when Washington was shocked to find its Persian ally and primary protector of oil supply in the Middle East had suddenly become an adversary.
According to a 1981 RAND Corporation report written by Paul K. Davis, former acting deputy assistant to the sectary of defense, the U.S. was largely unprepared for this shift in the Persian Gulf policies and began almost “from scratch” to develop a more preemptive, organized and powerful military deployment capability. That was done, in part, to counter suspected efforts by the Soviet Union to gain control over Iran and the Middle East and hence, the oil fields and choke points.
In 1980, in response to that perceived threat, President Jimmy Carter announced that the U.S. would take any action needed to protect its interests in the Persian Gulf. This became known as the ‘The Carter Doctrine,’’ and it continues to drive U.S. policy today.
In the years that followed, the U.S. developed the Rapid Development Joint Task Force with the sole purpose of being a mobile unit responding to any regional contingencies. It was later expanded into what is now Central Command, which oversees a swath of territory that extends far beyond the Persian Gulf.
“The concept of staying home except in crisis, and then responding with the cavalry, had long has an attraction for U.S. policymakers and diplomats,” Davis noted in his 1981 Rand study, advocating for the expansion of the military presence there.
“Militarily, however, the concept has serious drawbacks and vulnerabilities,” he wrote. “As a minimum, we need arrangements with regional countries for use of bases as early in crisis as possible; and it means that the base facilities must be suitable.”
Indeed, as Reagan took office in 1981, efforts to double the U.S.’s force in the region were underway, allocating larger and larger budgets to security in the Persian Gulf.
A Congressional Budget Office report from 1983 warned about the growth and expense of the task force, whose name had been shortened to the Rapid Deployment Force:
“As the RDF is constituted today, it comprises 222,000 troops. The administration plans to increase the size of the RDF, perhaps doubling that number… Moreover, the RDF could affect the U.S. defense budget… particularly the plans for a larger version, could give rise to pressure for eventual increases in the defense budget and could hamper efforts to reduce the budget deficit in the next few years.”
The need for a U.S. presence in the Gulf increased in the so-called Tanker Wars between Iran and Iraq that began in 1984, when Iran began attacking oil tankers travelling out of Iraq into Kuwait. In 1987 the U.S., fearful of the effect of the attacks on the oil market and supply, responded to a call for help from its ally Kuwait, and reflagged the oil tankers with U.S. flags – making any attack on the ships an attack on the U.S. It also escorted many of the ships, and increased patrols in the Gulf.
According to a 1991 U.S. General Accounting Office report, the U.S. spent $359 billion nominal dollars to defend American interests in South West Asia, namely the Persian Gulf. The report noted that much of that money went toward Central Command resources, reflagging of the Kuwaiti oil tankers, and Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
A 1992 report by the Congressional Research Service concluded that far less– about $13 billion per year— was spent specifically on protecting oil resources.
Since the 1980s, the U.S. military and diplomatic presence in the Persian Gulf has only increased. First came the Gulf War of 1990, and then again in the run-up to the Iraq War in 2003. Today, the U.S. presence in the Middle East has extended beyond ground bases in the Gulf and naval patrols in the Strait of Hormuz, to broader military efforts that include training and maintaining strategic alliances, peacekeeping forces and providing humanitarian aid.
“The U.S. presence in the Middle East now has more to do with advancing global principles of nonaggression, human rights and democracy than it does oil,” according to the CRS’s Katzman.
“Just because we’re not importing as much oil from the Middle East, doesn’t mean we don’t have objectives aside that.”
Sick, the retired National Security Council official and Navy captain, would beg to differ.
“If the Persian Gulf had no oil, we would treat it with the same degree of attention as say – as we do Bolivia,” he said.
In early February, the U.S. Navy has announced it will not deploy the USS Harry S. Truman carrier to the Persian Gulf region due to budgetary constraints, leaving only one carrier to patrol the Gulf – a shift away from the U.S.’s usual two carrier group deployment in the region.
Straits of Malacca
The Strait of Malacca between Malaysia and Singapore is the second largest oil choke point in the world; about 15 million barrels of oil pass through these waters on a daily basis. The choke point, which links the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea and Pacific Ocean, is critical to the Persian Gulf and Asian countries – especially as demand for oil in these countries continues to rise.
The oil shipped through the Strait of Malacca mostly goes to Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore and South Korea.The greatest threats facing this sea lane are piracy and robbery, according a 2011 Center for Naval Analyses study on the economic implications of disruptions of global chokepoints.
While the choke point has remained relatively calm in recent years, recent increases in oil tanker traffic due to increased Asian demand make the strait more of a potential hot spot for pirates and other hostile groups. According to the latest International Maritime Bureau piracy report, there was only one report of piracy or attempted robbery in the strait in 2011, the latest year for which figures are available. Four pirates hijacked two fishing boats that year. This is an improvement from previous decades.
Security in the Malacca strait has improved due to more aggressive patrolling, but anti piracy lookouts are still strongly advised for ships transiting through.
Due to the strategic location of the strait, China has been trying to project its naval power in the region, which is one reason the United States has increased its own naval forces in the area.
Egypt’s Suez Canal, spanning 120 miles, connects the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea. Most of the oil transiting through the canal is destined for European and North American consumers. Traffic through the canal has generally declined over the past decade, partly because of the decreased demand for oil from the U.S. and Europe.
The main threat facing the Suez Canal is piracy – specifically by Somali pirates. While Somali piracy has declined in recent years, it continues to be a danger to maritime security in this area.
The canal extremely narrow—only 1,000 feet wide in some points—which means it is no longer able to handle some of the world’s supertankers plying regional waters. In response, the 200-mile long SUMED Pipeline, or Suez-Mediterranean Pipeline, was built to provide an alternative.
This important choke point carries 3.5 million barrels of oil a day and is located south of the Suez and links the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. The strait, whose name means “Gate of Grief” in Arabic, is located between Yemen, Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa. Any disruption to this passage would block tankers from reaching Suez Canal and their Western customers as well block oil passage to the Persian Gulf. While Saudi Aramco’s East-West Crude Oil pipeline could take on 2.5 million barrels of Bab el-Mandab’s daily transported oil, the rest would need to travel around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope.
Like the Suez Canal, Bab el-Mandab, also known as the Mandab Strait, is a highly volatile shipping lane and especially vulnerable to Somali pirates.
In 2011, the International Maritime Bureau reported 37 piracy attacks on ships passing the chokepoint and near the Gulf of Aden. This is decline from the 117 attacks in 2009.
All of the attacks were conducted by Somali pirates, who often launch rocket propelled grenades and fire automatic weapons at the ships before boarding them and taking hostages for ransom.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, “increased oil exports from the Caspian Sea region make the Turkish Straits one of the busiest and most dangerous choke points in the world supplying Western and Southern Europe.
The Turkish Straits, the Bosporus Strait and the Dardanelles connect many of the East Asian markets with the European ones. The Bosporus links the Sea of Marmara with the Black Sea, and the Dardanelles passage connects the Sea of Marmara with the Mediterranean, south of Turkey.
The Turkish Straits supply western and southern Europe with oil from the Caspian Sea region. As oil production continues to increase from countries like Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, the traffic through the Turkish Straits also will rise.
“Only half a mile wide at its narrowest point, the Turkish Straits are one of the world’s most difficult waterways to navigate…” according to the EIA’s most recent World Oil Transit Chokepoints report. “With 50,000 vessels, including 5,500 oil tankers, passing through the straits annually it is also one of the world’s busiest chokepoints.”
The 2010 Center for Naval Analyses report notes that although piracy is less of a concern in the Turkish straits, its vulnerabilities lie in difficulty of navigation and risk of environmental catastrophe that could block almost 3 billion barrels of oil a day from reaching European and other Western markets. The environmental risks include water pollution from oil spills. For example, in November 2003, a Georgian cargo ship spilled around 500 tons of oil into the canal.
Closure of the Turkish straits is unlikely, but in the event it happened, 100 percent of transited oil could find alternative travel through the CPC Pipeline to the Russian market and the BTC Pipeline reaching European markets.
The Panama Canal, which is 50 miles long and only 110 feet wide at its narrowest point, is a key trade route that connects the Pacific Ocean with the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. The primary destination for oil being shipped through the canal is the United States. However only 800,000 thousand barrels of oil pass through the canal a day, making it a low risk area for any major disruption.
Despite efforts by the Panama government to expand the capacity of the canal by widening and deepening the canal, almost doubling limit on the maximum size of ships, it is unlikely the expansion will impact oil transportation from the region, according to the 2011 Center for Naval Analayses study.
The IMB has reported no piracy attacks in the straits in recent years. However, in the event of any closure, transit times for vessels would greatly increase. Vessels would have to reroute by traveling an addition 8,000 miles around the Straits of Magellan, Cape Horn and Drake Passage under the tip of South America, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration report.
*Correction: The United States Second Fleet of the US Navy was disestablished in September 2011. | <urn:uuid:97295e77-064a-4381-86c4-7c2abfc8f4ea> | CC-MAIN-2014-52 | http://oilchangeproject.nationalsecurityzone.org/choke-points/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-52/segments/1418802775656.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20141217075255-00062-ip-10-231-17-201.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961474 | 4,874 | 3 | 3 |
Despite extensive studies on developing self-healing materials, only a few attempts have been made to enable other functionalities such as conductivity. Developing materials with autonomous intrinsic self-healing properties and electrical conductivity is essential for the advancement of emerging fields such as artificial skins, medical devices, soft robotics, and flexible systems. However, designing a material with multiple functionalities still remains a big challenge. A vast majority of the investigation on intrinsic self-healing materials is focused on designing stimuli-responsive self-healing materials, so-called non-autonomous self-healing systems, triggered by light, temperature, electricity, and redox potential stimuli. Most of the designed autonomous conductive self-healing materials fail to adopt in practical applications because of the lack of stretchability, bulk conductivity, pressure sensitivity, or mechanical performance.
To address these problems, Malcolm Xing and colleagues in University of Manitoba have designed a new method which employs a combination of physical and chemical crosslinking to meet the highest efficiency in self-healing, while maintaining the mechanical stability and conductivity. The hydrogel is prepared through a two-step synthesis. Polypyrrole (PPY) is linked to the double-bond decorated chitosan (DCh) to form PPy-grafted chitosan (DCh-PPy). The acrylic acid (AA) monomers are polymerized in DCh-PPy using iron ions to produce double network hydrogel. The reversible ionic interactions between AA and DCh-PPy, and iron ions contribute to an autonomous self-healing property.
The new polymer enables a complete mechanical recovery only 2 minutes after being cut. Additionally, around 90% of electrical properties is recovered after 30 seconds without any external stimuli. The developed material shows ultra-stretchability, accurate pressure sensitivity as well as high conductivity. Autonomic repeatable self-repairing capability after damage and shear thinning behavior enable this hydrogel to be used as 3D printing materials. The results of the study are published in Advanced Materials. | <urn:uuid:d5e79b81-f9f5-4acc-95a6-f9eabd172234> | CC-MAIN-2017-47 | http://www.advancedsciencenews.com/multi-functional-self-healing-hydrogel/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-47/segments/1510934806856.86/warc/CC-MAIN-20171123180631-20171123200631-00484.warc.gz | en | 0.929376 | 429 | 3.15625 | 3 |
Yellowstone National Park’s annual bison cull is underway, meaning up to 1,000 of the animals will be hunted or trapped and then slaughtered as a population control measure.
Much of the meat harvested from those bison will go to tribal nations in the area, but leaders from those nations say they would rather take the animals in while they are still alive.
“It would really connect a lot of our Native people to our culture,” Robert Magnan, director of Fish and Game for the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux tribes, tells Here & Now’s Peter O’Dowd. “A lot of our culture has been lost because buffalo has always been at the center of our culture. And we reconnect them through the buffalo.”
Magnan says that establishing a new herd on the Fort Peck reservation, which is already home to about 200 American bison, would help restore the tribes’ cultural and economic relationship with the animals.
His department has spent over half a million dollars building a quarantine facility in hopes of someday accommodating a herd of Yellowstone bison, and to assuage local ranchers’ fears that the animals could transmit the bovine disease brucellosis to their cattle.
But this year, Yellowstone transferred just five of their surplus bison to the Fort Peck reservation, all five of them males.
On the overarching goal of the tribes’ Buffalo Restoration Program
"What we really want to do is to be able to get all sexes of the buffalo on the quarantine project here, and our ultimate goal is restoring buffalo on to Indian Country all over the United States."
On ranchers’ fears that the bison could transmit brucellosis to their cattle
"A lot of that is based on fear. We’ve been trying to educate the state of Montana for the last seven years that when they make decisions, you base it on science, not politics. In reality, there’s a very small opportunity when an animal can infect another animal with brucellosis — and that’s during calving time when the females are letting go of their afterbirth. And the rest of the time you can’t get contact with another animal just that way."
On the history of bison extermination by white settlers
"The government always used terrorist tactics from the beginning. And they wipe out a nation’s economy, that’s how they brought Native Americans to their knees. Fortunately, they didn’t do a very good job because Native Americans and buffalo are still here. And we’re trying to build herds back to where they can be part of our economy once again."
On the five bulls recently relocated to Fort Peck
"Actually on the 22nd of April, we’ll do our first [brucellosis] test. And our existing herd just outside the quarantine, they come by and kind of visit the other bulls. In time, by October, they’ll turn out with the herd, so they’ll actually get to be with our main herd."
This segment aired on April 8, 2019.
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Support the news | <urn:uuid:5b91f147-0cbb-47d3-9627-cf4b6abc8276> | CC-MAIN-2019-39 | https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2019/04/08/fort-peck-tribes-yellowstone-bison | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-39/segments/1568514573988.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20190920092800-20190920114800-00084.warc.gz | en | 0.951515 | 656 | 3.1875 | 3 |
Some state and local officials are blaming their governments’ budget problems on the compensation and benefits of public employees. They say they can no longer afford to pay what they allege is excessive remuneration for public workers.
Many federal officials say there is no money to provide health-care coverage for the public, extend unemployment compensation, increase social security benefits, provide more funds for education, rebuild the nation’s infrastructure, or strengthen the social safety net for the record number of Americans in poverty.
But money can be found to address those issues. A problem is that vastly increased portions of the nation’s income and wealth have been taken by the rich, who also have enjoyed drastic reductions in their tax rates.
Although money is available to alleviate the nation’s problems, it is being hoarded by the wealthy instead of used for paying fair compensation to private-sector workers and adequate taxes to support public services.
Numerous other social ills also result from extreme economic inequality, with disastrous consequences to the U.S.
Income disparities widening
For example, the richest 1% of Americans took over 23% of the nation’s income in 1928, but by the 1970s their portion had steadily declined to 8-9%. And the nation moved in a direction of broadly sharing the fruits of increased prosperity.
After 1980, however, the wealthy began taking an increasingly larger piece of the national income. According to a 2010 report by the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, the share of the nation’s income received by the richest 10% of households increased from 34.6% in 1980 to 48.2% in 2008. The report also says that during the same period, the portion of the nation’s income taken by the richest 1% of households rose from 10% to 21%.
The richest 1% of Americans took over four-fifths of the total increase in American income during the period from 1980 to 2005. This led to them receiving total pre-tax income exceeding that received by the bottom 40% of American workers. By 2012, they were receiving 24% of the nation’s income.
Much of the gains have been received by the richest one-hundredth of the 1%. In 2005 dollars, their average annual income increased from $4.2 million in 1979 to $24.3 million in 2005.
On the other hand, the Congressional Budget Office states that for families in the middle of the income distribution, their inflation-adjusted incomes increased by only 21% between 1979 and 2005. This was far slower than the 100% growth in median income experienced during the generation after World War II. And much of the growth in the more recent decades has been due to increasing numbers of families with two spouses working outside the home.
During 2001 to 2005, median income of the public at large actually declined by 3.6%. And Beth Shulman wrote in her 2005 book The Betrayal of Work: “Thirty million Americans, one out of every four workers, makes less than $8.70 an hour.” She also points out that those types of jobs don’t provide benefits, such a medical insurance.
But in 2004 alone, the pay of the top 500 CEOs in America increased by 54%, with the average salary being $11.8 million plus stock options. And in 2005, median pay for CEOs of the 100 largest U.S. companies increased by 25% to $17.9 million.
The increasing compensation of corporate CEOs has been a big part of the problem. During the 1950s and 1960s, CEOs of major U.S. corporations received 25 to 30 times the wages of the average employee. By 1980, the amount was 40 times; by 1990, 100 times; and by 2007, 350 times. And for CEOs of the 365 largest companies, the difference has been well over 500 times the pay of the average worker.
Such trends have made income distribution in the U.S. the most unequal by far among the rich nations. And because of the Great Recession that began in 2008 – and was caused by Wall Street’s greed and recklessness – most American families are worse off today than they were 30 years ago.
All this has occurred despite workers’ skyrocketing productivity, which was up 80%. The median household income would have been around $20,000 more in 2006 if earnings had increased at the same rate as productivity during the preceding 30 years. And the typical person would have been about 60% better off.
But the rich took almost all the income gains resulting from the increased productivity. As Ohio congressman Tim Ryan puts it: “We have seen a huge transfer of wealth from the middle class to the wealthiest one percent. . . . The vast majority of Americans are working harder and longer, making less, and falling farther and farther behind.”
Wealth disparities increasing
With most of the income gains going to the richest Americans, there has been an increasing gap between their net worth and everyone else’s.
In 1976, the richest 1% of Americans possessed 20% of the nation’s wealth. By 1998, they held over a third of it. In 2011, the amount was 40%. This means the aggregate wealth of the richest 1% of American households exceeds the total held by the bottom 90%.
In 2005, Bill Gates was worth $46 billion and Warren Buffet $44 billion. The family of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton has about $90 billion. That totals $180 billion. Meanwhile, the total wealth held by the bottom 120 million Americans – 40% of the U.S. population in 2005 – was approximately $95 billion.
In 2010, the aggregate wealth of the 400 richest Americans exceeded the total held by 155 million Americans. And just over 1% of the richest Americans control about 50% of the nation’s personal wealth.
At the other end of the wealth spectrum, 43.6 million Americans are living in poverty, including 22% of American children. Between 2006 and 2010, poverty in the U.S. increased by 27%. Of the 18 leading industrial nations of the world, the U.S. ranks first in the percentage of people living in poverty.
In 2011, The Huffington Post reported on a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research showing that almost 30% of Americans don’t have a savings account and nearly 50% have trouble paying their monthly expenses. The same year, the Wall Street Journal noted a study indicating that because the savings of most Americans are so small, almost half of them couldn’t obtain $2,000 in 30 days if they needed it.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says 15% of American households have a daily risk of hunger. The New York Times reported in 2011 that 16% of Americans answered yes to a survey asking whether there were “times in the past 12 months when you did not have enough money to buy food that you or your family needed.”
The Los Angeles Times reported in 2012 on a study stating that over 9 million retired Americans don’t have enough money to cover basic living expenses such as for medical care and proper nutrition. A spokesperson for the group that did the study said: “This situation is dire and households are making untenable choices between paying the rent and buying nutritious food.”
According to a 2009 report in the New York Times, researchers from the Harvard Medical School said a lack of health insurance increases the risk of death by 40% and causes about 45,000 Americans to die each year. USA Today reported in 2006 that of those Americans having cancer but lacking health insurance, “nearly 70 percent have missed or delayed care for the cancer, and 43 percent went without vital prescriptions.”
The statistics show two entirely different living standards in the U.S. A small percentage of the population enjoys unimaginable wealth that they and their descendants couldn’t possibly spend over many generations. But tens of millions of other Americans – many of them working more than one job – either cannot or just barely meet their basic needs.
Tax policies exacerbate the disparities
Although some other advanced countries have pre-tax income disparities comparable to that in the U.S., those countries counteract the problem through taxes and income transfers. But the U.S. has cut taxes for the wealthy.
In the 1950s, taxes paid by U.S. corporations constituted 27% of federal revenue. In 2001, the amount was under 10%. By 2012, it was below 7%. Corporate tax levels are lower than they have been in almost a hundred years. Meanwhile, income taxes paid by middle-class working families constitute about half of federal tax revenue.
Because of numerous loopholes in the tax code, many companies pay little or no taxes. For instance, in 2010 General Electric had profits of $14.2 billion, including $5.1 billion from its U.S. operations. But the company paid no taxes that year and collected $3.2 billion in tax benefits.
This problem has been going on for a while. A congressional study found that in 2000, 63% of U.S. corporations paid no income tax despite having aggregate revenue of $2.7 trillion.
For individuals in the 1950s, the highest marginal income-tax rate was 91% under President Eisenhower. In the 1960s, President Kennedy lowered the rate to 77%, and in 1971 President Nixon took it down to 70%.
President Reagan lowered the top marginal rate to 50% in 1982, and then to 28% in 1988. The first President Bush raised it to 31% in 1990. After President Clinton raised it to 39.6% in the 1990s, the second President Bush lowered it to 35% in the early 2000s.
Thus, for the last three decades the top marginal tax rate has been far lower than it previously was – and for many years less than half the former rates.
Because capital gains and dividends are taxed at 15%, many of the richest Americans such as Mitt Romney and Warren Buffet pay at closer to that rate, which as Buffet has noted is less than the rate his secretary pays. In 2010, the 13.9% rate paid by Romney on his $21.6 million income was the same as the rate paid by workers making between $8,500 and $34,500.
The low tax rate on capital gains and dividends is surely a reason why the 400 richest Americans had an effective income-tax rate of less than 17% for 2007.
Such results weren’t seen even during the latter part of Ronald Reagan’s presidency in the 1980s, when the tax rate on capital gains was increased to 28%. Reagan, at least at the time, did not believe that people who earned their income from labor should pay a higher tax rate than those receiving earnings from investments.
In the 2000s, the second President Bush reduced the estate tax by making it applicable only to estates worth over $3.5 million (or $7 million per couple). President Obama and congressional Democrats decided to keep the exemption at $3.5 million even though this change benefits only the richest 2% of Americans and will cost the U.S. treasury $485 billion between 2012 and 2021.
From 1950 until about 1973, when the relatively high tax rates for the rich were in effect and income and wealth were more evenly distributed, the U.S. economy boomed and the period is known as the “Golden Age of Capitalism.”
The economy also boomed in the 1990s after President Clinton raised taxes on the rich and increased the minimum wage.
That history indicates there are plenty of incentives to invest and work hard even when people pay high taxes on their income. Former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich points out that “the high tax rates did not reduce economic growth. To the contrary, they enabled the nation to expand middle-class prosperity, which fueled growth.”
The substantially lower taxes on the rich have not only failed to produce economic prosperity and greatly increased the economic disparities among Americans, but also ballooned the national debt and annual federal deficits. The national debt is $16 trillion, and the U.S. government is borrowing nearly 40 cents of every dollar it spends. It is leaving the bills from today’s spending for future generations to pay.
The lower taxes have also decreased the revenue available for investing in social services that would alleviate poverty and promote middle-class prosperity.
Increased income and wealth for the rich often don’t correlate to their job performances
Some assert that the richest Americans deserve their vastly increased income and wealth because of their contributions to society. Although that is sometimes arguably the case, it often is not.
For one thing, the salaries taken by CEOs of the largest U.S. corporations are far higher than what CEOs took in the past. In relative terms, American CEOs are paid about 10 times what their counterparts were in the 1960s, despite performing worse on the job.
Moreover, in absolute terms, CEOs in the U.S. are paid up to 20 times more than CEOs of similarly large businesses in other advanced countries. Economist Ha-Joon Chang states that despite the large pay differentials, “American CEOs are running companies that are no better, and frequently worse, than their Japanese or European competitors.”
Additionally, in her 2003 book Pigs at the Trough, Arianna Huffington shows that many CEOs have obtained fantastic wealth from running their companies into the ground. She describes an example from the auto industry: “Consider the case of former Ford CEO Jacques Nasser, who was rewarded with millions in stock and cash despite an awful 34-month reign that left the carmaker’s revenue in a nosedive and 35,000 workers out of a job. It’s hard to imagine that Ford could have done worse if they’d just made decisions by letting a monkey flip a coin.”
Huffington points to other sky-high pay for poor CEO performance at Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, SBC Communications, Oracle, Scientific-Atlanta Inc., Applera, Coca-Cola, Cisco, Qwest, Starwood Hotels, E*Trade Group, and Fruit of the Loom.
Huffington sums up: “The closer you look, the more you see executives reaping enormous rewards despite atrocious showings on the job.” And she says rewarding CEOs for failed performance has become the norm rather than the exception.
Lou Dobbs similarly writes in his 2006 book War on the Middle Class: “CEO compensation is often directly inverse to the performance of the companies they lead.” He notes that “over the past five years the CEOs of AT&T, BellSouth, Hewlett-Packard, Home Depot, Lucent, Merck, Pfizer, Safeway, Time Warner, Verizon, and Wal-Mart were paid an aggregate $865 million in compensation – while shareholders lost a total of $640 billion. . . . Clearly, these CEOs were not being paid for delivering value to those who held stock in the companies.”
Former Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca bemoans the same problem in his 2007 book Where Have All the Leaders Gone? He writes that “the thing that most people, including me, find unbelievable is how many executives get huge pay packages even though they’re doing terrible jobs of running their companies.”
A 2011 article in the New York Times says the problem continues with no sign of abating. It reports that in 2008: “Wall Street chief executives walked away with hundreds of millions in bonuses and other compensation after driving their companies into insolvency and plunging the nation’s economy into crisis.”
The article further states that “multimillion-dollar pay for failure is flourishing like never before.” As an especially egregious example, it says that even though the short reign of a recent Hewlett-Packard CEO “was by nearly all accounts a disaster,” the company awarded him over $13 million in termination benefits.
The article quotes John J. Donohue, professor at Stanford law school and president of the American Law and Economics Association. “It’s a great irony that spectacular failure is rewarded lavishly. It is a terrible mistake to set up a structure where the top person walks away with millions even if the company is laid waste by their poor decision-making, yet this is what’s happening. It’s a shocking departure from capitalist incentives if you lavish riches on the losers.”
The article also quotes compensation expert Graef S. Crystal as saying the system is “a mess” and “a joke.” But it says Congress has shown little interest in addressing even the most outrageous compensation practices, and corporations and their boards of directors aren’t doing anything about the problem either.
The excessive executive compensation stems largely from the control that CEOs of American corporations have over the boards of directors who approve their salaries. The board members are often close associates hand-picked by the CEOs and serving at the CEOs’ pleasure. They are frequently executives of other companies and have business ties with one another. They can manipulate information supplied to independent directors. And as corporate executives, they have an incentive to standardize the business practice of providing high executive pay for poor performance.
Not surprisingly, therefore, a study by the International Labour Organization found little or no correlation between executive compensation and company performance. It indicated the exorbitant pay packages likely result from superior bargaining positions of executives.
This problem is not unprecedented. The British economist John Maynard Keynes, whose writings did much to save capitalism during the Great Depression of the 1930s, said that one of the major faults of capitalism is “its arbitrary and inequitable distribution of wealth and incomes.” He advocated government action to correct the fault.
Results of the disparities
Besides causing millions of Americans to fall into poverty or struggle to maintain a middle-class lifestyle, many other serious societal problems result from the increasing economic inequalities.
A stagnant economy is one of them. Much of the nation’s economic activity is driven by consumer demand for goods and services. But if the vast majority of Americans have a small and declining amount to spend for those things, economic growth is much lower than it could be. To be successful, businesses need customers with money to spend, which comes from good wages.
A plutocracy is another result. With the rich having more money to contribute to political campaigns and for hiring lobbyists, politicians are more likely to be bought by the moneyed interests and serve them rather than the public interest. The rich also fund media, books, and ads promoting their interests. And they support “think tanks” that publish reports, carried by the media, advocating public policies benefiting the wealthiest Americans.
As a result of excessive influence by the wealthy, government takes actions such as reducing taxes for the rich, providing tax loopholes for their businesses, keeping the minimum wage low and not indexing it to inflation, using taxpayers’ dollars to bail out corporations deemed too big to fail, opposing the formation and power of unions, permitting illegal immigration to help force down the wages of American workers, providing good schools for the well-off and inadequate ones for the poor, and supporting trade policies that promote the relocation of jobs to nations having extremely low wages, long working hours, dangerous work conditions, and little concern for the environment.
Particularly harmful has been the government’s failure to reverse the declining rate of union membership. In the 1950s, over a third of American workers were represented by a union, but less than 7% of private-sector workers are today. Robert Reich states: “If there’s a single reason why the median wage has dropped dramatically for non-college workers over the past three and a half decades, it’s the decline of unions.”
Another consequence of greater economic inequality is less governmental support for social services. The superrich can live in gated communities and work in office parks away from everyone else. And they pay for their own medical care, education, child care, personal security, transportation, recreational facilities, and other things that government normally funds for the good of all. Because they live in a world apart from the rest of society, the wealthy are unlikely to empathize with other citizens and support public funding for social services.
The family lives of the poor and middle class are harmed by the low wages that force them to work long hours. The results include less time for parents to spend with their children, more stress on families, and a greater likelihood of divorce. And the number of abortions rises, because many abortions are obtained by poor women who do not believe they can afford a child.
Numerous studies show a strong correlation between income inequality and rates of violent crime in societies. This correlation is a reason why the U.S. has far more violent crime than advanced countries having more equal distributions of income and wealth. And it’s a reason the U.S. prison population has increased sevenfold since the mid-1970s.
In their book The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger, researchers Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett rely on a massive amount of statistical evidence to show that high levels of economic inequality are correlated with many social afflictions. The problems include not only violence and crime but also mental illness, drug and alcohol abuse, poor physical health, higher infant mortality rates, shorter life expectancy, higher obesity rates, lower educational achievement, reduced levels of trust among people, less empathy for others, higher rates of teenage pregnancy, increased imprisonment rates, and lower social mobility.
Wilkinson and Pickett also say governments in more equal societies are more likely to support recycling and other acts benefitting the environment, be more generous in providing development aid and otherwise responding to the needs of poor countries, and be less belligerent internationally.
Wilkinson and Pickett sum up: “The evidence shows that reducing inequality is the best way of improving the quality of the social environment, and so the real quality of life, for all of us.” And they say “the health of our democracies, our societies and their people, is truly dependent on greater equality.”
These findings mean that high levels of economic inequality are a reason that compared with other nations, the U.S. rates unfavorably on many quality-of-life rankings. For example, in recent years the U.S. has ranked 32 on infant mortality (having nearly twice the rates of France, Japan, and Australia), 29 on life expectancy, 37 on an index of health-care quality, 45 on an environmental sustainability index, 12 on student reading ability, and 9 on adult literacy.
Germany and Japan are examples of countries having wealthy and efficient economies without the inequalities seen in the U.S. and with far less social problems.
For many decades, Americans have generally agreed on the social benefits of capitalism. But they have also recognized that government needs to regulate the marketplace to protect the public against the harms of unrestrained capitalism, such as dangerous products, unsafe work conditions, and environmental destruction. The debates have usually centered on how extensive the regulations should be and what form they should take.
The last few decades in the U.S.show that one of the harms of an inadequately regulated capitalist system is that the rich seize a hugely unfair portion of the income resulting from the increased hard work and productivity of all workers. As a result of the extreme inequality between the rich and everyone, numerous economic and social problems become worse.
The superrich even have the ability to give themselves many millions of dollars in compensation for horrible job performances that wreck companies and throw thousands of workers out of jobs.
The free market is not correcting those problems but making them worse. This means that just as in other areas where an unregulated capitalism produces socially undesirable results, government needs to step in to promote fair compensation and less economic inequality.
Some of the steps government can take include setting the minimum wage at the level of a living wage and indexing it to inflation, supplementing the pay of low-wage workers, enacting tax incentives to encourage companies to pay fair compensation to employees, refusing to award government contracts to companies with unfair compensation practices, promoting worker representation on corporate boards of directors, enacting laws conducive to the formation and power of unions, and requiring that private-sector jobs resulting from taxpayer-funded research and development be created in the U.S. rather than in other countries.
Government can also increase taxes to make the rich pay their fair share, penalize corporations and citizens for placing money in foreign tax havens to avoid U.S. taxes, break up companies deemed “too big to fail” so that taxpayers don’t have to save them from the consequences of bad business decisions, increase educational opportunities for the poor and middle class, create public-works jobs to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure, provide more funds for social services, and support trade agreements that prevent other countries from gaining unfair competitive advantages by exploiting workers and destroying the environment.
In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, Article 23 states in part: “Everyone who works has the right to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.”
The U.S. needs to once again take that right seriously. Government policy must keep workers from being underpaid and executives from being overpaid, while at the same time maintaining sufficient market incentives to promote hard work, creativity, and innovation.
Otherwise, all of society suffers from social problems caused by extreme economic inequality.
Robert B. Reich, Supercapitalism (New York: Vintage Books, 2007): 15
Robert B. Reich, Aftershock (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2010): 20, 29, 45, 51-52
Id. at 20
Reich, Supercapitalism at 39-40
Matthew Rothschild, “Demand the Impossible,” The Progressive (October 2011): 8
Glenn Greenwald, With Liberty and Justice for Some (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2011): 270
Juan Williams, Enough (New York: Crown Publishers, 2006): 182
Tim Ryan, A Mindful Nation (Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, 2012): 7
Paul Krugman, “Class-warfare claims ring hollow,” The Columbus Dispatch (Sept. 25, 2011)
Reich, Aftershock at 60-61; Ha-Joon Chang, 23 Things They Don’t Tell You about Capitalism (New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2010): 150-151
Byron L. Dorgan, Take This Job and Ship It (New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2006): 73
Beth Shulman, The Betrayal of Work (New York: The New Press, 2005): 5
Dorgan at 39
Lou Dobbs, War on the Middle Class (New York: Penguin Books, 2006): 25
Chang at 144
Robert B. Reich, Foreword to Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, The Spirit Level (New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2010): x
Wilkinson and Pickett at 250
Chang at 108
Reich, Foreword to The Spirit Level at ix
Dobbs at 107, 110
Reich, Supercapitalism at 102
Reich, Aftershock at 19
Ryan at 7
Reich, Supercapitalism at 113-114
Rothschild at 8
Williams at 182
Reich, Foreword to The Spirit Level at xii
James Thindwa, “The Paradigm Shifts,” In These Times (December 2011): 4
Arianna Huffington, Pigs at the Trough (New York: Crown Publishers, 2003): 14
Dylan Ratigan, Greedy Bastards (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2012): 3
Id. at 138
Bill Moyers and Michael Winship, “The 99 Percent Fight to Save American Dream,” The Progressive Populist (Feb. 15, 2012): 12
Vincent Bugliosi, The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder (Cambridge MA: Vanguard Press, 2008): 238
Janell Ross, “Americans Struggle With Financial Problems They Don’t Understand: Study,” The Huffington Post, (August 9, 2011)
Phil Izzo, “Nearly Half of Americans Are ‘Financially Fragile,’” WSJ Blogs (May 23, 2011)
Ryan at 9
Ratigan at 3
Walter Hamilton, “Million of retirees can’t afford basic living expenses,” Los Angeles Times, (March 1, 2012)
Reed Abelson, “Harvard Medical Study Links Lack of Insurance to 45,000 U.S. Deaths a Year,” New York Times (Sept. 17, 2009)
Bugliosi at 238
Chang at 146
Michael Moore, Stupid White Men (New York: ReganBooks, 2001): 54
Ratigan at 180
Dobbs at 110
Dobbs at 30
Froma Harrop, “It’s not enough to tax only the rich,” The Columbus Dispatch (March 3, 2012)
Ratigan at 180
Dorgan at 73
“Historical Top Tax Rate,”Tax Policy Center, Urban Institute and Brookings Institution (April 13, 2012)
Jeffrey A. Winters, “Oligarchy in the U.S.A.,” In These Times (March 2012): 16
David Welna, “Times Have Changed Since Reagan’s 1986 Tax Reform,” NPR (Oct. 17, 2011)
Reich, Aftershock at 112
Chang at 142
Reich, Aftershock at 49; see also 37
Leonard C. Goodman, “Ron Paul’s Common Sense,” In These Times (April 2012): 13
Chang, at 148
Id. at 148-149
Id. at 153
Huffington at 8-9
Id. at 38
Id. at 38-39
Id. at 39
Id. at 39-40
Id. at 40
Id. at 44
Id. at 182
Id. at 204
Id. at 204-205
Id. at 206
Id. at 40
Id. at 39
Dobbs at 26
Lee Iacocca, Where Have All the Leaders Gone? (New York: Scribner, 2007): 139-140
James B. Stewart, “Rewarding C.E.O.’s Who Fail,” New York Times (Sept. 30, 2011)
Dobbs at 27; Iacocca at 141
Dobbs at 27
Chang at 155
Wilkinson and Pickett at 250
Reich, Aftershock at 29
Id. at 29-30
Robert B. Reich, “Factory Jobs Aren’t Coming Back, But We Can Do Better,” The Progressive Populist (March 15, 2012): 12
Joan Retsinas, “Confederacy of Hypocrites Cuts Health Care for Poor,” The Progressive Populist (March 1, 2012): 15
Wilkinson and Pickett at 279 and 292; Elliott Currie, Crime and Punishment in America (New York: Metropolitan Books, 1998): 110, 114, 125-131
Currie at 115-116
Chris Kirkham, “States Get Cash for Prisons,” The Progressive Populist (March 15, 2012): 1, 8
Wilkinson and Pickett at 29
Id. at 298
Ratigan at 3
Bugliosi at 244
Nicholas Kristof, “Equality, a True Soul Food,” New York Times (Jan. 1, 2011)
Shulman at 239 | <urn:uuid:27d19593-3bd5-4c00-a6ae-3d0f4b0a2bf7> | CC-MAIN-2019-18 | https://humanismbyjoe.co/extreme-economic-inequality-harms-u-s/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-18/segments/1555578528433.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20190420000959-20190420022959-00209.warc.gz | en | 0.952642 | 6,585 | 2.875 | 3 |
Education has been linked closely with the growth of professionalism in the military forces of the United States since the mid‐nineteenth century. Its principal purpose is to ensure the mastery of a body of specialized knowledge, one of the characteristics of any profession. Accordingly, the principal subject areas of professional military education include: the art of command (leadership); the organization and management of military forces; strategy, tactics, and logistics; military history; national security policy; the relationship of armed forces and society; and individual analytical and communication skills. The approach to these professional topics becomes broader, more complex, and more abstract at each successive level of formal military schooling.
Before World War II, the pace of peacetime garrison life or duty at sea left a good deal of time for individual professional study. Since 1945, the pace of active service and the resulting demands on an officer's time have increased tremendously, as have the breadth and complexity of the body of knowledge that must be mastered. Consequently, formal military schools now provide the principal venue for professional development.
Each of the military services has its own integrated, progressive program of formal education, which includes attendance for selected personnel at formal courses at the undergraduate, service school, staff college, and senior service college levels, as well as technical courses and courses at joint postgraduate schools. The four undergraduate national service academies (the Military Academy at West Point; the Naval Academy at Annapolis; the Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs; and the Coast Guard Academy at New London), the ROTC programs found on many college campuses, and officer candidate schools run by each of the services prepare young men and women for initial entry to the services as commissioned officers. Basic service school courses, such as those for army infantry officers at Fort Benning, Georgia, and for Marine Corps officers at Quantico, Virginia, prepare newly commissioned junior officers for duties in operational units and aboard ship. Advanced service school courses, such as those offered by the Air Force Squadron Officers School at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, and the army's Transportation School at Fort Eustis, Virginia, prepare senior company‐grade officers for small unit command and staffwork through battalion level. Staff colleges—the army's Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for example—prepare selected mid‐level career officers for service at battalion, brigade, and division level, and equivalent navy and air force echelons. Finally, the three senior service colleges—the Naval War College at Newport, Rhode Island; the Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania; and the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama—prepare selected senior field‐grade officers for the highest command and staff positions. In addition, three joint service colleges—the Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia, and the National War College and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, both in Washington, D.C.—seek to improve joint operations through interservice understanding and cooperation. A limited number of American officers are also selected to attend the military schools of other nations or the NATO Defense College in Rome. Specialist courses, graduate degree programs at civilian universities, and training with industry complete the array of formal military schooling.
In the United States, military education has always been closely linked to developments in the civilian educational community, and military educators have often been caught up by the fads in educational theory that have swept the civilian community periodically. For example, the development in the late nineteenth century of both civilian graduate education and the military war colleges was based on German models: the seminar method of the German universities and the Prussian Kriegsakademie, respectively. And today the call for “back to basics” rings in the halls of military schools as loudly as in our elementary and secondary schools and colleges.
Military educators have often led the exchange of ideas with their civilian counterparts. In 1817, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, then under the direction of Sylvanus Thayer, established the first formal program of engineering instruction, a program later copied by civilian institutions. At the turn of the century, the army's School of the Line at Fort Leavenworth (now the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College), under the leadership of Arthur L. Wagner and Eben Swift, stressed active student learning through practical exercises in place of passive lectures. This so‐called applicatory method was much admired and emulated by civilian academicians, as were the methods of standardized testing developed by the army and navy in the two world wars.
Although most civilian and military leaders agree on the ultimate goal of military education, there is considerable controversy over how that goal should be attained. One of the fundamental issues is time. Some officers (particularly in the navy) view formal schooling as a waste of time and argue that the best means of developing professional competence is on‐the‐job experience in active service in units and at sea. This view is reflected in all the services in the reluctance of some officers to attend formal military schools, and in lower selection and retention rates for those who “waste” too much time attending or teaching in the military educational institutions. Debate also exists over the relative value of “education” versus “training.” Many critics maintain that the various military schools should train officers for their next assignment rather than educate them for greater professional contributions at some indefinite future time and place. Others insist that military education should focus on operational military matters to the exclusion of “soft” subjects such as international relations, economics, and management.
[See also Academies: Service; Schools, Postgraduate Service; Schools, Private Military; Training and Indoctrination.]
John W. Masland and and Laurence I. Radway , Soldiers and Scholars: Military Education and National Policy, 1957.
James C. Shelburne and and Kenneth J. Groves , Education in the Armed Forces, 1965.
Lawrence J. Korb, ed., The System for Educating Military Officers in the U.S., 1976.
Martin van Creveld , The Training of Officers: From Military Professionalism to Irrelevance, 1990.
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We engage with the early learning ecosystem of their region. We center early STEM and the ways STEM intersects with other disciplinary domains (e.g. social and emotional learning, language and literacy learning). We play a leading role where appropriate, and work with partners to create durable systems changes resulting in immediate and longer-term impacts for children from priority populations via the adult caregivers and educators in their lives.
2020’s newest partnership brings the Storytime STEM program, which connects children’s literature with STEM and computer science, to our region’s elementary schools. Teacher training provided by WSSN enabled educators without formal STEM training to facilitate STEM activities for young children. Anchored by a popular storybook, young learners engage in themed science, mathematics, and engineering design activities or computer science Bee-Bot adventures. Through a grant from Washington STEM, Storytime STEM kits were provided along with training to all participants. During the workshops, teachers engaged in Storytime STEM, integrated math and science with language arts, networked with participants and explored virtual strategies to share Storytime STEM with their students. Read more...
Zeno Math Partnership
WSSN supported OESD 114 in their partnership with Zeno Math. Zeno Math’s 5 Practices: Explore, Play, Talk, Build, and Connect, are designed to leverage the role of family relationships and social emotional learning in the development of math skills. | <urn:uuid:a86d9e82-1c0e-4949-a8fb-c80e4938f97b> | CC-MAIN-2023-23 | https://www.westsoundstem.org/early-learning | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-23/segments/1685224646076.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20230530163210-20230530193210-00575.warc.gz | en | 0.925361 | 297 | 2.765625 | 3 |
March First Movement, also called Samil Independence Movement, series of demonstrations for Korean national independence from Japan that began on March 1, 1919, in the Korean capital city of Seoul and soon spread throughout the country. Before the Japanese finally suppressed the movement 12 months later, approximately 2,000,000 Koreans had participated in the more than 1,500 demonstrations. About 7,000 people were killed by the Japanese police and soldiers, and 16,000 were wounded; 715 private houses, 47 churches, and 2 school buildings were destroyed by fire. Approximately 46,000 people were arrested, of whom some 10,000 were tried and convicted.
The movement was begun by 33 Korean cultural and religious leaders who, after almost 10 years of Japanese rule, drew up a Korean “Proclamation of Independence” and then organized a mass demonstration in Seoul for March 1, 1919, their late emperor’s commemoration day. On the appointed day, the 33 leaders, hoping to bring international pressure on Japan to end her colonial rule in Korea, signed and read their proclamation and had coconspirators read it in townships throughout the country. The suppressed anti-Japanese feelings of Koreans were released in one great explosion, and mass demonstrations took place in many parts of the country, forming the largest national protest rallies against foreign domination in Korean history.
Though the movement failed to bring about its paramount goal of national independence, it was significant in strengthening national unity, leading to the birth in Shanghai of the Korean Provisional Government, and drawing worldwide attention. Finally, the failure of the March First Movement greatly enhanced the rise of the Korean communist party. Today, March 1 is a national holiday in both North and South Korea. | <urn:uuid:e87325ad-3049-4fff-93cf-537e6bb6b03b> | CC-MAIN-2015-22 | http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/364173/March-First-Movement | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-22/segments/1432207928715.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20150521113208-00295-ip-10-180-206-219.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982462 | 345 | 4.03125 | 4 |
By Anthea Rowan
Focus on Africa Magazine, Tanzania
At a road block in western Tanzania, miles from anywhere, a uniformed official raises a flagged barrier. Nearby is a spill of black, like an oil slick.
This is one of several checkpoints which have been set up around the country in a half-hearted attempt to curtail the largely unregulated trade of charcoal, widely used across the continent as a fuel for cooking.
The guard on duty has confiscated six sacks. They lean against one another and bleed black dust into the sand.
Over the next 50 miles there are dozens of sacks propped up under trees. These will be loaded up by truck drivers who pay around $4 a bag to sell for up to six times the price in the city.
The guard at the roadblock has clearly opened his hand for "kitu kidogo" - a pay-off from coal traders in search of a quick buck.
The numbers tell the story - according to the Tanzania Association of Oil Marketing Companies, 20,000 bags of charcoal enter the capital Dar es Salaam every 24 hours.
Millions at risk
But the impact of this unregulated coal trade is chilling.
Aid agency Christian Aid estimates that 182 million people in Africa are at risk of dying as a consequence of climate change by the end of the century.
Meanwhile, Oxfam believes climate change is frustrating the efforts of millions on the continent to escape poverty.
Drought is forcing Kenya's Masai herders to travel further for grazing
Nobel laureate Professor Wangari Maathai offers a solution.
Why is climate change such a harbinger of doom? Andrew Simms from the New Economics Foundation explains: "Global warming means that many dry areas are going to get drier and wet areas are going to get wetter."
This imbalance will make subsistence farming, upon which millions of Africans depend, even more precarious. It will also exacerbate famine and disease.
"One adaptation option for Africa is to keep her forests standing so that they provide essential environmental services such as carbon sinks," she said.
It is estimated that carbon is accumulating in the atmosphere at an annual rate of 3.5 billion metric tonnes.
A 40-year-study by the University of Leeds of African forests - which account for a third of the world's total tropical forest - demonstrates that Africa is, indeed, a significant carbon sink.
Lee White, a climate change expert, concurs: "To get an idea of the value of the sink, the removal of nearly 5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by intact tropical forests should be valued at around $25 billion a year. This is a compelling argument for conserving tropical forests."
But Africa has not been very good at this.
According to the UN the continent is losing forest twice as fast as the rest of the world.
"Once upon a time, Africa boasted seven million square kilometres of forest but a third of that has been lost - most of it to charcoal."
The reality, however, is that in sub-Saharan Africa only 7.5% of the rural population has access to electricity.
Wood and its by-product charcoal are, unless radical steps are taken, likely to remain the primary energy source for decades.
POWER IN AFRICA
Only 4% of electricity generated worldwide is produced in Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa has the world's lowest electrification rate at 25.9%
Rural electrification rates in sub-Saharan Africa are only 8%
70% of household income in Africa is spent on energy (diesel, kerosene, charcoal)
80% of Africans rely on biomass for energy (wood or charcoal fuel)
4 million hectares of forest are felled each year in Africa, twice the world average
Source: The World Future Council
Additionally, charcoal is a lucrative business - not only for those collecting wood to burn.
In the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, over 70 tonnes of charcoal dust is discarded daily. Some 10% of that waste is absorbed by a company called Chardust, which salvages it from charcoal traders across the city and processes it with binders as a charcoal alternative.
The company manufactures 250 tonnes of saleable product a month.
Some though are trying to look beyond the finite resource. To the west of Nairobi, Cheryl Mvula of the Tribal Voice consultancy has introduced the extraordinary Cow Dung Fuel Initiative to counter deforestation in the Mara Triangle of Kenya's Masai Mara.
Here dung is mixed with waste paper and water, fashioned into briquettes and sundried for use.
Since the project's inception in March 2009, firewood collection has reduced by 75% in the five villages where the scheme has been piloted.
Back in Tanzania, where the charcoal market remains largely backstreet, the industry is valued at upwards of $150 million a year.
This figure encouraged Briton Nicholas Harrison to get involved. His company, the East Africa Briquette Company, is the only producer of an organic alternative in a region where 90% of people use charcoal.
The company's product, Mkaa Bora, is prepared from waste and post-harvest products - sawdust, charcoal dust, maize cobs and even banana skins.
Effectively, local "recipes" are designed according to a given area's crop predominance.
The waste burns more slowly and is 30% hotter than traditional charcoal.
The production is also much leaner than traditional charcoal-making, where just 40% of the wood felled is converted into a useable fuel.
But how to balance job creation with the need to protect the environment?
In Uganda, for example, which has lost half of its forest cover in the past 30 years, charcoal production yields 20,000 jobs and generates more than $20 million in income every year. In Kenya it is 10 times that figure.
Clearly any future charcoal alternative has to fill the gap.
Whether any African governments are keen to break away from the convenient job-creator - particularly during a challenging economic climate - to invest in alternatives will be a true test of their commitment to the environment. | <urn:uuid:f7e17fe5-a7f4-4af3-b33e-ab1415c1f4bc> | CC-MAIN-2014-35 | http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8272603.stm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-35/segments/1408500831565.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20140820021351-00356-ip-10-180-136-8.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945202 | 1,262 | 2.96875 | 3 |
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While rhubarb is often considered to be a fruit — especially by those who cook with it — it is actually is a vegetable. Typically, this plant does best when grown in cool climates in a shady environment. When making stewed rhubarb, it is important that cooks use only the stalk of the rhubarb plant, and avoid the leaves entirely, as they can be extremely toxic. In addition, using rhubarb stalks that have ripened completely and using the right ratio of rhubarb to sugar is essential in order to achieve optimal results when cooking stewed rhubarb.
One of the most important tips when it comes to cooking stewed rhubarb it to use the right part of the rhubarb plant. Typically, rhubarb grows in a bush with large, flat leaves that surround the rhubarb stalks. When stewing rhubarb, it is essential that only the stalks of the rhubarb plant are used, and all leaf fragments are completely removed from the rhubarb. Studies have found that the leaves of rhubarb plants are extremely toxic, and even a small amount can be highly dangerous. Typically, rhubarb that is sold in grocery stores has already been cleaned and examined, and is safe for use. Those who grow their own rhubarb, however, should use caution when picking and cleaning the product.
In order to achieve the best results when preparing stewed rhubarb, it is essential that cooks start with rhubarb that is ripe. Ripe rhubarb should boast stalks that are reddish or maroon, and stand tall and erect. While cooking with rhubarb that has not ripened fully is not toxic, it will be almost unbearably tart. Typically, the darker the rhubarb, the less tart the vegetable will be. Those who enjoy a tart stewed rhubarb should feel free to use small amounts of green rhubarb in their cooing.
To make great stewed rhubarb, it is also important that cooks use the correct ratio of rhubarb to sugar. Typically, most stewed rhubarb recipes recommend a two to one ratio of rhubarb to sugar. This ratio provides a stewed rhubarb that is tangy without being overly sour. It is important, however, that cooks experiment with varying amounts of ingredients in order to determine exactly how much sugar is preferable. Some may enjoy stewed rhubarb with smaller amounts of sugar, while others may insist on an increase in the amount of sugar in their stewed rhubarb.
One of our editors will review your suggestion and make changes if warranted. Note that depending on the number of suggestions we receive, this can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Thank you for helping to improve wiseGEEK! | <urn:uuid:f883c953-c8a3-45f9-ab4e-a82e05b587b6> | CC-MAIN-2017-13 | http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-best-tips-for-stewed-rhubarb.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-13/segments/1490218189686.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20170322212949-00497-ip-10-233-31-227.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956444 | 590 | 2.765625 | 3 |
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. An apparently free choice that offers no real alternative.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. The choice of taking either the primary option or nothing.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- A choice without an alternative; the thing offered or nothing.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- See choice.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. the choice of taking what is offered or nothing at all
After Thomas Hobson (1544?-1630), English keeper of a livery stable, from his requirement that customers take either the horse nearest the stable door or none.(American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
After Thomas Hobson (1544-1631) of Cambridge, England, who rented horses and gave his customers the choice of the horse nearest the stable door or no horse at all. (Wiktionary)
Sorry, no example sentences found. | <urn:uuid:f0ec7a2b-1c87-421a-b4c1-7e55b8933887> | CC-MAIN-2016-30 | https://www.wordnik.com/words/Hobson's%20choice | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-30/segments/1469257824757.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20160723071024-00154-ip-10-185-27-174.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.820253 | 232 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Does marijuana require a dark period during the vegetative growth stage? I recently read a grow book that advocated an 18-6 light cycle during the early growth stages.
One way in which plants are categorized is by the way they gather and handle carbon dioxide. Cannabis is a C3 plant. It uses the CO2 it gathers during the light period, when it is photosynthesizing. Plants designated C4 also gather CO2 during the dark period for use during the light period. Many C3 plants, including cannabis, do not need a rest period. They continue to photosynthesize as long as they are receiving light.
The plant’s photosynthetic rate determines its growth rate because the sugars are used by the plant to build tissue and for energy. Cannabis under continuous light will grow 33% faster than the same plants on an 18-6 light regime.
Readers with grow questions (or answers) should send them to Ed at: Ask Ed, PMB 147, 530 Divisadero St, San Francisco, CA 94117, USA.
You can also email Ed at [email protected] and send queries via his website at www.ask-ed.net.
All featured questions will be rewarded with a copy of Ed’s book, The Big Book of Buds.
Sorry, Ed cannot send personal replies to your questions. | <urn:uuid:28cf60eb-23b8-4c7a-9901-c7368bbcdf9e> | CC-MAIN-2018-13 | https://www.cannabisculture.com/content/2003/10/24/3127 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-13/segments/1521257647153.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20180319214457-20180319234457-00122.warc.gz | en | 0.957718 | 280 | 2.578125 | 3 |
by Mary McGraw
A large number of people I talk to about solar do not understand how they are billed for electricity or how much electricity they use. Each electric utility has its own billing format. However, the components included in the billing are generally the same. To make this interactive, grab your electric bill and follow along while we analyze a bill.
Anatomy of an electric bill
On your electric bill you should be able to identify your service address, meter number, beginning and end meter reading for the billing period and number of kilowatt hours (kWh) used for the billing period. A kilowatt hour is 1000 watts used per hour.
The simplest way to explain a kilowatt hour is to think of a candescent light bulb. You know, the old style. A 100 watt light bulb which burns for an hour will use 100 watts per hour. Over a ten hour period, it will use 1000 watts. (10 hours x 100 watts = 1000 watts). If you remember the metric system you know that a kilo is 1000. So dividing the 1000 watts/hour by 1000 results in 1 kilowatt hour.
All the electric appliances in your home draw a certain number of watts. The length of time they are turned on and the amount of power they draw result in the number of kilowatt hours your house uses.
Your meter monitors the amount of electricity which goes into your house. Then the electric utility will outline your charges which are mainly based on a per kilowatt hour basis. Most companies charge for both the energy used and the distribution of that energy from the power plant to your building. In this example, that may be found as “Energy” and “Distribution.” This particular company has a tiered billing system in which the first 401 kWh are charged at one rate and energy used over that amount is charged at a greater rate.
This utility also charges for the distribution based on the same tiered schedule.
There is a smattering of other charges, also by kilowatt hour. This particular company, in Michigan, adds the following charges:
- PSCR: Power Supply Cost Recovery is the recovery of power supply costs of non-fuel related items such as transmission, environmental expenditures, and other costs the power company incurs. This credit is a rebate to customers after the utility has reconciled its actual costs
- System Access: minimum monthly charge for service to allow the utility to recover the cost of metering and billing
- Electric Interim Surcharge: This was part of a rate increase the utility company requested of our public service commission for $163 million dollars
- Energy Efficiency: This is a surcharge to all customers so the utility may recover their costs in the company’s energy efficiency program
- Power Plant Securitization: This money is used to help the utility pay the costs associated with their securitization bonds
- Low-Income Assist Fund: This goes to the state of Michigan to fund the Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund
- State Sales Tax: This complete bill is subject to state of Michigan sales tax. Our state sales tax is 6% but the state gives people a break on utility bill sales and only charges 4%
So analyzing this bill, although the power company says their customers only pay 0.08/kWh the actual charges are much higher, almost twice that amount. They are only talking about the rate for the first 401 kWh of energy. If the total energy charges are divided by the total kWh’s, we derive a much larger number per kWh. ($103.50/697 = 0.1485, or 0.15/kWh.
Congratulations! You have now taken the first step in energy independence. The first stage is understanding your electric bill and learning how you are charged for energy. Armed with this knowledge you are able to take steps to reduce your electric usage. Energy efficiency is a key part of going solar. The cheapest energy is the energy you don’t use.
Beware of energy vampires
Energy vampires are things around your house which suck power even when they are turned off. Examples are cable/satellite boxes that have a red light on when the device is turned off. That red light is drawing power. Cell phone chargers left plugged in and not charging something are another example. I suspect you can find at least 10 items, maybe more, in your home that are drawing power that is not being used. This can increase your bill by as much as 20%.
Go on a vampire hunt after dark and look for lights and other things that are turned on and drawing power even though they are not being used. Unplug things at the source or use a power strip which you shut down when the attached items are not being used. To prepare yourself to become a power producer you want to have the most efficient machine as possible. It is best to do away with waste in the system.
I challenge you to examine your electric bill and your gas bill if you have that also. Learn what you are being charged for and what you are paying for it. Your utility company website will have the information detailing their various costs.
Mary McGraw has been involved in the solar industry since 2008. She owns an e-commerce solar business. Mary is also on the Board of Directors for Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association. | <urn:uuid:b1ee4907-f693-4054-89f6-4e176e81b2a4> | CC-MAIN-2020-40 | http://www.bugoutmagazine.com/cut-energy-bill/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-40/segments/1600400283990.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20200927152349-20200927182349-00564.warc.gz | en | 0.953712 | 1,102 | 3.25 | 3 |
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