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While Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) have greatly improved coverage rates, around 100,000 children in New York still lack coverage. An even greater number live in medically underserved areas, without meaningful access to quality care. The result is too many children suffering from unmet health needs, poor outcomes, and health disparities. In fact, New York has the highest rate of preventable pediatric hospitalizations of any state in the nation. Unmet health needs can also result in children falling behind developmentally and having trouble catching up physically, socially, and academically. Poor children and children of color have worse access to care and face more health disparities than their more resourced and privileged peers.
All children in New York should have access to health coverage and care that is comprehensive, affordable, child-appropriate, and easy to get and keep regardless of income, zip code, place of birth or immigration status.
The Children’s Defense Fund-New York works to ensure every child in New York has a Healthy Start in life. To achieve this, we focus on improving health coverage, increasing access to high-quality, culturally and linguistically appropriate care, improving outcomes, and eliminating disparities.
- Our goal is coverage for every child. We can achieve this protecting and enhancing Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), fully-funding health insurance navigator services, improving the capacity of schools to facilitate referrals for enrollment, and ensuring culturally and linguistically appropriate resources to aid enrollment are available at multiple access points in the community.
- Our goal is access to high-quality, culturally and linguistically competent care for every child. New York has the highest rate of preventable pediatric hospitalizations of any state in the nation. Preventable hospitalizations are a measure of how well a state’s primary care system is performing. Many children in New York live in medically underserved areas, which lack a sufficient number of primary care providers. Some of these areas also lack a sufficient number of mental health providers or dentists. Our youngest New Yorkers and their families face other barriers to care, including transportation time or cost, or lack of culturally competent care.
New York can improve access to care by investing in school-based health centers. School-based health centers overcome access barriers by providing services where children spend most of their time during the day. School-based health centers have been shown to increase attendance rates, improve academic outcomes, and reduce hospitalizations.
- Our goal is improved child health outcomes and the elimination of disparities. Health is about more than illness or disease. Health is a resource that helps children develop the capacity to become successful in school and life. Healthier children have more energy, better concentration, and greater productivity than their peers. Improving child health outcomes will yield a lifetime of benefits for children, their families, and New York.
We can improve health outcomes by eliminating childhood lead poisoning. No amount of lead is safe in children. Yet, well over 100,000 children in New York have had tests indicating some amount of lead in their blood. Even the lowest detectable levels of lead in the blood have been found to cause permanent neurological damage and behavioral disorders. Greater investment in testing for lead, cleaning up or eliminating known sources, and better public disclosure of known hazards will help eliminate this problem once and for all.
While New York leads the pack in many health outcome measures, racial and ethnic disparities abound. Black babies statewide are twice as likely as white babies to die prematurely or be born at a low birthweight. In several parts of the state, black mothers are twice as likely as white mothers to die in childbirth. The causes of these disparities are multiple, as are the solutions. We can and must do better.
Explore Other Policy Priorities |
Definitions for jack frost
This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word jack frost
Random House Webster's College Dictionary
frost or freezing cold personified.
Origin of Jack Frost:
a personification of frost or winter weather
A personification of winter
Jack Frost is the personification of frost and cold weather, a variant of Old Man Winter held responsible for frosty weather, for nipping the nose and toes in such weather, coloring the foliage in autumn, and leaving fernlike patterns on cold windows in winter. Starting in late 19th century literature, more filled-out characterizations of Jack Frost have made him into a sprite-like character. He sometimes appears as a sinister mischief maker.
Find a translation for the jack frost definition in other languages:
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I'm going to read your question strictly as "Are there languages that agree with their objects only with respect to plurality?" There are some cool examples of this. For instance, Classical Nahuatl usually has full agreement with both object and subject for both person and number. In ditansitive verbs, though, we cannot have full agreement with all three arguments. Instead, the verb agrees for number and person with the subject and indirect object and there is a suffix -im, which agrees with plural animate direct objects.
"Give me some turkeys."
If huehuexolo were singular or inanimate, -im would not appear. See The Syntax of Agreement and Concord by Mark Baker for more on this kind of phenomenon, which he calls two-and-a-half agreement because you can agree with two arguments and part of a third.
WARNING: The Nahuatl is missing some crucial diacritics that I do not know how to represent on the web. |
Essays can be a hard assignment for many students. Even though documents mean publishing some paragraphs, putting one’s ideas in a right way can be complicated. Knowing the guidelines to follow will surely make one’s function stand out on the list of rest. As there are several forms of essays, below are the most commonly used and the guidelines to follow to create one’s article effective.
StudentShare of composition centers around a concept and the reaction of the writer. The essay starts with a record or perhaps a question that will be solved by the writer by providing his view on the matter. The view is copied by some evidences or details encouraging the argument. The author might then end the paper in a brief and apparent manner. Examples include writer’s view on an occasion, mankind and also politics.
Cause and Impact
Trigger and Effect is the simplest form of essay as it is concerned with providing visitors the trigger and the effect or conclusion result. This kind allows writers to apply their company skills while at the same time discussing the some ideas they’re interested in. The article begins with sometimes the writer deliberating on the cause, the effect or both. The human body might then contain details that will help the first record such as for example situations that generated the cause or effect. Matters that are frequently mentioned under this article type include environmental and civil or individual rights.
Persuasive essays involve persuading viewers to embrace the writer’s see about an idea. In a persuasive article, authors should determine which side of the debate they want to be on. Evidences must certanly be specific to ensure that the idea that one is showing is supported. Be reasonable and objective. Contain details, statistics and professionals’remarks as they help to make the theory concrete; however, don’t overdo these as they can bore the readers. Popular subjects include drugs, health, gun get a handle on and different controversial topics.
Story documents are like storytelling as writers usually write the essay in the proper execution of a tale, delivering visitors with a particular plan that features people, an environment, the climax and the ending of the story. A higher type of plot composition contains conversation of the standpoint of the author and the objective of why the paper was written. Details presented in the story support support the standpoint as well as describe the story. Common topics add a person’s living, achievement stories and travels. |
Smartphones have been a part of our daily lives. As a matter of fact, some kids even know how to utilize some of its features more than us. Let’s admit, they’ve grown in this generation and we’ve been left out. However, there’s a study that wants to pinpoint a certain factor on why students have failing grades. Have an idea on what that is? Apparently, the study says that one of the main reasons why children experience low to failing grades is because they bring cellphones inside classrooms.
Scientists who looked at the effects of having parted attention in people were the ones who started this. As per them, when the focus is distributed between two tasks, fewer and fewer items in those tasks can be recalled by a certain person. In Psychology, this is known as retention.
Having that said, two researchers wanted to dive deeper into the topic. These two people from Rutgers University wanted to correlate that finding into something more concrete as of today – smartphones.
They wanted to try because there were additional researches that connect electronic devices such as smartphones and laptops that point to a person not being able to think fully. Moreso, It limits a person’s ability to “think outside the box.” As one of the great minds once said:
I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots,” – Albert Einstein
The lead researcher of the study, Dr. Arnold Glass, a professor of Psychology at Rutgers University, said that he’s been wondering by the psychology that is happening inside classrooms. This is why he wanted to test whether or not bringing mobile phones inside classrooms can contribute to how a certain student performs.
I was always interested in using technology in the classroom before it existed. But when the time became apparent tat it was affecting the classroom, it raised the question (of) what effect it was having,” Dr. Arnold Glass said.
Him and another colleague based their research on a study published in the Journal Educational Psychology. The two researchers then divided the students into two levels with all of them enrolled in the same program. The total of 118-upper level college students were grouped in:
- The one half was allowed to use laptops and smartphones inside the classroom;
- On the other hand, the other half was not allowed.
They studied it semester-long and they wanted to find proof whether or not technology can help a certain student with his/her grades. Both groups were in the same classroom, the same lesson plans, and were taught by the same professors.
What do you think happened? Do you assume that the students who regularly bring cellphones inside classrooms had the advantage? Unfortunately, no. In the study after the semester, students who brought their technological devices such as laptops and smartphones scored half a letter grade lower on tests and exams.
According to Glass and other researchers, the reason why their scores are lower is that of the distraction of technology with their study. Although they use it to aid in their lessons like taking notes down, remembering things, people still can’t get over the fact that it’s a technological device and that there are a lot of things you can do with it.
In conclusion, students can actually be worse given if the program is more difficult. Moreover, it’s dependent on how the class is taught and whether or not they’re using electronic devices for other purposes like accessing social media, playing games, online shopping, etc.
According to Dr. Glass, this research is not just for college students. As a matter of fact, middle-school and high school students are far more less-focused when it comes to classes so it’s applicable with them as well.
These findings should alert the many dedicated students and instructors that dividin attention is having an insidious effect that is impairin their exam performance and final grade.”
What Dr. Glass want us to understand is that there’s no harm to bring cellphones inside classrooms. However, as normal people, we can’t promise and it’s not a sin not to check on other things not related to lecture every once in a while. This causes distraction and that the retention of this to the minds of people could become weaker and weaker.
While we were still studying, chances are we bring cellphones inside classrooms every single day. No doubt; as a matter of fact, laptops and tablets are now being utilized as a tool for education which shouldn’t be the case because it can cause a distraction. Given the functions of our technology today, we can’t be so sure that it’s really just to help us become more intelligent. |
Subject Areas: Food Science & Technology
Among the many foods considered functional are the fruits, and great attention should be paid to the tropical fruits grown in Brazil, which has extremely favorable conditions on the adaptation of these species. Thus, the consumption of tropical fruits has increased year after year because of the nutritional value and its therapeutic effects, although there is a wide range of derivatives fruits and products still little studied in relation to their properties and ability beneficial to health, as well as their use of variables.
Nutritionally, breadfruit is rich in carbohydrates and a good source of dietary fiber, calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, potassium, thiamine, besides being a good source of antioxidants. However, it is still an underutilized fruit in our country.
In times of valuation issues such as functional food, full use of the food, waste utilization, and several alternatives with nutritious appeal and inexpensive to people’s power, it is contradictory so much waste of breadfruit in Brazilian yards.
Because the nutritional value, low cost and ease of access to this fruit, were objectified to develop products that use it as raw material. In this context, it was considered interesting the development of a Green Breadfruit Biomass, which was used in formulating a brownie, replacing ingredients traditionally used, such as butter and flour, thus meeting the call of lactose intolerant and celiac patients at a much more affordable price than those currently offered in the market, and presented the functional appeal for having shown rich in fiber and antioxidants.
The Brownie was produced through an original recipe , which was made the substitution of ingredients butter and flour for Green Breadfruit Biomass. The brownie was baked in a preheated oven at 180˚C for 15 minutes in an aluminum shape without smearing. After baked, the brownies were manually crumbled and a portion was removed for moisture analysis and the rest was spread on an aluminum pan evenly and taken to the oven at 105˚C to dehydrate. After dehydrated, it was crushed in a domestic blender until it became a homogeneous powder and then stored in glass with a lid.
2.1. Centesimal Composition
The analyzes were done in five replications and methodological procedures were performed at the Bromatology Laboratory of the Universidade Federal Fluminense.
The humidity was determined gravimetrically, at 105˚C until constant weight according to the method recommended by Adolfo Lutz Institute , as well as fixed mineral residue in oven at 550˚C to constant weight.
The ether extract fraction was determined by Soxhlet extractor intermittently, using ether as solvent Ethyl PA .
Protein was determined by the Kjeldahl method (semi-micro), which is based on the destruction of organic matter followed by distillation and nitrogen dosed by volumetry. The factor of 6.25 was used to convert the total nitrogen content of protein according to the conversion factors used by FAO/73 .
The carbohydrate was determined in starch, the Lane-Eynon method, which is based on the ability of glícides in strongly alkaline and hot medium to form enodiol, compound having strong reducing power, which in the presence of Cu++, oxidizes and reduces copper Cu+, to give a brick red precipitate Cu2O .
The fiber was determined by the method proposed by Van Soest, 1963 , using a neutral detergent solution (NDF), which solubilizes all plant material, except for the wall structure that are insoluble fiber (cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin). After the filtrate is vacuum residue NDF, which is subsequently washed with boiling distilled water, followed by washing with acetone PA for better drying.
This method quantifies the insoluble fraction of fiber (cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin).
2.2. Antioxidant Capacity
The extracts were analyzed in triplicate, in Bioactive Laboratory of the State Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO).
For the extracts, were weighed 10 grams desiccated in a sample tube and added 10 ml water (to aqueous extract) and another tube with 10 ml of ethanol (for the alcoholic extract). After one hour the tubes were centrifuged for 10 minutes at 20,000 revolutions per minute with acceleration and deceleration of twenty seconds 30 seconds .
Each sample solution was subjected to the determination of the ability to scavenge radical 1,1-diphenyl-2- picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), according to the method described by Brand-Williams et al. (1995) modified by Miliauskas et al. (2004), and referenced by PRIOR; WU & Schaich, 2005 . The radical absorbance measured after one hour reaction was carried out at a wavelength of 517 nm. The decline in reading the optical density of the samples was correlated with the control, setting the percentage of discoloration of DPPH radical, according to the formula below:
The determination of the content of phenolic compounds in the solution was carried out by spectrophotometry in the visible region using the classical method of Folin-Ciocalteu reagent and the absorbance of the samples was measured at 750 nm. The total phenolics content was determined by interpolating the absorbance of the samples against a calibration curve constructed with gallic acid standards (0 to 20 mg/ml) and expressed as mg of GAE (gallic acid equivalents) per 100 grams of sample as referenced by Singleton and Rossi, (1965) with modifications established by Bonoli et al., (2004), and referenced by Melo .
2.3. Sensory Analysis
Sensory tests were performed in the Sensory Analysis Laboratory of the UFF Nutrition College in suitable environment, air-conditioned and airy, under natural light. They recruited 100 subjects of both sexes, of the University randomly aged between 18 and 58 years.
Before starting the sensory analysis, participants were asked to fill out a consent form and clarified to ensure the voluntary nature of the research. In sequence, completed a nominal scale in order to identify the consumption profile.
Four samples were offered 20 grams each, for each tester, a monadic manner. The samples were coded with three digits, always accompanied by a glass of water at room temperature, and a biscuit salted water to the mouth and tongue cleaning before each assessment. It was then an order of random presentation .
Two of the samples were commercial, chosen based on the niche occupied by the formulations, which is the health of appeal, purchased in health food stores, both gluten free. A brand ready for consumption and the other a brownie mix to another brand of gluten, which was prepared according to the manufacturer’s guidelines. It has not yet made a brownie in the traditional way and the brownie developed with Green Breadfruit Biomass.
The offered samples were subjected to acceptance affective test, which evaluated the sensory attributes involved: color, aroma, flavor and texture, using a hedonic scale of 9 points whose grades will range from 1 (extremely disliked) to 9 (like extremely). For the acceptance test using affective attitude scale, the ratings are provided “definitely buy” (5) until “certainly would not buy” (1). Using the methodology (165/IV) recommended by the Adolfo Lutz Institute―ITB . The test was carried out with prior permission of the Ethics Committee of the UFF, number 1,024,216 opinion adopted on 10 April 2015. The sample acceptance rate was calculated by the following mathematical expression using the Question of the overall impression of the product :
X = average of each sample.
N = maximum grade of each sample, given by the panelists.
2.4. Statistical Analysis
The results were evaluated statistically, to obtain mean and standard deviation, and subjected to analysis of variance (p <0.05)―ANOVA and Tukey’s test to compare means using the ASSISTAT program version 7.7 beta.
3.1. Centesimal Composition
Table 1 shows the results of the chemical composition of the Breadfruit Brownie, compared to the results found in an earlier study for the Green Breadfruit Biomass.
3.2. Antioxidant Analysis
The results of DPPH analysis were expressed as a percentage reduction and the EC50 is the sample concentration capable of removing 50% of the free radical DPPH and were compared with results of previous studies with values for breadfruit in nature and Biomass of Breadfruit Green. As can be seen in Table 2, the aqueous extract of breadfruit showed 85% reduction of DPPH (0.97 R2/EC = 0.87) after a contact time. But the alcoholic extract showed 77% (R2 0.90) reduction. Demonstrating best extraction in the aqueous extract, as also reported by Melo in their study with frozen fruit pulps, which found 89% of DPPH reduction in aqueous extract to the pulp of soursop and hog plum, and 65% for pulps passion fruit and pineapple. The aqueous extract of biomass showed 82% reduction of DPPH (0.98 R2/EC = 1.18) and the brownie 85% (0.91 R2/EC = 0.70).
Regarding phenolic compounds, breadfruit presented 615.98 ± 12.44 mg gallic acid equivalent (per 100g of sample), whereas in the biomass were found 451.36 ± 10.24 mg/100g and 654 brownie, 76 ± 4.10 mg/100g, as shown in Table 2. Moura found in the pulp of acerola 835.25 mg/100g cashew 449.63 mg/100g.
3.3. Sensory Analysis
The age profile prevalent among respondents was between 20 and 29 years. As the survey was conducted at the School of Nutrition, women were present in greater amounts than men. Thus, it can be said that most research participants were young adult women.
Table 1. Proximate composition (g/100g): Green breadfruit biomass and brownie green breadfruit biomass.
Table 2. Antioxidant analysis.
Means followed by the same letter in the same column do not differ statistically to each other (Tukey test―5% probability); *Results are expressed as percentage of reduction; **Results are expressed as mg of gallic acid per 100 g of sample. GAE―“gallic acid equivalents”.
On the monthly frequency of consumption of brownies or chocolate cakes, it turns out that most people (91%) who responded to the survey consume this type of product at least once a month.
Table 3 shows the marks awarded by the judges to the four brownie formulations.
Regarding the attribute “aroma”, the only sample that differed from others was also formulated with powder for mixing brownie. The comments of the panelists were “oil smell”; “Does not smell of chocolate”, among others.
Regarding the taste, the formulation more acceptable was the standard. The formulation with Biomass showed no significant difference from commercial ready. The main observations of the panelists compared to the taste of the Biomass formulation were “less sweet than the others”; “Could be sweeter”; “I thought bitter”. This is explained because the standard formulation is with refined sugar and cocoa powder. While the formulation is biomass with raw sugar and cocoa powder. The lack of milk in the formulation also changes the sense of sweet taste. Comments for formulation with dust and the brownie ready brought comments on the “chemistry of taste”; and type “seems ready market cake”.
In the texture attribute, it can be seen that the formulation Biomass was not well placed, being preferred by the panelists traditional formulation. Regarding the brownie ready, the comments were “very crumbly”; “Very floury”; “Looks crumbly”, among others. As for the formulation Biomass, what else was seen by the panelists was the texture “softened”; “soft”; “Melequenta”; “Too wet”, among other expressions. What may not be a big problem. So much so that some tasters who gave a score for texture, rightly pleased with the smooth texture. But compared with brownies, in fact, until it does not contain any flour in their formulation, it appears much more humid.
Regarding the overall impression attribute, the standard formulation was better accepted, followed by formulation with biomass that did not differ from ready. Finally, the powder mix, as can be seen in Table 3.
It has been calculated yet, the IA (acceptance rate) of each attribute.
By observing IA (acceptance rate) of the overall impression, it is concluded that the sample had greater acceptance has been the traditional formulation, followed by the sample from this study, formulated with Green breadfruit biomass, and then the sample soy selling ready for consumption. Finally, the sample corresponding to the powder to soybean brownie mix. The results can be better observed in Figure 1.
According Finger to a good impact the acceptance rate should exceed 70%. Thus, we can say that in relation to the overall impression, just sample “powder mixture” was not well received.
We also analyzed the buying attitude of the tasters with the 5-point scale, which were “certainly would not buy”; “probably would not buy”; “Maybe buy/may not buy”; “Probably buy” and “definitely buy”. The sample that had the best average score was the standard formulation, as expected (Figure 1).
In Table 4, it is a comparison of the results of the chemical composition of the Green Breadfruit Biomass Brownie with a commercial brownie gluten and lactose.
The results demonstrate that breadfruit exhibits excellent antioxidant capability, even higher than some fruits found in the literature. Many studies have shown that phenolic compounds generally decrease in Climacteric fruits such as tomatoes, bananas, mangoes and guavas during ripening which may also have contributed to the high submitted antioxidant capacity, as the present study is the fruit still green. It is observed that the
Table 3. Mean and standard deviation of scores for each attribute obtained panel test.
Letters equal the same lines represent statistically equal results, and different letters represent significant differences by Tukey test (p < 0.05).
Figure 1. IA (Acceptability Index)% of attributes.
Table 4. Proximate composition (g/100g): Brownie green breadfruit biomass and commercial gluten-free brownie ready.
antioxidant capacity decreased but persisted high in developed biomass, suggesting that it can be used with no significant loss of nutritional and functional value.
Interesting to note that the antioxidant capacity grows back in Brownie developed with the Green Breadfruit Biomass. What can be attributed to cocoa added to the recipe, which has recognized antioxidant value, or the fact that Melo studied on the effect of heat treatment on antioxidant capacity in vegetables. In which it quoted that during heat treatment can occur several events which justify the change in antioxidant capacity and can not change, increase or decrease the food antioxidant action. In the situation where there is increased antioxidant in food, heat treatment provides the partial oxidation of bioactive compound that exhibits greater ability to donate hydrogen atom to radical from the hydroxyl group and/or the aromatic structure of the polyphenol is more ability to withstand the unpaired electron of displacement around the ring. Furthermore, the heat treatment may promote the formation of new compounds, such as Maillard reaction products (redutonas), which have antioxidant activity . Interestingly, the Green Breadfruit presented an intermediate value between the fruit already recognized sources of antioxidants such as acerola and cashew.
Regarding the profile of the tasters participating in the Sensory Analysis, as it is a product that covers a wide age range, would be more interesting if there was a balance amount of people in each age group. However, this factor does not compromise the development of the product, according to Borges et al. , although it is not a staple food like bread, brownie is accepted and consumed by people of any age.
As the ABIMA (Brazilian Association of Food Industries Pasta and Bread & Cakes Industrialized), due to increased purchasing power and the rise of classes D and E, the Brazilian is with sophisticated palate. One of the sectors that may well reflect this change in consumer behavior is the cake ready. According to a study by Kantar World panel the category was present in 41% of Brazilian households in 2011, but rose to 45% in 2012, which means that more than 2 million families are now eating cake ready in one year. This was the sector with the highest growth among the wheat derivative analyzed by the consulting firm. This explains the frequency with which the tasters consume brownie or chocolate cake.
As can be seen in Table 3, the attribute “appearance”, the Biomass Brownie showed no significant difference from the standard formulation. Both got good grades. Ready Brownie did not score as well but was above average, while the powder mixture was below average. The comments of the panelists for the latter were “not seem brownie”; “Ugly color”, among others.
The sample formulated with Biomass showed no significant difference for the early commercial sample (Table 3). This is a good result, since the commercial brownie ready is a strong brand in the market, which sells products without gluten and lactose. And although the formulation Biomass has an infinitely greater functional appeal, because it is a formulation without milk, without any kind of meal without any fat and organic demerara sugar. The ready market brand has a wide range of processed ingredients: sugar; gluten mix (brown rice flour, corn starch, cassava starch, whole soy flour); vegetable oil; cashew nut; eggs; cocoa powder; as well as preservatives and flavorings. Not to mention that the brownie green Breadfruit Biomass also has antioxidant naturally found in fruits.
This study found that even with the processing and submission to the high temperature for the production of biomass and subsequent production of brownie breadfruit green biomass, no significant loss of nutrients observed. This research denoted that there was viability for production and marketing of Brownies, due to the low cost of its ingredients, preparation of simplicity and maintenance of functional properties. The measured sensory acceptance was satisfactory, since the Acceptability Index (AI) to the overall impression was greater than 70%. As breadfruit is more abundant precisely in disadvantaged regions economically, and its consumption is still not widespread, it is concluded that the incentive to use this fruit in other national territories, would bring greater income for small farmers and increased utilization of production annual, decreasing wastage of fruit and thereby contributing to public health, since it is a product with functional appeal, and the country’s economy through new income generation.
Petitgastrô (2012) Història do Brownie.
Melo, E.A. (2006) Capacidade Antioxidante de Hortaliças Usualmente Consumidas. Ciência e Tecnologia de Alimentos, Campinas, 26, 639-644.
Prior, R.L., Wu, X. and Schaich, K. (2005) Standardized Methods for the Determination of Antioxidant Capacity and Phenolics in Foods and Dietary Supplements. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 53, 4290-4302.
Martínez-Cervera, S. (2012) Rheological, Textural and Sensorial Properties of Low-Sucrose Muffins Reformulated with Sucralose/Polydextrose. LWT Food Science and Technology, Valencia, 45, 213-220.
Finger, C.L., Scheidt, D.T. and Deina, L.E. (2010) Desenvolvimento e análise sensorial de petit suisse de maracujá e mexerica. Anais do II Encontro de Divulgação Científica e Tecnològica. Universidade Tecnològica Federal do Paraná, Paraná.
Nicoli, M.C., Anese, M. and Parpinel, M. (1999) Influence of Processing on the Antioxidant Properties of Fruits and Vegetables. Food Science & Technology, 10, 94-100.
Borges, J.T.D.S. (2006) Utilização de farinha mista de aveia e trigo na elaboração de bolos. Boletim Ceppa, 14, 145-162.
(ABIMA) Associação brasileira das indústrias de massas alimentícias e pãos & bolos industrializados. ABIMA. |
Remember during our history classes together when we talked about the Holocaust, and slavery? Remember when we watched The Grapes of Wrath and talked about how the migrant workers who came from Oklahoma to California were treated during the Great Depression? Remember when we talked about The Trail of Tears the Cherokees were forced to take? Remember how we talked about the colonization of Africa? And non-violent resistance against British rule in India? And the internment of the Japanese-Americans during WWII? And remember when we read about the prejudice and discrimination shown towards the Italians, and the Irish, and the Chinese when they first arrived in the United States?
And remember how we wondered together what we would do if we were living during those times? Would we be heroes like Schindler and Irene Sendler and Gandhi, or would we be the other people in history – the ones who just turned a blind eye to the horrors and atrocities and pretended to themselves that this wasn’t happening?
Well, now we have the opportunity to find out. We are living right this moment during one of those times in history.
Be kind. Be brave. Do good.
I love you.
– Mrs. Terrell
Ways to help –
– “Advocates say the fastest way to help immigrants separated from their children is to post bail.”
– Also: Pay for immigration lawyers; contact local law enforcement and ask that they not partner with ICE for raids or other purposes; and the usual stuff – march, writer letters to politicians, protest. |
Meat: without it kids are small, weak and dumb
March 20, 2005
Subject: Research suggests that meat is essential in children's diets. Without it, children grow up smaller, less strong and less intelligent. Locally raised grassfed beef may provide a healthy alternative to store bought beef.
There is a widespread belief that a vegetarian diet is a healthy diet. Patients frequently tell me they have recently become vegetarians and ask me how soon their disease symptoms are going to disappear. Popping their happy bubble of vegetarian ethical contentment is no fun. The truth is that a vegetarian diet is not a miracle cure and many people who start such a diet actually get to feel worse.
There is evidence that meat consumption is linked to the development of a few cancers. The correlation is not strong; the link between overcooking meat and cancer is stronger. It may not be the meat as much as how it is cooked that causes cancer.
There are older studies suggesting that vegetarians are in some ways healthier than meat eaters yet it isn't clear from these studies whether the benefit the vegetarians enjoyed came from abstaining from meat or was derived from the larger quantities of fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts which they consumed. Or it may be that people who were inspired to be vegetarians did other things in the name of good health that were helpful. For example vegetarians might smoke less than meat eaters.
Total saturated fats in the diet have been linked with elevated cholesterol levels. Thus common opinion is that meat fats cause heart disease. These studies did not discriminate between standard saturated fats and trans saturated fatty acids. There are some who wonder if it is the trans saturated fatty acids that cause the elevations of cholesterol and not the regular saturated meat fats.
Relatively new research suggests that meat may be more important than we realized for the physical and mental development of children. So much so, that we may have to rethink the practice of raising children as vegetarians. Some researchers have gone so far as to state that raising kids on vegetarian diets is now a ethically indefensible position.
Nutrition researchers over the years have expressed increasing concern over the deficiencies that are seen in people, especially children raised on vegetarian diets. For example, Dutch infants consuming macrobiotic (strictly vegan) diets had poorer nutritional status and were more likely to have rickets and deficiencies of vitamin B-12 and iron. A study of US vegans showed that almost half the men in the study were vitamin B-12 deficient. All had low levels of ferritin. Studies of the iron and zinc levels in vegetarians caused further concern that vegetarians were also mineral deficient. High grain and vegetable diets intefere with mineral absorption. The panel setting the new Dietary Reference Intakes for iron assumed 10% iron absorption for vegetarian diets versus 18% absorption for a mixed diet and thus suggested that the Recommended Dietary Allowance for iron should be 80% higher for vegetarians. This growing body of evidence suggesting shortfalls in vegetarian diets prompted the organization of a large prospective study under controlled conditions and careful scrutiny.
Starting in 1998 a two year experiment was begun in Kenya. Arrangements were made to provide carefully prepared snacks to a group of 554 school children during the day. The local diet contains very little animal protein, less than 1% of calories comes from animal foods. The experiment was simple: the kids eat a snack each day of githeri, a local dish made from beans, collard greens and white corn meal. One group of kids got this basic githeri stuff, one group got the githeri to which about two spoons of cooked ground beef had been added. Another group got normal githeri with a glass of milk afterwards and the last group got githeri with extra oil added. Thus there was a control group receiving their regular diet, and three experimental groups that were supplemented with either meat, milk, or fat. Each of these experimental additions to the diet was carefully calculated to provide an equal number of calories. Several different international research groups followed the children during the years they received supplemental food. The various research groups all published their work in a supplement to the November 2003 edition of the Journal of Nutrition.
Over the two years, the kids given food supplements gained an about a pound more weight than those without. Those given meat showed the greatest benefit.
Children in the meat-supplemented group showed up to an 80% greater increase in upper-arm muscle compared with the non-supplemented children; for milk drinkers, this figure was 40%.
Kids who were fed meat outperformed their peers in tests of intelligence, problem solving and arithmetic. "The group that received the meat supplements were more active in the playground, more talkative and playful, and showed more leadership skills," according to Lindsey Allen one of the researchers.
It is these abstract cognitive skills that are harder to measure but probably of greater importance. Whaley et al, showed that both meat supplementation and energy supplementation (as extra fat) improved ability to perform mathematics. [i] Murphy and his group showed that only the meat group actually ended up with more calories at the end of the day. The other kids given supplemental calories as milk or oil ended up eating less food at home and didn't gain weight as readily as the meat kids. [ii] Grillenberger (no pun intended) and his fellows published data that the meat group gained the most muscle mass of all the groups. [iii] The meat supplemented children were better able to produce antibodies to fight infection. [iv]
[interesting side note: the researchers note that anemia was associated with H. Pylori infections]
The base diet these children ate is plant based, high in fiber and cereal grains, and is the goal many aspiring vegetarians strive toward. It is inadequate. [v] These studies clearly point to the value of small amounts of animal protein in the diet of children and it seems that meat protein is more effective than milk. [vi] Raising a child on a vegan diet is a risky business.
I can already imagine the letters of complaint this newsletter will provoke and the pictures of happy healthy children that will accompany them. Certainly we know many of the nutrients that need to be supplemented to a vegan diet. But do we know them all?
It is with thoughts of these studies in mind that I have been reading about grass fed beef. There is a very small but growing movement to raise cattle on grass. The claims are that it produces healthier more flavorful meat. The obviously makes such sense that I won't elaborate on it. The Mad Cow scares of the last few years have made it widely known to what perverse lengths the cattle industry has gone to increase cattle size and their profits. Even without feeding cattle animal byproducts, feeding them corn in feedlots hardly makes sense to our current sensibilities, what with Atkins, South Beach and Syndrome X books all on our shelves. The best website I have seen so far on grassfed beef is at: www.eatwild.com
It is the web site of Jo Robinson. She's the maven of the pasture based food movement. She co-wrote a book with Dr. Artemis Simopouolos, The Omega Diet , awhile back that became a New York Times best seller. After writing the book, she became interested in pasture based foods, started doing some research and has since become a leading advocate of to this fledgling movement. She's lately published a cookbook with recipes using pasture based or grassfed meats called Pasture Perfect .
I've been in recent contact with a rancher named Steve Oswald who lives down in Cotopaxi . I have every intention of doing business with him this coming summer. According to Steve,
Steve and his family have a website: www.backcountrybeef.com
Don't fire up the barbecue just yet: they are out of meat for the winter. They will have more to sell this coming July. I am writing about this now because you may want to plan ahead.
Steve has pointed out to me an interesting distinction,
Recall that my earlier mention about meat and cancer risk; it probably isn't the meat itself but the cooking methods that cause the problem: the more heat and more time, the bigger the problem. The less the meat is heated the safer it is.
I hope I've provided a few thoughts to chew on with this article. Writing it has certainly forced me to rethink some long held beliefs.
If you enjoy getting these letters, please encourage your friends and family to sign up to receive them on our website. Simply go to: www.DenverNaturopathic.com
The Vegans Respond:
April 14, 2005
Subject: The Vegan viewpoint of the Kenya studies of supplementing vegetarian diets.
My recent newsletter on the Kenya studies in which semi starving children were supplemented with meat, milk, or fat provoked a number of interesting responses. One of these responses pointed me to a Vegan website which has posted a direct response to the Kenya studies. Their critique is on two fronts: the first is that these studies were funded by the meat production industry and the second on the ethical ambiguity of having a control group of malnourished children in the study. They write, “Like Nazis experimenting on captives, the Cattle industry manipulated very slightly the diets of starving African children -- not to benefit the children but to try to produce some "scientific finding" which justifies meat-eating.”
I find myself instantly prejudiced when someone jumps to using the Nazi analogy without ample justification. Anyway, we certainly haven't heard the end of these debates yet. If inspired you can read the full text of this rebuttal at:
[i] J Nutr. 2003 Nov;133(11 Suppl 2):3965S-3971S.
The impact of dietary intervention on the cognitive development of Kenyan school children.
Whaley SE, Sigman M, Neumann C, Bwibo N, Guthrie D, Weiss RE, Alber S, Murphy SP.
Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Neuropsychiatric Institute, University of California , Los Angeles , CA , USA . [email protected]
Previous observational studies in developing countries have suggested that diet quality, particularly increased animal source food (ASF) consumption, is positively associated with child cognitive development. This report presents findings from a study in rural Kenya , designed to test the impact of three different diets on the cognitive development of school children. Twelve schools with a total of 555 Standard 1 children (equivalent to U.S. Grade 1) were randomized to one of four feeding interventions: Meat, Milk, Energy or Control (no feeding). Feeding continued for seven school terms (21 mo), and cognitive tests were administered before the commencement of feeding and during every other term of feeding. Hierarchical linear random effects models and associated methods were used to examine the effects of treatment group on changes in cognitive performance over time. Analyses revealed that children receiving supplemental food with meat significantly outperformed all other children on the Raven's Progressive Matrices . Children supplemented with meat, and children supplemented with energy, outperformed children in the Control group on tests of arithmetic ability. There were no group differences on tests of verbal comprehension. Results suggest that supplementation with animal source food has positive effects on Kenyan children's cognitive performance. However, these effects are not equivalent across all domains of cognitive functioning, nor did different forms of animal source foods produce the same beneficial effects. Implications of these findings for supplementation programs in developing countries are discussed.
Randomized Controlled Trial
PMID: 14672297 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Link to full text:
[ii] J Nutr. 2003 Nov;133(11 Suppl 2):3950S-3956S.
School snacks containing animal source foods improve dietary quality for children in rural Kenya .
Murphy SP, Gewa C, Liang LJ, Grillenberger M, Bwibo NO, Neumann CG.
Cancer Research Center of Hawaii , University of Hawaii , Honolulu , HI , USA . [email protected]
Provision of a snack at school could help alleviate the micronutrient malnutrition that is common among schoolchildren in developing countries. The Child Nutrition Project was designed to compare the efficacy of three school snacks in improving growth and cognitive function of children in rural Kenya . The snacks provided approximately 20% of the children's energy requirement, and were composed of equicaloric portions of githeri (a vegetable stew) alone (Energy group), githeri plus milk (Milk group) or githeri plus meat (Meat group). A fourth group of children served as Controls. When nutrient intakes from three, 24-h dietary recalls collected before feeding were compared to three, 24-h recalls conducted after feeding began, intakes of vitamin B-12, riboflavin, vitamin A and calcium increased more in the Milk group than in the Control group, whereas intakes of vitamin B-12, vitamin A, calcium, available iron and available zinc increased more than those of Controls for children in the Meat group. At most of the time points examined, total energy intake increased more for the Meat group than for the other two feeding groups, because the additional energy provided by the Milk and Energy snacks was partially balanced by a decrease in the energy content of foods consumed at home . This decrease did not occur to the same extent for the Meat group, so both dietary quantity and dietary quality improved. For the Milk group, only dietary quality improved. For the Energy group, there were no significant changes in the total day's diet compared to the Control group.
Controlled Clinical Trial
PMID: 14672295 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
link to full text:
[iii] J Nutr. 2003 Nov;133(11 Suppl 2):3957S-3964S.
Grillenberger M, Neumann CG, Murphy SP, Bwibo NO, van't Veer P, Hautvast JG, West CE.
Food supplements have a positive impact on weight gain and the addition of animal source foods increases lean body mass of Kenyan schoolchildren
Division of Human Nutrition and Epidemiology, Wageningen University , Wageningen, The Netherlands .
Observational studies of dietary patterns and growth and studies with milk supplementation have shown that children consuming diets containing animal source foods grow better. This study evaluates the growth of 544 Kenyan schoolchildren (median age 7.1 y) after 23 mo of food supplementation with a meat, milk or energy supplement (approximately 1255 kJ) compared to a control group without a supplement. Multivariate analyses controlled for covariates compared gain in weight, height, weight-for-height Z-score (WHZ), height-for-age Z-score (HAZ), mid-upper-arm circumference, triceps and subscapular skinfolds, mid-upper-arm muscle and mid-upper-arm fat area. Children in each of the supplementation groups gained approximately 0.4 kg (10%) more weight than children in the Control group. Children in the Meat, Milk and Energy groups gained 0.33, 0.19 and 0.27 cm more, respectively, in mid-upper-arm circumference than children in the Control group. Children who received the Meat supplement gained 30-80% more mid-upper-arm muscle area than children in the other groups , and children who received the milk supplement gained 40% more mid-upper-arm muscle area than children who did not receive a supplement. No statistically significant overall effects of supplementation were found on height, HAZ, WHZ or measures of body fat. A positive effect of the milk supplement on height gain could be seen in the subgroup of children with a lower baseline HAZ (< or = -1.4). The results indicate that food supplements had a positive impact on weight gain in the study children and that the addition of meat increased their lean body mass.
Controlled Clinical Trial
PMID: 14672296 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
link to text: http://www.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/133/11/3957S
[iv] Am J Clin Nutr. 2003 Jan;77(1):242-9.
Titers of antibody to common pathogens: relation to food-based interventions in rural Kenyan schoolchildren.
Siekmann JH, Allen LH, Watnik MR, Nestel P, Neumann CG, Shoenfeld Y, Peter JB, Patnik M, Ansari AA, Coppel RL, Gershwin ME.
Department of Nutrition, University of California , Davis 95616 , USA .
BACKGROUND: Undernutrition is widely perceived to affect the development of an effective immune system. OBJECTIVE: We used a mini-analysis system to quantitate antibody titers and evaluate the sera of 200 Kenyan schoolchildren for antibodies to Helicobacter pylori [isotypes of immunoglobulins A (IgA), G (IgG), and M (IgM)], hepatitis A virus, rotavirus, tetanus toxoid (IgG), and a panel of recombinant malarial antigens (MSP1(19), MSP2, Ag512, MSP4, and MSP5). DESIGN: Children participated in a school-based feeding intervention with meat, milk, or nonanimal-source foods or in a nonintervention control group. Microvolumes (200 mL) of sera were analyzed at baseline and after 1 y. RESULTS: Nearly all children had elevated titers of antibody to H. pylori, hepatitis A virus, rotavirus, and malaria at the outset, despite a high prevalence of apparent biochemical micronutrient deficiencies and stunting, but many had titers of tetanus toxoid IgG antibodies below the protective concentration. Children with low hemoglobin had a greater proportion of elevated H. pylori IgM antibody titers at baseline, which suggests that current infection with H. pylori may be associated with anemia. Compared with the control subjects, only the group eating meat had a significant increase in H. pylori IgM antibodies during the intervention (P = 0.019). No other group comparisons with the control subjects were statistically significant. The additional finding that the sera of some children showed inadequate tetanus-protective antibodies, despite immunization, suggests that the vaccination program was suboptimal. CONCLUSIONS: A large battery of immune assays can be performed on microvolumes of sera. Furthermore, despite evidence of malnutrition, children do develop significant antibody-mediated responses to common pathogens.
PMID: 12499348 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Link to full text:
[v] J Nutr. 2003 Nov;133(11 Suppl 2):3936S-3940S.
The need for animal source foods by Kenyan children.
Bwibo NO, Neumann CG.
Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Nairobi , Nairobi , Kenya . [email protected]
Food intake and dietary patterns in Kenyan households have been studied since the 1920s. Reports on breastfeeding, nutrient intake, micronutrient deficiencies and the impacts of malaria and intestinal parasites on nutritional status are reviewed. Diets are mainly cereal-based, with tubers and a variety of vegetables and fruits when available. White maize, sorghum and millet are high in phytate and fiber, which inhibit the absorption of micronutrients such as zinc and iron. Communities growing cash crops have little land for food crops. Although households may own cattle, goats and poultry, commonly these are not consumed. Adults in nomadic communities consume more meat than nonpastoralists. Lakeside and oceanside communities do not consume adequate amounts of fish. Poor households have a limited capacity to grow and purchase food, therefore they have more nutrient deficiencies. Early weaning to cereal porridge deprives the infant of protein and other nutrients from human milk. Other milk is consumed only in small amounts in sweetened tea. Older children eat adult diets, which are extremely bulky and hard to digest. Anemia is mainly due to iron deficiency, malaria and intestinal parasites. In general, Kenyan children have inadequate intakes of energy, fat and micronutrients such as calcium, zinc, iron, riboflavin and vitamins A and B-12. The multiple micronutrient deficiencies may contribute to early onset of stunting and poor child development, whereas lack of calcium together with vitamin D deficiency are responsible for the resurgence of rickets. There is an urgent need to increase the intake of animal source foods by Kenyan children.
PMID: 14672293 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Link to full text:
[vi] J Nutr. 2003 Nov;133(11 Suppl 2):3932S-3935S.
Nutritional importance of animal source foods.
Murphy SP, Allen LH.
Cancer Research Center of Hawaii , University of Hawaii , Honolulu , HI 96813 , USA . [email protected]
Animal source foods can provide a variety of micronutrients that are difficult to obtain in adequate quantities from plant source foods alone. In the 1980s, the Nutrition Collaborative Research Support Program identified six micronutrients that were particularly low in the primarily vegetarian diets of schoolchildren in rural Egypt , Kenya and Mexico : vitamin A, vitamin B-12, riboflavin, calcium, iron and zinc. Negative health outcomes associated with inadequate intake of these nutrients include anemia, poor growth, rickets, impaired cognitive performance, blindness, neuromuscular deficits and eventually, death. Animal source foods are particularly rich sources of all six of these nutrients, and relatively small amounts of these foods, added to a vegetarian diet, can substantially increase nutrient adequacy. Snacks designed for Kenyan schoolchildren provided more nutrients when animal and plant foods were combined. A snack that provided only 20% of a child's energy requirement could provide 38% of the calcium, 83% of the vitamin B-12 and 82% of the riboflavin requirements if milk was included. A similar snack that included ground beef rather than milk provided 86% of the zinc and 106% of the vitamin B-12 requirements, as well as 26% of the iron requirement. Food guides usually recommend several daily servings from animal source food groups (dairy products and meat or meat alternatives). An index that estimates nutrient adequacy based on adherence to such food guide recommendations may provide a useful method of quickly evaluating dietary quality in both developing and developed countries.
PMID: 14672292 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Link to full text: |
Phishing: Fraudsters disguise themselves as a trustworthy entity in order to obtain sensitive information
“Why would your bank ask you for information that it already has? ”
Obtaining sensitive information by posing as a trustworthy entity, such as a bank, local government authority, telephone operator, etc.
Most commonly, fraudsters send an email to a huge number of internet users. The alarming nature of the message will persuade some recipients to connect to a bogus website and input their information.
Hone your reflexes: what to do if you receive a suspect email
Be aware of the signs to look out for: inconsistent sender email address, grammar or spelling mistakes or typos, a link or site without a full URL:
- Do not click on the links
- Do not open attachments
- Do not reply
Remember that a company will never ask you for information that it already has (e.g. in the case of a bank, your bank account number).
- Limit the information you disclose (social media, websites, standard letter templates, signature, etc.).
Be wary of any unusual request and trust your instincts: if a request seems suspicious, it probably is!
- Verify the legitimacy of any such request, by calling a number provided previously.
If the Societe Generale name is being used fraudulently, forward the email to [email protected] |
Chemical Sensitivity - (See Our New MCS Awareness Program HERE!)
What Is Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS)?
Multiple Chemical Sensitivity refers to a moderate to severe sensitivity or allergy-like reaction to many different kinds of pollutants including solvents, VOC's (Volatile Organic Compounds), perfumes, petro-chemicals, smoke, smog, and any type or source of toxic "chemicals" in general.
The quote below is 'interesting' - and obviously written by someone who does not have the condition:
"Multiple chemical sensitivity unlike true allergies - where the underlying mechanisms of the problem are relatively well understood widely accepted, is generally regarded as "idiopathic" - meaning that it has no known mechanism of causation & it's processes are not fully understood."
If you have MCS, you can usually pinpoint when - and why - you developed the condition. Perhaps 'they' would rather not say that the "mechanism of causation" is this modern world with its myriad of chemical toxins and contaminants.
What Is It Like to Have Multiple Chemical Sensitivities?
MCS is also known as Environmental Illness, or 'E. I. Syndrome' - a name that pretty much sums it up! With MCS, you are basically 'allergic' to your environment. That's not to say the 'natural' environment, but rather the one we have now almost completely surrounded by synthetic chemicals.
To a person who develops MCS, it can be very restrictive and even debilitating. When a chemical injury occurs, many persons become 'Universal Reactors' which even includes some foods and molds. The degree to which this happens will depend on the severity of your condition.
Many with MCS also have Electro-Hypersensitivity. You may develop a headache and/or nausea around electronic devices such as cell phones, TV, microwave ovens, high-power lines, etc. If you have this in addition to MCS (as I also do) you have officially become 'allergic' to the modern world.
In a nutshell, what it's like to have MCS is to often have almost nowhere that you can go, and nowhere that you can work:
So, What CAN You Do For Work? -
- OFFICE - NO, unless everyone agrees that they would also rather not use perfume, cologne, cellphones, air freshener, hairspray, microwaves, etc.
- GROCERY STORE - NO, unless it happens to be a health-food store with no toxic products. (The detergent aisle in most stores is unnavigable.)
- DEPT. STORE - NO; touching clothing all day that has chemical finishes, or hanging out near the cosmetics department?
- LUMBER YARD - NO; most wood, plywood, and other building products are treated with chemicals for pest infestation, dry-rot, etc.
- CONTRACTOR - NO; same reason as above. Almost all building materials are toxic (wood, paint, plastic laminates, glues, etc.)
- GREEN CONTRACTOR - MAYBE; if you catered to businesses and homeowners that wish to use only green products. (Still risky.)
- WAREHOUSE - NO, unless it just so happens to store only non-toxic products and you aren't also too overly sensitive to plastic & cardboard.
- HOUSEKEEPER - NO, unless you have your own specialty business that caters to others who would also rather use nontoxic cleaning products.
- JANITOR - NO; same reason as above, but you would have even less control over which cleaning products you would be able to use.
- PAPER STORE - NO; any 'paper' jobs would be out. Most with MCS also react to the chemical finishes and components of paper - everything from Greeting Cards and Boxes to Newspaper and Printer Ink.
- MODELING - NO; unless you could bring your own make-up and clothing, but that's not usually the case.
- PHOTOGRAPHY - YES! Digital has opened this up as a possibility. You no longer have all the chemicals involved in processing film.
- COMPUTER - YES? If you can work at home, or a secluded office or cubicle. Just limit time on electronic devices, esp. if you have EHS.
So, are we somewhat 'useless' - NOT at all! If you have MCS, you just have to be very careful of your work environment. Many workplaces are now 'going green' making them great places to work - for everyone!
Additionally, the computer has opened up many possibilities of working out of the home. Having a home-based office or business also saves you a commute so you don't have to breathe in any on-road vehicle exhaust.
The less toxins you are exposed to, the better off you will be. Prolonged exposure to toxic chemicals will only make you condition worse. Even though you may be o.k. with certain substances now, you can eventually develop a sensitivity to those as well.
I consider that having MCS is like having a built-in 'early warning detector' for any harmful pollutants and toxins in your personal surroundings. These toxins aren't good for anyone - we can just tell ahead of time that they're not.
Those with MCS are like the 'advanced guard' who will be able to help out others who will inevitably be coming along with this same type of condition. We have fortunately already done the 'research' to help with what products can be used that won't further burden their sensitivities.
Having MCS has actually opened up a whole new world for me of wonderful products that I probably never would have 'discovered' if I hadn't developed this condition. Even if I were to stop being sensitive to conventional chemical products, I would still use - and prefer - the natural ones by far!
My Own Story With MCS: Click HERE
See Our New MCS Awareness Program HERE!
(NEXT PAGE - MCS)
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Singapore finds itself in the forefront of urban gardening in South East Asia. The country has welcomed its first comercial vertical farm - a vegetable skyscraper powered by hydraulics.
Called Sky Greens, the vertical farm churns out five to ten times as many vegetables than what could be produced in the same amount of land used in traditional farming, according to Green Business Times. The farm mostly produces bok choy and Chinese cabbage.
The vegetables are grown in 120 towers which are three-stories high and the size of about five football fields. The plants are placed in a type of giant ferris wheel, which rotates the vegetables to ensure they get enough sunlight. The produce is sold just hours after being harvested and has been well-received by consumers, even though it cost slightly more than imported vegetables.
Vertical farming makes sense in Singapore because the country is a land-strapped island. Real estate prices are sky high and demand for local produce exceeds availability. The the country relies on imports from China, Malaysia and the United States, according to NPR. |
Macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness for people age 55 and older. There are an estimated 10 million Americans living with this incurable eye disease. Macular degeneration is caused by the deterioration of the central portion of the retina, the macula.
This area is the area of the eye that records the images that we see and sends them from the optic nerve to the brain. The macula is responsible for central vision and controls our ability to see fine detail, recognize faces, and our ability to drive a car.
What causes macular degeneration?
Macular degeneration is hereditary, meaning it can be passed on from parents to children. If someone in your family has or had the condition you may be at higher risk for developing the disease. There are two types of macular degeneration:
Dry Macular Degeneration: The “dry” type of macular degeneration leads to thinning and pigment clump formation of the macula. Dry macular degeneration is the most common form of macular degeneration. It tends to progress more slowly than the “wet” type. The amount of central vision that is lost is related to how severely the macula is affected.
Wet Macular Degeneration: With “wet” macular degeneration, abnormal blood vessels grow under the retina and macula. These new blood vessels may then bleed and leak fluid, causing the macula to swell and lift. When this happens central vision becomes distorted. Vision loss may be quite rapid and severe.
- a gradual loss of the ability to see objects clearly
- objects appear to be distorted in shape and straight lines appear wavy or crooked
- a loss of clear vision
- a dark area appearing in the center of vision
There is a simple test called Amsler Grid Test that allows you to monitor your vision at home. This tool is important for recognizing and monitoring this disease. It is recommended that the test be done at least twice a week.
Currently, there is no curative treatment for “dry” macular degeneration. However, certain vitamin and mineral supplements have been shown to slow its progression. Dr. Fedyk recommends ocular vitamins, which many studies have shown can slow the progression of macular degeneration. If you develop “wet” macular degeneration, it is important that it is discovered early. Certain procedures such as laser or medication injections into the eye can treat and sometimes reverse the damage caused by wet macular degeneration.
Now, a relatively new device, essentially an implantable telescope, is available to offer hope for those “aging eyes.” The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the Implantable Miniature Telescope (IMT), which works like the telephoto lens of a camera, in 2010.
The surgical procedure involves removing the eye’s natural lens, as with cataract surgery, and replacing the lens with the IMT. The tiny telescope is implanted behind the iris, the colored, muscular ring around the pupil.
“While it doesn’t cure AMD, it will help improve the vision of patients, and help them resume their favorite activities and independence,” -Dr. Adam Fedyk.
If are interested in the telescopic lens, please contact Dr. Fedyk and book an appointment at the St. Louis Eye Institute. |
Soy and Potassium –
Recently while I was loading my grocery items on the conveyor belt at the supermarket, the cashier was having a conversation with a colleague that went something like this: “My leg muscles are so tight and cramped, what can I take for that?”, the colleague of the cashier then proceeded to tell her to check with a registered dietitian as she saw me standing in line. I gave her a quick rundown of foods that are high in potassium and here’s why: Potassium is a mineral that every muscle in the body needs to work normally. Big leg muscles, small eye muscles and even the heart muscle. Muscles and nerves use potassium to communicate with each other and that’s why it is essential for health. Research also suggests that potassium has a positive impact on blood pressure as well. And even more recently, research suggests that women who eat higher potassium diets have a 10-12% lower association with stroke.
Now that you know why potassium is needed, how much do we really need? When the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans were released, it was noted that there were four nutrients of concern based on data that suggested as Americans we don’t get enough of them. Potassium, calcium, vitamin D and fiber were the four nutrients on the list. Potassium has been a focus because of its health associations and its benefits. The goal for Adequate Intake set by the National Academy of Sciences is 4,700 milligrams per day.
So what is a person to do? Push potassium power foods into your meals. What foods have potassium? Here’s a list of the highest potassium containing foods:
- 1 cup dry-roasted soybeans: 1269 mg
- 1 baked sweet potato: 694 mg
- 1 cup prepared edamame (green soybeans): 676 mg
- 1 baked white potato: 610 mg
- 8 ounces plain yogurt: 531 mg
- Winter squash, cooked, 1/2 cup: 448 mg
- ½ cup canned black soybeans: 443 mg
- Banana: 422 mg
- Milk: 366 mg
- Melon: 365 mg
- ½ cup kidney beans 358 mg
- 6 ounces orange juice: 355 mg
- ½ cu extra firm tofu: 225 mg
- ½ cup soft tofu: 150 mg
Just by taking a look at the list, you can see that soy foods are an excellent source of potassium and there are many options to choose from including dry-roasted soybeans (soy nuts), edamame, canned black soybeans, and tofu. And there are many family-friendly recipes you can try to start incorporating more soy into family mealtimes. Here are a few favorites:
- This Cuban Black Bean Soybean Soup is perfect for a cold winter night. You probably have all the ingredients on hand already – just grab some canned black soybeans at the supermarket on your next shopping trip.
- Everyone’s hungry before dinner is actually served…whip up this hummus recipe using edamame and set out the vegetables. Jade Hummus with Pita Chips can be the perfect appetizer.
- And sweet treats like Henry Ford Chocolate Chip Soynut Cookies are sure to please.
You can find more soy inspired recipes at www.thesoyfoodscouncil.com.
Jen Haugen, RDN, LD is an award-winning dietitian and family nutrition consultant with extensive retail and clinical nutrition experience. Known as the Down-to-Earth Dietitian, Jen specializes in nourishing moms so they can better nourish their families through kitchen-counter cooking schools and modern-day victory gardens. She recently presented her first TEDx talk on “How Moms Can Change the World,” and even more recently transitioned from full-time retail dietitian to part-time school dietitian so she can more fully live her values by spending more time cooking and gardening with her family and working with food companies that value family too. Find her at www.jenhaugen.com and @jenhaugen.
Disclaimer: Prior to changing your diet to include more potassium foods, review your medications and medical history with your physician. |
With all of the news about corporate hacks that have affected companies such as SolarWinds and Microsoft, we want to take a moment to remind everyone about the importance of antivirus. Among the things that get lost in all of the doom and gloom news is that there are some simple steps we can take to protect ourselves online. Antivirus programs are one of the most basic, but there is a lot of bad information floating around out there, so we wanted to set the record straight.
Debunking Some Common Myths About Antivirus
- Windows Defender will NOT be enough to protect your system by itself
- Apple products ARE vulnerable to malware and viruses
- Safe websites CAN be hacked
- Emails from friends and family are NOT always safe
- Antivirus will NOT slow your system down
- YOU ARE A TARGET
There are more but let’s just wipe these myths away now.
Before we get into the details you need to know, let’s talk about why this is so important.
One reason that viruses and malware are so prolific is that many people don’t really understand what threats they face out on the internet. Hackers are actively trying to get your information. Yes…YOU! Every piece of personal information has a dollar value to someone. At the extreme ends are Marketers who want to find better ways to sell to you and Hackers who want to find better ways to steal from you. In between is a whole lot of people who can make money by collecting your personal information and selling it.
Many people don’t believe that they’re important enough to be targeted, and those trying to collect your information want you to keep believing that. The less aware you are, the easier it is for them to make money off the information they steal from you.
Awareness is good, but it’s not enough, that’s why we’re going to discuss:
Antivirus! The Information You Need To Know
A question we often get: Do I really need an Antivirus?
The answer in an unequivocal YES! Personally or for your small business, having an antivirus program is vital to internet security. There are many options when it comes to antivirus programs, which is good because different people have different needs.
We’re going to discuss why they are important and what they do for you, features to look for, and how to go about choosing the best option for your needs. With all of this information, you’ll be able to look at the landscape of available options and select the one that is best fit for you.
Why Antivirus is Important?
As we discussed earlier, it’s your information that’s at risk. From finances to friends to where you browse on the internet and so much more – your information belongs to you and it should be protected. Do you leave your front door unlocked or your keys in the car? Of course not that’s like inviting thieves to steal from you. Not having an antivirus program is doing just that. Antivirus programs help to protect you from cyber threats including malware, phishing scams, ransomware, spyware, Trojans, and more. In addition to stealing data, these types of attacks can also cause your computer to slow down, files to go missing, or completely lock you out, making your computer unusable.
Computers are our gateways to news, entertainment, communication, and millions of cat videos. Antivirus programs exist to help us protect our computers from viruses, hackers, and scams. But how?
Like the locks on your front door and car, antivirus programs are there to prevent intrusions into your computer. Also like those locks, they can’t stop every intrusion, but you are much safer with antivirus than without. All computer intrusions, whether or not they cause damage or steal information, are accomplished by exploiting a vulnerability. These vulnerabilities serve as the access point to an attack, and send a signal to others that the computer has been infiltrated, opening the door to bigger and more vicious attacks. Antivirus programs identify these vulnerabilities and close that door. The programs evolve to identify and counter new threats as hackers come up with them, which brings us to:
Lot’s Of Features
All antivirus programs are going to advertise a list of features. While all features are important, some are more important to specific people than others. We’re going to break down some of the most common features to look for when deciding which one to choose.
Far from the only features included with antivirus programs, these are the most important.
While the above features are essential to having a quality anti-virus program, there are others that may be important to one person and not another. An included firewall, easily navigable interface, multi-device protection, or VPN are just a few options that may be included in the software. Some of them, like the firewall might be good for personal use, but would not be anywhere near robust enough to handle a small business. Other factors such as multi-license costs, identity protection, and the availability of tech support might appeal to some people but not others, or businesses and not personal.
When choosing an anti-virus program, so long as it contains the features we discussed above, you will be protected. Always check the features to be sure it includes all of them. When looking at additional features, be aware that add-ons are just that…an anti-virus company is not going to be able to do firewalls, VPN, or backups as well as a company who specializes in those products, but what they offer may be enough to meet your particular needs.
Bonus Tip: The best way to compare features of specific programs is open a web browser and type: [product 1 name] vs [product 2 name]. Incidentally, this is a good way to compare features of product. You could even just type [product name] vs and get a list of similar products.
I’ve always had a love of working with technology, being fortunate enough to have grown up with a grandfather who taught me how to fix things for myself and not be afraid to jump in and get my hands dirty. Over the last three decades, I’ve worked as a technician, trainer, technical writer, and manager in small business, enterprise organizations, and government. In addition, I’m an author, having published multiple works available online and in print. You can find my creative work at https://WritingDistracted.com |
About The Book
No ruler in modern times reigned in full sovereignty for as long as Francis Joseph, emperor of Austria and king of Hungary, Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia, and Slavonia.
Titular master of central Europe from 1848 until 1916, he was center stage in Europe throughout the dramatic era in which Italy and Germany emerged as united nation states. His personal decisions were vital both to the outcome of the Crimean War and to the onset of World War I, sixty years later. Although he was an autocrat who believed in the Hapsburg dynastic mission to provide eleven distinct nationalities with a cohesive unity, he was also a family man of simple tastes; and in his old age he was revered in his Austrian heartland, much as Queen Victoria was within her empire.
Francis Joseph suffered a succession of personal disasters: his brother, Maximilian, was executed by Mexican republicans; his only son, Rudolf, shot himself and his mistress at Mayerling; his empress-queen, Elizabeth, died from stab wounds in Geneva; his nephew and heir, Francis Ferdinand, was assassinated at Sarajevo. These episodes are examined anew by Alan Palmer in a biography of revelation, reassessment, and restoration.
Too often the emperor is represented as a lonely, humorless bureaucrat, lacking in human warmth, artistic sensitivity, or political perception. Alan Palmer believes that this is a false impression. From a reading of hundreds of the emperor’s letters, as well as his mother’s diaries and other papers in the Vienna archives, Alan Palmer presents a more rounded and sympathetic portrait of Francis Joseph as the head of an empire and the head of a family. He has also used Elizabeth’s curious verse journal, only recently made public, and the extensive writings of the controversial Crown Prince Rudolf in a reappraisal of the conflicting emotions that troubled the oldest of dynasties at a time of immense social, cultural, and political change for European society. Finally, Alan Palmer examines the durability of the Francis Joseph legend and its manifestation in republican Austria today.
“Just the right balance between the story of Francis Joseph’s life and the history of his times.” –The New York Times Book Review
“Excellent and absorbing . . . A compelling read.” –Evening Standard (London)
“A detailed biography that captures the vanished world of the Austro-Hungarian Empire . . . Palmer’s vivid portrait is supplemented by engaging dynastic, political, and military history.” –Kirkus Review
“Alan Palmer’s lucid and intelligent biography . . . is an evocative portrait of the empire and the old-school monarch who ruled it for nearly seven decades.” –Sunday Telegraph (London)
“Palmer’s book is noteworthy for being the first major work about the Habsburgs to appear in a post cold war context. This history not only illuminates the past but offers some cautionary notes for the future.” –European Magazine |
Learning a language other than English gives students a more global perspective and increases opportunities for life after high school. In addition, many colleges require a world language either for admission or for graduation. World language students learn through conversation, writing exercises, field trips, and hands-on activities.Advanced Placement credit is available for students taking the Advanced Placement exam in their fifth and sixth year of a language. In addition, French offers an intermediate French course through the University of Minnesota's College in the Schools program.Ninth grade students are placed in language classes by counselors in consultation with students, parents, and middle school language teachers.
FrenchPatricia Teefy, M.A. in French, M.Ed -- [email protected] 1: 9-12French 2: 9-12French: 9-12, immersion studentsFrench 4/CIS 1003: to enroll in French 1003, at least a C- required in French 3French 5/CIS 1004: 11-12, immersion studentsFrench 6/AP: 11-12, immersion students
SpanishAngela Butler, MAT -- [email protected] Carroll, MS -- [email protected] 1: 9-12Spanish 2: 9-12Spanish 3 (Honors credit): 9-12, immersion students & native speakersSpanish 4 (Honors credit): 9-12, immersion students & native speakers. Course load equivalent to second year at the university level & is a precursor for the level 5AP course.Spanish 5AP Language and Culture (Honors credit): 11-12, immersion students & native speakers. Course load equivalent to second or third year at the university level.Spanish 6: 11-12, immersion students & native speakers. Course load equivalent to university level Span 203 or higher. The course is all about student voice and choice. Often the course reflects studies on film, literature, composition & conversation. |
Thousands of randomly chosen Canadians may soon receive free checks in the mail.
The province of Ontario just announced that a major trial run of a universal basic income program could begin as early as this summer.
Universal basic income is a largely untested policy concept in which every citizen would get a regular government stipend with no strings attached.
The idea of such a system has bounced around academic circles for decades, but it's gained newfound traction lately as experts worry that advances in automation and artificial intelligence could kill millions of jobs.
Ontario's experiment will involve 4,000 low income citizens between the ages of 18 and 64 selected at random from three cities — Hamilton, Thunder Bay, and Lindsay.
Some of those chosen will receive up to $17,000 per year — or $24,000 for couples — while the rest will serve as a control.
“It’s not an extravagant sum by any means,” said Ontario premiere Katherine Wynne in a speech Monday. “But our goal is clear: We want to find out whether a basic income makes a positive difference in people’s lives."
The three-year pilot is expected to cost a total of $150 million pulled from the province's coffers.
"I’m pretty confident they have got a lot of the details worked out. We are very excited to see this getting started,” Wynne said.
Despite growing public support, little concrete data exists on whether universal basic income could actually work.
The last time the theory was put to the test in North America was a program in the Canadian province of Manitoba in the late 1970s.
Data from that study went unpublished after a new administration took power and shut it down. Luckily, researchers were able to determine decades later that the policy had a positive effect on key quality-of-life metrics like hospitalizations, mental health cases and school retention.
Ontario's program risks a similar fate if the current liberal government is defeated in next year's elections.
The province isn't the only place where researchers are now giving the idea another go, however. A host of new experiments have cropped up in recent months months in India, Kenya, Finland, and the Netherlands, among others.
Silicon Valley leaders, worried that job-replacing robots might wreak havoc on the labor market, are particularly keen on the idea.
Sam Altman, president of the prominent Y-Combinator incubator, has organized a small test in Oakland, California as well as a $10-million fund to back other tests along with Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes.
Other tech luminaries such as Elon Musk, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, and Ebay founder Pierre Omidyar have also shown interest in the concept.
WATCH: This self-proclaimed cyborg turned his prosthetic eye into a tiny camera |
A univariate distribution is the probability distribution of a single random variable. For example, the energy formula (x – 10)2/2 is a univariate distribution because only one variable (x) is given in the formula. In contrast, bivariate distributions have two variables and multivariate distributions have two or more.
Types of Univariate Distribution
Hundreds of univariate distributions exist: some are more common than others. Many of these probability distributions are closely connected via transformations, some of which can be inverted. Transformations can include:
The following image shows how some of the major univariate distributions are connected. Discrete distributions are in blue; Continuous distributions are in green. Common sampling distributions are in orange. For more information about these connections, read Interconnectivity of Univariate Probability Distributions on my Data Science Central blog.
- Bernoulli Distribution: a discrete probability distribution for a Bernoulli trial — a random experiment with two outcomes (“Success” or a “Failure”).
- Beta binomial distribution: a mixture of a binomial and beta distribution.
- Binomial distribution
- Discrete uniform
- Gamma Poisson
- Logarithm distribution
- Poisson distribution
- Polya distribution
- Power series
- Zeta / Zipf
- Benford distribution
- Beta distribution
- Error distribution
- Extreme value
- Gamma (generalized)
- Gamma normal distribution
- Hyperexponential distribution
- Kolmogorov Smirnov distribution
- Log logistic
- Log normal
- Logistic distribution
- Minimax distribution
- Muth distribution
- Noncentral beta distribution
- Normal Distribution
- Pareto distribution
- Rayleigh distribution
- Wald distribution
Leemis, L. & McQueston, J. Teacher’s Corner: Univariate Distribution Relationships. Retrieved February 19, 2021 from Academia.edu https://www.academia.edu/6823496/Univariate_Distribution_Relationships.
Univariate Distribution. Retrieved February 19, 2021 from: http://www.math.wm.edu/~leemis/chart/UDR/about.html
Stephanie Glen. "Univariate Distribution" From StatisticsHowTo.com: Elementary Statistics for the rest of us! https://www.statisticshowto.com/univariate-distribution/
Need help with a homework or test question? With Chegg Study, you can get step-by-step solutions to your questions from an expert in the field. Your first 30 minutes with a Chegg tutor is free!
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->''"We must have the capability. We must prove ourselves, and then talk of Gandhi, of peace, and a world without nuclear weapons"''
-->--'''Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru'''
India has had thermonuclear weapons since 1998, atomic weapons since 1974, and Intercontinental Ballistic Missile capability since 2012.
The Indian nuclear program was started almost immediately after independance by nuclear physicist [[AwesomeMcCoolname Homi J. Bhabha]], but kept consistantly on the backburner by Prime Minister Nehru (due to his pacifist leanings) until his death in 1965, and thus India only developed its first device in 1974, as a tech demonstration known as the "[[TheRestOfTheNuclearClub Smiling Buddha]]". New Delhi did not immediately create an arsenal for lack of a delivery system and also for lack of wanting to cause alarm in the UsefulNotes/ColdWar environment going on at the time.
In 1983, India began their ballistic missile program, culimnating in the [[MeaningfulName Agni]] series of ballistic missiles. Agni I is an SRBM (short-range ballistic missile), while Agni II, III, and IV, are [=IRBMs=] (intermediate range ballistic missiles. The Agni V is India's first ICBM, though they are also developing the Agni VI and the Surya, which can go even further.
Also developed, with the Russians, is the nuclear-capable Brahmos cruise missile, currently the fastest cruise missile in the world.
Currently, India is developing submarine-launched ballistic missiles in order to complete its nuclear triad.
The name is in reference to the third eye of the Hindu god Shiva, which is said to lay utter destruction to all in its path should it ever open. |
Fact: Vaccine ingredients are not harmful in humans or animals, with the exception of the very rare allergic reaction.
Fact: Vaccines do not contain human fetal tissue, fetal cells, or even whole human DNA strands.
Fact: Aluminum quantities present in vaccines are very low compared to our daily exposure, and pose an extremely low risk.
Fact: Only one routine childhood vaccine still contains mercury, and it’s in a form that was never harmful anyway.
Fact: The quantity of formaldehyde in vaccines is not anywhere close to a poison. |
U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong, who made the "giant leap for mankind" as the first human to walk on the moon, died Saturday. He was 82.
His family announced the death in a statement but did not disclose where he died. They attributed his death to "complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures." Armstrong had a bypass operation this month, according to NASA.
Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969, capping the most daring of the 20th century's scientific expeditions. His words after becoming the first person to set foot on the surface are etched in history books and the memories of those who heard them in a live broadcast.
"That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind," Armstrong said.
His trip to the moon — particularly the hair-raising final descent from lunar orbit to the surface — was history's boldest feat of aviation and came during the climax of a heated space race with the Soviet Union. Yet what the experience meant to him, he mostly kept to himself.
Like his boyhood idol, transatlantic aviator Charles Lindbergh, Armstrong learned how uncomfortable the intrusion of global acclaim can be. And just as Lindbergh had done, he eventually shied from the public and avoided the popular media.
In time, he became almost mythical. Armstrong was among the greatest of American heroes, President Barack Obama said in a statement Saturday.
"They set out to show the world that the American spirit can see beyond what seems unimaginable — that with enough drive and ingenuity, anything is possible," Obama said.
Armstrong was "exceedingly circumspect" from a young age, and the glare of international attention "just deepened a personality trait that he already had in spades," said his authorized biographer, James Hansen, a former NASA historian.
In an interview, Hansen, author of "First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong," cited another "special sensitivity" that made the first man on the moon a stranger on Earth.
"I think Neil knew that this glorious thing he helped achieve for the country back in the summer of 1969 — glorious for the entire planet, really — would inexorably be diminished by the blatant commercialism of the modern world," Hansen said. "And I think it's a nobility of his character that he just would not take part in that."
World riveted to journey
The perilous, 195-hour journey that defined Armstrong's place in history — from the liftoff of Apollo 11 on July 16, 1969, to the capsule's splashdown in the Pacific eight days later — riveted the world's attention in an era of social tumult and change.
As Armstrong, a civilian, and his crewmates, Air Force pilots Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin Jr. and Michael Collins, hurtled through space, television viewers around the globe witnessed a drama of spellbinding technology and daring. About a half-billion people listened to the climactic landing and watched a flickering video feed of the moonwalk.
At center stage, cool and focused, was a pragmatic, 38-year-old astronaut who would let social critics and spiritual wise men dither over the larger meaning of his voyage. When Armstrong occasionally spoke publicly about the mission in later decades, he usually did so dryly, his recollections mainly operational.
"I am, and ever will be, a white-socks, pocket-protector, nerdy engineer," he said at a millennial gathering honoring the greatest engineering achievements of the 20th century.
Unlike Aldrin and Collins, Armstrong never published a memoir.
Skill and composure
After flying experimental rocket planes in the 1950s at Edwards Air Force Base in California — the high-desert realm of daredevil test pilots later celebrated in author Tom Wolfe's "The Right Stuff" — Armstrong was selected for NASA's astronaut corps in 1962 and became the first U.S. civilian to be blasted into space.
In 1966, during his only spaceflight other than Apollo 11, a life-threatening malfunction of his Gemini 8 vehicle caused the craft to tumble out of control in Earth orbit. It was the nation's first potentially fatal crisis in space, prompting Armstrong and his crewmate, David Scott, to carry out NASA's first emergency re-entry.
His skill and composure were put to no greater test, though, than in the anxious minutes starting at 4:05 p.m. Eastern time Sunday, July 20, 1969. That was when the lunar module carrying Armstrong and Aldrin, having separated from the Apollo 11 capsule, began its hazardous 9-mile descent to the moon's Sea of Tranquility.
Collins, waiting in lunar orbit, could only hope that the two would make it back.
The lunar module, or LM, was dubbed "Eagle." Its 1969 computer, overtaxed during the descent and flashing alarm lights, guided the spiderlike craft most of the way to the surface.
In the last few thousand feet, Armstrong, looking out a window, saw that the computer had piloted Eagle beyond its targeted landing spot. The craft was headed for a massive crater surrounded by boulders as big as cars.
Armstrong, as planned, took manual control of the LM at 500 feet. Piloting with a control stick and toggle switch, he maneuvered past the crater while scanning the rugged moonscape for a place to safely put down.
Although the world remembers him best for walking on the moon, Armstrong recalled his time on the surface as anticlimactic, "something we looked on as reasonably safe and predictable."
Flying the LM was "by far the most difficult and challenging part" of the mission, he told a group of youngsters in a 2007 e-mail exchange.
The "very high risk" descent was "extremely complex," he wrote, and guiding the craft gave him a "feeling of elation."
As he and Aldrin kept descending, balanced on a cone of fire 240,000 miles from Earth, the LM's roaring engine kicked up a fog of moon dust, distorting Armstrong's depth perception and clouding his view of the surface.
Meanwhile, the descent engine's fuel — separate from the fuel that would later power the ascent engine on their departure from the moon — dwindled to a critical level.
"Quantity light," Aldrin warned at just under 100 feet. This meant that Armstrong, according to NASA's instruments, had less than two minutes to ease the LM to the surface or he would have faced a frightful dilemma. He would have had to abort the descent, ending the mission in failure at a cost of immense national prestige and treasure; or he would have had to risk a sort of crash landing after the fuel ran out — letting the LM fall in lunar gravity the rest of the way down.
Finally, with 50 seconds to spare, the world heard Aldrin say, "Contact light," and Eagle's landing gear settled on the lunar soil. Their precarious, 12-minute descent into the unknown left Armstrong's pulse pounding at twice the normal rate.
Humanity listened, transfixed.
"Houston, Tranquility base here," Armstrong reported. "The Eagle has landed."
A measure of good fortune
About 6½ hours later, Armstrong, soon to be followed by Aldrin, climbed down the ladder outside the LM's hatch as a television camera mounted on the craft transmitted his shadowy, black-and-white image to hundreds of millions of viewers.
How Armstrong wound up commanding the historic flight had to do with his abilities and experience, plus a measure of good fortune.
Months earlier, when he had been named Apollo 11 commander, NASA envisioned his mission as the first lunar landing — yet no one could be sure. Three other Apollo flights had to finish preparing the way. If any of them had failed, Apollo 11 would have had to pick up the slack, leaving the momentous first landing to a later crew.
Why the space agency chose Armstrong, not Aldrin, for the famous first step out of the LM had to do with the two men's personalities.
Publicly, NASA said the first-step decision was a technical one dictated by where the astronauts would be positioned in the LM's small cockpit. But in his 2001 autobiography, Christopher C. Kraft Jr., a top NASA flight official, confirmed the true reason.
Aldrin, who would struggle with alcoholism and depression after his astronaut career, was overtly opinionated and ambitious, making it clear within NASA why he thought he should be first. "Did we think Buzz was the man who would be our best representative to the world, the man who would be legend?" Kraft recalled. "We didn't."
Armstrong, on the other hand, quietly held to his belief that the descent and landing, not the moonwalk, would be the mission's signature achievement. It didn't matter to him whether the Earth-bound masses thought different.
"Neil Armstrong, reticent, soft-spoken and heroic, was our only choice," Kraft said.
As for his famous statement upon stepping off the ladder, Armstrong said he didn't dwell on it much beforehand, that the idea came to him only after the landing.
He would always maintain that he had planned to say "a man." Whether the "a" was lost in transmission or Armstrong misspoke has never been fully resolved. As his boots touched the lunar surface at 10:56:15 p.m. Eastern time, the world heard:
"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
Ever the precise engineer, Armstrong later said that if it were up to him, history would record his immortal words with an "a" inserted in parentheses.
The Washington Post and The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
GUI stands for graphical user interface.
In today's computer world, almost all the personal computers uses graphical user interface (GUI).
Some years ago, users was using their personal computers with MS-DOS which is a character-based interface. Here MS-DOS stands for Microsoft Disk Operating System.
A graphical user interface has the following four essential elements:
In short, these four essential elements of GUI also called as WIMP which is the short form of windows, icons, menus, pointing device.
Here, the table given below describes about all these four elements of GUI.
|Windows||Rectangular blocks of monitor screen area that is used to run the program.|
|Icons||Small clickable symbols. Click on it to cause some action to happen.|
|Menus||List of actions to choose any one from that list.|
|Pointing Device||Generally it is a mouse or sometime a trackball or any other hardware device used to move the cursor around the screen to select some items to perform the required task.|
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- MY DPL
- ASK A LIBRARIAN
Teachers, parents and care providers! The best activities to grow a reader are to sing songs, play with rhymes, and talk, talk, talk with your child.
Library staff recorded some of our favorite songs, rhymes, tickles and lap bounces we do at storytime. Each video includes directions and the text, and we hope they will help you be able to read, rhyme and romp at home or in school.
Click the links to the left for more videos, with descriptions and lyrics.
Here's a sample. |
By coating tiny gel beads with lung-derived stem cells and then allowing them to self-assemble into the shapes of the air sacs found in human lungs, researchers at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA have succeeded in creating three-dimensional lung “organoids.” The laboratory-grown lung-like tissue can be used to study diseases including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which has traditionally been difficult to study using conventional methods. The study was published today in the journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine.
|3-D bioengineered lung-like tissue (left)
resembles adult human lung (right).
“While we haven’t built a fully functional lung, we’ve been able to take lung cells and place them in the correct geometrical spacing and pattern to mimic a human lung,” said Dr. Brigitte Gomperts, an associate professor of pediatric hematology/oncology and the study’s lead author.
To study the effect of genetic mutations or drugs on lung cells, researchers have previously relied on two-dimensional cultures of the cells. But when they take cells from people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and grow them on these flat cultures, the cells appear healthy. “Scientists have really not been able to model lung scarring in a dish,” said Gomperts, who is a member of the UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center. The inability to model idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in the laboratory makes it difficult to study the biology of the disease and design possible treatments.
Gomperts and her colleagues started with stem cells created using cells from adult lungs. They used those cells to coat sticky hydrogel beads, and then they partitioned these beads into small wells, each only 7 millimeters across. Inside each well, the lung cells grew around the beads, which linked them and formed an evenly distributed three-dimensional pattern. To show that these tiny organoids mimicked the structure of actual lungs, the researchers compared the lab-grown tissues with real sections of human lung.
“The technique is very simple,” said Dan Wilkinson, a graduate student in the department of materials science and engineering and the paper’s first author. “We can make thousands of reproducible pieces of tissue that resemble lung and contain patient-specific cells.”
Moreover, when Wilkinson and Gomperts added certain molecular factors to the 3-D cultures, the lungs developed scars similar to those seen in the lungs of people who have idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, something that could not be accomplished using two-dimensional cultures of these cells.
Using the new lung organoids, researchers will be able to study the biological underpinnings of lung diseases including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and also test possible treatments for the diseases. To study an individual’s disease, or what drugs might work best in their case, clinicians could collect cells from the person, turn them into stem cells, coax those stem cells to differentiate into lung cells, then use those cells in 3-D cultures. Because it’s so easy to create many tiny organoids at once, researchers could screen the effect of many drugs. “This is the basis for precision medicine and personalized treatments,” Gomperts said.
Publication:Development of a Three-Dimensional Bioengineering Technology to Generate Lung Tissue for Personalized Disease Modeling
Press release by UCLA |
Most Texans already know that the state’s fortunes were and are fueled by oil and natural gas. What many don’t realize, however, is just how much the future of the Lone Star State will be powered by renewable energy. With the Green Energy in Texas series, we will explore various aspects of the green energy industry and keep you informed on how those changes and innovations might affect your Texas electricity bill.
Improving Solar Energy Efficiency
Energy efficiency is extremely important when it comes to generating power. For example, a car’s gasoline engine is 14%–30% energy efficient depending on the age and model of the car. In the case of solar cells, energy efficiency not only effects the amount of solar energy than can be converted into electricity but also the price per watt.
Solar cell efficiency has never stood still. Bell Labs developed the first useful silicon solar panel in 1954, and it was a paltry 6% efficient. By the 1970’s, improvements had raised the efficiency to 14%. Current energy efficiency for solar cells now run between 14% and 23% depending on the model and manufacturer. This is because recent advances have reduced costs and injected more competition among solar panel manufacturers. Every successful tweak to solar panel technology not only pushes the efficiency further, but also pushes its reliability and —most importantly — cuts prices. Texas now boasts the cheapest residential solar installations in the country!
Since January of this year, several advances have been made that may change the future of solar energy, making it even more affordable for the average Texas home. Here’s just a few of the most recent advancements in the future of solar energy.
A Bad Reflection
One persistent problem with solar cells is that a portion of the light that falls on them is reflected back, either at the surface of the cell or from smoothed silicon structures inside the cell. In either case, reflectance reduces the amount of light available.
Researchers at Osaka University have created an anti-reflective coating process based on surface structure chemical transfer that produces tiny, submicron-sized silicon pyramid structures (or bumps) on the surface of the cell making it look black. Surface reflectance was reduced to just 3%.
Meanwhile, deep inside the cell towards the back, researchers created rougher light-trapping microstructures to trap more infrared light. Trapping the light made its photons more likely to react with the silicon’s electrons. Through just this method, energy efficiency rose to 19.8%.
Just Like Onions
A major technical advance in both electronics components and solar cells has been the ability to lay down materials in thickness-controlled ultra thin layers known as transfer printing.
Perovskite (calcium titanium oxide) solar cells are highly efficient at converting sun light to electricity. It’s also cheap and can be sprayed onto all sort of stuff to create thin, flexible solar cells. While regular silicon panels relied entirely on perfect crystalline structures to produce electricity efficiently, perovskites are littered with numerous defects and yet still make electricity more efficiently. However, for thin film panels, the fewer the defects, the better the panel’s efficiency.
Researchers at South Korea’s Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology found that controlled layering was the key to devising a new cost-efficient way to produce thin-film perovskite solar cells that can reach 22.1% efficiency. By adding iodide ions into the solution used to form the perovskite layers, the number of defects was reduced and yielded an efficiency of 22.1%. Plus, the method could be scalable for manufacturing high-efficiency thin-film solar panels.
The record for solar energy efficiency was set in 2014 by a solar cell in direct sunlight that measured 46%. This was no ordinary cell because it was a concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) cell. Basically, a CPV uses a lens to focus a lot of incoming light onto a single solar cell. These things get hot — think magnifying glass and a piece of paper.
Last month, George Washington University researchers tested a prototype for a solar cell that harvested energy from nearly all of the light energy in the solar spectrum. That includes the longer wavelengths of light energy that are not in the visible light spectrum. The cell reached 44.5% energy efficiency.
The key behind this cell is that it is made by layering gallium antimonide (GaSb) substrates with conventional solar silicon substrates using transfer printing to form a stack of of solar cells less than one millimeter square. Each cell is keyed to grab photons from different wavelengths of light and by placing them in CPV structures, they can harvest the maximum amount of solar energy.
As prototypes go, these stacks are very exotic and expensive. However, the importance here is that by using new methods to change the current flat design to a cube that gathers in most of the sun’s light energy, the energy efficiency and the output increased dramatically. Future high efficiency solar cells may evolve just because current technology provided a way for cells to be made in a different shape. |
For a limited time only, Ballyhoura Heritage & Environment are offering a trained guide to facilitate activities for only €3 per child (for groups). This unique teaching style is an excellent way of encouraging learning in a fun environment. This specially designed Discover Primary Science and Maths Centre offers all equipment necessary for a distinctive classroom! Discover Primary Maths and Science recently filmed the unique experience at Griston Bog which showcases all the outdoor classroom has to offer. to view this exciting video, please visit Discover Science’s Website at http://www.primaryscience.ie/activities_discover_centres.php where you will find Griston Bog located on the interactive map, click on the link and just watch!
The tourism attraction is also offering a guided tour for groups for the special rate of €5 per adult. These tours are available Mondays to Wednesdays. There is a concession rate for groups of over ten people. Or more Information, please contact Annette Rea at 063 91300 or visit http://www.ballyhouraoutdoorclassroom.com/
Ballyhoura Outdoor Classroom is a unique experience set in Griston Bog in the heart of the Ballyhoura area.
Each Ballyhoura Outdoor Classroom is a beautiful, natural place specially chosen and managed for learning.
Ballyhoura Outdoor Classrooms provide teachers with an extension of their teaching space, from the indoor classroom at school into the natural environment.
Each Ballyhoura Outdoor Classroom is fully equipped. All the equipment that you require to teach is provided on arrival.
Visits to Ballyhoura Outdoor Classrooms are teacher-led. Lesson plans for educational activities are provided. These are linked with school curricula. Alternatively teachers can decide to follow their own lesson plans.
Regular training events for teachers are held to develop skills and confidence in using these very special teaching spaces as your schools Outdoor Classroom.
Teachers need to book at least 2 weeks in advance of their fieldtrip to allow time for preparations.
Ballyhoura Outdoor Classrooms are unique and inspiring places that are provided and managed by Ballyhoura Heritage and Environment Ltd, a not-for-profit community organisation, to be a part of every local schools learning environment.
Ballyhoura Outdoor Classrooms are designed for delivery of the Irish school curricula.
A large part of the school curricula, at primary and secondary level, could be taught at an Outdoor Classroom. Really! A school could move in for the academic year!
In reality, a visit to a Ballyhoura Outdoor Classroom is likely to be a special treat for a class, maybe once a year or once a term, and is an opportunity to bring some extra excitement to a particular part of the curriculum.
We have developed lesson-plans that teachers can use to teach selected parts of the school syllabi. For example, we are an accredited national Discover Primary Science and Maths centre. Teachers may select from these tried and tested lessons or alternatively plan and deliver their own lessons. All fieldtrips are self-guided by the visiting school. We anticipate that once a class has studied at a Ballyhoura Outdoor Classroom, that they will be eager to return and either build upon their learning in that subject area or study a different part of the school curriculum in the natural environment.
Training in the use of Ballyhoura Outdoor Classrooms is available for teachers throughout the year. Contact us for more information and to sign up. |
Conservation Biology for All
Edited by Navjot S. Sodhi and Paul R. Ehrlich
This book contains a series of authoritative chapters written by top names in conservation biology with the aim of disseminating cutting-edge conservation knowledge as widely as possible. Important topics such as balancing conversion and human needs, climate change, conservation planning, designing and analyzing conservation research, ecosystem services, endangered species management, extinctions, fire, habitat loss, and invasive species are covered. Numerous textboxes describing additional relevant material or case studies are also included.
Conservation Biology for All has been generously made available in its entirety here:
Download Full Text (6.44mb pdf)
For more information or to order a hardback copy of the textbook, please go here: http://ukcatalogue.oup.com
Individual Chapters can be found below: |
With so little written evidence from the 7th and 8th centuries we can only surmise from what has been found so far that it was the monastery here at St. Peter’s Monkwearmouth and in Jarrow at that time, along probably with Hexham – all of which came under the Northumbrian kingdom – that ended the identity crisis of the British Isles. By collapsing so emphatically in the 4th century the Roman Empire had plunged the British Isles into uncertainty of who it was meant to be in the world, other than a Roman possession. It also left an important question – who ruled it.
Benedict Biscop, with unprecedented support from the Northumbrian king, Oswald, constructed not just a new monastery at St. Peter’s but set in train an artistic and cultural movement from his kingdom which would influence all of the British Isles.
King Oswald had put money and resources into monks who were being trained at a wooden church constructed on the relative safety of an island in the sea. The monastery was only accessible on foot via a causeway at low tide. It was named Lindisfarne monastery and lies on the coastline to the North of St.Peter’s.
More monasteries followed. Hexham, 673–4; Monkwearmouth, 674; and Jarrow, 682–5. Hexham was established probably at the insistence of his devout wife. Wearmouth and Jarrow similarly were nurtured and supported. It is important to note here that those large numbers of monks being trained at Lindisfarne, Hexham and St. Peter’s were being taught to read and write. As the numbers were many hundreds these monasteries can, in many respects, be seen as a collegiate which interestingly is reflected in the structure of Durham University today. Is this how the collegiate system was first introduced into Britain? That question remains unanswered until new facts emerge. Bede, as father of modern history, would disapprove if we just assumed.
Before long the Northumbrian kingdom was attracting interest. Judging by the requests from elsewhere it was clearly working as a kingdom, if not admired. At the behest of Oswald the Northumbrian king who received requests from elsewhere in the isles, monks were dispatched from Lindisfarne to establish new churches and new communities around the country. It clearly proved to be a successful model as can be seen in the article on this website about the early history of English churches on the mainland.
To enhance the monasteries even further Benedict Biscop brought back important works to be copied. He also recruited artisans and builders who could create buildings, carvings, glass, pottery and woodwork that were unprecedented since Roman times.
When asked ” Is the stone cross a special British and Irish phenomenon?” in an interview by the British Academy review in 2019 Dame Rosemary Cramp said,
“It is. Where it began in stone is a moot point. I still think it probably is Northumbria. I put this forward as a theory and I still believe it: when people like Benedict Biscop at Monkwearmouth and Jarrow, or Wilfrid at Hexham, imported stonemasons from France to build their churches, these trained English masons. The native masons were then capable of replicating the idea of wooden crosses in stone, and that is how you get some of the really grand, early 8th-century crosses that everybody knows about, like Ruthwell and Bewcastle. The grandest crosses tend to be put up on the borders of the Anglo Saxon kingdom – the early ones are meant to impress. Some of them are meant to educate as well, via the scenes that are on them. They are the source not just of sermons but of inspiration, I suppose, and meditation.
By the Viking Age, you get many more crosses merely put up in memory of individual people, and here you get pictures of secular figures, sometimes armed, not only Christ or the Apostles.”
Dame Cramp established the Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Stone Sculpture which has most of its publications available on-line. You can click on this link to visit the Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Stone Sculpture website at Durham University. |
Are musical scales tuned to suit how humans sing?
There is a long-standing belief that musical scales arose from simple harmonic ratios. But scientists are proposing a different source: the mistuning of the human voice.
The Greek mathematician Pythagoras found that plucking a string at certain points produced pleasing steps similar to the progression heard in musical scales—Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do.
Scales came about as a way of getting as close as possible to Pythagoras’ pure tuning.
Or maybe not.
Peter Pfordresher, a psychologist at the University at Buffalo, says there are at least three problems with trying to match Pythagoras’ pure tuning. First, scales are not purely tuned, which has been known for a long time. It’s also not clear to what extent all of the world’s musical scales tie into the kinds of principles Pythagoras pioneered.
Pfordresher cites Indonesian musical scales as an example that does not align itself with Pythagorean pure tones.
The third problem rests with Pythagoras basing his theory on instruments, first strings and later pipes.
“Probably the best starting point to think about what we call music is to look at singing, not instruments,” says Pfordresher, a psychologist at the University at Buffalo.
3 very different groups of singers
Pfordresher and Steven Brown of McMaster University studied three groups of singers of varying abilities: professionals, untrained singers who tend to sing in tune, and the untrained who tend not to sing in tune. They weren’t listening for whether the singers were hitting the right notes, but rather how close they were to any note.
Pfordresher and Brown found that the groups did not differ in terms of microtuning—a term used to describe how close a singer is to any note—although they were very different aesthetically. They published the results in the Journal of Cognitive Psychology.
“Our proposal is, maybe scales were designed as a way to accommodate how out of tune, how variable singers are,” says Pfordresher. “We suggest that the starting point for scales and tuning for scales was probably not the tuning of musical instruments, but the mistuning of the human voice.”
The space between Do and Re
To set up a kind of musical grammar requires rules that allow for songs to be understood, remembered, and reproduced. To accomplish these goals, that system needs pitches spaced widely enough to accommodate inconsistencies from person to person.
The space between Do and Re, for instance, is heard by playing two adjacent white keys on a piano keyboard and provides that kind of liberal spacing.
“When you look around the world, you find there are a couple of properties for scales,” says Pfordresher. “There’s a tendency to have notes that are spaced somewhat broadly, much more broadly than the fine gradations in pitch that our ears can pick up.”
Songbirds control vocal muscles like people do
This broad spacing helps all kinds of singers, including the nightingale wren, a bird whose virtuosity has been the province of poets since antiquity. Pfordresher says earlier research by Marcelo Araya-Salas found that flexibly tuned instruments like violins and trombones were more in tune that the wren’s song.
And though not part of the study, Pfordresher also analyzed an excerpt of a studio version of Frank Sinatra singing “The Best is Yet to Come.”
“It’s a wonderful recording and a challenging song to sing, but when acoustically analyzed using several measurements, the pitches are not purely tuned,” says Pfordresher. “Although he’s close enough for our ears.”
Source: University at Buffalo
Original Study DOI: 10.1080/20445911.2015.1132024
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What is an inclusive group?
To gain the most out of consumer participation it is important to cultivate an environment where consumers feel valued and equal members with others in the group. This environment can best be identified as an ‘inclusive group’.
Effective consumer engagement occurs in these inclusive groups or teams. Education in consumer engagement will further enhance these groups. To achieve success, all members of the team are respected and engaged equally.
Inclusive groups which are committed to involving consumers demonstrate the following:
leaders exist within the organisation who promote the benefits of consumer involvement
- Mutual respect:
consumers are respected and valued for their contribution. Their views are actively sought, listened to and considered.
consumers are considered equal members of the team
- Combined professional development:
professionals and consumers undertake professional development opportunities together and learn from each other’s knowledge and experience
professionals and consumers communicate in a way that builds knowledge, understanding and mutual respect.
How do we develop inclusive groups that will be effective?
- Include consumers in the group from the very beginning. Aim to involve at least two consumers, where practical.
- Choose a Chair or leader who understands the value of consumer involvement and is committed to developing an inclusive group.
- Ensure the professional members support consumer involvement in the group and have the information and skills necessary to ensure smooth collaboration and communication.
- Make any meetings ‘user friendly’, avoiding jargon and acronyms; where it’s necessary to use jargon, always provide definitions.
- Provide training and support for consumers from the beginning; being in this situation can be quite intimidating and they may feel that their opinion isn’t being heard.
- Make sure your facilities and venue choices are appropriate to consumers and accessible to them. |
Variation with the seasons of the Sun's daily path across the sky, as viewed from Earth in the Southern hemisphere.
Sundial location on the surface of the Earth at 35 degrees South
SUNDIALS - How do they work?
The first diagram shows how the Sun appears to move across the sky from East to West during a given day, causing continual changes in both the length and position of the shadow cast by any solid object. The seasonal change in the sun’s height above the horizon causes further changes in the shadow’s position.
From the earliest times mankind has used the movement of shadows produced by the apparent movement of the Sun for the reckoning of time and for the determination of important days such as religious festivals and when to plant crops for the following season. Any device which uses the SUN to divide the period between sunrise and sunset into units of time is known as a SUNDIAL.
The second diagram above shows how a sundial is located on the surface of the Earth. We see a shadow only when it falls onto a surface, and clearly the position of the receiving surface will affect the direction and length of the shadow. Most sundials tell the time by measuring the direction of the shadow cast by the sun using divisions marked on a dial plate set at some known angle. As the sun moves across the sky then the shadow of the gnomon moves across the scale around the dial plate. (A gnomon is the part of the sundial which produces the time-telling shadow.) Less commonly, time can also be told by measuring the changing length of a shadow.
Some of the great variety of sundial types available
The various sundial types are usually classified according to the orientation of the dial plate upon which the hour lines are marked. The dial plate can be horizontal or vertical or somewhere in between (known as reclining, or polar in the special case where the angle of recline is equal to the latitude angle). The dial plate can also take the form of a circular ring (armillary sphere sundial) or part of a ring (equatorial sundial) whose plane is perpendicular to the gnomon. All these sundial types tell the time from the direction of the shadow.
The pillar sundial tells the time from the length of the shadow. The positions of the hour lines are found using formulae derived from spherical trigonometry. |
Cost-Distance Analysis of Connectivity for an Avian Migrant Inhabiting a Fragmented Network
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Dispersal is key to the persistence of metapopulations and local populations. The Black-capped Vireo (Vireo atricapilla, hereafter BCVI) is an endangered Neotropical migrant that breeds in discrete patches of shrubland. On the Edwards Plateau a patchwork of this habitat is maintained through periodic disturbance. I applied a cost-distance scenario based on the amount of woody cover, level of human presence, and local topography, to a series of classified landcover maps of the Balcones Canyonlands region of central Texas to determine whether a cost distance model fit observed levels of dispersal of BCVI better than simple geographic (Euclidean) distance. Pair-wise connectivity values for a set of habitat patches on the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve (BCP) and Balcones National Wildlife Refuge (BCNWR) were evaluated for the 2008-2009 breeding seasons via a program of color-banding and resighting. Interpatch exchange rates were converted to measures of dissimilarity, entered into a pattern matrix, and confronted to model matrices containing effective distance values generated by cost-distance analysis, using simple and partial Mantel tests. Although statistical power was limited because of small sample size (n = 4), results provide weak support for the continued use of geographic distance as a metric for interpatch connectivity. |
Muscle metabolism generates a chemical waste molecule known as the creatinine. It is produced from creatine, which is the most important molecule in the production of energy in muscles. Everyday about 2% of the creatine is converted into creatinine and it flows from the blood to the kidney which is then filtered and most of the creatinine is disposed with urine.
Why Creatinine Test
In diagnosing the proper function of the kidney creatinine test is very important. In spite of being a waste it has become a reliable factor in determining the functioning of the kidney. Rise of the creatinine level is a clear indicator that the kidneys are in the verge of malfunctioning. At times even before the patient reports the symptoms of the kidney problems there can be raise in the creatinine levels and the test will help the doctor to medicate and treat the patient accordingly.
Creatine and Arthritis
Since creatine is one of the primary chemicals that enhance the muscle movement and the exercising power, people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis patients are recommended to take it for improving their muscle movements. Even patients with bipolar disorder, depression, congestive heart failure, high cholesterol, and nerve and muscle diseases are given creatine supplements to increase the function of the muscles.
Creatine Supplement and Side-effects
It is said that people having asthmatic symptoms or with allergies are warned not to have creatine supplements. Apart from affecting the heat tolerance and the hydration capacity of a person often leading to muscle cramp, diarrhea, it is said that there is a chance of damaging the kidney of a person.
Creatinine Test and Arthritis
In most cases it is the rheumatoid arthritis that can be detected with a creatinine test. There is generally a lowering of the creatinine level in the case of rheumatoid arthritis, but at times the creatine supplements might damage the kidney or liver and the test will help the doctor to work accordingly. Generally the presence of protein in the urine is the indicator of problem of the kidney. The doctor can monitor it and investigate the reason behind the presence of creatinine, whether it is due to medication or infection or disease and treat the patient accordingly.
Normal Creatinine Level
The normal range of creatinine that should be present is approximately 0.6 to 1.2 milligram per deciliter in blood.
Symptoms of high Creatinine Level
The person may feel dehydrated, shortness of breath, fatigue and also confusion with other uncertain and nonspecific symptoms. |
The moon is the Earth’s only natural satellite and is thought to be as old as the Earth itself. It is the fifth largest moon in the solar system and dominates the night sky. For hundreds of years people have observed the moon in the night sky and wondered what it was made of. Many guesses have been ventured including: cheese, chalk, pure light, but none of these are correct. So what is the moon made of? Read this article to find out.
What is the Moon made of?
There have been many scientific studies done of the moon, but scientists are only able to theorize about the internal structure. It is thought that the moon is very similar in structure to Earth; in that it has various layers. The Moon is believed to have 3 layers, the core, the mantle and the crust.
Through observation, scientific probes and a lunar landing the composition of the Moon’s surface (crust) is well documented. The crust of the Moon is composed of oxygen, silicon, magnesium, iron, calcium, aluminum and other trace elements. It is rocky in nature with a soil layer much like Earth. The majority of the Moon’s surface is made up of anorthosite rock. The surface of the moon has many crater marks and basins formed by the collision of asteroids and comets with the Moon.
The mantle or the layer below the crust is thought to be composed of the minerals olivine, orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene. Scientists also think that it is likely that the Moon’s mantle contains more iron than the Earth’s mantle.
The core of the Moon, or the innermost layer, is believed to be made of metallic iron, with small amounts of sulfur and nickel. The core is also theorized to be partly molten due to the presences of anorthosite rock. |
Badges is our system for recognizing individuals for sets of skills and for authorization to use tools in the shop. A student earns a badge typically by taking a lesson, taking a quiz, and demonstrating skills through a practicum. Once earned, the badges will be recorded by student name on a list kept with the relative equipment so that anyone can know who is authorized on a machine.
- Lessons: We offer lessons that prepare students for earning the badges, although some individuals will already know the content and may not need every lesson. Prior to earning badges, students must work under the direct supervision of the instructor but may not work on their own until obtaining the badge.
- Quizzes: The quizzes are meant to be very easy for someone who knows the content. They are so easy that many people could guess the answers without knowing the content. But that would miss the point. The quizzes are for you and our program to make an inventory of your knowledge and make sure you have the basics. If you don’t know, or are unsure of an answer, don’t guess. Instead ask one of our instructors to explain.
- Practicums: These are where students demonstrate to one of our instructors that they have certain skills and knowledge. The list of skills to demonstrate is on the same page as the quizzes. The instructor will initial each part as you complete it and will sign off on the badge when both the quiz (100%) and the practicum are complete.
Below is are links to the quiz/practicum sheets for each tool. Some tools have a beginning level (orange) and an advanced level (green). Some only have the green level. |
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Factors affecting sustained smouldering in organic soils from pocasin and pond pine woodland wetlandsAuthor(s): James Reardon; Roger Hungerford; Kevin Ryan
Source: International Journal of Wildland Fire. 16: 107-118.
Publication Series: Scientific Journal (JRNL)
Station: Rocky Mountain Research Station
PDF: View PDF (455.29 KB)
DescriptionThe smouldering combustion of peat and muck soil plays an important role in the creation and maintenance of wetland communities. This experimental study was conducted to improve our understanding of how moisture and mineral content constrain smouldering in organic soil. Laboratory burning was conducted with root mat and muck soil samples from pocosin and pond pine woodland wetlands common on the North Carolina coastal plain. The results of laboratory and prescribed burning were compared. Laboratory results showed that moisture and mineral content influenced sustained smouldering in root mat soils. Predictions based on logistic regression analysis show that root mat soils with an average mineral content of 4.5% had an estimated 50% probability of sustained smouldering at a moisture content of 93%, whereas at moisture contents above 145% the estimated probability was less than 10%. The odds that root mat soil will sustain smouldering decrease by 19.3% for each 5% increase in moisture content. Root mat soils with an average mineral content of 5.5% and a moisture content of 93% had an estimated 61% probability of sustained smouldering. The odds that root mat soil will sustain smouldering combustion increased by 155.9% with each 1% increase in mineral content. Root mat and muck soils differ in physical and chemical characteristics expected to influence smouldering behaviour. The formation of muck soil has led to increases in density, smaller soil particle size, changes in water holding characteristics and increases in waxes, resins and bituminous compounds. Muck soil smouldered at higher moisture contents than root mat soil. Muck soil at a moisture content of 201% had an estimated 50% probability of sustained smouldering, whereas at moisture contents above 260% the estimated probability was less than 10%. The odds that muck soil will sustain smouldering combustion decrease by 17.2% with each 5% increase in moisture content. Ground fire in the prescribed burns stopped its vertical spread in organic soils at moisture contents consistent with logistic regression predictions developed from our laboratory results.
- You may send email to [email protected] to request a hard copy of this publication.
- (Please specify exactly which publication you are requesting and your mailing address.)
- We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information.
- This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.
CitationReardon, James; Hungerford, Roger; Ryan, Kevin. 2007. Factors affecting sustained smouldering in organic soils from pocasin and pond pine woodland wetlands. International Journal of Wildland Fire. 16: 107-118.
Keywordssmouldering combustion, organic soils, woodland wetlands, moisture and mineral content, prescribed burning
- Soil moisture dynamics and smoldering combustion limits of pocosin soils in North Carolina, USA
- Fuel weights of pond pine crowns
- Pondering the monoterpene composition of Pinus serotina Michx.: can limonene be used as a chemotaxonomic marker for the identification of old turpentine stumps?
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- Pears have been grown for a long time. France and Belgium were the first to grow pears as a harvested crop. Pears were valued for their flavor, texture and long storage life.
- They are a good source of Vitamin C which is essential for metabolism, healing and guarding against infectious diseases.
- Pears ripen better off the tree and from the inside out.
- California is #1 for growing Bartlett pears and #2 in pear production, growing 32% of all pears grown in the United States.
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- Tips & recipes
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Can’t get enough fruits and veggies? Every month we feature a new fruit or veggie. Get fun facts, recipes, and more! |
Whether we’re dragging our friends to haunted houses or watching horror movies in an abandoned basement, most of us get goosebumps when something eerie happens.
Apparently, our bodies mimic animals when they get threatened and attempt to look as big as possible. David Huron, a musicologist from Ohio State University says, “The general principle is, if you are going to be attacked, try to look as big as you can.”
So, when we get the goosebumps and the hairs on our body begin to stand up, it is our body reacting and trying to make itself appear larger. This was even more effective when our bodies were furrier.
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According to evolutionary belief, as humans evolved, hair-raising was initially a response to cold, for it insulates a layer of air surrounding the body. However, Popular Science says that millions of years ago, the mechanism was transformed into a method of self-defense. This explains why fear is also correlated with cold weather—No wonder most haunted houses blast their air conditioner to ungodly temperatures.
Another reason we get the chills is through intense emotions. It’s not rare to get goosebumps through music or “sad passages.” Huron says, “The brain can tolerate thousands of false alarms in order to protect us from the one occasion when the alarm is real.”
It also has to do with the stress hormone, adrenaline. Similarly, we get rushes of adrenaline when we are cold, scared stressed, angry and excited.
That’s why when we watch a scary movie or get scared to death at a haunted theme park, the chills that we get are somewhat pleasurable. The conscious parts of our brains establish that everything is okay and we’re not really in any real danger. |
4th Grade STAAR Math Test Prep - TeachersTreasures.com
Description:Our Revised for 2014-2015 TEKS 4th Grade Math Test Prep for STAAR is an excellent resource to assess and manage student's understanding of concepts outlined in the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) program. This resource is formatted into three sections: Diagnostic, Practice, and Assessment with multiple choice and open questions in each section. The material covered includes emphasis on Numerical Representations and Relationships problems to determine if student can demonstrate an understanding of how to represent and manipulate numbers and expressions. Additionally, emphasis is placed on Computations and Algebraic Relationships problems to determine students ability to demonstrate an understanding of how to perform operations and represent algebraic relationships. Geometry and Measurement problems are also covered to ensure students understand how to represent and apply geometry and measurement concepts. Finally, Data Analysis problems are covered to demonstrate students grasp of how to represent and analyze data. These standards are covered extensively by the practice problems. This book contains over 500 practice problems aligned to each TEKS Category. In addition the book contains an answer key to practice problems.
Paperback: 240 double-sided pages
Publisher: Teachers' Treasures, Inc. |
Eggs are laid in the burrows in late spring/early summer. Both the male and the female take turns incubating the egg, with incubation usually taking between 36 and 45 days. Once the egg has hatched the parents take turns leaving the burrow in search of food for the puffling.
Sand eels are a favourite food for puffins. An adult puffin diving beneath the water will hold an average of ten sand eels in its beak at any one time, but there is a record of 62 fish at one time! To hold this number of fish, puffins use the rough spines on the roof of their mouths to avoid dropping their catch.
The puffling spend between 40 and 60 days in the nest before they fledge and swim out to sea. Most puffins leave the island some time in mid July. By early August the puffins will have departed Burhou, with just the colony of storm petrels in the rocks and rabbits that live in the long grass. |
Question: My husband works at night. He works from 12 am until 8 am. He has a problem with getting proper sleep. When he gets off work in the morning, he does not go to sleep until about 1, sometimes 4 in the evening. When he does get off to sleep, he constantly gets up, and is unable to sleep for a full 6-8 hours. When he is off on the weekend, it’s the same thing, he can’t get his full sleep without tossing and turning. I have been researching home remedies online and came across this site.What should I do? Any home remedies will be fine.
Answer: Complete sleeplessness is called as insomnia and usually a rare condition, but relative loss of sleep is very common. Difficulty in getting sleep is common among the condition of sleeplessness. Disturbed sleep or waking up in the middle of the sleep is another common feature in sleeplessness. Some people can have combination of features.
Disturbance in sleep usually starts first with difficulty in getting to sleep. This is usually the first sign. Lack of sleep then causes changes in mood of the individual and emotional changes follows.
What Causes Disturbed Sleep?
Sleeplessness altered sleep patterns have numerous causes. Most common cause of sleep disturbance is mental worries and tension. This can be due to various reasons; work tension, family tension, excitement, anger etc. physical causes which can lead to disturbance in sleep are acidity, tobacco in any form, constipation, over eating or sleeping empty stomach etc.
Undue and disproportionate intake of caffeine is another important cause. Abdominal derangements – indigestion, constipation, acidity, or going to bed hungry also causes sleeplessness.
Treatment For Sleeplessness
Sleep is a state of rest, that is extremely vital and necessary for the normal – healthy functioning of the body.
- Stick to a scheduled sleeping – waking pattern. It will help cure insomnia effectively.
- Increase the consumption of – whole cereals, nuts, green leafy vegetables, and milk. Research says, a deficiency of these foods causes wakefulness.
- Thiamine, a vitamin B, is very important for good sleep. Deficiency is known to cause disturbed sleep. Thus, a supplement is advocated.
- Relaxation methods, such as Pranayama, Yoga, and meditation, will be very beneficial. They decelerate the body’s rhythm, help combat stress, help battle exertion, and relax all the muscles of the body, suffusing you with quiet and calm.
- Do not watch T.V. or read a book at bed time.
- Warm milk with 1/4 teaspoon of powdered nutmeg added to it, will manage insomnia almost instantaneously.
- Beware : never ever make sleeping pills a treatment option. They are addictive and become ineffectual when taken for prolonged periods of time.
Home Remedies For Getting Normal Sound Sleep
Things which help in this condition are lettuce, aniseed, rauwolfia, honey etc.
- For getting normal sound sleep lettuce is useful home remedy. Lettuce contains a substance called as lectucarium which helps in sleep inducing. Juice is extracted from the fresh lettuce and half a glass of it should be taken 2 to 3 hours before going to sleep. Lettuce seeds are equally effective. Take a tablespoon of seeds and boil them in a 500ml of water till the water is reduced to half. Strain the water and take it two times a day.
- Aniseeds are useful in inducing sleep. This seeds are taken in quantity of two teaspoon and added to half a liter of water. Boil it and make it into tea form. Strain the water and this should be taken (a glass) before going to sleep.
- Rauwolfia powder should be taken with cardamom (equal amount). One can take 2.5mgm of both the powders and mix it well. They should be taken 2-3hrs before going to sleep. Those with chronic condition should take this two times in a day.
- Honey helps in inducing sleep. Take 10-15ml of honey in half glass of water. Stir it well and taken it before going to bed.
- Regular exercise, yoga, meditation technique, limiting the stress level which is bearable etc should be brought into picture. |
Induction motor starting
The animation illustrates the across-the-line starting of an induction motor. The modeling assumes that the electrical transients can be ignored compared with the slow motional mechanical transients, so that the motor can be represented at any speed ωm by its steady-state torque-speed curve. Given the mechanical load curve, the differential torque ΔT acts to accelerate the rotor inertia. The speed-versus-time curve is obtained by graphical integration as demonstrated, yielding the shown red trace response. The torques Te and Tm and the speed ωm are expressed in per unit; time t and the inertia constant M are expressed in seconds.
The parameters of top applet are automatically copied to the bottom applet..
© M. Riaz |
You've heard that non-cognitive social skills can be your child's key to having a happy future and succeeding in the endeavors they choose to undertake. Tessy & Tab stories demonstrate and celebrate these character traits.
Resilience, adaptability, collaboration…
along with curiosity, perseverance, caring, and self-control are built into the narratives of the Tessy & Tab books. Children learn by example. Their friends Tessy and Tab can show the way. Things don't always go according to plan for Tessy and Tab. Sometimes things break. Sometimes they lose the game. Tessy and Tab show your child that it's all OK. You can apologize if you were mean. You can help someone who is having trouble. You can try again. And again.
General knowledge is the key to cultural literacy…
and it starts with you. Your child wants to know how the world works. From "Is cheese always orange?" to "What does extinction mean?", your child has a million questions. Knowledge gathering comes from your conversations with them. All of this background information is the key to their future fluency in reading because it supplies essential information that will not always be found in the text.
Learning through genuine life experiences.
Tessy and Tab have no super powers, and they won't be flying to the moon. Your child's newest friends are leading the exact same sort of life as your child. That is both comforting and exciting. What if you have heard about mini golf, but have not yet been able to try it? Tessy and Tab can show you how it's done. And then, you're in the know.
You will find a lot to talk about in every Tessy & Tab book. If Tessy and Tab are having an experience that your child has not yet had, that's even better! |
Emotions are important and we need to pay heed to them, but we have a personal responsibility for doing our best to manage emotion well.
Here’s a wee story (author unknown) that helps to illustrate why this is so important.
There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.
The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.
Finally, the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.
The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, “You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry, the wound is still there.”
We all have moments when emotions run high and we lose ourselves to them. But when emotion runs unchecked, we can undermine all our hard work on a project or damage our relationships at work or at home. It’s also true that we lead others to where we ourselves are at. High emotion is contagious, but so is calm.
In fact, emotions in and of themselves are not bad — they are vital to great performance. The science tells us that we cannot make good decisions using only the ‘rational’ part of our brain. In fact, those who have had an injury to the amygdala (our brain’s emotion centre) have difficulty making even the simplest of decisions. This is because the ‘emotional’ centre of our brain serves as a highlighter — signalling what it is we need to pay attention to in order to make a sound decision.
Step 1: Know that emotions are not the enemy.
Recognise the situation is causing you stress — a natural biological reaction. Change and uncertainty put our body on high alert. Stress hormones convert our body’s resources into energy and then prime us for action. We are rearing to go. But when there isn’t an action that readily solves the problem, what happens? Where does all that blocked energy go? Hello high emotion.
The emotions you are feeling are a natural response to stress. In Western cultures, we could do better with being okay with emotion.
Tell yourself, “It’s totally normal and okay for me to be feeling _______ right now.”
Step 2: Hit pause.
Recognise that being in a high state of stress is not the best place from which to make decisions, to problem solve or to have challenging conversations.
Ask yourself, “Am I in the best place to make this decision or have this conversation? Can I hit pause? When emotions are running high, inserting a pause can make all the difference and save you having to unravel the damage you’re likely to do if you steam right ahead.
Step 3: Find calm.
In today’s world, we are well practiced in ramping up our energy — being ‘on’, being ‘busy’. We have taught our bodies how to do this — usually too well. But we are less practiced in taking our nervous system in the other direction. Being able to bring our body back down to feeling safe and relaxed is like a muscle that we need to build and strengthen with practice.
Note: If you find calming difficult, it may help to first actively do something with the pent-up energy. Expend that energy — for example, go for a run and sweat out the stress hormones, and then come back to this step.
High emotion usually comes from our body feeling under threat. Now is the time to calm, soothe, relax. Give our body the ‘wind down’ not ‘wind up’ message.
Slowing and deepening your breathing is the most direct tool we have to give our body this signal. And have up your sleeve the tips, strategies and activities that are calming for you. Know these in advance because searching for ideas under high emotion rarely works. We’ve created a shortcut for you — The Doing Well Cool Down cards give you plenty of tips to put in place when emotions are running high. Flick through these in settled times and pick the one you think will be most useful to you.
Step 4: Question if there is wisdom in the emotion.
It can help to ask yourself whether these emotions are trying to signal something. Emotions, managed well, are a good thing — they often send us messages about ourselves or our situation that we need to pay attention to.
Contrary to past thinking, science shows us that wise leaders include emotions as part of the rich data they draw from to inform their decision-making.
Ask yourself, “Is this emotion trying to tell me something? What wisdom or learning is here for me?”
The cards threaded through this blog are from Hummingly’s Doing Well card deck. They are a practical tool to help you manage your emotions and wellbeing. |
Is it possible to increase the amount of grass produced in the same pasture? The answer is "maybe". Your semi-arid rangeland may have room to improve. But where do you start? A recent webinar by Pat Reece "Herbage Production Potential" outlines principles to understand.
Evaluate what the production potential of an ecological range site is. Soil characteristics, growing season, precipitation, evaporation rates and topography along with an inventory of existing grass species and current plant vigor can give a benchmark for what the production potential could be. The NRCS Web Soil Survey has resource tools that can be used to identify the ecological site and find what potential vegetation production could be. This, along with historical grazing records and on site evaluation, can give an indication of production potential.
Tall grass species are more productive than short grasses in terms of pounds of herbage produced. Sand bluestem and prairie sandreed will produce more pounds of forage than sedges and blue grama. Grass vigor and production will be reduced if pastures experience consecutive years of overgrazing, grazing repeatedly during the growing season at the same time every year, and drought conditions. These circumstances can result in tall grasses beginning to disappear, more "weedy" species being present, and more grazing tolerant short grasses becoming more abundant.
Healthy tall grasses have roots that can utilize water and nutrients deeper down in the soil profile. Stressed tall grasses and short grass species roots are not as deep. When the top soil starts to dry out, the deeper rooted plants have a better chance of surviving.
Herbage production potential is affected by many factors we cannot control. Precipitation, days in the growing season, soil characteristics, depth to water, and evaporation rates all impact how much grass can be grown.
However, we can improve rangeland condition with grazing management, such as how many animals we stock, when and for how long we graze, and providing adequate recovery time for grazed plants.
Indicators of resilient rangelands are the presence of preferred grasses that are diverse, vigorous, and relatively abundant. Residual standing plants include preferred species. There is also a diversity of native species, including grasses, forbs and shrubs.
Overgrazing affects semi-arid grasslands in two ways.
- Plant health. The preferred plant species cannot fully recover before livestock return to graze the pasture again.
- Microenvironment. There is not enough litter and residual herbage to capture rain and facilitate precipitation infiltration into the soil. Soil temperature extremes are greater when litter and residual herbage are deficient.
Deferred or rest rotations are grazing systems that can allow for plants to recover, especially if they have been overgrazed in the past. Grazing systems should change the pasture use sequence to provide opportunities for full growing season deferment from grazing in every pasture once every 3 or 4 years.
Plants also need favorable air temperature and abundant soil water, as well as "rest days" during the growing season, to fully recovery.
Historical data for most areas shows precipitation is below average (drought) for one-third of the years, above average one-third of the years, and average precipitation one-third of the years. Not every year is the same, and your stocking rate shouldn't be the same either. Plan to destock rangeland in the dry years and restock in the wet years.
Herbage production is impacted greatly by events we cannot control, but good grazing management is something we can adjust.
Source: University of Nebraska |
What are wholegrains?
Wholegrains are essential in a healthy, balanced diet. A wholegrain cereal must contain three key elements; the bran, the germ and the endosperm, without all three parts a cereal cannot be classed as a wholegrain. Examples of wholegrains include wheat, millet, corn, barley, buckwheat and rye.
The benefits of wholegrains
In addition to a source of carbohydrate (which is our body’s main source of energy) wholegrains are also a source of B vitamins (which help to release energy from carbohydrate, protein and fat within our foods) and fibre, a nutrient that within the UK we do not consume enough of.
The most recent National Diet and Nutrition Survey (published in 2015) found that adults across the UK only consume on average 14g of fibre per day, this is 16g less than the new recommended guideline of 30g per day.* Therefore increasing wholegrains in our diets will in turn also increase fibre.
As well as the additional nutrients wholegrains contain in comparison to a refined grain, many studies have also investigated the link between wholegrain consumption and disease.
Current scientific evidence shows that wholegrains play an important role in lowering the risk of chronic diseases, such as coronary heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Evidence also shows that wholegrains contribute to weight management and gastrointestinal health.
*SACN, Carbohydrate and Health report 2015. |
By Joseph Zaleski
If you’re from the Southern United States, you’ve probably been served collard greens at some point in your life. Collards are so synonymous with Southern cuisine that legislators in South Carolina voted in 2011 to make it their official state vegetable, and collard green festivals are held annually in cities like Atlanta and Savannah. But this vegetable’s history and range extend far beyond North America.
Collard greens are a broad-leafed vegetable of the Brassica oleracea species, which also includes broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and kale. Researchers at Texas A&M and The George Mateljan Foundation write that like most Brassica vegetables, collard greens probably descended from wild cabbages found in Asia before recorded history. They eventually spread through Europe, and the Greeks and Romans grew kale and collards in domestic gardens over 2,000 years ago. Collard greens traveled to the Americas by ship and have become the staple noted above.
Collard greens are grown and eaten regularly in many countries across the world. In Brazil, the side dish couve a mineira is prepared by sautéing collard greens in olive oil and butter; in the Kashmiri region of India, haak, or hakh, is a collard dish that can be incorporated into a traditional and elaborate multi-course course feast called a wazwan; Portuguese families use collards or kale in a soup known as caldo verde, or “green broth.”
Collard greens are a cool season vegetable that can be harvested into early winter. Collards are also more resistant to frost than any other cabbage variety, which make them an attractive vegetable in temperate regions of the world that experience mild winters. Collards are easily domesticated, growing in backyard or home gardens.
Collard greens are also known to pack a nutritional punch. Dense with vitamins and nutrients, the dark, leafy greens contain high amounts of vitamins A, C, and K, calcium, folate, and fiber. Collards are rich in the antioxidant beta-carotene which helps cells defend themselves against the damage caused by free radicals. According to the National Cancer Institute, beta-carotene may play an important role in warding off certain cancers.
It’s important to remember, however, that improperly or overcooking collards – as with other nutrient-rich vegetables – can leach the vitamins and minerals from the leaf. Reducing the cooking time or simmering the greens rather than boiling can help professional and amateur gourmets alike preserve both the nutritional value and bold taste of these greens.
Whether you eat them for luck on New Year’s Day, for their taste, or for the abundant nutritional benefits, collard greens can be grown around the world and are an excellent addition to any balanced diet.
Have you ever eaten collard greens for good luck? What other countries have incorporated collards into their cuisine?
Joseph Zaleski is a research intern with the Nourishing the Planet project.
To read more about indigenous vegetables, see: Star Apple: Prized Fruit and Timber, Shalakh Apricot: Protecting a Species’ Diversity, and a Local Culture, and African rock fig: A fruit with historical significance and potential for the future.
- A “Revolution of Greens” Needed to Curb Food Price Crisis
- Nourishing the Planet TV: Handling Pests with Care Instead of Pesticide
- Marula: Food, Function, and Sustainable Development
- What works: Innovations for Improving Biodiversity and Livelihoods
- Many Good Reasons to Grow Teff
- Nourishing the Planet at the Agriculture and Rural Development Day 2010
- Innovation of the Week: Healing Hunger
- Madagascar’s “Magic Rice” – Dista Rice |
Revised and Updated
Japanese Made Easy
Revised and Updated
Harvard University's Tazuko Monane teaches you the secret of speaking Japanese fluently in simple 20-minute lessons. Each lesson zeroes in on one everyday activity: introducing yourself, asking directions, ordering sushi, giving directions to a taxi driver, eating with friends, and other everyday conversations. Japanese Made Easy is designed for people living in or going to Japan who would like to learn Japanese but have never studied it before. Obviously, living or traveling in Japan is itself not the secret to learning Japanese—many Westerners live in Japan for a long time and except for a few words learn very little about its language. The important thing will be your motivation to learn. An ability to speak Japanese and read Japanese is vital to understanding your surroundings. Whether you travel to Japan as a tourist, student or businessperson, whether you use this book before or after your arrival in Japan, what could provide better motivation than knowing that a familiarity with the Japanese language (and with the culture it reflects) will help make your stay in Japan much richer and more interesting.
If you have the good fortune to know a Japanese person, he or she will surely make your learning even easier—especially when you study pronunciation. But don't be discourage if you have no "live model" to learn from. By following the simple suggestions given here, you will be able to come out with good understandable Japanese on your own. Key features of this book include:
- More than 40 social situations commonly encountered by foreigners in Japan—including greetings, asking directions, dining out, visiting places, and shopping.
- Practice exercises based on over 30 of the most important Japanese sentence patterns, with example sentences and answer keys.
- Notes on the key points of Japanese vocabulary and Japanese grammar.
- A comprehensive glossary of important Japanese words and an index of vocabulary and grammar items. |
The grandson of a Tanzanian chief whose skull, now lost, was sent to Germany after he was executed in 1900 has taken a DNA test to help find it.
Mangi Meli was hanged for his role in a rebellion against German colonialists and his body was then decapitated.
The skull could be one of thousands in a museum collection in Berlin.
Activists want it to be returned to Moshi, northern Tanzania, so that he can receive a proper burial and the people can welcome home a hero.
Isaria Meli, Mangi Meli’s 87-year-old grandson, has demanded that the German and Tanzanian governments work together to get the skull sent back.
He took the DNA test in Berlin after being invited by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (known by its German initials SPK), which is looking after the archive of human remains.
The SPK has indentified six skulls that could be from Moshi and date from the time the chief was killed. They all have the inscription”Dschagga/Wadschagga”, referring to the German spellings of Mangi Meli’s ethnic group, the SPK says.
Researchers will see if there is a DNA match and the SPK expects a result in the first half of next year.
Unravelling a mystery
At the beginning of the last century, thousands of skulls were sent to Germany from its empire, which included present-day Tanzania, to help in now discredited research into racial classification.
After passing through several hands, the collection of 5,500 skulls, which includes 200 human remains from what is now Tanzania, ended up with the SPK in 2011.
The organisation is now investigating the exact origin of the remains.
The question of what happened to Mangi Meli’s skull is a mystery.
In addition to his grandson, Tanzanian Mnyaka Sururu Mboro has been trying to locate it for the last 40 years .
He said it is important “to bring the remains back to the people who are still suffering from the loss”.
But campaigners are trying to dampen down expectations about the possible success of the DNA test.
The six skulls to be tested are ones that were sent to Germany by Lt Col Moritz Merker who was second in command at the military post in Moshi at the time of Mangi Meli’s execution, activist Konradin Kunze told the BBC.
But Col Merker never identified a skull as belonging to the chief in his records from the time, he added.
Isaria Meli is prepared for the possibility that there will not be a match but he hopes to live long enough to see that the skull is found and returned. |
Forty years after the passage of Title IX, the landmark legislation that forbids sex-based discrimination in education, colleges across the country have seen a sea change in campus demographics—more women on the sports field, more women in laboratories, more women graduating from college than men. There is no question that Title IX has enabled women to achieve extraordinary progress in domains previously restricted to men. However, its work is not done.
The statistics sound impressive: more than six times as many women compete in college sports than in 1972, while the number of women getting Ph.Ds in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) has increased nearly four-fold since 2006. But these numbers tell just part of the story. We must not confuse progress in educational opportunity with parity. Despite improved educational attainment for women, progress has been uneven, and in some cases, has declined in recent years. Men currently occupy 80 to 95 percent of the top decision-making positions in American politics, business, the military, religion, media, and entertainment.
Our most pressing contemporary challenges include overcoming the gender barriers in STEM fields, addressing the lack of women in senior leadership positions in business, media and government, and developing and implementing effective sexual-harassment policies on college campuses.
Although the language of Title IX addresses sex-based discrimination in education on a very broad level, the most widely lauded changes have occurred in the area of athletics. To a certain extent, academic gains have not occurred on par with athletic gains. Yet even within collegiate sports, women still have fewer participation and athletic scholarship opportunities than men, and far fewer immigrant, minority, and women from low-income families play sports than middle-class Caucasian women. Access to competitive women’s sports is not yet equal.
In the classroom, while female students demonstrate greater success than their male counterparts by certain measures, boasting higher GPAs and graduation rates, women are still underrepresented in STEM fields. The academic achievement gap has narrowed in many important ways, but the STEM gender gap remains a particularly recalcitrant problem. In a global economy driven by technology and innovation, men still hold the most prestigious, highest-paying jobs by a large margin. The jarring lack of women in scientific, technical, or other nontraditional professions—defined as an occupation in which less than 25 percent of the workforce are women—was not fully addressed until 2000, 30 years after the passage of Title IX, when the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy performed their first on-site compliance inspections.
In academia, Title IX compliance with regard to STEM education has likewise been slow to take hold—women are 25 percent less likely to attain full professorship than men, and make up only 19 percent of full professors in these fields as of 2006. Marked differences in advancement across diverse fields also prevail. Although female representation in the social and life sciences has climbed steadily since Title IX passed, progress in mathematics, physics, and engineering has remained stagnant over the last decade, and has even declined in computer science in recent years.
The slow progress in STEM fields has been attributed to a number of factors, including pervasive cultural biases and gender stereotypes, and hiring, promotion, and tenure-track practices that penalize pregnant women and female caregivers. There are deeply entrenched cultural beliefs about gender differences in intelligence, ability, and interests. These beliefs impact female identity and academic performance at every stage of one’s education, from preschool to postgraduate work. Biology, for instance, is seen as a largely gender-neutral subject requiring no special “innate” talents in math and science, whereas computer science and engineering are considered “male” fields. Such assumptions are both the result of and result in unequal representation in critical fields and leadership positions, creating a self-reinforcing negative feedback loop. Women, even when they have attained high levels of success, may present their achievements in social situations very differently from men potentially to their own detriment. Princeton’s 2011 report on undergraduate women’s leadership found that “women consistently undersell themselves, and sometimes make self-deprecating remarks in situations where men might stress their own accomplishments.”
A long-held perception is that a successful STEM career requires, above all, long hours and single-minded focus, often at the expense of family life. This perception is slowly starting to change. In 2011, Michelle Obama announced a new National Science Foundation Career-Life Balance Initiative that will provide greater work-related flexibility for women and men who receive NSF grants. Among its provisions, the initiative allows the postponement or suspension of funds for up to one year for childbirth, adoption, or family leave. “If we’re going to out-innovate and out-educate the rest of the world, then we have to open doors to everyone,” the First Lady said. “We need all hands on deck. And that means clearing hurdles for women and girls as they navigate careers in science, technology, engineering, and math.”
One major hurdle exists right on the college campus. Although most co-ed institutions have long eliminated single-sex dorms and female curfews, chauvinistic attitudes and misogynistic climates prove more difficult to abolish. According to a recent report by the National Coalition of Women and Girls in Education, nearly two-thirds of college students, including 62 percent of women and 61 percent of men, experience some type of harassment on campus. Fewer than 10 percent of these cases are reported to the college. Many institutions struggle with defining what constitutes harassment, and do not have policies for investigating misconduct charges in place. Just this month, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights resolved a Title IX sexual-harassment complaint filed against Yale University. The OCR issued new regulations on managing sexual-harassment cases, outlining sexual-assault prevention and response training programs, and grievance procedures. While these regulations are a step in the right direction, their effectiveness in ensuring safe and productive learning environments remains to be seen.
Today, gender discrimination in institutions of higher education is still prevalent. The battle continues. President Obama recently exhorted young Barnard graduates to “fight for a seat at the head of the table.” If a girl doesn’t see anyone who looks like her at the table, if she can’t “picture herself as a computer programmer, or a combat commander, she won’t become one.”
At the June 11 opening of the Women in Public Service Institute, part of a project aimed at getting representation of women in world leadership from a paltry 17.5 percent to 50 percent by 2050, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Wellesley Class of 1969, told the story of how she changed her mind about running for elected office, against her own inclinations. “As first lady, I went to New York City for a totally unrelated event. It was an event about encouraging young women to participate in sports, and there was a big banner behind the podium where I was going to speak. And the banner said: ‘Dare to compete.’ So this young woman introduces me. She whispers in my ear: ‘Dare to compete, Mrs. Clinton. Dare to compete.’ That did it. I thought, Here I’ve been someone telling young women all my life: ‘Compete for what you believe in, whether it’s your community or your country,’ and my words were coming back to haunt me.”
What is needed is a major shift in the cultural imagination. The institutional changes promoted and protected by Title IX over the last 40 years have been instrumental in reconfiguring our ideas of what is possible for women. The results have been encouraging, but we should not be satisfied or complacent. The promise of what can be accomplished is much greater—we owe it to our schools, and more importantly, to the girls and women they educate to do better. The law continues to evolve, and our imaginations with it.
To learn more about women and girls around the world, visit our Women in the World Foundation. |
Fermentation is an ancient culinary technique used around the world. It was originally developed to preserve food during harsh winters and food shortages before the time of refrigeration. Vikings traversing the oceans on long voyages needed a supply of edible fish so they didn’t starve while at sea, so they invented lutefisk. Too dangerous to fish on the ice in the winter? The Inuit people have an answer: Stuff a seal carcass with birds and bury it underground until it ferments. And if you’re a Chinese laborer worried your cabbage is going to go bad, you might ferment it in rice wine, inventing what we now know as sauerkraut.
A way to preserve food is just one side of the fermentation story, though. Flavor is the other. Fermentation has been applied to fish and beans to create pungent, umami-rich pastes that add complexity to soups and stews, as well as condiments for vegetables, tofu, and rice. The fermentation process adds a depth of flavor to ingredients like ogiri and miso, both foundational to numerous cuisines in Asia and Africa.
Fermented foods might be pungent, tangy, sour, and salty, but many of them also recall the history of the cultures from which each one originates. Whether illuminating the warrior mindset of the Vikings or the diet of the people who built the Great Wall of China, fermented foods are an essential part of culinary history. Here are the 10 fermented foods you need to know about.
This spicy bean paste is one of the central ingredients in the Sichuan cuisine of southwestern China. Doubanjiang is made with broad beans, rather than soybeans, and is used to season dishes like mapo tofu, a notoriously spicy dish that uses Sichuan peppercorns as another main ingredient. Doubanjiang is pungent and earthy in flavor, thanks to the long fermentation process behind it, while the heat from the spice balances out some of its formidable saltiness. That hit of umami from doubanjiang gives Sichuan Chinese cuisine its signature depth and complexity.
Lutefisk was likely first consumed by Vikings in what is now Norway. Today, it’s rarely consumed in the country, but it’s a delicacy among Scandinavian-Americans in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Lutefisk is notorious for its pungent aroma. It’s made by taking codfish that has been dried to the point of resembling cardboard more than fish and rehydrating it with lye — a chemical typically used to unclog your bathtub drain.
By the time it’s been rinsed off and shipped away to be eaten by the proud Scandinavian peoples of North America, the texture becomes “slippery and a little squishy,” according to Smithsonian magazine. Today, lutefisk is typically eaten at church-hosted dinners on Christmas.
There are several legends surrounding the provenance of lutefisk, including that Irish fishermen tried to poison Viking hoards by adding lye to their fish stocks (not true) or that after the wooden racks where the Vikings dried their fish burned down, they rediscovered rehydrated fish in puddles of rainwater covered in ash. The first recorded mention of lutefisk didn’t pop up until 1555 when a writer recommended that it be served loaded with butter on top.
Food blogger Flo Chinyere calls ogiri “the most pungent Nigerian food ingredient ever.” Particularly foundational to the cuisine of the Igbo people, ogiri is traditionally made from castor seeds, which are poisonous unless fermented. However, ogiri can also be made from egusi seeds, which are boiled until they become soft, wrapped in banana leaves, and then left to ferment for at least five days. Once fermentation is complete, the seeds are mashed into a charcoal gray paste. The resulting paste is then used to flavor soups like ora soup (made with Scotch bonnet peppers and goat) and onugbu, or bitterleaf, soup.
This sour, fermented cabbage might be most familiar as a topping for hotdogs, but it’s got a long history — and that history doesn’t start in Germany. Sauerkraut originated in China 2,000 years ago, when workers building the Great Wall of China sustained themselves mostly on cabbage and rice. According to the New York Times, the workers added rice wine to the cabbage in winter, which fermented and preserved it.
Though we now think of sauerkraut as a thoroughly German snack, it didn’t land on their shores until the 1600s. It was likely brought to Europe by the Tartars, a group of people of primarily Russian and Turkish ancestry who were united under the empire of Ghenghis Khan.
Today, the pungent veggie is fermented with salt, and it’s considered a healthy source of fiber and Vitamin C. German people love to pair it with sausage, but creative cooks have added sauerkraut to everything from tacos to burgers, and even chocolate cake.
There are two different types of this fermented condiment from the Philippines: bagoóng alamang, which is made from shrimp or krill, and bagoóng na isda, made from fish (often anchovies or sardines). Bagoóng is traditionally fermented with sea salt inside large clay pots called tapayan. Bagoóng gets its signature deep red color from fermented red yeast rice. Though the ingredients are simple, bagoóng’s complex flavor is derived from the waters where the fish or shrimp are harvested. However, the preparation of bagoóng varies from region to region. For instance, in Visayas, a version called ginamos is sometimes made by crushing the ingredients together in a tub by foot.
Soups and stews like dinengdeng and pinakbet are seasoned with bagoóng, and it’s also a common dip for tart fruit like unripe green mango and kamias.
Miso paste is magical. The formula for making it is deceptively simple. Soybeans and salt are inoculated with koji, the same mold used to make sake and some types of soy sauce, and are then left to ferment anywhere from many months to many years. The longer the fermentation, the darker in color and richer in flavor the miso paste becomes. White miso has a milder flavor while red miso is saltier.
A dollop of miso adds umami, that ideal characteristic in Japanese cooking, to soup and ramen, but also many other dishes like eggplant, tofu, and daikon-glazed miso (miso dengaku), as well as saba misoni (fish stewed in miso).
There are many different types of miso that are often regionally specific: Sikyo miso, for instance, originated in Kyoto. This sweet miso paste is often used to glaze fish or as seasoning for grilled meat. In Wakayama, Kinzanji-miso is a common topping for steamed rice and tofu, or is used as a dip for vegetables.
Natto is another fermented dish popular throughout Japan, where it’s often served with a fried egg for breakfast. Steamed soybeans are sprinkled with Bacillus subtilis and are then allowed to ferment for one day until they take on a sticky, slimy texture.
This Inuit dish from Greenland is essential to weathering long, harsh winters: Kiviak consists of up to 500 auk birds (small seagulls) preserved inside the freshly disemboweled body of a seal. Once the pelt of the seal has been filled with said birds, it’s buried under a large stone, which prevents the pelt from bursting due to a build-up of gas. The pelt ferments for six months, after which point it is dug up and the fermented birds are eaten raw. Food shortages and treacherous hunting conditions for the Inuit people of Greenland often require creative ways to maintain sustenance until it’s safe to venture outside for fresh food.
Hákarl is another funky dish to emerge from Greeland’s merciless climate. Sleeper shark is dried and cured until it becomes rich in ammonia.
8. Nem chua
This cured and fermented pork or beef roll comes from Vietnam. The traditional ingredients are minced pork and shredded pork skin, but some modern versions are made with shredded beef. Garlic, peppercorns, and Thai chili give nem chau its characteristic flavor: salty and sour with an added twist of fiery spiciness. The mixture of meat and seasoning is then wrapped in banana leaves, where it’s left to ferment for several days before it’s eaten straight from the leaf or grilled. Nem chua is a popular snack all year around, but it’s often served as an appetizer on Tet, or Vietnamese Lunar New Year.
A staple starch for the indigenous people of Hawaii, this sour purple mash is made from taro root. First, the taro root is steamed or baked in an underground oven called an imu. Then the softened plant is cleaned and mashed on a wooden board called a papa ku‘i ‘ai using a pestle called the pōhaku ku‘i ‘ai. The mashed taro is called pa‘i ‘ai. Water is added until it takes on a thick, creamy, pudding-like texture, which is when it becomes poi. Fresh poi has a sweet, delicate flavor, but once it’s left to ferment over several days it becomes sour.
Typically, poi is served the same way as rice: as a side dish accompanying meat and vegetables. Poi is a staple alongside kalua pig, and lomi lomi, or salted, salmon.
Technically a beverage, this fizzy Iranian drink is made from yogurt combined with carbonated water. Doogh is both salty and mouth-puckeringly sour, and it’s considered a refreshing summertime drink. Served on hot days and after meals, doogh is a satisfying way to cool off that’s akin to an Indian lassi.
Ash-e doogh is the soup version, served either hot or cold in Iran, as well as Azerbaijan and Turkey, where it’s garnished with coriander, leek, tarragon, mint, and parsley. Chickpeas or lamb meatballs give this sour yogurt soup substance. |
The Oklahoma and Florida supreme courts both overturned anti-worker changes to their state workers’ compensation laws based in whole or in part on their state constitutions. Workers’ compensation laws, for the most part, are state laws. This post seeks to explain why workers’ compensation laws are state laws and what that could mean for workers’ compensation laws in the future.
The vast majority of workers’ compensation attorneys and industry observers know the term “Grand Bargain.” In the “Grand Bargain,” employees gave up the right to sue their employers in tort for work injuries in exchange for defined benefits regardless of fault.
Workers’ compensation laws emerged roughly a century ago. However, Congress did not have the power to enact the “Grand Bargain” because of how the U.S. Supreme Court interpreted the Commerce Clause. In 1895, the court held in United States v. E.C. Knight that manufacturing was not commerce. In 1918, the court overturned a law prohibiting child labor on similar grounds and additionally held that the effects of child labor did not have enough of an impact on interstate commerce to justify regulation.
The Supreme Court did uphold the constitutionality of workers’ compensation laws in the case of New York Central Railroad v. White. However, the court upheld workers’ compensation laws based on a state’s so-called “police powers” under the 10th Amendment.
During the New Deal era in the 1930s, the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the interstate commerce clause changed so that workers’ compensation laws could have been enacted by the federal government. But by then, most states had workers’ compensation laws, so a general federal workers’ compensation law was unnecessary.
‘Federalization’ in the Post-New Deal Era
In the 1970s, Congress passed laws regarding occupational safety (Occupational Safety and Health Act) and employee benefits (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) under its authority granted by the interstate commerce clause. But neither OSHA nor ERISA were intended to interfere with state workers’ compensation laws.
The 1970s also saw an ultimately failed effort to impose federal minimum standards on state workers’ compensation. It was in this era that the term “federalization” and the concerns about the impact of federal laws on state workers’ compensation systems emerged.
Federalization re-emerged as an issue in the 2000s when concerns arose that the costs of workers’ compensation injuries were being shifted onto Medicare, and the federal government tried to fashion remedies to shift the cost back onto the workers’ compensation system. The effect of the Affordable Care Act on workers’ compensation was another federal issue that was hotly debated in workers’ compensation circles.
Finally in President Obama’s second term, OSHA issued many rules about medical care and drug testing that could have affected workers’ compensation laws. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and other elected leaders also wrote a letter to the Secretary of Labor pointing out the failure of state-based workers’ compensation systems.
Conventional wisdom is that the election of Donald Trump paired with a Republican Congress will end the Obama era efforts at federalization of the workers’ compensation system. There is probably a fair amount of truth to this idea, but the Trump era may not spell the end of federalization of workers’ compensation.
In the 2010s “sharing economy,” companies such as Uber and Lyft emerged. The business model of these companies is premised on workers being independent contractors. However, this has created litigation and uncertainty for these companies. In 2015, the Democratic-aligned Brookings Institute hosted a discussion about the “reforming” labor laws for companies like Uber. Though workers’ compensation laws are traditionally state-based laws, there is no constitutional prohibition on designing workers’ compensation systems at a federal level. Unfortunately, it seems as some Democrats could find common ground with Donald Trump and House Speaker Ryan to amend ERISA and the Fair Labor Standards Act to exempt Uber drivers and other sharing economy workers from laws such as workers’ compensation.
* Jon Rehm represents employees across the state of Nebraska in workers compensation and wrongful termination cases. He is a member of the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys, the American Association of Justice, the American Bar Association, the Nebraska State Bar Association as well as the Lincoln Bar Association.
Related Articles on Federalization: |
Following extensive news coverage in the international media about the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa, I would like to share a few facts with you so that you are well informed on this weighty matter. The situation is as follows:
2. Kenya is not affected by the outbreak of Ebola as there has not been any recorded case of Ebola in this country.
3. The affected countries are on the extreme West of the African Continent, thousands of kilometers from Kenya and indeed Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea are closer to Madrid, Paris and London than they are to Kenya in East Africa.
4. It is considered very unlikely that travellers from the affected countries would come to Kenya overland by road as it could entail a journey of more than 2 weeks and would require driving through places like the Central African Republic, DRC or Southern Sudan where there are serious security issues and disruptions to road travel. Any infected person setting off from West Africa to undertake such a journey by road to Kenya would be very likely to have developed obvious symptoms before arriving at the Kenya border post where screening is now in place to identify and isolate anyone considered to be at risk of carrying the disease. So the possibility of Ebola spreading overland from West Africa to Kenya is considered extremely unlikely.
5. Travellers from West Africa normally come to Kenya by air just as they can travel at present on flights from West Africa to Europe, America, theMiddle East, Asia and Australia. The international airlines have implemented screening for passengers boarding flights in West Africa and the Kenyan Government and Ministry of Health, working in close co-operation with the Kenya Airports Authority, have now set up arrangements at the international airport in Nairobi to screen all passengers arriving on flights from West Africa to prevent any infected person from entering the country.
6. According to the medical authorities, the overall risk of a traveller contracting Ebola is very low as it requires direct contact with the bodily fluids or secretions (e.g. blood, saliva, urine, etc) of an infected person or dead body. Ebola is not an airborne virus like influenza or tuberculosis, it is not spread by coughing or sneezing and is not in water or food. Simply washing hands with soap and water can destroy the virus. Infected persons become contagious only after the onset of symptoms. As symptoms worsen, the ability to transmit the virus increases. As a result, patients are usually most likely to infect others at a severe stage of the disease, when they are visibly, and physically, too ill to travel and at that stage they will probably not be physically able to board an aircraft. WHO is therefore advising against imposing travel bans to and from affected countries.The Director of WHO Global Capacity Alert and Response has stated that because the risk of Ebola transmission on aircraft is so low, WHO does not consider air transport hubs at high risk for further spread of Ebola. The highest Ebola virus level is found in a dead body, according to WHO, so the highest risk of Ebola transmission is in preparing a body for burial. The persons most at risk are those in very close direct contact with infected patients or corpses such as doctors, nurses or mortuary attendants.
7. The World Health Organisation (WHO), has clarified that Kenya’s Ebola risk profile has not changed, as reported by the media. In a statement, the WHO has commended Kenya for its efforts in putting in place measures to prevent possible importation and to implement early detection and containment if a case is detected in an arriving traveller.
8. Staying in international hotels in Nairobi and at the coastal beach resorts or going on safari to the wildlife parks in Kenya at the present time is considered to entail no risk of contracting Ebola. We will continue to monitor the news bulletins and daily updates from The World Health Organisation to ensure that we are kept informed and can act in the interests of our customers’ safety, which is always our highest priority. |
An oval for a body, a circle for a head, diamond scales and triangular spikes create our Shape-A-Saurus craft! This dinosaur craft combines a lesson on shapes with the opportunity for you child to be creative! We've included all of the common shapes in shape-a-saurus and kids will love being able to put them together to create something new. Shape-a-saurus is a fantastic preschool craft or toddler craft. Our two year old daughter absolutely loved this craft (one of her dinosaur is pictured below) and asked to make it again and again -- so we recommend cutting out the materials for at least two ahead of time!
What you'll need:
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Please do not reproduce any of our content on your own site without direct permission. We welcome you to link directly to any pages on our site without specific permission. We also welcome any feedback, ideas or anything you want to share with us - just email us at [email protected]. |
It’s time to talk.
About the underlying roots of civil unrest that have led to present day.
About the conversations we’re having with ourselves and within personal networks and why talking about race makes us uncomfortable.
It’s time to understand concepts discussed in the news, in the current political climate and in social networks. More importantly, it’s time to find common ground and listen to each other, according to the organizers behind a new UNLV discussion series.
The series "We Need to Talk: Conversations on Racism for a More Resilient Las Vegas” brings context to the demonstrations that unfolded after the death of George Floyd.
“In the wake of these protests, we were hearing stories and learning more about how systemic racism impacts the daily lives of people from every walk of life,” said Su Kim Chung, head of public services in UNLV’s Special Collections & Archives. “The mission of a library and a university is to educate, so we thought a discussion series would be a good opportunity to explore these concepts and learn from each other. Plus, we are fortunate to be surrounded by research experts and community members who are willing to share their knowledge and lived experiences to benefit our community.”
Guiding the conversations will be Claytee White, director of the Oral History Research Center at UNLV Libraries. Co-sponsored by University Libraries and the Greenspun College of Urban Affairs, the educational series aims to develop solutions to overcoming racism and differences that impact our community and propose steps for individuals and communities to affect positive change.
“We will formulate solutions for the long-term work we must do to heal our country and move us forward,” White said. “This will take a commitment from all of us. These conversations will be difficult, but we must do this work.”
The series is split up into seven discussions and will feature Southern Nevada community members, UNLV alumni, and researchers surrounding issues of race and systemic racism.
Each panel discussion will be livestreamed by UNLV-TV. Links to the live stream episodes can be found on the Libraries website. The episodes will be available for later viewing and will be archived on the UNLV Libraries website.
The first panel Sept. 17 at 5:30 p.m. will define concepts of institutional racism and white supremacy within a historical context with A.B. Wilkinson, associate professor of history, Brenda Williams, President & Founder of the Westside School Alumni Foundation, and Kevin Wright, assistant director of student diversity at UNLV.
A panel on Oct. 1 will examine issues related to criminal justice reform, and the panel on Oct. 14 will address how communities of color are represented by news organizations and in digital media. Additional conversations will focus on issues related to inequality in education, economic challenges, and health disparities among communities of color.
Additional funding for the series is being provided by UNLV Libraries Advisory Board Members Sara Mason and Geri Tomich.
Chung, White, and UNLV Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies Librarian Brittani Sterling have created a catalog of educational tools to complement each conversation, with research articles, books, videos, and more.
We Need to Talk: Conversations on Racism for a More Resilient Las Vegas
All episodes will be livestreamed at 5:30 p.m. |
Getting Creative With Training Advice
Safety data sheets are a component of the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals. This system standardizes the criteria used to classify and communicate chemical hazards around the world. You will find that very many countries today are using this system so as to aid them to reach their objectives. Without the GHS safety data sheets, chemicals would be labelled multiple times since each country would have its own way of labelling chemicals. This article aims to give you more information about GHS safety data sheets.
Due to this system, workers who are involved in anything to do with the handling of chemicals are protected. Because of the standardized way of labelling chemicals, workers from all countries are aware of the chemicals they are dealing with at all times and the possible dangers they pose and they can therefore take measures to protect themselves accordingly.
Cases of lawsuits being filed against employers have reduced since with this system in place, they ae able to ensure that their workers are safe at all times through implementation of safety strategies. If you are an employer and your employees constantly deal with chemicals, it is important to ensure that they are all trained on the GHS safety data sheets so they are in a position to also take measures to protect themselves from the possible hazards of coming into contact with potentially dangerous chemicals. Before a lot of countries adopted the use of GHS safety data sheets, people were exposed to very many dangers in the workplace when handling chemicals because each country had its own way of labelling chemicals.
It is important to note that apart from protecting those that handle chemicals, this system also protects the environment. 7GHS safety data sheets protect the environment in that they contain information to do with how various chemicals react with air, water and other chemicals as well. The impact of releasing certain chemicals into the environment is also stated. Anybody who can read the GHS safety data sheets and cares about the environment is therefore able to take measures to ensure that dangerous chemicals are not released into the surrounding. Since this system was introduced, trade among countries has grown since 7there is no worry about possible mix ups due to disparities in labelling.
It is important to ensure that you have your GHS safety data sheets prepared by professional since the preparation process can be quite complicated.
An expert will be able to give the required information while maintaining the confidentiality of the ingredients you use to process your chemicals at the same time. When preparing GHS safety data sheets, language used should be very easy to understand so as to ensure that everybody knows which chemical they are dealing with regardless of their geographical location and the disparities in language and this is where a professional comes in handy. |
The events already related took place under the stress of circumstances, most of them unauthorized by Continental or Provincial Congress. It is now necessary to interrupt the narrative of naval operations in order to sketch briefly the various sources of authority and the administrative systems under which acted the different classes of vessels throughout the course of the war. These classes were: First, Continental vessels; second, the state navies; third, the privateers, commissioned either by the Continental government or by the various states, and in some cases by both (In the preparation of so much of this chapter as relates to the administration and organization of the American naval forms, Paullin's Navy of the American Revolution has been closely followed. See also Am. Arch., IV, iii, 1888-1904, 1917-1957; Works of John Adams, ii, 462-464, 469, 470, 479-484, iii, 6-12.)
Public vessels cruising under Continental authority comprised not only the Continental navy, strictly speaking, including vessels fitted out in France, but also the fleets organized by Washington in Massachusetts Bay in 1775 and later in New York; by Arnold on Lake Champlain in 1776 and by Pollock in 1778 on the Mississippi River.
General Washington took the first actual step towards placing a Continental force upon the sea by fitting out the schooner Hannah, which sailed from Beverly September 5, 1775, and returned to port two days later with a prize. An important measure in making effective the siege of Boston, then in progress, was the intercepting of supplies coming to the town by water; the supplies being at the same time of the utmost value to the American army investing the town. Before the end of the year seven other vessels, officered and manned from the army, were fitted out by Washington. The next year he organized a similar but smaller fleet at New York (see next chapter.)
The first official suggestion of a Continental navy came from the Assembly of Rhode Island which, August 26, 1775, declared "that the building and equipping an American fleet, as soon as possible, would greatly and essentially conduce to the preservation of the lives, liberty and property of the good people of these colonies," and instructed the delegates from that province in the Continental Congress "to use their whole influence at the ensuing congress for building at the Continental expence a fleet of sufficient force for the protection of these colonies." (Am. Arch., IV, iii, 231.) The Rhode Island delegates presented their instructions to Congress October 3 and this brought the matter fairly before that body. Discussion of these instructions was postponed from time to time and it was several weeks before definite action was taken on them. Meanwhile intelligence had been received of the sailing from England of two brigs laden with military supplies bound to Quebec. The practicability of intercepting these vessels was considered in Congress October 5. Strong opposition was developed on the part of a vociferous minority to any participation of the Continental government in maritime warfare; to them it appeared sheer madness to send ships out upon the sea to meet the overwhelming naval force of England. After a lively debate the matter was referred to a committee consisting of John Adams, John Langdon, and Silas Deane. Upon the recommendation of this committee it was decided to instruct Washington at once to procure two Massachusetts cruisers for that service and to request the cooperation of the governors of Rhode Island and Connecticut (Journals of Continental Congress, October 3, 5, 1775; Am. Arch., IV, iii, 950, 1038, 1888-1890.)
Elbridge Gerry wrote from Watertown, October 9, 1775, to Samuel Adams, then a member of the Continental Congress at Philadelphia, saying: "If the Continent should fit out a heavy ship or two and increase them as circumstances shall admit, the Colonies large privateers, and individuals small ones, surely we may soon expect to see the coast clear of cutters." (Am. Arch., IV, iii, 993.)
On the advice of the committee appointed October 5, Congress voted on the 13th to fit out two vessels, one of them to carry ten guns, to cruise three months to the eastward in the hope of intercepting British transports. Another committee of three was appointed to inquire into the expense. October 30, 1775, is an important date in naval legislation. Congress resolved to arm the second of the vessels already provided for with fourteen guns and also authorized two additional vessels which might carry as many as twenty and thirty-six guns respectively, "for the protection and defence of the United Colonies." By this vote Congress was fully committed to the policy of maintaining a naval armament. On the same day a committee of seven was formed by adding four members to those already appointed (Jour. Cont. Congr., October 6, 7, 13,17, 30, 1775.) This committee was the first executive body for the management of naval affairs. It was known as the Naval Committee and the members were John Langdon of New Hampshire, John Adams of Massachusetts, Stephen Hopkins of Rhode Island, Silas Deane of Connecticut, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, Joseph Hewes of North Carolina, and Christopher Gadsden of South Carolina.
During the closing months of 1775 much legislation necessary for the organization of the navy was enacted by Congress on the recommendation of the Naval Committee. In the beginning there was strong opposition to all enterprises of a naval character, but it gradually broke down before the arguments of the more far-sighted and reasonable members. November 10 the Marine Corps was established. On the 25th captures of British ships of war, transports, and supply vessels were authorized and the several colonies were advised to set up prize courts. The apportionment of the shares in prizes was prescribed. In the case of privateers all the proceeds went to the owners and captors; in the case of Continental or colony cruisers two thirds of the value of a prize when a transport or supply vessel, one half when a vessel of war, went to the government, while the captors took the rest. November 28, "Rules for the Regulation of the Navy of the United Colonies" (See Appendix II) were adopted. These early navy regulations were brief, relating chiefly to discipline and prescribing the ration and pay. The rules provided for courts martial, but not for courts of inquiry; there was much subsequent legislation on the subject of naval courts. Pensions for permanent disability and bounties, to be awarded in certain cases, were provided for, the necessary funds for which were to be set apart from the proceeds of prizes. The rules of November 28 were framed by John Adams and were based on British regulations. Adams was a leader in all this early legislation and the part he took in the founding of the Revolutionary navy was important and influential (Jour. Cont. Congr., November 10, 17, 23, 24, 25, 28, 1775; Adams's Works, iii, 7-11; Am. Arch., IV, v, 1111.)
In November the Naval Committee purchased four merchant vessels under the provisions of October 13 and 30, to be converted into men-of-war. These vessels, as named by the committee, were the ships Alfred and Columbus and the brigs Cabot and Andrew Doria. The first was named in honor of the supposed founder of the English navy, the second and third for famous discoverers, and the fourth for the great Genoese admiral. Other vessels were authorized and purchased from time to time, the first of which was a sloop called the Providence (Adams, iii, 12; Am. Arch., IV, iii, 1938; .Jour. Cont. Congr., December 2, 1775.)
Definite action was taken in Congress on the Rhode Island instructions December 11, when a committee of twelve was "appointed to devise ways and means for furnishing these colonies with a naval armament." Two days later this committee "brought in their report, which being read and debated was agreed to as follows: That five ships of thirty-two guns, five of twenty-eight guns, three of twenty-four guns, making in the whole thirteen, can be fitted for the sea probably by the last of March next, viz: in New Hampshire one, in Massachusetts Bay two, in Connecticut one, in Rhode Island two, in New York two, in Pennsylvania four, and in Maryland one. That the cost of these ships so fitted will not be more than 66,666 2/3 dollars each on the average, allowing two complete suits of sails for each ship, equal in the whole to 866,666 2/3 dollars."
Of these frigates, the Raleigh, of 32 guns, was built at Portsmouth, New Hampshire; the Hancock, 32, and the Boston, 24, at Salisbury and Newburyport on the Merrimac River; the Warren, 32, and the Providence, 28, at Providence; the Trumbull, 28, at Chatham on the Connecticut River; the Montgomery, 28, and the Congress, 24, at Poughkeepsie on the Hudson River; the Randolph, 32, Washington, 32, Effingham, 28, and Delaware, 24, at or near Philadelphia on the Delaware River; and the Virginia, 28, at Baltimore. The actual number of guns on a ship was generally in excess of the rate; a thirty-two gun frigate commonly carried about thirty-six guns. With a few exceptions these frigates were armed with no guns heavier than twelve-pounders. The smaller vessels of the Revolutionary navy carried only four and six-pounders. All were long guns; the light, short, large-calibre guns called carronades had not yet come into general use. Some vessels carried a secondary battery, mounted on deck or in the tops, of small light mortars called coehorns or of swivels, which were light guns mounted on pivots. December 13, 1775, the day when these thirteen frigates were provided for, is another important date in the early history of the navy. On the 14th a committee of thirteen was chosen by ballot to superintend the construction and equipment of the frigates (Jour. Cont. Congr., December 11, 13, 14, 1775. See Appendix V.)
From descriptions of three of these frigates, furnished nearly two years later to Admiral Howe, commanding the British fleet on the North American station, we are able to get an idea of their appearance and dimensions. The Hancock is describedas follows, beginning with the figure head: "A Man's Head with Yellow Breeches, white Stockings, Blue Coat with Yellow Button Holes, small cocked Hat with a Yellow Lace, has a Mast in lieu of an Ensign Staff with a Latteen Sail on it, has a Fore and Aft Driver Boom, with another across, Two Top Gallant Royal Masts, Pole mizen topmast, a whole Mizen Yard and mounts 32 Guns, has a Rattle Snake carved on the Stern, Netting all around the Ship, Stern Black and Yellow, Quarter Galleries all Yellow." "Principal Dimensions of the Rebel Frigate Hancock. Length on the upper Deck, 140 ft. 8 ins. Breadth on Do. 30.2. Length of Keel for Tonnage, 116.2 3/4. Extreme Breadth, 35.2. Depth in the Hold, 10.7. Burthen in Tons, 764. Heigth between Decks, 5.6. Do. in the Waste, 5.0. Size of the Gun Ports, fore & aft, 2.7. up & down, 2.2. Length on the Quarter Deck, 57.8. Length on the Forecastle, 31.3. Draught of Water, afore, 14.0, abaft, 15.10. Heigth of the Ports from the Surface of the Water, Forward, 9.0, Midships, 8.2, Abaft, 9.2." Then the Boston: "An IndianHead with a Bow and Arrow in the Hand, painted White, Red and Yellow, Two top gallant Royal Masts, Pole mizen topmast on which she hoists a Top gallant Sail, painted nearly like the Hancock with Netting all round, has a Garf, a Mast in room of an Ensign Staff with a Latteen Sail on it, and mounts 30 guns." "Dimensions of the Armed Ship named the Delaware...Length on the Gun Deck, 121 Feet; Keel for Tonnage, 96; Extreme Breadth, 32.6. The Ship lately built, Mounts twenty four Guns on the Upper Deck; And when furnished with proper Artillery, capable of carrying twelve Pounders with great facility." (Brit. Adm. Rec., Adm. Desp. 487, August 28, 1777, nos. 7 and 8; A. D. 488, November 23, 1777, no. 3.) The figures for the Warren and Providence, from the journal of the committee in charge of building those ships, are: length on the gun deck, 132 feet, 1 inch and 124.4, respectively; keel 110.10 3/4 and 102.8 1/2; beam, 34.5 1/2 and 33.10 3/8; hold 11, and 10.8. The committee voted to have a few eighteen pounders cast for these two frigates, and accordingly some guns of that weight were mounted on them (Magazine of History, December, 1908, and February, 1909. For the whole journal see lbid., November, 1908, to April, 1909. See Archives de la Marine, B7 459 (Whipple's letter of May 31, 1778)
Meanwhile, November 2, 1775, the Naval Committee had been given power by Congress to "agree with such officers and seamen as are proper to man and command " the vessels they had purchased and were fitting out. On the 5th the committee selected Esek Hopkins, an old sea captain of Providence and brother of Stephen Hopkins, for the command of this little fleet (Field's Life of Hopkins, 78.) December 7 John Paul Jones "was appointed Senior Lieut. of the Navy." (Jones MSS., October 10, 1776; Sands's Life of Jones, 33.) On the 22d the Naval Committee "laid before Congress a list of the officers by them appointed, agreeable to the resolutions of Congress, viz: Ezek Hopkins, Esqr., commander-in-chief of the fleet. Captains, Dudley Saltonstall, Esqr., of the Alfred, Abraham Whipple, Esqr., of the Columbus, Nicholas Biddle, Esqr., of the Andrew Doria, John Burrows Hopkins, Esqr., of the Cabot. 1st lieutenants, John Paul Jones [etc.] . . . Resolved, That the pay of the commander-in-chief of the Fleet be 125 dollars per calendar month. Resolved, That commissions be granted to the above officers agreeable to their rank in the above appointment." In addition to those named above there were in the list four other first lieutenants, five second lieutenants, and three third lieutenants (Jour. Cont. Congr., November 2, December 22, 1775.) This is the beginning of a list of officers for the Continental navy which, in the course of the war and including marine officers and those commissioned in France, contained nearly three hundred and thirty names (See Appendix VI.) There were in addition medical officers, pursers, midshipmen, and warrant officers of whom no lists have been preserved. The largest number of petty officers, seamen, and marines in the navy at any one time may have been about three thousand.
Uniforms for the officers of the navy were adopted by the Marine Committee September 5, 1776, but probably they were not commonly worn, as few officers could afford a complete outfit. For line officers a blue coat with red lapels, blue breeches, and red waistcoat were prescribed; for marine officers, a green coat faced with white and with a silver epaulette on the right shoulder, white waistcoat and breeches and black gaiters (Am. Arch., V, ii, 181.)
It has generally been supposed that the intention of Congress in making Hopkins commander-in-chief was to give him the same rank that Washington held in the army. It seems more likely, however, that Congress merely meant to give him command of this particular fleet. The wording of his appointment by the Naval Committee and of the resolutions quoted above, together with the fact that each of the captains was assigned, also by resolution of Congress, to a specified vessel, would indicate this. Stephen Hopkins, writing to Esek November 6, 1775, says: "You will perceive by a letter from the Committee, dated yesterday, that they have pitched upon you to take the Command of a Small Fleet, which they and I hope will be but the beginning of one much larger." (Hopkins, 78.) A resolution of Congress dated January 2, 1778, states that Hopkins "was appointed commander in chief of the fleet fitted out by the Naval Committee." (Jour. Cont. Congr., January 2, 1778.) He does not appear to have been mentioned officially and authoritatively, that is to say by the Naval or Marine Committee, though he was once by a special committee (Sands, 310.), as the commander-in-chief of the navy. In addition to his own fleet, several other Continental vessels cruised in 1776, which do not seem to have been under his orders (see ch. V) Hopkins was an elderly man at this time, having been born in 1718. He had spent much of his life at sea and was a privateersman in the French and Indian War (Hopkins, ch. i.)
Of the members of the committee of thirteen chosen December 14, 1775, "for carrying into execution the resolutions of Congress for fitting out armed vessels," ten had served on the committee of twelve which had recommended building the frigates and five had been members of the original Naval Committee. This new committee, consisting of one representative from each colony, became the second executive body for the administration of naval affairs. It was called the Marine Committee and was at first constituted as follows: Josiah Bartlett of New Hampshire, John Hancock of Massachusetts, Stephen Hopkins of Rhode Island, Silas Deane of Connecticut, Francis Lewis of New York, Stephen Crane of New Jersey, Robert Morris of Pennsylvania, George Read of Delaware, Samuel Chase of Maryland, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, Joseph Hewes of North Carolina, Christopher Gadsden of South Carolina, and John Houston of Georgia. The membership changed from time to time. The Naval Committee continued in the meantime to occupy itself in fitting out the small fleet of vessels purchased for the service and placed under the command of Commodore Hopkins, and to prepare for an expedition which was being planned. January 25,1776, although the Marine Committee had already taken charge of general naval affairs, Congress voted to leave the direction of this fleet to the Naval Committee, which soon afterwards, this duty being accomplished, ceased to exist (Jour. Cont. Congr., January 25,1776.) The Marine Committee employed agents to supervise the construction of the frigates in the distant colonies, taking charge itself of those at Philadelphia. Before the end of the year 1775 the organization of a Continental navy was achieved.
In the course of time the mass of details connected with naval administration became too much for the Marine Committee easily to handle. Prize agents in the various seacoast towns were appointed to superintend the trial and condemnation of the prizes taken by Continental cruisers. Most of the prize agents were also Continental agents, in which capacity they performed various other duties of a naval sort. John Bradford at Boston had the most important of these agencies (Am. Arch., V, ii, 1113, 1114.) For the further relief of the Marine Committee and at their suggestion, Congress appointed three persons, November 6, 1776, "to execute the business of the navy, under the direction" of the committee. This body of three was known as the Navy Board and the men appointed to serve on it were John Nixon and John Wharton of Pennsylvania and Francis Hopkinson of New Jersey. The lack of maritime knowledge and experience among members of Congress was keenly felt at this time. William Ellery of Rhode Island, who had recently become a member of the Marine Committee, wrote home to his friend William Vernon, November 7, 1776, "The Conduct of the Affairs of a Navy as well as those of an Army We are yet to learn. We are still unacquainted with the systematical Management of them." (Publications of R.I. Hist. Soc., viii (January, 1901), 201.) April 19, 1777, another committee of three was authorized, to take charge of naval affairs in New England; the men selected for this board were William Vernon of Rhode Island, James Warren of Massachusetts, and John Deshon of Connecticut. The first of these boards was then called the Navy Board of the Middle Department or District, the second the Navy Board of the Eastern Department, or they were called the boards at Philadelphia and at Boston respectively (Jour. Cont. Congr., April 23, November 6,1776, April 19,1777.)
The Eastern Navy Board, owing to its distance from the seat of government at Philadelphia, was allowed more discretion and became a more important body than that of the middle department. The greater naval activity in New England waters, due to remoteness from the centre of military operations, put more work and responsibility on the eastern board. Its original members retained office several years without change. Their instructions, dated July 10, 1777, imposed upon them "the Superintendance of all Naval and Marine Affairs of the United States of America within the four Eastern States under the direction of the Marine Committee" in "whatever relates to the Building, Manning, and fitting for Sea all Armed Vessels of the United States built, or ordered by the Congress to build in the Eastern Department, and to provide all materials and Stores necessary for that purpose." They were "to keep an exact Register of all the Officers, Sailors, and Marines in the Continental Navy fitted and Manned within" the eastern district, and were "empower'd to order Courts Martial." They were also instructed to keep strict account of expenditures and to do many other things (Publ. R.I. Hist. Soc., viii, 207-210.)
With further experience it became apparent that the Marine Committee was too large and its members too deficient in special knowledge of naval science to admit of prompt, capable, and expert handling of the affairs entrusted to them. In October, 1776, John Paul Jones wrote to Robert Morris (Am. Arch., V, ii, 1106; Sands, 55) that efficiency in naval administration could only be obtained by the appointment of a competent board of admiralty. William Ellery wrote to William Vernon, February 26, 1777: "The Congress are fully sensible of the Importance of having a respectable Navy and have endeavoured to form and equip One, but through Ignorance and Neglect they have not been able to accomplish their Purpose yet. I hope however to see One afloat before long. A proper Board of Admiralty is very much wanted. The Members of Congress are unacquainted with this Department. As One of the Marine Committee I sensibly feel my Ignorance in this Respect." (Publ. R. I. Hist. Soc., viii, 204.) For three years, however, little was done in the way of improving administration except the appointment of the navy boards and agents. Finally, October 28, 1779, upon the recommendation of the Marine Committee a Board of Admiralty was established by Congress. This was a body of five members, two of whom were to be members of Congress, while the other three, called commissioners, were to be men possessing a knowledge of naval matters. A quorum of three was necessary for the transaction of business. The Marine Committee then came to an end, but the navy boards at Philadelphia and Boston and the navy agents were retained under this reorganization (Jour. Cont. Congr., June 9, October 28, 1779.)
Positions on the Board of Admiralty were declined by several to whom they were offered, and it was not only difficult to keep two congressional members continuously on the board, but it proved to be impossible to find three suitable persons willing to serve as commissioners. Consequently the membership was never full and the work of the board was much interrupted by frequent lack of a quorum. As first organized, in December, 1779, the Board of Admiralty contained three members: Francis Lewis of New York, commissioner; James Forbes of Maryland and William Ellery of Rhode Island, congressional members. A few months later Forbes died and his place was taken by James Madison of Virginia. The Board of Admiralty was much hampered by half-hearted cooperation on the part of Congress and by want of money. Its membership dwindled to a point where nothing could be done in default of a quorum, until finally, in the summer of 1781, it passed out of existence (Jour. Cont. Congr., November 26, December 3, 7, 8, 1779.)
Meanwhile, February 7, 1781, Congress had passed a resolution putting the affairs of the navy under a single head, to be called the Secretary of Marine. No one was found, however, to take the place and the office was never filled. Robert Morris, who as Superintendent of Finance had close relations with the navy, gradually assumed direction of naval affairs as the Board of Admiralty became more and more helpless. August 29 Congress voted to appoint an Agent of Marine to take charge of naval matters until a secretary could be found, and September 7 it placed these affairs under the care of the Superintendent of Finance until an agent could be appointed. The navy boards were abolished, although the board at Boston continued its functions several months longer. The result of it all was that Morris continued to direct naval affairs, as Agent of Marine, during the remainder of the war. He had already served on the Marine Committee and his great ability, business experience, and familiarity with maritime affairs made him the best executive head that the navy could have had (Jour. Cont. Congr., February 7, August 29, September 7, 1781.)
By way of summary it is perhaps well to review in a few words the history of the administration of the Continental navy. The first executive of the service was the Naval Committee which in 1775 began the work of organizing a navy. Next came the Marine Committee which directed naval affairs for four years, ending in December 1779. Then followed the Board of Admiralty which managed the department a year and a half, when, in the summer of 1781, Robert Morris took charge and as Agent of Marine remained at the head of the navy until after the end of the war.
As soon as representatives of the United States had established themselves in France, naval affairs became an important part of their duties. This began in July, 1776, with Silas Deane, the first American agent. After the arrival of Benjamin Franklin and Arthur Lee in the following December, to serve with Deane as commissioners, they shared the duties with him, although he still continued to exercise special supervision of naval matters until the spring of 1778, when he was superseded as commissioner by John Adams. After this, Franklin did the largest share of naval work, and from the time of his assuming the office of minister to France in February, 1779, he had sole charge of naval affairs abroad until the end of the war. This naval office in Paris had agents in various ports of France and in a few of Spain and Holland. It performed many functions, such as buying, building, manning, and fitting out vessels and providing naval stores, commissioning officers, directing cruises, disposing of prizes, exchanging prisoners, and commissioning privateers. Besides this office in France the naval interests of the United States in the West Indies and in Louisiana were entrusted to agents. These were William Bingham at Martinique, and Oliver Pollock in New Orleans (Paullin, ch. ix; Wharton's Diplomatic Correspondence of the Revolution, letters of Deans and Franklin; Hale's Franklin in France.)
The sentiment of local independence and the loose federation of the colonies, united only for mutual protection, naturally led to individual action, and the need that each state felt of the defense of its own shores, too urgent to wait for the deliberations of the Continental Congress, brought about the establishment of separate small navies; so that, in addition to the Continental navy, eleven of the thirteen states maintained armed vessels, New Jersey and Delaware being the exceptions. Naval administration in the various states was generally, at the outset, in charge of the Committee of Safety, and later, of the state executive or of a board which had under its care naval affairs alone or in combination with military affairs. The state navies varied much in size and force. Being used chiefly for coast defense, the vessels were usually smaller than those of the Continental navy, and many of them were merely boats and galleys adapted for operating in shallow waters. Some of the state ships, however, were ocean cruisers of considerable size and force (For the state navies, see Paullin, chs. xi-xvii.)
The first American armed vessels commissioned by any public authority were two sloops fitted out by Rhode Island, June 15, 1775. The people of this colony had been annoyed by the British frigate Rose, cruising in Narragansett Bay. These sloops immediately went to sea under the command of Abraham Whipple, and on the same day, June 15, chased ashore and destroyed a tender of the Rose (Boston Gazette, July 3, 1775; Historical Magazine, April, 1868; Am. Arch., IV, ii, 1118; Hopkins, 63-67; Brit. Adm. Rec., A. D. 485, June 19, 1775.) One of the sloops, the Katy, was subsequently taken into the Continental service under the name Providence. The state of Rhode Island afterwards kept a small force cruising in the bay.
In the course of the war the Massachusetts
navy comprised fifteen seagoing vessels and one galley.
The Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, after some ineffectual attempts in June, 1775, to provide for armed vessels, made a beginning August 21, by taking the Machias Liberty and Diligent into the service of the colony (Jour. Third Provincial Congress of Mass., June 7, 11, 13, 20, 1775.) The actual establishment of a state navy, however, came in the following winter, when a committee was appointed December 29, of which John Adams was a member, "to consider & report a plan for fitting out Armed Vessels for the defence of American Liberty." (Records of General Court of Mass., December 29, 1775, January 11, February 7, 8, 17, April 20, 1776; Paullin, ch. xi.) In decisive action looking towards a naval force Connecticut preceded Massachusetts. Early in July, 1775, two vessels were provided for and in August they were purchased. A valuable prize was taken in October. Connecticut fitted out twelve vessels during the war, four of them galleys (Papers New London Hist. Soc., Part IV, i (1893), 34; Am. Arch., IV, iii, 264-268; Paullin, ch. xii.)
Pennsylvania began July 6, 1775, by providing for the defense of the Delaware River by means of boats and galleys. The Pennsylvania navy consisted of about ten vessels and nearly thirty boats and galleys for river and bay defense. The fleet was under the command of a commodore (Am. Arch., IV, iii, 495, 510, 511, 858, 862, 1811, 1820, 1836, 1839, iv, 515, 521; Penn. Archives, Series II, i; Wallace's Life of William Bradford; Paullin, ch. xiii.) The Virginia navy, authorized by the Provincial Convention in December, 1775, comprised first and last seventy two vessels of all classes including many ships, brigs and schooners; but apparently most of them were small, poorly manned, and lightly armed, and were used largely for commerce. The naval duties of the fleet were confined mostly to Chesapeake Bay (Southern Literary Messenger, January to April, 1857; Virginia Hist. Register, July, April, October, 1848; Va. Mag. Hist. and Biogr., July, 1893; Am. Arch., IV, iv, 114, 866, v, 227, vi, 1598; Paullin, ch. xiv.) Maryland shared with Virginia the defense of Chesapeake Bay, and in addition to one vessel of some size and force, maintained a considerable fleet of galleys, boats, and barges (Am. Arch., IV, v, 1509,1510.) The chief concern of North Carolina was to protect and keep open Ocracoke Inlet, connecting Pamlico Sound with the ocean, through which an important part of the commerce, not only of North Carolina but of Virginia, was carried on. A small fleet for this purpose was stationed in the sounds (Ibid., 1357, 1363.) Georgia's navy was small and unimportant, consisting mostly of galleys. A schooner, however, was commissioned as early as June, 1775 9Paullin, ch. xvi, for Georgia, Maryland, and North Carolina.) The defense of Charleston required a considerable force, and South Carolina was one of the first states to begin the organization of a navy. She appears to have had about fifteen sea-going vessels, some of them larger and more heavily armed than any other state or Continental ships. The force also included several galleys (Am. Arch., IV, iii, 180, iv, 45-54; Paullin, ch. xv.) As regards the two remaining states, New York's naval enterprise was confined to organizing a small fleet for local defense. The early occupation by the British of New York City and the adjacent waters prevented any further operations (Jour. Prov. Congr. of New York, i, 228, 349; Am. Arch., IV, v, 1401, 1450.) New Hampshire voted in 1776 to build a galley and appointed a committee to procure an armed vessel. After this her only naval activity, aside from encouraging privateering and setting up a prize court, consisted in fitting out a twenty-two-gun ship for temporary service in 1779 (Ibid., 10, 15, 17, 24; Paullin, ch. xvii.)
Privateers composed the third and a very important class of vessels employed during the Revolution. The word privateer was used at that time, and later, too, with the utmost disregard of its true meaning. Persons with an understanding of maritime affairs constantly spoke of Continental and state cruisers, especially the smaller ones, as privateers. The term was often wrongly used even in official correspondence. It is necessary that lines should be sharply drawn between these different classes of armed vessels. Letters of marque, so called from the letters or commissions they carried, were armed trading vessels authorized to make prizes. They also were generally, and more properly, called privateers. The latter name should, strictly speaking, be reserved for private armed vessels carrying no cargo and devoted exclusively to warlike use. All kinds of armed vessels, however, during the Revolution, even Continental frigates, were employed under special circumstances as cargo carriers.
The General Court of Massachusetts, November 1, 1775, passed "An Act for Encouraging the Fixing out of Armed Vessells, to defend the Sea Coast of America, and for Erecting a Court to Try and Condemn all Vessells that shall be found infesting the same." The preamble of this important measure, written by Elbridge Gerry, set forth in detail the justification of the colonists in taking up arms. "Whereas the present administration of Great Britain, being divested of justice and humanity and strangers to that magnanimity and sacred regard for liberty which inspired their venerable predecessors, have been endeavouring thro' a series of years to establish a system of despotism over the American colonies and by their venal and corrupt measures have so extended their influence over the British parliament that, by a prostituted majority, it is now become a political engine of slavery; and whereas the military tools of these our unnatural enemies, while restrained by the united forces of the American colonies from proceeding in their sanguinary career of devastation and slaughter, are infesting the sea coast with armed vessells and daily endeavouring to distress the inhabitants by burning their towns and destroying their dwellings . . . and making captures of provision and other vessels, being the property of said inhabitants; and whereas their majesties King William and Queen Mary by the royal charter of this colony . . . did grant, establish and ordain that, in the absence of the governor and lieutenant-governor of the colony, a majority of the council shall have full power . . . for the special defence of their said province or territory, to assemble in martial array and put in warlike posture the inhabitants of their said province or territory and to lead and conduct them and with them to encounter, expulse, resist and pursue by force of arms, as well by sea as by land, . . . and also to kill, slay, destroy, and conquer by all fitting ways, enterprizes and means whatsoever all and every such person and persons as should at any time thereafter attempt or enterprize the destruction, invasion, detriment or annoyance of their said province or territory . . . ; and whereas it is expressly resolved by the grand Congress of America, 'That each colony, at their own expence, make such provision by armed vessells or otherwise . . . as their respective assemblies . . . shall judge expedient . . . for the protection of their harbours and navigation on the sea-coasts,' . . . and it is the duty and interest of this colony to exert itself, as well for the purpose of keeping supplies from the enemy as for those mentioned in the paragraphs of the charter and resolve now recited; therefore . . . Be it enacted," etc. This act authorized a majority of the council to commission masters of private armed vessels. During the following winter and spring other acts were passed supplementing or superseding that of November 1. Courts for the trial of prizes were established at Plymouth, Ipswich, and Falmouth (Portland); and April 13, 1776, it was provided that in addition to these places courts might also be held in Barnstable or Dartmouth for the southern district, in Boston, Salem, or Newburyport for the middle district, and in Pownalborough (Wiscasset) for the eastern district (Acts and Resolves of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, November 1, 1775, February 14, March 19, April 13, May 8, 1776.) Massachusetts probably sent out not far from one half of all the American private armed vessels commissioned during the Revolution.
The Continental Congress authorized privateering March 23,1776, and on April 2 and 3 adopted a form of Commission for privateers and resolved to send copies in blank, signed by the President of Congress, to the various colonies, there to be issued to privateersmen giving bonds; a set of instructions for commanding officers was drafted (See Appendix III.) Several of the colonies or states used these Continental commissions altogether, not establishing state privateering. Pennsylvania sent out flve hundred vessels under Continental commissions and, it is believed, used no others. Six hundred and twenty-six Massachusetts privateers sailed under Continental letters of marque, but that state also sent nearly a thousand others to sea under her own commissions; it is probable, however, that in many instances the same vessel may have sailed at one time under one commission and later under the other. New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maryland, and South Carolina, and probably some of the other states, issued their own commissions, but the first four also employed those of the Congress - Connecticut and Maryland more than two hundred each. Sixty-four Virginia privateers sailed under Continental commissions. The American Commissioners in Paris - later the minister to France - and the naval agent of Congress in the West Indies likewise commissioned privateers. A rough estimate only of the total number and force of American vessels engaged in privateering on the patriotic side during the Revolution is possible. The Library of Congress has printed a list of nearly seventeen hundred letters of marque issued by the Continental Congress to privateers carrying, approximately, fifteen thousand guns - probably light ones for the most part - and fifty-nine thousand men. After deducting duplicates, that is to say, in cases of two or more commissions being successively issued to the same vessel, and deducting also armed boats and galleys, there remain more than thirteen hundred sea-going vessels. The thousand commissions issued by Massachusetts probably represented more than seven hundred different vessels, after making the same proportionate allowance for duplicates. Several hundred additional privateers must have been commissioned by other states and in France and the West Indies. Assuming the total number of private armed vessels to have been two thousand, and there were probably a good many more, they doubtless carried very nearly eighteen thousand guns and seventy thousand men. There seem to have been about the same number of British privateersmen, according to Governor Hutchinson, who, speaking of the difficulty of manning the British navy, says: "Some have proposed pressing the crews of all privateers, in which service it is computed 70,000 men are employed." (Diary, ii, 264 (June 27, 1779.) Judging from the scanty information at hand concerning British privateering, it is probable that their vessels engaged in this form of warfare were considerably less numerous but decidedly superior in force to the Americans; the latter seem to have carried on the average between eight and nine guns and less than thirty-five men, the British about seventeen guns and seventy-five or more men (Jour. Cont. Congr., March 23, April 2, 3, 1776, May 2,1780; Naval Records of Amer. Rev. (calendar), 217-495; Emmons's Statistical History of the Navy, 127; Mass. Archives, clxiv to clxxii; Penn. Archives, II, i, 366; Papers New London Hist. Soc., IV, i, 27; Sheffield's Rhode Island Privateers; Paullin; Diary and Letters of Thomas Hutchinson; Williams's History of Liverpool Privateers, App. iv, list of 95 vessels; London Chronicle, April 1, 29,1779, lists of 100 privateers from Liverpool and 121 from New York; Brit. Adm. Rec., A. D. 489, February 27, 1779, No. 3, list of 69 New York privateers. See Appendix VII.)
Valuable service to the country was rendered by the privateers, and they contributed in a large degree to the naval defense, and so to the fortunate outcome of the war. On the other hand, the system was subject to abuses and was in many ways detrimental to the regular naval service. William Whipple, writing to Josiah Bartlett from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, July 12, 1778, says: "I agree with you that the privateers have much distressed the trade of our Enemies, but had there been no privateers is it not probable there would have been a much larger number of Public Ships than has been fitted out, which might have distressed the Enemy nearly as much & furnished these States with necessaries on much better terms than they have been supplied by Privateers ? . . . No kind of Business can so effectually introduce Luxury, Extravagance and every kind of Dissipation, that tend to the destruction of the morals of people. Those who are actually engaged in it soon lose every Idea of right & wrong, & for want of an opportunity of gratifying their insatiable avarice with the property of the Enemies of their Country, will without the least compunction seize that of her Friends . . . There is at this time 5 Privateers fitting out here, which I suppose will take 400 men. These must be by far the greater part Countrymen, for the Seamen are chiefly gone, & most of them in Hallifax Gaol. Besides all this, you may depend no public ship will ever be manned while there is a privateer fitting out. The reason is plain: Those people who have the most influence with Seamen think it their interest to discourage the Public service, because by that they promote their own interest, viz., Privateering." (Historical Magazine, March, 1862.)
As intimated in the foregoing, privateers at times made trouble by seizing neutral vessels. In his advocacy of a strong navy in preference to a service under private control Whipple was in advance of his time. William Vernon, of the Navy Board at Boston, wrote to John Adams, December 17, 1778, that the Continental ships in port "may sail in Three Weeks, if it was possible to get Men, wch we shall never be able to accomplish, unless some method is taken to prevent desertion, and a stopage of Private Ships Sailing, until our ships are Mann'd. The infamous practice of seducing our Men to leave the ships and taking them off at an out-Port, with many other base methods, will make it impossible ever to get our ships ready to Sail in force, or perhaps otherwise than single Ships." He wishes that "an Embargo upon all Private Property, whether Arm'd or Merchant ships, may take Place thro' all the United States, until the Fleet is compleatly Mann'd.... You can scarsely form an Idea of the increase and groath of the extravagance of the People in their demands for Labour and every Article for Sale &c; dissipation has no bounds at present; when or where it will stop, or if a reform will take place, I dare not predict." (Publ. R. I. Hist. Soc., viii, 256.) The expedient of laying a temporary embargo upon privateers was occasionally resorted to.
A more favorable opinion of privateering is found in a letter of John Adams to the President of Congress, dated Amsterdam, September 16, 1780. Speaking of commerce destroying he says: "This is a short, easy, and infallible method of humbling the English, preventing the effusion of an ocean of blood, and bringing the war to a conclusion. In this policy I hope our countrymen will join [the French and Spanish] with the utmost alacrity. Privateering is as well understood by them as any people whatsoever; and it is by cutting off supplies, not by attacks, sieges, or assaults, that I expect deliverance from enemies." (Wharton, iv, 58. On the Profits Of privateering, see Channing, iii, 398.)
No doubt what was then needed, as in every war, was a well-balanced naval force made up of a sufficient number of fighting ships and commerce destroyers in the right proportions. Privateering was more popular than the regular naval service on account of the greater freedom from the restraints of military discipline and because the profits were larger; for privateersmen were devoted almost wholly to commerce destroying and were consequently likely to take more prizes in the long run. In addition to this and besides having higher pay, the entire value of their prizes went to the owners and captors. When the prizes of Continental cruisers were ships of war, one half the proceeds went to the captors, and in other cases only one third. In October, 1776, Congress increased the shares of the captors to the whole and to one half the value of these two classes of prizes respectively, in order to put Continental vessels more nearly on terms of equality with privateers. Bounties and other inducements were resorted to for the purpose of obtaining recruits. It would probably have been better if not more than half as many private commissions had been issued, provided that a correspondingly more powerful regular fleet could have been put upon the sea (Jour. Cont. Congr., April 17, August 5, October 30, 1776, March 29, 1777, July 11, 1780. For further discussion of privateering and commerce destroying, see ch. XIX.)
It occasionally happened during the Revolution that vessels built or purchased and fitted out for the Continental service subsequently found their way into one of the state navies, or perhaps became privateers ; and the reverse was also true in one or two instances. It was also the case not infrequently that two or all three of the different classes of vessels cruised together in squadrons or on expeditions. Officers likewise, beginning as privateersmen or in state service, were sometimes transferred to the Continental navy; and, on the other hand, unemployed Continental officers and seamen, especially towards the end of the war, sought service in the state navies or in privateers. For these reasons there was to some extent a sort of blending of the three classes of sea service, both as regards ships and personnel. The narrative therefore will follow a more natural course in describing the naval operations of the war to a certain extent in a chronological or geographical order and not strictly in conformity with the classes of service concerned.
The disparity between the sea power of America and that of England, great as it actually was, will be found less marked than mere figures would indicate, when we inquire into the true condition of the British fleet and of naval administration in England. Our enemy had many difficulties to contend with which must be set off against the numbers of ships, guns, and men to be found in statistical tables. After the Revolution of 1688 the navy was less dependent on the King than it formerly had been and looked more to Parliament for favor, which was an advantage in some ways, but brought the service more into partisan politics. During the first three quarters and more of the eighteenth century the British navy suffered much from corruption and mismanagement in civil administration, and at times also from incompetent commanders at sea. Before the end of the Seven Years' War in 1763 a high degree of efficiency had been brought about, but after that a decided falling off took place and continued many years (Hannay's Short History of the Royal Navy, ii, 2, 101, 117, 118,133,134,136.)
It is not easy to make an estimate of the real strength of the British navy at the time of the American Revolution, for figures derived from different sources vary, and many ships were sent to sea in such poor condition that they were by no means able to perform the service to be expected from their nominal force. The number of vessels of all classes in 1775 was stated to be two hundred and seventy, including one hundred and thirty-one ships of the line, that is, ships carrying sixty or more guns on two or more decks; in 1783 the number was four hundred and sixty- eight, including a hundred and seventy-four ships of the line. During the same time the number of men increased from eighteen thousand to one hundred and ten thousand. In January, 1778, there were supposed to be two hundred and seventy-four vessels of all classes ready for immediate service, of which ninety-two were on the North American station besides thirteen at Newfoundland and forty-one in the West Indies. At the end of the year the total effective force was three hundred and seventeen, while the numbers in the Western Hemisphere were somewhat reduced. These figures seem formidable when compared with those of the Continental navy, including Washington's little fleet in Massachusetts Bay, which comprised altogether, during the whole course of the war, between fifty and sixty vessels in actual service, rating from thirty-two-gun frigates down to small schooners and sloops. To these are to be added the small craft on inland waters, the state navies, including perhaps forty or more sea-going cruisers, and the privateers, numerous to be sure, and capable of inflicting serious injury upon commerce, but in no sense a menace even to the lighter regular cruisers of the enemy. These American figures of course very greatly exceed the number in service at any one time. Nevertheless the British were beset with manifold troubles and their ships found plenty of occupation. The active and fast-sailing rebel privateers required close watching and led their pursuers many a long chase. Supplies had to be brought from Europe, and for the convoy of these as well as of troop-ships a considerable part of their force must be diverted from purely warlike employment. The loss of the seafaring population of America as a source of supply for the manning of the British navy was likewise severely felt at a time when naval expansion was necessary. In 1778 the navy of France and later those of Spain and Holland entered the contest against England and threatened her naval supremacy (Hannay, ii, 210-214, 219; Clowes's Royal Navy, iii, 327, 328; Schomberg's Naval Chronology, i, 424, 436, 440, 453, ii, 1, 36, 68, 124; Beatson's Naval and Military Memoirs, iv, 291; Data collected by R. W. Neeser from Parliamentary Reports and other sources. See also Weeser's Introduction to Naval History Society Publications, iii.)
Yet a foe to the British navy more malign than foreign navies was found in the Admiralty at home, and that was maladministration. In 1771 the Earl of Sandwich, who had previously been first lord of the Admiralty for two short terms, was again appointed to the office and held it until 1782. The administration of the navy under Sandwich was not only weak, but reached nearly the lowest depths of corruption. In 1778, "embezzlement, larceny, swindling" and other like abuses prevailed in the dockyards. Money was voted for repairs and the ships were not repaired. "Vessels reported as well found and ready for sea lay in the naval harbours rotting." From 1775 to 1782, seventy-six vessels of the navy, including fourteen of sixty-four or more guns, "capsized, foundered, or were wrecked." The nation was charged with four thousand more men than were rated on the books of the navy. There was collusion between dockyard officials and shipowners; the former would inspect and condemn vessels and the latter, having bought a ship, would change her name and appearance and sell her back to the government for transport service (Belcher's First American Civil War, i, 290-292.) Some of the admirals participated in the fruits of embezzlement, and the management of naval affairs at New York under Arbuthnot was corrupt. Maltreatment of seamen, bad food, scurvy, and other evils were due largely to the dishonesty of pursers. Insubordination and disaffection resulted, and it was said that from 1774 to 1780 forty-two thousand men deserted from the navy. During the same time eighteen thousand died of disease. Incompetent medical service was the rule, and the mortality, especially in tropical seas, was appalling; but an exception to this is to be found in the fleet of Admiral Rodney, whose surgeon brought about reforms which saved countless lives (Belcher, 295-297, 304-308; Publications of Navy Records Soc., xxxii, 80-83; Hannay, ii, 205-210, 214-216; Mass. Hist. Soc. Proc., xliv, 364-368 ; Data collected by R. W. Neeser.)
Charles Middleton, the comptroller of the navy, in the course of correspondence with Sandwich, spoke very plainly of the abuses in naval administration (Navy Rec. Soc., xxxviii, 2-10, 16-30.) In 1779 he writes, "The desertions from ships and hospitals are beyond imagination. The discipline of service is entirely lost, and to a great measure owing to admiralty indulgences, but still more to admiralty negligence. The want of vigour at that board has weakened its authority to such a degree over the officers of the fleet, that no respect is paid to its orders . . . For want of Plan, for want of men of professional knowledge used to business to assist at the admiralty, and for want of method and execution, one error has produced another, and the whole has become such a mass of confusion, that I see no prospect of reducing it to order. All I can do at the navy office will avail but little if the admiralty continues what it is at present. It is, indeed, so wretchedly bad, that if I waited for official orders and kept within the mere line of duty without pressing or proposing what ought to come unasked for, we must inevitably stand still . . . The whole system of the admiralty is rotten . . . The dockyards, from want of proper attention to appointments, are in wretched disabled state, without spirit, without discipline." (Navy Rec. Soc., xxxviii, 4, 5, 6.) In another letter he says: "For want of proper men to conduct the business at the ports, no expedition is used in refitting the ships. The officers are not kept to their duty. The men are daily deserting in scores, and those who remain are inclined to mutiny." (Ibid., 7.) Again, February 3, 1781, after relating much of the same sort, he observes: "I cannot be an acquiescent witness of the present weak state of the yards, and likely to continue so, according to the current arrangements, at a crisis when the utmost efforts of every officer in every department of the navy from the highest to the lowest, are most loudly demanded." (Ibid., 26.) To this Sandwich replies: "I have neither leisure nor inclination to enter into a discussion upon the subject of the letter with which you have favoured me." (Ibid., 27.) In 1786, Middleton, speaking of Sandwich's administration, says that "all his successors, notwithstanding their great pretensions to a regard for the public service, have proceeded in the same way; and I find politics have got too great a hold on this branch of the navy for me to withstand it." (Navy Rec. Soc., xxxviii, 30.)
It may be inferred from all this that the British navy was less formidable than the imposing array of ships on the printed lists would indicate; and yet service traditions of the right sort and fitness for the sea gave the English a superiority as a fighting force over other European navies out of proportion to their numbers. |
Posted on: 29 April 2016Share
Wood chippers are used for tasks like chipping tree waste, creating mulch and dealing with yard debris. Chippers are easy to use; just feed the debris in one end and it comes out the other end broken down into tiny bits. This process can also do the same to your limbs if a hand or arm gets caught in one of these machines. This is why it is important to follow some safety rules when working with this type of equipment. Some of the precautions that you should take are:
1. Wear Well Fitting Clothing That Does Not Get Caught On Objects
Wearing loose clothing can be the cause of injuries working with many different types of equipment. This is especially the case with wood chippers, which getting your shirt caught in one can cause you to be eaten by the machine; literally. This is why it is important that you wear clothing that is not too tight to allow you to move and not loose. In addition, do not where anything with strings and other objects that can get caught on debris or parts of the machine.
2. Inspect The Machine For Safety Problems Before You Start Using It
Loose parts of a machine can be another cause of injury when working with wood chippers. Before you start working with the equipment, check all the safety mechanisms and look for loose parts that can fly off and cause injury. Do not use machines that have broken parts, missing guards or faulty safety mechanisms. If you rent a machine, take it back to the service you got it from. If you own a wood chipper, you can take it back to the dealer for repair or trade it for a new one.
3. Stay Safe Wearing Helmet, Eye Protection And A Good Pair Of Leather Gloves
Stay safe when working with equipment like wood chippers by wearing the appropriate protection. This includes the normal safety glasses and gloves, which leather gloves are the best for handling tree and garden waste. In addition, it is a good idea to wear a helmet with ear protection to prevent head injuries if debris comes flying out of the machine.
4. Pay Attention When Feeding The Machine And Let The Chipper Do The Work
One of the ways that people get injured the most with wood chippers is that they literally get eaten by the machines. This can happen in a couple of ways; one way is that you hold on to branches too long and they pull you into the machine. When you see that the machine has started to eat a branch, let it go and let the machine do the work. If the branch gets caught, use another branch to push it in. Never put your hand in the mouth of a wood chipper while it is running. In addition, loose clothing can get caught on branches and cause people to be pulled into the machine. Stay clear of anything that can catch you and pull you into the machine. It is best to stand to one side of the machine while feeding it to avoid flying debris or being pulled into the machine.
These are some of the precautions that you will want to make before you start working with a wood chipper. If you need a wood chipper to deal with a tree problem, you can contact a construction tools service to get the machine you need for your project. |
One in every five samples of groundwater used as a source
for drinking contains at least one contaminant at a level of concern for human
health, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey report.
About 115 million people—more than one-third of the Nation’s
population—rely on groundwater for drinking water, and the need for
high-quality drinking-water supplies is becoming more urgent as the Nation’s
USGS scientists assessed water quality in source (untreated)
water from 6,600 wells in regionally extensive aquifers that supply most of the
groundwater pumped for the Nation’s drinking water, irrigation, and other uses.
The new USGS reports highlight how geology, hydrology, geochemistry, and
chemical use affect the concentrations of individual contaminants in
Regional summaries of where and why groundwater is
vulnerable to contamination now are available for the following aquifers and
These reports and the associated water quality data are
Additional information on the USGS National Water-Quality
Assessment Program’s groundwater quality activities for the next decade is |
Students created very imaginative Noah’s Arks after studying the Bible story in 1st grade. Projects are an important part of experiential learning. As students use all of their senses to reinforce the learning, it is imprinted in their memory in a powerful way. These projects are also a lot of fun. Enjoy! |
When Native American Heritage Month rolls around, Kentuckians with Native American roots usually take notice. Regionally, Kentucky not only played a large part in migration patterns for several eastern tribes but it also sits very close to a major tribal area: The Eastern Band of the Cherokee. Many Kentuckians have heard oral traditions passed down that claim shared bloodlines to one or more tribes in the area. So, how should we approach this type of family tradition? We asked professional genealogist Anita Finger-Smith to help with this situation. As a researcher affiliated with the Eastern Cherokee tribe, she is accomplished at sorting out the fact from the fiction.
Earlier this month, Ms. Finger-Smith was our guest speaker at the Second Saturday Family History Workshop, hosted by KHS and the Kentucky Genealogical Society. During her presentations, Rooted to the Earth, she addressed some of the common challenges often encountered by those with oral tradition lineages. Much of her current work centers on following a paper trail. Despite a perceived lack of records, she assured the audience that there are many sources of records available when researching Native American lines. In particular, the various Rolls taken over the decades by the U.S. Government stretch back many years and provide a trail of ancestry. For those interested in Enrollment Eligibility with the Eastern Cherokee, Ms. Finger-Smith reminded attendees that the final proof for this connection lies in the 1924 Baker Roll. If you can prove descent from an ancestor listed in this particular Roll, and can then calculate blood quantum, you may be eligible for tribal membership.
Another important issue brought up during the presentations was the possibility of connecting through DNA. Ms. Finger-Smith gave the official tribal stance on this issue: At this time, no DNA results are permitted to prove ancestry. She explained that DNA results are used for parentage in the case of newborns born within the tribe, but as for ancestry, DNA is not permitted as a method of lineage determination simply because DNA results are not advanced enough to accurately identify tribal ancestry. While it is possible to learn whether you have Native American roots through DNA, it cannot tell you which tribe your line comes from. She added that perhaps someday this might be possible, but for now, the Eastern Band of the Cherokee does not accept DNA results to prove eligibility. In other words, it still takes some good old fashioned genealogy research to connect you back to the 1924 Baker Roll.
For the rest of us who still have that family tradition, and we still want to dig further, Ms. Finger-Smith reminded us that historically our ancestors had a choice. They either stayed with the tribe or they lived outside of the tribal boundaries and attempted to assimilate into the surrounding population. Sometimes tribal connections were not just lost through marriage, but through migration. If a family moved too far away from tribal lands, they were no longer considered to be a part of the tribe. For ancestors in the 19th century, the designation “Indian” was not even an accepted term for racial identification on the U.S. Census until 1870 and beyond, which left our ancestors to choose a racial designation that was closest to their appearance. If they were able to declare “W” for “white”, they would have chosen this over the years as part of their assimilation attempts. Ms. Finger-Smith reminded attendees that bringing attention to their heritage was not a goal if they wished to live among the non-tribal populace. This explains many family stories and why the only thing we have left is the story with little or no documented proof.
The November Second Saturday crowd was overwhelmed with the amount of detailed and authoritative information provided by Ms. Finger-Smith. She covered the history of the tribes around and within Kentucky, the general/early migration routs as well as those routs taken during the Trail of Tears. Attendees were also given a wonderful packet of information outlining the history of Rolls, and a list of records available when researching your Native American Roots. One little tid-bit of information shared was a link to the current newspaper of the Eastern Cherokee: Cherokee One Feather (http://theonefeather.com/) Not only can you keep up with tribal issues, but you can learn more about their history as a regular feature of the publication. The KHS Library would also like to thank Ms. Finger-Smith for her generous donation of the 1924 Baker Roll to our collection! We have several different Rolls in the library, but the final one used by the Eastern Cherokee was not among them. When visiting the library, you can now view the Baker Roll as well as a bound copy of Ms. Finger-Smith’s lecture material. For more information, please visit her website at: http://cherokeegenealogyservices.com/
Engravings used in this post were taken from the book: History of the Indian tribes of North America, with biographical sketches and anecdotes of the principal chiefs. Embellished with one hundred and twenty portraits, from the Indian gallery in the Department of war, at Washington. Click here to visit the Library catalog entry and to view more images from various North American tribes.
that nil aspiration vary. |
High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) Linked to Obesity
If you live in a country that consumes a lot of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), then you are more likely to die of type 2 diabetes. That’s the result of a recent study that examined the HFCS consumption of 42 countries.
One particularly shocking quote from the principal author reads, “HFCS consumption may result in negative health consequences distinct and more deleterious than natural sugar.” Did you read that? It could be worse than sugar. If this wasn’t tragic, it would be hilarious. We created HFCS to be a healthier alternative to natural sugar, and then it became self-aware and started murdering the human race. HFCS could be the beginning of Skynet.
The United States continued its quest for world domination in obesity by consuming more HFCS than any other country. Countries that still consumed much HFCS but fell behind the U.S. included Hungary, Canada, Korea, Japan, and Mexico. Countries with the least HFCS consumption included Australia, China, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
The study specifically calls out the high levels of HFCS in beverages as a possible culprit in the worldwide diabetes and obesity epidemic. A 2004 study also examined this idea, showing that increased consumption of HFCS in the United States beverage industry mirrored the rapid increase in obesity.
I don’t think anyone is particularly surprised by this finding. I predict that soda consumption will one day experience the same social transition that cigarettes recently experienced. Cigarette smoking started out cool, then transitioned to merely accepted, and now has a slightly negative social stigma. I think soda and HFCS are in for the same ride. What do you think? Post your thoughts to the comments below.
1. Goran, Michael I., et. al. "High fructose corn syrup and diabetes prevalence: A global perspective." Global Public Health 2012 Nov 27
2. Bray, George A., Nielsen, Samara J., and Popkin, Barry M. "Consumption of high-fructose corn syrup in beverages may play a role in the epidemic of obesity." American Journal of Clinical Nutrition vol. 79 no. 4: 537-543, 2004.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock. |
Fig. 6. Alternative models generated for the Huave Lagoon System, Mexico. The combination of fishing seascapes, and fishing seasons, yielded 14 alternative models. Example: Model “Mouth: 1. Fishes” represents the first model from fishing seascape “mouth,” where carnivore fishes are harvested. Temporal fishing seasons are denoted by their names, model “fishes” represents the harvest that takes place from March to April and from August to December. |
is for Remember.
And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” -Luke 23:42
Activity: Memory. Get out a deck of cards and lay them out in a grid on the table. Take turns as a family revealing one card and then another in an attempt to get two matching numbers. When your numbers do match, you get to collect the cards as a point and take another turn. Continue until all the cards are collected. At the end, whoever has the most points, wins the game.
What is your earliest memory?
One of the sad truths about life is that there are so many wonderful memories that we make each and every day, and unfortunately we will forget most of them. No matter how hard we try to focus and concentrate, we just cannot remember everything. Sometimes we even forget important stuff.
The Third Commandment reminds us to remember the Sabbath day. That means, don’t forget to take a day and remember all the good things God has done for His people, and especially for you. We remember the sabbath day by reading the Bible, by worshipping at church, and by learning in Sunday school. But sometimes we forget. We forget how wonderful God is, we forget all the blessings He has given us, and we forget how exciting it is to have a God who is so good.
We forget God.
But God doesn’t forget us. Christmas is proof of God’s perfect memory. In the Old Testament He promised to: stay close to His people (Jer. 23:23) to save His people (Gen.3:15) to send a King to reign forever (Dan. 7:14) and that The One who would come would show love by healing His people (Is. 35:5-6).
Jesus being born in Bethlehem was God remembering His promise to love you and me. And the promises don’t stop there. Jesus made promises too, promises that we can count on. Jesus pledged to be with us always (Mt. 28:20). He assures us that He will bring us into life forever (Jn.11:25). And He even promises to help us remember by giving us the Holy Spirit (Jn. 14:26).
God’s memory is perfect, but in the book of Isaiah chapter 43, it tells us one thing God DOES NOT remember, our sin. And what good news that is! And even that is only because of the baby who would go to the cross to wipe them away.
PRAYER: Dear God, Thank you for Jesus, the proof that you remember and love us. In Jesus’ name we pray, AMEN |
This is a very hillarious but insightful incident that I remember happened 3 years ago. My daughter, 6 years old then, was in a deep discussion with her father about what she wants to be when she is a grown up. My son, 2.5 years old, was playing quietly with his blocks nearby.
I did not realize how he was absorbing the whole conversation until my husband said to my daughter, ” You can be whatever you want to be”. My son immediately turned his head towards my husband, all wide eyed, and exclaimed, ” Oh Daddy! Can you please be a Helicopter then?”.
My husband and I just smiled. Children are creative by nature. So if they think that” cars can fly” or that “Daddies can be helicopters”, let them think that – resist the temptation to always correct them, because it discourages their creative thinking.
Here are some things that you can do to ensure that your child blossoms 🙂
- Let their ideas flow in the form of story telling and creative writing.
- Infuse them with self confidence because that will take them a long way.
- Never get tired of their questions otherwise they will stop asking.
- Encourage them to Dream big.
- Teach them that it’s ok to make mistakes but not ok to repeat them.
- Make them learn that if they fail they have to try again – Not to give up. |
Cars have many advantages and disadvantages. The advantages include:
● Ease of communication where there is less hassle to get word around.
● Families can go out together with ease, they don’t have to worry if they can catch a bus with enough space for them or in time to go where they are going, and a car will ease this hassle.
● Fast commute from place to another as with buses they stop a lot and this increase the time that they will take to reach from one place to another.
● Cars is an advantage to old and sick people.
The Disadvantages include:
● An increase in pollution.
● Dependence on cars which we know is not too good.
● Decrease in exercise practices such as walking and cycling which helps to maintain a fit and healthy body.
● The decrease previously mentioned can lead to a number of diseases.
● Traffic: The more cars there are means more vehicles on the road, which can cause a whole lot of traffic.
● Cars are a high risk of getting into an accident.
● Expensive to maintain considering the cost for insurance, gas and repairs.
● Cars are pretty expensive to own. |
What can you learn about warfare by playing chess? A whole lot according to history. The game oozes strategy and requires you to know your pieces strengths and weaknesses. There are overarching rules that give the game its magic outside of the movement restrictions as well. The main one involves the King, the most important piece on the board. Your objective in chess is to put the king in an inescapable situation, one in which no matter their move the King will lose their life.
So what happens when you get rid of the King? If you look at the piece’s ability compared to the other pieces, the King is weak. It is effectively a weaker version of the queen saddled with the restriction that it cannot be placed in danger. How does the game change when the King is no longer in the game or the objective for winning?
Enter the game of teeth, a chess variant spoken of in my novel. For sake of simplicity there are five pieces: scavenger, wolves, hawks, wildcats, and dragons. I’ll quote the book for this:
Scavengers creep forward and bite at angles, they form the front rank. A pair of Dragons dive in all directions and start in the middle. Two wolves strike at tricky angles and stay close to dragons to get the prime scraps, two hawks ready to swoop at two and one or one and two perched near the wolves, and the twin wildcats strike straight and true, and protect the flanks. -Naida on The Game of Teeth
It should sound familiar, but the differences don’t end there. The removal of the king installs a need for a new objective. That one is simple: Obliteration of the other team. There are two other rules applied to protect the game from ever going into a Stalemate: Domination and Submission.
Domination is a three turn play that forces your opponent into action, and punishes those that run. The side that has more pieces can call it at anytime. The other player has the option to submit, thus losing the game. Otherwise, the player calling Domination allows the other player three turns in a row to take a piece. If three turns are taken and no counter strike is made, the Dominating player wins.
Submission is a defensive move that can be called by the losing player. It lasts until a piece is devoured. Two rules are inflicted upon the other player. The first is no piece can move twice in a row. The second is that any piece that moves during submission that did not devour a piece is lost.
Neither of these moves can be called within another on the next turn. So they have a shared one turn cool-down period.
The game itself is named for the pieces that are used. Originally the game had been played by hunters with teeth pulled from game with the exception of two pieces. The Dragons are often modified versions of other animal teeth, and the hawk is represented by a talon. |
In this college-level course trainees learn Python by solving programming problems of gradually increasing complexity, ranging from simple calculations, working with text strings, loops, conditions, and variables, to file operations, and data visualization. They also learn some fundamental concepts of Computer Science which every software developer should know.
Note: This course is only available as part of NCLab’s Python Developer Career Training program. Click here for more information.
- Trainees learn at their own pace by reading tutorials, watching videos, going through examples, and solving programming challenges.
- Every short lesson is followed by self-assessment, so that trainees instantly know whether they have mastered the concept.
- Trainees obtain real-time help from the NCLab AI tutorial engine, as well as remote assistance from live course instructors as needed.
- The course incorporates fundamentals of Computer Science which every software developer should know.
- Trainees learn how to use powerful Python libraries including Matplotlib, Numpy and Scipy.
- An interactive Python coding app allows trainees to create portfolio artifacts and easily share them online.
This is not an introductory computer programming course. Trainees should be familiar with basic concepts of computer programming including syntax, counting and conditional loops, conditions, local and global variables, functions, and recursion. For complete beginners who have little or no computer programming, NCLab provides an excellent introductory course Introduction to Computer Programming as part of the training program.
One of the following browsers:
- Google Chrome
- Mozilla Firefox
- Microsoft Internet Explorer (9.0 or above)
Course Structure and Length
This course is self-paced, and trainees practice each skill and concept as they go. Automatic feedback is built into the course for both practice exercises and quizzes. The course is divided into four Units, and each Unit is composed of five Sections. Each Section consists of 7 instructional/practice levels, a quiz, and a master (proficiency) level. Quizzes can be retaken after 12 hours.
Python Fundamentals is designed to take approximately 80 hours. Since the course is self-paced, the amount of time required to complete the course will vary from trainee to trainee.
Unit 1 (Introduction)
Trainees review basic concepts of procedural computer programming including loops, conditions, variables, and functions. They learn:
- When Python was introduced, who its author is, and where its name comes from.
- That Python can be used by non-programmers as a powerful scientific calculator.
- How to add, subtract, multiply and divide numbers using the operators +, -, *, /.
- About the priorities of arithmetic operators, and that parentheses have the highest priority.
- That Python 3 is one of the few languages where integer division yields the correct real value.
- That Python has many powerful free libraries and how to import them correctly.
- That the keyword from should be avoided when importing libraries.
- How to import the fractions library and work with fractions.
- How to work with fractions and how to use the built-in function help().
- How to define numerical (integer and real) variables and text strings.
- How to import Numpy and use the functions it provides.
- How to display combinations of text strings and variables using the built-in function print().
- How to use the floor division operator //, the modulo operator %, and the power operator **.
- That one needs to be careful when using // with negative and real numbers.
- That real numbers are not represented exactly in the computer, which can lead to problems with the floor division and modulo operators.
- That = is the assignment operator and == is the comparison operator.
- That True and False are Boolean values meaning “true” and “not true”, respectively.
- That when == is used to compare numbers, the result is True or False.
- That one never should compare real numbers using the == operator.
- That the built-in function abs() can be used to calculate the absolute value of numbers.
- The symbol < is the inequality symbol meaning “less than”.
- That when < is used to compare numbers, the result is True or False.
- The correct way to compare real numbers is to subtract them, and then check if the absolute value of the result is less than a given small tolerance.
- How to reach the limit of the finite computer arithmetic on any computer.
- How to use the arithmetic operators +=, -=, *=, /=, //=, %= and **=.
- How to work with the most important units of data size including b, KB, MB and GB.
- That one should not confuse 1 KB (1024 B) with 1 kB (1000 B).
- How to correctly define functions in Python.
- That a function must be called, not only defined, to do something.
- That it is very important to write docstrings and comment the code well.
- The difference between function parameters and arguments.
- That functions do not have to accept any arguments and they do not have to return any values.
- That functions can accept multiple arguments and return multiple values.
- The difference between the global scope (main program) and local scopes (inside of functions).
- That global variables are defined in the entire program, including in all functions.
- That local variables are only defined inside of functions, and undefined in the main program.
- That functions should never change the values of global variables.
- How to work with tuples, including how to obtain their length.
- How to unpack tuples, and access individual items via indices.
- How to parse tuples one item at a time using the for loop.
- That the for loop is often used in combination with the range() function.
- How to use nested for loops.
- Create empty and non-empty lists.
- Obtain the length of lists using the function len().
- Add items to lists using the methods append() and insert().
- Remove items from lists using the methods pop() and remove(), and the keyword del.
- Add lists and multiply them with integers.
- Lists are mutable objects in Python.
- Parse lists using the for loop.
- Empty lists using the while loop.
- Access individual list items via their indices.
- Slice lists, and create copies and reversed copies of lists via slicing.
- Reverse lists and sort them using list methods reverse() and sort().
- Reverse lists and sort them using built-in functions reversed() and sorted().
- Make list and tuple items unique.
- Work with Boolean expressions and variables.
- Work with the if , if-else and if-elif-else statements.
- Use the keyword in to check if a given item is present in a tuple or list.
- Use the method count() to count occurrences of given items in tuples and lists.
- Use the method index() to obtain positions of given items in tuples and lists.
- Work with the Boolean operators and, or, not.
- Chain arithmetic comparison operators.
- Use the break and continue statements in loops.
- Work with infinite while loops.
- Use the command pass.
- How to generate random numbers.
- Use the else branch in for and while loops.
Unit 2 (Working with Text Strings)
Trainees learn how to work with text strings and regular expressions.
- Text strings are groups of characters enclosed in single or double quotes.
- It does not matter whether one uses single or double quotes.
- A text string enclosed in double quotes may contain single quotes, and vice versa.
- Trailing spaces are deceiving since they can make different text strings appear to be the same.
- Trailing spaces can be identified using the built-in function repr().
- Text strings can be compared with the == operator whose result is either True or False.
- The built-in function print() has useful optional parameters sep and end.
- The built-in function help() can be used to obtain help for any Python keyword or function.
- If a function contains a docstring, it will be known to the function help().
- Strings can be added and multiplied with positive integers.
- They can also be updated with the operators += and *=.
- Python is an interpreted, dynamically (weakly) typed, case-sensitive language.
- The PEP8 — Style Guide for Python Code.
- Combine single and double quotes in one text string.
- Obtain the length of text strings with the function len().
- Work with the special characters \n, \” and \’.
- Special characters are text strings of length 1, same as regular text characters.
- Cast numbers to text strings with the function str(), and insert numbers into text strings.
- Cast text strings to numbers with the functions int() and float().
- Display the type of variables using the function type().
- Check the type of variables at runtime using the function isinstance().
- Use the text string methods lower(), upper() and title().
- Text string methods do not change the original text string.
- Clean text strings – automatically eliminate trailing spaces and unwanted special characters using the methods rstrip(), lstrip() and strip().
- Split a text string into a list of words with the method split().
- Check for substrings using the keyword in.
- Make a text search case-insensitive by first lowercasing both text strings.
- Count the occurrences of substrings in text strings with the method count().
- Search for, and replace substrings in text strings with the method replace().
- Zip two lists, and use the for-loop to parse them at the same time.
- Erase parts of text strings by replacing them with an empty string.
- Clean text strings from unwanted characters.
- Shrink large empty spaces in text strings.
- Swap the contents of two text strings.
- Swap two substrings in a text string.
- Implemented the ROT13 cipher and a Morse code translator.
- Review of the while-loop, the break statement, and functions returning multiple values.
- The concept of mutability in Python.
- Text strings are immutable objects in Python.
- Access individual characters in text strings via their indices.
- Slice text strings and reverse them using slicing.
- Use system date and time in Python programs.
- Obtain the position of a substring in a given text string.
- How are text strings represented in computer memory.
- Access ASCII/Unicode codes of text characters.
- Access ASCII/Unicode characters via their codes.
- Text strings can be compared using the operators <, <=, >, >= just like numbers.
- Create text strings with characters which are not present on the keyboard.
- What are regular expressions and where they are used.
- What functionality is available in Python’s regular expressions module “re”.
- How to use the functions search(), match() and findall().
- About greedy and non-greedy repeating patterns.
- How to use character classes and groups of characters.
- How to work with the most important metacharacters and special sequences.
- How to mine unknown file names and email addresses from text data.
Unit 3 (Python Libraries and API Design)
Trainees learn how to use Matplotlib and Numpy to perform calculations, draw images, display graphs of functions, plot curves, and more.
- Import a library and abbreviate its name.
- Define lines and polylines using X and Y arrays.
- Create a plot using the function plot().
- Assign colors to shapes.
- Display the plot using the function show().
- Display two or more shapes simultaneously.
- Make both axes equally-scaled using axis(“equal”).
- Hide axes using axis(“off”).
- Fill closed areas with color using the function fill().
- Remove borders by setting linewidth=0.
- Make holes in shapes.
- Use the function linspace() to create equidistant grids.
- Plot graphs of functions using the linspace() array as the x-variable.
- Draw circles centered at (0, 0) using the formula x = r*cos(t), y = r*sin(t).
- Draw regular polygons by reducing the number of edges of the circle.
- Draw ellipses using the formula x = r_x*cos(t), y = r_y*sin(t).
- Draw spirals using the formula x = t*cos(t), y = t*sin(t).
- Cast linspace() arrays into lists so that other lists can be added to them.
- Draw circles centered at (cx, cy) using x = cx + r*cos(t), y = cy + r*sin(t).
- Reverse the orientation of Numpy and Matplotlib drawings by flipping the sign of the Y array.
- Add a title to drawings.
Automate Numpy and Matplotlib drawings by combining functions, for-loops and lists.
- Create functions to draw lines, rectangles, circles and regular polygons.
- Define and use functions returning multiple values.
- Use tuples in Python, and know that a function returning multiple values in fact is returning a tuple.
- Define and use functions with default arguments.
- Access items in linspace() arrays via their indices.
Create a Graphics Editor API with the following functionality:
- Create a drawing.
- Display a drawing.
- Add shapes to a drawing.
- Create lines, polylines, squares, rectangles, triangles, quads, polygons, circles, and arcs.
- Fill shapes with color.
- Move, rotate and scale shapes.
- Merge shapes.
- Reverse the orientation of shapes and create holes.
- Learn about software design, and in particular the necessity to keep software modules self-contained. Know that one should not expose the internal data structures of the program to users. The same holds for modules that exist within a software – they too should not expose their internal data structures to other software modules.
- Use the ‘break’ and ‘continue’ statements
- Learn additional list features including three types of list comprehension.
- Use list comprehension to duplicate, rotate, and move shapes.
- Add additional functions for the API.
- Understand why it is important to communicate with individual shapes through the Drawing, and not with all of them individually.
Unit 4 (Files, Data, and Visualization)
Trainees learn how to work with files and data. This includes various data formats such as ASCII art, bitmap images, dictionaries, CSV files. They learn how to visualize data obtained from scientific measurements and computations.
- Open a text file for reading.
- Parse a text file line-by-line.
- Close the file.
- Cleaning text strings with strip(), lstrip() and rstrip().
- Splitting a text string into words.
- Counting lines, words and characters in a text file.
- Rewinding a file and when is this useful.
- Reading selected lines and the file method readline().
- Understand the differences and similarities between sets and lists:
- Set items are not ordered and not indexed
- Sets cannot contain duplicate items
- Create empty and non-empty sets.
- Add elements to sets; remove elements from sets
- Check set length; check for the presence of an element in a set.
- Check for subsets and supersets.
- Create set unions, intersections, and differences.
- Learn how to write data to files.
- Save programs from crashing by catching exceptions.
- Trainees will learn additional things about text files such as:
- How to read all lines into a list at once.
- How to write a list of text strings into a file at once.
- How to read the whole file into a single text string at once.
- Reverse text strings and lists.
- Learn about the history of Internet and ASCII Art.
- The difference between bitmap (raster) and vector images.
- PBM (portable bitmap), PGM (portable grey map) and PPM (portable pix map) images and why they are useful.
- The structure of PBM, PGM and PPM image files.
- How to leave out comments while reading a text file.
- How to read a sequence of numbers from file and convert it into a two-dimensional array.
- How to work with two-dimensional arrays using nested loops and indices.
- How to write image files to disk.
- How to upload image and data files to NCLab.
Trainees will also create their own image viewers for PBM, PGM and PPM images based on Numpy 2D arrays.
- Learn what dictionaries are and why they are useful.
- Create an empty and a non-empty dictionary.
- Add key:value pairs to a dictionary and how to remove them.
- Access values using keys.
- Parse the dictionary using a for-loop.
- Extract from a dictionary the lists of keys, values, and items.
- Zip the lists of keys and values to create a dictionary.
- Combine dictionaries together.
- Understand that dict is a mutable type in Python (it can be changed by functions).
- Access Google Translate API from Python programs to get real-time translations.
Visualize data obtained from measurements and computations. Use CSV and other data formats.
Use Numpy, Matplotlib, and in particular Matplotlib’s mplot3d toolkit to display:
- Measurement data using graphs and bar charts.
- Percentages using pie charts.
- Graphs of functions of two variables.
- 2D measurement data on structured grids using
- wireframe plots,
- surface plots,
- contour plots and
- color maps.
- Scientific data computed on unstructured triangular grids.
- 2D data represented as 2D Numpy arrays.
- Visualize MRI data of the human brain. |
The Fed expands the money supply through a couple of methods. For simplicity, let's consider "security purchasing." When the Fed wants to expand the money supply, it buys a security -- let's call it Asset A -- from a bank. Then it electronically transfers money to that bank. There is now additional money in the financial system that the bank can use to provide loans.
The nice part about being the Fed is that it doesn't actually need to mail a box of dollar bills to pay for these securities. Instead, it creates a "reserve balance" liability on its balance sheet. The transaction is completely electronic. No hard currency changes hands.
Then, when the Fed is ready to reduce monetary supply, it sells Asset A. This puts the security back into the financial market and reduces money in the system, again electronically. Is that money destroyed?
On the one hand, the money no longer exists in the financial system. On the other hand, it was only there temporarily in the first place. When the Fed gets that money back, it merely reduces the size of its reserve balance liability. In a sense, money is only "created" during an expansionary cycle electronically, through an accounting mechanism. It's then "destroyed" in a similar, but opposite, accounting entry.
When Currency Is Physically Destroyed
Obviously, not all money is electronic. Just look at your wallet. Bills and coins are destroyed every day. There are three destroyers of money, and they're the same ones who create and regulate it.
(1) The Bureau of Engraving and Printing and (2) The U.S. Mint
The U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing creates all of the nation's bills, while the U.S. mint creates its coins. But they also destroy money.
Banks and individuals will hand over "mutilated" bills and coins to these agencies. They then validate its authenticity and issue a Treasury check in return. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing receives around 25,000 mutilated currency redemption claims annually. Each bill is shredded and sent to waste energy facilities for disposal.
(3) The Federal Reserve
The great regulator of money distributes currency through its 30 Federal Reserve Bank Cash Offices, after receiving it from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. But it also destroys currency that it wants taken out of circulation and replaced with fresh money.
The Fed is diligent about keeping our currency fit since a torn or mangled bill can't go through an ATM, a vending machine, or another electronic reader. As a result, the average life of each bill is surprisingly short:
- $1 bills: 3.7 years
- $5 bills: 3.4 years
- $10 bills: 3.4 years
- $20 bills: 5.1 years
- $50 bills: 12.6 years
- $100 bills: 8.9 years
Overall the average life for all bills is about five years.The Fed occasionally has some reason for accelerating the rate at which money is taken out of the system, like when a new bill design is introduced. But generally, a banknote's fitness determines how long it remains in the financial system. |
President Obama, in the 2013 State the Union address, challenged the country to move forward simultaneously on two key educational fronts — providing high-quality preschool for all four-year olds and preparing a new generation of Americans in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) subjects. Teaching artists from the Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts and preschool educators in the Fairfax County (Virginia) Public Schools, with support from the U.S. Department of Education, are developing an innovative approach to achieving both of these national goals.
The Early Childhood STEM Learning Through the Arts (Early STEM/Arts) is pioneering an innovative, research-based arts integration model for early childhood learning — one that supports math teaching and learning through active, arts-based experiences in pre-K and kindergarten classrooms. Preschool teachers participating in the project receive professional development that enables them to apply arts-integrated lessons in their classrooms. Some report “a-ha!” moments as they work alongside Wolf Trap Teaching Artists such as Amanda Layton Whiteman (pictured above). “When I found out it was going to be math, I was saying, oh jeez, this is going to be hard,” said one teacher. But after being involved with the artist and the arts-integrated approach, she “realized that math is everywhere.” And incorporating the arts into her everyday lessons “helps you reach every child.”
With the help of a $1.15 million Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination grant from the Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII), the Early STEM/Arts program will disseminate evaluation results in early 2014. In the meantime, Wolf Trap Regional Programs in 16 locations nationally are gearing up to implement the new model in the 2013-14 school year.
Read OII’s “Wolf Trap Institute Unites the Arts and STEM in Early Childhood Learning” to hear more stories from those at the Wolf Trap Institute. |
Sorting Out the Genome
To put your genes in order, flip them like pancakes
Geneticists give Drosophila genes charming names like groucho, kojak and dreadlocks, but for algorithmic purposes it's a lot easier to just number them. From this point of view a chromosome is nothing more than a permutation of the numbers from 1 through n.
The goal is a method for finding the reversal distance between any two permutations, such as 3 1 5 2 4 and 4 1 2 3 5. Because the labeling of the genes is arbitrary, however, we can always assign the numbers in such a way that one configuration is the canonical permutation 1 2 3...n, with the integers in ascending order. Then the task is simply to sort the other permutation, finding a sequence of reversals that restores it to the canonical order. Instead of converting 4 1 2 3 5 into 3 1 5 2 4, we can sort the sequence 5 2 4 1 3 into its canonical order 1 2 3 4 5; the operations required are identical.
Can every permutation be sorted by some series of reversal moves, without any need for other kinds of operations? A simple variation on the naive pancake-flipping algorithm supplies an affirmative answer. From any starting configuration, there must be some block of genes that can be rotated 180 degrees to bring gene 1 into its correct, leftmost position. Thereafter some other block can be flipped to put gene 2 in its proper place; moreover, this can be done without disturbing gene 1. Here is the full sequence of reversals that sorts our five-digit example (the underline designates the segment that is about to be reversed):
Using this left-to-right algorithm, the five genes are sorted with four reversals. It's not hard to see that any n-element array can be sorted by the same method in at most n - 1 reversals. The procedure is similar to the bottom-up pancake algorithm, but because we don't have to work only from one end of the chromosome, each gene can be put in its place with a single flip rather than two.
Unfortunately, the left-to-right algorithm cannot always be counted on to find the shortest sequence of reversals for sorting a chromosome. In this example, four steps is not the minimum; there is a three-step sequence that accomplishes the same task:
But there is no obvious logic behind this series of moves, so the question becomes: How do you find such shorter pathways, and how do you know when you've found the shortest route of all?
The importance of identifying the shortest reversal sequence is not that we need a high-performance algorithm for sorting genes on chromosomes. Sorting the genes is not really the point. The shortest pathway matters because it is the best available estimate of the true reversal distance between two genomes—the measure of their evolutionary kinship.
In general, we can't reconstruct the actual course of an evolutionary process with any certainty, but parsimony argues that short and direct pathways are more likely than long, zigzag ones. A change in gene order from 1 2 3 to 3 2 1 might have come about through a multistep transformation such as 123→213→312→321, but the single reversal 123→321 is usually a better guess. Thus the shortest pathway is always the starting point for inferring a phylogeny. (The shortest series of reversals is not necessarily unique; there may be several reversal pathways of the same minimal length.) |
Having autism doesn’t mean everybody automatically has all the same symptoms; they can vary considerably for many reasons. However, there are several core symptoms that all autistic people will have to a certain degree, and you should be aware of them if your child or family member does exhibit them.
Nonverbal and verbal methods of communication.
- Slow to start talking or never talking. Up to 40% of people who have autism don’t speak at all.
- Difficulty starting or carrying on a conversation.
- Repeating words and phrases over and over because they have heard them before.
- Trouble understanding the other person’s viewpoint. For example, someone using humor may not be identified as being funny by a person with autism. They may take the conversation literally instead.
Minimal interest in playing or activities.
- Younger children may focus on a specific part of a toy instead of the whole toy.
- Adults and older children may have a powerful fascination with trading cards, license plates or video games.
- Creating and maintaining routines. A child will want to eat his or her food in a particular order every day and at the same time.
- There may be signs of stereotyped behavior, such as rocking the body and/or flapping hands.
Relationships and social interaction.
- Children may find it impossible to make friends with others the same age.
- There are problems with the development of nonverbal communication abilities including facial expressions, making eye contact and body posture.
- Not wanting to share interests, achievements and enjoyment with others.
- Lack of empathy. Autistic people have trouble understanding other people’s emotions.
Symptoms are generally first noticed by parents during a child’s initial three years of life. Even though it’s present from birth, autism may be hard to identify during infancy. The toddler may not like to be held by the parent. He may not want to play. He may not even start talking and it may appear that he’s deaf if he doesn’t react to noise.
Once an autistic child becomes a teenager, his behavior will change. He may develop certain skills and may be under-developed in others. Puberty and sexuality may confuse him. It’s easy for an autistic teenager to suffer from epilepsy, anxiety and/or depression.
The good news is that autistic adults can often times hold down a job and live by themselves. They need a minimum of 33% communication skills in order to be at least partly independent. Other adults need more help, especially if they can’t talk. They may get involved in residential treatment programs, though.
Many autistic adults are often very successful and live independent lives, but they may have trouble relating to others, despite having a high degree of intelligence. 10% of autistic adults are considered savants, being very skilled in activities like music, calculus, remembering long name lists or calendar dates, for example.
Autism may easily be confused with other medical problems, so it’s essential that you see a doctor if you notice any unusual behavior in your child, family member or relative. Treatment can only commence after the problem has been diagnosed. |
Documentary: The London Underground Map
In 1931, Harry Beck drew a diagram of the London Underground (aka the Tube), making visual sense of an extremely complex system. Today Beck's map is displayed in the Museum of Modern Art, and is considered a classic work of design. Beck's work is the template for modern subway and train maps, and his influence is seen worldwide in the way we conceptualize public transportation.
Beck's central breakthrough was making a map that simplified geography to achieve maximum clarity. He reasoned that the specific geography of each place didn't matter as much as which stop was next on a given line. So he ruthlessly simplified how each route was drawn, showing the routes as straight lines that ran only vertically, horizontally, or at 45-degree angles (even though the real lines were far more complex, wandering around the city along curving routes). He also distorted geography, so the most-traveled stops were large and clearly visible; previous maps had crammed them all together in a small space -- because that's where they were geographically. Beck's map allowed riders to solve the central problem of public transit: if I'm "here," which line do I take to get "there," and how many stops will it take? Below is an illustration of the actual geography of the tube's Zone 1 (left) versus Beck's simplified map (right):
A BBC Four documentary about Beck's map was recently posted on Smashing Telly (an excellent video blog in its own right). The film is about twenty-five minutes long, and tells the history of this map, and how it has influenced design. Go watch the documentary if you're interested in design, history, or public transportation. (Note: Smashing Telly has broken the documentary into little segments, linked together in a sort of video mosaic. Start at the upper left, and it'll play through. |
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In the winter of 1986, a drought brought the Sea of Galilee to its lowest level in memory. While of great concern to the region's inhabitants, this natural disaster proved a boom for archaeologists. Numerous ancient sites and artifacts, previously unknown, were discovered.
Late in January 1986, between the ancient harbors of Gennesar and Magdala, local residents made the chance discovery of a boat's oval outline in the muddy lake bed. Word spread like wildfire. In less than two weeks, local newspapers were announcing discovery of “the Jesus boat.” Did Jesus really perform miracles from this boat (Mark 4:39)?
Archaeologists, called to examine the still unexcavated vessel, announced it was the first ancient ship ever found in the Sea of Galilee. They suggested that it was built and used between 100 B.C. and 100 A.D.—the time of Jesus. But did Jesus actually sleep here (Mark 4:37)?
Marathon round-the-clock excavations ensued, racing against both now-rising waters of the Sea of Galilee and treasure seekers. The archaeologists even invented new techniques of excavation and preservation as they went along. Just before the site was flooded, the almost completely intact hull was fully excavated, encased in polyurethane and floated to shore for further study and conservation. But did Jesus really walk on water along side this boat (Matthew 14:25)?
The boat is 26-1/2 feet long, 7-1/2 feet wide and 4-1/2 feet high. It was probably of the Sea of Galilee's largest class of ships. Fore and aft sections were most likely decked, and it probably had a mast, meaning it could be both sailed and rowed. Did Peter, James and John actually row this boat (John 6:19)?
Evidence of repeated repairs suggested the boat had a long life. But, in the end, all usable wooden parts were evidently removed and the remaining hull sunk to the lake bottom. This is what archaeologists recovered. Could this be the boat abandoned by the disciples when they followed Jesus (Luke 5:11)? Studies of ancient ships suggest this vessel had a crew of five (four rowers and a helmsman). The ancient Jewish historian Josephus referred to such ships holding 15 people. Skeletal remains from Galilee during this period indicate males averaged 5 feet 5 inches tall [1.651 meters] and about 140 pounds [63.503 kilograms]. Fifteen such men could fit into this vessel. So did Jesus and the Twelve0 sail together in this boat?
The Galilee boat dated to the general time of Jesus' ministry. It was the type used by Jesus and the Twelve, and was large enough to hold 13 men. It may have been in use at the same time He sailed the sea. He may have even seen it. BUT, there is no proof that this boat was ever actually used by Jesus or any of the disciples.
Archaeologists, as scientists, should not make spectacular claims about their finds. Thus, Jesus cannot be connected to this particular boat with certainty. Yet, it helps us visualize daily life in Galilee as Jesus knew it. This is archaeology's contribution to illuminating Scripture.
[ If this information has been helpful, please prayerfully consider a donation to help pay the expenses for making this faith-building service available to you and your family! Donations are tax-deductible. ]
Author: Gary Byers of Associates for Biblical Research
Copyright © 1995, Associates for Biblical Research, All Rights Reserved - except as noted on attached “Usage and Copyright” page that grants ChristianAnswers.Net users generous rights for putting this page to work in their homes, personal witnessing, churches and schools. |
Biology labs contain instruments and tools to help scientists study living creatures---from single-celled amoebas to massive plants and mammals. Specialized scientific equipment enables biologists to study cellular processes, genetics, bacteria and other life forms that are invisible to the naked eye. Scientists need sophisticated instruments to investigate how living organisms function, breathe, eat, reproduce and evolve. Typically, students are first introduced to essential instruments in high school or college biology labs.
A microscope is an essential instrument for biologists because it allows scientists to see things that are invisible to the naked eye. Several fields within biology are based on microscopes, including cellular and molecular biology, microbiology, bacteriology and many others. Microscopes come in a variety of styles and are designed for use in different situations. In school biology labs, the most common type is a single-lens, optical microscope, which uses light to magnify biological or cellular material that is stained or prepared on a slide. Compound microscopes use multiple lenses that offer improved magnification and contrast to better study cells, tissues or other materials. Other types of microscopes used in biological studies include powerful electron transmission scopes, phase contrast scopes and florescence scopes.
Anatomical, Plant and Cell Models
Three-dimensional models are useful tools to help visualize and understand human bodies, animals, plants and other living organisms. Generally made of plastic or synthetic materials, an anatomical model helps provide an understanding of biological structures. For example, a human skeletons teaches students how the leg bone connects to the shin bone. Using models, students can visualize the skeletal structure of various mammals, amphibians and insects. Accurate in scale and color, models can depict the shape and function of internal organs or have movable parts to illustrate physiological functions, such as digestion, photosynthesis or the Kreb's cycle. Biological models for isolated body parts---such as the eye, ear, brain or heart---allow students to comprehend how they function. A large, 3-D model of a single cell lets students visualize complex internal structures, such as the nucleus and cell membrane.
Petri Dishes, Agar and Stereoscopes
Another laboratory staple is the Petri dish, which is used to culture bacteria, germinate seeds and more. A Petri dish is a flat, lidded dish made from glass or plastic that's roughly the size of a saucer. Biologists will introduce a specific type of bacteria or organism to a Petri dish filled with nutrient agar, a blend of seaweed and proteins that feeds bacterial colonies or other organisms. To study the bacteria, biologists often use a stereoscope. Also called a dissecting microscope, a stereoscope magnifies objects in 3-D, so a scientist can see the entire Petri dish and its contents. A standard microscope only offers 2-D views of prepared slides. Although stereoscopes aren't as powerful as microscopes, they have a large stage to view specimens and are useful to magnify larger matter that is visible without a microscope.
Style Your World With Color
See how the colors in your closet help determine your mood.View Article
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Let your clothes speak for themselves with this powerhouse hue.View Article
- skeleton with red shadow negative radioactive nucl image by david hughes from Fotolia.com |
What is 1 Mod 21? (1 % 21)
In this article we're going to look at what 1 mod 21 means and how we can calculate that. This type of divisibility operation is called mod, modulo or modulus and you can often see the symbol % used as well (i.e. 1 % 21)
Modulo is the mathematical operation which lets you find the remainder when dividing two numbers like 1 and 21 together. When are say "what is 1 % 21?" we are asking "when I divide 1 by 21, what is the remainder?"
In math, we use modulo frequently. It can be used to check if a number is even or odd, clocks use it to tell the time, and you can use it to count something for a certain number of times as well.
Before we begin, let's cover the terms you need to know:
- The first number, 1, is called the dividend
- The second number, 21, is called the divisor
- When you divide 1 by 21, the answer is called the quotient
- The quotient is made up of the whole number part (called the whole) and the decimal places part (called the fractional)
To calculate 1 mod 21 we first need to divide 1 by 21 to get the quotient:
Now we have the quotient, we take the whole part of it (0) and multiply it by the divisor (21):
We then take the result of that calculation and subtract it from the dividend to get the answer:
1 - 0 = 1
Therefore, the final answer is:
1 mod 21 = 1
We could also calculate this using a different method. To use this method, list out all of the multiples of the divisor (21) and find the one that is equal to or less than the dividend (1).
The multiples of 21 are: 0, 21, 42, 63, and so on.
As we look at those multiples of 21 we can see that the highest number that is less than or equal to the dividend (1) is 0.
Once we have that number, we subtract 0 from the dividend to get our answer:
1 - 0 = 1
Therefore, the solution using this method is the same as the previous modulo method:
1 mod 21 = 1
If you enjoyed this article I challenge you now to calculate some problems yourself or use the list below to read up on how to calculate this with different numbers and try to work out it out for yourself.
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Calculate Another Problem
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Source: The Jewish Chronicle
Etgar, which organises the annual general Jewish knowledge challenge for UK primary schools, has launched a new venture for secondary school pupils. Its first quiz on Israel, aimed at 14-year-olds in year nine, will take place on Yom Ha’atzmaut next month as part of the celebration of Israel’s 70th anniversary.
Just as with the primary challenge, Etgar has produced an illustrated handbook of facts for students to swot up ahead of the competition.
The new, 100-page publication covers Israeli history, politics, culture and society with an opening section of more than 80 key dates in modern Jewish history that go from the Haskalah, the Enlightenment in the 18th century, to 2017, when Israel was ranked 12th in the international happiness index.
The Etgar Israel Handbook contains sections on the different strands of Zionist thought, from the cultural Zionism of Ahad Ha’am, to the religious idealism of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook; key moments such as the United Nations partition plan, to Israel’s various wars; influential figures, from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to Egyptian President and peacemaker Anwar Sadat; and artistic personalities from Nobel literary laureate Shai Agnon to rock musician Arik Einstein. There is even one on Israeli innovation which includes the USB flash drive and cherry tomatoes.
It does not shy away from difficult episodes such as the massacre of Palestinian civilians in Sabra and Shatila in 1982 or Baruch Goldstein’s slaughter of Muslim worshippers in Hebron in 1994.
As well as answering questions, contestants will also be set a creative challenge at the event.
Read more at The Jewish Chronicle. |
I always think of the wild black cherry (Prunus serotina) as a tree of affliction. Even its fruiting can be a burden to it on years like this, when branches bend low under the weight of the crop and black bears break them in their inexplicable eagerness to feast on the sour, stony fruits. Nor are they alone: as my mother wrote in a column last year,
In addition to cedar waxwings, I saw red-eyed vireos, blue jays, and scarlet tanagers harvesting wild black cherries, but the list of songbirds and other wildlife that feast on them is legion. Thoreau mentioned gray catbirds, brown thrashers, eastern kingbirds, blue jays, red-headed woodpeckers, eastern bluebirds and northern cardinals as the most common birds that eat wild black cherries, in addition to robins and cedar waxwings. Huge piles of bear scat studded with cherry pits on our trails testified to their popularity with bears. And the smaller animals, such as foxes, squirrels, and chipmunks, also ate the fruit.
It might sound a little melodramatic to refer to black cherry as a tree of affliction, but like many temperate-zone fruit trees it’s a member of the rose family and therefore susceptible to any number of pests. Both tent caterpillars in the spring and fall webworms this time of year seem especially attracted to it. Borers, scale insects, aphids, carpenter ants and pileated woodpeckers attack it with a vengeance. And though a hardwood, its new growth is flimsy and highly susceptible to storm damage. The trees in general have poor architecture and shallow root systems, making them equally vulnerable to splitting and uprooting, depending on the nature of the storm.
Some trees become horribly disfigured with the fungus known as black knot. I thought I remembered writing about this a few years ago and did a seach of the Via Negativa archives. I found a short post describing the aftermath of our last big ice storm back in January 2005, which disproportionately impacted the black cherries, as ice storms always do.
Now here’s another misshapen shadow: a cherry the ice storm didn’t touch. Most of its branches have been truncated by the fungal infection that foresters call black knot. I wonder if this thorough amputation of twigs and smaller branches isn’t what saved it, preventing the ice from reaching critical mass? In such extreme conditions, a handicap can turn into an advantageous trait. The chronically ill sometimes are the fittest, the ones who survive the longest, bear the most young. Pain is their legacy, and it is the most precious gift imaginable. Without it, imagine how brittle we’d be — how terribly unequal to the task of love.
(Hmm. Not sure I agree with that now.)
Black cherries grow in profusion on the south-facing slopes of our mountain, in part because their seedlings are among the few species not especially attractive to deer. Almost pure stands of black cherry can be found throughout northern and central Pennsylvania, in fact, and in many areas, lumbermen strive to perpetuate this unnatural dominance through clearcuts, which traditionally favored the fast-growing, shade-intolerant cherries.
Some foresters have gone so far as to try and convince their ecologist colleagues of the rightful existence of a black cherry-dominated “Allegheny hardwoods” forest type, unique to our region and therefore deserving of special preservation efforts such as even-aged forest management, A.K.A. clearcutting, followed nowadays by herbiciding of ferns and striped maples and extensive deer fencing, the deer having nothing else to eat in many areas. So preserving a black-cherry-dominated timber stand is a little like what the American major famously said about that village in Vietnam: you have to destroy it in order to save it. But the historical record is clear. In a more natural forested landscape, black cherries would make up probably no more than two percent of forest cover in our region, filling in the occasional gap left by the death of some other tree.
It’s no mystery why loggers are so fond of the tree: it’s a beautiful wood. At one time, it was sent to furniture manufacturers in the Carolinas, but now most of it is shipped to China, whence we re-import it as finished furniture at great cost in carbon emissions. One can only hope that the new crop of local Amish and Mennonite furniture-makers prosper enough to help put an end to this absurd practice.
Unnatural as the current dominance of this species may be in our woods, its fruiting habits do serve as a reminder of the kind of teeming and profusion that used to occur on a regular basis when the great eastern forest was still largely intact. When I see the ground in our cherry woods carpeted with fallen fruit, I’m reminded of descriptions of the American chestnut before it succumbed to the blight, and how the woods used to be ankle-deep in chestnuts every fall. Most of our native wildlife species evolved with such bonanzas, so perhaps we’re lucky that a few tree species still display such irrational exuberance (to steal Alan Greenspan’s memorable phrase), however much it may cost them in the end.
For the 51st edition of the Festival of the Trees at Orchards Forever, focusing on edible trees (deadline for submissions: August 29). |
Rainbow trout are alive and well in Toronto's Humber River.
Imagine my surprise on moving to Toronto to find that the city not only contains a giant ravine system—our equivalent to the canals of Venice— but that the rivers running through it also contain fish; quite a lot of them.
Each spring steelhead—otherwise known as rainbow trout—migrate up the Humber River to spawn, and can be seen jumping dams at various points through the city. Chinook and coho salmon make the run in the fall. Although all three species were introduced from the Pacific, they have established wild, self-sustaining populations in the Great Lakes.
London (England, not Ontario), where I lived until recently, is renowned for the polluted state of its waterways. Half a century ago the River Thames was declared "biologically dead", and although the river is making a comeback, the chances of seeing such a spectacle as trout jumping so close to the city centre are virtually nil.
Trout face many barriers to make it their spawning grounds.
So I found myself one sunny Saturday afternoon in April, camera in hand, crouched by the river at Étienne Brûlé Park (near Old Mill station), watching as trout after trout flung themselves up a 1.5 metre dam. In the short space of time I was there I saw perhaps 100 fish attempt the jump, with only a handful making it over and on to the next stretch of river.
Rather than attempt the dam in one leap the trout aim for around halfway up, using their muscular bodies to aquaplane the rest of the way. A crowd of walkers and families had gathered to watch and shout support, or voice their dismay at another near miss. Nearby, cormorants and gulls hovered, while downstream several anglers stood motionless as herons (the fishing season officially opens on the fourth Saturday in April).
The few trout that make it past the barriers in the Lower Humber will return to their original hatching grounds in the headwaters of the Niagara Escarpment and Oak Ridges Moraine, where they will spawn.
Success! One trout makes it over.
Despite the presence of barriers, the trout face a better chance of survival in the Humber than many urban rivers. A recent freshwater health assessment from WWF Canada gave the river a "fair" rating; its water quality and fish populations are good, and it is well monitored thanks to the efforts of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) and other watershed groups.
The dams themselves, built after Hurricane Hazel in 1954 to control erosion and water flow, are gradually being modified with fish ladders and "notching" to enable more fish to make the journey upstream and spawn in the upper reaches of the watershed.
The Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation is working to raise awareness of the hidden values of Toronto's urban rivers, and build support for their inclusion in Ontario’s Greenbelt. This will offer permanent protection, allowing future generations to appreciate natural spectacles like the steelhead run, and hopefully lead to renewed efforts to restore them along their full lengths.
To learn more about the Humber and its fascinating history, come to our Jane's Walk on Saturday May 3. The walk departs from Lion's Park in Toronto at 5:30 PM. More information can be found here!
-- Program Officer
Humber River has been added to the Greenbelt. Want to learn more?
We are working with community groups, municipalities and organizations across the Greenbelt to ensure the urban river valleys thrive.
Our partners have organized numerous events across the Greenbelt. Find out all the events and consultations that are happening in the Urban River Valleys.
Find out more about the 21 urban river valleys and 7 coastal wetlands that have been added to the Greenbelt. |
The Xuan Kong Si, or "Hanging Temple," does not so much hang as it does cling to a vast rock face at the foot of Hengshan Mountain in China's Shanxi Province like a cast-off regretting an earlier decision to jump. About 300 miles south west of Beijing, the entire complex a cluster of yellow-capped pagodas linked by lean planks is kept in place with wooden crossbeams fitted into holes chiseled into the stone. Flattened against this roughhewn wall, it seems that one splintered log (or an unkind word) could send the temple tumbling off its 75-metre-high cliff. But it has managed to stay put for some 1,400 years, prompting architects and engineers from around the globe to stop in and marvel at its assembly. According to legend, construction began with a single monk, Liao Ran, at the end of the Northern Wei Dynasty. In time he got help from Taoist builders, pleased at the prospect of a distant sanctuary where practitioners could meditate in true silence. They did not count on it becoming a teeming tourist draw. |
Erie Canal - Part One: Map Analysis Use the map below to answer the questions on your chart.
Erie Canal - Part Two: Video Link Click on the link above to watch the video on the Erie Canal. While watching the video answer the questions on your chart.
Texas Annexation Assignment
Part One: Timeline Read the timeline below and answer the questions on your chart.
Path to Texas Independence
Mexico wins independence from Spain. Moses Austin & Stephen F. Austin obtain a land grant from the Mexican gov’t - they settle in Texas with 300 American families.
Tension erupts between the Mexican government and the American settlers over slavery (American settlers brought African American slaves to Texas - even though slavery was banned in Mexico).
Mexico, fed up with the American settlers continuing to keep slaves, bans American immigration into Mexico / Texas.
Mexico encourages Mexicans and Europeans to settle in Texas.
Texas Revolution begins.
Texas declares independence from Mexico.
Americans defeat the Mexicans at the Alamo and San Jacinto securing their independence, become the Republic of Texas.
US Recognizes the Republic of Texas as a free nation (last act of the Jackson Presidency).
Part Two: Documents Use the following documents to fill in your chart.
Document 1: Henry Clay - Letter Published in the National IntelligencerApril 27th, 1844 I consider the annexation of Texas, at this time, without the consent of Mexico, as a measure compromising the national character; it will most likely start a war with Mexico and probably their allies, it will make us look untrustworthy; it is not practical in the present financial condition of the country…. It is estimated that Texas has a debt of $10,000,000 - if we are absorb Texas, we are to absorb that debt, which we can not afford...
Document 2: Sam Houston - Letter from Sam Houston to Andrew Jackson February 16th,1844 I believe in the immediate annexation of Texas to the United States...Mexico might make a cause of war, and inflict violence upon us. It might be time before proper aid from the United States to help our defense against this; war would interrupt our citizens in their peaceful existence…. I have no desire to see war renewed again in Texas, to save Texas from more bloodshed, we must annex ourselves to the United States...
Document 3: John Calhoun - Letter to W.R. King August 12th, 1844 (Printed publicly) “It is impossible to cast a look at the map of the United States and Texas ….without coming to the conclusion that it is their destiny to be united, and of course, that annexation is merely a question of time and mode...It is our destiny to occupy that vast region; to intersect it with roads and canals; to fill it with cities, towns, villages, and farms; to extend over it our religion, customs, constitution and laws; and to present it as a peaceful and splendid addition to the domains of commerce and civilization. It is our policy to increase, by rowing and spreading out into unoccupied regions, assimilating all we incorporate; in a word, to increase by accretion, and not through conquest…”
Document 4: Stephen A. Douglass - Speech in the House of Representatives, January 6th, 1845 Annexing Texas would result in stimulating the industry of the whole country; in opening new markets for the manufacturers of the North and East; in bringing in the waters of the Red River, the Arkansas River, and other streams flowing into the Mississippi... in growing the political power of the United States; in securing safer and more natural boundaries, and avoiding the danger of collisions with foreign power…
Document 5: Central Clay Club of Northampton County - pamphlet in support of Henry Clay October 18th, 1844“Pennsylvania has to fight against the dishonest annexation of Texas, the extension of representation and slavery to a foreign people brought into our union to weigh down the free state votes of the north in congress, giving a larger voice to slaveholders …annexing Texas would imbalance congress and violate the compromises we have worked so hard to make...”
Document 6: Charles Hudson - Massachusetts Congressman Speech in the House of Representatives, January 20th, 1845 “...Congress has the power to admit states into the Union, this is true. The gentleman from Illinois (Stephen A. Douglass) has said further here not two weeks ago that under the “necessary and proper” clause, we can annex the nation of Texas. I find this to be preposterous! This is not based on sound reasoning. Does it follow that because a power is granted to Congress, that they have the authority to exercise that power in any manner they please, regardless of the laws of the nation? ….At the time when the Constitution was formed, we were in possession of the Northwest Territory, which we held as per a treaty we signed with England...we have signed no treaty with Mexico nor with Spain over the ownership of the lands we call Texas… it is unconstitutional if we annex these lands…”
Part Three: PowerPoint View the PowerPoint below to help you with your test review. |
Bacterial security agents go rogue
Woodruff Health Sciences Center | April 15, 2013
F. novicida and F. tularensis (blue in this electron microscopy image) are bacteria that live inside mammalian cells.
In F. novicida, a genetic defense system used by other bacteria to defend themselves against phages has acquired a distinct function not seen before: evading the host's immune system.
CRISPR, a system of genes that bacteria use to defend themselves against viruses, has been found to be involved in helping some bacteria evade the mammalian immune system.
The results were published online Sunday, April 14 ahead of print in Nature.
CRISPR is itself a sort of immune system for bacteria. Its function was discovered by dairy industry researchers seeking to prevent phages, the viruses that infect bacteria, from ruining the cultures used to make cheese and yogurt. Bacteria incorporate small bits of DNA from phages into their CRISPR region and use that information to fight off the phages by chewing up their DNA.
Now scientists at the Division of Infectious Diseases of the Emory University School of Medicine and the Emory Vaccine Center have shown that Francisella novicida, a close relative of the bacterium that causes tularemia, and another bacterium that causes meningitis, need parts of the CRISPR system to stay infectious. F. novicida, which grows inside mammalian cells, employs parts of CRISPR to shut off a bacterial gene that would otherwise trigger detection and destruction of the bacteria by its host.
Because disabling CRISPR creates a weakened bacterial strain that is easily recognized by the immune system, the finding could accelerate vaccine development. But it is also a broader reminder that in biology, defensive tools can be co-opted for purposes of stealth.
"CRISPR systems are bacterial defenses, but we've found that bacteria can use them offensively to hide from the host immune system and cause disease," says David Weiss, PhD, assistant professor of medicine (infectious diseases) at Emory University School of Medicine and Yerkes National Primate Research Center.
The CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) system has attracted recent attention among scientists for its potential uses in genetic engineering and biotechnology, but its roles in gene regulation and evading host immunity have remained relatively unexplored, Weiss says.
Weiss first isolated strains of F. novicida that had defects in their CRISPR systems while working as a postdoc with Denise Monack at Stanford. F. novicida infects rodents and only rarely infects humans. It is a model for studying the more dangerous F. tularensis, a potential biological weapon. Weiss was looking for F. novicida genes that are important for virulence: causing disease in a live animal.
Intriguingly, he found a DNA sequence that has recently been shown to encode a protein of the CRISPR system. What they were doing in F. novicida during infection was a puzzle.
"The mutations have a strong effect in the bacteria," Weiss says. "The wild type will kill mice, while the mutants are eradicated after a couple days. But why would the bacteria need to defend against foreign DNA to cause disease in a mouse? It didn't make sense."
The researchers discovered that the bacteria require one of the CRISPR genes to turn off production of a lipoprotein – part of the bacterial cell membrane -- when the bacteria infect mammalian cells. For immune cells, lipoprotein is like blood in the water for a shark. A little whiff excites them. So for the bacteria to survive undetected, they have to silence lipoprotein production.
Working with Weiss, graduate student Tim Sampson – who is first author of the Nature paper -dissected which parts of the CRISPR system were needed to turn off the lipoprotein. The CRISPR system consists of genes encoding several proteins and also incorporates small bits of DNA from phages as "repeats" into the bacterial DNA. RNA produced from the repeats guides an enzyme called Cas9 to slice up the phage DNA.
Sampson and Weiss found that part of the F. novicida CRISPR system makes an RNA that directs Cas9 against the lipoprotein gene. Weiss says the Cas9 regulatory system allows F. novicida to tune down the lipoprotein efficiently at the times when detection could be harmful, while still keeping it around for its function – still unclear – when the bacteria are outside the host.
"The finding that Cas9 is regulating a bacterial gene rather than slicing up a phage gene appears to be new, although there were already some hints that CRISPRs had broader functions in other bacteria," Sampson says.
To show that their results were not peculiar to F. novicida, the researchers collaborated with the laboratory of Yih-Ling Tzeng, PhD, assistant professor of medicine (infectious diseases) at Emory. They generated a strain of Neisseria meningitidis -- a cause of meningitis infections in humans -- with a deletion in Cas9. The mutated strain displayed defects in its ability to adhere to, invade and replicate in human cells. This suggests that similar functions for Cas9 and CRISPR may be found in other bacteria.
"Most of the bacteria that encode Cas9 are either pathogenic, or can commonly be found in the human body," Sampson says. "I think our findings will encourage other scientists to re-examine the functions of Cas9 and CRISPR in other bacteria, to look at interactions with the host."
For example, some Streptococcus bacteria and Listeria have similar CRISPR systems, but any potential function in causing disease in humans has not been revealed. Weiss and Sampson plan to investigate further how Cas9 functions to shut off the lipoprotein gene in F. novicida and how Cas9 becomes activated.
Sampson is a student in Emory's Microbiology and Molecular Genetics graduate program. The research was supported by the Southeastern Regional Center of Excellence for Emerging Infections and Biodefense and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U54-AI057157, R56-AI061031, R56-AI87673).
Reference: T.R. Sampson, S.D. Saroj, A.C. Llewellyn, Y.L. Tzeng, and D.S. Weiss. A CRISPR-CAS system mediates bacterial innate immune evasion and virulence. Nature advanced online publication (2013). |
Are you familiar with BIDMAS? Perhaps your children are? Are your parents?
In case you’re not and you’re wondering whether BIDMAS is a person, concept or foreign festival let us give you some context:
Many of the escape rooms our Directors, Angela and Mark, have tried across the UK and in Europe use props and clues within the escape room to pose questions, present riddles and offer puzzles. These enigmas and problems usually need to be answered and solved using brain power and logic to progress to the next stage of the escape room or to reveal a piece of a larger puzzle to work towards the overall goal of escaping the room.
Some questions posed in escape rooms can often be mathematical sums to be solved and it recently came to our attention that how players approach the problem-solving process depends on what year they attended school and what they were taught in math class. For instance, today’s children are familiar with BIDMAS, which dictates the priority or order in which different elements of a sum are to be solved. BIDMAS (Sometimes known as BODMAS) stands for:Brackets
So, if you had to solve the sum 5 + 4 x 3 in order to unlock a prop in an escape room how would you approach it?
If you had been taught BIDMAS you would do the multiplication part of the sum first (4 x 3) to get ’12’ and then add ‘5’ to that answer = 17.
However, if you hadn’t been taught what BIDMAS means at school you might have approached the problem by solving the addition element first (5 + 4) to give you 9 and then multiplied that answer by 3 to = 36.
Both approaches give you very different answers. There was no defining moment when BIDMAS was introduced into the National Curriculum and perhaps older generations approach a maths problem like ‘5 + 4 x 3’ in the same order that BIDMAS dictates, but without knowing the term for the technique they are using (hence not being familiar with the term BIDMAS or BODMAS).
Either way, there are many examples in maths in which various generations approach a problem differently (something we’re always fascinated to watch when players try and escape our game rooms!). Sometimes younger generations use a pen and paper, whilst older players are better at mental arithmetic, not having had the privilege of calculators and convenience of smartphones to do their sums for them!
What is clear is that having a go at an escape room is always fun with a mix-aged group. They say,’two heads are better than one’ so why not bring your parents and/or children next time you book our escape room games? That way you’re bound to crack any mathematical sums between you! |
A muscle strain injury can occur in any activity or sport...
such as during powerful eccentric muscle actions resulting in tearing of the muscle or tendon (tendon - a fibrous cord of tissue that connects the muscle to a bone) [1-4].
The main purpose of a physical examination is to determine the location and severity of the injury - assisted by earlier findings e.g. history, signs, symptoms and mechanism of injury (1). The severity of a muscle strain are commonly classified according to the amount of pain, weakness, and loss of motion, resulting in grades of I (mild), II (moderate), or III (severe) [5-6].
It is recommend that a comprehensive range of specific tests / measures (e.g. strength, range of motion (ROM), differential diagnostic tests, palpation, pain) be used during the examination process, at the very least to serve as a baseline from which progress can be monitored following a muscle strain injury .
It is imperative that effective early diagnosis and subsequent management for this injury is applied correctly within accordance to evidence based principles. Although MRI is frequently recommended in more severe cases of a muscle strain (such as a hamstring strain) accurate and reliable diagnosis, minor to moderate grade strain injuries can be accurately be diagnosed by using an effective clinical assessment with sound clinical reasoning – with determent or delay to recovery. Thus, MRI should be confined to more severe grade strain injuries (e.g. hamstring strains) to identify potential avulsions and undiagnosed pain.
His knowledge of anatomy was incredible. ...The pain I experienced disappeared almost instantly after I left the treatment room and has been a lot better since... Thanks Nick!
Read what others have to
say about us...
Three visits to Nick in 3 weeks and to my amazement not only did I make the start line but I ran the 26 miles, non-stop in under 4 hours, without any problems with my calf muscle..
This approach will establish and adopt greater understanding within current practices and thus give the athlete / patient the highest quality and safest optimum care throughout the healing process of rehabilitation.
Sports Health (2013) Jul, 5(4):346-52
or Call: 01298 600477
Stanton, P. E. (1989) Hamstring injuries in sprinting – the role of eccentric exercise. Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy, 10, 343-9.
Hoskins W., Pollard H. (2005b) Hamstring injury management – part 2: Treatment. Manual Therapy, 10, 180-190.
Woods, C., Hawkins, R. D., Maltby, S., Hulse, M., Thomas, A. And Hodson, A. (2004) Football Association Medical Research Programme. The Football Association Medical Research Programme: An audit of injuries in professional football – analysis of hamstring injuries. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 38 (1), 36-41.
Yamamoto, T. (1993) Relationship between hamstring strains and leg muscle strength. A follow up study of collegiate track and field athletes. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 33 (2), 194-199
Heiderscheit B.C., Sherry M.A., Silder A., Chumanov E.S., & Thelen D.G. (2010). Hamstring for diagnosis strain injuries: Recommendations, injury rehabilitation and prevention. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, 40(2); 67-81.
Hoskins W., Pollard H. (2005b) Hamstring injury management – part 2: Treatment. |
As my sister was educated (or something to that effect) by Ursulines, a recent addition to Canada’s Public Register of Arms, Flags, and Badges caught my attention. The Queen of Canada granted a coat of arms to the Quebec municipality of Sainte-Angèle-de-Mérici in 2013 (pictured above).
The shield of the arms features three chevronels represent the mountains surrounding the area while their number reminds us that Sainte-Angèle-de-Mérici is a municipality formed from two townships — Cabot and Fleuriault — and the single seigneury of Lepage-et-Thivierge. The wavy blue stripe represents the Mitis River, while gold symbolises the agricultural industry of the Sainte-Angèle-de-Mérici.
The charming aspect are the supporters: two bear cubs. St Angela Merici was the founder of the Ursulines — the Order of St Ursula — and ‘Ursula’ is Latin for ‘little female bear’.
“The bear also symbolizes bravery, thus signifying St. Angela Merici’s martyrdom,” the Canadian Heraldic Authority further explains. “The cloak is one of her traditional attributes. The flags (drapeau in French) honour Angèle Drapeau (1799-1876), the youngest daughter of Seigneur Joseph Drapeau and benefactor of the municipality.”
The city’s administrative and electoral units were its parishes, and the tallest buildings were all church towers. The day of the colonial port began with the cannon shot announcing the beginning of harbour commerce, at half past five.
This was followed by the opening of shops and homes of merchants and tradesmen. Early mass was signalled by church bells, and it was church bells which marked the day’s turn as they sounded the day’s regular prayers as the sun rose and set. …
One of the first, common sights in the city was that of Catholic brotherhoods seeking alms in the streets and shops, or, perhaps, a lady, humbly barefoot, seeking to fulfil a vow by begging alms with a heavy silver tray covered with rich cloth — accompanied by her servant, of course.
Above: The 600th Anniversary Mace.
Below: The University’s three medieval maces:
St Salvator’s College, 1461; Faculty of Canon Law, circa 1450; Faculty of Arts, 1416.
ST ANDREWS University already boasts the world’s finest collection of medieval maces, but a new ceremonial mace was added to the university’s hoard recently. In honour of the University’s six-hundredth anniversary, the Most Rev Leo Cushley, Archbishop of St Andrews & Edinburgh, has presented the institution with a new ceremonial mace on behalf of the Catholic Church.
“This completes a triple recognition of the University St Andrews,” said Dr John Haldane, the University’s professor of philosophy.
“During his visit to Scotland at the outset of this decade, Pope Benedict referred to the university beginning to mark the 600th anniversary of its foundation, then last year Pope Francis sent a message of congratulation, and now his office has granted permission for the inclusion of his coat of arms on the head of a mace commissioned to mark the completion of several centuries and the beginning of who knows how many more.”
The silver mace with gold rose details was crafted by Hamilton & Inches of Edinburgh, who also constructed the mace of the Faculty of Medicine at St Andrews over a half-century ago. Their master silversmith Jon Hunt designed the mace, in consultation with Prof Haldane.
The mace’s head is reminiscent of Brunelleschi’s dome of Florence Cathedral, recalling St Andrews’s links with the Continent which were foremost in the University’s first century and a half while it was a Catholic institution. Atop the head a saltire design is incorporated, referencing the apostle who gave his name to both the Royal Burgh and the University as well as the country who’s first university St Andrews is.
Heraldic shields display the arms of the University and of Pope Francis who invoked “upon all the staff and students of the University, past and present, the abundant blessings of Almighty God, as a pledge of heavenly peace and joy”. (more…)
Among the numerous rituals of the ordinary visitor’s pilgrimage to Paris — trip up the Eiffel Tower, lunch at a tourist-trap café — braving the teeming hordes in the Louvre to view da Vinci’s ‘Mona Lisa’ ranks near the top. What very few of the camera-toting hordes realise is that they are shuffling through the room that once housed France’s parliament. The history of the Palais du Louvre is long, exceptional, and varied.
Originally built as a stern castle in the 1190s, the Louvre’s secure reputation led Louis IX to house the royal treasury there from the mid-thirteenth century. Charles V enlarged it in the fifteenth century to become a royal residence, while François Ier brought the grandeur of the Renaissance to the Louvre — as well as acquiring ‘La Gioconda’. In 1793, amidst the revolutionary tumult, part of the palace was opened to the public as the Musée du Louvre, but the Louvre has always housed a variety of institutions — the Ministry of Finance didn’t move out until 1983.
Napoleon III took as his official residence the Tuileries Palace which the Louvre was slowly enlarged towards over the centuries to incorporate. The Emperor needed a parliament chamber close at hand so he could easily address joint sittings of the Senate and the Corps législatif (as the lower house was called during the Second Empire) which opened the parliamentary year. By doing so at his residence, the Bonaparte emperor was following the example left by his kingly Bourbon predecessor Louis XVIII. (more…)
Being an omnivore of nations I’m not short of favourite countries, but the Lebanon is towards the top of my list. I’ve spent some weeks there each summer for the past few years and we’re hoping to return this July (God willing). Friday night B. invited a few of us round for an impromptu supper and in the kitchen I happened to mention that I had met his ambassador the day before — the Lebanese ambassador.
This provoked a lament on B’s part as he relayed the history of his family’s service in the diplomatic corps and of Lebanon in the old days: black-tie dinners, summer in the mountains, the casinos and the glamour of the Beirut he was born too late to experience.
It’s become a cliché for foreigners to cite Beirut’s former glory as ‘the Paris of the Orient’ and Lebanon ‘the Switzerland of the Middle East’. Civil war wreaked its devastation on the country but its revival in more recent years has still been remarkable. Everything, of course, is exceptionally tenuous, but despite the clouds of uncertainty there remains a lot for which to be grateful.
We both wished, however, that today’s ordinary culture in Lebanon was a bit more informed by the style of the past. While old buildings are often restored, far too many of the new buildings are horrendously bland or offensively modern. Perhaps most unfortunately, a large proportion of Lebanon’s women — already endowed with a natural beauty unparalleled in the Middle East — are too mimicking of American styles: nosejobs and dyed blonde hair.
For my part, however, the conversation provoked a little dip into the photographic archives, seeking out some images of Lebanon in its halcyon days. (more…)
If anything, I am a lover of maps, and as a cartophile it’s a fine thing that I spend half my life in South Kensington. Here you will find two of the best antiquarian map merchants around: the Map House on Beauchamp Place and Robert Frew across from the Oratory and right next door to Orsini. Milling about in front of church after mass today I received a tip-off from a friend suggesting I have a look at the window of Robert Frew, as there was a London Underground map with coats of arms of mostly abolished boroughs.
“Sounds like the sort of thing MacDonald Gill would do,” I said, and sure enough upon investigating earlier tonight it is the work of that inventive designer (and brother of Eric Gill).
The most splendid and ridiculous aspect is that in the central place among the municipal heraldry was a putative coat of arms MacDonald Gill thought up for the Underground: a rabbit rampant. Indeed, given the twin characteristics of being speedy and digging the earth, the rabbit is a perfect animal avatar for the London Underground to adopt. Don’t go looking for this design anywhere in the rolls of Garter King of Arms, though: it’s merely the invention of the creative mind of master map-maker MacDonald Gill.
The French tricolour is one of the most influential flags in history, inspiring most prominently perhaps the Italian and Irish flags, but also dozens other, including the nationalist triband flags (like those of Germany, Russia, etc.). Indeed, the national flags of nearly sixty UN member states are based on these vertical or horizontal stripe combinations.
While long identified with revolution, republicanism, and nationalism, the French flag originally represented a combination of the blue and red of Paris — the colours of Saint Martin and Saint Denis — with the white of the French monarchy. Two (non-national) flags based directly on the French tricolour are those of the Acadians in North America and of Franschhoek in South Africa. (more…)
NAMIBIA IS A LAND that fascinates me, which is perhaps surprising. This arid land is sparsely populated — just 6.6 people per square mile — but its deserts are believed to be the oldest in the world. Those who haven’t experienced its harsh beauty may wonder why this land has attracted its odd and varied collection of peoples, but here the Ovambo, the Kavango, the Herero, the Afrikaner, the German, and the Bushman all call home.
I have already written somewhat about Lüderitz and beyond it the Diaz Point. As you speed down the B4 from Keetmanshoop to Lüderitz — a four-hour drive passing through just the one small village of Aus — you can turn off just before you reach the coastal town and pay a visit to the eerily ghost town of Kolmanskop: Kolmannskuppe in the original German. (more…)
Flags have been in the news of late, perhaps as a late hangover of the disruptive protests over Belfast City Council’s decision to fly the Union Jack from Belfast City Hall only on the United Kingdom’s designated flag-flying days. Ironically, this would have brought the Six Counties further in line with normal British practice, but disgruntled unionists viewed it as a diminution of “their” flag and a bit of a fracas ensued with the once-traditional death threats and intimidation returning.
The BBC raised the issue of how Scottish independence might affect the Union Jack. (Pedants only refer to the British flag as the “Union flag”, but the Flag Institute points out both terms are perfectly acceptable). Scottish independence would have no automatic effect on the flag whatsoever, but it has provoked a round of speculation over what changes, if any, should be made to the Union flag.
Then Richard Haass, the American diplomat charged with chairing the inter-party talks on unresolved issues in the Six Counties, waded into matters vexillological when he wrote to party leaders seeking their views on the possibility of a new flag for Northern Ireland. (more…)
1 hour 54 minutes
In 1940, Viviane Denvert (played by Isabelle Adjani) is a fickle, self-promoting film star who enlists her childhood friend, Frédéric Auger (Grégori Derangère), to extract herself from a compromising situation. As war creeps upon France, Auger finds himself behind bars for Viviane’s crime, but in the confusion of battle he manages to escape with the seasoned ne’erdowell Raoul (Yvan Attal). All of Paris is fleeing the German advance, and on the train to Bordeaux the two come across physics student Camille (Virginie Ledoyen) who helps them reach the western city by car when the train is stopped on the line.
In Bordeaux we come across government minister Jean-Étienne Beaufort, Viviane’s lover whom she uses to get Frédéric out of a sticky situation resulting from her own manipulation of him. Meanwhile, with all of Paris in Bordeaux, Viviane comes across another ex-paramour, Alex Winckler (Peter Coyote), keeping an unnatural interest in the affairs of the government, while the physics student Camille and her mentor Professor Kopolski are harbouring an important cargo they are determined must not fall into the hands of the Germans.
For fear of spoilers, that is all I will say about the plot, but it all comes packaged in a score by Gabriel Yared, better known for his scoring of ‘The English Patient’, ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’, and Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s ‘Das Leben der Anderen’. The film was nominated for eight César awards in 2004 — best costumes, best director, best editing, best film, best original score, best sound editing, best supporting actor, and best writing — while it won three Césars that year for photography, best set design, and, for Grégori Derangère, best promising actor.
cordially invite you to a talk by
‘THREE ANNULETS OR’
THE VAN RIEBEECK ARMS
& THEIR SOUTH AFRICAN LEGACY
Tuesday 17 September 2013
Reception to follow
New York Genealogical & Biographical Society
36 West 44th Street, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10036
Open to the public. No charge.
Please rsvp to [email protected] to reserve a place.
As the founder of the oldest European settlement in southern Africa, he came to be seen as the father of South Africa after the country was unified in 1910. The central elements of his arms — three annulets or — obtained local, regional, and finally national significance, and influenced the design of a wide variety of South African coats of arms, many of which will be examined in this lecture.
(Only interesting, I’m afraid, to those reasonably acquainted with the situation of France in May 1958)
• The French-Algerian instigators of the military rebellion led by Salan didn’t know what to make of him when he was first appointed to Algeria so they decided, just to be on the safe side, to assassinate him on his first day on the job. Salan survived the bazooka attack on his office but his ADC was killed. The general later became the only socialist freemason to lead a right-wing terror group (the OAS).
• Once the Algiers rebellion commenced and travel between Algeria and metropolitan France was cut, many supporting figures made their way across the Mediterranean by whatever means at hand. Soustelle managed to escape his police guards and get to Algiers via a secretly chartered Swiss plane, but the more romantically inclined Roger Frey — later Minister of the Interior — first tried to get to Algiers on the actor Errol Flynn’s yacht. It didn’t pan out, and instead he was forced to hire the boat of an English ex-naval officer turned smuggler.
• The man in charge of wiretapping French telephones was unsure which side would emerge on top so cautiously refrained from giving the government the full picture of the information his wiretaps revealed.
• When Corsica was seized by the rebels, Moch, the Interior Minister, decided to send in the elite of the police force, the CRS. He was afraid, however, that military transport planes would fly them directly to Algeria, so he was forced to commission Air France planes instead. Upon landing in Corsica, the entire CRS contingent was met by the rebel parachute regiment and immediately defected to the rebellion.
• So widespread was the reluctance to support the government against the military rebels that even the meteorologists send false warnings of storms in the Mediterranean in the hopes of keeping the French Navy from moving against the rebels in Algiers.
• The air force was particularly keen for de Gaulle to take power, and took to flying planes in a Cross of Lorraine formation, as well as sending troop transport planes to Algeria in case they would be needed to invade mainland France.
• Regional military commanders in France varied in their loyalty to the government and sympathy for the rebels. One commander is alleged to have told the regional prefect “M. le Préfet, I am not here to defend your préfecture, but to take it.” Other prefects warned the cabinet that any orders for the police to arrest those suspected of aiding the rebellion might result in the prefects instead being arrested themselves.
• The government had sometimes ordered firemen to unleash their water hoses against rioters in the past. As popular support for the cabinet faded away, the head of the fire brigade felt compelled to inform ministers that his men would not take part in any anti-riot measures but would merely put out any fires that erupted. “And,” he said, referring to the home of France’s National Assembly, “in the Palais Bourbon, they wouldn’t bother.”
• As Philip Williams reports in his article “How the Fourth Republic Died”:
At that night’s cabinet Pleven summed up: “We are the legal government, but what do we govern? The Minister for Algeria cannot enter Algeria. The Minister for the Sahara cannot go to the Sahara. The Minister of Information can only censor the press. The Minister of the Interior has no control over the police. The Minister of Defence is not obeyed by the army.” Said a left-wing Gaullist in the Assembly, “You are not abandoning power — it has abandoned you.”
The first time I met my friend Rafal, I noticed his necktie bedecked with a subtle heraldic pattern. “I gather you’re German,” says young Cusack, summoning his Sherlockian deductive genius. “What makes you say that?” “The coat of arms on your tie: it’s Danzig.” “Actually I am Polish, and it’s Gdańsk!”
Well, so much for my deductive powers, (and Rafal is a secret wannabe-German anyhow) but the arms and flag of the Baltic city — once German, now Polish — combine the usual strong characteristics of any design: simplicity and beauty. (more…)
My written views of the city you will have to wait for (presuming they ever see the light of day), but here are a few photographic impressions from my jaunt to the Kaiserliche Hauptstadt. (more…)
In anticipation of a party in Oriel recently, I enjoyed a pint with some friends by the fire in the King’s Arms and was given a copy of this book, mysteriously shrouded in a plastic bag. Jack Carlson’s Humorous Guide to Heraldry is a welcome addition to the Cusackian library. The author, who wrote the book when he was fourteen, is now an Oxford archaeologist (and rower) but his interests span a broad spectrum. (He is currently researching for a work on rowing blazers, a subject unjustly neglected by academics).
Aficionados of the light-hearted-guide-to-heraldry genre will notice one or two gentle riffs off of Sir Iain Moncrieffe of that Ilk’s Simple Heraldry Cheerfully Illustrated, and, since that book is long out of print, evangelists of heraldry will find A Humorous Guide to Heraldry a useful tool for introducing the uninitiated to the appreciable realms of this field. Godfathers will not want their spiritual charges to grow into adults without being able to distinguish the mêlée from the affronté and every life-long student of the world should be able to recognise a cinquefoil or a pheon.
In short: a worthy purchase for the heraldically inclined.
Jack Carlson’s A Humorous Guide to Heraldry is available here.
The Vatican released information about Pope Francis’s coat of arms on Monday but the image they provided of it was very poorly drafted. Many of us were waiting for the Italian heraldic artist Marco Foppoli to craft his own rendering of our new pope’s arms, and he has duly released it today (see above).
The central motif is the emblem of the Society of Jesus — the Christogram with nails on a sunburst. The star represents the Blessed Virgin while the sprig of nard-flower represents Saint Joseph, the patron of the universal church. Thus the three emblems on Pope Francis’s arms together represent the Holy Family.
The Michaelerplatz façade of the Hofburg, Vienna.
SIDLING UP THE KOHLMARKT and entering the Hofburg through the Michaelerplatz is a glorious architectural experience, but viewing Vienna’s imperial palace from the Ringstraße end, one is left with a certain awkwardness. This is because what is now the Heldenplatz, open to the neighbouring Volksgarten, was conceived as part of a great imperial forum, the Kaiserforum, but the scheme has been left incomplete.
The original impetus for this forum was the plan to build the identical Kunsthistoriches Museum and Natural History Museum across from the Hofburg next to the former imperial stables. Emperor Franz Joseph held a closed competition for four invited architects — Carl Hasenauer, Theophil von Hansen, Heinrich Ferstel, and Moritz Löhr — to conceive of an overall scheme to expand the Hofburg in order to provide an architectural connection to the two new museums. (more…)
In Transylvania, a “flag war” has broken out between Romanian politicians and the representatives of the Hungarian-speaking Szekler people. As România Libera reports, no one is offended by flying the old Hapsburg flag over the fortress of Alba Iulia (De: Karlsburg, Hu: Gyulafehérvár), the Romanian government takes umbrage at the appearance of the blue-and-gold flag of the Szekler (or Székely) people who live primarily in three of Transylvania’s counties. (more…)
In the midst of some unrelated research the other day, I came across these photos of George VI on his first visit to Quebec as King in 1939. I think the Parlement du Québec is probably the only Commonwealth legislature to have a crucifix in its plenary chamber (c.f. ‘Christ at the heart of Quebec’, 25 May 2008). No, no, of course the Maltese do as well, in their surprisingly ugly parliament chamber. But Malta is now an island republic, while Quebec retains its monarchy.
In the above picture, the King and Queen of Canada hear a loyal address in the Salle du Conseil législatif of the Hôtel du Parlement in the city of Quebec. Below, the King speaks at a state dinner in the Chateau Frontenac. Seated is Cardinal Villeneuve, the Primat du Canada and Archbishop of Quebec.
It might be difficult for some to imagine that the architect of the pagoda-like Laboratorios Jorba outside Madrid was an accomplished classicist, but, like many modern architects, Miguel Fisac began his career with more traditional works. His very first commission as an individual was to design a church for Spain’s Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (Higher Council of Scientific Research). The CISC had only been founded in 1939 and was originally housed in existing structures around Madrid. The Church of the Holy Spirit (constructed 1942–1947) was the first newly built structure for the research council, and the fact that it was an ecclesiastic building “eloquently expresses the spirit of commitment between religion and science that animated the new project” (according to the Fundacion Fisac). Around the corner from the Church of the Holy Spirit, the main headquarters of the CISC was designed by Fisac. (more…) |
Since 1970, some of our most beloved songbirds have declined drastically. Scientific evidence shows that substantial changes to farming practices has had the greatest impact on songbird populations. Around 77% of the UK is now farmland.
|Yellow wagtail - declined
|Corn bunting - declined
|Tree sparrow - declined
Over the decades, increasing demand for human food production has driven the development of more intensive farming practices. This has contributed to a loss of songbird habitat, safe nesting sites, and their vital food sources. For example, the use of pesticides and fertilisers on crops and grassland, the switch from spring to autumn sowing of arable crops, the loss of over-wintered stubbles and mixed farming have all contributed to the decline of our songbirds.
How our innovative beetle banks help songbirds to thrive
One of our innovations was the beetle bank. These are low grass banks running through crops where insects can thrive. They are important because, as cereal fields increased in size and their centres became farther away from field boundaries, ground beetles that overwinter in hedgerows and fencelines could not spread into the centre of the crop.
Now when pests invade crops, there are no predatory beetles to eat them and farmers are forced to use pesticides.
There are now beetle banks on 377 farms across the UK, producing over 12 million beetles for songbirds to eat whilst also providing safe nesting sites. Our research shows that farmers who maintain beetle banks rarely need to use a summer insecticide.
Maximise field corners to improve songbird numbers
Field corners tend to be unproductive areas of crop because they are difficult to work and subject to a good deal of compaction. A good solution is to square off the field and take the awkward corners and irregular edges out of cultivation. We can help farmers to develop these areas for wildlife.
Grow areas of mixed seeds for wild birds on farms
Modern farming leaves little residue seed for birds, so we work with farmers to grow a few areas of crops especially for birds.
- In summer, millet, linseed and triticale grown as strips alongside nesting cover make an ideal mix for finches and sparrows.
- In winter, kale provides cover and keeps the ground moist and warm, allowing thrushes and insectivorous birds to feed in safety.
Ensure farmers leave overwintered stubble
Traditional crop rotations involved winter and spring crops with a grass ley break or root crop. Modern rotations mostly comprise only winter crops such as wheat and oilseed rape, so the land gets cultivated all at once immediately after harvest. We’ve proved that leaving small areas of stubble is important for protecting nest sites from predators and keeping birds warm in winter. |
Practical Issues >
Things to Do >
A New Approach to Animal Rights Activism
By Andres Cameselle
2 CHANGING THE MORAL CONCEPTION OF
ANIMALS IN SOCIETY
4 ANIMAL LOVERS
5 CAMPAIGNING METHODS
6 ATTACKING THE ROOT, NOT THE BRANCHES
7 EQUALLY IMPORTANT CAMPAIGNS
8 THE PROBLEM OF DISCRIMINATING BETWEEN CATEGORIES OF NON-HUMANS
9 VEGETARIANISM AND VEGANISM
11 DIRECT ACTION
12 CREATING UNNECESSARY ENEMIES
Preface: Looking around us, we often want to think that things are getting better for nonhuman animals thanks to the work of the many organisations, groups and individuals defending the consideration of their interests as sentient beings.
But we tend to see everything done "for the animals" as something positive that will make people change their attitudes towards them.
This, far from being true, is the last nail in the coffin for this movement and the animals defended by it.
A lack of reflection and criticism has driven us to a point in which we are often considered lunatics or emotional freaks.
Due to the actual situation of the animal rights movement in terms of strategy, tactics and effectiveness, a new perspective on the issue appears to be necessary.
First of all, I want to express my support to all of those who fight against the exploitation, killing or use of sentient creatures. Although I show certain disagreements with certain views, methods or campaigns, I do not underestimate the efforts, good intentions or work of those carrying them out. Everyone really wanting to help animals should be happy to be criticised so that they can analyse their work better and decide if they can improve what they are doing. It is very sad to see that the most widespread attitude towards criticism is: "If you don't like it, don't do it. You do your thing, I'll do mine". That way, the movement will never develop. Also, there are things that can be counterproductive, which can affect the work of others, and thus animals. So, if someone is doing something that might damage this cause, we should not shut up. Also, if someone has an idea that could improve our effectiveness, her/his comments should be welcomed, not simply ignored or dismissed without any real consideration. Nobody is perfect, and we constantly do things that could be done in a better way. Lots of times we notice it ourselves after a while, but sometimes we just don't think of it until someone says it. Accepting you were doing something wrong (or simply that you could have done it better) doesn't mean accepting you are a bad or stupid person. What actually shows a lack of wisdom is to think that everything you do is fine and that there is nothing for you to change. Wise people realise they can always do things better and evolve constantly to improve their effectiveness.
This "piece of mind" is written from this humble position, just expressing my views on certain issues I consider relevant. We all learn something when having our work evaluated.
Many of the things I constructively criticise in this article I once supported and carried out, and I'm very happy to have been able to reflect on them or to have been criticised by others so that I could change. Equally, many of my views are shared by others, and have been expressed before. The reason for this article is that a new systematic approach in our movement has to be adopted, as - although many ideas are not new - the vast majority of campaigners are doing things completely different from these. It is not about the details in each point I make, but about the overall strategy to follow.
I hope no one feels offended by the comments in this article and that everyone understands that my only intention is to improve the movement to end all exploitation, use or killing of beings with the ability to suffer and to enjoy life.
CHANGING THE MORAL CONCEPTION OF ANIMALS IN SOCIETY
When campaigning for any cause, it is extremely important to keep focused on the arguments that sustain it. If the arguments are changed for some achievements to be reached in a shorter period, the cause is not being promoted; it is neglected for misdirected efficiency. Cases like the one for animal rights (AR) will take a very long time before they are seriously considered by most of the population, but if we maintain the basic arguments when campaigning, it will eventually happen, as happened in the case of abolishing slavery or gaining the right to vote for women in many parts of the world.
It will be hard for many people to accept the fact that other animals are not resources or property for us to use; that they are sentient, conscious beings with individual interests, like humans. Changing people's lifestyles, habits, mindset (your conception of life, the world, your priorities…), economy, laws, etc. is a tremendous task that won't be accomplished in just a few years. The same argument will have to be repeated over and over again until it sounds familiar and even reasonable in most people's minds. Sadly, unless people hear something many times, they hardly give it serious thought.
If by wanting short-term, superficial achievements we change our message, then we will need to make much more of an effort with each new campaign, as we will have to start reaching people from zero again.
Here are some concrete examples for this to be better understood:
If we want to make a campaign for vegetarianism, and the main argument we use is that it is healthy, then many animals may end up benefiting from it (as some people will buy less meat if thinking it is unhealthy), but we wouldn't have been doing an AR campaign. We would not have been promoting the ethical consideration of animals and, therefore, next time we want to make another campaign, say about leather, we will have to bring up the issue as something new, unconnected to the other (unless we want to use another "fake" argument).
Also, in this instance, we will first have to convince people that they should care about their health (which doesn't happen that often), that diet has a great effect on it, and that vegetarianism is actually healthier than meat-eating (and, objectively, eating meat once in a while is not something that will undermine your health enough as for it being upsetting on those grounds). This means lots of resources and time spent on a campaign that doesn't question our relationship to animals.
We should explain to people that they might be healthier if they go veggie (not necessarily the case, depending on how you eat), but we should use it as an "extra", so that people consider the change easier for them. First they must have heard all the reasons for them to consider animals as equals, not food.
It is true that if people consider that vegetarianism is healthier, and for that reason they go veggie, it will be easier to convey an AR message; as it is much easier for a vegetarian to accept the AR arguments than for a meat-eater (generally, what people consider as right or wrong is much related to how that affects their lives) but that is a job that health-promoting groups should be doing, not AR’ists.
If in campaigning against the racist attacks suffered by black people we argue that aggressors may end up in jail and their life will be ruined, we may be avoiding the beating or killing of some people, but we are doing a disservice to the achievement of a conception of black people as beings deserving of the same respect as other humans.
The same goes for vivisection. Maybe we could make a comment about the fact that animal testing can be misleading and useless for human medicine in many cases, but the actual point is "What if it were helpful?" Can someone justify having a certain group of humans (let's say those with red hair, for example) as resources to supply organs needed by the rest of the population? If the answer is negative, then the same goes for other beings with the same ability to feel. You can't ethically try to find solutions for a certain group by the systematic exploitation of others who also have individual interests. And even less ethically defensible is the decision to make a social rule that entitles the most powerful group to solve their problems (often caused by the powerful ones themselves) by killing and torturing defenceless individuals.
If we don't make our view clear, people will have thousands of doctors and scientists to convince them that animal experiments are useful. And, although there are many in the scientific community who oppose these experiments, those who support them are, at present, the vast majority.
With this, there is also the risk of some experiments actually being helpful to solve some human problems; which, unfortunately (and although many like to simply deny it by all means), seems quite likely. In the face of persuasive evidence to that effect, one would have to either deny it anyway (thus losing all credibility), or then - if we haven’t now lost our audience entirely- start giving the arguments we should have given in the first place. The reason rape is wrong is not that it is dangerous for the rapist (for the risk of him/her getting diseases, for example), but because of the harm caused to the victim. Who would be persuaded by the safety-based campaign against rape? The rapists maybe. They would start using condoms!
We should avoid giving speciesist arguments (i.e. "we should do this or that because it is better for humans"), and we should be mindful of the main reason for us to do the campaigns, which is the fact that animals are sentient creatures deserving of egalitarian treatment. In every leaflet, magazine, poster, etc. this should be the main point. Otherwise, the campaign against vivisection won't benefit from the one for vegetarianism, nor vice versa. This will also waste lots of resources (activists' time, money, written material…) and, most importantly, it will not question people's present attitudes towards animals. To the contrary, it will reinforce the idea that humans are the ones who matter most.
The important point being that all aspects of animal exploitation, use or killing (meat, vivisection, fur, hunting…) are consequences of the way animals are viewed today; they are symptoms, not the problem itself.
WELFARISM: A step towards or stepping on animal's rights?
When talking about "animal welfare" (AW) we usually refer to the movement that is dedicated to reducing the pain inflicted on exploited animals, and, occasionally, reducing the number of animals utilised (as opposed to abolishing the use of animals, as the animal rights movement does). This term is quite peculiar in itself, as one wonders how being killed or being imprisoned can have much to do with welfare.
Many activists often say that AR and AW groups should work together and not criticise one another. Indeed, there are many groups who call themselves AR and constantly carry out AW campaigns or use AW arguments (e.g. referring to the regulations not being followed in farms or labs, workers causing animals "unnecessary" pain, anaesthetics not being used, cages being dirty or small...)
So-called welfarism is the main enemy of AR. You just need to talk to people on the street to find out that there is practically no one saying: "I don't give a damn about animals suffering in factory farms, or in experiments, or during slaughter". Instead, the most common comment is "Oh, yes! This way of treating animals is horrible. But there are farmers who have them on fields and kill them humanely, and experimenters who use anaesthetics…" Many others also say "I know everything about it, I only buy free-range".
Very few people agree with "outright cruelty". What we have to make clear is that it is unfair to breed, use or kill someone for your own purposes without his/her consent. And, in light of the practical imposibility of being certain about consent in the case of nonhumans, the idea that they can consent must be completely ruled out.
It is tempting to give in to the idea of achieving easy victories, but are these actually victories? For example, someone who says women should have bigger kitchens to work in is definitely not helping the women's liberation movement. On the contrary, to say this only perpetuates the situation by making it seem as if housework is a woman’s function. For a woman that has to be in the kitchen all day (as a simplistic example), it might help to have more room. But for all the women to come, and their liberation movement, those campaigns would just be an impediment.
We don't want exploitation and killing to be regulated; we want it to be stopped, abolished. If the anti-slavery campaigners 150 years ago in US were demanding the softer hitting of the slaves, instead of the total abolition of slavery, they would now still be campaigning for them to have one day off every week.
Maybe it is true that there were also economic factors that contributed to the end of slavery, but this is definitely not the case with animals' slavery; this is very profitable. And for making it be otherwise through economic sabotage, as many try to do, we would need to be a huge percentage of the population, having some kind of very powerful army. This, considering the present situation, seems more like fiction than anything slightly reasonable.
Granted, there were also campaigners demanding a better treatment of the slaves. However, more than likely, had they been dedicated to abolition instead of regulation, the change would have happened much earlier and would have had a much deeper effect on society.
It is very easy to point out how things have changed due to certain campaigns, because you will always find some kind of improvement in one sense or another, but few of us reflect on how it would be now had things been done differently. For example, by doing campaigns focused on closing down just one business, some people will get involved in the movement and realise lots of other things apart from the "evil" of that particular place. But, how many people would understand our message for the first time if we were using all those resources in attacking the very root of the problem? Definitely many more. And, most importantly, they would then have a deeper understanding of the real reasons for treating animals as equals. Nowadays you can even find people of certain AR groups doing street stalls and not really being able to give proper arguments for why vivisection is ethically wrong. They limit themselves to saying that the practice is useless or evil, or to ask "what if it were your dog?" Accordingly, that is the information the public gets.
Vegetarianism is being held up by a monster called free-range. Most people are selfish and they just want to feel good about themselves. It is sometimes difficult for a moral agent to see animals suffer and to know they are responsible for it without trying to escape their guilt. But once they take a step, they already think "Well, I did my bit", and often they won't take more steps - the main problem being that a step towards free-range is not towards animal rights. Maybe some will, on their own accord, pass through that stage (or through eating dairy and eggs for a while still), but this is not something that we should encourage. We can understand they might not be able to go vegan immediately, but we must not offer free-range as an alternative to what they do now. We may prefer that some parents beat their children by slapping them than by hitting them with a belt, but we won’t encourage them to slap children as a "step in the right direction". They might take that step, but those who want to stop child abuse must demand that children are not beaten at all. Otherwise, the argument that sustains the idea that children should not be beaten won’t be understood.
Many groups campaigning for vegetarianism go on and on: "…in modern factory farms animals are bred in these conditions…" or "…in modern slaughterhouses thousands of animals are killed in a very short time, making proper stunning impossible…". And they never, or very rarely, mention anything about the so-called "free-range" farms, or the fact of the freedom and life of animals being what really matters; whether they are from factory farms or not. Animals in "free-range" farms have their mobility reduced (sometimes quite severely), and they are always killed (having to go through the terrifying experience of being transported to the abattoir and slaughtered), impeding the fulfilment of their future enjoyment, which is the determinant of our interest in being alive.
It is also quite naive to think that free-range is the step before vegetarianism, as industrial farming is something very recent, and farming has been going on for millennia. This, obviously, is because the idea that animals are things for humans to use has never been seriously challenged.
There are actually so-called AR groups campaigning for proper stunning, better transport conditions, and a bit more room in the cages. This attitude only perpetuates the present situation. Once these reforms are achieved due to the work of "animal campaigners", people will consider that the bad days have passed, and that those who still campaign for animals are just extremists with far-fetched ideals.
Not every single word said in defence of animals is right, and often more harm than good is caused. If a hunter says we should shoot animals in the head, so that they don't suffer, it will benefit the animal who is being killed, but, in general, it will give the impression that animals are okay to kill, and that hunters actually care for animals.
No one can ever say s/he is on the animals’ side when stating that it is acceptable to kill or breed them as long as you do it nicely. It is true that many people that use welfarist methods do actually think that the use of animals should be abolished, but they find their way of campaigning a more effective way of achieving that goal. Nevertheless, for the public, the strategy you follow, and not your objectives, is the idea they have of you. This means that what people understand of a welfarist campaign is that it is fine to use animals if you do it carefully and "humanely". And then, although personally many of us might feel close to those campaigners, publicly we need to oppose them, as they justify the utilisation of sentient creatures (or, at least, that is what the public will understand).
Animals are not property; they are not resources. They are individuals with an interest in living their lives, and doing so free from pain, exploitation or coercion imposed by other actors. Our interest in not being subjected to suffering comes from our ability to feel pain and discomfort. Our interest in living, and doing it in freedom, is due to our ability to feel pleasure and joy. When we die, our interest in not suffering disappears, as we don't suffer when dead. But all our chances of experiencing any further joy or pleasure are ended. That is why all sentient creatures with the ability to feel positive experiences must have the right to live. This should be added to the right to live painlessly and freely (the lack of freedom causes suffering and doesn't allow pleasurable activities to be carried out).
To reach a situation in which public awareness means that fewer animals are killed or exploited is a step towards animal liberation. However, although a change such as animals being killed with less pain or bred in better conditions is not something we should oppose, we must not be the ones to promote it.
By creating a public debate around the issue of animal rights, society will take small, abolitionist steps in the short term, and AR campaigns would trigger the adoption of AW reforms. Most likely, welfare reforms will be introduced by official institutions once the most obviously painful treatment of animals is generally rejected, as has started to happen in some countries. Also, we must not forget that those who use animals do have an interest in regulating the exploitation of animals to make it seem more justified. The existence of organisations of farmers against factory farms, or vivisectors for the "humane" treatment of animals in labs, demonstrates this; the practices involving the use of animals are not endangered, but strengthened and excused, by welfare reforms.
To achieve significant changes in the way people relate to other animals is going to take a very long time, and we shouldn't fool ourselves by trying to achieve short-term, but misdirected, improvements. These, far from advancing our cause, are diverting our efforts towards something that is not our original aim.
Many activists call themselves "animal lovers", and tell others to love animals instead of killing them. This is quite inappropriate, as you can't ask others to feel one thing or another; all that is needed is for people to respect them and to leave them alone. Also, by talking about love instead of justice, we make AR seem like a sentimental issue instead of a very important ethical question. Actually, most people who come up to stalls and say they love animals appear to eat meat or defend vivisection for medical research.
The use of phrases like "these beautiful animals…", or "these intelligent creatures…" is common in campaigning material. The use of those terms to lend a special urgency to the wrongs of exploitation is definitely harming more than helping. Beauty is subjective, and I don't see how it can be worse to exploit someone just because s/he is nicer than someone else is. I consider that speaking in these terms is also quite speciesist, as no-one arguing for women equality would use the "argument" of them being "beautiful" as something that would make their exploitation more condemnable. That would be seen as sexist, as should this other case be considered speciesist. One’s life is not more valuable depending on how beautiful one seems to men or to humans in general.
In the case of intelligence, a similar problem occurs. Apart from "intelligence" being a very vague term (as it includes lots of psychological features, some of them only found in some humans, others only found in other animals, and most of them shared to different degrees by members of several species), the fact that someone has any degree or kind of intelligence is not relevant at all at the time of considering the pain inflicted on him/her or the deprivation of his or her life.
Campaigns should be based (at present time, at least) on spreading information and creating debate. "Spreading information" doesn't mean publishing stuff that simply rubbishes animal exploiters, whatever the reason. It is heartbreaking to read AR magazines packed with issues that have nothing to do with animals.
Commentaries about a hunter’s lack of a testicle or the overweight condition of a pro-hunting writer (both are real cases, among many of the kind) are useless; they have no relation whatsoever to animal rights (and they reflect unjust and arbitrary discriminations, hence indirectly reinforcing speciesism). The same goes for intensively focusing on the history of workers of particular laboratories of punching animals, not using anaesthetics, drinking alcohol at work, taking illegal drugs, not following the laboratories regulations… This does not help to change people's minds about animals. What if the hunter had two testicles, that writer were thin and the lab workers didn't take drugs, followed the regulations and always used anaesthesia? Would vivisection or hunting be OK then? Of course these campaigners don't think so, but the general public may well do. So why use such inconsistent and definitely not-AR "arguments"? I could understand comments being made in publications about the maltreatment of animals not only due to the actual experiments, or the fact of them being fully conscious in most cases during them; but it shouldn't be an argument to rely on, to be constantly used or given much relevance.
Then, there are also those who like to promote AR as an indirect duty. This means that they say we should not be cruel to animals because those who are cruel to animals end up being cruel to people. Or that we should not eat meat as it is destroying "our" planet. These don't say much in favour of the value of the animals’ individual life, do they?
It is more important to teach others that animals matter in themselves and that the fact of harming them is wrong in itself, because they are sentient, not because it is bad for us. Suggesting that the problem of "animal abuse" is that it causes abuse of humans is plain anthropocentrism.
Certainly we should care for the environment, because, as a consequence of its destruction, animals die, but that doesn't mean we should defend it as if it were a sentient entity: the environment can't feel, animals do. So again, this could be used as a side-argument sometimes, but when stressing that animals are the ones who matter. It must be pointed out that, although environmental destruction kills animals, we must focus on campaigns against the direct use of them. This is because it is much easier for people to recognise that animals should be treated equally by understanding the direct consequences their habits have on animals, rather than seeing the situation of these as an indirect effect of most of the things they do. It is also easier to question one's diet, clothing and some other few things than it is the use of all plastic materials, cars, inks, paper… A coherent environmentalist attitude necessarily drives us to primitivism, which we can easily understand as not being the most appropriate thing to promote nowadays. Also, it may be added that what should be our main practical aim (i.e. to stop people using animals for food) will also, as a consequence, be the end of the main cause of deforestation and desertification on this planet (thus saving billions of animals indirectly).
ATTACKING THE ROOT, NOT THE BRANCHES
As stated earlier, the case for AR is mainly an issue of changing society's conception of non-human sentient beings. This is not a matter of disabling a few "animal abusers" so that they can't keep committing more atrocities. Nowadays, practically everyone is somehow involved in animal exploitation. England, one of the Western countries with the highest percentage of vegans, reportedly has around 250,000 such people - a very small fragment of the population. Does that mean that all the rest of the inhabitants don't care at all about others’ pain and lives? How come the number of people who are vegans and vegetarians for ethical reasons tends to increase then? Were they really cruel and selfish last year and suddenly became very nice, respectful people? Maybe they simply received information that they didn't have before and decided to change.
Yes, maybe people should find out by themselves, look for info, or question their attitude towards nonhuman sentient beings, but if everyone did, we wouldn't need to do campaigns.
Most of us did eat meat until we got information from somewhere, indeed not always looking for it. And of course we knew that "that" on our plate was an animal, as the vivisectors know what "that" on their table is. But we didn't reflect deeply enough on our relation to animals until we were challenged. Some people go veggie straight away, but for others it takes a while. And, more than likely, for someone whose way of living is based on the use of animals, it will be even harder to accept an animal as someone who must be respected, as it means a very drastic change for them. By this, I'm in no way suggesting that animal exploiters are always innocent. What I am saying is that most people are not as they should be, and this is something we should be aware of when defending the animals these people exploit, in order to run successful campaigns. Of course, animals don't care which excuse is used, but they do care about being exploited. And if we want ever to achieve something, we should better try to understand how people think, because it's only by changing their minds that we can make a change for animals.
All too often committed activists spend most of their time going to the gates of laboratories in the middle of nowhere to shout at the workers, for example, instead of saving animals for real by doing stalls, educational acts in the street, writing articles, distributing leaflets, trying to get media attention, doing conferences, studying AR issues, etc.
Unfortunately, a big part of the AR movement has lately adopted a new strategy of closing down places where animals are exploited (laboratories or farms, for example). The use of this strategy has started mainly in England and has now been exported to other countries.
The argument presented to defend this sort of campaigning is usually that if the use of animals becomes economically more problematic (for having to move your business somewhere else or having to spend more money in security), "animal abusers" will think twice before setting up a business of that kind.
This is attacking a consequence instead of the cause of the problem. There are not a few "evil" people that work torturing animals, with the opposition of the rest of society. It is the demand of the rest of the society that gives a job to those doing that. Slaughterhouses were not built and meat consumption then promoted - rather, there will be slaughterhouses as long as there is a public demand for meat. It is ridiculous to consider that the worker of a laboratory is worse than any person that accepts the use of animals in medical research (and they are many), as the only reason for the second not to do what the first does is that s/he has studied philology or maths instead of pharmacology or medicine, for example.
Closing a laboratory or a pig farm down does not reduce the number of animals used in research or as food. The experiments will in most cases be carried out somewhere else, and the meat will be produced somewhere else. Only when the demand for meat decreases, will the production decrease, and only when people realise that animals must have rights will vivisection stop.
Some activists think that it is very important to confront what they call the "enemy", that is, going to furriers or laboratory workers’ homes to hassle them, waiting for them at the gates of their job site, making threatening phone calls, ordering unwanted magazines or food to be sent to them… They think that being harassed will make the workers quit their jobs, and eventually terminate animal exploitation. As stated before, this is not about a few individuals with a sadistic desire to torture animals. When a worker quits due to pressure (something considered by many campaigners as a great victory), the only thing that changes is the person doing that job. It seems more like a question of "giving them what they deserve" than actually a method to save animals. This will also give the impression that certain practices actually are morally more condemnable than others, in this case making it seem as if animal experiments were worse than meat-eating. Are those who eat meat any better than vivisectors just because they don't kill the animals with their own hands? Again, is a manager less guilty than a worker doing a bad job following his instructions? Obviously not.
If animal exploiters were a reduced number of people committing atrocities with the opposition of most of the public, maybe those methods would have more effect, as once the exploiters were stopped, there wouldn't be others continuing their job. But unfortunately, we are facing most of the human population!
Moreover, campaigns against particular businesses often end up being campaigns not for AR, but against those places. Consequently, we see how thousands of expensive leaflets and magazines are distributed to inform readers about the details of investors, insurance companies or clients of such companies; only saying that they support animal torture (something they do indirectly, as everybody does nowadays - that is, by buying in shops that sell animal products, paying to the fruit seller who eats meat, buying products from a company that owns animal exploiting businesses…).
It might be that causing economic problems for a company can lead to its closure, but it doesn't make a difference when it comes to saving animals. Did the number of cats used in experiments decrease after the closure of Hillgrove Farm (a breeder of cats for animal experiments)? No. And what about Shamrock Farm (a primate breeder with the same purpose, which was also closed down due to campaigns)? They are simply building a new primate farm in Camarles (Spain). And what if Huntingdon Life Sciences (the biggest contract animal testing lab in Europe) closes down? Are all the companies that pay them to test their products going to stop testing them on animals? I'm afraid they'll just pay another laboratory. Oh, yes! I forgot "we are going to close them all, one by one". Anyone who seriously thinks so should reflect a bit on the amount of animal testing laboratories that exist on this planet, and make a calculation of the time, money, activists and power we've got. The closing down of all businesses that utilise animals that way will simply never happen. Vivisection won't be beaten unless the public understands it and questions its ethics. Then, its end is inevitable. It will not happen overnight, but this change of attitudes is essential for its abolition.
Campaigns such as the ones mentioned are wasting enormous amounts of money, activists, time and other resources in promoting not the egalitarian treatment of all sentient beings, but the closure of a place, using anything to bring them down, even if it has nothing to do with animals. Targeting, for example, those who give banking facilities to an animal lab, or those supplying fences, transport, insurance, security, or other services to them is a tactic used quite often, and which is folly. Those are just companies doing their jobs - jobs which intrinsically do no harm to animals. Imagine that someone has a fruit shop, and she becomes a target for selling fruit to people with leather shoes. Well, if she doesn't do it, it's fine (although such attitudes simply tend to put people against us, not making them understand our reasons for doing certain things), but nowadays you can't really expect people with businesses not to serve anyone exploiting animals, because that means their closure in most cases. The only ones benefiting from these tactics are those who exploit animals, by having the chance to dismiss our movement as a bunch of irrational, infantile and violent lunatics who are against everyone and everything. Also, nothing can help them more than making sure that the campaigning resources are wasted trying to close a place down instead of shaking the weak moral structures on which animal exploitation and killing are based.
EQUALLY IMPORTANT CAMPAIGNS?
As a way to escape criticism, many campaigners claim that all campaigns are equally important - and rare is the activist who dares to question this now conventional view. It is hard to believe that a campaign to save the pigeons in Trafalgar Square in London (where feeding them is currently illegal) can be as important as one for vegetarianism or against vivisection. The number of animals involved, the suffering that animals undergo and the social repercussion are very much lower. The pigeon issue can be used symbolically to protest against the consideration of animals as plagues, when actually these are individuals (and also, humans are the ones who most accurately could be considered a plague). But making a campaign about it… That's losing the point a bit. Of course all individuals matter, that is why ten individuals matter more than one. And ten million more that ten thousand.
Activists should have a deeper look at the issue and see the great power they have to change things on a larger scale. It is understandable that seeing animals suffering in front of us is very difficult to cope with, but those who are not there for us to see, are probably hidden because they are suffering much more. And the fact that we don’t see something doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
THE PROBLEM OF DISCRIMINATING BETWEEN CATEGORIES OF NON-HUMANS
In theory it seems to be very clear to most activists that other animals suffer as much as cats and dogs. But, in practice, we constantly see that much more attention is paid to the exploitation or maltreatment of the latter than to that inflicted upon other non-human animals. This can be observed in leaflets only about cats and dogs in experiments; phrases like "… even cats and dogs are used…" abound, as do leaflets about cats and dogs used for fur, lots of articles dedicated to them… even a call to boycott Korea for selling dog and cat meat! Why not call for a boycott of England for selling pig, chicken or cod meat? Some say that it is for the way they kill them, causing them more suffering, as if salmon, ducks or cattle were not killed (and bred) in terrible pain. And, even if the latter suffered less (which most likely is not the case), that would be a welfarist campaign, consisting of reducing the suffering of those exploited instead of abolishing the exploitation. That is definitely a campaign only based on cultural differences. It is simply one of those campaigns, like those against "exotic" meats, that easily receive much public support in Western countries, but that don't really question the human attitude towards animals in general. Even if the end of the dog and cat meat trade were possible relatively soon by doing these campaigns, they reinforce the speciesist and anthropocentric idea that companion animals are more important than others, making the message very inconsistent and incoherent, and the understanding of the AR idea more difficult.
Another sad thing is to constantly see, in leaflets and other literature, things like "Don't eat meat, poultry or fish…" Eating fish and birds is eating meat. If we keep making that erroneous disctinction, we'll always hear people saying they are vegetarians although they eat fish or chicken. If we want people to clearly understand what we mean by meat, we can make an anti-meat leaflet with the picture of a fish, or saying something like "…whether someone is a human, a chicken, a sea-bass or a cow; his or her interest in living and not suffering is the same. Don't eat meat."
Unfortunately, even when some AR groups give statistics related to vegetarians, they include those who stopped eating red meat only! Fish in particular are constantly neglected by AR campaigns. In spite of representing the highest number of animals who are killed, very few leaflets, posters, demos, magazines, campaigns, etc. are dedicated to fish. And when they are mentioned, they are often measured by tonnes, not individuals. Maybe it is difficult to know the exact numbers of the ones killed, but we can talk at least about thousands, or millions; not weight. What would we think of being told that 90 tonnes of Jews were killed in a certain concentration camp?
VEGETARIANISM AND VEGANISM
When promoting an ideology, we often fall into the trap of slogans and labels, which end up diluting the original message. This can quite clearly be seen in the AR movement, with people calling us "vegans" instead of "people with an ethical consideration towards nonhuman sentient beings", or, at least, "those working for the rights of animals". Descriptive, informative definitions would definitely be great, as when referring to us they would have to somehow explain what we are promoting, forcing them to reflect on what we are saying and making our message understandable to others.
However, nowadays we tend to use terms that label us and that let others talk about us without making explicit what we say. The term "vegan" is used constantly, and what people understand with it is that those who are vegans don't eat animal products, without any further understanding of the possible moral reasons for it. This way, we often find people saying "No, I don't eat eggs because I am a vegan." That is like saying you don't discriminate against blacks because you are an anti-racist. Would it not be more reasonable to say you are an anti-racist because you find the discrimination of blacks indefensible, and not the other way around? And don't you avoid animal products because you find the discrimination of nonhuman animals unjustifiable?
Many like to put labels on themselves to point out how different they are, instead of giving arguments that defend their moral standing. It is much more effective to explain our views than to label ourselves or to let others label us, because it is important to get others to see that we do things for a reason.
Anyway, at certain times we need to use certain terms; and I think that we should promote the idea of "vegetarian" meaning "vegan", for people not to believe that they can be "animal-friendly" whilst eating animal products. However, this should always be pointed out, as nowadays it can be confusing. We can say "I’m vegetarian; I don’t eat any animal products." If this clarification can’t be made due to the situation, maybe the best option is using "vegan".
Another problem is people saying they "can’t" eat something because they are vegan (as though it were an impediment due to health problems or religion) instead of explaining the reasons behind their decision.
Finally, it is frustrating to see that groups promoting vegetarianism give recipes or sell products containing milk or eggs. In some cases, it can be understandable that they don't mention the issue of dairy or eggs, but a very different thing is to promote or accept their use, knowing what there is behind these products.
A few things need to be mentioned about certain types of demos. It is hard to find the sense in going to a farm or lab in the middle of nowhere to shout when you are not being heard or seen by anyone but the workers, who know perfectly well what is going on in that place already, and who usually don't know less than anyone else about the arguments against speciesism. If it is organised as an occasional symbolic act, calling lots of press for example, maybe it could be quite productive, but doing it regularly, as if what really matters is "being there" and confronting the workers, is utterly illogical.
Demonstrating is a way of making your voice heard and letting people know what you are saying. Instead, some use it as a way to release anger, insulting and shouting, as if that would help animals. For others it is a good chance to cause damage to "animal abuser's" property, which, apart from putting lots of people off coming to demos, gives quite a bad image to the movement. Someone who has never questioned the use of animals by humans will hardly agree with attacking those who do use them.
Quite often, certain demos turn into anti-police demos instead of AR ones. People start using the megaphones to say how brutal the cops are, that they are making illegal arrests, and similar stuff. Sometimes things seem to be done without much of a reason; the police say "you can't do this" and automatically people start doing it, even if it doesn't help in any way. But they have to show they are rebels, they "won't obey a copper", and probably they will even be arrested, which for lots is what shows you are a really committed activist. And if they are jailed, they will become gurus that no one can criticise, as "they risked their freedom for the animals".
As well, we must take into account that if a demonstration is going to consist mainly of a particular kind of demonstrators (e.g., old women, young people with "strange" hair styles, only men or only women…), maybe it is better not to carry it out, as it may create a stereotype of "animal rights people" which excludes certain members of the public. This does not need to be the case in all situations. While elderly women are unfortunately seen by many as "emotional", and "strange-looking" youngsters are seen as rebels, if a demonstration consists mainly of whites (in most European countries), it won’t call many people’s attention. Instead, organising a demo in Senegal where most protesters will be white is definitely something to avoid. This is not about discriminating any group of people, it is about understanding that even if we feel strongly about something and we wish to express our views, we must be careful and analyse our actions.
The term "direct action" is usually misleading, referring only to the releasing of animals with your own hands, destroying property, or similar things. I would claim that persuading someone to become a vegetarian is direct action; you save animals directly in this way. But if this is not considered "direct", then neither could the smashing of a window, as that does not involve the taking of animals. Doing stalls is direct action, interrupting a fur fashion show is direct action, putting yourself in a cage on the street as a way of protest is direct action. Maybe you don't see the animals you have saved running free around you, but you can be sure you've saved them. Direct action doesn't mean you are risking jail or you are doing something necessarily illegal. Anyway, to save me from having to explain this each time I use the term "direct action", I'll refer to the concept expressed by most activists with it, i.e. the use of illegal activities such as rescuing animals, smashing windows or burning meat trucks.
Perhaps it is understandable that the use of "direct action" for AR purposes is widely accepted among campaigners. The problem is that dissent about this issue has become a taboo, no one can criticise any action without being seen as a traitor. Yet definitely not all actions of this kind are positive.
First, I want it to be very clear that I don't find it morally wrong to use reasonable force if it is absolutely necessary to stop a torturer, exploiter or murderer from carrying out abusive actions (as long as it doesn't harm others except those who are guilty, and the harm done to these is the minimum necessary to achieve our aim - i.e. defending the victim of the attack). My disagreement is in terms of strategy.
Some so-called "direct actions" are very useful and the outcome is brilliant. Examples of these can be filming in farms or labs to show images to the public (although pointing out that what is horrible is not the fact that the pictures show poor conditions in which animals live, but the fact that animals are actually used) . Symbolically rescuing one or a few animals - as living examples of how animals suffer there - can also be good.
Nevertheless, rescuing animals in large numbers (or not so large, but not really using them to campaign) is in most cases not a very good idea. This is because the dogs saved from a lab, for example, will simply be replaced. The experiment will not be halted in most cases due to that action. That means that you save that animal, but only by condemning another to go through what the first one went through. There are a few exceptions to this. One, for example, is saving animals that are "over-produced", as happened in Whitechapel Hospital (London), where, apparently, they bred more mice than they could use for experiments, meaning that lots of them were killed without being "used".
Still, trying to achieve non-human animal liberation this way seems not only terribly slow, but impossible. And let's not forget that those saved animals need attention, which makes many activists spend their time taking care of a few animals instead of saving millions by campaigning (and the same goes for the large sums of money spent on sanctuaries).
In the case of damaging property there seems to be a particularly acute problem. First, in most cases damage is covered by insurance, or the company has enough money to cover it easily (e.g. for Mc Donald's, a smashed window is like losing one penny or cent for most of us). Secondly, even if we manage to close down a place - let's say a butcher shop or a lab - people will just buy meat in the supermarket instead, or order the experiments to be carried out somewhere else. And finally, until there is a vast social awareness about an issue, the use of such actions will likely put people against us.
England is probably the Western country where knowledge of the "animal issue" is most widespread, and still, the public knows virtually nothing about animal rights. Yes, maybe they heard of a lab where workers don't follow animal welfare standards, or lots of stuff about hunting or fur. But you just need to talk to people to find out that practically no one has ever questioned the belief that humans are more important than other sentient beings, or that we can use them as resources. The debate is typically reduced to the amount of suffering they are subjected to.
Certain actions have caused most of the public debate, and the news on animal rights, to focus on the methods used by activists instead of the ethics of speciesism.
Some activists say: "Animals don't give a damn about public opinion". This is a bizarre objection when the actual cause of animal exploitation is public opinion.
In general, activists should realise how valuable they are, and understand that they can save many more animals doing informative campaigns than with most "direct action". At the end of the day, your effectiveness in jail is severely reduced.
Destructive action is especially pernicious in places where the message of the movement is not widely known (in reality, this is everywhere, but even more outside England or the US). If people have never heard of animal rights, and the first thing they are faced with is people burning places down, they won't ever listen to us anymore, as they will consider us as terrorists. A clear example of this is Sweden, where for the public, saying you are a vegan means that you are what they call "a militant vegan" (although it seems to be getting better now), i.e. a member of the ALF - this due to an action years ago, signed in spray-paint with that name ("the militant vegans"). Many well-intentioned activists in many countries are doing these sorts of actions in an attempt to do as much as they can for animals, not noticing that they are doing them a disservice.
For others, "direct action" is just a way to feel "cool"; going out at night with a balaclava, destroying stuff, escaping the police...this is war! What an adventure! And don't dare to criticise it, or you will be seen as a "fluffy" or a traitor.
It is frequently asserted that those who use "direct action" are people who give more for animals than others do. This is nonsense. There are people who use "direct action" and the rest of the time they are in the pub, or simply not doing much more for animals. And there are people who don't use that sort of "direct action" and spend almost every single minute of their life writing, reading, doing stalls, talks, press conferences... If the former is caught, "s/he was very dedicated and lost his or her freedom for the animals" (maybe doing something that doesn't do animals at large any good). The latter will be considered a "fluffy", because s/he is not risking her or his freedom. But, actually, this means not only risking, but altogether giving up your freedom, as you don't have a life anymore due to your absolute dedication.
For example, hunt sabbing saves animals, but using 15 people to save 1 or 2 animals in one day...?! Can you imagine how many animals they would save if they were doing stalls? Just by convincing one person to be a vegetarian, thousands of animals can be saved - and surely, the social impact will be much deeper than that. The effect of one person going veggie doesn't stop there, as that person’s viewpoint in turn has a social impact. And let's not forget that the change of the social conception of animals - which maybe is less visual than someone going veggie - has a slower but far deeper effect, achieved by questioning speciesism. On the other hand, the saving of the fox often stops there. Some will object (sometimes as emotional blackmail): "Don't you care about the life of those individuals?" Of course, again, we care about the life of individuals; that is why we should care more for 3,000 individuals than for 2.
Some activists say "yes, doing stalls is important, but you have to confront the animal abusers". One wonders why. If confronting them saves more animals, we should do it, otherwise we shouldn't.
CREATING UNNECESSARY ENEMIES
Some groups use techniques such as criticising certain politicians or promoting them according to their attitude towards animal issues. Others use sexist methods to call people's attention. These and other tactics can be simultaneously divisive and counterproductive, as many people can be put against you due to the way you are doing things, instead of for what you are saying. It is a pity if someone doesn't join us, or disagrees with us for things that are not directly related to AR.
If someone supports a political party and we give bad press to it, very possibly the person will be against us. The same goes for an anti-sexist person that sees us doing a sexist street performance (e.g. using so-called "sexy" women for calling people's attention). And in this last case they will wonder why we are against the exploitation of animals and not of women.
We, as a movement, must remain neutral on issues that are not AR. At most, we can condemn sexism or racism, as the link to the rejection of speciesism (egalitarianism among sentient beings) is quite obvious. However, we should include such issues only when they are helpful in explaining our point; and should definitely not involve any other theme, as that simply reduces the number of people that get involved. If you require that for being an animal rightist you need to be anti-lots-of-things, the path to get into it becomes narrower and narrower.
Many say that 'everything is related', and that all fights (the ones they consider right, of course) should be one. Well, first, the priority of abolishing the enslavement and killing of nonhuman animals should be something crystal clear for any non-speciesist person. The number of victims who are killed and tortured, the indescribable suffering undergone by these, and the fact of them being completely innocent and defenceless creatures whose exploitation is widely neglected, makes any comparison with "human liberation" seem like an insult to other animals. This is not to say that the suffering and death of humans matter less, but that if we count numbers of individuals the priority seems obvious. Also, saying that there is "the AR" and then "other" issues is definitely anthropocentric, as those "other issues" just affect humans. If we accept that those issues are separate, then we would also need to say that the use of sardines in experiments, for food or in aquariums are different issues we need to fight against, not just one, that is, the AR issue.
Secondly, if you decide to work for "other issues", then form another group concerned with that particular issue and work in it. But don't expect that everyone who agrees with AR has to agree with you on everything else. We should just want as many people as possible to help animals as much as they can, and no one should say to an activist who has a campaign with integrity, "No, I'd rather those animals die than that I work with you". That is definitely not being for animal rights.
The more kinds of people we reach the better. Many get very upset about working with people whose views (apart from AR) they disagree with. We are not doing AR merely because we like the people in the struggle, I hope. We do it because we think it is right. And we must work with people we like, and people we dislike. In terms of activism, it doesn't matter what the person thinks, as long as that doesn't affect at all the work of the group. Obviously, if someone publicly expresses non-AR-related views while campaigning for AR, and that makes people stigmatise AR campaigners (because the person expressed some controversial political ideas, for example) we should not allow that to happen. It is not a matter of whether we agree with those views or not, but of whether its promotion from AR circles will be counterproductive. We must not attempt to fight against everything we consider wrong as one thing. We must be pragmatic and work in ways that are effective. Maybe trying to be very pure in all senses does make our work counterproductive in relation to the most important thing we want to promote. If we are in a demo against sexist discrimination and we start criticising everyone that drops litter on the ground, we will most likely be the opposite of effective. Yes, we all have our own ideals (and dropping litter is not a very good thing to do, probably), but let’s keep them for ourselves in those situations in which they can be pernicious if expressed.
From an anti-speciesist perspective, any political tendencies that only involve humans are relatively of little importance. They affect just an extremely tiny percentage of the Earth's sentient beings. The change of human social organisation will not necessarily lead to an improvement for animals, as we have been able to observe through history in many different kinds of societies (even small groups) subjugating other animals for their own sake. Seeing this, our involvement as a movement in political or social issues that mainly affect humans, and animals only marginally, should be something to avoid.
How can we call ourselves anti-speciesist while dedicating, say, 10% of our time to exclusively human issues, when the percentage of sentient beings that humans represent is thousands (if not millions) of times smaller than that? If, for example, in Nigeria whites represent 2% of the population, can we call ourselves anti-racist while demanding that 10% of the country’s resources are dedicated to whites? Definitely not! Why then do we consider that people are anti-speciesist when they do the very same in the case of animals?
Just to get a clearer idea of the point of this article, I’d like to summarise in a few words the most important things:
- To achieve a significant change in society, we must address the problem for what it is, not using momentarily convenient arguments that undermine the development of the AR cause by neglecting the real argument: other animals can also experience pleasure, satisfaction, pain and distress, thus ignoring or undervaluing their interests is ethically unjustifiable.
- Regulating exploitation does nothing to abolish it, on the contrary, it impedes this by somehow accepting the use of animals as long as they are better treated.
- What we are fighting for is a matter of justice, not passion or love. Many animals that don't stir up those feelings in many of us can feel as much as others.
- Campaigning against the consequences instead of the origin of the problem only wastes resources that should be spent in making people reflect on their attitudes, not in closing down businesses that exist precisely because people do not reflect on the matter. At the same time, it diverts the attention away from the original issue, making this seem as a problem consisting of a few "evil" places and a few "evil" people rather than something that directly involves us all.
- We must not loose perspective and we shall choose those campaigns that will save more animals in the long run. The animals that exist today are a very tiny percentage of the animals that will be killed and tortured in the coming centuries and millennia. Paying excessive attention to those who suffer today is condemning millions more to suffer the same fate. We can’t save them all, but let’s save all the ones we can!
- The result of every action should be carefully measured, as a bad step can be very detrimental for animals. Our focus should be on long-term achievements, not letting impatience drive us to do things that will be pernicious afterwards.
- AR is a struggle for all those who honestly want to help animals. Everyone can find a way to include these views in their mindset; fair consideration of animals’ interests is not necessarily contradictory with views of other kinds.
I hope the above has been of some use at the time of creating debate and finding the way forward for our movement. I'd like to thank you for taking the time to read this article and I would be very pleased to hear your comments. Independently of the disagreements that we might have, I insist on the need for discussion and of coming to a consensus that will help us find the best way to achieve the goal we all share. |
As the nation’s pupils self-isolate, we discuss ways in which teachers can achieve the impossible: keeping learners engaged and motivated while working remotely.
Respond and praise
We know that pupils thrive on being told they’ve done a good job. But without the presence of a teacher, with their verbal signals, smiles of encouragement and recognition boards, pupils- especially younger ones- will inevitably lose the motivation to continue.
Consequently, it is vital that students know teachers are present and are looking at work. Respond as frequently as is practically possible. Children and teenagers are notoriously poor at delaying gratification, but this is compounded during the mammoth task of remote learning. While writing out lengthy feedback, when there is no necessity to action it, is time wasted, ensure all work is responded to in some form and that comments are personalised. Students need to know there’s a point. If there is no time to provide feedback immediately, send a congratulatory message for completing work and promise to get back to them.
Especially at the beginning, congratulate pupils for attempting any work or just for emailing for help. This shows initiative and a desire to learn in difficult circumstances. Praise should not be reserved for high scores but be administered liberally and creatively. For example, for effort put in, presentation, being the first to submit or best title.
Create opportunities for success early on
Just as in the classroom, ensure activities are broken down into achievable chunks and that starter tasks allow for early success. Achieving early on means students are more likely to work through the remainder of the lesson and, over time, become more resilient.
Think about the brevity of task and texts. Numbering activities or providing tick boxes (like a ‘to do’ list) helps students break work down into manageable tasks. Think about what can be comfortably read from a computer screen. Include more paragraph breaks if possible and consider what can be deleted.
The lockdown represents a perfect opportunity to assign creative tasks which will help provide an outlet for potentially anxiety ridden young people confined to the house. However, tasks such as ‘write a story about a…’ are sometimes too broad and overwhelming. Rather than hindering creativity, setting strict parameters can help it flourish. These could include writing the opening paragraph yourself, setting up ‘rules’ such as use of first person narrative, ending with a particular sentence, or inclusion of 10 particular words. Model answers and examples are also invaluable. Remember that creativity takes many forms – cooking, drawing, music, writing lyrics or scripts, gardening or sewing could all help students develop vital skills of creativity and find solace in difficult times.
Competitions used sparingly
Some students thrive off a competition: games, virtual point systems and league tables can all work wonders in keeping them engaged. However, bear in mind that other students recoil from competition, especially when failure might result in losing face among peers. Only share results of top performers, to save the feelings of those who didn’t achieve well. Introduce competitions outside of your subject realm to allow all students to participate and avoid the dull prospect of the same people winning repeatedly, for example, a competition for the best picture of a student reading at home. Starting the day with a brain teaser or ‘guess the song’ competition can encourage all students to have a go and to create opportunity for communication.
Variety and options
Teachers may feel torn between supplying sufficient repetition in task types in order that pupils can establish routines, but not so much repetition that learning becomes dull.
It is inevitable that some activity types will be repeated; however, try to plan over longer periods and, when setting tasks, compare to the last one set. Are the same skills being tested? Is this format the same? Is this a similar type of text?
Try to include tasks that are varied and if you can, give pupils a choice. Think about the possibility of tasking students to create video essays or podcasts to answer a question. Use models and examples. Check school regulations regarding rules around videoing pupils; they do not necessarily have to appear in them.
Make use of video content on Youtube and television. Is the BBC airing anything appropriate that may complement the curriculum? Do pupils have access to Netflix? MFL students could benefit from clips of series in other languages.
School blogs or newspapers
Such collaborative projects can create an instant sense of community which will resonate with pupils missing their friends and routines. There is also a vast scope of possibility for content, from top ten tips, recipes, articles, short stories, interviews etc. so that all children could attempt something. And of course, there is nothing more thrilling and motivating for students than seeing their work published.
Communicate with parents
For students who have gone silent for a prolonged period, contact should be made with home. However, be wary that families may be experiencing very challenging circumstances. Consult with senior leadership about phrasing emails or how this should be approached. |
Big Memory and Caching
Managed runtimes can not handle more than 10 million objects without pauses for garbage collection. Sometimes even 10 MM resident objects start to pause process. GC Heap defragmentation kills the application by adding unpredictable stalls. The addition of physical RAM leads to increase of unpredictability even more as GC can now postpone its full sweep. So it is practically impossible to use in 64/128/256GB RAM nowadays, occupied by small CLR objects - the process just stalls.
All of the modern techniques (concurrent, background, parallel, server mode) try to overcome this situation but without any significant success. CLR objects consume lots of RAM, for example a string “ABC” holds around 30 bytes instead of 3. Java has the same issue, in spite of the fact that its VMs have way more options to control GC, but it is not enough for such big memory anyway. The root of the problem: the GC “sees” references and has to traverse them to see what is still reachable and what is not, obviously it takes time and slows down the application.
Many resident data objects are needed for different types of applications such as neural networks, caches, pre-computed data, etc. Stateless design is not applicable, actually it is not possible to keep all data in database because it is very slow and it is needed to cache data right in-process anyhow. It it is impossible to postpone garbage collection for a long time. |
How you can help hedgehogs in Hampshire this autumn
PUBLISHED: 10:34 26 October 2015 | UPDATED: 10:34 26 October 2015
This autumn, spare a thought for our prickly garden visitors says Deborah Griffiths, Education and Engagement Assistant at The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust
Hedgehogs are now disappearing from our countryside as fast as tigers are worldwide – a shocking state of affairs for a species that was once a common sight in UK gardens. It’s not just hedgehogs in decline, many of our common native wildlife such as house sparrows and starlings are all disappearing from our green spaces due to a variety of reasons, including loss of habitat.
While hedgehogs are suffering in rural areas, some are taking sanctuary in many of our suburban neighbourhoods. With some 15 million gardens in the UK, covering an area larger than all the UK’s National Nature Reserves put together, we have a great opportunity right on our doorsteps to help the humble hog.
Wild About Gardens Week is an annual celebration of garden wildlife hosted by The Wildlife Trust. This October we will be teaming up with the Royal Horticultural Society and the Hedgehog Street campaign to raise awareness of the hedgehog’s plight and encourage everyone to look out for them in our gardens.
There are some simple steps you can take to help hedgehogs this autumn:
1 - Create hedgehog highways
Hedgehogs need to be able to roam far and wide in search of food, mates and nesting sites – racking up between 1-2km per night. Get together with your neighbours to cut a 13cm2 (5in2) hole in your fence or dig a channel beneath your garden boundaries to connect your gardens. You can pledge to make a hole in your fence and map it at www.hedgehogstreet.org, joining the online community who are taking action in your neighbourhood.
2 - Avoid the use of pesticides
Ditch the slug pellets and avoid the use of pesticides. Hedgehogs are natural pest controllers and need a plentiful and varied supply of invertebrate prey to stay healthy. The higher the number of hedgehogs in your garden, the lower the number of pests – leading to healthier plants and flowers.
3 - Provide nesting sites
Log and leaf piles, wilderness areas and purpose-built hedgehog homes make great places for hedgehogs to nest and hibernate. Fallen leaves also make the perfect nesting material, so make sure you don’t clear all of these away. If you are cleaning away leaves and garden waste, make sure you check thoroughly to prevent any disturbance to our hibernating hogs. You can even try and make your own hedgehog house with nothing more than a cardboard box, newspapers, grass and a carrier bag. General wildlife-friendly gardening tips, like using mulch and compost, allowing areas to grow wild, and growing bee-friendly flowers also help.
Hedgehogs might be declining, but with some small steps, together we can make sure hedgehogs have a home in our gardens now and for the future. To find out more about hedgehogs and how to make your garden a little wilder, visit www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk.
• Hampshire walk around Longstock and Danebury Hill - Follow Steve Davison as he heads to the Test Valley and the village of Longstock for a wander up Danebury Hill |
OCTOBER 20, 2020 — The NOAA Climate Prediction Center has issued their Winter Outlook, along with the Farmers' and Old Farmers' Almanac predictions. All three of these best guesses agree on one thing: better chances for above-normal precipitation. The Old Farmers' Almanac believes the Great Lakes Winter will be "More Wet than White," which contradicts the Farmers' Almanac belief that a "Cold and Very Flaky" winter is on the way for us.
The Climate Prediction Center is the only one out of these three with an actual scientific thought. This year's CPC Winter Outlook is based around weak La Niña conditions. La Niña is the phenomenon of cooler sea temperatures in the Pacific near the equator. Historically, La Niña has given us colder than normal and snowy winters.
This year's mild La Niña will probably only last for the beginning of winter. This leads me to believe we have a better chance of kicking winter off with couple decent snowstorms before the end of the year, followed by a warmer and less snowy second half of winter.
We shall see. Anyone who tells you they know exactly how winter will play out is lying to you. |
Chapter 1: Overview of functionality
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NCAR Graphics Version 3.2 can be divided into two parts. The first part will be called "utilities" or "low level utilities" in this document. These utilities are written in Fortran and stored as object or archive libraries, and can be accessed from a C or Fortran program that you write. The second part of NCAR Graphics 3.2 is a set of commands or tools that allow you to compile your programs, run examples, view, print, and edit NCAR Graphics Computer Graphics Metafiles (NCGM) files, and more.
With Version 3.2 there are now user entry points for C as well as Fortran to facilitate new code development by C programmers. We have also added a new display option so that you can run your program, and have graphics displayed directly to as many as 15 different X Windows, or a NCGM file.
Below is a guide to the current functionality of both the NCAR Graphics utilities and the UNIX command tools.
All NCAR Graphics utilities use the Graphical Kernel System (GKS) to produce output. NCAR Graphics comes with its own Level 0A implementation of GKS with some extensions to the 2B level. NCAR Graphics can run on other implementations of GKS.
The Plotchar utility draws characters and symbols using 20 different fonts. Characters can be stroked, filled, or drawn using the printer default, giving you options on speed of printing, and very high quality fonts. Plotchar also offers Greek characters and a wide variety of mathematical symbols. With Version 3.2 we now have a utility to draw meteorological symbols and a variety of filled fonts.
The Labelbar utility helps you create a labeled, filled, rectangular bar to serve as a key for filled plots.
NCAR Graphics offers numerous routines for drawing lines and curves. The Dashline utility allows you a nearly infinite variety of dash and character patterns to draw lines, as well as a variety of smoothing options.
Used in conjunction with line drawing, mapping or contouring utilities, the Areas utility allows you to retrieve (or recover) outline and other information about each region. Also, Areas allows you to overlay two or more groups or sets of lines, and to recover the regions defined by the union of the groups. It can also tell you where each region is located relative to each group of lines. These features allow you to mask contour lines or latitude/longitude lines over the ocean and color-fill or pattern-fill regions, among other things. Areas is covered in detail in the NCAR Graphics Contouring and Mapping Tutorial.
NCAR Graphics also offers numerous options for filling areas. The Softfill utility can be used to generate nearly any kind of fill pattern or color, or GKS can be used directly to do solid color fill.
The Histogram utility is used to generate histograms for single data arrays or for comparing the distributions of two data arrays.
A color space, or color model, is a three-dimensional coordinate system where coordinates in that system represent colors. Colconv allows you to convert between several of the more common color models, namely RGB (Red, Green, Blue) used by most workstations, the YIQ model used by broadcast TV, the HLS (Hue, Lightness, Saturation), and the HSV (Hue, Saturation, Value) models.
The Autograph utility helps you draw X/Y graphs of one or more curves with labeled backgrounds. Autograph provides facilities for differentiating curves, doing log scaling, and other useful options.
The Gridall utility provides nine options for generating axes, perimeters, and grids in both linear and logarithmic spaces.
Conpack is a color contouring utility. Conpack can be used to generate plots of almost any rectangular array of data, and allows an amazing degree of control over how the contours are presented. Bivar, a bivariate interpolation package, has been added to the NCAR Graphics libraries to help users contour irregularly spaced data. In Version 3.2, we have added a cell array option to Conpack to help you draw color or shaded plots of densely packed data. This option can produce very detailed plots in much less time than other Conpack routines. Conpack and Bivar are covered in the NCAR Graphics Contouring and Mapping Tutorial.
Ezmap offers ten different projections of the globe, the ability to precisely choose which portion of the globe that you would like to plot, and a selection of political and geographic outlines. In Version 3.2, inverse transformations are available to help you go back from the plotted map to your data values. Ezmap is covered in the NCAR Graphics Contouring and Mapping Tutorial.
The Vectors (previously called Velvct) and Streamlines (previously called Strmln) utilities offer two options for drawing field flows. Both utilities have been updated to allow easy mapping onto globes or other transformations, and masking over regions of your choice. The Vectors utility has been updated to color vectors according to an independent field, such as temperature.
The utility for drawing X/Y/Z plots is Threed. It offers options for drawing text, points, curves, and fences to nearly any perspective.
The Isosurface utility draws a wire frame approximation of an isosurface from a three- dimensional array. The Surface utility draws wire frame perspectives of functions of two variables.
Gflash routines store and insert picture segments that appear repeatedly in a movie, greatly reducing the amount of CPU time it takes to generate movies. The Scrolled_title utility provides options for titling movies.
NCAR Graphics offers numerous UNIX command tools to make life easier.
Run-time commands. Run-time commands, such as ncargf77 and ncargcc, help compile, link, and load your program in a single step, eliminating needless typing. The ncargex command copies the example of your choice into your directory and executes it so that you can study and modify the code to do what you want. This command can greatly reduce development time of new codes, as well as NCAR Graphics spin-up time. See the chapter, "Five quick steps for creating and viewing your graphic."
NCGM viewing and editing. The NCGM viewing and editing tools include command-line tools for text- based terminals and Graphical User Interface (GUI) tools for the X Window System. Both viewing tools allow you to view any frame in your NCGM file in any order. The GUI interface allows you to view your graphics sequentially, animate a NCGM, and zoom in on portions of the picture for a closer look. Editing tools allow you to overlay images, merge and split NCGM files, and delete or add plots from an NCGM.
Raster viewing and editing. With Version 3.2, we have added several new utilities that allow you to view, concatenate, and resample raster images in different formats. See the chapter, "Viewing and editing your CGMs and raster images."
Graphical format conversions. We have also introduced a variety of filters that will help you view NCAR Graphics NCGM files with other graphics systems, and vice versa.
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This article describes the concept of Action Planning in a practical way. After reading you will understand the basics of this powerful strategy and deployment tool. In this article you can also download the Action Planning template.
Skill Booster: Action Planning
What is Action Planning?
Action Planning is the process of translating strategies and goals into actions, allowing ideas to become tangible. It is characterised by creating an action plan for each component and intermediate action step, all eventually leading to the ultimate goal. It is an approach that is not only meant for personal goals, but also serves as a useful tool within organisations to keep employees motivated in working towards their goals.
Action Planning explained (video)
Action Planning is an effective tool for time management and provides insight into tasks that do or do not contribute to the desired strategic outcomes.
By developing a strategy with a team and setting clear objectives, everyone’s tasks become immediately clear. When drawing up an effective plan, one must always create a detailed timetable and a set of clearly defined steps. Only then can the intended goal be achieved. It helps to solidify ideas and provides an answer to the question ‘What should I do to reach my goal?’.
If a team doesn’t know what direction it wants to head towards, it becomes very difficult to set a concrete goal. By acting with a goal in mind, the team knows exactly what steps it should take to arrive there.
Action Planning is a process that can help in realising this. Ideas become concrete by creating an action plan and, because everything is clearly outlined, team members know exactly what is expected of them. By drawing up an action plan and a Gantt Chart as timetable, one can take the first action step towards Action Planning.
One essential element to Action Planning is to create clear objectives (rather than vague ones). For example, when an organisation merely indicates the desire to increase its turnover, this objective is too vague.
By mentioning a specific percentage (e.g. 3% increased turnover ), a time limit (during the upcoming year) and a comparison (compared to the previous year), all parties will know exactly what the intended goal is. From there one can create intermediate steps to achieve this particular goal.
Action Planning Approach
There are multiple Action Planning approaches. Below is the most common approach, which assumes that Action Planning is a cyclical process that continuously restarts. At the same time though, targets can always change in the interim. The steps are as follows:
1. What is the current situation
This is an analysis of the current situation. Example: ‘The turnover up until now was 750,000 on an annual basis’.
2. Where do I wish to head towards
This indicates the ultimate goal, something which is strived towards. To make the goal attractive, it is recommended to write down a list of benefits resulting from the goal. Example: ‘3% additional turnover and thus working towards 772,500 for the upcoming year’. The organisation can then use this money to, for example, invest in a new production hall.
3. How do I get there
This is an essential and extensive part of Action Planning. It involves the creation of intermediate steps with corresponding actions, leading to the ultimate goal. Think of all the possible actions a team member could take to come closer to the goal, regardless of size. Every large action step can be broken down into smaller components again. This makes everyone motivated and also decreases the chances of premature disenchantment.
Also mention the largest obstacles and potential risks. Make sure every manager and employee has an action plan that contributes to the ultimate goal. All individual plans should lead to this goal. Who is responsible for what actions and within what time frame should they act?
4. Check progress
Determine an endpoint for each action step and, in order to motivate everyone, present them with a small reward on achieving these steps.
By placing the intermediate steps in a logical, chronological order with a start and end date, they become clear to each team member. It is important to regularly (daily or weekly) evaluate with the team and check the progress.
5. Where am I now
This is the time of evaluation, which examines whether the ultimate goal has been achieved. The cycle ends and restarts with a new goal.
Action Planning template
Use this Action Planning template as a helpful tool to specify the actions needed to complete a certain strategy. Available as an editable template.
Tips regarding Action Planning
Action Planning prevents postponement of tasks and ensures everyone can achieve his personal/ department goal. It is gratifying to work with this approach. It supports all team members and everyone is aware of the ultimate goal.
As a result, it becomes easier to approach colleagues and openly discuss non-compliance with certain agreements. Below are several tips that can make Action Planning even more effective:
- Use lists and visualise intermediate steps. Every time an action is complete, it can be removed from the list. The list becomes shorter, which incentivises employees not to stop prematurely.
- Keep a log of daily activities and progress. This makes planning as concrete as possible. Start keeping the log after two weeks already and assess the situation.
- Allow all team members to express their opinions about the progress and point out each others’ mistakes. Be open to new ideas and opportunities that may arise during the process and possibly revise the plan.
- Inform the environment, so that colleagues and other team are encouraged as well.
- Create flexibility and create a plan in advance about what to do if not everything goes accordingly or if the intermediate steps are not practically feasible. Try to map out any other paths that lead to the goal.
- People tend to greatly underestimate how long a project or task will take. Discuss this aspect in advance with the team and consider problems as challenges or opportunities that can always be solved.
It’s Your Turn
What do you think? Is Action Planning still applicable in today’s modern business world? Do you recognize the practical explanation or do you have more additions? What are your success factors for good deployment strategy?
Share your experience and knowledge in the comments box below.
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our Free Newsletter for the latest posts on models and methods.
- Goodstein, L., Nolan, T., Pfeiffer, J. (1993). Applied Strategic Planning: How to Develop a Plan That Really Works. McGraw-Hill Education.
- Johnson, S. (2015). Strategic Planning That Actually Works: A Step-By-Step Guide to Get it Done Faster, Cheaper, and Better Than Ever. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
- Prinz, W. (1997). Perception and action planning. European journal of cognitive psychology, 9(2), 129-154.
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Cyclist Bob Ostrowe was riding in a state park with his wife and some friends when he ran over a speed bump going about 35 mph, flew off his bike and hit the pavement with his head and shoulder.
The Mount Juliet, Tenn., bike rider, then age 64, was wearing a helmet, but his brain was severely bruised. A doctor at the Vanderbilt University Hospital trauma unit told his wife that he might stay in a vegetative state.
Four years after the accident, Ostrowe, a retired New York City police officer, is back on his bike, showing few obvious signs of a traumatic brain injury. “I’ll probably do it until I can’t continue anymore,” he says of his cycling.
That mindset is typical of today’s retirees, who are staying fitter and more active than their parents or grandparents, says John Morris, M.D., a surgeon who is chief of the trauma and surgical critical care division at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. It also explains why they are the age group with the fastest-growing rate of traumatic injury.
A recent U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study reported that people age 75 and older have the highest rates of hospitalization and death due to traumatic brain injury. Traffic accidents account for much of that, Morris says.
“The reason for that is pretty simple,” he says. “We’re healthier at age 65. We are therefore more mobile. We continue to be more mobile for extended periods of time. It’s certainly not unusual for people to be driving in their 80s.”
Morris says injuries peak at two times in people’s lives: one in adolescence and the other in their senior years. Today, he says, injuries are increasing more in people over age 65.
Meanwhile our “physiologic reserve”—the capacity for recovering from a traumatic injury—declines with age, Morris says, so an older patient might succumb to an injury that a healthy younger person would survive.
Morris has also noticed an “absolute explosion” in the number of older people riding motorcycles. “It’s not uncommon for us to see a 65-year-old guy and his 58-year-old wife who was on the back of their Harley, driving around, perhaps even in a group going on a trip,” he says.
While most states require motorcyclists to wear helmets, “you’re riding down the highway at 65 miles an hour and there’s nothing between you and the road,” he says. “It takes a real toll.”
In other words, the boomers are still acting like teenagers—they just don’t recover as fast.
Sid Sutton was wearing a helmet and other gear last year when he joined his son and grandson riding dirt bikes in the Southern California desert—and sailed off a 12-foot embankment.
“The last thing I heard was my grandson saying, ‘Oh, Dad, look at Grandpa go!’ ” says Sutton, a 67-year-old retired auctioneer and rodeo rider and decorated Marine Corps veteran. “The next thing I know I’m lying down there in the sand and I hear my knee pop.”
The San Diego resident is still nursing his fractured knee. “Sometimes your head is younger than your body,” he allows. “You don’t feel your age.”
But, he adds, “I don’t plan on changing anything. No, I’ll keep on going."
Michael Haederle is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in People, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.
Discounts & Benefits
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Now that the busy holiday season is over, it is time not only to reflect on the past, but to prepare and refocus for the New Year ahead. As we focus on the New Year, it is always refreshing to have a clean slate. As the year begins to unfold, there are tips to help you manage your day-to-day stress levels. It begins with mindfulness.
What is mindfulness? Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.” –Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn (1991)
Mindfulness is best thought of as a way of being rather than an activity in and of itself. Almost any activity can be carried out with mindful awareness.
Mindful awareness has three key features:
Purpose – mindfulness involves intentionally and purposefully directing your attention rather than letting it wander.
Presence – mindfulness involves being fully engaged with and attentive to the present moment. Thoughts about the past and future that arise are recognized simply as thoughts occurring in the present.
Acceptance – mindfulness involves being nonjudgmental toward whatever arises in the moment. This means that sensations, thoughts, and emotions are not judged as good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant; they are simply noticed as “happening,” and observed until they eventually pass (Naik, Harris, and Forthun 2016).
Mindfulness is a mind-body practice that has been found to benefit both psychological and physical health. The primary psychological change that occurs during mindfulness practice is an increased awareness of thoughts, feelings, and sensations in the present moment. Over time, mindfulness practice can help you to become aware of the space between noticing experiences and reacting to them by letting you slow down and observe the processes of your mind (Black 2010). The ultimate goal of mindfulness practice is for you to take advantage of this space so you can make more intentional decisions – to wake up from living life on autopilot, based on unproductive habits of mind (Black 2010; Walach et al. 2007).
According to the American Psychological Association, some empirically supported benefits of mindfulness include the following (Davis & Hayes 2011):
Increased awareness of one’s mind
Significantly reduced stress, anxiety, and negative emotions
Increased control over ruminative thinking (a major cause and symptom of depression and anxiety)
Increased mental flexibility and focus
More working memory
Decreased distracting thoughts
Decreased emotional reactivity
Increased capacity for intentional, responsive behaviors
Increased empathy, compassion and conscientiousness of others’ emotions
Enhanced immune system functioning
Increased brain density and neural integration in areas responsible for positive emotions, self-regulation, and long-term planning
Lowered blood pressure
Lowered levels of blood cortisol (a major stress hormone)
Greater resistance to stress-related illnesses such as heart disease
Increased self-insight and self-acceptance
Increased acceptance of others
Increased compassion and empathy
Increased sense of morality, intuition, and courage to change
Increased control over automatic behaviors
The question is: how many of us would like to benefit from mindfulness if it provides these positive benefits? All of us should strive to lower our stress level and enjoy our daily lives with a more positive attitude and more attentiveness. So, how can we incorporate this into our lives? The majority of this practice is about familiarizing yourself with what it feels like to be mindful, and getting better at “remembering” to maintain mindful awareness.
Experiment with creating your own mindfulness practices throughout your day. Being mindful of the sensation on the soles of your feet as you walk to your car or the taste and texture of your morning coffee can transform routine moments into deeply satisfying practices. However, having a ritualized and structured practice can be beneficial. To find out more about practicing mindfulness and how to incorporate a more structured practice in your life visit http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu, Publication # FCS2335 – Mindfulness: An Introduction. |
Did you know that sea turtles can travel up to 13,000 miles?
Sea turtles are one of the oldest creatures on the planet. Unfortunately, sea turtles are now an endangered species. These beautiful animals come to Aruba every year to nest, followed by little hatchlings sprinting to the shoreline to begin their lifelong journey.
In this article we’ll go over everything about sea turtles in Aruba, where they live, how we can protect them and much more. Keep reading until the end for fun facts about sea turtles!
Types of sea turtles
First, let’s go over the different kinds of sea turtles you might encounter in Aruba. In total there are only seven different kinds of sea turtles. Four of them can be found in Aruba:
- Leatherback Sea Turtle
- Loggerhead Sea Turtle
- Hawksbill Sea Turtle
- Green Sea Turtle
Not all kinds of sea turtles are the same. For example, the Green Sea Turtle eats mostly plants and algae, hence their name. Hawksbill Sea Turtles are small to medium sized sea turtles and usually eat more different things than the Green Sea Turtle. Hawksbills eat algae, but also like sponges, sea cucumbers and crabs.
The Leatherback Sea Turtle is the largest kind of sea turtles. They can grow so big that they end up being over 6 ft (2m) long and nearly 2,000 pounds (900kg)! The Loggerhead Sea Turtle are named for their large heads and strong jaws, which allows them to eat things that are harder to chew. For example, they love big marine snails!
Where do they live?
Most sea turtles are found in warm waters all over the world and can travel extremely long distances. Sea turtles can easily travel over 1,000 miles away from the beaches where they hatched. The longest known distance a sea turtle has ever traveled is almost 13,000 miles, from Indonesia to the US.
Sea turtles spend most of their lives in the water. You can sometimes see sea turtles while snorkeling or diving, but it’s more likely to see them on the beach during nesting season. The nesting season runs from March through September. Hatching takes place from May to November. Incubation takes approximately 60 to 70 days.
Female sea turtles come to the shore and get on the beach to dig out a nest to fit their eggs in. They dig holes with their back flippers, bury their eggs and return to the ocean. For the baby sea turtles, hatching can take up to seven days, since they have to dig themselves out of the nest.
The little hatchlings try to wiggle their way to the water and some of them might never even see land again. Female sea turtles only return to land to lay eggs. Male sea turtles sometimes never return and spend their whole lives in the ocean.
All sea turtles are endangered, which is why we should protect them where possible. When sea turtles come to Aruba to nest, it is important to keep a couple of things in mind.
Do not drive or litter on the beaches
When driving on the beaches, it the weight pushes the sand together which makes it hard for turtles to dig their nests. Also, leaving your non-degradable trash, such as plastic bags and straws, can kill sea turtles. They will mistake it for food.
Artificial lights (for example flashlights and photo or video cameras) at night can confuse female sea turtles and can make them return into the ocean without nesting. Also, it can disorient hatchlings, which can result in them wiggling into the wrong direction. This can dehydrate them or cause them to be run over by cars. From the beach hatchlings can only find the ocean because of the reflecting water.
Never disturb them
When you see a turtle nesting, please don’t disturb them. Sea turtles can be very shy and can leave their nest early. If you see a nesting turtle, please don’t come too close and call the 24 hour Turtle Hotline: +297 592-9393. This phone number belongs to Turtugaruba.
Turtugaruba is the local foundation that protects sea turtles in and around Aruba. There are several things that they do.
Education and public awareness
Turtugaruba makes sure news about sea turtles reaches the local press. They also keep park rangers, hotel personnel, dive operators and school up to date on information about sea turtles and their nesting behavior.
Fieldwork and protection
When the sea turtles start to nest on the beaches of Aruba, Turtugaruba makes sure to monitor all nesting beaches every day in the early morning. The area where most hotels are located is a popular spot for the Leatherback Sea Turtle to lay her eggs. Beaches like Eagle Beach are also patrolled at night.
While patrolling the beaches, Turtugaruba makes sure to register the data of the nests and turtles. Tissue samples (from dead hatchlings) are sent to laboratories for DNA analysis. Turtugaruba also started a research project on the incubation temperatures of the Leatherback Sea Turtle on the west coast of the Island.
Turtugaruba is a member of the AHATA Environmental Committee and works together with other nature organizations in Aruba, such as Aruba Marine Mammal Foundation and Fanapa. Every year, Turtugaruba’s volunteers participate in the Aruba Reef Care Project, as well as the Garnier Beach Cleanup. Besides daily cleaning during patrolling, both projects are focusing on cleaning up all the beaches in Aruba.
What can you do to help the sea turtles?
It’s really easy to contribute to a safe environment for sea turtles in Aruba. Of course, always clean up after yourself when you’re at the beach to prevent sea turtles from eating your plastic trash. Also, when you spot sea turtles nesting, call Turtugaruba’s 24 hour Turtle Hotline: +297 592-9393.
If you want to help out Turtugaruba, you can sign up to become a volunteer. You can always contact them via the Turtugaruba website.
Turtugaruba’s volunteers pay for their own gasoline, office supplies and field materials. All the time and energy they put in is out of love for the sea turtles. They greatly appreciate it when people help them out financially. Donations are very welcome and will be used for the protection and conversation of the sea turtles visiting Aruba.
Fun facts about sea turtles
Fun fact 1: Unlike other kinds of land turtles, sea turtles can’t crawl back into their shell.
Fun fact 2: The estimated lifespan of sea turtles is about 70 to 80 years.
Fun fact 3: Female sea turtles return to the beach they were born to nest. The Leatherback Sea Turtles come back up to 8 times every nesting season.
Fun fact 4: Green Sea Turtles can hold their breath for up to 5 hours. Looking for food only takes them 5 minutes, but they can stay underwater much longer. Their heart rate slows down to one beat every 9 minutes to conserve oxygen.
Fun fact 5: Don’t worry when you see a sea turtle crying. In fact, they’re just cleaning! By crying they can get rid of excess salt from their eyes.
Fun fact 6: Sea turtles use the earth’s magnetic field as a ‘GPS’ on long journeys.
Fun fact 7: Sea turtles nest every 2 to 5 years.
Fun fact 8: The Leatherback Sea Turtles in Aruba can lay more than 115 eggs!
(Not so fun) fact 9: Approximately 1 in 1000 hatchlings survives and matures.
(Not so fun) fact 10: All species of sea turtles are endangered and need our protection.
Help the turtles!
Remember: When you see a nesting turtle, call the Turtle Hotline: +297 592-9393. For more information about sea turtles and the Turtugaruba foundation, visit their website here. |
Anthropology emerged in a relatively high scientific level in the wider Middle East before it existed as a discipline in the West. Therefore, the label of colonialism often coupled to its emergence must be removed.
This is the main point of an article by Hassen Chaabani in the recent issue of the International Journal of Modern Anthropology.
Although the beginning of the development of anthropology as a discipline is originated in colonial encounter between Western people and colonized peoples and, therefore, coupled to its use in favor of extremist ideologies such as racism, this must not diminish the scientific value of anthropology, he writes.
You won't find many anthropology departments at universities in the Middle East, and its reputation might not be the best. So therefore this article mind be a timely reminder that anthropology has not been a dubious invention by the West. Chaabani sees "the prestige and hegemony of some editors and publishers in some powerful countries" as "one of the factors that could inhibit the development of a real global anthropology".
Hassen Chaabani, who is is president of the Tunisian Anthropological Association, draws our attention to two scholars: Abu Rayhan al- Biruni, a Persian scholar (973-1048) and Ibn Khaldoun, a Tunisian scholar (1332-1406).
Abu Rayhan al-Biruni, he writes, "is considered as one of the greatest scientists not only of the 11th century but of all times". He is most commonly known as a mathematician, astrologer, and historian. But he has also been an anthropologist:
He founded the science of anthropology before anthropology existed as a discipline, and therefore he is considered as the first anthropologist. He was an impartial writer on custom and creeds of various nations and was the first Muslim scholar to study Indian populations and their traditions. In addition he wrote detailed comparative studies on the anthropology of religions and cultures in the Middle East, Mediterranean and especially South Asia. (?)
Living during the high period of Islamic cultural and scientific achievements, Al-Biruni placed a focus on modern anthropological interests including caste, the class system, rites and customs, cultural practice, and women?s issues (Akbar, 2009). Through this modern practice, Al-Biruni used the concepts of cross cultural comparison, inter-cultural dialogue and phenomenological observation which have become commonplace within anthropology today (Ataman K., 2005).
Biruni's tradition of comparative cross-cultural study continued in the "Muslim world" through to Ibn Khaldoun?s work in the 14th century, Chaabani writes:
Some of his books cover the history of mankind up to his time and others cover the history of Berber peoples, natives of North Africa, which remain invaluable to present day historians, as they are based on Ibn Khaldūn's personal knowledge of the Berbers. In fact, he presented a deep anthropological study of Berbers before anthropology existed as a discipline.
Chaabani also writes that the general idea of biological evolution was advanced more than 1,000 years before Darwin by the Iraqi thinker Amr ibn Bahr Al Jahis (800-868) in his book "Book of Animals".
Who was the first anthropologist? Really al-Biruni? A tricky question. Others might point to Classical Greece and Classical Rome, see more in Wikipedia: History of Anthropology (where al-Biruni is mentoned as well). The main point as I see it is that anthropology was developed in many parts of the world, and not only in the so-called West. |
The obvious answer is that black support for the Confederacy goes hand-in-hand with the widely held belief that slavery was a benevolent institution overseen by paternalistic slave owners. Bruce Levine’s Confederate Emancipation throws a wrench into this thinking in reference to the decision late in the war to enlist slaves in exchange for their freedom:
“If slaves were so satisfied with their status–and both grateful and loyal to their masters–why offer to sever their bonds? Why alter their status at all? Didn’t emphasizing their fidelity and contentment suggest that manumission was an unnecessary–even a wrong-headed, if not positively destructive–reward? Why not simply muster southern blacks into the army as slaves?” (p. 65) It is important to note that the enthusiasm with which many assert the involvement of black southerners conflicts sharply with the strong opposition by slave owners during the war. Levine notes: “To emancipate slaves and place them in the army conflicted in many ways with the elaborate ideology that justified African American bondage, and ideology that white southerners had for generations imbibed with their mother’s milk. For one thing, the idea of enlisting black soldiers flew in the face of what every right-thinking southerner had been taught about what the African was and could and could not do.” (p. 48)
Levine’s research into primary sources will satisfy any reasonable judge as to the outlook of slave owners in response to recruitment proposals in different regions of the south and who held differing views on the war, the Confederacy, and secession. It is important to note that plans for enlistment at the end of the war were limited and would not include full civil rights for those who joined. In addition, southerners discussed ways of insuring that a successful war would not be followed by general emancipation. As Levine demonstrates, steps were already being discussed to ensure that the black race remained subservient to white southerners. In short, limited black enlistment into Confederate ranks was discussed as a way to preserve the antebellum social hierarchy and not to overturn it.
What I find most interesting is the obsession with the image of the “faithful slave” that took hold throughout the south by the beginning of the 20th century. This can be seen clearly in the 1903 Crater reenactment which included Jackson’s “faithful” servant from the war. The contrast is so striking between on the one hand the public denial that black men fought for their freedom at the Crater and the presence of the faithful slave. Such imagery only served to reinforce the white social hierarchy at a time when Virginia’s legislature was passing Jim Crow legislation.
“As a wave of lynchings sought to help blacks once again find their proper place in society, the renewed and now nationally observed cult of the Lost Cause piously celebrated the grateful slaves of yesteryear who had served their masters faithfully in both peace and war. It all served (as the recently-launched journal Confederate Veteran summarized) to teach ‘young negroes’ that ‘their aspirations for social equality will ever be their calamity.’ They must instead ‘accept the situation, treat the whites with deference, and they will soon realize the best they need ever hope to exist between the races.'” (p. 163)
It is clear that certain groups will always have a reason to claim that blacks fought for the Confederacy. No amount of argument or evidence will make a difference. If there is one area that is crying out for serious research it is the relationship between southern blacks and the Confederacy. Until then, let us steer clear of vague generalizations and anecdotal evidence. Here is another suggestion: If people are truly interested in black participation in the military why not concentrate on the roughly 200,000 African Americans who we know volunteered to fight for their freedom. |
Scientists at the University of Calgary have teamed up with the National Research Council Canada to put a network of human brain cells on a microchip -- in effect creating a (tiny) brain on a chip. Until now, when scientists wanted to monitor brain cells, they could only monitor one or two simultaneously, but with this new neurochip, large groups of cells can be placed on the chip and observed in detail, as they go about their business "networking and performing automatic, large-scale drug screening for various brain dysfunctions," according to PhysOrg. But that's just the beginning! This sort of advance could someday lead to neurochip implants for driving artificial limbs, treatments for strokes and brain trauma, and more. The Globe and Mail even mentions the possibility that living neurons could be combined with silicon circuits to create an "organic computer." From that point it's only a matter of time before you're jacking into cyberspace with your Dixie Flatline ROM. |
10 Causes of Fluid In The Lungs
A pleural effusion is an unusual amount of fluid around the lung. Many medical conditions can lead to it, so even though your pleural effusion may have to be drained, your doctor likely will target. Nov 26, · Pleural effusion occurs when fluid builds up in the space between the lung and the chest wall. This can happen for many different reasons, including pneumonia or complications from heart, liver, or kidney disease. Another reason could be as a side effect from cancer.
Fluid around the lung pleural effusion is a potentially dangerous condition that can masquerade as something less worrisome. What may seem like chest pain or coughing due to a bad cold could actually have serious health ramifications. More than 1. Pleural effusion occurs when fluid builds up in the space between the lung and the chest wall. This can happen for many different reasons, including pneumonia or complications from heart, liver, or kidney disease.
Another reason could be as a side effect from cancer. The symptoms of pleural effusion can range from none to shortness of breath to coughing, among others. How to put on a tampon for beginners greater the build-up of fluid, the more likely symptoms will be noticeable.
In addition to excess fluid, the tissue around the lung may become inflamed, which can cause chest pain. In extreme cases, a person can have up to four liters of excess fluid in the chest. It's very uncomfortable. Puchalski says. A physician will usually diagnosis pleural effusion based on interviewing the patient about symptoms and a physical examination.
To confirm a diagnosis, he or she may also request an imaging test, which could be a chest X-rayultrasound, or computed tomography CT scan. To further help with diagnosis, a doctor may extract a sample of the excess fluid to be tested to determine the cause. The best way is to treat the cause of the effusion. If the cause is pneumonia, a doctor will likely prescribe antibiotics to treat the infection, which may also cause the fluid to go away.
If fluid build-up has been caused by congestive heart failure, a physician will likely prescribe diuretics, such as Lasix, for treatment. For large pleural effusions, or for those with an unknown cause, the fluid will need to be drained through a procedure called thoracentesis.
This involves inserting a needle in the space between the lung and the chest wall and draining the liquid. In these cases, a doctor may also send a sample of fluid to be tested for other causes, such as lung cancer, for example.
Some patients may require a pleural drain that is inserted through the skin so that how to make presentation in power point buildup of fluid can be drained repeatedly without the need for repeated thoracentesis. For lung cancer patients, he explains, the buildup is likely to occur again. At Yale Medicine, patients receive care from a team of physicians who specialize in dealing what is in a transformer pleural effusions.
The clinical care team includes a physician assistant and an advanced practice registered nurse who are trained in this subspecialty. What makes Yale especially unique, Dr. Puchalski adds, is our ability to perform bilateral thoracenteses.
This means that a patient can have fluid build-up removed from both lung areas in a single treatment, rather than scheduling two separate procedures. Patients can do this at Yale Medicine, Dr. Puchalski explains, due to a highly-trained staff. Another unique aspect of care at Yale Medicine is that doctors rarely ask patients to stop taking blood-thinning medication before the procedure. Many other medical centers require that patients stop blood thinners one week before the procedure, Dr.
However, Yale researchers conducted thorough research and found that this precaution did not affect the final outcome of the procedure. Skip to Main Content. Print Share Download. What are the symptoms of pleural effusion? How is fluid around the lung diagnosed? How is fluid around the lung treated? What are the chances a pleural effusion will happen again?
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The pleura creates too much fluid when it’s irritated, inflamed, or infected. This fluid accumulates in the chest cavity outside the lung, causing what’s known as a pleural effusion. Certain types. Feb 07, · Pleural effusions describe fluid between the two layer of tissue (pleura) that cover the lung and the lining of the chest wall. A pleural effusion is due to the manifestations of another illness. May 11, · The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID, enters the lining of the lungs via an enzyme called the ACE2 receptor, which is present on the outer surface of the lungs’ cells. The related coronavirus that was responsible for the SARS outbreak in the early s also needs the ACE2 receptor to enter the cells of the lungs.
Skip to Content. A pleural effusion is a buildup of extra fluid in the space between the lungs and the chest wall. This area is called the pleural space. About half of people with cancer develop a pleural effusion. When cancer grows in the pleural space, it causes a malignant pleural effusion. This condition is a sign that the cancer has spread, or metastasized, to other areas of the body. Common causes of malignant pleural effusion are lymphoma and cancers of the breast, lung, and ovary.
A malignant pleural effusion is treatable. But it can be a serious and potentially life-threatening condition. Relieving side effects is an important part of cancer care and treatment. This is called palliative care or supportive care. Talk with your health care team about any symptoms you experience and any changes in symptoms.
Your doctor may use the following tests to locate, diagnose, or plan treatment for a malignant pleural effusion:. Computed tomography CT scan , which creates a 3-dimensional picture of the inside of the body.
Ultrasound , which uses sound waves to create a picture of the inside of the body. A pleural effusion often needs to be treated in a hospital or clinic.
The most common treatment is to drain the malignant pleural fluid. This may be done in several ways:. Tube thoracostomy, which uses a tube inserted into the chest for 24 hours to drain the fluid. This is usually followed by a process called pleurodesis. This process uses substances, such as talc, to stick the edge of the lung to the chest wall.
This decreases the chance that the fluid will return. Temporary insertion of a catheter into the pleural space. You or your family member use the catheter to drain the fluid into a bottle as instructed by your doctor.
Treating the cancer with chemotherapy to prevent the effusion from returning. Symptoms of a pleural effusion Relieving side effects is an important part of cancer care and treatment. People with a pleural effusion may experience the following symptoms: Shortness of breath Dry cough Pain Feeling of chest heaviness or tightness Inability to lie flat Inability to exercise Generally feeling unwell Diagnosing pleural effusion Your doctor may use the following tests to locate, diagnose, or plan treatment for a malignant pleural effusion: Physical examination Chest x-ray, which is a picture of the inside of the body showing fluid buildup Computed tomography CT scan , which creates a 3-dimensional picture of the inside of the body Ultrasound , which uses sound waves to create a picture of the inside of the body Thoracentesis, which is using a needle to remove fluid from the pleural space for testing Treating pleural effusion A pleural effusion often needs to be treated in a hospital or clinic.
This may be done in several ways: Thoracentesis see above Tube thoracostomy, which uses a tube inserted into the chest for 24 hours to drain the fluid. Insertion of a shunt, which bypasses or diverts excess fluid from 1 place to another Treating the cancer with chemotherapy to prevent the effusion from returning Related Resources Getting Started With Palliative Care.
Coping With Cancer. Find a Cancer Doctor. |
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