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TCP/IP abbreviation means Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol - this is fixed standard of data transmissions between two hosts (LAN connected computers) of any platform or network type. TCP/IP is that bridge that connects all network hosts together in complete web. That's why it get its popularity and became main network standard worldwide.
TCP/IP research was financed in 1970 years by ARPA (Advanced Research Project Agency) - USA government's special department. Basically it was conceived as general standard that will unit all networks in a big web (internetwork). So that Internet was created by transformation existing that time ARPAnet in worldwide TCP/IP network. The term TCP/IP connected with two protocols: TCP and IP. But TCP/IP contains not only these two protocols. It's the family of all protocols that cooperates with IP protocol. This is TCP, SMTP, FTP and many others.
So, why do these protocols so close connected?
At first let's tell some words about IP protocol. Its main objective is network routing. It transfers data on rote to recipients. In other words IP protocol is needed for transporting data from point A to point B. But IP protocol is datagram based protocol that's why it doesn't guarantee safety of sending data while transporting (it can be deformed because of handicaps on channel). Reliability of transporting data using IP protocol provides protocols of higher level. Here information about basics of them.
TCP - Transmission Control Protocol. It is engaged in transfer of great volumes of data on a network by using the IP protocol, dividing them in parts and again collecting together in the end of a route. At sending using TCP/IP data is coded and packing in TCP-packages that then there was an opportunity to restore them at unpacking in case of their damage. There are whole sciences about such coding. A simple example of a safety of a TCP-package is check on parity or storage of a checksum in the TCP header. At a premise of data in a TCP envelope the control sum which enters the name in TCP header is calculated. If at reception anew calculated sum does not coincide with that that is specified on an envelope then data have been lost or deformed while transporting, and protocol will demands transfer of this package anew.
Thus, for work under this protocol TCP modules should be established both at the addressee, and at the sender of such package. In most cases the TCP package is sent in one IP datagram. But it's happens that TCP divides a segment on some datagrams. Differently, TCP does not keep borders of records during transfer but on arrival data will be collected together in correct sequence.
TCP demands from the addressee of acknowledgement of arrival of the data. It uses timeouts and repeated transfers for maintenance of safe delivery. The sender is authorized to transfer a quantity of data, not waiting acknowledgement of reception before the sent data.
Thus, between the sent and confirmed data there is "window" already sent, but still not confirmed data. The number of bytes which can be transferred without acknowledgement is called the size of a window (this size is established in starting files of software). TCP is the bidirectional report and data can be transferred on it in two directions simultaneously, due to this acknowledgement of acceptance of data go together with the data going during this moment in opposite direction.
Such opportunities TCP are given not simply so. Its realization demands considerable productivity from the machine and the high throughput of a network.
So, TCP protocol provides the guaranteed delivery with an establishment of logic connection in the form of byte streams. It releases applied processes from necessity to use timeouts and repeated transfers for maintenance of reliability. The most typical processes that use TCP are ftp and telnet. Besides system X-Windows uses TCP. However there are cases when accuracy of the information is not so necessary than speed of transfer (for example in multimedia translations). In such cases another data send protocol is used.
UDP - User Datagram Protocol. It comes in the stead TCP when we don't worry of accuracy transferred data. This report realizes a datagram method of data transmission.
Datagram is the package transferred through a network irrespective of other packages without an establishment of logic connection and acknowledgement of reception. It comprises all the necessary data for delivery. Unlike TCP, UDP does not demand setting up a connection and by transfer does not divide the datagrams into parts. The scheme without an establishment of connection is also attractive because it allows minimizing the general traffic at data transmission from an initial source to the big number of receivers. Use of points of a branching (splitters) will help to reduce the traffic proceeding from the transmitter for N machines in N times! So that, multicast transferring using UDP is more likely than with TCP.
In practice UDP applied at broadcasting multimedia data and also, for example, in SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) and many other programs.
Alternative TCP - UDP allows the programmer to use flexibly and rationally the given resources, proceeding from the opportunities and needs. For this purpose also serves TCP/IP. Protocols entering into its structure give ample opportunities of adjustment of a network using the IP protocol.
The appendix: the brief list of protocols of TCP/IP family and their description. |
Diving ducks prefer larger and deeper waters and will feed by diving to the bottom of the water. Their legs are located close to their tail and usually walk poorly on land. Most divers will patter along the surface of the water to take off. Their wing patches are normally dull colored.
Mergansers are diving fish ducks with spike like bills. Most species have crests and are slender ducks. They are generally poor eating ducks as their diet consists chiefly of small fish. The hooded Merganser nests in tree cavities. It is easily identified by the fan-shaped white crest that may be raised or lowered. The common merganser is similar to the hooded merganser but larger. The male has a whitish body, a black back with a green-black head.
Ringneck ducks are the most common wintering duck in Florida. They are found rafted up in great numbers on large bodies of water, such as Lake Okeechobee. This diving duck has light colored bands at both the tip and base of the bill. There is no discernable ring around the neck.
Source: FWC Hunter Education Program |
Students learn verbs for talking about daily routines. After learning the vocabulary, students put together a small presentation spoken or written about their normal daily schedule.
1. Using vocabulary flashcards, model the vocabulary and have students repeat. If you have smaller game cards, you can play memory, go fish or another game to solidify the vocabulary (although this will take more time)
2. Create a matching sheet with a few short sentences describing the item and have students circle the picture that corresponds to that description. Maybe just write "In the morning, first I ..." or even "Before 8:00am, I ..."
3. Follow up with a word search or crossword for spelling or even short writing practice. Some crossword makers have pictures so you don't need to use written descriptions, but certain could.
** if you have time, have the students do a short free-writing assignment or speech describing their daily routine.** |
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Essentially, the soap manufacturing process is the combination of fats and a strong alkaline substance resulting in a chemical process called saponification. Saponification involves the splitting of a fat into fatty acids and glycerin. The fatty acids can then react with a carbonate salt in order to produce soap. Ancient soap makers used a combination of animal or vegetable fat and wood ash in order to create soap, but today, many manufacturers replace the wood ash with sodium hydroxide. Potassium hydroxide can also be used to make a softer soap, a soap that more easily dissolves in water.
The soap manufacturing process can be separated into two main groups: the kettle process and the continuous process. The kettle process produces soap in one batch at a time while the continuous process makes soap continuously. Most big soap manufacturers use the continuous soap manufacturing process because it produces a more consistent product. The continuous process also creates soap faster — producing soap in about six hours compared with the four to 11 days the kettle soap-making process takes.
In the continuous soap manufacturing process, molten fat is sent into a container where hot, high-pressured water is sprayed into it. This separates the fat into its component parts. The fatty acids are then purified and sent into another container, where the alkaline substance is added. Once the soap is made, some manufacturers may whip it to incorporate air. The entire mixture is then poured into molds and allowed to cool, or it cools in large slabs that can be cut later.
The first step of the kettle soap manufacturing process is to boil the fat and the alkaline substance together. Salt is then added to allow the soap to separate from the glycerin, which sinks to the bottom of the container and is removed. Another batch of the alkaline substance is then added to the mixture in order to turn any remaining fat into soap. After this, the soap is pitched — water is added and the liquid is boiled. This causes the soap, called neat soap, to rise to the top and the water and other substances, collectively called nigre, to settle at the bottom. The soap is removed and, like soap made using the continuous method, is cooled in molds or is allowed to cool as a large slab to be cut later.
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This Whole Brain includes:
~4 days of rounding lessons
~Two lessons on 2 digit rounding to the nearest 10
~One lesson on three digit rounding to the nearest 10
~One lesson on three digit rounding to the nearest 100
~Four square with vocabulary
~Links to sign language to sign the definitions of vocabulary words
~Fun partner activities
**NOTE: With Island Hop, you explain that you are swimming along to a certain number when a shark comes along (pull the exclamation mark out to reveal the picture). Since the shark swims really fast, you have to decide if it would be quicker for you to keep swimming to the next island (round up) or turn back to the first island (round down). Explain that the rock in the middle is a pain to climb over and can't save you from the shark. That's why you round up when you get to the rock. In addition, you want to have them guess which two islands they will be swimming between when given a specific number.
**NOTE: Pull out the exclamation mark
**NOTE: For corresponding worksheets, see my store. |
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The term "chills" refers to a feeling of being cold without an apparent cause. You get this feeling when your muscles repeatedly expand and contract. Chills can occur with a fever and cause shivering or shaking.
Your body chills can be constant. Each episode can last for as long as an hour. Your chills can also occur periodically and last for several minutes.
Some chills occur after exposure to a cold environment. They can also occur as a response to a bacterial or viral infection that causes a fever. Chills are commonly associated with the following conditions:
If you or your child has a fever with chills, there are some things you can do at home for comfort and relief. Keep reading to learn how to treat a fever with chills and when you should call a doctor.
Treatment is usually based on whether your chills are accompanied by a fever and the severity of the fever. If your fever is mild (101.4ºF or less) and you have no other serious symptoms, you don’t have to see a doctor. Get plenty of rest and drink plenty of liquids.
Cover yourself with a light sheet and avoid heavy blankets or clothing, which can raise your body temperature. Sponging your body with lukewarm water or taking a cool shower may help reduce a fever. Cold water, however, may trigger an episode of chills.
Over-the-counter medications, such as aspirin, acetaminophen (Tylenol), or ibuprofen (Advil), can also lower a fever and fight chills. As with any medication, carefully follow the instructions and take them as directed. Aspirin and ibuprofen (Advil) will lower your fever and reduce inflammation. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) will bring down a fever, but it will not reduce inflammation. Acetaminophen can be toxic to your liver if it isn’t taken as directed.
Call your doctor if your fever and chills don’t improve after 48 hours of home care or if you have any of the following symptoms:
Treating a child with chills and fever depends on the child’s age, temperature, and any accompanying symptoms. In general, if your child’s fever is between 100ºF and 102ºF and they are uncomfortable, you can give them acetaminophen in tablet or liquid form. It’s important to follow the dosing instructions on the package.
Never bundle feverish children in heavy blankets or layers of clothing. Dress them in lightweight clothing and give them water or other liquids to keep them hydrated.
Never give aspirin to children under the age of 18 because of the risk of Reye’s syndrome. Reye’s syndrome is a rare but serious disorder that can develop in children who were given aspirin while fighting a viral infection.
According to the Mayo Clinic, call a doctor in the case of any of the following:
Your doctor will ask details about your chills and fever, including:
Your doctor will perform a physical examination and possibly run diagnostic tests to see if a bacterial or viral infection causes your fever. Diagnostic tests may include:
Your doctor may prescribe an antibiotic if you’re diagnosed with a bacterial infection, such as strep throat or pneumonia.
Chills and fever are signs that something is wrong. If chills and fever persist after treatment, see your doctor to determine the underlying cause.
If a fever goes untreated, you may experience severe dehydration and hallucinations. Children ages 6 months to 5 years may also have fever-induced seizures (febrile seizures). Luckily, these seizures do not typically cause long-term health problems.
Written by: Maureen Donohue and Valenica Higuera
Medically reviewed on: Oct 01, 2015: Steven Kim, MD
Enter your symptoms in our Symptom Checker to find out possible causes of your symptoms. Go.
Enter any list of prescription drugs and see how they interact with each other and with other substances. Go.
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Find information on drug interactions, side effects, and more. Go. |
Hemochromatosis is an inherited disorder. It results from an abnormal gene that causes the body to absorb too much iron from food. People with the disorder have high levels of serum ferritin, a measure of body iron stores. The excess iron gradually builds up in many organs, including the liver. As the disease progresses, damage to the liver can lead to permanent scarring (fibrosis and cirrhosis) and liver cancer. Treatment involves avoiding alcohol (because it increases iron absorption and may cause liver damage) and removing excess iron by drawing off pints of blood. Liver cancer occurs mostly in patients who already have advanced liver disease (bridging fibrosis or cirrhosis). Some doctors regularly monitor these patients with ultrasound tests to detect liver cancer. In the past, the diagnosis of advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis has required a liver biopsy. Doctors and patients would appreciate less invasive tests to help identify the patients with advanced liver disease who might need regular monitoring for liver cancer. |
A mineral is a naturally occurring substance that is solid and stable at room temperature, representable by a chemical formula, usually abiogenic, and has an ordered atomic structure. It is different from a rock, which can be an aggregate of minerals or non-minerals and does not have a specific chemical composition. The exact definition of a mineral is under debate, especially with respect to the requirement a valid species be abiogenic, and to a lesser extent with regard to it having an ordered atomic structure. The study of minerals is called mineralogy.
There are over 4,900 known mineral species; over 4,660 of these have been approved by the International Mineralogical Association(IMA). The silicate minerals compose over 90% of the Earth's crust. The diversity and abundance of mineral species is controlled by the Earth's chemistry. Silicon and oxygen constitute approximately 75% of the Earth's crust, which translates directly into the predominance of silicate minerals. Minerals are distinguished by various chemical and physical properties. Differences in chemical composition and crystal structure distinguish various species, and these properties in turn are influenced by the mineral's geological environment of formation. Changes in the temperature, pressure, and bulk composition of a rock mass cause changes in its mineralogy; however, a rock can maintain its bulk composition, but as long as temperature and pressure change, its mineralogy can change as well.
Minerals can be described by various physical properties which relate to their chemical structure and composition. Common distinguishing characteristics include crystal structure and habit, hardness, lustre, diaphaneity, colour, streak, tenacity, cleavage, fracture, parting, and specific gravity. More specific tests for minerals include reaction to acid, magnetism, taste or smell, and radioactivity.
Minerals are classified by key chemical constituents; the two dominant systems are the Dana classification and the Strunz classification. The silicate class of minerals is subdivided into six sub classes by the degree of polymerization in the chemical structure. All silicate minerals have a base unit of a [SiO4]4- silica tetrahedra—that is, a silicon cation coordinated by four oxygen anions, which gives the shape of a tetrahedron. These tetrahedra can be polymerized to give the subclasses: orthosilicates (no polymerization, thus single tetrahedra), disilicates (two tetrahedra bonded together), cyclosilicates (rings of tetrahedra), inosilicates (chains of tetrahedra), phyllosilicates (sheets of tetrahedra), and tectosilicates (three-dimensional network of tetrahedra). Other important mineral groups include the native elements, sulfides, oxides, halides, carbonates, sulfates, and phosphates. |
About the Citizen Science program
On this page
Citizen science projects directly involve “citizens,” people who are not professional scientists, in collecting scientific data. Data collected by citizen scientists help professional scientists answer research questions about wild plant and animal populations, as well as abiotic features of the environment such as water clarity or temperature. Wild species' populations are always changing, and conservation efforts need to be based on data from many locations over long time spans. More and more, scientists are relying upon citizens to be their “eyes and ears” to study populations and habitats.
Citizen scientists have been collecting weather data for over two centuries. The first organized biological projects probably engaged citizens in collecting data on bird distribution and abundance, but there is a long history of lay interest in insects; for example, the field notes and reports of many Victorian collectors document important contributions to our understanding of butterfly range, behavior and abundance. Today, organized citizen science programs are flourishing as scientists need data and many citizens want to contribute towards the understanding and conservation of the environment.
While the Driven to Discover project was designed around the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project and eBird, the model is meant to work with a wide variety of other projects. All you need is to incorporate the three parts of the D2D process: building science skills, contributing to citizen science, and using those two foundational pieces to design and carry out independent investigations.
Monarch Larva Monitoring Project (MLMP)
MLMP involves volunteers from across the United States and Canada in monarch research. It was developed in 1997 by researchers at the University of Minnesota to collect long-term data on breeding monarch populations and milkweed habitat. The goal of the project is to better understand monarch populations during the spring and summer in North America. To do this, MLMP volunteers conduct weekly monarch and milkweed surveys. The results of these efforts aid in conserving monarchs and advance our understanding of butterfly ecology in general. Learn more about the MLMP here.
Minnesota Bee Atlas
The Minnesota Bee Atlas, a four-year project funded by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund (ENRTF), is a citizen science program designed to use volunteer participants to create a state-wide list of bees found in Minnesota. Volunteers may participate by submitting photos of bees, identifying bumble bees on a transect route, or monitoring nesting blocks. The information we gather on species distribution and diversity will be important to help us track if or how bee populations are changing and how those changes might affect land management decisions. Learn more about the Minnesota Bee Atlas here.
eBird and BirdSleuth
A real-time, online checklist program, eBird has revolutionized the way that the birding community reports and accesses information about birds. Launched in 2002 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, eBird's goal is to maximize the utility and accessibility of the vast numbers of bird observations made each year by recreational and professional bird watchers. eBird then shares these observations with a global community of educators, land managers, ornithologists, and conservation biologists, who are working to better understand and manage bird populations across the western hemisphere and beyond.
The Driven to Discover bird curriculum is based on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s BirdSleuth program. BirdSleuth engages kids in scientific study and real data collection through the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s citizen science projects.
Other citizen science projects we recommend
There are many other citizen science projects besides the ones listed above. For a list of many citizen science projects, visit Scistarter or Citizen Science Central. Here are some projects that we like a lot:
- Project FeederWatch
- The Great Sunflower Project
- The Lost Ladybug Project
- Journey North
- Project BudBurst
Check out how the PBS Kids program SciGirls featured several citizen science projects! |
Employee Motivation, the Organizational Environment and Productivity
Historical perspective on productivity improvement
Development during the Industrial Revolution.
The impetus for the Industrial Revolution developed by the seventeenth century. Agricultural methods had improved in Europe to the extent that surpluses were generated. These surpluses were used for trade. Trade routes were by this time expanding, on a global scale, including those to the East and the Americas to the West.
Technical advances were being made, most importantly in textile manufacturing, notably in the eighteenth century, Hargreaves's spinning jenny, Arkwright's water frame and Compton's mule. The steam engine first developed in 1698 by Thomas Savory, was harnessed by James Watt. Improved hygiene and diet, including the boiling of water to make tea (from the East,) led to expanding populations.
These factors, technological developments, expanding trade/ markets, growing populations created opportunities for merchants and entrepreneurs to invest in new factories. This was the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. With it came the need to improve work methods, quality, and productivity.
The Factory System
Adam Smith, in the eighteenth century, advocated making work efficient by means of specialization. He advocated breaking the work down into simple tasks. He saw three advantages of the division of labor;
- the development of skills
- the saving of time
- the possibility of using specialized tools.
Following on rapidly from Smith changes in the process of manufacturing developed.
After the War of Independence, there was a shortage of musket parts in the United States. Eli Whitney proposed the manufacturing of muskets by means of using interchangeable parts. Though the idea was viewed with initial skepticism, his process was successful in producing large quantities of interchangeable parts. Thus was born the process of tooling up for production. At this time Whitney developed and used techniques such as cost accounting and quality control.
Records from the Soho Bell Foundry in Chelsea, around the same time as Whitney, reveal evidence of the use of production standards, cost control, work study and incentives.
In 1832, Charles Babbage, an engineer, philosopher and researcher, examined the division of labor in his book On the Economy of Machinery and Manufacturers. His work raised important questions about production, organizations and economics.
Division of Labor
One factor, crucial in the latter development of incentives, Babbage proposed, as an advantage of the division of labor, that the amount of skill needed to undertake a specialized task was only the skill necessary to complete that task. He illustrated this concept by breaking down the manufacture of a pin, into seven elements.
The important implication for employers was that they need only pay for the amount of skill necessary to complete each individual task. He advocated breaking down jobs into elements and costing each element. In this way, potential savings from investments in training, process and methods could be quantified.
Thus these developments presaged the machine age, replacing traditional manual labor and improving productivity.
- Machines were located near sources of power, first water later coal for steam.
- Large concentrations of machines were gathered in one place under one roof in the factories.
- This required large numbers of people, who came together to work these machines and in the distribution of the outputs from the factories.
Thus the management functions of control, planning and coordination were required to be studied in order to further improve productivity.
Other important developments
Probably the first attempt at formally timing work was in 1760 when a Frenchman, Jean Radolphe Perronet, studied the manufacture of pins and attempted to establish standard times for various operations.
Documents have been found relating to the Old Derby China works for the year 1792 in which a Mr. Thomas Mason pledged himself to undertake time studies in the factory and to undertake his work conscientiously and diligently.
At the turn of the century the problems of layout and method were studied by Robert Owen. Owen's work at the New Lanark Mills was revolutionary at the time. Through experimentation, he succeeded in raising the living conditions of his workers whilst reorganizing his mills on commercial principles.
Robert Owen is credited with being the first to recognize fatigue and the work environment as factors affecting the performance of factory workers.
Next | FW Taylor |
One of the spacecraft orbiting Mars has snapped some pictures of what could be the entrances to huge caves. You may be looking at the future site of our first Mars colony.
These big black pits were first spotted a year ago, but last month, the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was able to take some high resolution images of the site. By overexposing the surface, the camera was able to see down into the pits. To give you a sense of scale, the smallest objects you can see in these images are about three feet across, and the pit in this image is about the size of a football field:
Researchers think that these are probably pit craters, which form when the ceiling of an empty lava chamber collapses. They may not necessarily be part of a lava tube or cave system, and it's hard to tell for sure from the pictures. But even if there isn't a cave system there, there are some good reasons to live underground on Mars, especially if you're going to be there for a while. In addition to making it easier to regulate temperature, being surrounded by a whole bunch of rock helps to keep radiation to a minimum.
One possible way to turn a pit crater into an insta-base might be to stretch a big sheet of plastic wrap over the top at ground level to seal it off, and then fill the inside with air. The air pressure inside would help hold the plastic roof up, and you'd end up with a big sunny open area, which could be good for growing food. Individual rooms could be dug out of the walls of the pit to provide more space and better radiation protection, and there might even be some useful mineral deposits down there too.
The other advantage of exploring caves on Mars? They might have provided a good environment for alien life for the same reasons they'd provide a good environment for human life, and if there are any Martians left, a cave is a good place to start looking for them. |
The organization of neurons in the brain has been described as a bowl of cooked spaghetti—fibers curving and crossing each other in every direction, forming knots and tangles. But, in a new study published in Science, using a form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to uncover the brain’s underlying organization is painting a surprising picture (1). It turns out that raw spaghetti carefully laid out in a grid may be a more apt analogy for how tracts of neurons are arranged.
Although most scientists have applied DSI to human brains, the resolution was limited by how long human test subjects could lie in an MRI machine. So, Wedeen decided to look at primates with similar brains to humans, like rhesus monkeys and marmosets. These high-resolution scans provided the first hint that there was some order to the seemingly chaotic brain.
“The human images that we saw looked a bit like a bad hair day; very complicated,” says Wedeen. “But the animal images looked much neater. There was a certain geometric order to them that you couldn’t really put your finger on.”
Then Wedeen began applying a new analysis technique to the DSI images from both humans and other primates. For these brain images, his team highlighted all neighboring neurons and looked at which direction each neighbor extended in.
“We found that the crossings line up as single woven sheets,” says Wedeen, “instead of spreading out into a complicated nest of weirdness in every direction.”
Moreover, the scientists found that neuron fibers tended to run in only three directions, and they corresponded to the axes of the body: up and down, side to side, and front to back. The discovery suggests a simplified mechanism for how neurons find their paths in the developing brain, by following chemical gradients. It also suggests how groups of neurons manage to pass along electrical signals simultaneously: if they’re parallel, the signal will travel at the same speed along each fiber.
The next step is to find out how much variation in this organization exists between people. Once scientists have a baseline sense of how much variation is normal, they can begin to more easily study deviations from that norm that may be linked to neurological diseases. And new, more powerful MRI machines optimized for DSI will help make this task easier.
“We previously thought that the brain was impossibly complicated,” says Wedeen. “But now we’ve discovered that the large-scale structures in the brain have an extraordinary simple organization. We hope that this will teach us things about how the brain works, evolves, functions, adapts, and more clearly see variations between individual brains.”
- Wedeen, V. J., D. L. Rosene, R. Wang, G. Dai, F. Mortazavi, P. Hagmann, J. H. Kaas, and W.-Y. I. Tseng. 2012. The geometric structure of the brain fiber pathways. Science 335(6076):1628-1634. |
Variable names such as number1, number2 and sum actually correspond to locations in the computer's memory. Every variable has a name, a type, a size and a value.
In the addition program of Fig. 2.5, when the statement
std::cin >> number1; // read first integer from user into number1
in line 14 is executed, the characters typed by the user are converted to an integer that is placed into a memory location to which the name number1 has been assigned by the C++ compiler. Suppose the user enters the number 45 as the value for number1. The computer will place 45 into location number1, as shown in Fig. 2.6.
Figure 2.6. Memory location showing the name and value of variable number1.
Whenever a value is placed in a memory location, the value overwrites the previous value in that location; thus, placing a new value into a memory location is said to be destructive.
Returning to our addition program, when the statement
std::cin >> number2; // read second integer from user into number2
in line 17 is executed, suppose the user enters the value 72. This value is placed into location number2, and memory appears as in Fig. 2.7. Note that these locations are not necessarily adjacent in memory.
Figure 2.7. Memory locations after storing values for number1 and number2.
Once the program has obtained values for number1 and number2, it adds these values and places the sum into variable sum. The statement
sum = number1 + number2; // add the numbers; store result in sum
that performs the addition also replaces whatever value was stored in sum. This occurs when the calculated sum of number1 and number2 is placed into location sum (without regard to what value may already be in sum; that value is lost). After sum is calculated, memory appears as in Fig. 2.8. Note that the values of number1 and number2 appear exactly as they did before they were used in the calculation of sum. These values were used, but not destroyed, as the computer performed the calculation. Thus, when a value is read out of a memory location, the process is nondestructive.
Figure 2.8. Memory locations after calculating and storing the sum of number1 and number2.
Introduction to Computers, the Internet and World Wide Web
Introduction to C++ Programming
Introduction to Classes and Objects
Control Statements: Part 1
Control Statements: Part 2
Functions and an Introduction to Recursion
Arrays and Vectors
Pointers and Pointer-Based Strings
Classes: A Deeper Look, Part 1
Classes: A Deeper Look, Part 2
Operator Overloading; String and Array Objects
Object-Oriented Programming: Inheritance
Object-Oriented Programming: Polymorphism
Class string and String Stream Processing
Searching and Sorting
Bits, Characters, C-Strings and structs
Standard Template Library (STL)
Appendix A. Operator Precedence and Associativity Chart
Appendix B. ASCII Character Set
Appendix C. Fundamental Types
Appendix D. Number Systems
Appendix E. C Legacy Code Topics
Appendix F. Preprocessor
Appendix G. ATM Case Study Code
Appendix H. UML 2: Additional Diagram Types
Appendix I. C++ Internet and Web Resources
Appendix J. Introduction to XHTML
Appendix K. XHTML Special Characters
Appendix L. Using the Visual Studio .NET Debugger
Appendix M. Using the GNU C++ Debugger |
Students use linear equations to model and solve real-world problems. Students also see the correlation between the graph of an equation and its calculated slope by plotting graphs by hand and then calculating slopes with the calculator and comparing.
Before the Activity
Download the attached PDF and look over the information on the first page. Distribute the Student Worksheet for use during the activity.
During the Activity
Discuss the material from the activity pages and worksheet with students as needed.
After the Activity
Encourage students to summarize what they have learned from completing the activity. |
Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area and the third largest by volume. Located in the northern Midwest of the United States, Lake Superior is the northernmost of the five Great Lakes. Lake Superior is bordered by three states – Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota as well as the Canadian province of Ontario. Lake Superior is the coldest, largest, and deepest of the Great Lakes – averaging 40 degrees Fahrenheit and bottoming out at 1,332 feet deep (733 feet below sea level, making it the lowest point in the United States).
Due to Lake Superior’s cold temperatures and great depths, it is relatively sparsely populated by underwater flora and fauna. Despite having fairly low productivity for its size, Lake Superior is home to more than 80 species of fish, hosts one of the world’s largest raptor migration flyways, and straddles two major ecosystem making it home for plants found in northern mixed forests as well as boreal species.
This Great Lake’s first earliest known human inhabitants arrived following the glaciers of the last ice age more than 10,000 years ago. Many groups of people lived in the Lake Superior basin as time wore on, setting up lifestyles around fishing, hunting, and living off the fruits of the northern mixed forest. Europeans set up trade routes through the region to procure and distribute pelts. By the 18th century the French fur trade was booming. By the 19th century, the regions industry turned to other natural resources – copper and iron were being extracted from the ground and trees were being harvested and turned into lumber for the growing cities in the Midwest. |
Cosmic rays are atomic nuclei that travel through space at speeds close to that of light. Low-energy cosmic rays come from the Sun or from our own Galaxy, but the origin of the highest-energy particles has been the subject of debate ever since they were first discovered fifty years ago: do they come from our Galaxy or from distant extragalactic objects?
The question has now been settled by studying 30 000 cosmic-ray particles with energies a million times greater than those of the protons accelerated in the LHC . They were detected from 2004 to 2016 at the largest cosmic ray observatory ever built, the Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina.
The detectors are tanks filled with 12 tonnes of pure water, which are used to detect particles from air showers, cascades of secondary particles produced when cosmic rays enter Earth's atmosphere. As they travel through the tanks of water, the secondary particles produce a flash of light caused by the Cherenkov effect. The Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina is the world's largest cosmic ray detector. It is named after the French physicist who was the first to observe air showers, in 1938.
Credit: Céline ANAYA-GAUTIER/CNRS Photothèque
Analysis of the arrival directions of the particles showed that at such energies the flux of cosmic rays coming from a region of the sky located 120 degrees from the galactic center is approximately 6% higher than if the flux were perfectly uniform.
This direction cannot be associated with potential sources in either the galactic plane or galactic center, providing the first convincing evidence that these cosmic rays have an extragalactic origin.
The flux of these very high-energy cosmic rays (exceeding 2 joules) is about one particle per square kilometer per year . When the cosmic rays collide with molecules in the upper atmosphere, they create cascades of over 10 billion secondary particles, known as air showers, which can cover an area exceeding 40 square kilometers by the time they reach the ground.
The Pierre Auger Observatory detects some of these secondary particles (electrons, photons and muons) by means of an array of 1 600 detectors, i.e. tanks of pure water spaced 1.5 kilometers apart and covering 3 000 square kilometers in the Argentinian pampas, an area slightly larger than Luxembourg. By comparing the arrival times of particles at the different detectors it is possible to determine where the cosmic ray particle that produced the air shower came from.
This discovery clearly indicates an extragalactic origin for these cosmic rays, since there is a probability of only one in five million that the pattern observed in the sky is due to chance. However, the study has not yet succeeded in locating the sources precisely. This is because the region where cosmic rays are brightest covers a large part of the sky, where the number of galaxies is relatively high. In addition, our Galaxy's magnetic field deflects the paths of these charged particles , making it more difficult to locate their sources.
Some cosmic rays have even higher energies than those focused on in this survey. They have the disadvantage of being even more unusual, but also the advantage that they are not as deflected by the magnetic field of our own Galaxy. Their direction of arrival may therefore more accurately indicate the region where they were produced.
In 2007, an earlier study pointed to a correlation between active galactic nuclei and the arrival directions of the highest-energy cosmic rays then detected , but this correlation subsequently turned out to be not very significant. Research is currently being carried out on a much larger sample of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays, and may provide some answers. At the same time, an upgrade program is underway at the Pierre Auger Observatory, which should make it easier to identify the sources.
400 scientists from 18 countries take part in the Pierre Auger Collaboration, which develops and runs the observatory of the same name. The CNRS is the observatory's principal French funding agency. The following French laboratories contribute to the collaboration:
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One of the most important climatic factors influencing soybean growth and development is water. Soybean requiressignificant amount of water during the growing season. Too much or too little water causes stress in plants and ultimately impacts yield. Too much water or waterlogged conditions reduce plant oxygen availability which directly affects respiration and other physiological mechanisms. Soybeans that are in early reproductive stages of pod and seed development (R1 to R5) are more prone to flood stress than later developmental stages. Linkemer et al. (1998) reported that R1, R3, and R5 are the most sensitive reproductive stages of soybean to waterlogging.
Severity of flood damage is dependent on factors such as soil type and temperature. Higher temperatures generally accelerate plant respiration which will deplete oxygen levels faster causing plants to rot. Therefore, plants will have higher recovery and survival chances in cloudy and cooler days following heavy precipitation. Another negative effect of flood in soybean plants is poor nodulation. Soybean roots contain nodules that fix atmospheric nitrogen for the plants to utilize. Waterlogged conditions reduce nodulation sometimes resulting in yellow, stunted plants. One important factor that influences the severity of flood is soil type. Soil type indirectly affects the drainage and duration of waterlogging conditions in any given area. Floods in clay soil can have more detrimental effects on soybean yield than silt loam or sandy soils that have better drainage.
Late season flood followed by warm conditions can create conducive environments for certain fungal diseases. Scouting for diseases like sudden death syndrome and white mold a few weeks after flooding will help develop appropriate management plans. Indirect effects of late season flood is pod shattering. Plants that dried down following flood during the late seed development will have higher chance of pod shattering. After the area is dried up harvesting plants from the in-season flooded area first would help reduce the yield loss from shattering.
Source: David Karki, South Dakota State University |
Ramzan is the ninth month according to Islamic Lunar calendar. Ramzan (written as Ramadan) is derived from the Arabic root word 'ramida' or 'arramad' that means intense scorching heat and dryness, especially of the ground. Ramadan is so called to indicate the heating sensation in the stomach as a result of thirst. Others said it is so called because Ramadan scorches out the sins as it burns the ground. Some said it is so called because the hearts and souls are more readily receptive to the admonition and remembrance of Allah during Ramadan, as the sand and stones are receptive to the sun's heat. Ramadan begins after the month of Shaban, after the new moon has been sighted. In case new moon is not sighted then after 30 days of Shaban, Ramadan begins. The month of Ramadan lasts for 29 or 30 days depending on the sighting of the moon. If the moon is sighted on the night of 29th fast then the month of Shawwal begins from tomorrow and Ramadan is over. The 1st of Shawwal is the Eid also know as Eid-ul-fitr. |
Action: Create beetle banks
- Fourteen reports from eight studies out of a total 24 reports from 12 individual studies (including eight replicated studies of which three controlled and four literature reviews) from Denmark and the UK found that beetle banks provide some benefits to farmland biodiversity.
- Sixteen reports from eight individual studies looked at invertebrates and beetle banks. Five reports from two replicated studies (of which one controlled) and a review found positive effects on invertebrate densities/numbers, distribution, or higher ground beetle density and species diversity in spring and summer but not winter. Six reports from three replicated studies (of which one randomized and controlled) found that invertebrate numbers varied between specific grass species sown on beetle banks. Two replicated studies (one paired and controlled) found that the effect of beetle banks varied between invertebrate groups or families. Five replicated studies (of which two controlled) found lower or no difference in invertebrate densities or numbers on beetle banks relative to other habitats. One review found lesser marsh grasshopper did not forage on two plant species commonly sown in beetle banks.
- Six studies looked at birds and beetle banks. Two reviews and one replicated controlled trial found positive effects on bird numbers (in combination with other farmland conservation measures) or evidence that birds used beetle banks. Two studies (one replicated site comparison) found mixed effects on birds. One replicated study found no farmland bird species were associated with beetle banks.
- One replicated, paired, controlled study and a review looked at the effects of beetle banks on plants and found either lower plant species richness on beetle banks in summer, or that grass margins including beetle banks were generally beneficial to plants but these effects were not pronounced on beetle banks.
- One controlled study and a review found beetle banks acted as nest sites for harvest mice.
Beetle banks are grassy mounds, about 2 m-wide, that run across the middle of large arable fields. They may be created using two-directional ploughing and sown with a mix of grass species (HGCA 2008). They are intended to provide habitat, especially during winter, for predatory insects such as beetles and spiders. They may also provide foraging habitats for birds and habitat for small mammals.
HGCA (2008) Beneficials on farmland: identification and management guidelines. ADHB-HGCA, London.
Supporting evidence from individual studies
A replicated, randomized study in spring 1988-1990 on one beetle bank on a mixed farm in north Hampshire, UK (Thomas 1991) found weak evidence for a shift of predatory invertebrate activity from the beetle bank into the wheat crop over time. Individuals of the ground beetle (Carabidae) Demetrias atricapillus were more abundant on or very near the beetle bank in the first half of the study period (on average 12.2 individuals/m2 at 0-3 m distance from the beetle bank 14 April-3 May 1989) after which they were more evenly distributed (on average 0.4/m2 at 0-60 m from the beetle bank 8-22 May 1989) in 1989-1990. There was no consistent pattern in the distribution of the rove beetle (Staphylinidae) Tachyporus hypnorum in 1989-1990, although lower numbers were found on the beetle bank than in the crop by the end of the study in 1989. Money spiders (Linyphiidae) were more abundant on the beetle bank than in the crop, and significantly so for all but one sample date in 1989. There was evidence of some dispersal of money spiders and limited crop invasion by wolf spiders (Lycosidae) in spring 1990. The beetle bank was created in autumn 1986 through two-directional ploughing, it was 0.4 m high, 1.5 m wide and 290 m long. The bank crossed a 7 ha field with chalky-flint soil. The crop during the study was winter wheat in all years. The beetle bank was treated with a broad-spectrum herbicide in spring 1987 to remove broad-leaved herbs before the different treatments were hand-sown. Six replicates of each treatment (four single grass species, two mixes of three or four of the grass species, and bare ground) were created. Predation pressure was studied by placing dishes of prey at different distances along transects running from the beetle bank out into the crop (in 1988: 0, 1, 5 and 15 m, in 1989: 0, 3, 10, 30 and 60 m). The number of prey items remaining after 24 h was recorded. Dishes were active over one 24-h-period/week for seven weeks. Dispersal into the crop was studied by taking weekly vacuum-net samples along five of the same cock’s-foot Dactylis glomerata transects as above in 1989 (this part of the study is also reported in (Thomas et al. 1991)). In 1990, 10 perpendicular transects of barrier pitfall traps were placed at regular intervals along the beetle bank, avoiding non-grass treatments. Traps were placed 1, 4, 20 and 50 m into the crop, and set for one three-day-period each week and then emptied weekly throughout April and May. Vacuum-net samples were also collected in 1990 from five transects adjacent to five cock’s-foot plots but at the same distances as the barrier pitfall traps. This study was part of the same experimental set-up as (Thomas et al. 1991, Thomas et al. 1992, MacLeod 1994, MacLeod et al. 2004).
A replicated, randomized and controlled study in the two winters of 1987-1989 at a mixed/arable farm in north Hampshire, UK (Thomas et al. 1991) found that two beetle banks sown with four different grass species (creeping bent Agrostis stolonifera, cock’s-foot Dactylis glomerata, Yorkshire fog Holcus lanatus and perennial rye grass Lolium perenne) produced densities of polyphagous invertebrate predators (invertebrates that feed on many different food sources) of up to 150 individuals/m2 in the first winter and over 1,500/m2 in the second winter. In the first winter, on bank 1 (in a 7 ha field) creeping bent held fewer predators (39/m2) than the other three grass species (66-102/m2), and similar numbers to bare ground (30/m2). In the second winter, Yorkshire fog held more predatory invertebrates (648-1,398/m2) than creeping bent (273-488/m2) and perennial ryegrass (276-394/m2) on both banks as well as cock’s-foot (218/m2) on bank 2 (in a 20 ha field) but not on bank 1 (cock’s-foot: 1,488/m2). In comparison, densities in the field were much lower (26-29/m2). In the second winter the two most abundant species were the ground beetle (Carabidae) Demetrias atriacapillus and the rove beetle (Staphylinidae) Tachyporus hypnorum. In spring 1989 D. atriacapillus occurred in higher numbers on or immediately adjacent to the banks up until 3 May (average density 12/m2 at 0-3m). After this date the distribution of this beetle throughout the field was more even (0.4/m2 at 0-60m). Significantly higher abundances of T. hypnorum occurred at 0 and 60 m into the field up until 18 April 1989 after which there were no consistent spatial patterns for this species, although there were lower numbers on the banks than in the field at the end of the study (22 May). The beetle banks were created in cereal fields on chalky-flint soil in autumn 1986 and treated with a broad-spectrum herbicide prior to hand-sowing in spring 1987. Six replicates of each treatment (four single grass species, two mixes of three or four of the grass species, and bare ground) were created. Predator communities were studied (November-February) through ground-zone searching in quadrats and destructive sampling (digging up turf samples) in the banks as well as mid-field. Crop penetration by emigrating predators was studied (once a week April-late May 1989) through transects of vacuum-net sampling at 0, 3 10, 30 and 60 m distance perpendicular to the cock’s-foot treatments on bank 1. This study was part of the same experimental set-up as (Thomas 1991, Thomas et al. 1992, MacLeod 1994, MacLeod et al. 2004).
A replicated, randomized and controlled study in the three winters from 1987-1990 on two farms in Hampshire, UK (Thomas et al. 1992) (part of the same study as (Thomas et al. 1991) but extended with a third winter and a third beetle bank in a 51 ha field, also on chalky-flint soil, on a second farm) found that three years after beetle bank establishment, total predator densities and both ground beetle (Carabidae) and spider (Araneae) community compositions were not different to those in natural field boundaries. The tussock-forming grass, cock’s-foot Dactylis glomerata supported highest densities of ground beetles on all three beetle banks in the third winter. Community composition of both ground beetles and spiders changed significantly throughout the study in favour of species that prefer boundary or more permanent habitats. See (Thomas et al. 1991) for methods of beetle bank creation, experimental design and methods of predator sampling. This study was part of the same experimental set-up as (Thomas 1991, Thomas et al. 1991, MacLeod 1994, MacLeod et al. 2004).
A replicated study on one beetle bank on a mixed farm in north Hampshire, UK (MacLeod 1994) found the densities of both ground beetles (Carabidae) and rove beetles (Staphylinidae) in four grass treatments showed two peaks in density over the study period (the seven winters of 1987-1988 to 1993-1994), in the second and sixth winter after establishment. The pattern was the same for spiders (Araneae) in cock’s-foot Dactylis glomerata, but in Yorkshire fog Holcus lanatus, creeping bent Agrostis stolonifera and perennial rye grass Lolium perenne the densities steadily increased and peaked in the fifth winter. Ground beetle densities over the seven year period in the different grass plots were as follows: cock’s-foot 11-110 individuals/m2, creeping bent 3-15/m2, perennial rye grass 2-11/m2 (only five winters), Yorkshire fog 1-76/m2. The respective rove beetle densities over the seven (or five) winters were: cock’s-foot 1-125 individuals/m2, creeping bent 0-67/m2, perennial rye grass 2-79/m2, Yorkshire fog 2-113/m2. Cock’s-foot and Yorkshire fog generally had the highest densities of predators but not always significantly so. The grass species composition in plots sown with cock’s-foot, Yorkshire fog and creeping bent remained relatively similar (min. 85% of original grass species left) during the study. Plots of false oat-grass Arrhenatherum elatius and red fescue Festuca rubra were created and added to the study in 1991. The 290 m-long beetle bank was created in spring 1987 and split into six blocks, each further sub-divided into eight plots with one treatment/plot. The eight treatments were sown cock’s-foot (3 g/m2), sown Yorkshire fog (4 g/m2), sown perennial rye grass (3 g/m2), sown creeping bent (8 g/m2), mix of three grass species (cock’s-foot, Yorkshire fog, perennial rye grass), mix of four grass species (previous three species plus creeping bent), bare ground, and sown flowering plants to provide pollen and nectar resources. Predatory invertebrates were sampled by taking two 20 x 20 x 10 cm turf samples/plot/winter. Percentage cover of grasses was measured in the four original grass treatments in October 1992 by placing six 25 x 25 cm quadrats in each grass plot, and in winter 1993-1994 it was measured in the collected turf samples. For methods in the first three winters see (Thomas 1991). This study was part of the same experimental set-up as (Thomas 1991, Thomas et al. 1991, Thomas et al. 1992, MacLeod et al. 2004).
A replicated study in the winters of 1993-1994 to 1995-1996 on a lowland arable estate in Leicestershire, UK (Collins et al. 1996) (this study was continued in (Collins et al. 2003)) found that the average total predator, ground beetle (Carabidae) and rove beetle (Staphylinidae) (excluding aphid-specific species) density was higher in one hedge than one beetle bank over three winters. Out of five different grass species and areas of naturally regenerated vegetation, false oat-grass Arrhenatherum elatius, cock’s-foot Dactylis glomerata and timothy Phleum pratense held the highest densities of total predators, ground beetles and rove beetles on two other beetle banks. Beetle banks were 360-400 m long, 2-2.5 m wide, and sown in 1992-1993. Invertebrates were collected from soil samples using a cylindrical borer. This study was part of the same experimental set-up as (Moreby & Southway 2002, Murray et al. 2002, Bence et al. 2003, Collins et al. 2003).
A replicated study in the summers of 1997-1998 in three regions (southern England, East Anglia and the Midlands) across the UK (Barker & Reynolds 1999) found no difference in the average catch of sawfly (Hymenoptera: Symphyta) larvae between beetle banks and grass strips planted along existing field margins. The total percentage cover of grass in planted grass strips affected the abundance of sawfly larvae positively. There were non-significant trends for sawfly larvae numbers to increase with strip age and to decrease with the amount of cock’s-foot Dactylis glomerata. Numbers of gamebird chick-food insects increased with strip age and area, but there was also a significant difference between farms. There was a non-significant trend for chick-food insect numbers to increase with the proportion of red fescue Festuca rubra. Cock’s-foot, red fescue and perennial rye grass Lolium perenne were the predominant grasses in most strips, being most common in 35, 25 and 17 strips respectively. A total of 116 grass strips (83 along pre-existing field margins and 33 beetle banks) on 32 farms were surveyed. For the overall analysis, the 11 strips on three of the farms were excluded. Grass strips had been established 0.5-12 years previously, both along pre-existing field margins and across cropped fields (beetle banks). Invertebrates were sampled by sweep-netting at the base of the vegetation in mid-June to mid-July. Percentage cover of all plant species and vegetation height was measured in 0.25m2 quadrats. Apart from where stated, this study does not distinguish between the effects of creating beetle banks and planting grass buffer strips/margins around arable or pasture fields.
A 2000 literature review from the UK (Aebischer et al. 2000) found that populations of grey partridge Perdix perdix were 600% higher on farms with conservation measures aimed at partridges in place, compared to farms without these measures (Aebischer 1997). Measures included the provision of conservation headlands, planting cover crops, using set-aside and creating beetle banks.
Aebischer N.J. (1997) Gamebirds: management of the Grey Partridge in Britain. Pages 131-151 in: M. Bolton (ed.) Conservation and the Use of Wildlife Resources. Chapman & Hall, London.
A 2000 literature review (Holland & Luff 2000) looked at which agricultural practices can be altered to benefit ground beetles (Carabidae). It found three studies, two in the UK ((Thomas et al. 1991) (Collins et al. 1996)) and one in Denmark (a PhD thesis), showing higher ground beetle numbers in arable fields close to beetle banks.
A replicated, paired, controlled study in the two winters of 1997-1999 and summer 1999 on five farm estates in the UK (Thomas et al. 2000) found different patterns of density and diversity for ground beetles (Carabidae), rove beetles (Staphylinidae) and spiders (Araneae) between five pairs of beetle banks and field margins in two consecutive winters. Rove beetle diversity was lower in beetle banks than in field margins in both winters, but density in beetle banks increased significantly between winters. There were no significant effects on ground beetles. The overall catch of chick-food invertebrates was lower in 22 beetle banks than in paired field margins on five farm estates, but the abundance of key prey groups was similar. There was no difference in grasshopper and bushcricket (Orthoptera) species richness between the two habitats (on average 1.4 species in beetle banks, 1.8 in field margins), but older beetle banks held higher abundances of grasshoppers and bushcrickets. Both abundance and species richness of butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) was significantly lower in beetle banks than in field margins in June, July and August, but both habitats peaked in July. Destructive turf samples were collected randomly from the two habitats to assess predatory invertebrates. Chick-food invertebrates and grasshoppers and bushcrickets were sampled through sweep-netting and butterflies and moths through standard transect walks. This study was part of the same experimental set-up as (Thomas 2001, Thomas et al. 2001, Thomas 2002, Thomas et al. 2002).
A replicated, controlled study in 1998 in two sites with autumn-sown crops on an estate in Hampshire, UK (Thomas 2001) found that boundary-overwintering ground beetle (Carabidae) species (species that migrate into fields in spring) were clustered near two beetle banks and a hedgerow in the early part of the season (March), after which activity-densities were more evenly spread until they clustered again later in the summer (July). The distribution of field-inhabiting species (species resident in fields year-round) was fairly uniform or more associated with the centre of the fields through the early part of the season. The two sites differed in the latter part of the season with one displaying a gappy distribution near the beetle bank, and the other clustering near the hedgerow and the beetle bank. The distribution of overwintering ground beetles in January was irregular within the beetle banks and the hedgerow, but there was no apparent pattern in distribution of active beetles from February to July. Two sets of ten transects (connected, paired pitfall traps at 5, 25, 50, 75, 100 and 150 m into the crop) were set up at each site. At site A, transects extended at 10 m intervals into the winter barley crop at right angles from both sides of a beetle bank sown with cock’s foot Dactylis glomerata. At site B, transects extended into the crop from one side of a beetle bank sown with cock’s-foot and from a hedgerow at the opposite side of the field, parallel to the bank, leaving a 50 m gap between traps at the furthest distance. Transects of pairs of unconnected pitfall traps were established within the beetle banks and the hedgerow. Pairs of traps were set at 10 m intervals and opened concurrently with the within-field traps for 72 h-periods March-July (A) or February-June (B). Fifteen 20 x 20 x 20 cm turf samples were removed from the beetle banks and the hedgerow in early January. This study was part of the same experimental set-up as (Thomas et al. 2000, Thomas et al. 2001, Thomas 2002, Thomas et al. 2002).
A replicated, controlled study in 1998-1999 (winter-summer) on five farm estates in Hampshire and Wiltshire, UK (Thomas et al. 2001) found that diversity and average total abundance of chick-food invertebrates in sweep-net samples was higher in permanent field margins (65 individuals from 15 samples) than beetle banks (47 individuals from 15 samples) in 1999, and this was consistent between farms. In winter, the amount of plant litter, dead grass and tussocks that form important nesting material for game birds was higher in beetle banks (61%) than in field margins (27%), but overall vegetation cover in the two habitats was not different, and similar to that in summer (62-97%). Older beetle banks had higher diversity but not abundance of invertebrates. Invertebrate diversity also increased with plant diversity in both beetle banks and field margins. Invertebrate abundance and diversity was measured by vacuum suction-sampling and sweep-netting. Vegetation cover and composition was assessed with 0.71 m2 quadrats. Four to 22 banks/margins on one to five estates were included in the study in the two years. This study was part of the same experimental set-up as (Thomas et al. 2000, Thomas 2001, Thomas 2002, Thomas et al. 2002).
A review (Evans et al. 2002) of two reports (Wilson et al. 2000, ADAS 2001) evaluating the effects of the Pilot Arable Stewardship Scheme in two regions (East Anglia and the West Midlands) from 1998 to 2001 found that grass margins benefited plants, bumblebees Bombus spp., bugs (Hemiptera) and sawflies (Symphyta), but not ground beetles (Coleoptera). The grass margins set of options included sown grass margins, naturally regenerated margins, beetle banks and uncropped cultivated wildlife strips, but the review does not distinguish between these different options. None of the beneficial effects were pronounced on beetle banks. The effects of the pilot scheme on plants, invertebrates (bumblebees, true bugs, ground beetles, sawflies) were monitored over three years, relative to control areas. Grass margins were implemented on total areas of 361 and 294 ha in East Anglia and West Midlands respectively.
Wilson S., Baylis M., Sherrott A. & Howe G. (2000) Arable Stewardship Project Officer Review. F. a. R. C. Agency report.
ADAS (2001) Ecological evaluation of the Arable Stewardship Pilot Scheme, 1998-2000. ADAS report.
A replicated study in June 2000 in ten edge habitats on a lowland arable farm in Leicestershire, England (Moreby 2002) found that beetle banks contained the highest density of sawfly (Symphyta) larvae, significantly higher compared to hedge bottoms and winter wheat headlands, but not compared to grass/wire fence lines or edges of un-grazed pasture. Spider (Araneae) and rove beetle (Staphylinidae) densities were lower in beetle banks than in un-grazed pastures. Set-aside contained a higher density of weevils (Curculionidae) than beetle banks. There was no difference in ground beetle (Carabidae) or caterpillar (Lepidoptera) densities between habitats. Type of neighbouring crop did not affect invertebrate densities in the different habitats. Apart from the six habitats mentioned above, brood cover, one and two-year-old wild bird cover, and sheep-grazed pasture edges were included in the study. Invertebrates were sampled with a vacuum suction sampler in June 2000.
A replicated study from 1995 to 1999 of arable habitats on a farm in Leicestershire, UK (Moreby & Southway 2002) found that the abundance of some invertebrate groups was higher in non-crop strips (grass beetle banks or wild bird cover), whereas other groups were more abundant in crops. Four invertebrate groups tended to have significantly higher densities in non-crop strips than crops in all years: spiders (Araneae) 7 vs 1-5 individuals/sample, true bugs (Homoptera) 29 vs 1-4, typical bugs (Heteroptera) 10-58 vs 0-9, and key ‘chick food insects’ 65 vs 2-10. In three of the years, true weevils (Curculionidae) were found at significantly higher densities in non-crop strips and beans (0-11) than other crops (0-2). In contrast, in three or four of the years, densities in crops were significantly higher than non-crops for: true flies (Diptera) 20-230 vs 25-100 individuals and aphids (Aphididae). Moth and butterfly larvae (Lepidoptera) and ground beetles (Carabidae) differed significantly in only one or two years, when density was higher in crops than non-crops. Total beetles (Coleoptera) varied between years and habitats. Sawfly larvae (Symphyta), leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae) and soldier beetles (Cantharidae) showed no significant differences. Grass strips (1 m-wide) planted as beetle banks were sown onto a raised bank along edges or across the centre of fields. Wild bird cover was sown as 2-5 m-wide strips along field boundaries and re-sown every few years with a cereal or kale-based mixture. Invertebrates were sampled each year in the centre of 5-11 grass/wild bird cover strips and 3 m into 3-4 pasture, 8-12 wheat, 6-8 barley, 3-6 oilseed rape and four field bean fields. Two samples of 0.5 m² were taken in each habitat using a D-Vac suction sampler in June 1995-1999. This study was part of the same experimental set-up as (Collins et al. 1996, Murray et al. 2002, Bence et al. 2003, Collins et al. 2003).
A study of different set-aside crops on an arable farm in Leicestershire, UK (Murray et al. 2002) found that Eurasian skylark Alauda arvensis, but not yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella, used beetle banks more than expected compared to availability. Skylarks used beetle banks (planted tussocky perennial grasses) more than expected compared to availability and significantly more than unmanaged set-aside, broad-leaved crops and other habitats. Yellowhammer used beetle banks as expected compared to availability but significantly less than cereal and wild bird cover cereal set-aside. Field margin and midfield set-aside strips were sown with kale-based and cereal-based mixtures for beetle banks and wild bird cover. Other habitat types were: unmanaged set-aside, cereal (wheat, barley), broad-leaved crop (beans, rape) and other habitats. Thirteen skylark and 15 yellowhammer nests with chicks between 3-10 days old were observed. Foraging habitat used by the adults was recorded for 90 minutes during three periods of the day. This study was part of the same experimental set-up as (Collins et al. 1996, Moreby & Southway 2002, Bence et al. 2003, Collins et al. 2003).
A small replicated controlled study from May-June 1992-1998 in Leicestershire, UK (Stoate 2002) found that the abundance of nationally declining songbirds and bird species of conservation concern significantly increased on a 3 km2 site where beetle banks were created (alongside several other interventions), although there was no overall difference in bird abundance, species richness or diversity between the experimental and three control sites. Numbers of nationally declining species rose by 102% (except for Eurasian skylark Alauda arvensis and yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella). Nationally stable species rose (insignificantly) by 47% (eight species increased, four decreased). The other interventions employed at the same site were managing hedges, wild bird cover strips, supplementary feeding, predator control and reducing chemical inputs generally.
A replicated, paired, controlled study on five conventional arable estates in Hampshire and Wiltshire, UK (Thomas 2002) found that ground beetle (Carabidae) population patterns and vegetation composition in beetle banks and field margins changed across seasons. In winter there was no difference in ground beetle density (range: about 200-300/m2), species richness (range: 15-22 species in total) or diversity between beetle banks and field margins, but species richness increased with age in beetle banks. Ground beetle density and species diversity was higher in beetle banks than field margins in both spring and summer (beetle banks had on average about 75 individuals/m2 in spring and ca. 90/m2 in summer while field margins had about 45 and 60/m2 in each season respectively). Only eight sites were included in the spring analysis. Ground beetle species composition was similar in the two habitats during winter and summer. The winter catches contained especially large proportions of Bembidion lampros. In spring the species composition was different with far fewer B. lampros and more larvae (not identified to species). Total plant cover was high in both habitats in both seasons but significantly higher in field margins during summer. However cover of tussocky grasses was higher in beetle banks in both seasons and did not decline with bank age. Field margins had higher species diversity in summer and higher species richness in both seasons compared with beetle banks. Both measures however increased with beetle bank age so that older banks had a similar number of species to margins. A total of 22 beetle banks were included in this study, ranging from < 1 to 14 years old, each paired with a conventional permanent margin in the adjacent field. Ground beetle populations were sampled in four periods (winter (January-February), spring (May), summer (August) and winter (February)) through destructive sampling (vacuum suction-sampling and digging up turf samples). Vegetation composition was investigated in winter (January-February) and summer (July) through quadrats placed on the ground. This study was part of the same experimental set-up as (Thomas et al. 2000, Thomas 2001, Thomas et al. 2001, Thomas et al. 2002).
A replicated, paired, controlled study in the summers of 1998-1999 and late winter 1998-1999 on five farm estates in southern UK (Thomas et al. 2002) found lower summer plant species richness and diversity in beetle banks compared with conventional arable field margins. Both measures increased with age of beetle banks in summer. Beetle banks had higher cover of tussock-forming and other grasses, but lower cover of herbaceous, woody and nectar-providing plants in the second summer. In winter there was no difference in overall plant cover between beetle banks and field margins but average species richness was lower in beetle banks. Species richness increased with age in beetle banks. There was no relationship between tussock cover and age of bank in winter. Beetle banks, aged <1-14 years, were sown mainly with cock’s-foot Dactylis glomerata and had received no, or little, active management since establishment. Percentage cover of all plant species was assessed in twenty 0.5-m2 quadrats along each bank or margin in July 1998, January-February and July-August 1999. This study was part of the same experimental set-up as (Thomas et al. 2000, Thomas 2001, Thomas et al. 2001, Thomas 2002).
A controlled study in autumn 1998 on a predominantly arable farm in Leicestershire, UK (Bence et al. 2003) found overall more harvest mouse Micromys minutus nests in beetle banks (117 nests/ha) than field margins (14 nests/ha) although this difference was not statistically tested. Beetle banks were created and sown with grasses such as cock’s-foot Dactylis glomerata between September 1992 and 1994 and cut regularly in the year of establishment. Field margins were often adjacent to a hedgerow and normally left uncut. The two habitats were hand searched for harvest mouse nests in September to November, in a total of 1.8 km of beetle banks and 9.8 km of field margins. This study was part of the same experimental set-up as (Collins et al. 1996, Moreby & Southway 2002, Murray et al. 2002, Collins et al. 2003).
A replicated study in 1994-1998 including two beetle banks on an arable estate in Leicestershire, UK (Collins et al. 2003) (a continuation of (Collins et al. 1996)) found higher densities of invertebrate predators in false oat grass Arrhenatherum elatius (2,045/m2) than in red fescue Festuca rubra (1,492/m2), crested dog’s-tail Cynosurus cristatus (1,380/m2) and naturally regenerated vegetation (1,060/m2). Rove beetles (Staphylinidae), were the dominant family in the predatory invertebrate catch, and showed the same significant pattern (1,716/m2 in false oat grass, 1,241/m2 in red fescue, 1,105/m2 in crested dog’s tail and 834/m2 in naturally regenerated vegetation). Spider (Araneae) density was higher in cock’s-foot (177/m2) compared with red fescue (119/m2) and naturally regenerated vegetation (107/m2). Ground beetle (Carabidae) density was 2.5 to 3.5 times higher (significant) in cock’s-foot than all other treatments. Boundary-type ground beetles dominated all treatments but were also higher in cock’s-foot (328/m2) compared with the other five treatments (69-126/m2). In the first year of the study (third summer after creation) all single grass treatments were dominated by their sown species. In the last year of the study false oat-grass had the highest cover (90%) followed by red fescue (75%), cock’s-foot and timothy (70%), and crested dog’s-tail (10%). Overall, cock’s-foot, false oat-grass and timothy were taller growing and formed denser grass coverage near ground level (0-30 cm) compared with the other treatments. Beetle banks were created in spring 1993, both situated in an 8.6 ha clay soil field. Six treatments (five species of grass and naturally regenerated vegetation) were established with two replicates/bank. Invertebrates were collected from soil samples gathered in January-February 1994-1997. Vegetation was examined visually as well as measured with a graduated board. This study was part of the same experimental set-up as (Collins et al. 1996, Moreby & Southway 2002, Murray et al. 2002, Bence et al. 2003).
A randomized, replicated study over seven winters from 1987-1988 to 1993-1994 within one beetle bank on a mixed arable estate in Hampshire, UK (MacLeod et al. 2004), (an extension of (Thomas 1991)) found that ground beetle (Carabidae) and rove beetle (Staphylinidae) densities were in general highest in cock’s-foot Dactylis glomerata and Yorkshire fog Holcus lanatus respectively, although this was not always significantly higher in comparison with creeping bent Agrostis stolonifera or perennial rye grass Lolium perenne. Densities of money spiders (Linyphiidae) and wolf spiders (Lycosidae) were also higher, although not always significantly, in these two tussock-forming grasses. The ground beetle species composition changed from dominance by open field species to boundary species over the course of the study. In the last three winters, when sampled, field boundaries had lower densities of predatory invertebrates than the beetle bank, but this was not statistically tested. Percentage cover of the grass species originally sown in plots remained high for all species, except perennial rye grass, plots of which were invaded by cock’s-foot by the sixth winter and excluded from sampling in the last two winters because perennial rye grass had become so rare. One beetle bank was created through two-directional ploughing and divided into six blocks in which eight treatments were sown (only the four single grass species treatments included in this study) in randomized order. Predator communities were sampled through ground-zone searching and destructive sampling November-February. Vegetation composition was examined in quadrats in October 1992. This study was part of the same experimental set-up as (Thomas 1991, Thomas et al. 1991, Thomas et al. 1992, MacLeod 1994).
A replicated study in 1999 and 2003 on 256 arable and pastoral fields across 84 farms in East Anglia and the West Midlands, UK (Stevens & Bradbury 2006) found that out of 12 farmland bird species, none were strongly associated (either positively or negatively) with beetle banks. The species analysed were skylark Alauda arvensis, corn bunting Miliaria calandra, lapwing Vanellus vanellus, yellow wagtail Motacilla flava, chaffinch Fringilla coelebs, dunnock Prunella modularis, greenfinch Carduelis chloris, Eurasian linnet C. cannabina, reed bunting Emberiza schoeniclus, tree sparrow Passer montanus, whitethroat Sylvia communis and yellowhammer E. citrinella.
A 2007 UK literature review (Stoate & Moorcroft 2007) describes a study which found that beetle banks held higher densities of harvest mouse Micromys minutus nests than field margins. Other studies found that grey partridge Perdix perdix and Eurasian skylark Alauda arvensis also nested in beetle banks. Skylarks were found to be more likely than yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella to forage in beetle banks. However, a study in Leicestershire, UK, found that lesser marsh grasshoppers Chorthippus albomarginatus did not use two species of plant commonly planted in beetle banks (cock’s-foot Dactylis glomerata and false oat grass Arrhenatherum elatius) as food plants.
A replicated site comparison study from 2004 to 2008 in England (Ewald et al. 2010) found that grey partridge Perdix perdix overwinter survival was significantly and positively correlated with the presence of beetle banks in 2007-2008. Across all years there was a positive relationship with the ratio of young to old birds. There were no relationships between beetle banks and brood size or year-on-year density changes. Spring and autumn counts of grey partridge were made at 1031 sites across England as part of the Partridge Count Scheme.
- Thomas M.B. (1991) Manipulation of overwintering habitats for invertebrate predators on farmland. PhD thesis. University of Southampton.
- Thomas M.B., Wratten S.D. & Sotherton N.W. (1991) Creation of 'island' habitats in farmland to manipulate populations of beneficial arthropods: predator densities and emigration. Journal of Applied Ecology, 28, 906-917
- Thomas M.B., Wratten S.D. & Sotherton N.W. (1992) Creation of 'island' habitats in farmland to manipulate populations of beneficial arthropods: predator densities and species composition. Journal of Applied Ecology, 29, 524-531
- MacLeod A. (1994) Provision of plant resources for beneficial arthropods in arable ecosystems. PhD thesis. University of Southampton.
- Collins K.L., Wilcox A., Chaney K. & Boatman N.D. (1996) Relationships between polyphagous predator density and overwintering habitat within arable field margins and beetle banks. British Crop Protection Conference: Pests and Diseases, Farnham, 635-640.
- Barker A.M. & Reynolds C.J.M. (1999) The value of planted grass field margins as a habitat for sawflies and other chick-food insects. Aspects of Applied Biology, 54, 109-116
- Aebischer N.J., Green R.E. & Evans A.D. (2000) From science to recovery: four case studies of how research has been translated into conservation action in the UK. Pages 140-150 in: J.A. Vickery, P.V. Grice, A.D. Evans & N.J. Aebischer (eds.) The Ecology and Conservation of Lowland Farmland Birds. British Ornithologists' Union, Tring.
- Holland J.M. & Luff M.L. (2000) The effects of agricultural practices on Carabidae in temperate agroecosystems. Integrated Pest Management Reviews, 5, 109-129
- Thomas S.R., Goulson D. & Holland J.M. (2000) The contribution of beetle banks to farmland biodiversity. Aspects of Applied Biology, 62, 31-38
- Thomas S.R. (2001) Assessing the value of beetle banks for enhancing farmland biodiversity. PhD thesis. University of Southampton.
- Thomas S.R., Goulson D. & Holland J.M. (2001) Resource provision for farmland gamebirds: the value of beetle banks. Annals of Applied Biology, 139, 111-118
- Evans A.D., Armstrong-Brown S. & Grice P.V. (2002) The role of research and development in the evolution of a 'smart' agri-environment scheme. Aspects of Applied Biology, 67, 253-264
- Moreby S.J. (2002) Permanent and temporary linear habitats as food sources for the young of farmland birds. Pages 327-332 in: D.E. Chamberlain (ed.) Avian Landscape Ecology: Pure and Applied Issues in the Large-Scale Ecology of Birds. International Association for Landscape Ecology (IALE(UK)), Aberdeen.
- Moreby S.J. & Southway S. (2002) Cropping and year effects on the availability of invertebrate groups important in the diet of nestling farmland birds. Aspects of Applied Biology, 67, 107-112
- Murray K.A., Wilcox A. & Stoate C. (2002) A simultaneous assessment of farmland habitat use by breeding skylarks and yellowhammers. Aspects of Applied Biology, 67, 121-127
- Stoate C. (2002) Multifunctional use of a natural resource on farmland: wild pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) management and the conservation of farmland birds. Biodiversity and Conservation, 11, 561-573
- Thomas S.R. (2002) The refuge role of beetle-banks and field margins for carabid beetles on UK arable farmland: densities, composition and relationships with vegetation. How to Protect or What We Know About Carabid Beetles: from Knowledge to Application, from Wijster (1969) to Tuczno (2001), 2002 Conference, Warsaw, 185-199.
- Thomas S.R., Noordhuis R., Holland J.M. & Goulson D. (2002) Botanical diversity of beetle banks: effects of age and comparison with conventional arable field margins in southern UK. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 93, 403-412
- Bence S.L., Stander K. & Griffiths M. (2003) Habitat characteristics of harvest mouse nests on arable farmland. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment, 99, 179-186
- Collins K.L., Boatman N.D., Wilcox A. & Holland J.M. (2003) Effects of different grass treatments used to create overwintering habitat for predatory arthropods on arable farmland. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 96, 59-67
- MacLeod A., Wratten S.D., Sotherton N.W. & Thomas M.B. (2004) 'Beetle banks' as refuges for beneficial arthropods in farmland: long-term changes in predator communities and habitat. Agricultural and Forest Entomology, 6, 147-154
- Stevens D.K. & Bradbury R.B. (2006) Effects of the Arable Stewardship Pilot Scheme on breeding birds at field and farm-scales. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 112, 283-290
- Stoate C. & Moorcroft D. (2007) Research-based conservation at the farm scale: development and assessment of agri-environment scheme options. Aspects of Applied Biology, 81, 161-168
- Ewald J.A., Aebischer N.J., Richardson S.M., Grice P.V. & Cooke A.I. (2010) The effect of agri-environment schemes on grey partridges at the farm level in England. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 138, 55-63 |
Word Study: Plurals
In this plural nouns worksheet, students read ten sentences that have a missing plural noun. From four choices, students mark the correct spelling of the plural noun that would complete the sentence.
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This unit is part of the addition portion of the Mental Math Strategy Collection
To purchase all six addition units together and receive 6 for the price of 5, please view the link below:
Mental Math Units: the Complete Addition Collection
Doubles Plus One equations include facts such as 5+6 and 7+8. Using the doubles plus one strategy, a student begins with a known double and adds one more. For example, in the equation 7+8, a student could think "I know that 7+7=14 and one more = 15, so the answer is 15."
Did you know that when a student knows his doubles and doubles plus one facts, he knows more than 25% of the addition table?
This mental math strategy pack includes everything you need to help your students develop strategies for and learn the doubles plus one facts. Included is independent seat work, flashcards, center activities, kinesthetic learning activities and much more! Please see the free preview for a complete product description. |
What is flatulence?
Commonly known as farting, passing wind, or having gas, flatulence is a medical term for releasing gas from the digestive system through the anus. It occurs when gas collects inside the digestive system, and is a normal process.
Gas collects in two main ways. Swallowing air while you eat or drink can cause oxygen and nitrogen to collect in the digestive tract. Second, as you digest food, digestive gases such as hydrogen, methane, and carbon dioxide collect. Either method can cause flatulence.
What causes of flatulence?
Flatulence causes is very common. We all accumulate gas in our digestive system. The Herbal Care Products Clinic estimates that most people pass gas about 10 times a day. If you pass wind more frequently than this on a regular basis, you could have excessive causes for flatulence, which has a number causes of flatulence.
It’s natural to swallow air throughout the day, normally during eating and drinking. Typically, you’ll only swallow a small amount of air. If you frequently swallow more air, you may find that you experience excessive flatulence. It may also cause burping.
Reasons that you may swallow more air than normal include chewing gum, smoking, sucking on objects such as pen tops, drinking carbonated drinks, and eating too quickly.
Your dietary choices could lead to excessive flatulence. Some foods that increase gas include:
- foods high in fructose or sorbitol, such as fruit juices
These foods can take a long time to digest, leading to the unpleasant smell associated with flatulence. Also, some foods the body can’t fully absorb. This means that they pass from the intestines to the colon without being completely digested first. The colon contains a large amount of bacteria that then break down the food, releasing gases as they do so. The buildup of this gas causes flatulence.
Excessive symptoms of flatulence and complications
If your diet doesn’t contain a large amount of carbohydrates or sugars, and you don’t swallow excessive air, your excessive symptoms of flatulence may be due to a medical condition. The Mayo Clinic defines excessive symptoms for flatulence as more than 20 times per day.
Potential conditions underlying flatulence symptoms range from temporary conditions to digestive problems. Some of these conditions include:
- food intolerances, such as lactose intolerance
- irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
- Crohn’s disease
- celiac disease
- eating disorders
- ulcerative colitis
- dumping syndrome
- gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
- autoimmune pancreatitis
- peptic ulcers
What are treatment options and herbal remedies for flatulence?
Look at your diet. If it contains a large amount of carbohydrates that are difficult to digest, try to replace them. Carbohydrates that are easier to digest, such as potatoes, rice, and bananas, are good substitutes.
Keep a food diary.This will help you can identify any triggers. After you identify some foods that cause you excessive treatment of flatulence, you can learn to avoid them or to eat less of them.
Eat less more.Try to eat around five to six small meals a day instead of three larger ones to help your digestive process.
Chew properly. Avoid doing anything that may increase the amount of air that you swallow. This includes making sure that you are chewing your food properly, and avoiding chewing gum or smoking.
Exercise.Some people find that exercising helps to promote digestion and can prevent flatulence.
Try over-the-counter medications. Although these will only temporarily stop the problem, these include charcoal tablets that absorb gas through the digestive system, and dietary supplements such as alpha-galactosidase (Beano).
Natural herbal treatment for flatulence
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When to see your doctor for flatulence
If you have unexplained flatulence, or if you suffer from the following symptoms along with flatulence, you should see your doctor.
- swollen abdomen
- abdominal pain
- gas is persistent and severe
- unintentional weight loss
- blood in stool
Your doctor will discuss your symptoms with you, including when the problem started, and if there are any apparent triggers. He or she will also do a physical examination.
A blood test may be necessary, to ensure that your body isn’t fighting an infection, to identify any possible food intolerances, and to make sure there is not another medical condition causing your flatulence.
Your doctor will likely advise you to follow the steps above, including keeping a food diary and changing your eating habits. Depending on the cause, you may also benefit from seeing a dietician.
In addition, you may receive medication for a specific condition. If your doctor has been able to identify an underlying condition, you will receive treatment for that. You may also have to undergo further tests to get a conclusive diagnosis for your excessive flatulence.
According to the International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders, some foods that are less likely to cause gas include:
- meat, poultry, and fish
- vegetables such as lettuce, tomatoes, zucchini, and okra
- fruits such as cantaloupe, grapes, berries, cherries, avocado, and olives
- carbohydrates such as gluten-free bread, rice bread, and rice
As we all react to certain foods differently, sometimes a diet change is needed to prevent future flatulence.
Long-term outlook of flatulence
There are no long-term consequences for not treating flatulence. If the flatulence is due to a food intolerance or digestive issue, the problem may get worse. Other symptoms may also develop.
In some cases, prolonged excessive flatulence can lead to other issues, such as social discomfort and changes in eating habits. If it affects your lifestyle a lot, it may also affect your mood. It’s important to maintain a healthy diet and to see your doctor if the problem begins to negatively affect your life.
Source Link : http://www.healthline.com/symptom/flatulence |
The evolution of present-day cells from a common ancestor has important implications for cell and molecular biology as an experimental science. Because the fundamental properties of all cells have been conserved during evolution, the basic principles learned from experiments performed with one type of cell are generally applicable to other cells. On the other hand, because of the diversity of present-day cells, many kinds of experiments can be more readily undertaken with one type of cell than with another. Several different kinds of cells and organisms are commonly used as experimental models to study various aspects of cell and molecular biology. The features of some of these cells that make them particularly advantageous as experimental models are discussed in the sections that follow.
Because of their comparative simplicity, prokaryotic cells (bacteria) are ideal models for studying many fundamental aspects of biochemistry and molecular biology. The most thoroughly studied species of bacteria is E. coli, which has long been the favored organism for investigation of the basic mechanisms of molecular genetics. Most of our present concepts of molecular biology-including our understanding of DNA replication, the genetic code, gene expression, and protein synthesis-derive from studies of this humble bacterium.
E. coli has been especially useful to molecular biologists because of both its relative simplicity and the ease with which it can be propagated and studied in the laboratory. The genome of E. coli, for example, consists of approximately 4.6 million base pairs and encodes about 4000 different proteins. The human genome is nearly a thousand times more complex (approximately 3 billion base pairs) and encodes about 100,000 different proteins (see Table 1.2). The small size of the E. coli genome provides obvious advantages for genetic analysis, and the sequence of the entire E. coli genome has been determined.
Molecular genetic experiments are further facilitated by the rapid growth of E. coli under well-defined laboratory conditions. Depending on the culture conditions, E. coli divide every 20 to 60 minutes. Moreover, a clonal population of E. coli, in which all cells are derived by division of a single cell of origin, can be readily isolated as a colony grown on semisolid agar-containing medium (Figure 1.14). Because bacterial colonies containing as many as 108 cells can develop overnight, selecting genetic variants of an E. coli strain-for example, mutants that are resistant to an antibiotic, such as penicillin-is easy and rapid. The ease with which such mutants can be selected and analyzed was critical to the success of experiments that defined the basic principles of molecular genetics, discussed in Chapter 3.
The nutrient mixtures in which E. coli divide most rapidly include glucose, salts, and various organic compounds, such as amino acids, vitamins, and nucleic acid precursors. However, E. coli can also grow in much simpler media consisting only of salts, a source of nitrogen (such as ammonia), and a source of carbon and energy (such as glucose). In such a medium, the bacteria grow a little more slowly (with a division time of about 40 minutes) because they must synthesize all their own amino acids, nucleotides, and other organic compounds. The ability of E. coli to carry out these biosynthetic reactions in simple defined media has made them extremely useful in elucidating the biochemical pathways involved. Thus, the rapid growth and simple nutritional requirements of E. coli have greatly facilitated fundamental experiments in both molecular biology and biochemistry.
Although bacteria have been an invaluable model for studies of many conserved properties of cells, they obviously cannot be used to study aspects of cell structure and function that are unique to eukaryotes. Yeasts, the simplest eukaryotes, have a number of experimental advantages similar to those of E. coli. Consequently, yeasts have provided a crucial model for studies of many fundamental aspects of eukaryotic cell biology.
The genome of the most frequently studied yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, consists of 12 million base pairs of DNA and contains about 6000 genes. Although the yeast genome is approximately three times larger than that of E. coli, it is far more manageable than the genomes of more complex eukaryotes, such as humans. Yet even in its simplicity, the yeast cell exhibits the typical features of eukaryotic cells (Figure 1.15): It contains a distinct nucleus surrounded by a nuclear membrane, its genomic DNA is organized as 16 linear chromosomes, and its cytoplasm contains a cytoskeleton and subcellular organelles.
Yeasts can be readily grown in the laboratory and can be studied by many of the same molecular genetic approaches that have proved so successful with E. coli. Although yeasts do not replicate as rapidly as bacteria, they still divide as frequently as every 2 hours and can easily be grown as colonies from a single cell. Consequently, yeasts can be used for a variety of genetic manipulations similar to those that can be performed using bacteria.
These features have made yeast cells the most approachable eukaryotic cells from the standpoint of molecular biology. Yeast mutants have been important in understanding many fundamental processes in eukaryotes, including DNA replication, transcription, RNA processing, protein sorting, and the regulation of cell division, as will be discussed in subsequent chapters. The unity of molecular cell biology is made abundantly clear by the fact that the general principles of cell structure and function revealed by studies of yeasts apply to all eukaryotic cells.
Dictyostelium discoideum is a cellular slime mold, which, like yeast, is a comparatively simple unicellular eukaryote. The genome of Dictyostelium is approximately ten times larger than that of E. coli-more complex than the yeast genome but considerably simpler than the genomes of higher eukaryotes. Moreover, Dictyostelium can be readily grown in the laboratory and is amenable to a variety of genetic manipulations.
Under conditions of plentiful food, Dictyostelium lives as a single-celled amoeba, feeding on bacteria and yeasts. It is a highly mobile cell, and this property has made Dictyostelium an important model for studying the molecular mechanisms responsible for animal cell movements (Figure 1.16). For example, introducing the appropriate mutations into Dictyostelium has revealed the roles of several genes in cell motility.
An additional interesting feature of Dictyostelium is the ability of single cells to aggregate into multicellular structures. If an adequate supply of food is not available, the cells associate to form wormlike structures called slugs, each consisting of up to 100,000 cells that function as a unit. Dictyostelium thus appears to straddle the border between unicellular and multicellular organisms, providing an important model for studies of cell signaling and cell-cell interactions.
The unicellular eukaryotes Saccharomyces and Dictyostelium are important models for studies of eukaryotic cells, but understanding the development of multicellular organisms requires the experimental analysis of plants and animals, organisms that are more complex. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (Figure 1.17) possesses several notable features that make it one of the most widely used models for studies of animal development and cell differentiation.
Although the genome of C. elegans (approximately 100 million base pairs) is larger than those of unicellular eukaryotes, it is simpler and more manageable than the genomes of most animals. Its complete sequence has been determined, revealing that the genome of C. elegans contains approximately 19,000 genes-about three times the number of genes in yeast, and one-fifth the number of genes predicted in humans. Biologically, C. elegans is also a relatively simple multicellular organism: Adult worms consist of only 959 somatic cells, plus 1000 to 2000 germ cells. In addition, C. elegans can be easily grown and subjected to genetic manipulations in the laboratory.
The simplicity of C. elegans has enabled the course of its development to be studied in detail by microscopic observation. Such analyses have successfully traced the embryonic origin and lineage of all the cells in the adult worm. Genetic studies have also identified some of the mutations responsible for developmental abnormalities, leading to the isolation and characterization of critical genes that control nematode development and differentiation. Importantly, similar genes have also been found to function in complex animals (including humans), making C. elegans an important model for studies of animal development.
Like C. elegans, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (Figure 1.18) has been a crucial model organism in developmental biology. The genome of Drosophila is similar in size to that of C. elegans, and Drosophila can be easily maintained and bred in the laboratory. Furthermore, the short reproductive cycle of Drosophila (about 2 weeks) makes it a very useful organism for genetic experiments. Many fundamental concepts of genetics-such as the relationship between genes and chromosomes-were derived from studies of Drosophila early in the twentieth century (see Chapter 3).
Extensive genetic analysis of Drosophila has uncovered many genes that control development and differentiation, and current methods of molecular biology have allowed the functions of these genes to be analyzed in detail. Consequently, studies of Drosophila have led to striking advances in understanding the molecular mechanisms that govern animal development, particularly with respect to formation of the body plan of complex multicellular organisms. As with C. elegans, similar genes and mechanisms exist in vertebrates, validating the use of Drosophila as a major experimental model in contemporary developmental biology.
The study of plant molecular biology and development is an active and expanding field of considerable economic importance as well as intellectual interest. Since the genomes of plants cover a range of complexity comparable to that of animal genomes (see Table 1.2), an optimal model for studies of plant development would be a relatively simple organism with some of the advantageous properties of C. elegans and Drosophila. The small flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana (Figure 1.19) meets these criteria and is therefore widely used as a model to study the molecular biology of plants.
Arabidopsis is notable for its genome of only about 130 million base pairs-a complexity similar to that of C. elegans and Drosophila. In addition, Arabidopsis is relatively easy to grow in the laboratory, and methods for molecular genetic manipulations of this plant have been developed. These studies have led to the identification of genes involved in various aspects of plant development, such as the development of flowers. Analysis of these genes points to clear similarities between the mechanisms that control the development of plants and animals, further emphasizing the fundamental unity of cell and molecular biology.
The most complex animals are the vertebrates, including humans and other mammals. The human genome is approximately 3 billion base pairs-about 30 times larger than the genomes of C. elegans, Drosophila, or Arabidopsis. Moreover, the human body is composed of more than 200 different kinds of specialized cell types. This complexity makes the vertebrates difficult to study from the standpoint of cell and molecular biology, but much of the interest in biological sciences nonetheless stems from the desire to understand the human organism. Moreover, an understanding of many questions of immediate practical importance (e.g., in medicine) must be based directly on studies of human (or closely related) cell types.
One important approach to studying human and other mammalian cells is to grow isolated cells in culture, where they can be manipulated under controlled laboratory conditions. The use of cultured cells has allowed studies of many aspects of mammalian cell biology, including experiments that have elucidated the mechanisms of DNA replication, gene expression, protein synthesis and processing, and cell division. Moreover, the ability to culture cells in chemically defined media has allowed studies of the signaling mechanisms that normally control cell growth and differentiation within the intact organism.
The specialized properties of some highly differentiated cell types have made them important models for studies of particular aspects of cell biology. Muscle cells, for example, are highly specialized to undergo contraction, producing force and movement. Because of this specialization, muscle cells are a crucial model for studying cell movement at the molecular level. Another example is provided by nerve cells (neurons), which are specialized to conduct electrochemical signals over long distances. In humans, nerve cell axons may be more than a meter long, and some invertebrates, such as the squid, have giant neurons with axons as large as 1 mm in diameter. Because of their highly specialized structure and function, these giant neurons have provided important models for studies of ion transport across the plasma membrane, and of the role of the cytoskeleton in the transport of cytoplasmic organelles.
The frog Xenopus laevis is an important model for studies of early vertebrate development. Xenopus eggs are unusually large cells, with a diameter of approximately 1 mm (Figure 1.20). Because those eggs develop outside of the mother, all stages of development from egg to tadpole can be readily studied in the laboratory. In addition, Xenopus eggs can be obtained in large numbers, facilitating biochemical analysis. Because of these technical advantages, Xenopus has been widely used in studies of developmental biology and has provided important insights into the molecular mechanisms that control development, differentiation, and embryonic cell division.
The zebrafish (Figure 1.21) possesses a number of advantages for genetic studies of vertebrate development. These small fish are easy to maintain in the laboratory and they reproduce rapidly. In addition, the embryos develop outside of the mother and are transparent, so that early stages of development can be easily observed. Powerful methods have been developed to facilitate the isolation of mutations affecting zebrafish development, and several thousand such mutations have now been identified. Because the zebrafish is an easily studied vertebrate, it promises to bridge the gap between humans and the simpler invertebrate systems, such as C. elegans and Drosophila.
Among mammals, the mouse is the most suitable for genetic analysis. Although the technical difficulties in studying mouse genetics (compared, for example, to the genetics of yeasts or Drosophila) are formidable, several mutations affecting mouse development have been identified. Most important, recent advances in molecular biology have enabled the production of transgenic mice, in which specific mutant genes have been introduced into the mouse germ line, so that their effects on development or other aspects of cell function can be studied in the context of the whole animal. The suitability of the mouse as a model for human development is illustrated by the fact that mutations in homologous genes result in similar developmental defects in both species; piebaldism is a striking example (Figure 1.22). |
No. 63: May-Jun 1989
A few of the hundreds of meteorites picked up in the Antarctic wastes have chemical properties consistent with a Martian origin. Calculations, too, support the notion that a large meteoric impact could propel bits of the Martian surface into space where, statistically speaking, a tiny fraction would be captured by the earth's gravitational field. Some of these would fall to earth; others would remain in orbit.
Now, the reverse scenario has been investigated numerically. S.A. Phinney and colleagues at the University of Arizona have calculated what would happen to small chunks of the earth's crust if a large meteor impact excavated a 60milewide crater.
"Phinney's group used a computer to calculate where 1,000 particles would go if ejected from Earth in random directions, moving about 2.5 kilometers per second faster than the minimum speed necessary to escape. Of the 1,000 hypothetical particles, 291 hit Venus and 165 returned to Earth; 20 went to Mercury, 17 to Mars, 14 to Jupiter and 1 to Saturn. Another 492 left the solar system completely, primarily due to gravitational close encounters with either Jupiter or Mercury that 'slingshot' them on their way."
(Eberhart, Jonathan; "Have Earth Rocks Gone to Mars?" Science News, 135:191, 1989.)
Comment. One implication from the preceding analysis is that terrestrial bacteria and spores could well have infected every planet in the solar system and perhaps even planets in nearby star systems! Conceivably, if other star systems had histories like ours, biological traffic might be quite heavy in interstellar space. In fact, extraterrestrial life forms may be arriving here continually; and we may be such ourselves! |
Ocean Floor Features
Want to climb the tallest mountain on Earth? First you will need to climb into a deep ocean submersible and dive almost 4 miles under the surface of the Pacific Ocean to the sea floor.
Over half a mile taller, from base to summit, than Mt. Everest, Mauna Kea in Hawaii is more than 6 miles tall from its base on the ocean floor, to its summit two miles above the surface of the Pacific Ocean. This island mountain is only one of many features found on the ocean floor. Besides being the base for islands, the ocean floor also includes continental shelves and slopes, canyons, oceanic ridges, trenches, fracture zones, abyssal hills, abyssal plains, volcanoes, and seamounts. Not just rock and mud, these locations are the sites of exotic ecosystems that have rarely been seen or even explored.
Plate Tectonics and the Ocean Floor
The shape of the ocean floor, its bathymetry, is largely a result of a process called plate tectonics. The outer rocky layer of the Earth includes about a dozen large sections called tectonic plates that are arranged like a spherical jig-saw puzzle floating on top of the Earth's hot flowing mantle. Convection currents in the molten mantle layer cause the plates to slowly move about the Earth (animation) a few centimeters each year. Many ocean floor features are a result of the interactions that occur at the edges of these plates.
The shifting plates may collide (converge), move away (diverge) or slide past (transform) each other. As plates converge, one plate may dive under the other causing earthquakes, forming volcanoes, or creating deep ocean trenches such as the Mariana Trench. Where plates are pulled away (diverge) from each other molten magma flows upward between the plates forming mid-ocean ridges, underwater volcanoes, hydrothermal vents, and new ocean floor crust. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge, is an example of this type of plate boundary. Transform boundaries are formed when two plates slide past one another such as on mid-ocean ridges and often cause earthquakes due to zig-zag offsets..
Marine Life and Exploration on the Ocean Floor
Over the last decade, more than 1500 new species have been discovered in the ocean by marine biologists and other ocean scientists. Many of these newly discovered species live deep on the ocean floor in unique habitats dependent on processes resulting from plate movement, underwater volcanoes, and cold water seeps. The discovery of deep ocean hydrothermal vent ecosystems in 1977 forced scientists to redefine living systems on our planet . Considered one of the most important scientific discoveries of the last century, living organisms in this deep, dark, ecosystem rely on chemicals and a process called chemosynthesis as the base of their food web and not on sunlight and photosynthesis as in other previously described ecosystems. Since this discovery, sonar, submarines, satellites, and robots have helped find and explore this type of ecosystem and other deep ocean formations around the globe. With only 5% of the Ocean explored, many more scientific discoveries await our future generations of explorers in this final unknown frontier of our planet Earth.
Helping students understand the connections between plate tectonics, ocean floor bathymetry, diversity of life, and adaptations to the environment can help increase their understanding of the interconnectedness of Earth Systems. Utilizing examples of current explorations of the unknown, and almost real-time discoveries can increase the relevance of studying the ocean floor and help increase students' excitement for learning. Ocean science is interdisciplinary and can be incorporated beyond the science classroom, for instance math teachers can use ocean data, graphs, and maps to provide relevance when studying concepts such as integers.
Making Waves podcast: Tune in to our extended interview with Dr. Peter Etnoyer, NOAA marine biologist, about the hidden world of seamounts. Documenting the abundance and variety of life on one single seamount, he said, is "like trying to describe a Monet painting from three bristles of a brush."... Read More
"We found a type of lava never before seen erupting from an active volcano, and for the first time observed molten lava flowing across the deep-ocean seafloor"... "It was an underwater Fourth of July - a spectacular display of fireworks nearly 4,000 feet deep"... Read More |
Obstetric ultrasound uses sound waves to produce pictures of a baby (embryo or fetus) within a pregnant woman, as well as the mother's uterus and ovaries. It does not use ionizing radiation, has no known harmful effects, and is the preferred method for monitoring pregnant women and their unborn babies. A Doppler ultrasound study – a technique that evaluates blood flow in the umbilical cord, fetus or placenta – may be part of this exam.
This procedure requires no special preparation. Since only your lower abdominal area needs to be exposed for this exam, you may want to wear a loose-fitting, two-piece outfit. Leave jewelry at home.
What is Obstetrical Ultrasound Imaging?
Ultrasound is safe and painless, and produces pictures of the inside of the body using sound waves. Ultrasound imaging, also called ultrasound scanning or sonography, involves the use of a small transducer (probe) and ultrasound gel placed directly on the skin. High-frequency sound waves are transmitted from the probe through the gel into the body. The transducer collects the sounds that bounce back and a computer then uses those sound waves to create an image. Ultrasound examinations do not use ionizing radiation (as used in x-rays), thus there is no radiation exposure to the patient. Because ultrasound images are captured in real-time, they can show the structure and movement of the body's internal organs, as well as blood flowing through blood vessels.
Ultrasound imaging is a noninvasive medical test that helps physicians diagnose and treat medical conditions.
Obstetrical ultrasound provides pictures of an embryo or fetus within a woman's uterus, as well as the mother's uterus and ovaries.
A Doppler ultrasound study may be part of an obstetrical ultrasound examination.
Doppler ultrasound, also called color Doppler ultrasonography, is a special ultrasound technique that allows the physician to see and evaluate blood flow through arteries and veins in the abdomen, arms, legs, neck and/or brain (in infants and children) or within various body organs such as the liver or kidneys.
During an obstetrical ultrasound the examiner may evaluate blood flow in the umbilical cord or may, in some cases, assess blood flow in the fetus or placenta.
What are some common uses of the procedure?
Obstetrical ultrasound is a useful clinical test to:
- establish the presence of a living embryo/fetus
- estimate the age of the pregnancy
- diagnose congenital abnormalities of the fetus
- evaluate the position of the fetus
- evaluate the position of the placenta
- determine if there are multiple pregnancies
- determine the amount of amniotic fluid around the baby
- check for opening or shortening of the cervix
- assess fetal growth
- assess fetal well-being
Some physicians also use 3-D ultrasound to image the fetus and determine if it is developing normally.
How should I prepare?
You should wear a loose-fitting, two-piece outfit for the examination. Only the lower abdominal area needs to be exposed during this procedure.
The radiologist or sonographer may elect to examine an early pregnancy by means of transvaginal ultrasound in order to see the pregnancy more closely or to assess the cervix.
What does the equipment look like?
Ultrasound scanners consist of a console containing a computer and electronics, a video display screen and a transducer that is used to do the scanning. The transducer is a small hand-held device that resembles a microphone, attached to the scanner by a cord. Some exams may use different transducers (with different capabilities) during a single exam. The transducer sends out high-frequency sound waves (that the human ear cannot hear) into the body and then listens for the returning echoes from the tissues in the body. The principles are similar to sonar used by boats and submarines.
The ultrasound image is immediately visible on a video display screen that looks like a computer or television monitor. The image is created based on the amplitude (loudness), frequency (pitch) and time it takes for the ultrasound signal to return from the area within the patient that is being examined to the transducer (the device placed on the patient's skin to send and receive the returning sound waves), as well as the type of body structure and composition of body tissue through which the sound travels. A small amount of gel is put on the skin to allow the sound waves to travel from the transducer to the examined area within the body and then back again. Ultrasound is an excellent modality for some areas of the body while other areas, especially air-filled lungs, are poorly suited for ultrasound.
How does the procedure work?
Ultrasound imaging is based on the same principles involved in the sonar used by bats, ships and fishermen. When a sound wave strikes an object, it bounces back, or echoes. By measuring these echo waves, it is possible to determine how far away the object is as well as the object's size, shape and consistency (whether the object is solid or filled with fluid).
In medicine, ultrasound is used to detect changes in appearance, size or contour of organs, tissues, and vessels or to detect abnormal masses, such as tumors.
In an ultrasound examination, a transducer both sends the sound waves into the body and receives the echoing waves. When the transducer is pressed against the skin, it directs small pulses of inaudible, high-frequency sound waves into the body. As the sound waves bounce off internal organs, fluids and tissues, the sensitive receiver in the transducer records tiny changes in the sound's pitch and direction. These signature waves are instantly measured and displayed by a computer, which in turn creates a real-time picture on the monitor. One or more frames of the moving pictures are typically captured as still images. Short video loops of the images may also be saved.
The movement of the embryo or fetus and his or her heartbeat can be seen as an ongoing ultrasound movie. Ultrasound devices also use Doppler, a special application of ultrasound, which processes echoes produced by blood flowing through the fetal heart, blood vessels and umbilical cord and turns them into audible sound. This sound has been described by patients as a whooshing noise.
Doppler ultrasound, a special application of ultrasound, measures the direction and speed of blood cells as they move through vessels. The movement of blood cells causes a change in pitch of the reflected sound waves (called the Doppler effect). A computer collects and processes the sounds and creates graphs or color pictures that represent the flow of blood through the blood vessels.
How is the procedure performed?
For most ultrasound exams, you will be positioned lying face-up on an examination table that can be tilted or moved. Patients may be turned to either side to improve the quality of the images.
After you are positioned on the examination table, the radiologist (a physician specifically trained to supervise and interpret radiology examinations) or sonographer will apply a warm water-based gel to the area of the body being studied. The gel will help the transducer make secure contact with the body and eliminate air pockets between the transducer and the skin that can block the sound waves from passing into your body. The transducer is placed on the body and moved back and forth over the area of interest until the desired images are captured.
There is usually no discomfort from pressure as the transducer is pressed against the area being examined. However, if scanning is performed over an area of tenderness, you may feel pressure or minor pain from the transducer.
Once the imaging is complete, the clear ultrasound gel will be wiped off your skin. Any portions that are not wiped off will dry quickly. The ultrasound gel does not usually stain or discolor clothing.
Sometimes the radiologist determines that a transvaginal scan needs to be performed. This technique often provides improved, more detailed images of the uterus and ovaries. This method of scanning is especially useful in early pregnancy.
Transvaginal ultrasound is performed very much like a gynecologic exam and involves the insertion of the transducer into the vagina after you empty your bladder. The tip of the transducer is smaller than the standard speculum used when performing a Pap test. A protective cover is placed over the transducer, lubricated with a small amount of gel, and then inserted into the vagina. Only two to three inches of the transducer end are inserted into the vagina. The images are obtained from different orientations to get the best views of the uterus and ovaries. Transvaginal ultrasound is usually performed with you lying on your back, possibly with your feet in stirrups similar to a gynecologic exam.
Doppler sonography is performed using the same transducer.
What will I experience during and after the procedure?
Ultrasound examinations are painless and easily tolerated by most patients.
However, at times during an obstetrical ultrasound, the sonographer may have to press more firmly to get closer to the embryo or fetus to better visualize the structures. Any discomfort is usually minimal and temporary.
If a Doppler ultrasound study is performed, you may actually hear pulse-like sounds that change in pitch as the blood flow is monitored and measured.
With transvaginal scanning, there may be minimal discomfort as the transducer is inserted into the vagina.
This ultrasound examination is usually completed within 30 minutes.
When the examination is complete, you may be asked to dress and wait while the ultrasound images are reviewed.
After an ultrasound examination, you should be able to resume your normal activities immediately.
Who interprets the results and how do I get them?
A radiologist, a physician specifically trained to supervise and interpret radiology examinations, will analyze the images and send a signed report to your primary care physician, or to the physician or other healthcare provider who requested the exam. Usually, the referring physician or health care provider will share the results with you. In some cases, the radiologist may discuss results with you at the conclusion of your examination.
Follow-up examinations may be necessary. Your doctor will explain the exact reason why another exam is requested. Sometimes a follow-up exam is done because a potential abnormality needs further evaluation with additional views or a special imaging technique. A follow-up examination may also be necessary so that any change in a known abnormality can be monitored over time. Follow-up examinations are sometimes the best way to see if treatment is working or if a finding is stable or changed over time.
What are the benefits vs. risks?
- Most ultrasound scanning is noninvasive (no needles or injections).
- Occasionally, an ultrasound exam may be temporarily uncomfortable, but it should not be painful.
- Ultrasound is widely available, easy-to-use and less expensive than other imaging methods.
- Ultrasound imaging is extremely safe and does not use any ionizing radiation.
- Ultrasound scanning gives a clear picture of soft tissues that do not show up well on x-ray images.
- Ultrasound is the preferred imaging modality for the diagnosis and monitoring of pregnant women and their unborn babies.
- Ultrasound has been used to evaluate pregnancy for nearly four decades and there has been no evidence of harm to the patient, embryo or fetus. Nevertheless, ultrasound should be performed only when medically indicated.
- Ultrasound allows the doctor to see inside the uterus and provides much information about the pregnancy.
- For standard diagnostic ultrasound, there are no known harmful effects on humans.
What are the limitations of Obstetrical Ultrasound Imaging?
Obstetric ultrasound cannot identify all fetal abnormalities. Consequently, when there are clinical or laboratory suspicions for a possible abnormality, a pregnant woman may have to undergo nonradiologic testing such as a blood test or amniocentesis (the evaluation of fluid taken from the sac surrounding the fetus) or chorionic villus sampling (evaluation of placental tissue) to determine the health of the fetus, or she may be referred by her primary care provider to a perinatologist (an obstetrician specializing in high-risk pregnancies). |
Defining children’s rights has been a long-standing debate. Some argue that children have no rights. Others believe that children have rights, but they are not the same as adults. Some believe that children should be protected from discrimination, exploitation and abuse. Others believe that children should be free to choose their own lives. But no matter what the views are, many people agree that childhood is a time of growth.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was adopted in 1989. It seeks to protect children by establishing rights to life, protection from harm, education and participation in society. It also aims to make children more independent, allowing them to choose their own path. It also gives children the right to speak their minds and to express their views freely. However, it is important that children are not denied their rights.
In order for children to develop and grow, they need to have the opportunity to develop and grow in a healthy environment. Parents and other adults have a responsibility to provide the proper care and guidance for children. However, some adults are unable to provide this care. Those who are unable to do so should be able to get help from the government. It should be a priority to prevent children from being discriminated against and abused. The government must ensure that all children have access to the rights of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Children also have the right to education, health care, and other basic needs. They should be able to attend school, work and live in a safe environment. They should also be free to choose their learning experiences. This is important, as the decisions made during childhood will affect the rest of their lives. For example, children should not be forced to participate in military service. They should also have the right to refuse medical treatment. This is especially important for children who are not mature enough to make irreversible choices.
Children should also have the right to participate in peaceful protest. Children are rising to demand racial equality and climate justice. They should also have the right to choose their own values and traditions. This is important for children to develop their individual identities.
Children also have the right to health care, protection from abuse and neglect, and other material goods. They should be given opportunities to participate in various kinds of schools. They should also be free to choose their own home environment. They should also have the right to economic power and sexual freedom.
However, some adults believe that children should not be given any rights. They may believe that they have a duty to protect children from harm and to ensure that they grow into adults. They may also believe that children should not make decisions for themselves.
While the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Children is an important step in the right direction, there are still many important questions about children’s rights. Lawmakers and activists are finding that defining children’s rights is not always easy. |
None of the EU countries are currently using their full potential in terms of renewable energy production.
A new JRC dataset shows where in the EU there is a lot of potential to produce large quantities of energy from renewables.
If renewable energy was the primary energy source in the EU, what would that look like? Would PV panels and wind turbines cover every square meter of land?
No, say the authors of a new JRC study which looks at the renewable energy potential of the EU Member States.
Using 3% of land for solar farms and up to 15% of land for wind energy would be enough to cover the total EU's energy demand exclusively from renewable sources.
Converting just 1% of land to solar farms would already be enough to provide the EU's electricity needs.
Using a new JRC dataset (ENSPRESO), JRC scientists estimated which parts of the EU had a lot of potential to step up energy production from renewables.
Finding potential in unexpected places
The scientists looked at 276 EU regions, and found that none of the EU regions are currently exploiting the full potential for renewable energy production.
"We also saw that contrary to popular opinion, there is also a lot of potential for solar energy in the Northern parts of Europe and a lot of potential to produce wind energy in many countries that are not in North-Western Europe", said JRC researcher Wouter Nijs.
Nevertheless, the top-5 countries with the largest potential for offshore wind turbines are the UK, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany.
"The dataset also shows that there are many regions in Eastern Europe – for instance Lithuania, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Poland – that have large areas of released or abandoned arable land, which could be used for fast growing energy crops.", said JRC researcher Pablo Ruiz.
Towards EU targets
In the Commissions strategic long-term vision for a prosperous, modern, competitive and climate neutral economy by 2050 – A Clean Planet for All, models show that eight times more power from solar and wind would be needed to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
The dataset shows that this is possible using just a fraction of the actual potential, which would allow a 100-fold increase of the current solar and a 20-fold increase of the current wind capacities.
Such transition would require devoting 3% of the total land in the EU to solar and, depending on wind offshore deployments, up to 15% of total land to wind energy.
ENSPRESO (ENergy System Potentials for Renewable Energy Sources) is an EU-28 wide, open dataset for energy models on renewable energy potentials.
ENSPRESO estimates where it is technically possible to have high amounts of biomass, wind and solar energy.
ENSPRESO is fully described in an open access paper written in collaboration with DLR, TNO, PSI, DTU, Alterra, DBFZ and UFZ.
The dataset can help EU countries to design their decarbonisation strategies with scientific, non-biased transparent information on renewable energy.
- Fecha de publicación
- 30 de septiembre de 2019 |
Silentium! Pronunciation practice
This activity is called a “Speak the words set”. It takes the poem by Фёдор Тютчев called Silentium! and breaks it down line by line and gives automatic feedback on what it thinks that learners said. It can be used to practice pronunciation. Note that this only works in the Chrome browser.Project Tags: poetry. Level: Intermediate and Novice. Activity Type: Culture and Speaking. Format: Other. Pronunciation: Pronunciation. |
One of the strange features of quantum information is that, unlike almost every other type of information, it cannot be perfectly copied. For example, it is impossible to take a single photon and make a number of photons that are in the exact same quantum state. This may seem minor, but it's not. If perfect copying was possible, it would, among other things, be possible to send signals faster than the speed of light. This is forbidden in Einstein's theory of relativity.
For years, scientists have been experimenting with the idea of approximate quantum copying. A recent paper published in Physical Review Letters (PRL), by Sadegh Raeisi, Wolfgang Tittel and Christoph Simon of the Institute for Quantum Information Science takes another step in that research.
They showed that it is possible to perfectly recover the original from the imperfect quantum copies. They also proposed a way that his could be done in practice.
"Copying classical information is very important in our daily lives," says paper co-author Simon. "Think of the prevalence of photocopiers, faxes, scanners. It was quite surprising for physicists when they realized that the same thing is not possible for quantum systems, at least not perfectly. It is then important to study what exactly is possible and what isn't."
The research can be used in a variety of ways. First, it shows clearly that quantum information is preserved when copied. Even though the copies may be imperfect, the original quantum state can be recovered. In practical terms, it might lead to a precision measurement technique based on quantum physics for samples that have very low contrast, such as living cells.
The Institute for Quantum Information Science is a multidisciplinary group of researchers from the areas of computer science, mathematics and physics.
"At the fundamental level our world is governed not by classical physics, but by quantum physics," says Simon. "We are trying to understand the consequences of that for fundamental concepts such as information and trying to use this understanding to develop new kinds of quantum technology."
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If you ever looked at a frog you may wonder how they hear. Unlike cats and dogs, frogs do not have visible external ears. Yet frogs clearly hear us when we approach them since they often hop or swim away. Although a frog’s hearing system, may not always be visible, the can hear their surroundings very well.
Frogs do not have outer ears and generally have a middle and inner ear surrounded by tympanic cartilage, as well as tympanic membranes behind their eyes. Some frog species lack middle ears and tympanums, and they instead use their skin, lungs, or mouths to sense external sound vibrations.
While frogs can technically hear what is going on in their environment, the process is far more complex than it may seem. I’m going to explain frog ears and how they hear so you can better understand why frogs know you are coming even before you reach their location.
Why Don’t Frogs Have Outer Ears?
Frogs do not have outer ears like many other animals, and frogs’ auditory systems are comprised of the internal structures in their heads. They generally have middle and inner ears, which are encompassed by tympanic cartilage and other small bones such as stapes that support hearing and balance.
Most frogs typically have tympanic membranes on their heads, right behind the eyes, which they use for most hearing functions. The tympanic membrane is useful for hearing external sounds on land and underwater. Some frogs have very large tympanic membranes, like American Bullfrogs, whereas it may be less prominent on other, typically smaller frogs.
Frogs may use these tympanic membranes in combination with other body parts for optimal hearing. The tympanum will generally appear to have varying circular or ovular shapes from the outside (CTNF).
Outer ears may be useful for many species, but it would likely be impractical and possibly dangerous for a frog’s semi-aquatic lifestyle. Just imagine, if an aquatic frog had external ears. They would probably fill with water and debris while they drink, breathe, and swim. This would probably be painful.
The tympanic membrane allows frogs to hear and protects them while allowing them to fulfil all their daily activities. Their inner ear or tympanum allows sound wave vibrations to enter while blocking out water and dirt. Such an auditory system is far more adapted to frogs than having external ears.
How Do Frogs’ Ears Work?
Generally, frogs have middle and inner ears, or tympanic membranes, that allow them to hear. Some frogs also use their skin, mouth, or lungs to hear and detect vibrations.
In many cases, frogs will use their tympanic membrane, their skin, and occasionally their lungs and mouth lining for hearing. These body parts are used in similar ways, with a primary focus on the vibrations emitted by the sound in question.
Frogs Can Hear Through Their Tympanic Membrane
The tympanum is still the core of the frog auditory system, and they work by sending signals based on the type of vibration that the sound creates. The inner ear can assess the type of sound and where the sound is coming from through various applications.
Frogs can detect both high and low frequencies in varying parts of the tympanum. Once any sound reaches the tympanic membrane, the soundwave’s vibration will trigger a vibration within the fluid of the tympanum. These tympanic vibrations will then trigger an electrical signal, which will be sent to the frog’s brain (CTNF).
After the frog’s brain receives these signals, the sound will be interpreted based on the initially received vibration. Depending on which side of the head received stronger vibrations, the frog can determine from where the sound is emitting.
Frogs Use Their Skin to Hear
Although frog skin is not technically part of the auditory system, they may still use their skin to assist their hearing. Frogs’ skin is incredibly sensitive, and frogs can use their skin to detect vibrations in the surrounding area as well. The vibrations may not trigger the same electrical signals in the tympanum, but the frog’s brain can still interpret these vibrations.
Some Frogs Can Hear With Their Mouth
Some frog species have adapted their auditory system and use their mouth lining to detect sound. For example, the Seychelles Islands Gardiner’s Frog does not have a middle ear or a tympanic membrane for hearing. But, these frogs still have an inner ear, meaning they need more creative methods to interpret sound wave vibrations.
Sound vibrations are amplified and interpreted within the frog’s sensitive mouth lining, after which it can be sent to the inner ear nearby. Once it reaches the inner ear, similar electrical signals can be sent to the frog’s brain, allowing it to interpret the sound’s type and location.
Some Frogs Can Hear With Their Lungs
Some species, such as Coqui Frogs, are so small that their tympanums are predominantly incapable of perceiving most sound waves. Instead, they use their lungs to detect sound since the lungs have a greater surface area for receiving vibrations.
How Good Is a Frog’s Hearing?
Frogs have a fairly good sense of hearing, depending on the species and the primary system used for hearing. Many species have tympanums larger than their eyes, while others have fairly small tympanums, reflecting their size and level of hearing in some cases.
Some frog species can hear very well, while others may have adapted auditory systems that are less efficient than tympanic membranes and eardrums. Some frogs use Ultrasonic communication via high-pitched sound waves, which typically have frequencies over 20 kHz.
Frogs may also listen to certain sounds in their environment and react to them, while ignoring others. This sort of approach can be compared to what humans refer to as ‘selective hearing’.
Frogs Use Selective Hearing
By using selective hearing, frogs can detect sounds that affect their chances of survival. In many cases, frogs may drown out other sounds and only perceive the sounds that would directly impact them, such a detecting possible threats within their environment, predators, prey and mating calls.
Such uses are advantageous within their habitats, as they can focus on what matters most without overloading their sensory systems. However, the use of selective hearing and interpretation of ultrasonic frequencies can pose potential risks as well.
By only focusing on sound waves, frequencies, and vibrations that are classified as important, frogs may have a delayed response to less common sounds within their habitats. This overall lack of awareness can put them at risk in various ways (CTNF).
More About How Frogs Hear
Frogs need to hear what goes on around them just like any other animal would, and their auditory systems primarily involve the inner ear and the use of vibrations. Although they have more innovative auditory systems, they can still find mates, locate prey, detect threats, and warn their companions of danger within their habitats. |
Early mentions of meningitis date back to the 17th and 18th centuries. Several writers mentioned brain fever, referring to people with headaches, fevers, and delirium – some common symptoms of meningitis. In 1803, François Herpin, a French military surgeon, was the first to write a dissertation on the illness, referring to it as an inflammation of the brain’s membranes .
In 1805, Gaspard Vieusseux, a physician based in Geneva, Switzerland, developed the first and most comprehensive clinical description of the illness. Vieusseux described the disease further during the epidemics that occurred in the subsequent years in New England, Canada, Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, and Pennsylvania states in the USA between 1806 to 1809 .
In 1887, Anton Weichselbaum, an Austrian pathologist and bacteriologist, identified the causative agent of the illness in New England. The first epidemics of meningitis occurred in Sub-Saharan Africa . It continued to spread to countries in Europe, the Americas, and Asia throughout the 19th century, with case fatality ranging from 69% to 100%.
In 1905, Simon Flexner, an American scientist from the New York Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, New York, USA, conducted experiments by immunizing horses to validate the effectiveness of the anti-meningococcal serum intended for treating humans. The serum was therapeutically effective, and clinicians began recommending it as a preventive medicine for people in close contact with patients with meningococcal disease.
In 1937, Francis Schwentker and colleagues used sulfonamides to treat patients with meningococcal disease. The results were positive, with all ten patients surviving the illness. Extensive studies were done on the effectiveness of sulfonamides in treating meningitis in the subsequent years.
A few years later, in 1944, David Rosenberg and Phillip Arling used penicillin to treat patients with meningitis, and the outcome was positive. In 1968, the emergence of an epidemic caused by a sulfonamide-resistant strain, N. meningitidis, in Brazil made clinicians switch from sulfonamides to penicillin. Penicillin became a drug of choice for many years .
But, the breakthrough came with the development of the first Haemophilus influenza type B conjugate vaccine (HiBCV) in 1985. In 1999, the first meningococcal conjugate vaccine was approved for public use in the UK.
In 2000, the heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) was licensed . It was developed to protect against the seven most invasive and prevalent disease serotypes in Europe and the US . In 2005, a meningococcal conjugate vaccine covering serogroups A, C, W, and Y was licensed in the US . |
The Power of the Written Word It can be said that the thirst for religious freedom and the power of the written word drove the formation and development of America. Having the Bible accessible to every individual led to personal convictions, unique interpretations, and a pursuit of freedom from religious oppression. When men and women began reading the Scriptures for themselves, it fueled a desire for personal, spiritual, and national liberation.
Religion as a Catalyst Religious persecution and the struggle for religious freedom are not novel concepts in history. However, in America’s context, it played a pivotal role in shaping the nation’s destiny. The Puritans, oppressed for their beliefs, sought refuge in a new land, paving the way for others who faced similar adversities. Their determination to seek freedom and establish a place where they could worship freely was paramount in America’s early history.
The Birth of a Nation The Founding Fathers were well aware of the implications of intertwining religion with governance. They witnessed firsthand the dangers and oppressive nature of such a union. As such, they were determined to set a precedent where the state wouldn’t dictate religious beliefs or practices. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were not merely political documents; they were statements of intent to create a nation built on the principles of freedom, including religious freedom.
The Ongoing Struggle Though the nation’s foundations were laid with noble intentions, America has continuously grappled with the challenges of maintaining this delicate balance. The mask of Guy Fawkes serves as a symbol of an ongoing rebellion against perceived authority. It reminds us that the quest for freedom, both religious and otherwise, is ongoing and that vigilance is required to safeguard these liberties.
The Legacy of The Word The availability of the Bible to the masses led to a seismic shift in religious and political thought. As individuals began to understand and interpret the Scriptures personally, it led to a desire for spiritual freedom, which in turn sparked the drive for political freedom. The Scriptures provided guidance and direction and were instrumental in shaping the moral and ethical fabric of the nascent nation.
Conclusion: The Path Forward While the journey of America began with the quest for religious freedom, the nation now stands as a beacon of hope for various liberties. It’s a testament to the enduring spirit of those early pioneers who sought freedom from religious persecution and the vision of the Founding Fathers who recognized the importance of separating religion from the state. America’s story, shaped by the hand of God and driven by the pursuit of freedom, serves as a reminder that freedom, once attained, must be protected and cherished. The responsibility now lies with the current generation to uphold these values and ensure that the sacrifices of those before them were not in vain.
Ten Things We Learn:
- Religious Roots: The foundation of America was heavily influenced by the desire for religious freedom.
- Personal Interpretation: Accessibility of the Bible allowed individuals to have unique interpretations, fueling a personal connection to their beliefs.
- Religion as a Motivator: The journey of the Puritans, who fled persecution, demonstrates how religion catalyzed America’s early developments.
- Founding Fathers’ Intent: The nation’s creators intentionally separated church and state to prevent the dangers they had witnessed of combining them.
- Significance of Foundational Documents: The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were not just about governance but were also deeply rooted in ensuring religious freedom.
- Symbols of Rebellion: The Guy Fawkes mask symbolizes a continuous rebellion against perceived authority, emphasizing the ongoing nature of the fight for freedom.
- Scriptural Influence: The Bible’s availability led to a significant shift in both religious and political perspectives in the nation’s formative years.
- Moral and Ethical Framework: Scriptures played a crucial role in molding the ethical and moral fabric of America.
- The Continuous Quest: While the foundation was set, the journey to maintain the balance of freedom remains an ongoing challenge.
- Ongoing Responsibility: The importance of current and future generations upholding the values of freedom to honor the sacrifices of the past.
In addition to above article:
Greg, John, and Pat have a discussion about America: how we got here and how do we stay here? We need to get educated. One nation under God, because the Bible of God and the God of the Bible was made known to men. America just didn’t happen it has a history. All throughout history there have been kings and kingdoms. God is the one who establishes all authority even kings. Americans have been guilty of having one foot in one kingdom and the other foot in another. Conservatives have been happy to make America their kingdom. It’s God and country and not country and God. We are headed to a caliphate, tyranny and ultimately bondage. The question is how did we get here? How did we get to the King James Bible which represents the Word of God in the hands of every man? What it represents is more important than what some people have made of this version itself. There were some key events and key
|King JamesVI of Scot & of England and Ireland|
people in history that went down a direction that caused certain events to unfold that have had profound affects to the church and America even to this day. A
|Queen Mary I of Scot|
good starting place is with Queen Mary of Scots who was King James the VI of Scots and King James I of England and Ireland mother. Kings James would eventually be the one to sponsor the 1611 King James Bible. Prior to his rule his mother Queen Mary of Scots ruled Scots. Queen Mary I of Scots was eventually lured by the church of the day and eventually arrested and imprisoned as they tried to shame her for adultery and the choices she made regarding her husbands. She was imprisoned in Loch Haven Castle, never to see her son King James VI again. During her imprisonment she was forced to abdicate her throne as Mary, Queen of the Scots to her infant son. King James assumed and was named King of the Scots July 24, 1567 at 13 months. His care was entrusted to the Earl and Countess of Mar in Stirling Castle. King James’ upbringing was paramount to what would happen later in his life. They raised him and brought him up as a Protestant not a Catholic. There was a religious war between Catholics and Protestants and whether the Pope should be over the King and the church verses the King being over the church. The Protestants were defined as denying the universal authority of the Pope and affirming the reformation principles of justification by faith alone, the priesthood of all believers, and the primacy of the Bible as the only source of revealed truth” and more broadly, to mean
|Elizabeth I Queen of England|
Christianity outside “of an Orthodox or Catholic church.” Several tutors were sought out to train and develop King James into a God fearing, Protestant King who accepted the limitations of monarchy.
We learn that James, King of Scots mother, Mary, escaped from her captivity only to be captured and imprisoned by Queen Elizabeth I of England. Elizabeth I, Queen of England researched and felt that James would be the rightful blood line successor to the throne of England. She began secret correspondence with him working out all details for him to pursue her as successor to her throne after her passing. On March 24, 1603, Queen Elizabeth died in the early morning hours and King James was proclaimed King in London, he became King of England and Ireland on the same day. In his first year he survived two assignation attempts. It was during his mother’s and his rule that the battle between Catholics and Protestants continued and there was conflict with him because of his Catholic mother. King James was distrusted by other nations for his repression of Catholics. They continued to discuss how today we are seeing people wear a
mask as a protest. The mask is a mask of the catholic man Guy Fawkes. On November 4-5 in 1605 on the eve of opening the second session of James parliament the Catholic man Guy Fawkes was discovered in the cellar of the parliament building guarding a pile of wood not far from 36 barrels of gun powder with which Fawkes intended to blow up the parliament House the following day and cause destruction. King James would later say that Fawkes was trying to destroy “Not only…of my person, or my life and posterity also, but of the whole body of the State in general.” This is the mask that you are seeing around the nation and the world today. The mask of Guy Fawkes. Realize what that statement represents, knowingly or unknowingly it represents destruction of present
|Guy Fawk Mask|
authority and blowing it up, destroying it all. After that attempt King James went through a period of time of ruler ship without consulting parliament. In America, according to our nation’s design, described in detail in the U.S. Constitution, the people are rulers, “kings” if you would”, under God. In his and Queen Elizabeth I’s reign, the British colonization of the Americas began which we now know were the first seeds of the United States of America. King James even signed “The Treaty of Burwick in which the killing of his own mother was approved. It was this treaty that secured his rise to power as King, but it was at the cost of his mother, Queen Mary I who was executed by Queen Elizabeth of England. The executioners knelt before her and asked forgiveness. She replied, “I forgive you with all my heart, for now, I hope, you shall make an end of all my troubles.” Her servants, Jane Kennedy and Elizabeth Curle, and the executioners helped Mary to remove her outer garments, revealing a velvet petticoat and a pair of sleeves in crimson-brown, the liturgical color of martyrdom in the Catholic Church…” As she disrobed she smiled and said that she “never had such grooms before … nor ever put off her clothes before such a company”. She was blindfolded by Kennedy (her servant) with a white veil embroidered in gold, and knelt down on the cushion in front of the block, on which she positioned her head, and stretched out her arms. Her last words were, “Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit”.
After the Catholic Guy Fawk’s attempt to destroy him and England’s leadership; King James, stepped up his control over the church in a greater way. King James sanctioned harsh measures for controlling non-conforming English Catholics and 1606; Parliament passed the Popish Recusants Act which could require ANY CITIZEN to take an Oath of Allegiance denying the Pope’s authority over the King. The Act forbade Roman Catholics from practicing the professions of law and medicine and from acting as a guardian or trustee; and it allowed magistrates to search their houses. Today we have the second and fourth amendment in the U.S. Constitution to forbid this from happening. The Act also provided a new oath of allegiance, which denied the power of the Pope to depose monarchs. The person who refused to take this oath was to be fined £60 or to forfeit two-thirds of his land if he did not receive the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper at least once a year in his Church of England parish church. This act also made it HIGH TREASON to obey the authority of Rome rather than the King. Upon King James VI’s death in 1625, realize it would only be 151 YEARS later- when the founding fathers of America would pen The Declaration of Independence in 1776 to begin a new
|Declaration of Independence|
fledgling nation! WHY? They wrote about their 27 reasons why in The Declaration of Independence which started by them writing it to the KING OF ENGLAND who merged the Church with his kingdom and had placed himself over the Church and the Anglican Church and he told all his subjects that if they were to leave the Church which he is the head of they were committing high treason against England. England ended up doing the same thing the Catholics did.
OATH – A Pledge of Allegiance to be an American Citizen.
This was the first “AUTHORIZED VERSION” issued by the Church of England during the reign of King Henry VIII. When Mary I succeeded to the throne in 1553, SHE RETURNED THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND TO THE COMMUNION OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC FAITH and many English religious reformers fled the country, some establishing an ENGLISH-SPEAKING COLONY AT GENEVA. Under the leadership of John Calvin, GENEVA BECAME THE CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CENTER OF REFORMED PROTESTANTISM AND LATIN BIBLICAL SCHOLARSHIP.
They undertook a translation that became known as the Geneva Bible. This translation dated 1560 just six years before King James was born. As time progressed and Queen Elizabeth took the throne in 1558 they sought after a new translation which resulted in the Bishop’s Bible, which was a revision of the Great Bible and an attempt to replace the Geneva Bible. However it failed to displace the Geneva translation as the most popular English Bible of the age, in part because the full Bible was only printed in lectern editions of an extraordinary size [BIG ONE!] and at a cost of several pounds. Accordingly, to English lay people it was overwhelming to read the Geneva version was made available in small printed versions at a relative low cost. The Bishops’ Bible printed over 50 editions, whereas the Geneva Bible was reprinted more than 150 times.
The newly crowned King James convened the Hampton Court Conference in 1604 in it were representatives of the Church of England, including leading English Puritans. That gathering proposed a new English version of the Bible in response to the perceived problems of earlier translations as detected by the Puritan faction of the Church of England which eventually would become the “Authorized King James Version 1611 Bible” You can say what you want to and how God does it and who He uses, the Word says, Proverbs 19:21 – Many are the plans in men’s heart, but it’s the Lord’s plans that prevail. Proverbs 21:30 – There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD. The word of God was now available in the hands of every man that they may know God for themselves and learn of his ways and expectations. Man was free to seek God individually. As a result of many having the word of God much persecution followed which pushed the puritans out of England and eventually to land on Plymouth Rock. It also pushed our Founding Fathers as they continued to experience persecution from King George ultimately leading them to signing the Declaration of Independence
and declaring our independence from the King of England resulting in the American Revolution only 151 short years later after the death of King James. Today we have a constitution that includes a bill of “civil” rights. The very first amendment would insure the government will no longer be over religion. America, how did we get here? It got where it is today by the hand of God. What caused it to come to pass? Oppression and tyranny. What was the one thing that set men to walk out the freest, most powerful, most influential, most wealthiest nation in the world? It was the Bible getting into the hands of men! It was the word of God being understood by men! It was the beginning to follow God not men! It was men understanding that God is real, God is present and God is involved in the day to day affairs of men! It was realizing that now we know God, His Word and that all rights come from Him, we can believe Him for a nation which He is over, He blesses and speaks to the men of that nation. This way it can be a government of and by the people because they can hear from God. We must never forget the price those who have gone before us have paid so we can have the precious Word of God in our hands. William Tyndale was arrested and jailed outside of Brussels for over a year. He was later convicted of heresy and executed by strangulation and after which his body was burnt at the stake. John Wycliffe was declared a heretic and his writings were banned. The Council of Constance decreed Wycliffe’s works should be burned and his remains exhumed and burned and the ashes cast in the River Swift. May we never forget the price that was paid and may it spur us to seek the God of the Bible and allow Him to speak to us through His amazing and enduring Word. iAbide.org |
Diabetes (Type 2)
Approximately 2 million Canadians have diabetes, a group of diseases characterized by high blood-glucose levels. When you eat, your body metabolizes carbohydrates into glucose, which is then ushered out of the blood and into the body’s cells by insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas. If you have an insulin disorder, glucose remains in the blood and is unavailable to fuel the cells’ activities. The result is elevated blood-sugar levels.
Source: Adapted from Know Your Options: The Definitive Guide to Choosing The Best Medical Treatments, Reader
What is Type 2 diabetes?
The most common form of diabetes that develops slowly during adulthood—and is generally manageable with diet, weight reduction, and medication—is called Type 2 diabetes. With this form of diabetes, you aren’t producing enough insulin, and your cells are no longer responding to the insulin you do produce. The pancreas, an organ tucked against the back of your abdomen, produces insulin, a hormone that enables your body to use sugar (glucose). Without enough insulin, glucose builds up in your blood instead of entering your cells, which need it to function. This causes high blood sugar, the source of many complications. If you don’t treat it, it can eventually damage your eyes, kidneys, nerves, and blood vessels. In fact, diabetics are two to four times more likely to suffer a stroke or have heart disease. Up to 50 percent of diabetics develop nerve damage, which can lead to leg or foot amputation. Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death by disease in Canada.
Who is at risk for Type 2 diabetes?
Generally, diabetes occurs for two reasons—it may run in your family, making you genetically susceptible, or you may have taxed your body’s glucose-balancing system from poor eating habits and excess weight gain. Type 2 diabetes accounts for about 90–95% of diabetes cases.
Treatment for Type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is a serious disease, and there’s a big payoff if you become proactive about managing it. You can learn how to minimize or even eliminate the need for drugs, and dramatically postpone complications. Keeping your blood glucose in the normal range and improving your body’s use of insulin are daily goals. Many people aim for “tight glucose control,” taking all the steps necessary (diet, drugs, frequent self-testing) to avoid marked fluctuations in their glucose levels. With Type 2 diabetes, lifestyle changes (meal planning, regular exercise, weight loss) can be very effective. In time, you may need to take oral diabetes drugs. About 40% of those with Type 2 diabetes eventually need insulin injections.
It’s important to see your doctor regularly (at least four times a year, plus specialist visits) and to develop a healthcare team to answer questions that help you implement an overall plan. Diabetes affects your entire body, so it’s critical to watch for complications and take preventive measures. To lessen certain health risks, you may need heart, blood pressure, or cholesterol-lowering drugs, and your eyes, kidneys, nerves, and feet may need special care.
Medications for Type 2 diabetes
The six main classes of oral diabetes drugs act on different sites in the body and employ different mechanisms, but they all have one goal: to control blood sugar levels. They’ll work only if your pancreas still produces some insulin. The drugs can be used alone, in combination, or with insulin. Your doctor will recommend insulin injections only when oral medications are losing their effect.
For over 30 years, sulfonylureas (Glucotrol, DiaBeta, and others) have been the first-line drugs for diabetes, lowering blood sugar by prompting the body to increase insulin production. Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) is a common and serious side effect of these medications. Over time, a sulfonylurea drug may stop lowering your blood sugar sufficiently, so you’ll need to try something else.
To increase your body’s sensitivity to insulin (your own or injected forms), the oral medication metformin (Glucophage) is valuable. It reduces the liver’s production and release of glucose, and increases glucose uptake into muscle cells. This drug can be used alone before a sulfonylurea is tried, or with a sulfonylurea to boost its glucose-lowering effect. With Glucophage, hypoglycemia isn’t a problem: You may lose weight due to diminished appetite. Diarrhea can occur but may disappear over time.
Like the sulfonylureas, a group of drugs called meglitinides, such as Prandin, stimulate the pancreas to produce insulin. They work quickly and act for only a short time, so you need to take them before every meal. Because meglitinides lower blood sugar, their main side effect is hypoglycemia. Other drugs are taken with meals. The alpha-glucosidase inhibitors (Precose, Glyset) will delay the digestion of complex carbohydrates and table sugar. Their purpose is to blunt the increase in blood sugar that normally occurs after eating. Because these drugs interfere with digestion, some people experience mild gas and bloating, but these side effects often subside with long-term use.
Relatively new and quite pricey, thiazolidinediones (TZDs), or glitazones, decrease muscle-cell resistance to insulin by activating certain genes involved in fat synthesis and metabolism.
The new drug Starlix, a D-phenylalanine derivative, lowers glucose levels by stimulating the pancreas to release insulin. It works quickly and acts to prevent the blood glucose increase that occurs after eating. The risk for hypoglycemia is low.
Achieving a healthy lifestyle is critical for keeping diabetes under control. A good diet and weight reduction, if needed, are the first goals—and the most challenging. Anyone can swallow pills, but it takes real willpower to change long-established patterns of poor eating. A dietitian with training in diabetic meal planning can help formulate a program well suited to your needs. Sadly, more than half of all people with diabetes abandon their diet therapy. Relying on luck and medications, they risk serious problems down the line.
The basics of a diabetes diet are the principles of healthy eating, with calorie restrictions. When you start getting 50% of your daily calories from carbohydrates, 30% from fats, and 20% from protein, you’ll realize that if everyone ate like this, less obesity as well as diabetes would persist. Such an eating plan also reduces your chances of developing heart disease and cancer. The real challenge is portion control.
If you’re overweight, shedding a few pounds will improve your blood glucose levels: Losing just 10% of your body weight can slow the progression of diabetes. If weight is an issue for you, consider a support group, like Weight Watchers, and ask your doctor about one of the new drugs for weight control, like Meridia or Xenical. Regular exercise combined with calorie restriction will speed your weight loss. When you have diabetes, exercise has an added benefit: It increases your cells’ sensitivity to insulin and enables them to use glucose more efficiently. Exercising as little as 30 minutes, three times a week can help, but engaging in something vigorous every day is best. Choose activities that are aerobic: bicycling, swimming, or walking, as opposed to resistance exercises, like weight lifting.
Kick the smoking habit! The double damage inflicted on your circulation by diabetes and smoking can eventually result in amputation of your toes or feet. Diabetes greatly increases the risk of hardening of the arteries (artherosclerosis), which leads to heart attacks, stroke, and narrowing of the arteries that supply blood to the lungs. These problems are the major cause of death in diabetics. They may be prevented by smoking cessation, and through cholesterol and blood pressure control.
Questions for Your Doctor
- Will l ever need insulin?
- How can I tell if I’m developing complications from the diabetes?
- Should I aim for very tight blood glucose control?
- How often do I need a hemoglobin A1c test done?
Living with Type 2 Diabetes
If you’re living with Type 2 Diabetes, here are some quick hints to help you take control:
- Expand your annual check-up. Be sure to add an eye exam by an eye specialist (ophthalmologist) and foot exam by a podiatrist. Don’t forget a flu shot and ask your doctor if you need another pneumonia vaccination.
- Have a hemoglobin A1c test. At first, your doctor will check your long-term glucose control every two to three months with this blood test, also known as HbA1c. A score higher than 8 means you need more control. Below 7 is ideal. If your doctor hasn’t done this test, consider finding a more knowledgeable doctor.
- Avoid foot problems. Give your feet the best possible care. Wear shoes that fit.
- Eat at regular times. Many foods are converted to glucose, and you need to hold those levels steady. Schedule meals and snacks for about the same time every day. Try to eat consistent amounts—and don’t skip meals.
Prevention of Type 2 diabetes
- Doctor your diet. For most people, carbohydrates (especially complex carbohydrates that are high in fibre) should form the bulk of the diet. Protein foods (meat, soy foods, and dairy) should make up 10 to 20 percent of daily calories. Choose protein foods that are lower in fat, especially saturated fat. That means emphasizing fish, poultry, beans, and low-fat or no-fat dairy products.
- Stick to a schedule. Avoid delaying or skipping meals and binge eating, all of which can play havoc with blood-sugar levels.
- Shed some pounds. At least 80 percent of people who develop Type 2 diabetes are overweight. Slim down and you may avoid the disease. Even if you can’t get to your ideal weight, a 10-pound loss can dramatically lower blood-sugar levels.
- Move it. Exercise improves your body’s sensitivity to insulin, aids glucose control, and can help you lose weight. Brisk walking an hour a day could cut your risk of developing diabetes in half.
- Get a diabetes test. A simple blood test called a random plasma glucose test should be part of your regular health checkup. It can even be done shortly after eating. If the result is 11.1 mmol/L or higher, you may have diabetes and your doctor will order additional tests. If your blood-sugar level isn’t high enough to classify you as diabetic, you still should take precautions if you have one of two forms of higher-than-normal levels: impaired fasting glucose (IFG), when results of a standard blood test, after an 8-hour fast, are between 6.1 and 6.9 mmol/L; or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), when results of a 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test are greater than 7.0 mmol/L. These readings indicate that your body isn’t using and/or secreting insulin properly, increasing your risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and premature death. For either condition, follow the diet and exercise recommendations for people who already have diabetes; taking these steps may help prevent you from developing the disease.
- Protect yourself with E. Some experts recommend taking a supplement of 200 to 400 mg of vitamin E daily.
- Lower your stress. Excess stress, in combination with poor coping skills, can raise your blood-sugar levels. |
Squirrels can jump up to five feet from the ground and seven feet from a tree. They have very strong hind legs which help them to land easily on the ground. Squirrels can also jump down from trees or a roof up to about nine feet.
How High Can A Squirrel Jump Vertically?
Do you know how high can a squirrel jump? The eastern gray squirrel is known to jump up to 4 feet high, but there have been reports of some squirrels being able to jump as high as 7 feet! All vary depending on the size of the squirrel making the jump. So how are they able to jump so high? The answer is simple – they’re sprightly and quickly defy the force of gravity. You often see that a squirrel doesn’t need a running start to make such a high jump.
Squirrels have many anatomical adaptations that allow their bodies to jump exceptionally high. They do so for the following reasons:
- To get to the food source: as most of their food is high up in the trees, they need to be able to jump to reach it.
- To reach their nesting areas in the trees: Again, as their nests are usually high up, they need to be able to jump to get there.
- To escape predators: If predators are chasing them, they will often try to escape by jumping up into a tree where they will be out of reach.
So far, we have read that squirrels can jump up to several feet from the ground. They mainly do this to reach the nearest branch of the tree directly. Their powerful hind legs and long tail help them to keep their balance while jumping, and their claws allow them to grip branches and surfaces.
- Do Coffee Grounds Keep Squirrels Away?
- How Long Does A Squirrel Live?
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- Pregnant Squirrel
- Do squirrels mate for life?
- Baby squirrel
- Do squirrels bite?
What Makes Squirrels Jump?
Squirrels have been known to engage in long jumps, even in front of cars, to capture their prey or get to their food. It’s not uncommon to see squirrels jumping from trees to be the first to grab a piece of food, especially when they compete with other squirrels. Sometimes, a squirrel will jump to avoid an immediate threat, like a raccoon preying on squirrels. If you get too close to a squirrel, it may scratch or bite you in defense. The same goes for other animals that might intimidate them – they will automatically jump in response.
Why Don’t Squirrels Get Hurt as Easily?
Squirrels can jump from high places and land safely because of fundamental physics. If an object is small but has a large surface area, the drag forces that oppose the object’s fall are also very high. That is why squirrels often use their tails as parachutes to increase drag and slow their descent. Using these simple principles, squirrels can safely jump from high places without getting hurt.
How high can a normal squirrel jump?
The Eastern gray squirrel, the most prevalent squirrel in the States, can jump to a height of four feet – about the same height as the average 7-year-old child. When jumping horizontally, these rodents can cover a distance of up to 9 feet.
What is the vertical leap of a squirrel?
Did you know that squirrels can jump up to 4 feet vertically and 10 feet horizontally? They’re able to do this by using their tails for balance. Similarly, cats can clear about 8 feet in a single jump. Both animals use their seats to help them stay balanced in the air.
Can squirrels jump 20ft?
Squirrels are acrobatic animals that have evolved with several anatomical adaptations that help them with their stunts, including the ability to jump 20 feet. While some estimates of their achievements may seem exaggerated, they make vertical and horizontal leaps that would be superhuman.
Squirrels are pretty good at getting what they want, including your bird seed. They jump high and climb trees, and your bird feeder is easy for them to get to. You may think you have squirrels trapped, but they can jump up to seven feet and are pretty good climbers.
Squirrels are not birds but can fly, and their wings are covered in fur. If you have a squirrel problem, you have to be prepared to deal with them. You can use squirrel repellent to keep them away from your bird feeder. You can also use a squirrel feeder just for them to eat. |
Hi! Can you please explain number 25 section 4 test 1?
Yep! You’re given this equation: . That’s the height of a ball t seconds after it is launched. You need to know how much time goes by before the ball hits the ground. The key thing to remember is that h will equal zero when the ball hits the ground, so you’re really solving for t.
Since this is the calculator section, you have lots of options at your disposal.
First, you can backsolve. Just plug each answer choice in for t until you get something close to zero as an answer. This is a little tricky because you won’t get exactly zero, but the question does say “approximately.” Below is my calculator’s screen after I tried choice C, recognized that that was probably too high, remembered that a falling ball will get closer and closer to 0 the longer it’s in the air, and then tried D, which turned out to be pretty close to zero.
Another way to go is to graph. This is my favorite way for this question, because you can just eyeball the graph and see the right answer—you don’t even need to use the zero function to get it exact. Look:
Pretty obvious that that parabola hits y = 0 around x = 5, right?
The last way you can go is to factor and solve algebraically.
Since you aren’t interested in the fact that the height was zero at time zero, solve . |
A nucleic acid is a supermolecule composed of ironss of monomeric bases. In biochemistry these molecules carry familial information or signifier constructions within cells. The most common nucleic acids are deoxyribonucleic acid ( DNA ) and ribonucleic acid ( RNA ) .Deoxyribonucleic acid ( DNA ) , is the familial stuff in worlds and about all other beings. Most Deoxyribonucleic acid is located in the karyon, but a little sum of Deoxyribonucleic acid can besides be found in the chondriosome ( mtDNA ) .Deoxyribonucleic acid bases pair up with each other, A with T and C with G, to organize units called base brace. Each base is besides attached to a sugar molecule and a phosphate molecule. Together, a base, sugar, and phosphate are called a base.
Nucleotides are arranged in two long strands that form a spiral called a dual spiral.Ribonucleic acid ( RNA ) is a biologically of import type of molecule that consists of a long concatenation of nucleotide units. Each nucleotide consists of a nitrogen-bearing base, a ribose sugar, and a phosphate. RNA is single-stranded. RNA nucleotides contain ribose piece and has the instead base U. There are 3 types of RNA, chiefly Messenger RNA ( messenger RNA ) , Ribosomal RNA ( rRNA ) and reassign RNA ( transfer RNA ) .
( refer to Appendix A for more information ) .White blood cells or leucocytes, are cells of the immune system involved in supporting the organic structure against both infective disease and foreign stuffs. Two groups of leukocyte exist, granulocytes and agranulocytes.
Granulocytes, have cytoplasm which has a farinaceous visual aspect and they have multi-lobed karyon. Agranulocytes individual, big karyon. ( refer to Appendix B for more information. )Methyl Green Pyronin ( MGP ) was used for the experiment.
Methyl Green has a discriminatory affinity for Deoxyribonucleic acid, which stains it Green in coloring material. Pyronin has a discriminatory affinity for Ribonucleic acid, which stains it Rose red in coloring material. The higher the strength of Rose ruddy and green color, the higher the concentration of RNA and DNA severally.MGP stained the karyon, doing it more seeable. Presence of multi-lobed karyon indicates that it is a granulocyte and presence of individual, big karyon indicates that it is an agranulocyte.
The purposes of the experiment was to fix blood vilification, sorting the white blood cell into 2 groups, turn uping the Deoxyribonucleic acid and RNA in white blood cell and detecting the effects of RNase on white blood cell.The hypothesis was that there were 2 groups of white blood cell found, the slide which was treated with MGP would be stained both rose ruddy and green in coloring material and the slide which was treated with MGP and RNase would be stained green in coloring material merely.The consequences obtained from the experiment was non desirable. These could be due to several factors.
Dryness of the blood sample would impact the concentration of DNA and RNA observed under the microscope. During the air drying procedure, the samples were non wholly dried and was henced placed in solutions such as Carnoy fixative, Ethanol, Distilled H2O, Methyl Green Pyronin and RNase. The solution would hold a high opportunity of rinsing the blood sample off from the 2slides.Hair drier was used during this experiment to rush up the vaporization rate. However, this rushing up of reaction besides caused the inaccuracy of consequences obtained. Due to the high sum of heat produced by the hair drier, the cells would non be able to defy it. This would take to the snap of cells.
Alternatively of utilizing merely 95 % of ethyl alcohol for this experiment to desiccate the blood sample, increasing per centum of ethyl alcohol should be used. This would guarantee the blood sample to be much more dehydrated.Sum of Strength used when smearing the blood could impact the concentration of DNA and RNA observed under the microscope. If excessively much strength was used during the blood smearing procedure, the cell could be broken apart.
The cell contents would be fluxing out from the cell, doing the inaccurate sum of DNA and RNA observed.Theoritically, xylol could do the background of the microscopic slides transparent. For this experiment, xylol could be used after staining the slides with Methyl Green Pyronin. The coloring material of discoloration would be intensified greatly, doing it easier to be observed under the microscope.Comparing Hypothesis and Results, it is precisely the same. Thus the hypothesis was supported.
The experiment was successful.Based on the experiment, the slide treated with MGP merely was stained Green and Rose-red in coloring material, demoing the presence of both DNA and RNA severally. The slide treated with MGP and RNase was stained Green in coloring material, demoing the presence of DNA merely. RNA was seen around the cytol due to the Rose-red color seen while Deoxyribonucleic acid was seen around the nucleus country due to the green color seen. RNA were found in cytol because protein synthesis was synthesized at that place and different types of RNA such as messenger RNA, transfer RNA, rRNA were present. Apart from coloring material seen, there were 2 groups of white blood cell observed ( Figure 3 ) .
From Figure 4, it shows that there were more granulocytes ( 67 % -75 % ) than agranulocytes ( 23 % -33 % ) .To better the truth of the consequences, hair drier should non be used to rush up the reaction. Alternatively, the blood sample should be left on the bench to allow it vaporize of course. The desiccation procedure by utilizing ethyl alcohol should be in increasing per centum such as 50 % i? 70 % i? 75 % i? 90 % i? 95 % i? 100 % .
This would guarantee the blood sample to be to the full dehydrated. Amount of strength used during the smearing procedure should be controlled to forestall the cells from tearing. Xylene could be used to escalate the color observed under the microscope.In decision, the consequences observed for staining of DNA and RNA was non really desirable and the consequences observed for white blood cell was that agranulocytes and granulocytes was found in both RNA and DNA. Location of DNA and RNa was located utilizing MGP ; effects of RNase was known.
The consequences can be improved if the undermentioned factors such as waterlessness of blood sample, sum of strength used and utilizing of xylene were taken into consideration. Consequences were the same as hypothesis ; purposes were met ; the experiment was successful. |
Chapter 9 Cratered Worlds
Collaborative Group Activities
- We mentioned that no nation on Earth now has the capability to send a human being to the Moon, even though the United States once sent 12 astronauts to land there. What does your group think about this? Should we continue the exploration of space with human beings? Should we put habitats on the Moon? Should we go to Mars? Does humanity have a “destiny in space?” Whatever your answer to these questions, make a list of the arguments and facts that support your position.
- When they hear about the giant impact hypothesis for the origin of the Moon, many students are intrigued and wonder why we can’t cite more evidence for it. In your group, make a list of reasons we cannot find any traces on Earth of the great impact that formed the Moon?
- We discussed that the ice (mixed into the soil) that is found on the Moon was most likely delivered by comets. Have your group make a list of all the reasons the Moon would not have any ice of its own left over from its early days.
- Can your group make a list of all the things that would be different if Earth had no Moon? Don’t restrict your answer to astronomy and geology. Think about our calendars and moonlit romantic strolls, for example. (You may want to review Earth, Moon, and Sky.)
- If, one day, humanity decides to establish a colony on the Moon, where should we put it? Make a list of the advantages and disadvantages of locating such a human habitat on the near side, the far side, or at the poles. What site would be best for doing visible-light and radio astronomy from observatories on the Moon?
- A member of the class (but luckily, not a member of your group) suggests that he has always dreamed of building a vacation home on the planet Mercury. Can your group make a list of all reasons such a house would be hard to build and keep in good repair?
- As you’ve read in this chapter, craters on the Moon are (mostly) named after scientists. (See the official list at: http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/SearchResults?target=MOON&featureType=Crater,%20craters). The craters on Mercury, on the other hand, are named for writers, artists, composers, and others in the humanities. See the official list at: http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/SearchResults?target=MERCURY&featureType=Crater,%20craters). Living persons are not eligible. Can each person in your group think of a scientist or someone in the arts whom they especially respect? Now check to see if they are listed. Are there scientists or people in the arts who should have their names on the Moon or Mercury and do not?
- Imagine that a distant relative, hearing you are taking an astronomy course, calls you up and tells you that NASA faked the Moon landings. His most significant argument is that all the photos of the Moon show black skies, but none of them have any stars showing. This proves that the photos were taken against a black backdrop in a studio and not on the Moon. Based on your reading in this chapter, what arguments can your group come up with to rebut this idea? |
Are your reading small groups getting stale? Do you feel like you cycle through the same activities to the point where both you and your students are bored? It’s the start of a new year and that means new activities and exciting lesson plan opportunities. You can refresh your reading small groups to keep young learners engaged in the material.
Here are a few of our favorite reading comprehension lesson plans, games, and celebrations so your students can grow their critical thinking and deductive reasoning skills.
1. Create a Reading Comprehension Volcano
Reading a book is like unwrapping a present, the more you pull away ribbons and tissue paper, the better you can see the items inside. When your students first approach a story, they can guess what it is about (like shaking a present and lifting it up to see how heavy it is) but they will only develop a clearer understanding of the plot as they dive deeper into each paragraph or chapter.
Consider creating a comprehension volcano with each piece you read. The volcano has four parts:
- The Base: ask students what you think the story will be about. What will happen? What characters might play a role? There are no wrong answers here.
- The Middle: check-in halfway through the story. What is the book about? How will it end? What predictions were right?
- The Peak: review how the story ended and the overall plot. What did students think about the story? What could have happened differently?
- The Explosion: How can you apply the story to real life? What connections can you make to this story and others you have read? What do you want to learn next?
This activity teaches students to use contact clues before reading and to stop at different points to confirm their understanding and review the material.
2. Use Retelling Gloves
Retelling gloves can be used for fiction and nonfiction passages. Each finger has an element to the story (characters, setting, conflict, plot, etc.) and the palm and wrist also have open-ended questions for reflection. Ask students to put on the retelling glove and work through the ideas from the passage they read on each finger. This can help them think about each element and share their thoughts.
Check out the gloves by One Giggle At A Time to see an example of what they look like.
3. Flashlight Fridays
You might be surprised by how a small change in atmosphere can engage kids in reading groups. Turn off the lights on Friday afternoons and let students read by flashlight. They can even read on the floor with blankets and pillows if you have them. Turning off the lights can eliminate distractions and ensure each student is focused on the reading material.
For alternative options to Flashlight Friday, you can bring students to read outside on nice days or set up “read-ins” where students take over a different space each month (the principal’s office, the art room, another classroom) and read for 20 minutes without disruption.
4. Ask Small Groups to Create Retelling Bags
Retelling bags are a popular project for teachers, but you can modify these lesson plans for your new reading small groups. Students can work together to create a retelling bag, with each reader taking on different elements of the story. If your students read through a book over multiple days, they can even contribute items from home that are relevant to the plot and characters.
To make this project interactive, let your small groups swap bags after reading different books. Your students then become story sleuths to look at the clues in the bag and tell the story based on what items and descriptions are included. Your students might start laughing as their peers try to figure out what a banana, racecar, and a circus performer all have to do with the plot of a book.
5. Host a Character Meet and Greet
As your students engage with different stories throughout the year, they will pick some favorite characters and some least favorite ones. Invite students to dress up as their top heroes or villains for Book Character Day. You can build activities where the characters mingle together or host a meet and greet where students in other classrooms can talk to the characters and learn their stories.
This is a great way for your students to share the books they love with others – building a curiosity about the stories and a desire to read within their peers.
6. Comprehension Jenga
This activity is simple. All you need to create the lesson plan is a Jenga set and a marker. On each block, write an element of the story or a question to gauge the comprehension of your students. Set a timer for your reading small groups to review a passage or chapter and then let them play Jenga. Each student pulls out a block and answers a question on it until the whole stack falls. This is a good way to reward students for reading while ensuring they actually focused on the material.
7. Build Real-Life Connections
There are multiple reasons to form real-life connections with the materials that students read. The first reason is that it increases their interest in the story. Why should your students care about a character living through the Revolutionary War? Connections to real-life experiences make these characters real. Building real-life bonds in your reading small groups also helps with memory. Students are more likely to retain key information about the stories they engage with.
Consider building these connections through discussions in your small groups. Ask students to stop every few pages or paragraphs to build connections in real life. For example, if there is a character in the story named Matt, is he similar at all to a student named Matt in your classroom? Why or why not?
8. Tap Into Mirrors and Windows
One way to build real-life connections with students is to use Mirrors and Windows. A mirror is something students see themselves in. It is physical, cultural, social, or emotional representation. A window is a peek into another life or lived experience. Almost every character has mirrors and windows for your students.
For example, give the students in your reading small groups a book about a child in Belize attending their first day of school. Some of the mirrors that students see might include nerves on the first day and excitement about meeting new friends. However, there might be elements of the story that students have never experienced because they are unique to Belize. These are windows.
Utilize Different Activities Each Week
Some students will connect with different projects and activities more than others. One student might love using retelling gloves while another enjoys playing Jenga. By switching out your lesson plans and bringing in new activities, you can keep your reading small groups fresh. Your students will want to read the material so they can participate in the activities that go with it. |
Round-ups and Deportations to Killing Centres
Related ImagesSee the photographs related to this lesson
Review the information on Jewish Councils (Judenräte) from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's website with students. Ask students what questions they have about the role of the Judenrat in the Lodz Ghetto.
Introduce Lawrence L. Langer's concept of "choiceless choice." Ask students to work in pairs to discuss and unpack how the concept of choiceless choice relates to the Lodz Ghetto's Jewish Council (Judenrat) and the role its chairman, Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski, played in the running of the Lodz Ghetto. Ask partner groups to report back to the class for a larger discussion.
Save the Last Word for Me
Make enough copies of each photograph so that each student can have one. For example, if you have a class of 30 students, make three copies of each image so you have a total of 30. Display the images on a table. At the start of the class, ask students to come to the table and select one image that interests them.
On a piece of paper or an index card, each student should write responses to the following questions: What stands out for you in this image? What do you think is happening? Why did you choose this image? Once they have completed this exercise, students with different images should get into groups of three and complete a Save the Last Word for Me strategy.
After students complete the Save the Last Word for Me exercise, transition to a whole-group discussion or journal-entry session. Some questions that you might want to use for this discussion or as a journal prompt are:
- What new information have you learned about the deportation of Jews from the Lodz Ghetto to the killing centres?
- How have these images altered or affirmed your knowledge about and understanding of the deportation of Jewish people from the Lodz Ghetto to killing centres?
- What evidence do you see of the humanity and struggle for survival of the residents of Lodz?
- How did the process of genocide attempt to strip the Jewish people of Lodz of their humanity? What evidence do you see?
- What evidence do you see of the leadership of Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski in the photographs of the roundups and deportation to killing centres?
- What are the moral and ethical implications of the "choiceless choices" the Jewish Council and Rumkowski faced in carrying out the edicts of the Nazis?
Information on the role of Jewish Councils in ghettos.
A short piece on the concept of "choiceless choices" by Lawrence L. Langer.
Transcript for "Give Me Your Children": Voices from the Lodz Ghetto. |
Isocost-isoquant analysis: theory of production: The production function: a figure known as an isoquant diagram (Figure 1). In the graph, goldsmith-hours per. Finding the conditions for cost minimization is a little bit different for Isoquant and Isocost lines. Instead of finding the optimal quantity level for a. Isoquants: An isoquant (equal quantity) is a curve that shows the combinations of certain inputs such as Labor (L) and Capital (K) that will produce a certain.
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The focus of this chapter is on the firm. The chapter examines the theory of production or how firms organize production i. Production theory is extended to deal with two variable inputs by the introduction of isoquants.
From the theory of production where only one or two inputs are variable, we ane to examine cases in which all inputs are variable. While going through this analysis students may feel it is a revision of the indifference curve and the budget line. Isoquant is also called as equal product curve or production indifference curve or constant product curve. Isoquant indicates various combinations of two factors of production which give the same level of output per unit of time.
The significance of factors of productive resources is that, any two factors are substitutable e. No two factors are perfect substitutes.
This indicates that one factor can be used a little more and other factor a little less, without changing the level of output. It is a graphical representation of various combinations of inputs say Labour L and capital K which give an equal level of output per unit of time.
In this section we examine the characteristics of isoquants, define the economic region of production and consider the special cases where the commodities can only be produced with least cost factor combination. We can see that the shape of isoquant plays an important a role in the production theory as the shape of indifference curve in the consumption theory.
Iso quant map shows all the possible combinations of labour and capital that can produce different levels of output.
Profit Maximization Through the Technique of Isoquant and Isocost Line
The iso quant closer to the origin indicates a lower level of output. Isoquants, abbreviated as IQs, possess the same properties as those of the indifference curves. For the convenience of the students, we can state them as follows. Iso cost line shows various combinations of labour and capital that the firm can buy for a given siocost prices.
In this equationPL is isoost price of labour and Pk is the price of capital. The slope of iso cost line indicates the ratio of the factor prices. A set of isocost lines can be drawn analysia different levels of factor prices, or different sums of money. The iso cost line will shift to the right when money spent on factors increases or firm could buy more isoquaant the factor prices are given.
With the change in the factor prices the slope of iso cost lien will change. If the price of labour falls the firm could buy more of labour and the line will shift away from the origin. The slope depends on the prices of factors of production and the amount of money which the firm spends on the factors.
When the amount of money spent by the firm changes, the isocost line isocot shift but its slope remains the same. A change in factor price makes changes in the slope of isocost lines as shown in the figure.
The firm can achieve maximum profits by choosing that combination of factors which will cost it the least. The choice is based on the prices of factors of production at a particular time. The firm can maximize its profits either by maximizing the level of output for a given cost or by minimizing the cost of producing a given output.
In both cases the factors will have to be employed in optimal combination at which the cost of isocosst will be minimum.
Isoquant and Isocost Lines (With Diagram) | Economics
The least cost factor combination can be determined by imposing the isoquant map on isocost line. The essential condition is that the slope of the isocost line must equal the slope of the isoquant.
Thus at a point of equilibrium marginal physical productivities of the two factors must be equal the ratio of their prices.
The marginal physical product per rupee of one factor must be equal to tht of the other factor. And isoquant must be convex to the origin. The marginal rate of technical substitution of labour for capital must be diminishing at the point of equilibrium. The firm would not operate on the positively sloped portion of an ispcost because it could produce the same level of quantity with less capital and labour.
Economic region of Production:.
Ridge lines joins anqlysis on the various isoquants where the isoquants have zero slope and thus zero MRTSlk. Iso quant is sloping downwardso when inputs are used in fixed proportion. Least cost input is a combination where the slope of isoquant is equal to the slope of isocost. An isoquant shows the various combination of two inputs that can be used to produce a specific level of output. From the isoquant map, we can generate the total product curve of each input by holding the quantity of the other input constant.
Isoquants are negatively sloped in the economically relevant range, convex to the origin analydis do not intersect. This iisocost the ratio of marginal productivity of two inputs. With right angled or L shaped, isoquantinputs can only be combined in fixed proportion in production.
Iso quants are equal revenue lines.
Iso quant is also known as Production indifference curve. A higher isoquant represent lower ajd of output. Retrieved from ” http: Navigation menu Personal tools Log in Request account. Views Read View source View history. |
Far up north, over 500 miles from the nearest major city, is the Arctic Circle. As surprising as it sounds, the Arctic Circle (a cold desert) is a melting desert that puts hundreds of millions of people at risk. The Arctic is melting at a faster pace than ever before, and in turn, is affecting far more people than one would expect.
A Major Crisis
Unfortunately, this is not a drill. We are destroying the home of 6 major animal species and over 1,700 different species of plants, and what we’re doing to try to stop this is not enough. The Arctic Circle is comprised of over 1.3 million square miles or 3.3 million square kilometers, and since 2007 over 300,000 square miles or 776,000 square kilometers have melted. Scientists believe that the Arctic will be melted completely by 2030–humans are not doing enough to save the planet we share with other species. In the last four decades, our planet has become just over 2 degrees Fahrenheit warmer, and the Arctic has been warming at twice the speed because of the warm water funneled in from the Gulf Stream.
According to a new study led by William D’Andrea, a climate scientist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, temperatures on the Svalbard Archipelago in Norway, located about 400 miles north of mainland Europe, have been 35.6 F˚ (2˚C) to 36.5 F˚ (2.5 C˚) higher at any given time over the last 1,800 years. A follow-up study concluded that manmade greenhouse gasses have been and are responsible for 70 to 95 percent of the Arctic melting since the 1970’s.
How Does This Even Affect Us?
As I mentioned before the Arctic is over 500 miles from the nearest major city, so many of you may think this doesn’t matter, but you’re wrong. As the Arctic melts, our sea levels are rising, which are expected to alter rain patterns and temperatures worldwide. As oceans rise and water flows further inland, the consequences are endless: damaging erosion, wetlands flooding, aquifer contamination, loss of habitats for numerous birds, fish, plants, humans, etc.
According to National Geographic, hundreds of millions of people live in areas subject to major flooding and damage including cities like New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Sydney, Rio de Janeiro, Auckland, and much more, which forces those living in at-risk cities to abandon their homes and flee to locations further inland. Islands that contain thousands of years of Polynesian heritage and popular tourist destinations such as Fiji, Tuvalu, Kiribati, and the Marshall Islands could be claimed by the rising oceans and it’s a disturbing reality. Along with severe damage to many major cities, we also risk losing thousands of years of heritage and history held dearly to thousands of people.
How Does This Affect the Rest of Life on Earth?
Many of us tend to forget that humans aren’t the only species on Earth. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), we share our planet with over 8.7 million species (give or take 1.3 million) and according to the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB), there are over 75 billion living species on Earth. Climate change affects plants and animals just as badly as it affects us, humans.
- Melting Arctic ice will remove hunting grounds for polar bears
- As the water warms, the population of trout, salmon, and numerous other fish will deplete, as they need cold water to survive
- Massive floods are predicted to cause destructive erosion, worsen water quality, and deplete aquatic ecosystems
- Droughts can easily kill plants, that majority of the wildlife relies on for their food including humans.
- Climate change has altered food availability for migratory species; birds arrive on schedule to locate their food sources such as insects, seeds, flowering plants that have hatched or bloomed too early or haven’t at all.
- Milder winters cause seasonal food caches to spoil, so wildlife species like the Gray Jay depending on food stores to survive the winter are left without a substantial food supply.
- Millions of our homes could be underwater within the next 50 years.
Scientists are able to anticipate climate change and rising sea levels, but with the way we’re living today, is it possible that there’s a lurking disaster, even scientists aren’t able to predict? |
Throughout history, women have played a major role in innovation and ground-breaking research, even though the percentage of female researchers and women enrolled in STEM related fields of study has always been low, today sitting at around 30%. There are endless examples of discoveries in which women played a large or leading role. From vaccine development and the discovery of HIV as the cause of AIDS, to major discoveries across chemistry, physics, geology, astronomy, astrophysics and more, women are credited as being major contributors. Did you know that the earth’s inner core was discovered by Inge Lehmann, a female seismologist and geophysicist in 1936?
It is for these reasons that unlocking the potential of half the world’s population is so critical to scientific progress. Science needs women and diversity. On December 22, 2015, the General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/70/212 to declare February 11th as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. The intent is to empower women and girls to enter science related fields, and achieve full and equal access to education and employment while removing long-standing gender stereotypes and biases that have long caused women to shy away from careers in science.
This year, we’d like to showcase just a few of the brilliant and talented women who helped shape our understanding of the world today. These women stand among many others who have led by example to inspire the next generations of girls to explore, discover and innovate.
Marie Curie – Physics & Chemistry
Marie Curie made some serious waves in both physics and chemistry, and has been recognized with numerous awards, including two Nobel Prizes. The first of which was in 1903, and it was shared with her husband and another scientist for the discovery of radioactivity. The other was in 1911 for the isolation of pure radium, a major breakthrough in our understanding of chemistry. She also devoted much of her work to understanding the medical applications of radioactive substances, furthering our understanding of nuclear physics.
“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” – Marie Curie
Jane Cooke Wright – Medicine
Jane Cooke Wright was an esteemed surgeon, a forerunner of cancer research and a key contributor to the discovery of chemotherapy. It is for these reasons, along with the fact that she became an Associate Professor of surgical research at New York University in 1955, and the Associate Dean at New York Medical College in 1967, that we recognize her success and many contributions to modern medicine.
“I know I’m a member of two minority groups, but I don’t think of myself that way.” – Jane Cooke Wright
Katherine Johnson – Mathematics
Overcoming some serious barriers surrounding both race and gender in the 1950’s, Katherine Johnson’s hard work and knack for math led her to become an essential contributor to NASA’s success in space exploration. Calculating trajectories, launch windows and emergency return paths were just a few of the contributions Johnson made during her 35-year career at NASA and its predecessor, NACA.
“Girls are capable of doing everything men are capable of doing. Sometimes, they have more imagination than men.” – Katherine Johnson
Engage in this discussion with #WomenInScience |
Hazard symbols have come a long way from the rudimentary drawings used to designate poison in the early 1800s.
As a result of updated OSHA chemical labeling requirements, 2016 marks the first full year of adoption of the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS) in the U.S.
The GHS system, part of OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard (HCS), consists of nine symbols, or pictograms, providing recognition of the hazards associated with certain substances. Use of eight of the nine are mandatory in the U.S., the exception being the environmental pictogram (see below).
Each pictogram covers a specific type of hazard and is designed to be immediately recognizable to anyone handling hazardous material.
In addition to pictograms, labels are required to include a signal word (“danger” or “warning”), a brief hazard statement and a precautionary statement outlining ways to prevent exposure.
Pictograms and Descriptions
Health Hazard: A cancer-causing agent (carcinogen) or substance with respiratory, reproductive or organ toxicity that causes damage over time (a chronic, or long-term, health hazard).
Flame: Flammable materials or substances liable to self ignite when exposed to water or air (pyrophoric), or which emit flammable gas.
Exclamation Mark: An immediate skin, eye or respiratory tract irritant, or narcotic.
Gas Cylinder: Gases stored under pressure, such as ammonia or liquid nitrogen.
Corrosion: Materials causing skin corrosion/burns or eye damage on contact, or that are corrosive to metals.
Exploding Bomb: Explosives, including organic peroxides and highly unstable material at risk of exploding even without exposure to air (self-reactives).
Flame Over Circle: Identifies oxidizers. Oxidizers are chemicals that facilitate burning or make fires burn hotter and longer.
Skull and Crossbones: Substances, such as poisons and highly concentrated acids, which have an immediate and severe toxic effect (acute toxicity).
Environmental Hazard: Chemicals toxic to aquatic wildlife. (Non-Mandatory) |
New research led by the University of Adelaide has found no relationship between sixteen megafauna extinctions in Australia and past climate change, suggesting humans were having negative impacts on the ecosystem as long as 55,000 years ago.
In a paper published in the journal Nature Communications, Dr Frédérik Saltré, from the University of Adelaide’s Environment Institute, and colleagues analysed dated ‘megafauna’ (animals weighing more than 40 kg) fossil records, archaeological evidence of the first humans in Australia and past climate data.
This research was conducted in collaboration with ecologists, palaeoclimatologist, archaeologists, geochronologists and mathematicians, and led by the University of Adelaide’s Professor Corey Bradshaw to address one of the longest-lasting and fiercest scientific debates in Australia.
“There has long been disputes about what caused the extinction of megafauna in Australia, and climate change was considered to be one of the potential culprits,” says Dr Saltré.
“To test this hypothesis, we collated a wide variety of reliable data to develop an accurate timeline of human arrival in Australia, when megafauna species went extinct, and the climate conditions over the same period.
“We calculated that humans first arrived in Australia approximately 55,000 years ago and the extinction of megafauna began 42,000 years ago. Which means humans and megafauna coexisted for some 13,000 years.
“We also discovered that during the peak period of megafauna extinctions, Australia was arid and hot; however, the species had endured much more volatile weather patterns in the years prior to human arrival in Australia (between 120,000 and 60,000 years ago),” he says. “Therefore, it is highly unlikely that variation in climate drove continent-wide extinctions of these species.”
Dr Saltré says, while he was primarily focusing on the impact of climate on megafauna species, his research supports the hypothesis that the presence of humans was the principal driver of the extinctions of megafauna in Australia.
“Our findings support those by my colleague, Gifford Miller, from the University of Colorado,” says Dr Saltré.
“Species that looked like larger kangaroos, emus, koalas and echidnas were once abundant in Australia, but started to disappear some 13,000 years after humans arrived.
“13,000 years would have given the first Australian humans plenty of time to explore and colonise the continent, and have an impact on the continent’s ecosystem.
“It looks like the first humans who arrived in Australia around 55,000 years ago were also the first in history to have such a large, negative impact on the ecosystem of an entire continent,” he states.
Dr Saltré and his team will now focus on particular regions of Australia to see if local climate patterns could have influenced the role of humans in the demise of the megafauna.
This research was done in collaboration with the University of Tasmania, University of New South Wales, University of Wollongong, James Cook University, Australian National University, Curtin University, Flinders University, Macquarie University, Spanish National Museum of Natural Sciences, University of Colorado and Natural History Museum of Denmark, and was supported by the Australian Research Council. |
Strong writing abilities when paired with skills like programming ensures that your child succeeds at college and outside. But were you aware that coding and writing go together? Kids acquire skills that enhance their writing when they know to code and make digital storytelling jobs, and they also have fun in the procedure.
Coding is a Brand New Medium for Imaginative Storytelling
For telling your narrative, an author’s tools comprise phrases and words. Coders have use of some moderate, such as audio, images, and animation along with words. The versatility of programming allows kids to generate their narrative to respond to an audience input signal.
“I love producing tales, writing–I believed if I could code it take pictures, it would be better.” — Best Tynker Maker Grace
Writing a script compels kids to think of their personalities behave through effects and the information. They cannot be obscure –they must hone their thoughts.
“3rd graders made stories with dialog and playful characters in Tynker. They had been caught up in generating and narrating their stories they did not even realize that they were communicating writing, and directing a persuasive narrative at precisely exactly the exact identical moment.” — Kathy Bottaro, Digital Learning Program Coordinator, Sioux City Community School District, Iowa
Coding Reduce the “Blank Page” Outcomes
Developing a game demands also an awareness of the crowd, storylines that are a compelling conversation, and story pacing. It needs the abilities that some kids struggle with if a writing assignment is handed out by their instructor.
Programming provides starting points, although the distinction is that anxiety is frequently evoked by staring at a blank sheet of newspaper.
Children start with a single character, then experimentation with also interactions, motion, and dialogue after the code. They build from there by incorporating scenes celebrities, and also even interactions. The program evolves into a product and starts in the youngster’s point of curiosity. If coding, there’s not any “blank page,” just different issues should be solved.
Coding Teaches the worth of Concision
It requires these five lines of code to schedule a personality when children begin coding. They could float that code as they find out programming theories loops and conditional statements. Kids learn the objective of programming –or of composing –would be to leverage the resources at the most effective way possible to communicate thoughts at their disposal.
These are the children who’ll compose.
Coding Teaches Planning and Organizing Skills
Composing and Writing follow a procedure that is similar. When kids begin a job they plan the various purposes the way these acts will operate with each other to produce the job work and they will want. To compose an article, they know the way the paragraphs meet and need to arrange their thoughts.
“Coding aids create the organizational skills needed for great writing. I encourage my pupils to plan their own writing homework by picking out the signs they want, breaking their subject, and sequencing their things. If planning a game A number of the abilities are needed. The more strict they’re as they split a big problem into parts and arrange jobs, the more effective they’ll be.” — Lucinda Ray, Educator and Writing Instructor
The character of programming makes tough matters more accessible. Whether your child requires a little bit of assistance or loves to compose, coding is. |
How do you make a human ear that looks and functions like a real one? Researchers at Cornell published the first successful process in PLoS ONE Wednesday. Step 1: Take a laser scan of a real human ear. Step 2: Use digitization to print an ear-shaped collagen mold using a 3-D printer.
A collagen ear, to be seeded with living cartilage cells and implanted under skin. Image courtesy of Lindsay France/Cornell University Photography Step 3: Inject mold with gel of living cells. Step 4: Let sit in culture for three months until cartilage grows to replace collagen.
Three months after implantation, acellular implants (A) had decreased in size, whereas cellular constructs (B) retained their original anatomic fidelity. Ear B (printed and then cultured with cells) is the definite winner. Image courtesy of Alyssa J. Reiffel et al./PLoS ONE Step 5: Attach ear. (This step has yet to be tried, but scientists have high hopes for success since the use of human cells minimizes the likelihood of rejection. Also cartilage, even in a real ear, doesn't need to be connected to a blood supply to survive.) |
This is the introduction to a series by SSG Sr. VP Brad Patty on the historical and philosophical basis for free expression in a free society. We will intersperse video segments on the topic with the text.
Basic Principles of Free Speech part 1
One argument against free speech is that some speech is so hateful that allowing such speech is inconsistent with a basic respect for human dignity. This seems plausible to some, and the position was formally argued in a 2012 book philosopher Jeremy Waldron. As the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy summarizes:
Waldron argues that the harm in hate speech (the title of his book) is that it compromises the dignity of those under attack. A society where such images proliferate makes life exceedingly difficult for those targeted by hate speech. Waldron suggests that the people engaged in hate speech are saying “[t]he time for your degradation and your exclusion by the society that presently shelters you is fast approaching” (2012, 96). He claims that prohibiting such messages assures all people that they are welcome members of the community.
I will argue against this proposition on three points. First, that the basic dignity of human beings lies in their ability to think for themselves as individuals, and thus that respect for basic human dignity requires defending freedom of speech. Second, that the harm that Waldron describes is more effectively undone by more speech (specifically, speech by supporters of those under attack) than by prohibitions on speech. Thus, the harm can be better contested without prohibiting the speech, rendering the prohibition unnecessary. Finally, third, I will argue that prohibiting speech makes actual violent harm to the groups under attack more likely, both because it tends to obscure the danger in a way that can lead to false confidence, and because it tends to the creation of underground movements that are unrestrained in their movement to violence by countering voices.
Why Dignity Requires Freedom of Speech
Why are human beings due a basic dignity at all? We have two different answers from the Enlightenment. The first, in our Declaration of Independence, is that humans were endowed with dignity by their Creator, who bestowed on all of them an equality of rights. This religious answer is satisfying to many Americans, and for them that answer suffices.
Under the First Amendment, however, one is not required to be religious or, therefore, to accept religious answers. The second answer, from philosopher Immanuel Kant, is that human beings have dignity because they are free. Kant did not mean politically free. He meant that, unlike a stick or a stone, you can reason for yourself and decide how you will behave. Your ability to think for yourself and come to your own decisions thus sets you above sticks, or stones, or most other objects in the universe. It is why you have dignity.
What does it mean to have dignity? It means that you are due a certain respect that is not due to sticks or stones. For example, a person is due the respect of not being harmed without good reason. Not everything has that dignity. Anyone can pick a stick up off the ground and break it without it being thought to violate the stick’s dignity. No one may similarly grab another person and break their arm without having committed an affront.
If your dignity arises from your capability of thinking for yourself, respecting your dignity requires respecting your thoughts. “Respecting your thoughts” does not mean “agreeing with your thoughts,” for requiring agreement would itself be disrespectful of everyone else’s ability to have their own thoughts. It does, however, mean respecting your right to think things through for yourself. Your free thoughts cannot be prohibited without violating your dignity as a human being – indeed, if Kant is right, such a prohibition is a violation of the most basic source of your dignity as a human being.
If I may not prohibit your thoughts, though, might I prohibit your words? Speech is only thinking out loud. Knowing what you are thinking may upset others, but it does not do them any physical harm. Waldron’s argument is that the upset others suffer can violate their dignity enough to justify preventing you from speaking your thoughts. Since having thoughts of your own is the source of your dignity, however, such a prohibition is itself a more basic violation of human dignity than any upset that may arise from learning the content of your thoughts.
You cannot use a lesser violation of human dignity to justify a greater violation of human dignity. If speech does not present an immediate threat of physical harm, then the violation of human dignity inherent in telling people that they may not speak their thoughts is greater than any violation that comes from hearing such thoughts. Only if speech acts threaten immediate physical violence do they endanger human dignity more than the bar on being allowed to speak your mind.
Jeremy Waldron, The Harm in Hate Speech, Harvard University Press, 2012.
Why Countering Hateful Speech is More Powerful than Prohibitions
If the concern is that ‘those under attack’ may be upset by the feeling that their place in society is threatened, prohibiting speech is not the most effective response in any case. The most effective way to show that society assures ‘those under attack’ a secure place is for members of society to stand up and say so. A positive demonstration of support is more powerful because it proves that there is no danger of exclusion.
In fact this has happened many times lately. Genuinely hateful speech has tended to be overwhelmed by its opponents. This occurs even when one might reasonably expect people to be in a hateful frame of mind because of recent events. For example, in 2016 terrorists motivated by an extreme interpretation of Islam carried out a series of attacks in Belgium. Speech about these attacks on social media organized around a hashtag called #StopIslam. But, as the Washington Post found on analysis, fully 90% — ninety percent – of the uses of #StopIslam were by people who were expressing support for Muslims and rejecting the idea of excluding them from society.
A speech law attempting to prohibit exclusionary speech might well have stripped away the 10% of presumably hateful uses of this hashtag. However, by preventing the original speech the law would also have prevented the massive display of public support for Muslims in the wake of the attacks. Muslims would probably have felt that their place in society was endangered by Islamist terrorist attacks whether or not anyone was allowed to say so. What the law would have prevented was the clear demonstration that most people rejected that line of thinking. Waldron’s goal is thus more effectively gained by allowing speech than by prohibiting it, and without the violation of dignity inherent in prohibiting speech.
Why Speech Prohibitions Increase Physical Danger
In addition to their violations of human dignity, speech prohibitions actually make physical violence more likely. This occurs in two ways. The first is that an effective prohibition removes the signals of danger that might warn people who are really threatened with physical violence of imminent harm. If people are allowed to express hateful thoughts, that very expression serves as a danger signal. Such signals can warn people who are in real, physical danger of the need to take steps to protect themselves. While we would all prefer that these cases not occur, when they do occur the most important immediate concern lies in preventing the physical harm. Once that is done, the source of the hatred can be addressed without anyone being physically hurt by it.
The second way that effective speech prohibition enhances danger is by making it harder to track what becomes an underground movement. If people who are full of hate are speaking about it in public, it is obvious who they are and we can keep an eye on them. If their speech is effectively stopped, then they will no longer be obvious. Should they find each other, as underground movements do, they will become an invisible bloc whose hateful thoughts go unchallenged because they express them only in this self-reinforcing environment. This is the sort of thing that leads to the formation of terrorist organizations.
Such organizations often overestimate the support they enjoy within the wider community. Their members believe that, because they were kept silent by prohibitions, the wider society probably contains many more people who have been silenced. Whereas public speech that counters their ideas proves that violence by them would be doomed to fail, prohibitions can foster the idea that a sufficiently bold and violent strike would bring a silent majority out to support them. This increases the danger that such violence will seem to them a plausible course of action.
These three arguments should suffice to show that freedom of speech needs to be supported in spite of the existence of undesirable, even hateful speech. First, thought and speech are directly associated with the source of our dignity as human beings. Prohibiting either is a significant affront to dignity. Only physical violence is a greater affront, and therefore only speech that threatens to produce immediate physical violence can be justly barred.
Second, if the concern behind a proposed prohibition is protecting a sense of social inclusion, positive speech acts assuring that inclusion are much more powerful than prohibitions. Indeed, even negative speech acts can ultimately have a positive effect if they produce a clear demonstration by society that it supports and will defend those who felt threatened.
Third, if physical violence is the one violation of dignity that might justify speech bans, nevertheless such bans increase the probability of such violence occurring. Speech that threatens immediate harm, such as incitement to riot, might be prohibited because it prevents the immediate harm. But allowing even hateful speech can be preventive of physical violence if that speech serves to warn potential victims, to allow society to keep an eye on those with hateful thoughts, or to prove to potential terrorists that their cause lacks public support.
For all these reasons, concern with human dignity should impel us to defend freedom of speech. It is a crucial human liberty, closely related to the very source of our dignity. If our dignity is to be defended, our speech must be as well. |
Preferential voting is a system largely unique to Australia, so what does it mean and how does it work? Calliste Weitenberg reports.
WHAT IS PREFERENTIAL VOTING?
Preferential voting is required in Australia. It's largely unique to our political scene, reflecting the number and diversity of smaller parties that participate in elections.
It is a system of voting that allows a citizen to individually number and rank all candidates for both houses of parliament according to their preferences.
It is employed when no one candidate or party wins outright, based on first preference votes.
It means a citizen's vote can still be counted, even if their first choice of candidate is eliminated due to a lack of votes.
HOW IT WORKS
On a ballot paper, placing a number one against a candidate is considered the first preference or primary vote.
If no candidate secures an absolute majority of primary votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is then eliminated from the count.
The votes for this eliminated candidate are then redistributed among the remaining candidates according to the number two preference indicated on the original ballot.
This process of elimination based on preferences continues until a candidate secures an absolute majority.
Such a process enables a two-party system to ultimately emerge, whereby all votes are effectively divided between two major parties – in this case, the Labor and Liberal parties.
There are two systems of preferential voting to elect the two sides of Parliament - one for the House of Representatives and one for the Senate.
To elect a candidate for a seat in the House of Representatives, there is simply a list of candidates, their party name and a box the voter must number.
To elect a candidate for a seat in the Senate, it is more complex. The voter has two choices. They can simply rank parties, listed above the line on the ballot paper or, alternatively, they can number all the individual candidates, which are listed below the line.
If you vote above the line, preferences are still employed. Your vote endorses the declared preferences of the party, recorded with the Australian Electoral Committee. This allows the party itself to control the flow of votes.
Voting below the line is complex and requires numbering every candidate, even those a voter may completely disagree with. In this year's election, the ballot paper with all candidates listed could reach a metre in length, by nature, a more time-consuming process.
HAVE A GO
Some online websites can assist Australians in working out their list of preferences ahead of the election. This list can then be printed and used at the polling booths in place of party How To Vote cards on the day. |
January 3, 2001
Young Galaxy Surrounded by Material Needed to Make Stars, VLA Reveals
Astronomers using the National Science Foundation's Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope have discovered a massive reservoir of cold gas from which a primeval galaxy formed its first stars. Looking more than 12 billion years into the past, the scientists found that the young galaxy experiencing a "burst" of star formation was surrounded by enough cold molecular gas to make 100 billion suns.
"This is the first time anyone has seen the massive reservoir of cold gas required for these incredible 'starbursts' to produce a galaxy," said Chris Carilli, an astronomer at the NSF's National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Socorro, NM. "There is much more gas here than we anticipated," Carilli added.
The research team was led by Padeli Papadoupoulos of Leiden Observatory in the Netherlands and also included Rob Ivison of University College London and Geraint Lewis of the Anglo-Australian Observatory in Australia. The scientists reported their findings in the January 4 edition of the journal Nature.
The astronomers found the gas when studying a quasar called APM 08279+5255, discovered in 1998. Observations with optical and infrared telescopes revealed that the quasar, a young galaxy with a voracious black hole at its center, was forming new stars rapidly in a starburst. At a distance of more than 12 billion light-years, the quasar is seen as it was more than 12 billion years ago, just a billion or so years after the Big Bang.
"This thing is at the edge of the dark ages," before the first stars in the universe were born, said Carilli.
The year after its discovery, APM 08279+5255 was found to have warm carbon monoxide (CO) gas near its center, heated by the energy released as the galaxy's black hole devours material. The VLA observations revealed cold CO gas much more widely distributed than its warmer counterpart. Based on observations of closer objects, the astronomers presume the CO gas is accompanied by large amounts of molecular hydrogen gas (H2). Cold CO gas never has been detected before in such a distant object.
Though APM 08279+5255 is a young galaxy undergoing its first massive burst of star formation, the CO gas indicates that very massive stars formed quickly, lived through their short lifetimes, and exploded as supernovae. Carbon and Oxygen, the component elements of CO, are formed in the cores of stars, so their presence in the cold gas tells the astronomers that massive, short-lived stars had to have exploded already, spreading these elements throughout the galaxy's interstellar gas.
"The original discovery of this quasar was quite a surprise, as observations revealed it is among the most luminous objects known in the universe. The discovery of this massive reservoir of cold gas is equally surprising. It provides vital clues to the birth of galaxies, such as our own Milky Way," Lewis said.
Discovery of the gas was made possible by the galaxy's great distance. The expansion of the universe "stretches" light and radio waves to longer wavelengths -- the more distant the object, the more stretching is seen. Radio waves emitted by the cold CO gas originally had wavelengths of about 1.3 and 2.6 millimeters, but were "redshifted" to wavelengths of 7 and 13 millimeters -- wavelengths the VLA can receive.
"It took eight years to refine this technique, but the effort has been worthwhile. This is the golden age of cosmology. We are learning more and more about our universe, from the smallest planets to the largest galaxy clusters. This new result is a crucial piece in the jigsaw and may help resolve many misconceptions about how galaxies form and evolve" Ivison said.
"Because of its sensitivity and its ability to make detailed images, the VLA is the only telescope able to unveil these large reservoirs of cold molecular gas in the distant universe," Carilli said. "In addition, as we expand the technical capabilities of the VLA in the coming years, making it even more sensitive and able to show more detail, it will become the world's premier tool for studying this vital aspect of the young universe."
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.
Artist's conception of the APM 08279+5255 system, with the bright quasar at right, the large, massive gas cloud on the left. CREDIT: Geraint Lewis.
CAPTION for composite graphic at top of story: Radio and optical images of APM 08279+5255. Both images are at approximately the same scale. Radio image by P. Papadoupoulos, R. Ivison, C. Carilli and G. Lewis; Optical image by R. Ibata.
Tuesday, 29-Apr-2003 15:44:52 EDT |
Novel step is for the cell that reproduces a virus, whether useless or harmful, to develop some way to resist it. And, in fact, it was in this manner – as a bacteria’s defense against invading viruses – that the CRISPR-Cas process first emerged.
That process allows acquired characteristics to become inherited. In the course of a first infection, a small fragment of the viral genome – a kind of signature – is copied into the CRISPR genomic island (an extra piece of genome, outside of the parent genome text). As a result, the memory of the infection is retained across generations. When a descendant of the cell is infected with a virus, the sequence will be compared to the viral genome. If a similar virus has infected a cell’s parent, the descendant will recognize it, and ad hoc machinery will destroy it.
This complex process took many decades for scientists to decipher, not least because it controverted standard theories of evolution. But now scientists have figured out how to replicate the process, enabling humans to edit, with the utmost precision, specific genomes – the Holy Grail of genetic engineering for nearly 50 years.
This means that scientists can apply the CRISPR-Cas mechanism to correct problems in the genome – the equivalent of typos in a written text. For example, in the case of cancer, we would want to destroy those genes that allow the multiplication of tumor cells. We are also interested in introducing genes in cells that never gained them by natural genetic transfer.
There is nothing new about these objectives. But, with CRISPR-Cas, we are far better equipped to achieve them. Previous techniques left traces in the modified genomes, contributing, for example, to antibiotic resistance. A mutation obtained by CRISPR-Cas, by contrast, is not distinguishable from a mutation that emerged spontaneously. That is why the US Food and Drug Administration has ruled that such constructs do not need to be labeled as genetically modified organisms.
Previous techniques were especially arduous if one needed to modify several genes, because the process would need to occur sequentially. With CRISPR-Cas, the ability to perform genome modifications simultaneously has already enabled the creation of fungi and apples that do not oxidize, or turn brown, when they come into contact with air – a result that required several genes to be deactivated simultaneously. Such apples are already on the market, and are not considered genetically modified organisms. |
Consumers who function successfully in today’s economy are confronted with economic and personal finance decisions on a daily basis. These decisions have become increasingly difficult due to the numerous goods and services available in the market. Alabama students need to learn how to make sound decisions by accessing and assessing consumer information and comparing and evaluating goods and services. Today's classrooms must include appropriate opportunities for students to be engaged in personal finance related activities that prepare them to make sound decisions throughout their lives.
This course will introduce classroom teachers to basic personal finance concepts and principles that can be used in everyday lessons and activities. Most importantly, the course will present personal finance and economic vocabulary that can be used in daily classroom discussions. As a final product, participants will create a Financial Literacy Webliography.
Allow 5 - 7 hours per session for completion of all requirements.
Participants are expected to have regular access to computers. In addition, participants should be proficient with using email, browsing the Internet, and navigating to computer files.
During this course, participants will learn skills and strategies to:
- Explore developmentally appropriate personal finance concepts and principles for middle and high school students
- Examine personal finance content standards at both state and national levels
- Learn about theory and best practice in teaching personal finance concepts to middle and high school students
- Explore and analyze web sites and other technology for use in learning personal finance content and develop a list of technology resources appropriate for teaching personal finance content to middle and high school students
Required Readings, Activities and Assignments:
Each session includes readings, an activity and a discussion assignment, which participants are required to complete within each week.
Orientation: (1-2 hours)
Participants will prepare for the course with an introductory reading and ice breaker activity. Participants will read tip sheets for participating in online discussions, credit information, and complete an orientation survey.
Session One: Hands on Banking (5-7 hours)
The Hands on Banking® program is an interactive financial-literacy curriculum for students grades 4-12 and adults. The Hands on Banking program was developed to teach both the basics of good money management and the skills need to create a brighter financial future. The lessons examine financial concepts and decision-making through illustration, real-life problems, and mathematical computation. The curriculum is relevant to students' lives and is designed to support their financial success. This fun and innovative program was developed by Wells Fargo as a free community service.
Session Two: Financial Responsibility and Decision Making (5-7 hours)
Students in today’s classrooms clearly need to be provided with a sound understanding of financial and economic concepts in order to navigate their financial futures. This session explores ways to use reliable information and economic decision-making to determine personal finance decisions. Participants will explore resources for integrating personal finance into classroom instruction. Also, participants will begin developing a plan for integrating financial literacy resources into the classroom.
Session Three: Income and Careers (5-7 hours)
This session explores ways that students can use a career plan to develop their personal income potential. Readings, activities, and lessons presented in this session will explore career options, identify sources of income and examine factors that affect one’s income and career. We will review resources from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Federal Reserve Bank, and the Foundation for Teaching Economics.
Session Four: Planning and Money Management (5-7 hours)
The topic of planning and money management is a crucial component of personal finance for people of all ages. According to the JumpStart Coalition for Financial Literacy, only 26% of 13 to 21 year olds surveyed said that their parents taught them how to manage money. Delving further into the statistics, approximately 40% of American families live off 110% of their incomes and 85% of adults polled felt that young people lack the financial skills required to become financially self-reliant adults. 49% of parents indicated that their children think they are more likely to become millionaires by starring in a reality TV show than by learning how to budget and save. What does all of this mean for students and educators?
This session presents ways in which students can organize their personal finances and use a budget to manage cash flow. Ideas and lessons for developing a personal finance plan, charitable giving, and system for keeping and using financial records will be included.
Session Five: Credit and Debt (5-7 hours)
The establishment of a strong credit history—creditworthiness—is an important part of financial literacy. Building a strong credit history is a vital component of being financially successful. Credit history is particularly important—it will be an important part of a future loan application; it is often viewed as a measure of trustworthiness when applying for a job; and property owners often use credit history when reviewing an applicant for possible rental. In this module, participants will learn about the different types of credit, the characteristics that lenders look for when lending credit, the concept of creditworthiness, the importance of building and maintaining a strong credit history, and measures that one can take to prevent identity theft.
Session Six: Saving and Investing (5-7 hours)
Saving and investing are both important concepts to understand on the pathway to financial literacy. The readings in this session describe investment and saving strategies that can be easily implemented whether one earns minimum wage or executive pay. In this session, participants will learn ways to develop middle and high school students' understanding of saving and investing in terms of implementing a diversified investment strategy that is compatible with personal goals. Participants will finalize their personal finance concepts webliographies and post plans for integrating personal finance concepts into our classrooms. |
Using the equation given : `x=4*tan theta` sketch the corresponding right angle triangle's diagram and give the value of the remaining trigonometric functions for any value of x.
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It is given that `x = 4*tan theta` .
For the angle `theta` , the ratio of the height and the base is x/4.
The value of `theta` would differ for different values of x.
Taking a random value of x = 4, `tan theta = 1` . In this case: `sin theta = 1/sqrt 2` , `cos theta = 1/sqrt 2` , `sec theta = cosec theta = sqrt 2` and `cot theta = tan theta = 1` .
The corresponding diagram of the triangle is:
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New Discovery Challenges Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, Advancing Quantum Mechanics
Heisenberg's famous Uncertainty Principle may not be as uncertain as once thought. Researchers have applied a recently developed technique to directly measure the polarization of light, which overcomes some important challenges of the principle and is also applicable to qubits, the building blocks of the quantum information theory.
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The findings, published in the journal Nature Photonics, used a direct measurement technique that was first developed in 2011 by scientists at the National Research Council, Canada. It was first created in order to measure the wavefunction, which is a way of determining the state of a quantum system.
The Uncertainty Principle itself is used in quantum mechanics. It's any of a variety of mathematical inequalities asserting a fundamental limit to the precision with which certain pairs of physical properties of a particle can be known simultaneously. This is why the direct measurement of the wavefunction has long seemed impossible--certain properties of a system could only be known poorly if other related properties were known with precision.
The newest findings from researchers challenge this long-held belief, though. Previously, researchers only were able to use a technique called quantum tomography to measure the information in these states indirectly. Yet the new technique that this experiment employed allowed them to measure information directly. The scientists measured the polarization states of light, the directions in which magnetic fields of the light oscillate. The key result was that it was actually possible to measure key related variables of a quantum particle or state directly.
So how did they do it? The researchers used the position and momentum of light as the indicator of the polarization state. In particular, they then used two birefringement crystals, which cause a spatial separation when light passes through them, of different thicknesses. One of the crystals was thicker than the other, and the researchers were able to take two measurements from the experiment by using a technique so that the system is not disturbed significantly after the first property is measured. They repeated the process several times in order to build up accurate statistics.
In addition to challenging the Uncertainty Principle, the scientists were also able to gain a full, direct characterization of the polarization states of the light. It's a huge step forward for quantum mechanics, and may change the way scientists approach the field. In the future, the researchers involved in the study plan to apply the technique to other systems in order to measure the form of a "mixed" quantum state. |
The neotropical genus Anthurium is the largest and possibly the most complex genus of the Araceae. It is particularly abundant in the many wet and cloud forest areas of Central and South America. There are an estimated 600-800 species in the genus; undoubtedly many species have not yet been described. The genus is taxonomically difficult, exhibiting considerable morphological plasticity in most structures. Thus, ordinary brief descriptions are without much value. Currently a number of botanists are doing revisionary and floristic studies on Anthurium in several different areas, e.g. , G. S. Bunting (Venezuela), T. Croat (Central America and Ecuador), M. Madison (revision of palmatisect species of Anthurium) and S. Mayo (Trinidad and Tobago). A standardization of terminology for both new species descriptions and for floristic treatments would benefit other aroid workers as well as the general users of these works, since complete and uniform descriptions allow for more accurate comparisons.Furthermore, it is necessary to define the many special terms which are necessary to properly describe the species of Anthurium. Some of these terms are used here for the first time, and while they are intended especially for use with Anthurium, many are equally appropriate for describing other genera of Araceae and plants of many other families.ASPECTS TO CONSIDER IN DESCRIBING ANTHURIUM SPECIES *
Habit: rosulate, subrosulate, erect, suberect, scandent, pendent, creeping, climbing, etc.
Roots: Type, e.g. feeding, clasping, etc.; quantity, thickness, color (often white, red, brown or green); disposition, e.g. loose and spreading, slender and directed upward, thick and more or less congested, etc.
Stem: Overall length, cross-section shape (if distinctive), color, texture.
Internodes: Diameter, length (more or less uniform, or with a long and a short internode alternating; in latter case, give length of the long and the short internode separately).
Leaf Scars: Describe shape and give dimensions.
Cataphylls: Length (width need not be given, since it is directly related to stem diameter); ribbing, as faint or strong; shape of apex; color when fresh and when dry; persistence and at which nodes , at how many nodes, degree of decomposition, consistency (membranaceous if epidermis persists but the fibrous network clearly shows through).
Leaves: Number per plant; arrangement, e.g., clustered toward apex, scattered along stem, etc.; position, such as erect, spreading or pendent.
Petiole: Length; thickness at midpoint (if quite variable throughout its length, give the thickness at base, midpoint and near apex); cross-sectional shape, such as terete, 4-gonous, semiterete and narrowly or broadly canalicualte adaxially; sharpness of canal margins; color, texture. location and number of ribs if discernible.
Sheath: Length; width at midpoint, coloration.
Geniculum: Length; thickness in comparison to thickness of petiole contiguous with it; cross-sectional shape if different from petiole; color (often paler than petiole, sometimes tinged red, etc.). Especially in deeply divided and compound leaves, the geniculum may extend onto the base of the basal veins or onto the petiolules, respectively.
Blade: Texture: membranaceous, chartaceous, semicoriaceous, coriaceous, thick, brittle, fleshy, etc. Dimensions: give the overall dimensions, whether simple or compound. It should always be noted where the width is greatest, e. g. , below middle, at middle, ca.___ cm above petiole insertion, etc.
Shape: Common shapes of Anthurium leaf blades ( Figures 1-4).
Figure 1: Simple , usually entire, without conspicuous posterior lobes. Describe shape of outline of whole leaf blade, then shape of the apex, followed by shape of the base.
Figure 1. Simple leaf blades, usually entire, without conspicuous posterior lobes: A. oblong narrow elliptic 6:1; B. ovate-narrow elliptic 3:1; C. ovate 2:1; D. narrow obovate 3:1; E. ovate 3:2. 5:1; F. triangular-ovate 2-2.5:1; G. ovate 3:2.
Figure 2: Simple, entire or lobed, usually with conspicuous posterior lobes. Describe the shape of the outline of the whole leaf blade, then: 1) if entire, the shape and size of the anterior lobe, and whether the lateral margins are convex, straight or concave. Then describe the shape (e. g. , rounded, angular,oblong,etc. ) and size** of the posterior lobes and the sinus between them; 2) if lobed or otherwise formed into various segments, the shape of the base of the whole leaf blade including the shape of the posterior lobes (if appropriate) and of the sinus between them (Figure 3), followed by the number disposition of the other lobes or segments, their shapes including their apices and bases (if appropriate) and their dimensions.
Figure 2. Simple leaf blades entire or lobed, usually with conspicuous posterior lobes: A. wide ovate 6:5 (cordiform); B. narrow triangular-ovate 3:1; C. obpyriform, little constricted 3:2; D. obpyriform, strongly constricted 3:2; E. ovate 3:2; F. triangular-ovate 2:1; G. wide ovate 6:5; H. wide triangular 6:5 (sagittate); I. subhastate; J. subtriangular 1:1; K. hastate; L. very wide ovate 5:6 with birettiform sinus; M. trilobed with truncate lateral lobes; N. Trilobed with premorese lateral lobes; O. transversely wide elliptic 5:6, pedato radiate; P. tripartite with central lobe elliptic 2:1 and lateral lobes ovate 2:1.
Figure 3. Some shapes of the sinus between posterior lobes: A. arcuate; B. arcuate with bald decurrent on the petiole; C. parabolic; D. hippocrepiform; E. spathulate; F. obovate; G. rhombic; H. mitered; I. triangular.
Figure 4. Compound leaf baldes, pedately or palmately compound: A. transversely wide elliptic 5:6, leaflets obovate 2.5-3:1 and entire; B. circular, leaflets obovate 2:1 and pinnatifid.
Margin:Margins of leaf blades or their segments or leaflets should be described where appropriate, e. g., undulate, revolute, sinuate, etc.
Surface: Discuss both adaxial and abaxial; glossy, semiglossy, matte, with velvety luster, glaucescent, etc.; dark green or other tone or color; smooth, rugose, bullate, epunctate, or raised- or sunken- punctate, and color, density and prominence of punctations, etc.
Venation: (Figures 5 & 6) Midrib and other primary ribs (discuss first those on uppper surface, then on lower surface) color, if paler or darker than rest of blade surface; Form, such as convex, flat, concave, angular (acutely or obtusely ), V-shaped, U-shaped, omegashaped; position, as raised, sunken, or in valleys; note any change throughout the length of blade.
Figure 5. Venation types: A. midrib; B. primary lateral veins; C. interprimaray veins; D. secondary veins; E. collective veins; F. tertiary veins; G. basal ribs; H. basal veins. Figure 6. Venation types: A. midrib; B. primary lateral veins; C. interprimary veins; D. tertiary veins; E. lesser reticulate veins; F. collective vein.
These terms apply to all of the categories of veins described below.
Primary lateral veins; Number on each side of midrib; color or tone of different from that of blade surface; path or trajectory, e. g. ,arcuate-ascending , straight and spreading , departing from midrib at____degrees angle, turning sharply upward after leaving midrib (i.e., lauraceous), loop-connected, reaching margin, united into a collective vein, etc.
Interprimary veins ( weak lateral veins which lie between an more or less parallel to primary lateral veins): Presence or absence; number.
Basil vein ( all those arising at the point of petiole insertion, even if they ultimately terminate at the margin or in a collective vein above the level of the petiole insertion): Number; degree of coalescence, i.e.,length of the basal rib (see the following entry).
Basal ribs ( the pair of strong ribs that arise on either side of the base of the midrib, being a fusion of the lower part of several basal veins): Length; nature, e.g., straight or curved, nude in the sinus and for what distance, etc.
Secondary veins ( second order veins based on prominence, thickness, etc.): If present, follow essentially the same commentary given under "primary lateral veins".
Tertiary veins (third order veins based on prominence, thickness, etc.): Position, as raised or sunken; color or tone with respect to that of blade surface.
Lesser reticulate veins ( generally the smallest reticulations visible to the naked eye ): Intensity, as visible, prominent; position, as raised or sunken; size of areoles.
Collective vein ( a continuation of a primary lateral vein, often the lowermost one, or of the uppermost basil vein): Path, as more or less smooth, scalloped, etc.; distance from margin. If collective vein is indistinct, it may be best to describe the primary lateral veins as loop-connected. Secondary collective veins may be present; if so, indicate their place of origin. Any discussion of collective veins is assumed to refer to the primary collective vein unless qualified.
Peduncle: Length; thickness, form, e.g., terete, ribbed (note the strength number and position of ribs), striate, etc., color: markings, e.g., dotted, short-dashed with paler green, etc.; ratio of peduncle/petiole length; position, e.g. erect, spreading, pendent, and changes in age.
Spath: Describe features in the following order: Texture, color, including changes in color; surface, e.g., matte, glossy, etc.; longevity; (Figure 7) angle at which spathe is held from spadix, e.g. spreading, erect, recurved, etc.; dimensions and where broadest ( measure length from base of the insertion but do not include any decurent portions); shape including deformations, e.g., doubled longitudinally, revolute, etc.; apex shape; base shape, margins meeting on peduncle at____degrees angle, etc.. ( Figure 8).
Spadix: Shape ( Figure 9).
Give dimensions: measure length on both the anterior an posterior side, if different; if tapered, measure diameter near base and near apex; form, e.g., straight, curved at _____degrees angle to peduncle, etc.; color at anthesis and post-anthesis.
Figure 7. Inflorescence showing angle of insertion of the spathe on the peduncle.
Figure 8. Anterior view of inflorescence showing the angle at which the spathe margins meet on the peduncle; A. almost meeting, then decurrent; B. acute, meeting at 40 degree angle; C. obtuse, meeting at ca. 110 degree angle; D. meeting at 180 degree angle; E. cordate.
Figure 9. Spadix shapes: A. cylindric; B. tapered; C. clavate; D. subglobose.
Stipe: If present, give color and dimensions (measure length on posterior (shorter side) and on anterior (longer side); if absent, indicate that spadix is sessile.
Flowers: Functionally unisexual or bisexual; sequence of development of anthers and stigmas, e.g., protogynous, markedly protogynous,etc. outline ( usually square or rhombic but sometimes 4-lobed, or often with 2 margins straight and parallel and 2 margins sigmoid and parallel); dimensions (taken parallel to axis and also perpendicular to axis) directions of spirals, either left or right handed, and number of flowers per spiral ( Figure 10).
Figure 10. Spadix showing spiral arrangement of flowers: A. principal spiral; B. secondary spiral.
Figure 11. Close up of an individual flower; A. lateral tepals; B. anterior and posterior tepals; C. apical view of pistil showing stigma.
Tepals: Consider only their exposed apical part; color at anthesis and changes in age; surface, e.g., matte, glossy, semiglossy, punctate, bearing scattered nectar droplets; form of inner margins, e.g. straight or convex, etc., overlapping before anthesis, held somewhat erect against the surface of the emerging pistil, etc.
Pistil: Length and shape at anthesis; shape and dimensions of portion exposed between the tepals or of portion exposed above tepals.
Stigma: Brush-like and raised, or sunken and linear, oblong, ellipsoid, punctiform, etc. ( a linear stigma may become punctiform in fruit); dimensions.
Stamens: Length exerted above tepals; pattern of emergence,i.e., beginning in the middle of, at base of, or scattered over, the spadix, etc.
Filaments: Flattened and sometimes convex on abaxial surface, fleshy, markedly tapered near apex, etc.
Anthers: Dimensions: disposition, e.g., introrse, becoming inverted in age, etc. (exerted anthers often are later withdrawn to level of tepals by shrinkage of filaments); spacing of anthers around pistil, e.g., forming a tight circle or dense globular cluster; space between the anthers equal to width of an anther, etc.
Infructescence: Position, e.g., erect, spreading, arcuate-pendant, pendent, borne at leafless nodes, etc.
Fruit: Shape; dimensions; color(s)(indicate uniformity of color), pattern of exsertion, e.g. simultaneously all over the spadix, or slowly exserted throughout a period of time and in a scattered pattern.
Pericarp: Texture, thickness, presence of cystolyths, etc.
Mesocarp: Color; consistency, as gelatinous and translucent, mealy, firm, etc.
Seeds: Shape, size, color, number per fruit.
It is important to indicate which parts of a description have been prepared from living material and which from dried material; If necessary, discuss any changes created in drying, giving special attention to the shape of sinus, leaf base, etc.
HABITAT: Describe the habitat of the species, e.g., terrestrial in deep shade, on steep forested slopes, on open stream banks, epiphytic in tree crotches, epiphytic below the crown of a tall palm, on rocks in full sun, hemiepiphytic on trunk of tree, etc.
DISTRIBUTION: State the areas where the species is known to occur.
DISCUSSION: Certain other data should be included with each description. These include a discussion of life zones where the species occurs, and the altitudinal and geographic ranges. One should always attempt to discuss the characters that separate a species from the more closely related cogeners. Any other data known about the species should be given, such a common names, local uses, details of reproductive biology as well cytology, anatomy, pollen morphology, etc.
ILLUSTRATIONS: Because of the complexity of the taxonomy of Anthurium and of other Araceae, all descriptions should be augmented by good photographs made from live material or by drawings.
We would like to make a strong plea to all collectors that they give much attention to the field notes describing their collections. These notes should always indicate habitat, habit, length of stem, length and thickness of internodes, petiole shape in cross-section, color of spathe and spadix, disposition of inflorescence, and shape and color fruits.
* The descriptive ideas mentioned here are intended only as a guide and are not necessarily complete; one must be ready to supply new categories or words to describe a specimen in hand, or to add some concept not included in the outline.
** Posterior lobes are usually best measured from point of petiole insertion to the point furtherest away. If the basal lobes overlap, it is desirable to give also the length from the point of petiole insertion to the base of the blade.
Copyright © 2007 by Neil Carroll. All rights reserved.
This article first appeared in Aroideana Vol.2, No. 1, Jan. 1979 and is reprinted here with the permission of the senior author. |
Looking out the window of the International Space Station (ISS) and marveling at the beauty of our planet Earth, NASA astronaut Anne McClain tweeted, “Some views you don’t just see with your eyes, but rather you feel them in your soul.” From onboard the ISS, astronauts experience 16 sunrises and sunsets each day while orbiting 250 miles above the Earth at a speed of 17,500 miles per hour.
However, the ISS doesn’t just provide awe-inspiring views of our planet, it also provides a unique platform for valuable research to benefit the Earth—from experiments aimed at improving agricultural production to investigations with important sustainability applications, research on the atmosphere and climate, and studies focused on our oceans and waterways.
This Earth Day, learn more about some of the ways researchers are leveraging the ISS National Lab for important research to benefit our planet:
- “Supporting Water Sustainability From Space“
- “Saving the Planet Through Research Off the Planet“
- “Our Beautiful Blue World: Observing our Oceans From the Space Station“
- “Going Off the Ground With Agriculture Research“
- “A Blue Marble in Space: Studying Earth from the ISS“
- “MUSES Gives Users a Unique View of Earth“
- “Observing Ecosystems From Orbit: Evaluating Changes in Ecosystem Productivity Using Imagery From the Space Station“
- “Tropical Cyclone in Sight: Tracking Hurricanes & Typhoons From Space“
- “ISS National Lab Featured in Remote Sensing Magazine Apogeo Spatial“
- “Going to Space to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions on Earth“ |
Have you ever been in a situation where you have forgotten the name of a client after you just met them for the first time or returned from the supermarket and forgotten the one item you really needed? Memory lapses are very common and can be very frustrating. The issue is not with storage of the information but rather with retrieval – the information is already in your mind.
Memory is defined as the mental activities that acquire, process, store and recall information. Memory involves three major processes: encoding, storage and retrieval. There are three types of memory: short-term memory (STM), long-term memory (LTM) and sensory memory. Sensory memory is very short-lived, usually lasting up to 4 seconds, and consists of information that first enters your brain via your senses, such as sight, sound and smell. A small proportion of this input passes to your short-term memory for recall. STM is the information that we are actively thinking at a given point in time and usually lasts about 30-40 seconds which is enough time to memorize a telephone number or someone’s name. STM acts as a filter for the input the brain receives from the external world, only passing certain information onto LTM for storage.
Many people find it difficult to remember abstract facts or information. Improving memory involves making the information less abstract in your mind. One way of doing this is to categorize material in a more distinctive way or link the information mentally to a personal experience. For example, we can always remember what we were doing during the morning of September 11, 2001. A more familiar and common way of remembering is practice and repetition, which is commonly used by students but also actors. To memorize their lines, actors tend to read and then re-read the material quickly over a period of four days, approximately five to ten times a day. By the time they have read the material twenty times the lines are stored within their LTM.
When you arrive at a supermarket without a shopping list do you try to recall the name of the items or do you recall the image of the item? Memory recall can be either verbal or visual, therefore memory improvement techniques are grouped into these two categories.
To improve your verbal memory try the following techniques:
- Rhymes – It is easy to recall information when placed into a poem or rhyme e.g. “Thirty days hath September, April, June and November…” etc
- Acronyms – Devise your own using initials of words that you need to remember. e.g. ROY G BIV is used to remember the colours of the rainbow and their order.
- Acrostics – Similar to acronyms but consist of words that allow you to remember other words e.g. “My Very Educated Mother Just Sent Us Nine Pizzas” is used to remember the planets in our solar system and their order.
- Stories – Making up a story which contains all the key elements that you need to remember is a great way to remember a list of words, activities or presentation notes.
To improve your visual memory you need to picture images in your mind and develop a visual vocabulary:
- Mental images – Forming an image in your mind that captures the vital information is a very powerful way of remembering. For example, if I wanted to remember the following list of nine items: apple, briefcase, keys, umbrella, window, newspaper, tree, pen, car, I would form the following image in my mind – ” I am in a room with a desk and on the desk is an open briefcase with a newspaper next to it. I need to place the apple, pen and keys into the briefcase. Next to the desk I see an umbrella that I need to take with me. From the window in the room I can see a car outside parked next to a tree“.
- Grouping – Visual grouping involves associating a random list of items with unrelated objects. For example, if you were going hiking in the mountains, you would remember to take the following items because you would associate them with your trip: an umbrella could be associated with a tree; your hiking boots could be associated with rocks, a hat could be associated with a large flower; and food items could be associated with pine cones or other forest berries.
- Visual references – The use of visual landmarks to guide someone to a destination is very common e.g. buildings, intersections, bridges, schools, shopping centres, sports fields, statues, gardens, unique structures or places of business. An extension of this approach is to use visual references as anchors for remembering things. Also called “Method of Loci” this technique was used by ancient orators to remember speeches by associating paragraphs with the mental picture of the different rooms of a familiar building. As the orators visualized a “mental walk” through a building they would recite the paragraphs of their speeches that were associated with each room of the building.
Memory joggers can also assist you to remember specific items:
- Keep a small notebook with you at all times and write notes to yourself. You can also use your electronic notes function on your phone or 3M Post-It notes.
- Write lists of items that you need to remember e.g. shopping list, list of travel essentials, holiday destinations list, To-Do list
- If you need to take something with you in the morning leave it by the door or in your car.
- If you keep losing essential items such as your keys, decide on a specific location where you will always place the keys.
- For medication or vitamins taken daily, place the items with something that you will use daily such as your toothbrush or drinking glass.
- When you put something away or file a particular item, record the item and its location on a log, running list or simple database
What approach do you use to remember important items?
Dr John Kapeleris |
The boundary between brown dwarf and planet is poorly defined, although objects over about 13 Jupiter masses (and up to 75 Jupiter masses) are generally considered brown dwarfs. Brown dwarfs do not reside, like most stars, on the main sequence, being not massive enough to sustain nuclear fusion of hydrogen in their cores, although deuterium and lithium fusion is a possibility. But new work on a brown dwarf called SIMP J013656.5+093347 (mercifully shortened to SIMP0136) is giving us fresh insights into the planet/dwarf frontier.
The intriguing object is found in the constellation Pisces, the subject of previous studies that focused on its variability, which has been interpreted as a signature of weather patterns moving into and out of view during its rotation period of 2.4 hours. Now Jonathan Gagné (Carnegie Institution for Science) and an international team of researchers have put new constraints on SIMP0136, finding it to be an object of planetary mass.
Image: Lead author Jonathan Gagné. Credit: Carnegie Institution for Science.
Faint brown dwarfs and cold planetary-mass objects repay close study because as we move just below the deuterium burning mass boundary we are looking at objects much like the gas giants we can observe in exoplanetary systems. But the observations are tricky: Although these borderline objects have physical properties like temperatures, clouds, surface gravities and masses similar to gas giant planets, they also cool down with time, so that their masses cannot be deduced from their effective temperatures alone.
We also need to know about the age of the object we’re looking at, and it is here that the new work helps. Using data from the Near Infrared Spectrometer (NIRSPEC) on the Keck II instrument at Mauna Kea, Gagné and team have identified SIMP0136 as a likely member of the 200 million year old Carina-Near moving group. Moving groups are groups of similarly aged stars moving together through space, offering the possibility of dating any objects that can be associated with them. This faint brown dwarf clearly fits the bill.
Knowing not just the temperature of an object but its age as well, we can calculate its mass. SIMP0136 turns out to be just below the borderline we normally assign to the smallest brown dwarfs. The object has a mass of 12.7 Jupiter masses, plus or minus 1 Jupiter mass.
Assuming that this object is indeed a free-floating planet as opposed to a brown dwarf, it becomes part of a useful category in this mass range. Studying an exoplanetary atmosphere within a distant star system is complicated by the light of the central star, although with closely orbiting gas giants, the possibility of studying starlight filtered through their atmospheres during transits is available. But atmospheric studies of free-floating worlds are easier to conduct in detail, once we have made the key distinction between planetary status and star.
Image: An artist’s conception of SIMP J013656.5+093347, or SIMP0136 for short, which the research team determined is a planetary-like member of a 200-million-year-old group of stars called Carina-Near. Credit: NASA/JPL, slightly modified by Jonathan Gagné.
We’re also dealing with an object that is relatively close to the Sun. At a distance of just under 20 light years, it is the nearest known member of any young stellar moving group and among the 100 nearest systems to the Sun. SIMP0136 turns out to be, the authors add, “…an even more powerful benchmark than previously appreciated and will help [us] to understand weather patterns in gaseous giant atmospheres.”
Cold planetary-mass objects like this one can be found almost anywhere in the sky, since they are not in orbit around a star. That makes them hard to discover. No wonder we’ve only found about twelve objects on the brown dwarf / planet boundary, and most of these have yet to be confirmed by radial velocity measurements. We should have more soon, because this discovery is one of the early results from the BANYAN All-Sky Survey-Ultracool (BASS-Ultracool), which intends to locate similar young brown dwarfs in moving groups, aiming to explore the properties of planetary-mass objects with cold atmospheres.
The paper is Gagné et al., “SIMP J013656.5+093347 is Likely a Planetary-Mass Object in the Carina-Near Moving Group,” accepted at Astrophysical Journal Letters (preprint). |
Visual memory is the function of memory that allows you to successfully turn images into pictures in your mind to reserve and recall later. Unfortunately, children that suffer from various visual processing disorders may also have visual memory problems. This, in turn, affects their school work, ability to follow instructions and how they learn. If your child has visual memory problems, finding better ways to offer instructions and playing memory games can help improve her ability to remember and follow instructions and assignments.
Fill a tray with five or six small, recognizable items from around the house and allow your child to look at the tray and observe the objects. After one or two minutes, take the tray away and remove one of the objects. Then ask your child which object is missing. He'll need to recall his visual memory of the tray to decide.
Utilize the spoken word as often as possible, and ask that your child's teachers do the same at school. While a child with visual memory problems may balk at written directives, hearing the instructions may be more effective. That's why a child with visual memory problems may be seen reading instructions aloud to try and grasp and remember the instructions on an audible level, notes ChildrensVision.com.
Offer hands-on activities where your child is doing something rather than simply seeing something, suggests Brock Eide and Fernette Eide in their book, "The Mislabeled Child: How Understanding Your Child's Unique Learning Style Can Open the Door to Success." When your child sees something done, a visual memory problem can erase both the image and the concept soon after. Giving your child the chance to experience an activity like cooking, playing or acting things out can instill the concepts deeper in your child's mind through experience rather than visual pictures.
Alter handouts and instructions so they are easier to read and remember. While a list of instructions or a paper filled with words and pictures is confusing, a paper that clearly offers borders and dividers can help your child easily pick out the most important information. Ask your child's teacher to add things like text boxes and darkened margin lines so your child can more easily understand a worksheet, and implement the same changes at home for better understanding and more recall, suggests LDOnline.org. |
Reflux in babies
Gastroesophageal reflux (GOR), also known as regurgitation or posseting, is the passage of gastric contents into the oesophagus. It occurs widely in healthy newborns and infants and is considered normal.15 Incidence of reflux peaks at around 3 months of age. In most cases it resolves without intervention by 6–12 months, coinciding with the maturation of the oesophageal sphincter and the ability to sit upright.16 As long as there are no other symptoms and baby is growing well and seems happy, parents should be reassured that reflux isn’t a major concern.
When could reflux be a sign of something more serious?
Babies with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GORD) experience more troublesome, severe, or long lasting symptoms in addition to reflux, such as poor weight gain and distressed behaviour.17
Advice to parents for managing reflux18
To help with reflux, parents can be advised to try the following:
- Feed in an upright position and hold the baby upright for 20–30 minutes after a feed
- Give smaller, more frequent feeds
- Formula-fed babies should be winded every 2 to 3 minutes during feeding; it should also be ensured the hole in the teat isn’t too big or too small. Parents could consider a trial of an anti-reflux formula.
Parents should be reassured that it is common for babies to bring up milk. However, they should be advised to see their GP or health visitor or return to the surgery if the baby has frequent reflux, is irritable during or after feeds (e.g. arching their back and crying), regularly vomits large amounts up to 2 hours after feeding and starts to fuss or refuse feeds, but accepts a dummy.
Further information and support
Recommendations for the management of GOR
The following are appropriate for babies whose symptoms do not indicate the need for early referral:17
- Reassure parents that symptoms are likely to improve over time
- In clearly overfed babies, advise restriction of feed volume
- In bottle-fed infants with frequent regurgitation which causes distress, use the following stepped-care approach:19
1. Review the feeding history
2. Reduce the feed volumes only if excessive for the infant's weight
3. Suggest smaller, more frequent feeds (while maintaining an appropriate total daily amount of formula)
4. Offer a trial of thickened formula, as advised by NICE
5. If unsuccessful, stop thickened formula and offer alginate* therapy for a trial period of 12 weeks. If the alginate therapy is successful continue with it, but try stopping it at intervals to see if the infant has recovered
- If symptoms remain troublesome, refer the child to a paediatrician
* Do not use in children at risk of dehydration or intestinal obstruction, in those already consuming thickened feeds, in preterm infants, or those with renal impairment or congestive cardiac failure
Guideline recommendations regarding formulas
The European Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommend parental reassurance and education when trying to help resolve reflux.17,19
They also recommend trialling a thickened formula for uncomplicated GOR in formula-fed infants.19
Children under 6 months of age can digest starch, a carbohydrate that is used as a thickening agent in certain infant formulas.
SMA PRO Anti-Reflux is thickened with potato starch to offer optimal viscosity in conjunction with high digestibility. This viscosity contributes to the non-reflux of the bolus into the oesophagus. Starch thickened formulas have proven efficacy in reducing the number of daily regurgitation episodes.20-22
- Department of Health. Infant feeding recommendation. May 2003 Available here.
- Best Practice for Infant Feeding in Ireland. Food Safety Authority of Ireland, 2012.
- Iacono G et al. Dig Liver Dis 2005; 37: 432–438.
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Clinical Knowledge Summary (CKS): Constipation in children. September 2010. Available here.
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Clinical Guideline. Constipation in children and young people: Diagnosis and management of idiopathic childhood constipation in primary and secondary care (CG99). May 2010.
- Tabbers MM et al. JPGN 2014; 58: 258–274.
- NHS Choices. Colic. 2014. Available here.
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Clinical Knowledge Summary (CKS): Colic - infantile. November 2014. Available here.
- Vandenplas Y et al. Nutrition 2013; 29: 184–194.
- Billeaud C et al. Eur J Clin Nutr 1990; 44: 577–583.
- Infante D et al. World J Gastroenterol 2011; 17: 2104–2108.
- Carnielli VP et al. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr 1996; 23: 553–560.
- Yao M et al. JPGN 2014; 59: 440–448.
- Limanovitz I et al. The effects of infant formula beta-palmitate structural position on bone speed of sound, anthropometrics and infantile colic: a double blind, randomized control trial. ESPGHAN 2011.
- Hyman PE et al. Gastroenterology 2006; 130: 1519–1526.
- Ramirez-Mayans J. J Int Pediatr 2003; 18: 78–83.
- Vandenplas Y et al. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr 2009; 49: 498–547.
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Clinical Knowledge Summary: GORD in children. March 2015. Available here.
- NICE Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease: recognition, diagnosis and management in children and young people, 2015. Available here.
- Indrio F, Di Mauro A, Trove L, Brindise G. Thickened partially hydrolysed milk formula added with L. Reuteri decreases the number of regurgitation in infants and ameliorates gastric motility. J Pediatr and Neonatal Individualized Med 2015; 4 (2)
- Indrio F et al. Effect of partially hydrolysed whey formula containing starch and Lactobacillus reuteri on regurgitation and gastric motility: a randomized, controlled trial. Submitted for publication December 2016.
- Toporovski M.S., Neufeld C.B., Cuflat C., Magni A.M., Aleixo D., Okana R.T. A comparative study among two different AR formulas and a standard formula in infants with gastroesophageal reflux (GER). (Abstract presented at the 46th Annual meeting of the European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition: London, May 8-11, 2013). JPGN 2013; Vol 56, Suppl 2:330.
- Heyman MB, Committee on Nutrition. Pediatrics 2006; 118: 1279–1286.
- Saneian H et al. Iran J Pediatr 2012; 22: 82–86.
- Huang Y, Xu JH. Chin J Contemp Pediatr 2009; 11: 532–536.
- Moya M et al. Acta Paediatr 1999; 88: 1211–1215.
*Ingredients of all formulas were confirmed by telephoning company carelines dedicated to answering queries about their products (March 2015) |
Inventions & Tools
People in Sumer created a type of writing, so they can keep track of important events. They called their writting cuneiform. The Sumerians would draw symbol on wet clay using sharp ended reeds and then let it dry int the sun. Using their skill of writing, the Sumerians produced many great works of literature. One of the peices of literature includes the Epic of Gilgamesh. |
Making Learning Available to As Many As Possible
This in-person training has concluded. The site remains here as a resource.
Inclusive Design benefits all learners, not just those with disabilities. Learners are not all the same. They are highly diverse in terms of their backgrounds, personalities, cognitive styles, abilities and interests. Some students learn best by listening, others by reading, and still others by doing.
When material is accessible in multiple formats, students can select the presentation that best suits their learning preferences. Similarly, some students demonstrate their learning best by writing while others may prefer sharing orally. Allowing students to demonstrate their knowledge in multiple formats gives students the freedom to select the one that best suits them.
In this track, you will:
- Articulate why designing with inclusivity in mind is important for all learners.
- Identify what your students are struggling with in your course
- Apply Universal Design for Learning (UDL) strategies by examining
- Learning goals
- Apply basic web accessibility principles to: Text, Images, Videos, Audios, and OERs.
- Explore assistive technologies
Often times, the following is a common learning goal and assessment:
“Write a paragraph about how the circulatory system works.” What we discover when examining this goal/assessment is that it unintentionally introduces barriers to students and may not accurately measure the content goal. Writing a paragraph is an additional task layered over mastery of the content knowledge that we want students to attain. Rephrasing the goal into something like, “Describe a complete cycle in the circulatory system” is more explicit about what students should be able to explain, and allows flexibility in terms of how students convey their knowledge (create a diagram, label an image, write out the steps in the process, make a short video explaining an image, etc.).
In this professional learning, participants will be empowered to create a classroom culture that supports students with diverse learning needs and provides equal opportunity for all students to the greatest extent possible. |
Solar walls are a technology used to passively heat a building. Similar to trombe walls or solar chimneys, solar walls are one way to achieve energy efficient building design. These walls combine exterior construction with interior devices to use solar energy to heat and ventilate indoor spaces. These walls can be installed on new buildings or can be retrofitted.
The solar wall is constructed first by placing metal solar cladding on the exterior wall of a building. This cladding is perforated and built in front of an already present building wall. In the Northern hemisphere this wall is south facing. For an explanation of why it is the south facing wall, click here. Collector panels are installed to create an air channel between the two walls. An air channel is present between these two walls to allow for the exchange of warmed air.
There are several benefits to using this technology. Outside of the cost of operating the HVAC system, the heat from the Sun is free and does not require the burning of fuel like many heaters and boilers do. This reduces the associated carbon dioxide emissions of heating a building. Solar walls can even keep a building warmer in the winter as the added solar wall shields the actual exterior wall of the building from cold air. As well, these walls are fairly inexpensive because of their simplistic construction, and are equal in cost to the installation of a brick wall.
The perforated cladding on the outside of the building is heated by the solar radiation from the Sun. Because of this, the solar walls are generally very dark or black in colour to reduce the amount of radiation that is reflected from this wall. The system must be hooked up to the buildings HVAC system, as ventilation fans are used to create negative pressure in the air channel between the walls. This negative pressure pulls the air warmed by the Sun into the building. Cool air is expelled from inside the building into the air channel through a vent located at the bottom of the wall. Once this air is warmed it begins to rise and is then fed into the HVAC system through a vent located at the top of the wall. The warm air is supplied to and distributed in the building via the HVAC system intakes. |
In California, the species diversity of native wildflowers is shrinking, following several years of drier winters, says a new study.
Drought-intolerant species suffered the worst declines, the researchers confirmed.
The study is based on 15 years of monitoring about 80 sampling plots at McLaughlin Reserve, part of University of California, Davis’ Natural Reserve System, and shows the first evidence of climate change impacts on the state’s grasslands.
Lead author Susan Harrison, environmental science and policy professor, said:
“Our study shows that 15 years of warmer and drier winters are creating a direct loss of native wildflowers in some of California’s grasslands. Such diversity losses may foreshadow larger-scale extinctions, especially in regions that are becoming increasingly dry.”
Comparable trends have been observed in other Mediterranean environments, for example southern Europe, strengthening the case for increased climate change awareness in the world’s semi-arid regions.
Combined with climate change predictions, this means the future grassland communities of California are expected to provide less nutrition to herbivores, be less productive, and become more vulnerable to invasion by exotic species, the study says.
The researchers expect these negative effects to trickle up through the food web, affecting insects, seed-eating rodents, birds, deer, and domesticated species like cattle, all of which rely on grasslands for food.
It may be possible for wildflowers and grasses to cope with the current drying period through their deep seed banks, which can lie dormant for decades waiting for the right conditions to germinate. But California’s drought is expected to exacerbate in the coming decades, so rescue effects may end up being too late for some species. |
The Zebra Finch (Taeniopygia guttata) (formerly Poephila guttata), is the most common and familiar estrildid finch of Central Australia and ranges over most of the continent, avoiding only the cool moist south and the tropical far north. It also can be found natively in Indonesia and East Timor. The bird has been introduced to Puerto Rico, Portugal, Brazil and the United States.
Zebra Finches inhabit a wide range of grasslands and forests, usually close to water. They are typically found in open steppes with scattered bushes and trees, but have adapted to human disturbances, taking advantage of human-made watering holes and large patches of deforested land. Zebra Finches — including many human-bred variants to the species — are widely kept by genetic researchers, breeding hobbyists and pet owners.
The Zebra Finch breeds after substantial rains in its native habitat, which can occur at any time of the year. Birds in captivity are ready to breed year-round. Wild birds are adaptable and varied in their nesting habits, with nests being found in cavities, scrub, low trees, bushes, on the ground, in termite hills, rabbit burrows, nests of other birds, and in the cracks, crevices, and ledges of human structures. Outside of the breeding time, brood nests are constructed for sleeping in.
Zebra Finches are distributed over much of Australia and the Flores Islands (northwest of Australia).
The life expectancy of a Zebra Finch is highly variable because of genetic and environmental factors. The Zebra Finch may reach up to five years in its natural environment. If they are kept caged, they normally live for 5 to 7 years but may live as long as 12 years, with the exceptional case of 14.5 years reported for a caged specimen. The greatest threats to zebra finch survival are predation by cats and loss of natural food.
The two subspecies are:
- Taeniopygia guttata guttata, the Timor Zebra Finch, extends from Lombok in the Lesser Sunda Islands or Nusa Tenggara in Indonesia to Sermata, in addition to coastal areas around the continent of Australia.
- Taeniopygia guttata castanotis is found over the wide range of continental Australia.
The Australian race is sometimes split as Chestnut-eared Finch (Gould, 1837), Taeniopygia castanotis.
The morphological differences between the subspecies include differences in size. T. g. guttata is smaller than T. g. castanotis. In addition, the T.g. guttata males do not have the fine barring found on the throat and upper breast of T.g. castanotis, as well as having small breast bands.
Song and other vocalizations
Zebra Finches are loud and boisterous singers. Their calls can be a loud "beep", "meep", "oi!" or "a-ha!". Their song is a few small beeps, leading up to a rhythmic song of varying complexity in males. Each male's song is different, although birds of the same bloodline will exhibit similarities, and all finches will overlay their own uniqueness onto a common rhythmic framework. Sons generally learn the song of their fathers with little variation. Songs may change during puberty, but afterwards they are locked in for the life of the bird. Scientific research at Japan's RIKEN institute has suggested that singing to females is an emotionally rewarding experience for male Zebra Finches.
Male Zebra Finches begin to sing at puberty, while females lack a singing ability. This is due to a developmental difference, where in the embryo, the male Zebra Finch produces estrogen, which is transformed into a testosterone-like hormone in the brain, which in turn leads to the development of the nervous system for a song system. Their songs begin as a few disjointed sounds, but as they experiment, they match what they sing to the memory of their fathers' song, and they rapidly mature into full-fledged songs. During these formative times, they will incorporate sounds from their surroundings into their songs, also using the songs of other nearby males for inspiration.
Male finches use their songs, in part, as a mating call. The mating act is usually accompanied by a high-pitched whining sound. They will also exhibit a hissing sound when protecting their territories.
Because Zebra Finch males learn their songs, they are often used as avian model organisms to investigate the neural bases of learning, memory, and sensorimotor integration. The Zebra Finch genome was the second bird genome to be sequenced, in 2008, after that of the chicken. Their popularity as model organisms is also related to their prolific breeding, an adaptation to their usually dry environment. This ability also makes them popular as pet songbirds.
Zebra Finches, like most estrildid finches, are primarily seed-eating birds, as their beaks are adapted for dehusking small seeds. They prefer millet, but will consume many other kinds of seeds, as well. While they prefer seeds, captives will also eat egg food. They also readily consume fresh foods, such as small bits of chopped lettuce, apples, and grapes. They are particularly fond of spray millet, and one or two of these small birds will eat a spray millet stalk within a few days. Zebra Finches are messy and voracious eaters, typically dropping seed everywhere. This behavior spreads seed around, aiding in plant reproduction. The availability of water is important to this bird's survival, therefore the Zebra Finch will drink often when water is available and enjoys taking bird baths in a small, shallow bowl. A typical Zebra Finch may be plump, because it eats quite often throughout the day, but an overweight bird needs more exercise, not less food. Finches should always have access to fresh food and water.
|This article contains instructions, advice, or how-to content. (September 2009)|
|This section needs additional citations for verification. (November 2009)|
In the Zebra Finch, sudden bursts of gathering behaviors signal that a pair is ready to nest. The pair will pull strings or plant leaves they can reach, and if no materials are available to gather, they will use feathers and bits of seed husks. Alfalfa or timothy hay is an acceptable nesting material, as it is closest to what is readily available in the wild. Any item they can use to build a nest will be deposited in a corner of the cage floor, or in their food dish. When these behaviors are noticed, a mating pair should be provided with a sturdy wicker nest about the size of a large apple or orange. This nest should always be placed in the highest possible corner of the cage, opposite the food dish, but near the normal night perch. Nesting finches will abandon a perch if it is across the cage, with the male showing he prefers to sit atop the nest while the female lays. During the nest building, however, both will spend the night cuddling inside the nest.
When they accept the nest shell and begin using it each night, they should be provided with an ample supply of very soft bits of short string and leaves. They prefer items only a couple of inches long and will use nearly any type and color of soft material; longer bits of string or nesting material can tangle around the finches or nestlings and cause distress that will lead to strangulation or even death. The nest shell will be packed with everything they can reach for at least a week before laying begins.
Males and females are very similar in size, but are easily distinguished from one another, as the males usually have bright orange cheek feathers, red beaks (as opposed to the orange beaks of females), and generally more striking black and white patterns. The beak is sometimes the only way to tell the gender of a Zebra Finch, as sometimes the orange cheek coloring is faded or nonexistent. Offspring from a similarly colored nesting pair may sometimes vary from the parents' coloration, with nestlings varying from plain grey to completely white. These variations are usually due to mixed breeding between finch types somewhere down the family line, especially in pet store birds. However, the orange cheeks are a stubborn indication that a young Zebra Finch is indeed a male and the cheeks begin to appear when the young are about two months old. Young Zebra Finches will also have black beaks, with the coloring coming in at puberty, though it begins changing at age one month.
The chicks will hatch according to the laying time of each egg. It is common to have one or two eggs remaining unhatched as the parents begin the task of feeding the nestlings. Though it is preferable to leave nests alone after the egg-laying begins, once hatching begins, a breeder might find it useful to make daily 'checks' into the nest to correct problems early, such as larger chicks sitting on and smothering smaller ones, thus increasing the number of chicks that eventually fledge. The time from laying until a fledgling adventures outside will vary with each clutch, but generally good eggs will hatch within 14 to 16 days of laying and young will begin to venture out within about three or four weeks of hatching, and will look full-grown in about three months. Breeding age is eight or more months. Zebra Finches are usually excellent parents and will readily take turns sitting on the nest and bringing food to the young.
While the female is laying, only her mate will be allowed in the nest. Allowing the pair to start a new family while the first clutch is still in the cage will overly stress all the birds in the family. The male of the breeding pair will not allow any other birds near the nest while eggs are being laid. It is advised the newly fledged birds be removed and placed into a separate enclosure to prevent aggressive actions of the adult male who will likely try to beat up younger birds as seen as competition for the females attention.
- BirdLife International (2012). "Taeniopygia guttata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.1. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
- Clayton, N.S.; Birkhead, T. (1989). "Consistency in the Scientific Name of the Zebra Finch". Auk 106: 750–750.
- Haddon, Frank (1985). The Golden Book of Australian birds and mammals. Golden Press. p. 44. ISBN 0-7302-0011-6. Unknown parameter
- White, R. and Fraser, A. (2007). "Taeniopygia guttata". Animal Diversity Web. University of Michigan. Retrieved July 22, 2009.
- "AnAge entry for Taeniopygia guttata". Genomics.senescence.info. Retrieved 2011-01-25.
- Williams, H (2001). "Choreography of song, dance, and beak movements in the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata)". Journal of Experimental Biology 204 (20): 3497–3506. PMID 11707499.
- "Singing To Females Makes Male Birds' Brains Happy". Medical News Today. 2008-10-02. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
- Taeniopygia guttata Research Status. Washington University in St. Louis
- Zann, Richard A. (1996). The Zebra Finch - A synthesis of field and laboratory studies. Oxford University Press. p. 335. ISBN 0-19-854079-5. |
Diabetes Type I...Insulin Therapy (cont.)
From the time of these ancient observations, there was little in the way of treatment for patients with type 1 diabetes. This primarily was because the cause of the disease was not recognized. In the 1700's, it was found that there were high amounts of sugar in the urine of patients with diabetes. Consequently, the disease was initially thought to be a problem with the kidneys. In the early 1800s, the link between diet and the amount of sugar seen in the urine was established. It was observed that if patients with diabetes ate carbohydrates, their urine contained more sugar than if they ate protein. Over the next century, physicians began reporting autopsy finding that showed abnormal changes in the pancreas of patients who had died of type 1 diabetes. It wasn't until the early 20th century that scientists realized the pancreas produced a substance that regulated blood sugar. In 1921, Banting and Best identified that substance as insulin. They were awarded a Nobel prize for their discovery.
Even with the realization that type 1 diabetes was caused by a deficiency of insulin, patients continued to die. In the first half of this century, insulin was in short supply. At that time, the insulin used was being derived from animal sources, particularly cows and pigs. Not only was there a problem with the supply of insulin meeting the demand, but beef and pork insulin also had specific problems. Being from animals, these types of insulin caused immune reactions in people. Patients would become intolerant or resistant to animal insulin. With the acceleration of scientific research in the latter half of this century, beef and pork insulin were replaced by human insulin. In 1977, the gene for human insulin was cloned, and through modern technology, manufactured human insulin was made available. Up until very recently, insulin has been used only in injection form; drawn up by a needle and syringe and injected just under the skin (subcutaneously).
This century has seen remarkable progress in the treatment of type 1 diabetes. Patients now have the opportunity to live longer, healthier lives than at any other time in history. The last few years have focused on fine-tuning insulin therapy to meet individual requirements and on minimizing the possible long term consequences of diabetes. It is well established that poor blood sugar control contributes to the development of diabetes-related complications such as blindness, kidney failure, nerve damage, and heart disease. Recent advances have focused on manufacturing insulin with specific profiles that can be used individually or in combination to fit a specific patient's needs. In addition, new methods of delivery have been developed to allow for more patient convenience and less discomfort.
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- Medical Anatomy and Illustrations
- Noncancerous, Precancerous & Cancerous Tumors
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It is considered the world's largest ash eruption since the last ice age.Sulfate aerosols generated from the volcanic gases blocked sunlight turning the approaching summer into winter over much of the Northern Hemisphere.
"Because Tambora ejected sulfurous gas that generated sulfate aerosols in the atmosphere, which block sunlight, the eruption created a ‘year without a summer,’ leading to food shortages — people were eating cats and rats — and very general hardship throughout Europe and eastern North America"That summer, mean temperatures dropped by 0.7–1.3 °F (0.4–0.7 °C) around the world causing food shortages across the Northern Hemisphere.
— Stephen Self
Intense atmospheric haze led to unusually spectacular sunsets like those painted by the Romanticist landscape painter J. M. W. Turner (1775-1851).
|J. M. W. Turner Sunsets|
- 200th anniversary of Tambora eruption a reminder of volcanic perils, Robert Sanders, UC Berkeley News Center, 31 March 2015.
- Mount Tambora, Wikipedia.
- The Great Tambora Eruption in 1815 and Its Aftermath, Richard B. Stothers, 15 June 1984.
- Year Without Summer, Wikipedia. |
New research into a goldfish’s ability to withstand extreme conditions has found it turns to alcohol in a bid to survive.
How a goldfish manages to tolerate the extreme, oxygen-depleted environments of frozen lakes for up to months at a time has often puzzled biologists, but new research has found that it’s down to some locally brewed alcohol.
In a paper published to Scientific Reports, a team of researchers from the University of Liverpool discovered that goldfish and their wild relatives, the crucian carp, are able to convert anaerobically produced lactic acid into ethanol.
This diffuses across their gills into the surrounding water, helping to prevent a dangerous build-up of lactic acid in the body, making it unique among vertebrates.
Possibly dating back to a mutation 8m years ago, the process was found in the muscles of goldfish and crucian carp, which contain two sets of the proteins normally used to channel carbohydrates towards their breakdown for energy production in a cell’s mitochondria.
While one of the proteins is similar to its vertebrate cousins, the second has been found to switch on in the absence of oxygen, allowing for the production of alcohol outside the mitochondria.
Enough to put a human over the limit
How much alcohol is produced might astound some, with crucian carp creating up to 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, above the drink-driving limit of many countries.
“This is still a much better situation than filling up with lactic acid, which is the metabolic end product for other vertebrates, including humans, when devoid of oxygen,” said Dr Michael Berenbrink, an evolutionary physiologist at the University of Liverpool.
In trying to explain the possibly evolutionary purpose of the unique trait, lead author of the paper Dr Cathrine Elisabeth Fagernes said: “The ethanol production allows the crucian carp to be the only fish species surviving and exploiting these harsh environments, thereby avoiding competition and escaping predation by other fish species with which they normally interact in better-oxygenated waters.
“It’s no wonder then that the crucian carp’s cousin, the goldfish, is arguably one of the most resilient pets under human care.” |
[Source: U.S. Census Bureau]
As mandated by the U.S. Constitution, America gets just one chance each decade to count its population. The U.S. Census counts every resident in the United States. It is mandated by Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution and takes place every 10 years. The data collected by the decennial census determine the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives (a process called apportionment) and is also used to distribute billions in federal funds to local communities.
The next Census in 2020 will require counting an increasingly diverse and growing population of around 330 million people in more than 140 million housing units. To get an accurate count, the Census Bureau must build an accurate address list of every housing unit, maximize self-response to the census, and efficiently follow up with those who do not respond.
FFF: Hispanic Heritage Month 2016 |
Scientists in France have revived a 30,000-year-old virus frozen in Siberian ice. And as an added bonus, the virus—which targets amoebae, not humans—is still infectious. Imagine, if you will, a doomsday scenario in which all of the earth’s ice melts, and in addition to tons of flooding, we are given the added bonus of still-viable, ancient viruses.
According to the French team that made the discovery, the Pithovirus sibericum is a whopping 1.5 micrometers long, the largest ever found. After Russian scientists revived an ancient plant two years ago, Jean-Michel Claverie thought, “If it was possible to revive a plant, I wondered if it was possible to revive a virus,” like that is just a normal thing everyone thinks about. More viruses, please!
Environments like permafrost, where this virus was discovered, are suited for preservation because they “cold, anoxic [lacking oxygen], and in the dark.” Giant viruses, much like giant versions of pretty much anything, are also tougher to kill than normal viruses.
Claverie also said:
We thought it was a property of viruses that they pack DNA extremely tightly into the smallest particle possible, but this guy is 150 times less compacted than any bacteriophage [viruses that infect bacteria]. We don’t understand anything anymore!
Just what we needed to hear from a scientist who revived an ancient virus frozen in ice: “We don’t understand anything anymore!”
Although, as one virologist pointed out, “people already inhale thousands of viruses every day, and swallow billions whenever they swim in the sea,” so that should make you feel way better.
Here is video of the virus infecting an amoeba: |
The Handwriting Encyclopedia for Parents: A to Z
Teach Handwriting Skills
Recognize and Respond to Potential Problems
Bilateral Coordination – the ability to use both sides of the body at once. This can refer to tasks when both sides are doing the identical movements like catching a ball with two hands, or when both sides are doing different movements like during writing when one hand controls the pencil and the other hand stabilizes the paper. Effective Bilateral Coordination allows for fluid body movements and supports complex functioning.
Dysgraphia – a common learning disability that makes writing difficult. As a result of sensory processing difficulties, the disability can lead to poor writing abilities, an avoidance of writing activities, and poor academic performance. A reduction of the negative effects can be achieved through accommodations such as providing alternatives to written expression, or providing additional instruction to improve writing skills.
Dyspraxia – or Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), is a common learning disability that begins in childhood and can affect planning of movements and coordination. This disorder can impacts gross motor skills and fine motor skills including establishing a correct pencil grip, developing writing speed, and mastering the writing of letters and numbers. Coping strategies can be developed, and these can be enhanced through therapy and practice.
Eye-Hand Coordination – (or hand-eye coordination) ability of the vision system to coordinate the information received from the eyes to guide the movement of the hands. Children typically begin to work on and refine this skill between 4 and 14 months of age. It is essential to handwriting ability as the fine movements of the hand need to be coordinated with visual perception.
Fine Motor Skills – abilities that involve the small or “fine” muscles and their coordinated movement. This generally refers to movements of the hands, wrist, fingers, toes, lips, and tongue. Activities using Fine Motor Skills include grasping and drawing.
Fist Grip – the holding of objects with the whole hand, almost like a fist. It is perfectly normal and common earliest in gripping and handwriting development. However, when using a pencil or other writing instrument, the Fist Grip should be phased out earlier in fine motor skills development. Refer to the Chart of Correct and Incorrect Handwriting Positions under the heading “Grip Positions” on this blog or click HERE.
Four-Finger Grip – a typical grip used by younger children who have progressed in development beyond the Fist Grip. With this grip, four fingers hold the object up against the thumb. The Four-Finger Grip represents an early improvement in grip development, but it still should be phased out in favor of the correct Tripod Grip. Refer to the Chart of Correct and Incorrect Handwriting Positions under the heading “Grip Positions” on this blog or click HERE.
Gross Motor Skills – abilities that involve the large or “gross” muscles of the body like those in the arms, legs and core. These include crawling, sitting, and walking.
Just-Right Challenge – or “Goldilocks Challenge” is an activity that is not too easy or too hard. The most effective learning takes place with Just-Right Challenges when tasks are just above the current level of functioning. It is hard enough to challenge someone, but easy enough so that the activity is not discouraging.
Motor Planning – the ability to mentally plan and then follow through on a series of movements. When it comes to handwriting, children must organize their thoughts into what they want to write, and then execute a series of complex movements to form the individual letters of each word that will communicate that thought.
Oral Motor Skills – the strength, flexibility, and overall ability of the muscles of the face and mouth. These skills are used in movements for eating, drinking, and speech.
Pre-Academic Skills – are a part of cognitive development that takes place before children are ready for school and the formal learning environment. They are essential to a child’s success in early education, and pave the way for future performance.
Sensory Processing – involves the brains ability to organize and make sense of all of the different forms of information it is receiving at the same time. Sensory Processing is the effective sorting of an abundance of information, and the prioritizing that helps us decide what to focus on, or when to act in response.
Tripod Grip – the correct, ergonomic way to hold a pencil. The Tripod Grip requires well-developed fine motor abilities and practice. Refer to the Chart of Correct and Incorrect Handwriting Positions under the heading “Grip Positions” on this blog or click HERE.
Vertical Surfaces - the opposite of normal writing surfaces like a desk or table. Vertical Surfaces include chalkboards and wall. Writing on Vertical Surfaces can help develop handwriting skills. Click HERE for tips on instruction.
Visual Perception – or visual information processing, is the ability to integrate sight with other senses, and to integrate the visual information with past experiences. Visual perception is essential to the learning, and the development of fine and gross motor skills. |
Types of Snow
Atmospheric conditions affect how snow crystals form and what happens to them as they fall to the ground. Snow may fall as symmetrical, six-sided snowflakes, or it may fall as larger clumps of flakes. Similarly, once snow is on the ground, the snowpack may assume different qualities depending on local temperature changes, whether winds blow the snow around, or how long the snow has been on the ground. For instance, a fresh snowfall may be loose and powdery, but snow that has been on the ground throughout the winter may have dense, crusted layers caused by melting and refreezing. Scientists and meteorologists have classified types of snowfall, snowpack, and snow formations.
Types of snow crystals
A layer of hoarfrost has formed on the surface of this snow, shown with a quarter for scale.
—Credit: K. Williams
Sleet, shown here with a penny for scale, is composed of small, translucent balls of ice. Sleet is often the result of rain that freezes as it falls to the ground.
—Credit: Wikimedia Commons
- Snowflakes are single ice crystals or clusters of ice crystals that fall from a cloud.
- Hoarfrost is the deposition of ice crystals on a surface when the temperature of the surface is lower than the frost point of the surrounding air. In this process, moisture goes directly from vapor to solid, skipping the liquid phase. Hoar frost is usually composed of interlocking ice crystals, and tends to form on objects of small diameter that are freely exposed to air, such as wires, poles, tree branches, plant stems, and leaf edges.
- Graupel consists of snowflakes that become rounded, opaque pellets ranging from 2 to 5 millimeters (0.1 to 0.2 inches) in diameter. They form as ice crystals fall through supercooled cloud droplets, which are below freezing but remain a liquid. The cloud droplets then freeze to the crystals, forming a lumpy mass. Graupel is sometimes mistaken for hail, but tends to have a texture that is softer and more crumbly. Graupel is sometimes also called snow pellets.
- Polycrystals are snowflakes composed of many individual ice crystals.
Types of snowfall
Deep drifts of snow partially envelop fir trees near Paradise River in Mount Rainier National Park.
—Credit: Chris R. Roberts, flickr
Ground blizzards, like this one in Ontario, Canada, are not the result of snowfall, but are caused when loose snow already on the ground is blown around by strong winds.
—Credit: Vaughan Weather/Wikimedia Commons
- A blizzard is a violent winter storm, lasting at least three hours, which combines subfreezing temperatures and very strong wind laden with blowing snow that reduces visibility to less than 0.40 kilometers (0.25 miles).
- A snowstorm features large amounts of snowfall.
- A snow flurry is snow that falls for short durations and with varying intensity; flurries usually produce little accumulation.
- A snow squall is a brief, but intense snowfall that greatly reduces visibility and which is often accompanied by strong winds.
- A snowburst is a very intense shower of snow, often of short duration, that greatly restricts visibility and produces periods of rapid snow accumulation.
- Blowing snow describes airborne snow particles raised by the wind to moderate or great heights above the ground; the horizontal visibility at eye level is generally very poor.
- Drifting snow is snow on the ground that is blown by the wind to a height of less than 1.5 to 2 meters (5 to 6.5 feet) above the surface.
Types of snow cover
Snow cover, also called snowpack, is the total of all the snow and ice on the ground. It includes both new snow and previous snow and ice that have not melted.
- New snow is a recent snow deposit in which the original form of the ice crystals can be recognized.
- Firn is rounded, well-bonded snow that is older than one year and has a density greater than 550 kilograms per cubic meter, or 55 percent.
- Névé is young, granular snow that has been partially melted, refrozen and compacted; névé that survives a full melt season is called firn. This type of snow is associated with glacier formation.
- Old snow indicates deposited snow whose transformation is so far advanced that the original form of the new snow crystals can no longer be recognized.
- Seasonal snow refers to snow that accumulates during one season or snow that lasts for only one season.
- Perennial snow is snow that persists on the ground year after year.
- Powder snow is dry new snow, which is composed of loose, fresh ice crystals.
Types of snow formations
Snow cornices, like the one in this photo, are formed when wind blows snow over the edge of a ridge or cliff. In time, the snow accumulates and freezes into a cornice shape.
—Credit: Marcelebrate, flickr
Once on the ground, snow is subject to various weather conditions, including blowing wind, changing temperatures, and long periods of shade or sunshine. In certain instances, these elements can literally change the shape of the snow surface.
A field of penitents in the Andes of Argentina. These penitents are about 1.5 to 1.8 meters (5 to 6 feet) high.
—Credit: Wikimedia Commons
- A cornice is an overhanging accumulation of ice and wind-blown snow, characteristically found on the edge of a ridge or cliff face.
- A crust is a hard snow surface lying upon a softer layer, formed by sun, rain, or wind.
- Megadunes are giant dunes of snow in Antarctica composed of large snow crystals measuring up to 2 centimeters (3/4 inch) across.
- Penitents are tall, thin, closely-spaced pinnacles of hardened snow ranging in height from a few centimeters to a few meters (a few inches to a few feet). Fields of penitents can develop over glaciated and snow-covered areas, particularly in arid regions, such as the Dry Andes or in the mountains surrounding Death Valley in California.
- Ripple marks refer to the corrugation on a snow surface caused by wind, similar to the ripples sometimes seen in sand.
- Sastrugi occur when wind erodes or deposits snow in irregular grooves and ridges. Sastrugi sometimes result in delicate and fragile snow formations.
- A snow barchan is horseshoe-shaped snowdrift, with the ends pointing downwind.
- A snow bridge is an arch formed by snow that has drifted across a crevasse, forming first a cornice, and ultimately a covering which may completely obscure the crevasse.
- A snow roller is a rare formation that occurs during specific meteorological conditions. Wind blows a chunk of snow along the ground, and the resulting snowball accumulates material as it rolls along. Snow rollers are cylindrical rather than circular. Some are shaped like donuts because the weak inner layers collapse and blow away.
- Sun cups refer to a pattern of shallow, bowl-shaped hollows that form during intense sunshine.
For more information see Snow Resources.
Education Resources: Online map tools, video, printed, and printable materials. Photographs, animations, and more.
Cryosphere Glossary: Find terms and definitions relating to snow and ice.
Cold Links: Search for Earth system education materials.
Is there fresh snow at the ski hill? Visit NSIDC Scientist Drew Slater's site for SNOTEL station snow data in the Western U.S., updated hourly. |
The 8.9 magnitude earthquake in Japan is causing problems for at least one of its fleet of nuclear reactors—and authorities have shut down 10 of the country's 55 units. Tokyo Electric Power confirmed that pressure had been rising inside reactor No. 1 at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on the northeast coast, one of the largest nuclear power plants in the world. That means cooling water is not getting to the reactor core, causing a build up of steam inside the containment vessel. The problem, according to Japanese media reports, is a loss of grid electricity to run the pumps that bring in cooling water. The backup diesel generators that are supposed to provide emergency power in that case are out of order, according to the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum, but replacements were being taken to the plant. (Similar diesel generators were providing power to the nation's Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant, which recycles spent nuclear fuel.)
As a precautionary measure, the Japanese government has declared a nuclear emergency and asked people living within three kilometers of the facility to evacuate and people living within 10 kilometers to remain indoors. Tokyo Electric Power, for its part, planned to vent some of the radioactive steam from inside the containment building.
Scientific American spoke with Scott Burnell, public affairs officer at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the government agency charged with monitoring the safety of the 104 nuclear reactors in the U.S., about what it takes to cool down a reactor.
[An edited transcript of the interview follows.]
How do you typically cool a reactor?
The approach to cooling is very simple: push water past the nuclear core and carry the heat somewhere else. The chain reaction that actually runs the reactor can be shut off in a matter of seconds. What's left over in the core, the radioactive material, will continue to give off heat for a long time. Unless you have a mechanism to remove that, the heat can build up and can eventually damage the radioactive fuel or the reactor.
Pushing water past the core means pumps that are generally run by electricity. What happens when a reactor gets disconnected from the grid?
There are emergency diesel generators. You also have a battery system to keep instruments running, but that can also provide power to safety systems [which prevent a meltdown by cooling the reactor core]. It's all meant to provide defense in depth. First you rely on the grid. If the grid is no longer available, you use diesel generators. If there is an issue with the diesels, you have a battery backup. And the batteries usually last long enough for you to get the diesels going.
How much time is there before a meltdown?
It depends on the plant. It depends on whether it's a boiling-water reactor or a pressurized-water reactor. Basically, [in both] you have the benefit of natural forces such as convection. There is a coolant loop no matter what, so you end up to some degree cooling the core because the heated water rises and colder water gets pulled in. But that's not as effective as a pump bringing in cool water. Just to speak very broadly, you have many hours to restore power to the system to get normal cooling going. It's really not possible to get more specific than "many hours."
But generally, less than 24 hours.
That's fair to say.
What's the worst-case scenario?
The event we are looking to avoid is damaging the core. Once you start damaging the core, you are then releasing radioactive material into the coolant and thereby increasing the chances that something travels outside the reactor.
The reactor that was not cooling properly in Japan, the Fukushima Daiichi No. 1 reactor, was a boiling-water type. How are these different from pressurized-water reactors in terms of cooling?
Particularly useful to boiling-water reactors is a system that is steam driven. It does not require an outside power source. Steam generated by the heat of a cooling down reactor has enough force to run a turbine, which then runs a pump that provides coolant to the core. That sort of system is supposed to withstand an earthquake, and that can run for an extended period. It's a self-limiting condition. That system does use batteries for the controls, but it can also be operated manually. So even in the face of a complete station blackout—you don't have any power at all—there are methods for using the steam-driven pump to continue to keep cooling going.
Are there other coolants besides water?
Water would be it, essentially. The reserve tanks at a reactor contain the same grade of water in terms of purity and chemical composition that are normally used in the core. It is possible, if you have a situation where you have exhausted that source of coolant to introduce, quote–unquote, regular water. That will do the job of cooling.
Why do nuclear power plants need electricity to be cooled?
Nuclear reactors are net positive in terms of supporting the grid. They produce much more electricity than they need to run their systems. As a basic design feature in the U.S., plants are not literally self-powering. That's by design, because you don't want to end up in a situation where a problem at the plant cuts off its own power source. Therefore, the primary means of power for a plant in order for it to run is electricity from the grid. As a general matter, for U.S. plants, if you can't use power from the grid, you shut down.
What kinds of events could knock out a diesel generator?
You always have the possibility of just plain old failure. That's why you have multiple diesels at a plant for redundancy's sake. It can be the case that diesel itself is running properly but the distribution system, the buses or the cabling could be misaligned to the point where the diesel detects that its power is not being accepted by the plant. It's not going to run if it's trying to generate power and that power's not going anywhere. When we say a diesel fails, it's not always a problem with the diesel [itself].
How long does it take to cool down a reactor?
There are design specific variables there. The easiest way to answer that question is that NRC regulatory requirements for emergency power supplies is that they be available on the order of a month. You can render a plant in an acceptable condition within a few hours. However, heat is still being generated. If you had to stop, at any point, carrying away that heat, it would start building up again. Emergency cooling systems have to be available for weeks. |
Bug Worksheet - Practice Counting
In this picture addition worksheet, 1st graders count the number of butterflies. Students then circle or color the corresponding number.
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Christmas Worksheets for Santa's Little Helpers
Just because children aren't in the classroom over winter break, doesn't mean that learning has to stop. Intended as a resource for parents, this eBook provides Christmas-themed worksheets and activities that engage children in...
Pre-K - 2nd Math CCSS: Adaptable
St. Patrick's Day Themed Math and Literacy Practice
Look no further for St. Patrick's Day-themed math and literacy practice worksheets. Math skills allow for practicing counting to 100 by 5s, 10s, and 1s, as well as 10 more or 10 less, writing numbers in word and standard form,...
K - 1st Math CCSS: Adaptable |
Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem investigated erosion in the different types of limestone in the Western Wall located at the foot of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. Stones comprised of large crystals were almost unchanged in 2000 years, while limestone containing small crystals eroded much faster and in some cases had receded by tens of centimeters, potentially weakening the wall’s structure. The researchers describe an accelerated erosion process that explains why some rocks are more weathered than others, and displayed that chemo-mechanical erosion extends down to the tiny micron scale. The findings could have significant implications for regional and global carbonate weathering, and could help guide the development of effective preservation techniques that slow the rate of erosion in order to protect cultural heritage sites around the world.
Visitors to the Western Wall in Jerusalem can see that some of its stones have suffered extreme erosion. This is good news for people placing prayer notes in the wall’s many cracks and crevices, but presents a major problem for engineers concerned about the structure’s stability.
The Western Wall is a remnant of the ancient wall that surrounded the courtyard of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. It resides in Jerusalem’s Old City at the foot of the Temple Mount.
In order to calculate the erosion in the different kinds of limestone that make up the Western Wall, researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem used a laser scanner to create an accurate three-dimensional computer model. The researchers are Dr. Simon Emmanuel, the Harry P. Kaufmann Senior Lecturer in Environmental Water Technology, and PhD student Mrs. Yael Levenson, at the Hebrew University’s Institute of Earth Sciences.
As reported in an article accepted for publication in the journal Geology, they discovered that stones comprised of large crystals were resistant to wear, so they remained in a good condition over the 2000 years since they were put into place. However, limestone with very small crystals (about a thousandth of a millimeter in size) eroded at a much faster rate.
In some cases, extreme erosion rates in fine-grained micritic limestone blocks were up to 100 times faster than the average rates estimated for the coarse-grained limestone blocks. In some places these stones had receded by tens of centimeters, potentially weakening the entire structure.
In order to obtain a better understanding of what causes the two types of rock to behave differently, the researchers collected samples from ancient quarries thought to have supplied the stones for the Second Temple. Using a powerful atomic force microscope, they were able to see how the rocks disintegrated when they came into contact with water. During the experiments on rocks comprised of small crystals, tiny particles rapidly detached from the surface of the rock. These experiments stimulated the way in which rainwater interacts with limestone in nature.
Observed for the first time in Dr. Emmanuel’s lab, this process of accelerated erosion has the potential to explain why some rocks are more weathered than others. While mechanical weathering is thought to act on blocks and chips of rock at the visible outcrop sale, the researchers displayed for the first time that chemo-mechanical erosion extends down to the tiny micron sale. The findings could have significant implications for regional and global carbonate weathering.
According to Dr. Emmanuel, “Understanding such weathering processes could help guide the development of effective preservation techniques. For example, it may be possible to develop materials that slow the rate of erosion by binding the tiny crystals in the rock together. Advanced engineering techniques like this should assist efforts to protect not only the Western Wall, but other cultural heritage sites in Israel and around the world.”
The research appears as “Carbonate weathering rates accelerated by micron-scale grain detachment,” in the journal Geology. The research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation.
Contributing Source: Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Header Image Source: Wikimedia© Copyright HERITAGEDAILY, All rights Reserved. Written For: HeritageDaily - Heritage & Archaeology News |
|Description:||This image depicts the painful suffering being sustained by a young girl named Akouma, who is infected with Guinea worm, Dracunculus medinensis. Two health workers are extracting an adult worm from the girl’s lower right leg. The Guinea worm has migrated, over a period of approximately one year, to its site of emergence from its subcutaneous location, out through a ruptured blister, in order to release its eggs in a local pond or dam. This blister causes a very painful burning sensation and eventually (within 24 to 72 hours) ruptures. Once the white, spaghetti-like worm emerges from the wound, it is pulled out only a few centimeters each day, and wrapped around a small stick or piece of gauze. Sometimes a worm can be pulled out completely within a few days, but this painful process often takes weeks.|
Each time a worm emerges, persons may be unable to work or resume daily activities for months. The emergence of the worm usually occurs during planting or harvesting season, causing people to suffer crop losses when they cannot tend to their fields. Parents who have active Guinea worm disease may not be able to care for their children. People suffer food shortages when they are unable to work. For example, southeastern Nigerian rice farmers lost $20 million USD in one year because of outbreaks of Guinea worm disease. |
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.
In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow sense, as the formal description of a policy passed in certain territories, and in a wider (generic) sense for primary legislation passed in any country.
A draft Act of Parliament is known as a bill.
In territories with a Westminster system, most bills that have any possibility of becoming law are introduced into parliament by the government. This will usually happen following the publication of a "white paper", setting out the issues and the way in which the proposed new law is intended to deal with them. A bill may also be introduced into parliament without formal government backing; this is known as a private member's bill.
In territories with a multicameral parliament, most bills may be first introduced in any chamber. However, certain types of legislation are required, either by constitutional convention or by law, to be introduced into a specific chamber. For example, bills imposing a tax, or involving public expenditure, are introduced into the House of Commons in the United Kingdom, Canada's House of Commons and Ireland's Dáil as a matter of law. Conversely, bills proposed by the Law Commission and consolidation bills traditionally start in the House of Lords.
Once introduced, a bill must go through a number of stages before it can become law. In theory, this allows the bill's provisions to be debated in detail, and for amendments to the original bill to also be introduced, debated, and agreed to.
In bicameral parliaments, a bill that has been approved by the chamber into which it was introduced then sends the bill to the other chamber. Broadly speaking, each chamber must separately agree to the same version of the bill. Finally, the approved bill receives assent; in most territories this is merely a formality, and is often a function exercised by the head of state.
In some countries, such as in Spain and Portugal, the term for a bill differs depending on whether it is initiated by the government (when it is known as a "project"), or by the Parliament (a "proposition", i.e., a private member's bill).
In Australia, the bill passes through the following stages:
- First reading: This stage is a mere formality.
- Second reading: As in the UK, the stage involves a debate on the general principles of the bill and is followed by a vote. Again, the second reading of a Government bill is usually approved. A defeat for a Government bill on this reading signifies a major loss. If the bill is read a second time, it is then considered in detail
- Consideration in detail: This usually takes place on the floor of the House. Generally, committees sit on the floor of the House and consider the bill in detail.
- Third reading: A debate on the final text of the bill, as amended. Very rarely do debates occur during this stage.
- Passage: The bill is then sent to the other House (to the Senate, if it originated in the House of Representatives; to the House of Representatives, if it is a Senate bill), which may amend it. If the other House amends the bill, the bill and amendments are posted back to the original House for a further stage. The State of Queensland's Parliament is unicameral and skips this and the rest of the stages.
- Consideration of Senate/Representatives amendments: The House in which the bill originated considers the amendments made in the other House. It may agree to them, amend them, propose other amendments in lieu, or reject them. However, the Senate may not amend money bills, though it can "request" the House to make amendments. A bill may pass backwards and forwards several times at this stage, as each House amends or rejects changes proposed by the other. If each House insists on disagreeing with the other, the Bill is lost.
- Disagreement between the Houses: Often, when a bill cannot be passed in the same form by both Houses, it is "laid aside", i.e. abandoned. There is also a special constitutional procedure allowing the passage of the bill without the separate agreement of both houses. If the House twice passes the same bill, and the Senate twice fails to pass that bill (either through rejection or through the passage of unacceptable amendments), then the Governor-General may dissolve both Houses of Parliament simultaneously and call an election for the entire Parliament. This is called a double dissolution. After the election, if the House again passes the bill, but the deadlock between the Houses persists, then the Governor-General may convene a joint sitting of both Houses, where a final decision will be taken on the bill. Although the House and the Senate sit as a single body, bills passed at a joint sitting are treated as if they had been passed by each chamber separately. The procedure only applies if the bill originated in the House of Representatives. Six double dissolutions have occurred, though a joint sitting was only held once, in 1974.
- The bill is sent to the viceroy (the Governor-General for the Commonwealth; the Governor for a State; the Administrator for a Territory) for the royal assent. Certain bills must be reserved by the viceroy for the Queen's personal assent. Acts in the A.C.T. do not require this step.
In Canada, the bill passes through the following stages:
- First reading: This stage is a mere formality.
- Second reading: As in the UK, the stage involves a debate on the general principles of the bill and is followed by a vote. Again, the second reading of a government bill is usually approved. A defeat for a Government bill on this reading signifies a major loss. If the bill is read a second time, then it progresses to the committee stage.
- Committee stage: This usually takes place in a standing committee of the Commons or Senate.
- Standing committee: The standing committee is a permanent one; each committee deals with bills in specific subject areas. Canada's standing committees are similar to the UK's select committees.
- Special committee: A committee established for a particular purpose, be it the examination of a bill or a particular issue.
- Legislative committee: Similar to a special committee in that it is established for the consideration of a particular bill. The chairmanship is determined by the Speaker, rather than elected by the members of the committee. Not used in the Senate.
- Committee of the Whole: The whole house sits as a committee in the House of Commons or Senate. Most often used to consider appropriation bills, but can be used to consider any bill.
- The committee considers each clause of the bill, and may make amendments to it. Significant amendments may be made at committee stage. In some cases, whole groups of clauses are inserted or removed. However, if the Government holds a majority, almost all the amendments which are agreed to in committee will have been tabled by the Government to correct deficiencies in the bill or to enact changes to policy made since the bill was introduced (or, in some cases, to import material which was not ready when the bill was presented).
- Report stage: this takes place on the floor of the appropriate chamber, and allows the House or Senate to approve amendments made in committee, or to propose new ones.
- Third reading: A debate on the final text of the bill, as amended.
- Passage: The bill is then sent to the other House (to the Senate, if it originated in the House of Commons; to the Commons, if it is a Senate bill), where it will face a virtually identical process. If the other House amends the bill, the bill and amendments are sent back to the original House for a further stage.
- Consideration of Senate/Commons amendments: The House in which the bill originated considers the amendments made in the other House. It may agree to them, amend them, propose other amendments in lieu or reject them. If each House insists on disagreeing with the other, the Bill is lost.
- Disagreement between the Houses: There is no specific procedure under which the Senate's disagreement can be overruled by the Commons. The Senate's rejection is absolute.
The debate on each stage is actually debate on a specific motion. For the first reading, there is no debate. For the second reading, the motion is "That this bill be now read a second time and be referred to [name of committee]" and for third reading "That this bill be now read a third time and pass." In the Committee stage, each clause is called and motions for amendments to these clauses, or that the clause stand part of the bill are made. In the Report stage, the debate is on the motions for specific amendments.
Once a bill has passed both Houses in an identical form, it receives final, formal examination by the Governor General, who gives it the royal assent. Although the Governor General can refuse to assent a bill or reserve the bill for the Queen at this stage, this power has never been exercised.
Bills being reviewed by Parliament are assigned numbers: 2 to 200 for government bills, 201 to 1000 for private member's bills, and 1001 up for private bills. They are preceded by C- if they originate in the House of Commons, or S- if they originate in the Senate. For example, Bill C-250 was a private member's bill introduced in the House. Bills C-1 and S-1 are pro forma bills, and are introduced at the beginning of each session in order to assert the right of each Chamber to manage its own affairs. They are introduced and read a first time, and then are dropped from the Order Paper.
- First reading - introduction stage: Any member, or member-in-charge of the bill seeks the leave of the house to introduce a bill. If the bill is an important one, the minister may make a brief speech, stating its main features.
- Second reading - discussion stage: This stage consists of consideration of the bill and its provisions.
- Third reading - voting stage: This stage is confined only to arguments either in support of the bill or for its rejection as a whole, without referring to its details. After the bill is passed, it is sent to the other house.
- Bill in the other house (Rajya Sabha): After a bill, other than a money bill, is transmitted to the other house, it goes through all the stages in that house as that in the first house. But if the bill passed by one house is amended by the other house, it goes back to the originating house.
- President's approval: When a bill is passed by both the houses, it is sent to the President for his approval. The President can assent or withhold his assent to a bill or he can return a bill, other than a money bill. If the President gives his assent, the bill is published in The Gazette of India and becomes an Act from the date of his assent. If he withholds his assent, the bill is dropped, which is known as pocket veto. The pocket veto is not written in the constitution and has only been exercised once by President Zail Singh: in 1986, over the postal act where the government wanted to open postal letters without warrant. If the president returns it for reconsideration, the Parliament must do so, but if it is passed again and returned to him, he must give his assent to it.
In New Zealand, the bill passes through the following stages:
- First reading: MPs debate and vote on the bill. If a bill is approved, it passes on to the committee stage.
- Select committee stage: The bill is considered by a Select Committee, which scrutinises the bill in detail and hears public submissions on the matter. The Committee may recommend amendments to the bill.
- Second reading: The general principles of the bill are debated, and a vote is held. If the bill is approved, it is put before a Committee of the House.
- Committee of the House: The bill is debated and voted on, clause by clause, by the whole House sitting as a committee.
- Third reading: Summarising arguments are made, and a final vote is taken. If the bill is approved, it is passed to the Governor-General for royal assent. New Zealand has no upper house, and so no approval is necessary.
United Kingdom Parliament
A draft piece of legislation is called a bill, when this is passed by Parliament it becomes an Act and part of statute law. There are two types of bill and Act, public and private. Public Acts apply to the whole of the UK or a number of its constituent countries — England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Private Acts are local and personal in their effect, giving special powers to bodies such as local authorities or making exceptions to the law in particular geographic areas.
In the United Kingdom Parliament, each bill passes through the following stages:
- Pre-legislative scrutiny: Not undertaken for all bills; usually a joint committee of both houses will review a bill and vote on amendments that the government can either accept or reject. The report from this stage can be influential in later stages as rejected recommendations from the committee are revived to be voted on.
- First reading: This is a formality; no vote occurs. The Bill is presented and ordered to be printed and, in the case of private members' bills, a date is set for second reading.
- Second reading: A debate on the general principles of the bill is followed by a vote.
- Committee stage: This usually takes place in a public bill committee in the Commons and on the Floor of the House in the Lords. The committee considers each clause of the bill, and may make amendments to it.
- Consideration (or report) stage: this takes place on the floor of the House, and is a further opportunity to amend the bill. Unlike committee stage, the House need not consider every clause of the bill, only those to which amendments have been tabled.
- Third reading: a debate on the final text of the bill, as amended in the House of Lords. Further amendments may be tabled at this stage.
- Passage: The bill is then sent to the other House (to the Lords, if it originated in the Commons; to the Commons, if it is a Lords bill), which may amend it.
- Consideration of Lords/Commons amendments: The House in which the bill originated considers the amendments made in the other House.
- Royal assent: the bill is passed with any amendments and becomes an act of parliament.
In the Scottish Parliament, bills pass through the following stages:
- Introduction: The Bill is introduced to the Parliament together with its accompanying documents — Explanatory Notes, a Policy Memorandum setting out the policy underlying the Bill and a Financial Memorandum setting out the costs and savings associated with it. Statements from the Presiding Officer and the member in charge of the Bill are also lodged, indicating whether the Bill is within the legislative competence of the Parliament.
- Stage one: The Bill is considered by one or more of the subject Committees of the Parliament, which normally take evidence from the bill's promoter and other interested parties before reporting to the Parliament on the principles of the Bill. Other Committees, notably the Finance and Subordinate Legislation Committees, may also feed in at this stage. The report from the Committee is followed by a debate in the full Parliament.
- Stage two: The Bill returns to the subject Committee where it is subject to line-by-line scrutiny and amendment. This is similar to the Committee Stage in the UK Parliament.
- Stage three: The Bill as amended by the Committee returns to the full Parliament. There is a further opportunity for amendment, followed by a debate on the whole Bill, at the end of which the Parliament decides whether to pass the Bill.
- Royal assent: After the Bill has been passed, the Presiding Officer submits it to Her Majesty for royal assent. However he cannot do so until a 4-week period has elapsed during which the Law Officers of the Scottish Executive or UK Government can refer the Bill to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom for a ruling on whether the Bill is within the powers of the Parliament.
There are special procedures for emergency bills, member's bills (similar to private member's bills in the UK Parliament), committee bills, and private bills.
In Singapore, the bill passes through these certain stages before becoming into an Act of Parliament.
- First Reading: The bill is introduced to the government, usually by the members of parliament. The unicameral parliament will then discuss the bill, followed by a vote. Voting must be at least 1/2 aye for non-controversial bills and 2/3 aye for controversial ones. If the bill passes the vote it will proceed to the second reading.
- Second Reading: In this stage, the bill is further discussed and put to a second vote. If more than half of the votes are aye the bill proceeds to the select committee.
- Select Committee: The select committee consists of people not only from the parliaments, but also the people who could be affected by the bill is passed into law. This is to ensure equity and that the bill is fair for all. If the Bill is in favor, it will proceed to the third reading.
- Third Reading: After the select committee has discussed and are in favor of the bill, they will put it to a vote. At this juncture, if the votes are more than 1/2 aye, it will be sent to the President of Singapore, currently Tony Tan. This is known as President Assent.
- President Assent: The president must give permission in order for the bill to be passed. If he approves it, it will become a statute passed down by the members of parliament which is called an Act of Parliament.
Titles and citation of Acts
Acts passed by the Parliament of England did not originally have titles, and could only be formally cited by reference to the parliamentary session in which they were passed, with each individual Act being identified by a chapter number. Descriptive titles began to be added to the enrolled Acts by the official clerks, as a reference aid; over time, titles came to be included within the text of each bill. Since the mid-nineteenth century, it has also become common practice for Acts to have a short title, as a convenient alternative to the sometimes lengthy main titles.
The numerical citation of Acts has also changed over time. The original method was based on the regnal year(s) in which the relevant parliament session met. This has been replaced in most territories by simple reference to the calendar year, with the first Act passed being chapter 1, and so on.
- Act of Congress
- Legislative act
- Halsbury's Statutes
- List of Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom
- Table of contents
- Smith, Jennifer. Democracy and the Canadian House of Commons at the millennium, Canadian Public Administration, Jan 1, 1999, Vol. 42, No. 4 (Winter 1999), p. 398.
- "HOW A BILL BECOMES AN ACT". parliamentofindia.nic.in. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
- "Amendments to Sebi Act gets Presidential assent". PTI. 18 Sep 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
It has now been published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part-II, Section-1, dated the 13th September 2013 as Act No. 22 of 2013
- Gupta, V. P. (26 Aug 2002). "The President’s role". Times of India. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
- p. 190, How Parliament Works, 6th edition, Robert Rogers and Rhodri Walters, Pearson Longman, 2006
- Levy, Jessica, Public Bill Committees: An Assessment Scrutiny Sought; Scrutiny Gained, Parliamentary Affairs, Vol. 63, No. 3 (Jul 2010), p. 534.
- Mitchell, James. The Narcissism of Small Differences: Scotland and Westminster, Parliamentary Affairs, Jan 1, 2010, Vol. 63, No. 1 (Jan 2010), p. 98.
- All Acts of Parliament (since 1988) and statutory instruments are available free on-line under Crown copyright terms from the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI).
- Acts of Parliament (since 1267) revised to date are available free on-line under Crown copyright terms from the Ministry of Justice (SLD).
- Parliamentary Stages of a Government Bill (pdf) from the House of Commons Information Office.
- Acts of the Commonwealth Parliament of Australia: ComLaw.gov.au |
Galaxies and the Universe
Content Resources for the Pre-Service Educator
A description of the different classes of galaxies (spiral, elliptical, etc.), what kinds of objects galaxies contain, and when most galaxies were formed.
The Universe Forum
The website for the Structure and Evolution of the Universe Education Forum, sponsored by NASA and based at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. The site explores three great mysteries of space and time: the Big Bang, black holes and dark energy.
How big is our universe? Booklet
Using photographs and straight-forward concepts, this Web site takes readers out of our solar system, into the realm of the stars, the galaxies, and finally the vast panorama of the observable universe.
Beyond the Solar System: Expanding the Universe in the Classroom
How can teachers and students explore some of the biggest questions about our place in space and time? This professional development DVD is filled with video, print, and online resources for educators of students and adults alike.
Astronomy Picture of the Day
NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day website contains images and links to exciting astronomical discoveries and observations. It also includes a searchable directory and glossary of astronomical phenomena.
Amazing Space: Q&A Galaxies
Several Web pages describing galaxy characteristics and classification.
Hidden Lives of Galaxies
Information and activity book, including powerpoint presentation. The information begins with a basic overview of galaxies, but then includes significant detailed information on dark matter. |
Fat-bottomed nucleii could help reveal what makes the world go
round -- or, more accurately, help explain the inequality between
matter and antimatter in the universe and therefore why the two
have not annihilated one another.
Atoms are composed of protons, neutrons and electrons. By
analysing the interactions between sub-atomic particles you can
predict the overall behaviour of the atoms. The interactions also
distort the shape of the atom's nucleus, usually into a sphere or a
quadrupole form -- something akin to a rugby ball.
However, octupole or pear-shaped nucleii have been found in
heavier elements from the Periodic Table such as radon and
The search for these pear-shapes involved using particle
accelerators at Cern's Isotope Separator On Line-Detector (ISOLDE)
facility, which accelerated isolated isotopes to the energies
needed for Peter Butler, a physicist at the University of
Liverpool, and his team to conduct nuclear reaction
According to an article in Nature, the team found that
radium-224 takes the form of a pear, although "not an elongated
conference pear, more like a short-necked comice or Anjou".
The octupole shape is of interest to scientists because seeking
the forces which would lead to unequal quantities of matter and
antimatter in the universe involves looking for the effects of
those forces. One of these is a measure of the overall polarity of
a charged system which is known as an electric dipole moment
Pear-shaped nucleii would enhance the likelihood of observing
EDMs because their composition enhances measurable EDM by a factor
of around a thousand. |
A parameter associated with the behaviour of two bodies during a collision. Suppose that two billiard balls are travelling in the same straight line and have velocities u1 and u2 before the collision, and velocities v1 and v2 after the collision. If the coefficient of restitution is e, then
This formula is Newton's law of restitution. The coefficient of restitution always satisfies 0≤e≤1. When e=0, the balls remain in contact after the collision. When e=1, the collision is elastic: there is no loss of kinetic energy.
It may be convenient to consider a collision as consisting of a deformation phase, during which the shape of each body is deformed, and a restitution phase, during which the shape of each body is completely or partially restored. Newton's law follows from the supposition that, for each body, the impulse during restitution is e times the impulse during deformation.
Subjects: Sports and Exercise Medicine — Mathematics. |
Superconductivity, the ability of certain materials to conduct electricity without losing energy due to resistance from the conducting material itself, has never been used in a cheap and practical way since it was first discovered, almost a century ago. The results of a new research may enable its use in our every day lives, for instance, in power transmission and electric car motors.
Superconductivity was first discovered in 1911, when mercury was cooled down to minus 269 degrees Celsius (or 4 degrees Kelvin) using liquid Helium. It was later discovered that low-temperature superconductivity (closer to the absolute zero) occurs when electrons, which normally repel each other because they have the same charge, pair up due to vibrations of the grid-like atomic structure of the conducting material, enabling them to travel through the conductor without being scattered by atoms.
In 1986, scientists developed materials, such as copper oxide, that can act as high-temperature superconductors at “just” minus 123 degrees Celsius (or 150 degrees Kelvin). This temperature can be achieved with much cheaper liquid nitrogen, making the materials more appealing for industrial use.
If a simple and affordable way to create superconducting materials was found, it could lead to much more efficient power lines networks, which could transfer more power without loss of energy, and with fewer wires. Electric motors for cars could also benefit from superconductors, as do Maglav trains – trains which hover and move using powerful magnets. Because they hover above the tracks, these trains are much faster than trains which run along rails.
The Princeton scientists wanted to discover whether electrons bond in the same general way in high-temperature superconductors and in low-temperature. The experiment’s results were counterintuitive, said Ali Yazdani, Professor of physics at Princeton University, who led the research team.
Using a specialized scanning tunneling microscope to measure how nature allows electron pairs to form in high-temperature superconductors, the researchers looked for “the magical glue” which binds the electrons together.
The researchers discovered that the electrons which are most likely to bond into pairs are the ones that repel each other the most at room temperature.
Yazdani stated that “The repulsion seems to drive the electrons to adjust their orbitals and seek paired space in order to avoid further repulsion,” so the conductivity is actually “a direct consequence of the repulsion”.
According to National Science Foundation (NSF) Program Manager Charles Bouldin, the results of this research are of fundamental importance. “By showing that a fundamentally different electron pairing mechanism exists in high-temperature superconductors, this work will move the field in new directions, and will help find new materials to investigate”.
TFOT has previously written about usage of superconductors in an article about Orion, “the first Quantum Computer“, which makes use of two superconductors in its core. The World’s Strongest MRI, which hosts extremely powerful magnets, and the Mini-Mag Orion, a spaceship that utilizes magnetic fields to propel itself, could also benefit from superconductors.
The results of the research, which was funded by the NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers Program, a Major Research Instrumentation Award from NSF and by the U.S. Department of Energy, were published in the April 11th Issue of Science Magazine. |
Saturday, December 19, 2015
Monarch butterflies are notoriously choosy when picking out a spot to lay their eggs. Of all the plants in the world, only milkweeds pass muster. But monarchs sick with a debilitating protozoan parasite are pickier still. Butterflies infected with Ophryocystis elektroscirrha (OE) flit from plant to plant, searching for those with enough cardenolides—a toxic steroid—to reduce infection in their offspring. Now, researchers have found that how much cardenolide a plant stores may depend on an unlikely ally: soil fungi.
“We’ve known that ecological systems are complex… but the order of complexity just keeps getting larger,” says Kabir Peay, a soil microbial ecologist at Stanford University who wasn’t involved in the study. “It was surprising to see that interactions underground between these fungi and the plant can have effects that cascade across four biological kingdoms with pretty significant impacts on the health of the butterflies.”
Scientists have long known that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are crucial to most of the world’s terrestrial plants. The microscopic organisms, whose intricate network of filaments lace through the soil, deliver nitrogen and phosphorus to plants in exchange for sugar. Without the help of these mycorrhizal allies, it’s possible that plants might not have colonized land some 400 to 500 million years ago.
What wasn’t known, however, was whether the fungi might influence disease transmission among organisms like the monarch. In the wild, monarch caterpillars contract OE when they eat parasite spores left behind by their infected mothers. The more spores—which reproduce inside the growing caterpillar—the more damage they do. But, according to other research, cardenolides seem to reduce the number of spores these caterpillars carry later on in life.
To find out if mycorrhizal fungi played a role in milkweed cardenolide levels—and possibly monarch health—the researchers grew six species of milkweed that naturally produce different amounts of the medicinal cardenolide toxins. Some of the plants were grown with no mycorrhizal fungi, some with low levels of the fungus, and still others with high levels.
The scientists then fed the leaves to two groups of monarch caterpillars; one healthy and the other infected with OE spores. The caterpillars were then left alone to pupate and turn into butterflies, with the researchers recording how long each insect survived.
The results illustrate the complexity of the four-way relationship among the butterfly, the milkweed, the fungi, and the parasite, the researchers report today in Proceedings of the Royal Academy B. The results varied highly based on milkweed species and on the density of fungi in plant roots. In some milkweed species, the fungi did increase the levels of medicinal cardinolides in the plant’s leaves. But that didn’t necessarily translate into a health benefit for butterflies infected with the parasite. That’s because the soil fungi also appear to influence how much of another compound—the nutrient phosphorous—occurred in plant leaves. And the changes in phosphorous, at times, appear to cancel out other potentially beneficial changes in leaf chemistry.
“It was striking to us that we actually found an effect in the first place,” says co-author Leiling Tao, a postdoctoral researcher in disease ecology at Emory University in Atlanta. “It was even more surprising that the different milkweed species can have such different responses to the fungi.”
Their work shows that animal self-medication doesn’t rely merely on the plants that are used, explains co-author and chemical ecologist Mark Hunter of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. “We need to know something about the associated soil communities, too. That’s challenging because our understanding of those systems isn’t nearly as developed.”
The finding has potential implications for popular monarch conservation efforts, spurred on by an alarming drop in monarch numbers at their overwintering sites in Mexico. In the United States, those efforts have focused on planting milkweed in habitats decimated by the spread of herbicide-resistant crops. But scientists recently discovered that planting a nonnative, tropical milkweed species actually increases OE infections among monarchs in some places.Next for the researchers is figuring out how exactly the infected monarchs know which milkweed species—and fungal communities—are most beneficial to them. One possible explanation is that fungi-induced changes in the cocktail of volatile organic compounds produced by milkweed may generate a distinctive smell, drawing monarchs. For the moment, however, whether or not the butterflies can actually detect those changes is unknown, “but it would be surprising if they couldn’t,” Hunter says. |
On February 11, 1939, the journal Nature published a theoretical paper on nuclear fission. The term was coined by the authors Lise Meitner and Otto Fritsch, her nephew. They knew that when a uranium nucleus was struck by neutrons, barium was produced. Seeking an explanation, they used Bohr's "liquid drop" model of the nucleus to envision the neutron inducing oscillations in a uranium nucleus, which would occasionally stretch out into the shape of a dumbbell. Sometimes, the repulsive forces between the protons in the two bulbous ends would cause the narrow waist joining them to pinch off and leave two nuclei where before there had been one. They calculated the huge amounts of energy released. This was the basis for nuclear chain reaction and was recognized by the U.S. government as a potential weapon which led to the establishment of the Manhattan Project. Meitner was invited to work on the project but refused.
Books in our collection
Out of the shadows: contributions of twentieth-century women to physics by Nina Byers, Gary Williams
A devotion to their science: pioneer women of radioactivity by Marelene Rayner-Canham, Geoffrey Rayner-Canham |
Black History Month was originally started as Negro History Week in 1926 by Carter G. Woodson. The goal of Black History Week was to honor the history and contributions of African Americans and educate Blacks about their cultural background, and instill in them a sense of pride in their race. Many Africans Americans still jokingly or not so jokingly, believe that February was given as Black History Month because it is the shortest month, actually Woodson chose the second week of February to pay tribute to the birthdays of two Americans that dramatically affected the lives of Blacks: Abraham Lincoln (February 12) and Frederick Douglass (February 14). From there the week, later became a month and in 1976 getting national recognition as Black History Month.
Carter G Woodson was a historian, scholar, journalist and the founder of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. He was one of the first scholars to systematically and seriously study black history. To this day he is still considered The Father of Modern Black History.
For more information on the works and life of Carter G Woodson:
The Rural Negro
The mis-education of the Negro
The history of the Negro church
Carter G. Woodson : a life in Black history |
Shock is a life-treatening condition that can be caused by severe bleeding, an injury or sudden illness. The circulatory system fails to carry oxygen-rich blood to all body parts. The body's oxygen-starved major organs cannot function properly, triggering a series of responses which produce specific signals known as shock. Three conditions are needed for the body to maintain adequate blood flow: the heart must be working well, an adequate amount of blood must be circulating, and the blood vessels must be intact and aable to adjust blood flow. When a severe injury or illness occurs, the body sends blood to the vital organs: brain, heart and lungs, among others. When the tissues of the arms and legs begin to die, the body sends blood to them and away from the vital organs. The victim goes unconscious as the brain is affected, his or her heartbeat slows and stops as the heart is affected, and then breathing stops as well. Without proper medical treatment, a person in shock will die.
Signs of Shock
Care for Shock |
Write 9 pages thesis on the topic the structure of the liturgy and the chant traditions of the middle ages music. From the biblical literature on the early church, little information is presented on the nature of music that the apostles and early disciples took part in. Perhaps the most important literature containing a little more information on the kind of music and worship practices engaged by the early church is presented by church documents. Common literature in the church orders includes Didache, Apostolic Tradition, Didascalia of the Apostles, Apostolic Church Order, Apostolic Constitutions, Canons of Hippolytus, and the Testamentum Domini1. Such texts were distributed around the regions where first Christian communities thrived before spreading over to the other regions. Other major Christian centers and cities have histories closely related to Christian practices including religious music and liturgical practices. From the general worship activities such as the reading of the bible verses and prayers, the music slowly became part of the liturgical activities of the early church and still is today. |
The sixth mass extinction is underway and biodiversity decline has picked up across many indicators. Species extinction rates are accelerating rapidly at a global scale. Around one million animal and plant species are threatened with extinction, constituting over a quarter of the world’s species. Projections estimate that doing nothing to reverse biodiversity loss will increase the number of extinct species globally by 4% (range 1% to 12%) by 2100. These threats extend to the biodiversity that supports our food and agriculture systems.
Current national biodiversity strategies struggle to address major drivers of biodiversity loss. As we approach the climate and biodiversity COPs and UN Food Systems Summit, countries should seek to develop integrated long-term strategies to ensure coherence across the biodiversity, food, climate, water, and energy sectors.
Aline Mosnier, Scientific Director, FABLE Consortium; Sarah K. Jones, Associate Scientist, Bioversity International; and Andrea C. Sánchez, Research Fellow, Bioversity International, explain why halting biodiversity loss requires systemic change. |
by Chris Lang. Published in Gen-ethischer Informationsdienst,
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) came to force in 1994. The convention states that its purpose is the "stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system". Yet in the decade since 1994, greenhouse gas emissions increased by 11 per cent, according to the World Resources Institute.(1)
When the thousands of participants get together each year to discuss climate change at the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, reducing greenhouse gas emissions is not even on the agenda. In December 2004, the tenth Conference of the Parties (COP-10) took place in Buenos Aires. After two weeks of negotiations, the best that the more than 6,000 participants could achieve was an agreement to hold another meeting. But at this next meeting, which is to be held in Germany in May, participants will not be allowed to discuss anything which might lead to new commitments. The US refused to agree to a meeting focussing on compulsory reduction of emissions.
The US, with about five per cent of the world's population is responsible for more than 20 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions. The USA has not signed the Kyoto Protocol, and has no intention of doing so. But as Michael Zammit Cutajar, the ex-Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC Secretariat, explained recently: "The Kyoto Protocol['s] . . . market orientation was largely inspired by the USA [and] largely instigated by the negotiating positions of the USA."(2)
Kyoto's "market orientation" allows Northern countries to meet part of their emissions targets by trading carbon dioxide with each other. Carbon trading "turns the earth's carbon-cycling capacity into property to be bought or sold in a global market," states the Durban Declaration on Carbon Trading, which has been signed by more than 100 NGOs.
Kyoto's "market orientation" also allows increased emissions of greenhouse gases. Through the Kyoto Protocol's clean development mechanism, industrialised countries can invest in projects in the South which are supposed to store carbon, thereby gaining credits allowing further emissions. One example of this is the establishment of tree plantations as carbon sinks.
If a power company in the Netherlands (say) wants to build a new power plant, it can plant an area with trees in Ecuador (say) to absorb the carbon dioxide produced by the new plant, thus making its new power plant "carbon neutral", in the jargon of the carbon traders. In 1994, an official from the US Department of Energy said that "Tree-planting will allow US energy policy to go on with business as usual out to 2015."
On one level, it all sounds perfectly reasonable. Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the air through photosynthesis. Carbon is stored in wood and other tissues until the tree dies.
Logic and fraud
But the logic behind carbon sinks is based on a fraud. In the international climate change negotiations, one ton of carbon released by burning fossil fuels is considered to be the same as one ton of carbon contained in a tree plantation. From the point of view of the impact on the climate, however, these are two different types of carbon which cannot be added to, or subtracted from, each other.
When carbon is stored in the form of fossil fuel under the earth it is stable. Unless it is dug out and burnt, it will not enter the atmosphere. Tree plantations are relatively unstable. They can catch fire, they can be destroyed by pests, they can be damaged or blown down in storms, they might be logged or local communities might try to reclaim the land they lost to the plantations by cutting down the trees. All trees eventually die and decay. In all these cases the carbon temporarily stored in the trees is released to the atmosphere.
In December 2003, at the ninth Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC (COP-9), government representatives agreed the rules under the Kyoto Protocol’s clean development mechanism for tree plantations as carbon sinks. One of the decisions reached at the meeting allows genetically engineered (GE) trees to be used as carbon sinks under the Kyoto’s clean development mechanism.
COP-9 "formulated rules for capturing new subsidies for industrial forestry projects that will accelerate global warming, disempower activists trying to tackle it, promote genetically-modified monoculture tree plantations, reduce biodiversity—and violate local people's rights to land and forests worldwide," as Larry Lohmann of The Corner House, a UK-based solidarity and research group, put it.(3)
Before COP-9 both Norway and Switzerland had publicly argued against the use of GM trees in the Kyoto Protocol. At the meeting, the Norwegian negotiator suggested excluding GM trees entirely from Kyoto. Nevertheless, the end result of the COP-9 meeting was that Kyoto rules now state that countries where plantations of GM trees as carbon sinks are planned should "evaluate, in accordance with their national laws, potential risks associated with the use of genetically modified organisms by afforestation and reforestation project activities".
Even the mention of the word "risks" was too much for Harlan Watson, the US chief climate negotiator. "We felt particularly that this singling out of GMOs was inappropriate in this context," Watson told Agence France-Presse.
In an official submission issued at the end of COP-9, the US government stated: "Genetically modified organisms do not present unique risks that would warrant specific mention in the preamble to a decision on Clean Development Mechanism activities."
In order to have a noticeable effect on the climate, immense areas would have to be planted with trees. Industrial tree plantations have caused serious problems for communities living near them in the South. In Brazil, for example, Aracruz Cellulose, the world's largest producer of bleached eucalyptus pulp, established its plantations on the lands of the Tupinikim and Guarani indigenous peoples and other local communities. In April 2004, Brazil's Movement of Landless Peasants protested against the pulp and paper industry's take over of vast tracts of land in Brazil. Landless people occupied areas of industrial tree plantations owned by six pulp and paper companies including Aracruz.
Using GM trees as carbon sinks would bring problems additional to those of large scale industrial tree plantations. In 1993, Japanese car manufacturer Toyota started field trials to test trees which had been genetically modified to absorb more carbon. While carbon absorption increased, Toyota's scientists also noted a dramatic increase in water consumption.
The first open air trial of GM poplars took place sixteen years ago in Belgium. Since then there have been several hundred field trials, most of them in the USA. All of these were experimental plots and the trees were destroyed at the end of the experiment.
The first commercial application
Two years ago, the Chinese government allowed the commercial release of GM trees. Well over one million insect resistant GM poplar trees have now been planted in China. Many of China's GM trees are planted in experimental plots, but it is possible to buy GM trees from Chinese tree nurseries and to plant them anywhere in the country. Neither the Chinese government nor the forestry scientists who produced the trees have records of where the trees have been planted.
Huoran Wang, a forestry scientist at the Chinese Academy of Forestry in Beijing, explained the risks involved at a meeting organised by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation in 2003. "Poplar trees are so widely planted in northern China that pollen and seed dispersal can not be prevented," Wang explained. He added that maintaining "isolation distances" between GM and non-GM poplars is "almost impossible".
Genetically modified trees pose the ultimate threat to the world's forests. Unlike food crops, trees can live for hundreds of years. It is impossible to predict what might happen over the life of a tree, how it will be affected by extremes of heat or cold, for example. If GM trees were to cross with natural trees, invade natural ecosystems and their impacts were to become all too visible, it would be too late. There is no way of recalling them to the laboratory.
GM trees that produce pollen could cross with native trees, irrevocably changing forest ecosystems. Some trees can re-grow from broken twigs and others grow suckers from the roots of living or already fallen trees. Seeds can float down rivers. Trees, whether genetically modified or not, do not respect international boundaries. GM trees (or genes from those trees) planted in one country could spread into neighbouring countries, regardless of international legislation on importing GMOs. Yet forestry scientists argue that the only way to find out whether their new GM tree technology is safe is by trying it out commercially. Steven Strauss, professor at the Department of Forest Science at Oregon State University, wrote in 2002, "As with other forms of novel breeding, the extent of testing needed will be determined empirically – via adaptive management – during early commercial applications."
Forestry scientists are working on producing GM trees which are sterile, in order to prevent the trees from crossing with natural trees. Plantations of sterile trees would have neither flowers nor would they produce fruit or seeds. They would grow faster but would be silent.
Silent, sterile monocultures might look good from the corporate perspective, but they would be a disaster for insects, birds and wildlife as well as for people living near the plantations.
The US Department of Energy is funding a three year, US$5.1 million research project into the possibility of using plantations of poplar trees to store carbon. Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are collaborating with the Universities of Florida, Oregon State and Minnesota as well as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the US Forest Service to produce GM trees which would store carbon. "We’re talking about millions of acres," ORNL's Stan Wullschleger told the Knoxville News Sentinel in March 2003.
Oregon State University's Steven Strauss is one of the world's biggest proponents of GM trees. Yet he admits that there is "a lack of a pressing need for the technology [of GM trees] at present in the USA". This is "due to a lack of tax incentives for intensive tree-based pulp and bioenergy plantations, low world pulp prices, etc." However, he adds, "This of course could change radically overnight if the world were to get serious about carbon emissions control and sequestration."
The decision reached in December 2003 at COP-9 allowing Northern companies and governments to establish plantations of GM trees in the South might be precisely the subsidy that proponents of GM trees have been looking for to impose their dangerous new technology on the world. The winners would be timber plantation companies, consulting firms and polluting energy companies. The losers would be rural people in the South, who would see their lands converted to monoculture tree plantations and their livelihoods destroyed. If they are ever planted, the resistance to GM tree carbon plantations will be massive.
* November 2004 - Emissions trade instead of climate protection
* August 2004 - China: Genetically modified madness
* May 2004 - Genetically modified trees cause memory loss
* March 2004 - Climate change: Hot air, fake science and genetically modified trees
* More articles about GE trees here.
* More articles about climate change here.
1. A list of companies that support World Resources Institute appears on the organisation's web-site. Here is a short selection: Shell International, Shell Foundation, Monsanto, McDonald's Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, BP, Citigroup Foundation, Cargill Dow, General Motors Corporation, Ford Motor Company Fund.
2. Michael Zammit Cutajar "Reflections on the Kyoto Protocol - looking back to see ahead", 1. Juli 2004, in Memorandum to the Inquiry into the International Challenge of Climate Change: UK Leadership in the G8 and EU, The Corner House, Sinks Watch and Carbon Trade Watch, December 2004.
3. Larry Lohmann, Race to the Bottom at the Climate Talks, Forest Cover: A Global Forest Coalition Newsletter on International Forest Policy, Nr. 11, Februar 2004. |
Pediatric oral care has two main components: preventative care at Omega Dental Centre and preventative care at home. Though infant and toddler caries (cavities) and tooth decay have become increasingly prevalent in recent years, a good dental strategy will eradicate the risk of both.
The goal of preventative oral care is to evaluate and preserve the health of the child’s teeth. Beginning at the age of twelve months, the American Dental Association (ADA) recommends that children begin to visit the dentist for “well baby” checkups. In general, most children should continue to visit the dentist every six months, unless instructed otherwise.
How can a pediatric dentist care for my child’s teeth?
The dentist examines the teeth for signs of early decay, monitors orthodontic concerns, tracks jaw and tooth development, and provides a good resource for parents. In addition, the dentist has several tools at hand to further reduce the child’s risk for dental problems, such as topical fluoride and dental sealants.During a routine visit to the dentist, the child’s mouth will be fully examined, the teeth will be professionally cleaned, topical fluoride
may be coated onto the teeth to protect tooth enamel, and any parental concerns can be addressed. The pediatric dentist can demonstrate good brushing and flossing techniques, advise parents on dietary issues, provide strategies for thumb sucking and pacifier cessation, and communicate with the child on his or her level.
When molars emerge (usually between the ages of two and three), the pediatric dentist may coat them with dental sealant. This sealant covers the hard-to-reach fissures on the molars, sealing out bacteria, food particles and acid. Dental sealant may last for many months or many years, depending on the oral habits of the child. Dental sealant provides an important tool in the fight against tooth decay.
How can I help at home?
Though most parents primarily think of brushing and flossing when they hear the words “oral care,” good preventative care includes many more factors, such as:
Diet – Parents should provide children with a nourishing, well-balanced diet. Very sugary diets should be modified and continuous snacking should be discouraged. Oral bacteria ingest leftover sugar particles in the child’s mouth after each helping of food – emitting harmful acids that erode tooth enamel, gum tissue, and bone if left unchecked. Space out snacks where possible, and provide the child with non-sugary alternatives like celery sticks, carrot sticks, and low-fat yogurt.
Oral habits – Though pacifier use and thumb sucking generally cease over time, both can cause the teeth to misalign. If the child must use a pacifier, choose an “orthodontically” correct model.
This will minimize the risk of developmental problems like narrow roof arches and crowding. The pediatric dentist can suggest a strategy (or provide a dental appliance) for thumb sucking cessation.
General oral hygiene – Sometimes, parents cleanse pacifiers and teething toys by sucking them. Parents may also share eating utensils with the child. Harmful oral bacteria are transmitted from parent-to-child in these ways, increasing the risk of early cavities and tooth decay. Instead, rinse toys and pacifiers with warm water and avoid spoon-sharing wherever possible.
Sippy cup use – Sippy cups are an excellent transitional aid for the baby bottle-to-adult drinking glass period. However, sippy cups filled with milk, breast milk, soda, juice, and sweetened water cause small amounts of sugary fluid to continually swill around young teeth – meaning continuous acid attacks on tooth enamel. Sippy cup use should be terminated between the ages of twelve and fourteen months - or whenever the child has the motor capabilities to hold a drinking glass.
Brushing – Children’s teeth should be brushed a minimum of two times per day using a soft bristled brush and a pea-sized amount of toothpaste. Parents should help with the brushing process until the child reaches the age of seven and is capable of reaching all areas of the mouth. Parents should always opt for ADA approved toothpaste (non-fluoridated before the age of two, and fluoridated thereafter). For babies, parents should rub the gum area with a clean cloth after each feeding.
Flossing – Cavities and tooth decay form more easily between teeth. Therefore, the child is at risk for between-teeth cavities wherever two teeth grow adjacent to each other. The pediatric dentist can help demonstrate correct head positioning during the flossing process, and suggest tips for making flossing more fun!
Fluoride – Fluoride helps prevent mineral loss and simultaneously promotes the remineralization of tooth enamel. Too much fluoride can result in fluorosis, a condition where white specks appear on the permanent teeth, and too little can result in tooth decay. It is important to get the fluoride balance correct. The pediatric dentist can evaluate how much the child is currently receiving and prescribe supplements if necessary.
If you have questions or concerns about how to care for your child’s teeth, please Contact Us! |
Samacheer Kalvi 12th Indian Polity -Chapter 5 Federalism in India Book Back Answers:
Samacheer Kalvi 12th Standard New Polity Book Back 1 Mark and 2 Mark Questions with Answers PDF uploaded and available below. Class 12 New Syllabus 2022 – Federalism in India Book Back Solutions available for both English and Tamil mediums. TN Samacheer Kalvi 12th Std Political Science Book Portion consists of 12 Units. Check Unit-wise and Full Class 12th Indian Polity Book Back Answers/ Guide 2022 PDF format for Free Download.
English, Tamil, Maths, Social Science, and Science Book Back One and Two Mark Questions and Answers available in PDF on our site. Class 12th Standard Tamil Book Back Answers and 12th Political Science guide Book Back Answers PDF. Check Social Science – History, Geography, Civics, Economics, Political Science One Mark English Medium below. See below for the New 12th Polity Book Back Questions with Answer PDF:
12th Samacheer Books Polity Book Back Answers PDF:
Social Science Subject One Mark, Two Mark Guide questions and answers are available below. Check Polity questions for English and Tamil Medium. Take the printout and use it for exam purposes.
12th Samacheer Kalvi Indian Polity- Federalism in India Book Back Answers :
I. Choose the correct answer:
1. The first federal constitution in the world belonged to
A) United States B) United Kingdom
C) India D) Australia
2. Federalism was demanded in India for the first time by
A) Mountbatten Plan B) Nehru Report
C) Cabinet Delegation D) Rajaji Plan
3. When was federalism officially accepted by the Colonial government?
A) Minto Morley Reforms 1909 B) Mont Ford Reforms 1919
C) 1935 Government of India Act D) Cabinet Delegation
4. Bicameralism refers to the Parliament having
A) Three Houses B) One House
C) Four Houses D) Two Houses
5. The most important feature of a federal constitution is
A) Regional Governments B) National Governments
C) Decentralization of Powers D) Political Parties
6. The disputes between central government and state governments are adjudicated by
A) Parliament B) Supreme Court
C) High Court D) President
7. Who described Indian Constitution as Cooperative Federalism?
A) Granville Austin B) Dr.Ambedkar
C) Jawaharlal Nehru D) Wheare
8. Article 262 of the constitution deals with
A) Inter-State River Water Disputes B) Inter-State Disputes
C) Centre-state Disputes D) International Disputes
9. Find out the correctly matched pair
A) Union List —— List II B) State List List I
C) Residuary List —— List I D) Concurrent List List III
10. Match the following
1) Sarkaria Commission a. Tamilnadu Govt.
2) Rajamannar Commission b. Akali Dal
3) Anandpur Sahib Resolution c. Supreme Court
4) BommaiJudgement d. Union Government
A) 1-a 2-b 3-c 4-d B) 1-d 2-a 3-b 4-c
C) 1-a 2-d 3-c 4-b D) 1-c 2-b 3-d 4-a
11. What is false about the process of creation of the new states in India?
A) President must recommend the bill for creating new states
B) President will refer the bill to the concerned state
C) Parliament will pass a Constitutional Amendment Act for creating the new State
12. The commission that recommended the abolition of All India Services like Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is
A) Punchchi Commission B) Sarkaria Commission
C) Venkatachaliah Commission D) Rajamannar Commission
13. Match the following
1. First Administrative Reforms Commission – a. VerrappaMoily.
2. Second Administrative Commission – b. Morarji Desai
3. Article 312 – c. Transfer of Subject to Concurrent List
4. Article 249 – d. All India Services
A) 1-a 2-b 3-c 4-d B) 1-d 2-a 3-b 4-c
C) 1-a 2-d 3-c 4-b D) 1-b 2-a 3-d 4-c
14. The following question consists of two statements, one labeled the Assertion (A) and the other labeled as the Reason (R). You are asked to examine the two statements carefully and decide if the Assertion
(A) and the Reason (R) are individually true and if so, whether the Reason is a correct explanation of the
Assertion. Select your answer to the question using the codes given below and mark your answer sheet accordingly;
Assertion (A): The constitution excludes the Inter State River Water Disputes from the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and entrusts them to article 262.
Reason (R): River Water disputes affect the livelihood of millions of people and therefore they should be settled through negotiations among the concerned states. Codes;
A) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A
B) Both A and R are true but R is not a correct explanation of A
C) A is true, but R is false
D) A is false, but R is true
Other Important Links for 12th Samacheer Kalvi Book Back:
For Chapter 6 Administrative Machinery in India Book Back Click Here – Chapter 6 Administrative Machinery in India Book Back
Click Here for Complete 12th Samacheer kalvi book back Answers – Samacheer Kalvi 12th Indian Polity Book Back Answers
Class 12 Samacheer Books PDF Free download, Click the link – Samacheer Kalvi 12th books. |
In this short solo episode, Nicole explains how to include more exploration in your class. She provides several examples of activity formats to use for exploration in an NGSS class.
Before You Listen
You might want to check out these episodes before listening to this one.
What is NGSS Exploration? (1:06)
Nicole discusses ways to use a discovery-based approach to allow for student exploration in your NGSS aligned class. When using a discovery-based approach, students have the opportunity to explore before you explain what is happening.
It’s important that you understand the difference between “Teaching as Telling” and “Explore before Explain” before listening to this episode. So, make sure that you have listened to Season 1 Episode 10 before listening to this episode.
What does student discovery look like in an NGSS classroom?
During student exploration, the teacher provides students with an activity that allows them to explore a phenomenon. Then, students discuss their ideas as well as possible explanations.
At this point, students are using common terminology rather than science vocabulary. Do not front load the vocabulary. (We will explain why in detail in season 2!)
The Teachers Role
The teacher is responsible for providing necessary background information for students to be able to carry out the activity. Beyond that, the teacher just acts as a facilitator.
The teacher can make observations and might ask guiding questions. However, it is important that the teacher is not validating correct answers or telling students when they are wrong. Instead, the teacher can redirect using those observations and guiding questions.
Examples of Exploration Activities in an NGSS Classroom (3:32)
Here are a few activity types that work well in the exploration phase of your lesson sequence.
Investigations are a great way to help your students to discover the content. They are very hands-on. They require a lot of student thinking.
These could be formal investigations or field observations. In these types of investigations, students are simply collecting data.
However, in order for it to be a discovery-based investigation, students need to be designing these investigations themselves. Labs with a step-by-step procedure are not discovery-based.
Simulations can be a great way to incorporation exploration into your NGSS aligned class. However, a simulation that is used as an explore activity shouldn’t include step-by-step instructions. Instead, students are allowed to freely explore the simulation.
Nicole recommends providing students with some guiding questions if you want to keep them on task.
For example, Phet Simulations are a great tool to allow students to explore. These simulations allow students to manipulate variables to find out the relationship between them.
Creating models is another example of a way that you can help students to discover the content in an NGSS aligned class. Models are physical representations of a phenomenon that students manipulate in order to begin to understand the phenomenon.
Students use these models to understand content. They use the model to test their ideas.
For example, provide students with a light source and various balls. Then, ask students to recreate the phases of the moon. They have to figure out the relationship between the Earth, moon and sun.
In contrast, students use conceptual models to explain their understanding. This type of activity is an explain phase activity.
Also, data are great examples of resources that can be used for exploration in an NGSS classroom. In this example, simply provide students with a graph or chart. Then, ask students to make connections using what they are seeing in the data.
For example, provide students with a graph that shows the effect of water availability on plant growth. Ask students to start making observations. Ask them what they notice. Then, have them formulate questions about these observations.
In this case, avoid making connections for them. Try to avoid pointing out patterns and important details. Instead, allow them to make those connections for themselves.
When doing card sorts, students use the Crosscutting Concepts to discover content. For example, students may look for patterns in the cards that they are given.
Card sorts are great for grouping, compare and contrast activities, and creating hierarchies.
For instance, Nicole uses a card sort to introduce the concept of food webs. Begin by providing students with different cards that represent different organisms in an ecosystem. These cards should contain notes about the organisms.
Students group the cards into categories. This will help them understand the differences between producers, consumers and decomposers.
In some ways, observations stations are used like card sorts. However, you will bring in phenomena to your classroom.
The stations may include demos, mini-activities, and things to observe. Students rotate through the stations in order to build their understanding of the material.
Want to Learn More? |
New research shows that the red panda, despite having fans everywhere, is being pushed closer to the precipice of extinction. When PhD researcher Damber Bista of the University of Queensland tracked red pandas using GPS collars, he discovered that their habitat is being fragmented.
“Our research findings show that current patterns of habitat fragmentation and forest exploitation, from infrastructure projects such as new roads, are placing the red panda under increased threat,” said Bista.
“Because of this, red pandas are changing their activity to minimize their interactions with disturbances, such as humans, dogs, or livestock, and this is drastically interfering with natural interactions between the animals, resulting in population isolation.”
Bista traveled to Nepal to tag and collar pandas, which allowed him to track the animals remotely from Queensland on his computer. COVID restrictions made it impossible for him to return to Nepal, as was the original plan.
“The satellite tracking allowed me to monitor the red pandas remotely here in Brisbane, while I relied on my friends and colleagues in Nepal to install cameras and conduct the field surveys,” said Bista. “It was a surreal experience, I would spend many hours a day during COVID lockdowns in my home, watching the movement of red pandas in Nepal on my computer.”
This study is only the fifth of its kind to be conducted on wild red pandas, and the second carried out in Nepal.
“It’s difficult to know how many red pandas are left in the world, but it is estimated that 10,000 are left in the wild, and between 500 to 1000 are in Nepal,” said Bista.“With the findings from this study showing fragmentation of their habitat, together with a previous study on the impacts of poaching, I am concerned about the future of this species.”
“While red pandas can adapt to habitat impacts to some extent, they may be susceptible to local extinction under these conditions, placing the wider population of the species at risk.”
The shrinking forest habitat of the panda forces the animals to make hard decisions. For instance, they have to decide whether to live closer to predators or adapt to life near encroaching humans.
“As you’d expect, it’s in an animal’s best interest to avoid its predators, but as we continue to build more roads and infrastructure, that drastically reduces the capacity for red pandas to do this,” Bista said, “As the availability of suitable forests shrink, it’s up to the red panda to weigh up its options on how to best survive.
Unfortunately, these types of compromises can lead towards a decline in red panda populations and possibly to eventual extinction.
The study is published in the journal Landscape Ecology. |
What is Gender Dysphoria
Gender dysphoria (formerly gender identity disorder) is defined by strong, persistent feelings of identification with the opposite gender and discomfort with one’s own assigned sex that results in significant distress or impairment. This distress is not limited to a desire to simply be of the other gender, but may include a desire to be of an alternative gender.
Call us at 469-714-0006 or email us at [email protected]
Understanding Gender Dysphoria
Identity issues may manifest in a variety of different ways. For example, some people with normal genitals and secondary sex characteristics of one gender privately identify more with the other gender.
Some may dress in clothes associated with the gender with which they identify, and some may seek hormone treatment or surgery as part of a transition to living full-time in the experienced gender.
The cause of gender dysphoria is unknown, but hormonal influences in the womb are suspected to be involved. The condition is rare and may occur in children or adults.
Cross-gender behaviors begin as early as 2 years, which is the start of the developmental period in which children begin expressing gendered behaviors and interests. Early-onset gender dysphoria typically starts in childhood and continues into adolescents and adulthood, which late-onset gender dysphoria occurs around puberty or much later in life.
Body dysphoria may lead an individual to feel uncomfortable with the entire body or only with certain parts of the body. Some may feel as if they were born into the “wrong” body, but others may use different language to describe their personal experience. Because each person’s experience differs, no broad statement can describe how an individual may be affected by dysphoria.
Social dysphoria can describe distress and discomfort that occurs as a result of how one is viewed by society. Assuming a person’s gender, using incorrect pronouns, or making assumptions about social roles in relation to gender can all be factors contributing to a person’s experience of social dysphoria.
Many work through feelings of dysphoria with the help of a trained therapist or counselor.
Individuals who wish to take hormones and/or pursue surgery to better align physical characteristics with their gender may find feelings of dysphoria begin to ease as they take these steps. These steps are offered after a year of therapy after making absolutely sure this is the best route. Some may simply live as their true gender without hormones or surgery.
Many individuals legally change their name and gender marker to reflect their true gender, and for many individuals, it may be the case that being socially recognized as a member of their actual gender and being addressed by the correct pronouns helps to ease feelings of dysphoria.
Gender dysphoria can be present in children or adolescents and adults, and can manifest differently in different age groups.
Children with gender dysphoria may manifest coexisting separation anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and symptoms of depression.
Adults may display anxiety and depressive symptoms. Some adult males have a history of paraphilias. Associated personality disorders are more common among males than among females being evaluated at adult gender clinics.
Signs of Gender Dysphoria?
Gender dysphoria is not the same as gender nonconformity, which refers to behaviors not matching the gender norms or stereotypes of the gender assigned at birth. The signs could begin as early as the age of 2. Here are some signs but not limited to both children and adults:
In adolescents and adults gender dysphoria diagnosis involves a difference between one’s experienced/expressed gender and assigned gender, and significant distress or problems functioning. It lasts at least six months and is shown by at least two of the following:
- A marked incongruence between one’s experienced/expressed gender and primary and/or secondary sex characteristics
- A strong desire to be rid of one’s primary and/or secondary sex characteristics
- A strong desire for the primary and/or secondary sex characteristics of the other gender
- A strong desire to be of the other gender
- A strong desire to be treated as the other gender
- A strong conviction that one has the typical feelings and reactions of the other gender
- Identifying more with the other gender
In children, gender dysphoria diagnosis involves at least six of the following and an associated significant distress or impairment in function, lasting at least six months.
- A strong desire to be of the other gender or an insistence that one is the other gender
- A strong preference for wearing clothes typical of the opposite gender
- A strong preference for cross-gender roles in make-believe play or fantasy play
- A strong preference for the toys, games or activities stereotypically used or engaged in by the other gender
- A strong preference for playmates of the other gender
- A strong rejection of toys, games and activities typical of one’s assigned gender
- A strong dislike of one’s sexual anatomy
- A strong desire for the physical sex characteristics that match one’s experienced gender
Scientific Backing of Borderline Personality Disorder
A look at how transgender’s mental health is worse than their cisgender counterparts.
Key Benefits of Therapy at Exult
At Exult, we have multiple professionals who are licensed in helping your and your partner.
- Group therapy
- Individual therapy
- Access to on-site psychiatrist
- Providers work together
- Tailored program for your loved one
- Afternoon hours
- Yoga and Mindulness
We do take multiple insurances such as United, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, and Medicare but we suggest you discuss any major medical decisions with your insurance provider.
We offer medication management but we try to keep an open discussion between the client, therapist, and psychiatrist as to the needs of the client.
Therapy to cope with distress caused by gender dysphoria and to develop concrete feelings and desire to be of the other gender. |
Albert Einstein (March 14, 1879 - April 18, 1955) was a physicist who first proposed the theory of relativity. He was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize for his account of the photoelectric effect; however, the announcement of his award was not made until a year later, in 1922. His theoretical work suggested the possibility of creating an atomic bomb.
Einstein was born March 14, 1879 at Ulm in Württemberg, Germany. He grew up in Munich and later in Italy, and received his higher education in Switzerland. At age 17 he renounced his German citizenship and later, in 1901, was accepted as a Swiss citizen. He obtained his doctorate in 1905. That same year, he wrote four articles that lay the foundation for modern physics.
The first article in this miracle year is remembered as his study of Brownian motion. It established empirical evidence for the reality of atoms. Before this paper, atoms were recognized as a useful concept, but physicists and chemists hotly debated the question of whther atoms were real things. Einstein's statistical discussion of atomic behavior gave experimentalists a way to count atoms by looking through an ordinary microscope. Wilhelm Ostwald, one of the leaders of the anti-atom school, later told Arnold Sommerfeld that he had been converted to a belief in atoms by Einstein's complete explanation of Brownian motion.
The second paper of 1905 proposed the idea of "light quanta" (now called photons) and showed how they could be used to explain such phenomena as the photoelectric effect. Einstein's theory of light quanta received almost no support from other physicists for nearly 20 years. It contradicted the wave theory of light that underlay James Clerk Maxwell's equations for electromagnetic behavior. Even after experiments demonstrated that Einstein's equations for the photoelectric effect were splendidly accurate, his explanation was not accepted. In 1922, when he was awarded the Nobel Prize, and his work on photoelectricity was mentioned by name, most physicists thought that, while the equation was correct, the idea of light quanta was impossible.
1905's third paper introduced the special theory of relativity, a detailed analysis of the concepts of time, distance, mass and energy which omits the force of gravity. Some of the paper's core mathematical ideas had been introduced a year earlier by the Dutch physicist Hendrik Lorentz, but Einstein showed how to understand these mathematical oddities. His explanation arose from two axioms: one was Galileo's old idea that the laws of nature should be the same for all observers that move with constant speed relative to each other; and, two, that the speed of light is the same for every observer. Special relativity has several striking consequences since the absolute concepts of time and size are rejected. The theory came to be called "special theory of relativity" to distinguish it from his later theory of general relativity, which considers all observers to be equivalent.
A fourth paper published later that same year showed one further deduction from relativity's axioms. That deduction was the famous equation that rest energy (E) equals mass (m) times the square of the speed of light (c) squared. Einstein considered this equation to be of paramount importance because it showed that matter and energy are profoundly linked. The idea later proved invaluable at understanding how the Big Bang (which was a pure burst of energy) could lead to the precipitation of a universe filled with matter. More immediately, however, the equation set people to dreaming of explosive weaponry, although atomic bombs only became a practical possibility after nuclear physics had developed considerably beyond the few vague speculations of 1905. (Remember that before that year, even the existence of atoms was controversial.)
In November 1915 Einstein presented a series of lectures before the Prussian Academy of Sciences in which he described his theory of general relativity. The final lecture climaxed with his introduction of an equation that replaced Newton's law of gravity. This theory considers all observers to be equivalent, not only those moving at a uniform speed. In general relativity, gravity is no longer a force (as it was in Newton's law of gravity) but is a consequence of the curvature of space-time. The theory provided the foundation for the study of cosmology and gave scientists the tools for understanding many features of the universe that were not discovered until well after Einstein's death.
Einstein's relationship with quantum physics, is quite remarkable. He was the first, even before Max Planck, the discoverer of the quantum, to say that quantum theory was revolutionary. His idea of light quanta showed the revolutionary break with the classical understanding of physics. In 1909, Einstein presented his first paper to a gathering of physicists and told them that they must find some way to understand waves and particles together.
In the early 1920's, Einstein was the lead figure in a famous weekly physics colloquium at the University of Berlin.
However, in the mid-1920's, as the original quantum theory was replaced with a new quantum mechanics, Einstein balked at the Copenhagen interpretation of the new equations because it settled for a probabilistic, non-visualizable account of physical behavior. Einstein agreed that the theory was the best available, but he looked for an explantion that would be more "complete," i.e., deterministic. His belief that physics described the laws that govern "real things" had led to his successes with atoms, photons, and gravity. He was unwilling to abandon that faith.
Einstein's famous remark, "Quantum mechanics is certainly imposing. But an inner voice tells me it is not yet the real thing. The theory says a lot, but does not really bring us any closer to the secret of the Old One. I, at any rate, am convinced that he does not throw dice," appeared in a 1926 letter to Max Born. It was not a rejection of statistical theory. Einstein had used statistical analysis in his work on Brownian motion and photoelectricity. In papers published before the miracle year of 1905 he even discovered Gibbs ensembles on his own. But he did not believe that, at bottom, physical reality behaves randomly.
In 1914, just before the start of World War I, Einstein settled in Berlin. His pacifism and Jewish origins outraged German nationalists. After he became world famous (on November 7, 1919, when the London Times reported the success of his gravitational theory) nationalist hatred of him grew even more ferocious.
In 1933, after Adolf Hitler came to power, he settled in the United States and accepted a position at the Institute of Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. He became an American citizen in 1940. He spent his last 20 years in an increasingly isolated and ultimately unsuccessful attempt at constructing a theory that would unify General Relativity and quantum mechanics. He died April 18, 1955 in Princeton, New Jersey.
Einstein considered himself a socialist. In a 1949 article, he described the "predatory phase of human development", exemplified by an anarchistic capitalist society, as a source of evil to be overcome. He disapproved of the totalitarian socialist regimes in the Soviet Union and elsewhere; nowadays, his position would probably be called social democratic.
Einstein first favored construction of the atomic bomb in order to defeat Hitler, and even signed an important letter alerting President Roosevelt to the fact that an atomic bomb was possible. But after the war he lobbied for nuclear disarmament and a world government.
He was offered the opportunity to become the first President of Israel but turned the offer down. His religious views were close to the pantheism of Baruch Spinoza: he believed that God revealed himself in the holy harmony of the laws of nature and he rejected a personal God able to interact with humans. He once said that among the major religions, he preferred Buddhism.
- S. Morgan Friedman, "Albert Einstein Online", http://www.westegg.com/einstein/. A comprehensive listing of online resources about Einstein. |
Pseudomonas is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium commonly found in soil, water, plants, animals and humans that has evolved to become a potentially virulent nosocomial pathogen. It is the most common bacteria isolated from patients who have been hospitalised longer than one week and is a frequent cause of hospital-acquired urinary tract infections, bacteraemia and pneumonia. It is becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics, particularly the species Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Who Is Susceptible
Like most hospital-acquired infections, Pseudomonas exploits vulnerable hosts. However, it is more insidious than most and will invade practically any tissue. But, it almost never invades tissues that are not compromised. It seeks out severe burns, cancer and AIDS, and anyone who is immunocompromised in any way. It thrives in moist environments and rarely grows on dry skin. These preferences converge to cause urinary tract infections by invading catheters, respiratory systems infections in those on ventilators, dermatitis, soft-tissue infections, bone and joint infections in post-surgical patients with fractures, gastrointestinal infections and general systems infections.
Signs and Symptoms of Colonization
Colonisation is a term used to describe the presence of organisms in, or on, the body that are not currently causing illness. They may be a part of the body's normal flora, or the immune system is keeping them in check. There are few or no outward signs or symptoms of Pseudomonas colonisation in healthy individuals. Because there are no signs, those at greatest risk of infection are tested for the bacteria and put on prophylactic antibiotics, particularly those with cystic fibrosis. Once infection occurs, Pseudomonas is difficult to eradicate and frequently leads to progressive lung damage. Its intractable nature is so severe that some cystic fibrosis patients may be given a vaccine.
Signs and Symptoms of Infection
Infection denotes the presence of an organism that is causing an illness. Signs and symptoms of Pseudomonas infection vary depending upon the site, but it often has a characteristic sweet smell and, like all infection, produces fever. Lung invasion and the subsequent pneumonia it causes is common in the immunocompromised, those on ventilators and persons with chronic lung disease. Severe shortness of breath, a worsening productive cough, fever, chills and confusion are its hallmarks. Endocarditis presents with fever, malaise and a heart murmur, while cellulitis and hypothermia can be signs of Pseudomonas invasion of the tissues, particularly in burn victims. Gastrointestinal presence causes urinary tract infections and diarrhoea and can lead to meningitis. Lingering post-operative bone and joint pain can signal Pseudomonas infection of the skeletal region.
Antibiotics, oral or intravenous, are the typical course of treatment. Type and duration vary and depend upon the infection site and severity.
- Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images |
The flu is responsible for millions of deaths worldwide each year. Scientists watch carefully for crossover viruses – transmission between hosts belonging to different species – as part of the quest to determine how best to contain harmful outbreaks. As more are infected, more become a threat to pass it on to others. And illness can spread exponentially and rapidly, exacting considerable death and crippling financial chaos.
It becomes critical to be proactive, using considerable resources to determine the variables that allow for the transmission and addressing them accordingly in the effort to prevent the devastating outbreaks. Outbreaks such as those we are witnessing presently with COVID-19, and the scores of diseases we have experienced many times in the past. Viruses are sneaky and adaptable, changing their makeup ever so slightly. Containment approaches must be constantly re-evaluated to address ongoing mutations. The links directly below provide overviews from the CDC of some past pandemics.
1918 Pandemic Influenza Historic Timeline
Studies and research through the years show abundant evidence of the airborne threat of the flu virus among others. Numbers show that during the current pandemic, flu and other respiratory disease are lower than would be typically expected. These numbers are a clear sign that social distancing, wearing masks and hygiene interventions reduce the spread of disease. Numerous studies and scientific research have pointed to this conclusion for some time. Below are links that support this conclusion, exploring these methods of mitigating the spread of disease. |
What is Sexual and Reproductive Health?
Sexual and reproductive health includes everything from general health care to birth control. Good sexual and reproductive health includes your physical, mental and social well-being. It means that people are able to have a satisfying and safe sex life, have the ability to reproduce, and the freedom to decide if, when, and how often to do so.
Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights for Youth in Foster Care
Young people in foster care can make many decisions about their sexual and reproductive health care on their own. Foster youth have the right to choose their own doctor, get the type of birth control they want, protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases, get help with transportation to the clinic, have privacy in their personal information, and have options if they become pregnant.
Sex, Relationships, and Birth Control
Having a healthy sex life means taking care of your body, choosing if and when you want to have sex, feeling safe and comfortable with yourself and your partner and good communication. Learn about your birth control options, practicing safe sex, and how to communicate with your partner.
Your sexual orientation and gender are important parts of who you are. Learning more about gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation can help you understand yourself and the world around you.
Pregnancy, Adoption, Legal Guardianship and Abortion
If you are pregnant, you can choose to keep your baby, place the baby for adoption or with an adult guardian, or have an abortion.
Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) and HIV
STIs are super common, and lots of people have questions about them. Here are the facts on how STIs are transmitted, how to prevent STIs, and why there’s no reason to be ashamed or embarrassed if you have one. |
Fort George is the finest example of 18th-century military engineering anywhere in the British Isles, though the army base never fired a shot in anger. Today, the fort would cost nearly £1 billion to build and equip.
Strategically located on a promontory jutting into the Moray Firth, the army base was designed to evade capture. Fort George was built on a monumental scale, making use of sophisticated defence standards, with heavy guns covering every angle.
The boundary walls of the fort housed:
- accommodation for a governor, officers, an artillery detachment and a 1,600-strong infantry garrison
- more than 80 guns
- a magazine for 2,672 gunpowder barrels
- ordnance and provision stores
- a brewhouse
- a chapel
Countering the Jacobite threat
The Jacobite Rising of 1745–6 proved to be the last attempt by the Stuart dynasty to regain from the Hanoverians the thrones of Scotland and England and Wales.
Fort George was one of the ruthless measures introduced by the government to suppress Jacobite ambitions after the nearby Battle of Culloden. It was intended as the main garrison fortress in the Scottish Highlands and named after George II.
Architecture of warfare
Lieutenant-General William Skinner was the designer and first governor of Fort George.
He mapped out the complex layout of:
- massive bastions
- firing steps
Defences were heavily concentrated on the landward side of the promontory – the direction from which a Jacobite assault was expected. Long stretches of rampart and smaller bastions protected the remaining seaward sides.
An active army base
Later in the 1700s, when the Jacobite threat was over, the fort became a recruiting base and training camp for the rapidly expanding British Army. Many a Highland lad passed through its gates on his way to fight for the British Empire across the globe.
Between 1881 and 1964, the fort served as the depot of the Seaforth Highlanders.
Fort George is currently the home of the Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS). |
What is a Legislator?
Legislators are members of the legislative branch of government, which is responsible for making new laws and changing existing laws. They are elected by the public to work for the federal government or for various other levels of government. They govern by proposing bills, holding votes, and passing laws. Frequent public appearances at community and social events are customary for legislators.
What does a Legislator do?
A legislator typically does the following:
- Develop bills—drafts of laws that they want their fellow legislators to approve
- Draft or approve policies, regulations, budgets, and programs
- Debate and analyze the impact of proposed laws
- Vote on bills and on motions to enact them into law
- Collaborate and negotiate with other legislators to resolve differences and reach agreements
- Seek funding for projects and programs in their district
- Appoint nominees to leadership posts or approve appointments by the chief executive
- Serve on committees, panels, and study groups for special policy issues
- Listen to and address the concerns of people they represent
- Invite and listen to testimony from people who are concerned about an issue or likely to be affected by a law if it is passed
Most legislators serve on committees that oversee different areas of government policy. They are expected to develop expertise in those areas, as well as keep up with current local, national, and international events.
Most bills are proposed and developed in committees. To make informed decisions, legislators also hear testimonies from private citizens, political leaders, and interest groups.
The work of legislators relies on meeting with, listening to, and forming relationships with others. They confer with and debate colleagues about the merits of proposed laws and determine their colleagues’ level of support. In doing so, they must negotiate a compromise among different interest groups and review and respond to the concerns of the people they represent or the general public.
Legislators work in each level of government. They represent the interests of the people in their districts, such as encouraging investment and economic development in their jurisdiction, while also considering the needs of the entire nation. . About nine out of ten legislators work in local government. Many small communities have legislators who are volunteers and receive no salary. (These workers are not included in the employment or salary numbers in this profile.)
What is the workplace of a Legislator like?
The working conditions of legislators vary by position and level of government. Although some legislators work only a few hours a week, others work long hours and have stressful schedules. Higher-level legislators travel often and may need to live away from home while the legislature is in session. Many spend a considerable amount of time meeting with people they represent and attending social functions in addition to their scheduled work hours.
Legislators are also known as:
Lawmaker Elected Law Official |
The Lives of Jewish Women and Children during the Holocaust
During the Holocaust, women and children were exposed to extreme cruelty. Many teenagers were constrained from attending school, and women were also tremendously mistreated. According to myriads of stories from survivors, it is evident that the majority of women and children were subjected to brutality. In some of these situations victims were unavoidable. For instance, most women had no option but to accept sexual molestation to meet some of their basic needs, including food. At some point, they were forced to accept sex to save lives of their family members (Hedgepeth & Saidel, 2010). On the other hand, most children during the Holocaust suffered mostly from desertion at a tender age as their parents were being captured by the Nazis (Baskin, 2011). This problem resulted in the lack of proper feeding because family breadwinners were either captured or killed. According to the story of a different survivor, it is evident that most children were parentless; hence there was a lack of parental care in the refugee camps. In addition, they did not even know their relatives and were leading miserable lives full of hopelessness (Holliday, 2014, p. 44). This essay examines the life that women and children led during the Holocaust and various types of persecutions to which they were exposed.
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At ghettos, Jewish women demonstrated how the Jews can unite in desperate situations. The sense of unity is justified by the type of life they led in the camps. They revealed how resistant they were to starvation and a lack of hygiene in the camps (Cook, 2006). They understood that food sharing had some significant influence on their survival. This aspect of unity can clearly be seen when they established social groups at the camps. Small groups of female inmates established quasi-family relations and upheld a set identity in all situations in the camp life. Women at larger camps regarded each other as camp sisters. At this level of unity, they used to preserve the collected foodstuffs for sick and young people. Camp sisters were meant to provide mutual strength and support when encountered with terror. The co-existence of this kind demonstrated that Jewish women can be united (Cook, 2006). Apparently, there is no evidence that men had a similar arrangement of social life at concentration camps during the war. The significance of Jewish women is illustrated further at the concentration camps. As the German maintained brutal policies against Jewish women, they rebelled against them so as to keep their families alive. Jewish women were still responsible for informal education of their children at the camps. However, this practice was against the German policies, and punitive measures were imposed on those who were found educating a Jewish child (Hayes & Roth, 2010).
Moreover, in the midst of the Holocaust the Jewish women were mostly entangled in a difficult assignment of choosing whether to stay with their children or to be selected as workers. On the other hand, men were not faced with such kinds of dilemma. This aspect proves that women suffered more than men at the concentration camps. The best example is illustrated in the story of a child survivor who narrates how his mother was forced to abandon him and disappear during an encounter with the Nazis soldier. In addition to this, Jewish women were devout believers. For instance, in camps they lit candles on the eve of the Passover and fasted despite their inexplicable hunger.
Despite the fact that Jewish women could hardly endure starvation, they were still maltreated by the SS personnel, which used food as an avenue to have sex with them (Cook, 2006). As Cook (2006) narrates, the SS personnel traded food for sexual benefits. This unscrupulous act was also practiced by the rest of the males. This fact shows how they suffered different kinds of maltreatment, starting from admission to the camps to the life, and often death, there. Cook in his book has pointed out that before admission to the camps both men and women were required to take their clothes off in front of the strangers. Nonetheless, Jewish women experienced more sexual molestation than men at the camps. One can argue that during the Holocaust, women underwent agony of these kinds predominantly for being the Jews. Secondly, they were exposed to such cruelty for being females (Cook, 2006).
On the other hand, children were also not spared in terms of cruelty during the Holocaust. Just like their parents, the Jewish children were also subjected to brutality. The most evident right denied to children during the Holocaust was education. As one of the survivors narrates, the German displaced various children from their respective schools (Rosenberg, 1998). The issue of hiding children from killing traumatized them and deprived them of peace of mind. It can be argued that such kind of merciless treatment was not supposed to be imposed on Jewish children. It can be claimed that the German intention was to do away with the Jewish generation. Exposing children to such kind of treatment was the highest form of injustice. Children were innocent, and killing them without a second thought was the worst idea ever.
Jewish women and children were always faced with overwhelming impediments. Another agony that children had to live with was separation from their parents. The German viewed children as the future generation of the Jews. Therefore, most children’s lives were terminated immediately after birth. Under the ruling of the German, they strictly prohibited procreation among Jewish women but highly valued procreation among the Germans. They viewed procreation of Jewish women as a potential political threat hence the survival chances for infants during the war were minimal from the moment of conception. Pregnancy as a preamble to life made Jewish women make precarious decisions. Jewish pregnant women were aware of the kind of suffering that awaited them during giving birth. Therefore, whenever they got pregnant after rape, they resorted to abortion so as to avoid traumatic experience during birth (Heberer, 2011).
Bearing and rearing a child is a universal practice that is acceptable in a multi-cultural context. Most traditions cherish childbearing, and whenever a child is born, that is worth celebrating. During the Holocaust, the Germans prohibitory rules against Jewish women on the issue of procreation were contradictory to this common practice. Apart from witnessing brutal killings of their babies, watching them starve to death was another menace that Jewish women were afraid to face (Heberer, 2011).
As Baskin (2011) narrates, it is evident that most of Jewish children were deserted by their parents who ran to seek refuge in more secure places. According to myriads of stories, it can be deduced that most of these children were abandoned at a vulnerable age as early as two to three years. The reason for being left was that the Gentile people who rescued children were willing to take care of the children, but not their mothers (Heberer, 2011). The deserted Jewish children were required to assume wrong personalities as they hid in small and filthy places to avoid being found by their ‘predators’ (Rosenberg, 1998).
Another female survivor called Ofira narrates how the Holocaust has posed a significant psychological torture imposed on her during the Holocaust. The survivor described how she was deserted and lacked a sense of belonging (Rosenthal, 2010). From the Ofira’s diary, it can be comprehended that children suffered mostly from psychological torture. The post-traumatic stress disorder is the most dominant problem of children when most of these memoirs are analyzed. These kinds of problems still haunt some of these survivors to date. After these children had witnessed killing of their grandparents and parents, there was a sense of emptiness as Rosenthal explains. Therefore, it is evident how Jewish children were affected psychologically during the Holocaust.
Jewish children were also exposed to a broad range of health problems during the Holocaust. For instance, due to the lack of sufficient food in the camps, these children mostly suffered from malnutrition (Levy & Sidel, 2000). Pregnant women were denied an opportunity to go and deliver babies away from Germany. They were always retained in the delivery unit and ordered back to work two days after giving birth. Infants were not given enough food and perished within a short time after birth (Plunka, 2012).In trying to comprehend the suffering of Jewish children during the Holocaust, it is mandatory to recognize various findings. Firstly, it is clear that their suffering was experienced in different locations at various times. The German opposition to the survival of Jewish children had numerous implications. As the Germans lost the war on the other fronts, they were obsessed with winning the battle against the Jews, and the only way to win was to annihilate children. As Patricia Heberer (2011) narrates, the German perspective that Jewish children were the impending Jews generation, they had to do everything in order to terminate their lives.
In her book, Heberer has also shown how children suffered from disturbance and rejection. She has narrated the case of a 12-year-old girl called Marguerite Strasser who witnessed the events of 1938 at Munich, the crib of the National Socialist Movement. The mother of this child had passed away shortly after giving birth to her. Her father was captured and taken to Strasbourg. According to Heberer, the event of 10 November had a traumatic and psychological effect on this girl. During that time the pogrom took place. Many synagogues were set ablaze, and the Nazis harassed Jewish people on the streets. She witnessed destruction of properties and capture of the Jewish males. Many other Jewish children who witnessed such events were left with the disturbing thoughts at the concentration camps (Heberer, 2011).
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In addition to this, she was also discriminated at school. The story of Marguerite Strasser only serves as a representation of many children who suffered from psychological torture during the Holocaust. It demonstrates that during the Holocaust, even without fortification from the parents, there still existed psychological imperative to encounter pain. From the Jewish women’s points of view, the children were a reason for them to hustle. However, the same children were also the source of danger to their lives. In Strasser’s memoir, she lived with her grandmother who kept consoling her in the desperate situation. For instance, one day as she was coming from school she witnessed the burning of religious objects outside a synagogue. Strasser started crying, and on reaching home, her grandmother who took care of her was consoling her. Later, the grandmother was lamenting for being a Jew. This experience was so disturbing to Strasser and she kept on worrying about her fate (Heberer, 2011). Therefore, it can be argued that their grandparents’ seizures were also part and parcel in these traumatic circumstances.
Children were not only subjected to psychological harm, but they were also injured physically. During the 1942 summer, the children were physically smashed against the walls as some were thrown out through the window (Hayes & Roth, 2010). Hayes and Roth (2010) have acknowledged that even the ghetto memoirists who were documenting about Nazi’s mayhems could hardly get words to explain the tortures against the Jewish women and children during the banishment.
How the Lives of Women Differentiated with that of Men during the Holocaust
During the Holocaust, the Germans treated Jewish females in a different way than they treated men. These treatment differences influenced the period of lives led by both women and men before being killed. For instance, the Germans preferred Jewish men for authoritative positions (Hayes & Roth, 2010). The majority of members of the Jewish Council at the concentration camps were men. Women were not given any leadership position in the Jewish Council at ghettos. The Germans used this strategy to intimidate and terrorize the Jews. They involved the use of rabbis and other males to rule over the rest of the population (Hayes & Roth, 2010).
Another aspect of different treatment is evident from how the Germans executed forced labor on the Jewish women and men. In most instances, males were given an upper hand even if the type of work they did was the same. For example, factories at ghettos used to pay Jewish males more than females regardless of the workforce. The wages for the Jewish women was two-thirds that of the male workers. This policy was applied throughout factories at the Jewish ghetto. According to their tradition, male labor was the most valued compared to females (Hayes & Roth, 2010). If salaries for slave labor were always meager, then how were Jewish women surviving with children and the rest of the family? This question seems difficult as far as suffering of women and children during the Holocaust is concerned.
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The most demoralizing feature of this policy of different treatment on the basis of gender was how the mothers and fathers were treated. At Auschwitz-Birkenau, the women who had young kids were subjected to a spontaneous death or taken to gas chambers for torture. On the other hand, fathers who had small children were spared for manual labor. Nonetheless, if a child was too young for hard labor they were taken to a group of other women whose destinies were death (Hayes & Roth, 2010). According to a different perspective, it can be argued that, despite their pregnancy, young and energetic Jewish women would be spared for forced labor. Unfortunately, the Germans were merciless and could not attempt to save any expectant mother who was a Jew.
Sexual violence was one of the dominant features of women’s life during the Holocaust. Jewish women were sexually assaulted during the World War II and the Holocaust (Hedgepeth & Saidel, 2010). Female inmates were subjected to the harshest degree of brutality. According to the information provided by many female survivors, they have acknowledged that they were subjected to different types of cruelty as they entered the refugee camps (Hedgepeth & Saidel, 2010). Cook in his book has described vividly how these women were being stripped naked in front of the SS personnel. The expectant mothers were being killed together with their children. The primary reason for Germans to kill these women at the camp was to eradicate Jewish people after subjecting them to hard labor (Cook, 2006).
The survival methods of Jewish women and men had a sharp contrast to the ghetto and the concentration camps (Hayes & Roth, 2010). Before the Holocaust, the Jews practiced division of labor on the basis of gender. It remained an obligation for fathers to fulfill the economic needs of the family. Jewish women were responsible for taking care of the children while their husbands were away. Hayes and Roth argue that it is due to Jewish women notion to stick to their tradition and refused to escape. They remained at home taking care of their children and the aged. As a result, most of the men fled, and Jewish women were left thinking that males were the most endangered. Later, the Nazi police ordered arrest of all the Jews; they were arrested and murdered. Initially before the ‘final solution,’ the Nazis used to capture only Jewish men, but after a second thought all the Jews were killed without exceptions (Hayes & Roth, 2010).This practice changed drastically during the Holocaust.
There also existed an aspect of gender differentiation. Women’s survival techniques followed three different paths; Jewish women learned to live with the little income after their husbands lost their jobs. They assumed new obligations as family representatives, which contradicted with their traditions because primarily it was men’s role. For instance, during the Holocaust it was women who risked talking to the police whenever they came. They also assumed the role of providing support to the family. The role of providing support to the family was evident when Jewish women engaged in waged labor, yet they had not experienced such before. Jewish women had two choices to get something for the family. The first option was to get a ‘formal’ job by working at the ghetto factories, laundries, kitchens, orphanages and brigades. The other option was to discover an illegal method of offering themselves for sex and be given some money to purchase food (Hayes & Roth, 2010). This type of ‘trade’ was described as sex for food. Nonetheless, if a woman at ghetto could not find a job and was not engaged in the ‘trade’, her children were starved to death.
According to Cook (2006), the majority of the members of these movements were Jewish women. Most of these women were activists and advocated sexual equality. This practice was meant to get them ready for the leadership roles that were waiting during the Holocaust. Unfortunately, the lack of representation of women’s views meant that they had no one to protect them from different types of sexual harassment during the Holocaust. As a result, the number of women who died during the Holocaust was higher than that of men (Cook, 2006).
However, there are other aspects that made the number of women’s death higher than that of the males. For instance, as Cook argues, one of the socio-cultural aspects that led to high death of women was their unwillingness to part with their families. Jewish women were not ready to part with their families, especially large families. They were also not willing to move away from their older parents and close relatives. This attitude made the number of women who immigrated to more secure places minimal. As a result, the number of females who perished in during the Holocaust became higher than that of men (Cook, 2006). It can be argued that they had thought of running to safer places, the number of those who perished from the Nazi’s maltreatment would be minimal.
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Some other critics have argued that the issue of sexual harassment of Jewish women during the Holocaust is something that the contemporary society is silent about (Hedgepeth & Saidel, 2010). For instance, the Nazis transferred Jewish women to Southern America (Hayes & Roth, 2010). The society has rendered talking about this issue as a taboo, and deportation is the most preferred punitive measure. The act of rape has been viewed as shameful for both the rapist and the victim. Nonetheless, as much as this is the case, wars have always been working as a loophole for the sex predators.
In the context of Jewish women, sexual molestation of women was the order of the day. Sex was the only known means to ‘pay for the services’ for survival. Women mostly suffered from the hunger. It would be futile to judge Jewish women as prostitutes, yet they were driven to have sexual arrangements with soldiers to get food and to spare their families (Hedgepeth & Saidel, 2010). Sexual molestation was not only dominant at the camps, but also at the place they ran to seek refuge. Due to the high rate of starvation in the Nazi concentration camps, females menstrual cycles were affected, hence making them live in fear that they would never get an opportunity to conceive children again.
On the other hand, Jewish women were also left with the responsibility of taking care of children whom they could hardly feed due to lack of food. As the Nazi people invaded their home to capture their husbands, they were forced to watch the brutal killing and their hard earned properties being vandalized. In the 1938 Jewish pogrom, women were exposed to some of the harshest traumatic experiences. During this time, they witnessed the brutal murder of their husbands as their homes were being vandalized (Baskin, 2011).
It is indeed a fact that Jewish women and children were the primary subjects to inhumaneness in the midst of the Holocaust. Among the Jews who died during the Holocaust, children and women constituted the greatest percentage. The Holocaust discussion is not only vital in addressing the lost lives; it also plays a significant role in conservancy of the memories. Therefore, the suffering of the women and children during the Holocaust should not be regarded as a mere history. It should serve as a ground to motivate active feminism. The Holocaust is just a representation of many wars experienced all over the world. The features of these conflicts are almost similar to the theme of sexual molestation. It is critical for the whole world to wake up and recognize women as dignified creatures. It can also be recommended that all the survivors of the war who are currently alive should be compensated dearly. The variance between the Holocaust survivors and those who lost their lives is luck. Considering the circumstances of the Holocaust, they are worth compensating for enduring the most devastating situation. They should also be assisted to curb the health effects of the Holocaust. Finally, the Holocaust plays a significant role in helping the humanity to appreciate the harmony and rejoice in it. |
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