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Bengaluru:Wild animals disperse or move between isolated forest fragments to maintain linkages or connectivity. But in a fast changing world, these linkages are slowly eroding. What are the implications to biodiversity when connectivity is lost? Scientists from the University of Florida and the Wildlife Conservation Society (India) examine this critical question through a review of 370 scientific articles from across the globe. “Across species, and across geographies, whether you are looking at genetic material, population growth rates, or communities, the answer is the same – as connectivity erodes, species lose out,” says Dr. Robert Fletcher, lead author of the study and Associate Professor at the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida. As connectivity is lost, genetic variability declines. Consequently, animals are less able to adapt to new environments, more prone to diseases, and can suffer from low survival and reproduction. Ultimately, local extinctions may occur, leaving behind depauperate animal communities and collapsing ecological systems. “In India, Protected Area sizes are small, and landscapes are rapidly changing”, says Dr. Divya Vasudev, Wildlife Conservation Society (India). “Still we have little knowledge of the consequences on our biodiversity”. Even for a species that is well studied, like the tiger, we are only now acquiring empirical knowledge on the role that connectivity plays in preventing its extinction. Potentially dispersing tigers have been removed into captivity from conservation landscapes. The country is immersed in debates and court cases on the construction of National Highways across recognized tiger corridors. “If we had a better handle on the consequences of disrupting connectivity between tiger populations, maybe it would prompt more effective mitigative action”, adds Dr. Vasudev. Connectivity research provides practical insights to specific negative implications of habitat fragmentation on wildlife. The authors recommend focusing on estimating connectivity effects, capturing movement processes, accounting for uncertainty and isolating connectivity effects relative to others. This will enable immediate on ground action needed to ensure that functional linkages are maintained between habitat patches, and further fragmentation is immediately and effectively curtailed. The paper titled ‘Divergent perspectives on landscape connectivity reveal consistent effects from genes to communities’ was published in the journal Current Landscape Ecology Reports last month. Authors include Robert J. Fletcher, Noah S Burrell, Brian E. Reichert, Divya Vasudev, and James D. Austin. The paper can be accessed here:
Spanish and Scottish researchers have added wool fibres to the clay material used to make bricks and combined these with an alginate, a natural polymer extracted from seaweed. The result is bricks that are stronger and more environmentally-friendly, according to the study published recently in the journal Construction and Building Materials. "The objective was to produce bricks reinforced with wool and to obtain a composite that was more sustainable, non-toxic, using abundant local materials, and that would mechanically improve the bricks' strength," Carmen Galán and Carlos Rivera, authors of the study and researchers at the Schools of Architecture in the Universities of Seville (Spain) and Strathclyde (Glasgow, United Kingdom), said. The wool fibres were added to the clay material used in the bricks, using alginate conglomerate, a natural polymer found in the cell walls of seaweed. The mechanical tests carried out showed the compound to be 37% stronger than other bricks made using unfired stabilised earth. The study, which has been recently published in the journal Construction and Building Materials, was the result of close collaboration between the British and Spanish universities. The clay-based soils were provided by brick manufacturers in Scotland, which was also the source of the wool, since the local textile industry cannot use everything it produces. "The aim was to produce a material suitable for adverse climatic conditions, such as the specific ones in the United Kingdom," the authors explain. Advantages of environmentally-friendly bricks The researchers studied the effect of reinforcing various soil types with sheep's wool, and arrived at various conclusions. "These fibres improve the strength of compressed bricks, reduce the formation of fissures and deformities as a result of contraction, reduce drying time and increase the bricks' resistance to flexion." This piece of research is one of the initiatives involved in efforts to promote the development of increasingly sustainable construction materials. These kinds of bricks can be manufactured without firing, which contributes to energy savings. According to the authors: "This is a more sustainable and healthy alternative to conventional building materials such as baked earth bricks and concrete blocks." Untreated clay was one of the earliest building materials to be used by humankind. The oldest examples of this can be found in houses in the Near East dating from between 11,000 and 12,000 years ago. Earthy material mixed with plants and pebbles to make them stronger has also been found in certain archaeological deposits from 1400BCE in Sardinia (Italy). Cite This Page:
To look at the photos, open the Java Applet Index page. Note: It will open in a separate window. Arrange your browser windows so that the applet and the student page can be easily viewed. Here are some things to notice on the applet: - display of x (in pixels) - display of y (in pixels) To get an idea of how this will work, select one of the faces. Here are some questions to think about: Looking at the x-coordinates Looking at the y-coordinates - Click on the left side of the mouth. What value is x? - Click on the right side of the mouth. What value is x? - What is the difference between the two values of x? - Click on left side of the mouth. What value is y? - Click on the right side of the mouth. What value is y? - What is the difference between the two values of y? To determine the distance in pixels of the resting mouth, should you pay more attention to the change in the x-coordinate or the y-coordinate? Can you explain why? Now that you have the idea of how to find measurements in pixels. Find the lengths of the resting mouth and the smiling mouth for each person. Using the data that we have, let's calculate the percentage increase. Need help in knowing how to do that? Check the Dr. Math links below. Generalize the method that you used to find the lengths between points located on the face. Write the steps needed to calculate the percentage increase between the resting and smiling mouth. Use your own photograph and see how much wider your smile is!
If the person consumes more energy in the form of food than he actually consumes, he becomes overweight over time. If you want to lose weight, you either have to eat less than you consume or significantly increase your energy consumption, for example through sports or physical work. Overweight affects up to 50% of our population, depending on the age group. What is too thick? Overweight is when the weight is well above normal weight. The weight is calculated using the so-called body mass index (BMI). A normal weight is when the BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9. The body's energy intake and energy consumption are measured in kilocalories (kcal) or kilojoules (kJ). One kilocalorie equals 4.187 joules. The daily calorie requirement depends on the height and the daily work. With the help of calorie tables, the energy content of the food can be determined. There is an increased need for exercise, growth, pregnancy and lactation. What are the consequences of being overweight? The consequences of overweight include: - Metabolic disorders (diabetes, gout, lipid metabolism disorders) - The risk of developing high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, arteriosclerosis or venous disease increases significantly - Joint disease due to wear, back pain 10 tips against obesity - Always take care for the food enough time, chew well and do no other work alongside. - It should be best five small meals be taken during the day. - Before the meal Always drink a large glass of liquid, which reduces your appetite. - At least 2-3 liters for each diet liquid drink in the daytime. - Every diet should be regular, physical activity to be accompanied. - Diet-convenience foods can occasionally replace a meal. - formula diets are powders, granules or drinks with a well-defined nutrient, vitamin and mineral content. They are suitable for short diets to lose 2-3 kilos or to replace some meals as part of a diet. - Appetite with chemical agents act on the brain appetite-suppressing. Because of side effects, many patients can not take these medicines (for example, hypertension increases blood pressure). Even in healthy patients, side effects such as nervousness can occur. - Together Losing weight with others (such as Weight Watchers) can strengthen your desire to lose weight. - The only sensible diet is one calorie-reduced mixed diet, a balanced diet with many fresh products (for example Brigitte diet). Unilateral diets (such as rice diets, Hollywood diets) are not recommended as they tend to produce a shortage of certain nutrients, vitamins or minerals and will not lead to a permanent change in dietary habits. Important is a permanent change in diet, to avoid eating errors in the future and to keep the lower weight. Even a weight reduction of 5 - 10% can have a positive influence on underlying diseases such as hypertension or diabetes.
Originally published on BarryNerhus.com Over the last three decades, the Antarctic Peninsula has undergone immense change. Researchers attribute this to both atmospheric and oceanic warming. One large effect of this is the collapse of the Larsen A Ice Shelf in 1995 followed by the break up of Larsen B seven years later. Researchers have now turned their attention to Larsen C, as its neighbors (the large, floating ice platforms that form where the coastline meets the ocean), have met their demise. Changes that cause thinner ice shelves make it more likely that they will break up, but they also lead to melting. It’s been known that freshwater from melting ice shelves flows into the oceans, contributing to rising sea levels. But scientists were not entirely sure how the oceans themselves contribute to the phenomenon of melting ice shelves, in part because the thick ice prevented larger vessels from accessing the ice shelf. So they headed back to the ice shelf to find out. A team began the Weddell Sea Expedition to measure changes, especially chunks broken off from the larger iceberg A-68 to determine how the ocean impacts the ice shelves. The project produced the highest spatial resolution sampling in that location as of yet, and researchers were able to gain a better view of underwear conditions. Researchers learned that a mass of warmer foreign water had been mixing into the Larsen C Ice Shelf to mix with the colder water. That mixing allowed the warmer water to further disperse around the world. With this knowledge, scientists have come to understand that changes which occur far from the Antarctic can impact Antarctic Bottom Water and Antarctic ice shelves. It also points scientists in a direction for future research. Computer models will need to be updated to include the complex relationship between warm ocean water, ice shelves, and melting freshwater. As they stand, these models fail to take that interplay into consideration, and thus those people and policies that rely on that information are missing a crucial part of the bigger picture. Fortunately, members of the community that create models based on this type of oceanic activity are hard at work updating those models and creating projects that utilize this information, and climate science is likely to greatly benefit from it.
Scoliosis, or abnormal curving of the spine, affects about 3% of people. Mild cases may not affect daily living. But severe cases can be painful and limit normal activity. The curves in our spine help the upper body maintain proper balance and alignment. However, when there are abnormal side-to-side curves in the spinal column, we refer to this as scoliosis. There are many causes of scoliosis, including congenital spine deformities (those present at birth, either inherited or caused by the environment), genetic conditions, neuromuscular problems, and limb length inequality. Other causes for scoliosis include cerebral palsy, spina bifida, muscular dystrophy, spinal muscular atrophy, and tumours. More than 80% of scoliosis cases, however, have no known cause. Symptoms for scoliosis will vary with each individual. However, some symptoms may include the following: Shoulders at different heights—one shoulder blade more prominent than the other Head not centred directly above the pelvis Appearance of a raised, prominent hip Rib cages at different heights Changes in look or texture of skin overlying the spine Leaning of entire body to one side Rib prominence when bent over A doctor may diagnose scoliosis with a diagnostic exam such as an x-ray, spinal radiograph, computed tomography (CT) scan, or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the spine. The curvature of the spine is then measured and expressed in terms of degrees. Generally, a curve is considered significant if it is greater than 25 to 30 degrees. Curves exceeding 45 to 50 degrees are considered more severe.
You’ve heard the term CT Scan? CT scan is a procedure that is used to get an overview of the different angles of bone from the skull and brain. CT scans can be used to assess almost every organ in the body, even in foreign countries have been used as a screening tool replaces X-ray and ultrasound. But apparently scan or CT scan performed repeatedly is very dangerous for children. Over time will increase the risk of brain cancer or leukemia than tripled, according to the findings of research team of scientists led by the University of Newcastle. Research carried out by studying the medical records almost 180 thousand young patients. But in a research report published in The Lancet, the authors emphasize that the benefits of scanning usually outweigh the risks. They said the research underscores the fact that scanning should only be performed if necessary and that ways of reducing radiation should be sought. During scanning, X-ray tube rotates around the patient’s body to produce a detailed picture of the internal organs and other body parts. In the long-term study was first conducted, the researchers looked at the records of patients younger than 21 years who had to do a scan in various UK hospitals between 1985 and 2002. Since the radiation-related cancer takes time to form, they examined data of cancer cases and deaths by 2009. Brain cancer and leukemia is a rare disease. Research estimates that the increase in risk translates into one additional case of leukemia and a brain tumor among 10,000 scanning head in children under the age of 10 years. Dr Mark Pearce, an epidemiologist at the University of Newcastle, who led the research, said, “We found a significantly increased risk of leukemia and brain tumors, following scanning in childhood and adolescence. “The benefits outweigh the risks scanning directly in many ways. Dose scanning decreases dramatically over time, but we must do more to reduce them. It should be a priority for the clinical community.” Scanning is useful for children because of anesthesia and anesthesia is not recommended. Type of inspection is often ordered after a serious accident, to see the injuries, and the possibility of lung disease. A Journal of the American College of Radiology January 2012 issue also summarizes some of the articles to find the optimum dose for a CT scan in children that can reduce the effects of radiation. One of the most important is to reduce the radiation dose from CT scans. Another thing that can be done is to replace it with other scanning tools with ionizing radiation such as low or no radiography, ultrasound and MRI can provide the same diagnostic information for some clinical conditions.
Textbook writing is both an art and a science. Creating a structure to your chapters helps the reader know where you’re going, and what they should expect to learn. Learning Objectives (LOs) are a great pedagogical device, but they also provide a map to help you structure your chapter. LOs at the start of each chapter are statements of specific and measurable goals that identify knowledge or skills a student should have mastered upon completing the chapter. If your book is likely to have instructor resources supporting it, then test questions will be tagged to the LOs, to provide insight into what material the student has or has not yet mastered. Best Practices with Learning Objectives - Align each learning objective with an A-level subheading Connect LOs to the core content in your chapter by pairing one LO with each major subheading in the chapter. Since A-level subheads divide the chapter into its main topics, matching LOs with these helps ensure you have covered all the essential content. - Create 5-8 learning objectives per chapter Most chapters will include an average of 5 A-level subheadings. For most texts, 5-8 LOs per chapter will be about the right number. More than 8 LOs will overwhelm students, and may indicate that you are trying to include too much material in one chapter. - Use Bloom’s Taxonomy to craft learning objectives Bloom’s Taxonomy helps classify LOs based upon the ways students learn, advancing from basic knowledge recall toward evaluative critical thinking through five cognitive categories: remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create. As your book progresses, your LOs will naturally move towards the more complex learning outcomes. Try and use a variety of interesting, measurable verbs in crafting your objectives: - Write LOs in a clear and consistent format Use simple, direct statements that contain a verb and an object to create clear, measurable objectives. Your objectives should include: - A measurable or observable verb - The object of the verb - The condition, if any, under which the measurement is to occur - The criterion or measure of success, if any Here’s an example with a verb, object, and condition: Describe the various steps in carrying out a literature review - Compose SMART learning objectives The handy SMART acronym captures the key LO characteristics to keep in mind. They should be: S = Specific M = Measurable A = Achievable R = Relevant T = Targeted Tie LOs to your end-of-chapter material Once you’ve created your LOs for each of your major headings in the chapter, your chapter-ending material should also refer back to each of the objectives, to help the student assess whether they have mastered the content. Write an end-of-chapter “Test Yourself” question for each of your LOs. Voilà! You now have a well-structured chapter which guides the reader through your content, and helps them check their mastery. Now on to the next chapter…
Piebaldism is a genetic condition, typically present at birth, in which a person develops an unpigmented or white patch of skin or hair. The cells that determine eye, skin, and hair color are absent in certain areas in those with piebaldism. These cells are called melanocytes. In nearly 90 percent of those affected, the area of piebaldism is seen as a patch of white hair near the forehead, also called a white forelock. Some people may have areas of unpigmented skin or hair in the eyelashes, eyebrows, and skin under the larger unpigmented area of the white forelock as well. In this article, we examine why piebaldism occurs, what symptoms it causes, and whether there are any treatment options available. Piebaldism may be caused by genetic mutations that affect melanin production. Piebaldism is an autosomal dominant genetic disorder, which means that 50 percent of those affected by piebaldism will pass the condition on to their offspring. Some of the genetic mutations in those people with piebaldism are found in the KIT and SNAI2 genes. The KIT gene is responsible for sending the body signals to make certain cells, including melanocytes. When there is a mutation in the KIT gene, melanocytes that are responsible for pigmentation are altered. This leads to a lack of pigmentation in areas of the skin or hair. When there is a mutation in the SNAI2 or SLUG gene, a protein called snail 2 is negatively affected. Snail 2 is responsible for cell development, including the development of melanocytes, which can lead to white pigmentation changes. Piebaldism may be seen in some other medical conditions, including Waardenburg syndrome. Waardenburg syndrome affects a person’s hearing and the pigmentation of their hair, skin, and eyes. Comparison with other conditions Piebaldism may be confused with other disorders that affect pigment in the body, such as the following. Vitiligo is a rare autoimmune condition, affecting approximately 1 percent of people worldwide. The body attacks its own melanocytes, leading to progressive and worsening pigment changes in the skin, hair, eyes, mucous membranes, and the inner ear. Vitiligo is not a genetic condition that people have at birth. It is a condition that appears as a person ages, most commonly before the age of 20. Poliosis circumscripta is the white forelock that often occurs with piebaldism, which is also a symptom present in several other conditions. These include Waardenburg, tuberous sclerosis, inflammatory conditions, and both cancerous and non-cancerous conditions. Alezzandrini syndrome is a rare disorder that is marked by symptoms of hearing loss, hair and skin color changes, and changes in the color of the retina in the eye. It is thought that the condition may be caused by a virus or appear as part of an autoimmune condition that attacks melanocytes. This patch of white hair appears at the hairline near the forehead. Its shape is typically a triangle, diamond, or a long strip. Other parts of the body can also be affected by piebaldism. Whitened areas may also include: - front or side of the abdomen and chest - middle of the arms - middle of the legs The treatment of piebaldism can pose a challenge, and there is no guarantee that treatment will have the desired results. Some of the treatments used for the condition include: - Dermabrasion: This is a technique where the outer layer of a person’s skin is removed. - Skin grafting: A procedure where skin containing pigment is attached to the area affected by a lack of pigment. - Melanocyte and keratinocyte transplantation: During this procedure, cells that create pigment are transplanted to the affected area. - Erbium: A technique that uses YAG laser surgery grafting. Phototherapy may be used after dermabrasion or cell transplantation to speed up the development of pigment. Those with piebaldism are at risk for sunburn and are encouraged to use sunscreen and other protective measures to prevent skin damage. Some people may choose to use makeup to match the surrounding skin tones and camouflage the area affected by piebaldism. Piebaldism is not a medical condition that causes health problems. However, it can increase a person’s risk of sunburn and skin cancer due to the risks associated with sun exposure. As with many other conditions affecting the skin, piebaldism can cause people to feel self-conscious or have other psychological issues. The researchers found that nearly half of those taking part in the study reported feeling self-conscious. Other participants had feelings of being unattractive, thoughts that others focused on their skin, and felt their skin condition affected their lives. Piebaldism is a condition commonly caused by a mutation in certain genes that causes a person to lack melanocytes or the cells responsible for pigmentation. The condition leads to the presence of white patches of skin or hair at birth, making people more at risk of sunburn and skin cancer. While some treatments do exist, the outcomes vary from person to person. Piebaldism in itself is not a life-threatening condition, but some people may experience psychological symptoms due to their skin condition. Speaking to a dermatologist or psychiatrist may be helpful in overcoming these feelings.
One of the weirdest objects ever discovered in our solar system — the alien space rock ‘Oumuamua — is still sparking debates more than two years after its discovery. And, most recently, the conversation has shifted to whether the cosmic visitor could be a fragment torn from a larger world. In 2017, the Pan-STARRS asteroid-hunting telescope in Hawaii spotted an object moving at a breathtaking pace of 54 miles per second. But, unlike most comets and asteroids before it, ‘Oumuamua would only approach our sun once before continuing its journey through space. This made it the first known interstellar object to have passed through our solar system. Scientists named the alien space rock ‘Oumuamua, which roughly translates as “messenger from afar arriving first” in Hawaiian. And though astronomers agree that ‘Oumuamua visited our solar system from another star, that’s about where the agreement ends. Is it an alien asteroid, an alien comet, or even an alien spaceship? Now, a pair of astronomers have used complex computer modeling to explain ‘Oumuamua’s combination of strange properties, finding the space rock may be a small shard ripped from a larger parent body. Their models suggest that when an object — anything from a comet to a super-Earth — passes too close to its star, intense tidal forces can rip off heated fragments. These melted shards then refreeze, locking in their unique shapes. If these astronomers are right, then we should expect to spot many more oddly shaped worlds like ‘Oumuamua in the coming years. “We anticipate many more interstellar visitors with similar traits to ‘Oumuamua will be discovered by future observation,” says study author Yun Zhang from the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The new findings were published Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy. ‘Oumuamua: Asteroid or Comet? Astronomers expected the first interstellar object they’d discover would be an alien comet. This is because comets orbit in the outskirts of star systems, and stars pass relatively near each other somewhat frequently. So, when two stars fly by each other, the gravitational interaction can rip comets from their loosely tethered orbits, flinging them out into space. This ejection mechanism was further supported last year when astronomers discovered the interstellar comet 2I/Borisov, which looks reassuringly like the “dirty snowballs” found in our own solar system. It also exhibited a conventional cometary tail — the extended, fuzzy line of sublimated gas and ice that streams from comets as they approach the sun. But ‘Oumuamua left astronomers with more confusing hints about its nature and history. Instead of growing an icy tail, this alien space rock looked relatively dry. It also appeared surprisingly dense and rocky. Its shape was even more perplexing. Most space rocks in our solar system are shaped something like a potato — or, in the case of Arrokoth, like two of them smashed together. But ‘Oumuamua is long and stretched out, more like a cigar. Sand Castles Among the Stars Zhang and study co-author Douglas Lin from the University of California, Santa Cruz, set out to explain ‘Oumuamua’s weird properties. They simulated what would happen as an object flew extremely close to its home star. Their models showed that the tidal forces could literally shred it into long fragments before chucking them out into space. The authors say that you can imagine planetary bodies as sand castles floating in space. Much like children on the beach molding castles from many grains of sand, even modest worlds are built from many smaller pieces that are held together by gravity. And when an outside force acting on a planetary grain grows stronger than the gravity binding it to the parent body, that smaller piece is yanked from the whole. This is what happens when an object ventures too close to a star. Astronomers previously saw the process unfold when comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was ripped apart by Jupiter. “The near and far parts of the planetary body are pulled apart from each other by the star’s tidal forces, forming an elongated band of ‘sand particles,’” Zhang says, extending the analogy. “At the same time, since the body is so close to the star, some of its surface melts and freezes after it flies away. This process glues the surface ‘sand particles’ together, and helps to form elongated fragments.” And according to the research, ‘Oumuamua could very well be one such elongated fragment. The researchers aren’t the first to propose an idea like this, however. Previous modeling work published by astronomer Sean Raymond of Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Bordeaux in Bordeaux, France, had already used computer models to show that ‘Oumuamua could be a shredded chunk of planetesimal created during the formation of a fledgling planetary system. But not everyone is convinced by the argument. The Debate Continues Karen Meech, an astronomer at the University of Hawai‘i who has studied ‘Oumuamua but wasn’t involved in this research, says she still believes the space rock has to be a comet. Part of why she thinks that is because one piece of evidence hinting that the space rock is an asteroid could simply be a dearth of observations. She points out that ‘Oumuamua’s high-speed trip through the solar system was too quick for astronomers to get a detailed look at the object. “Most of the observations of ‘Oumuamua had to occur within a one-week period, and we simply did not have the ability to detect water,” she says. “That isn’t a lack of water. We just didn't have the sensitivity to see it.” And there’s another outstanding property these researchers haven’t explained yet, she says. ‘Oumuamua’s movement through our solar system implied it was being driven by more than just gravity — like a comet whose direction is slightly changed by the force of gases streaming off of it. “I think it absolutely is a comet,” Meech says. “The nongravitational motion that our group detected was super strong, and there’s no other way to maintain it except for outgassing. There’s no other explanation.” Because of ‘Oumuamua’s incredible speed, even the fastest spaceship humanity has ever built, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, couldn’t catch it. As quickly as it came, the alien interloper was gone, never to be seen again. “We will never know for sure where ‘Oumuamua came from or where it was created, and I’ve been very impressed with the models and the way people have tried to explain it,” Meech says. “I don’t think it proves anything.” However, future observations still could help resolve the argument. If Zhang and Lin are right, interstellar asteroids may be even more common than interstellar comets, the authors say. These alien asteroids would be relatively small and lack the comas of comets, which would make them much harder to detect while they’re passing through our solar system. However, new cutting-edge telescopes, like the Vera C. Rubin Observatory being built in Chile, could spot them. “‘Oumuamua is just the tip of the iceberg,” Lin said in a media release. “We anticipate many more interstellar visitors with similar traits will be discovered by future observation.”
A NASA spacecraft has found an unusual three-planet system that consists of one super-Earth and two Neptune-size worlds orbiting a star similar to our sun, a new study reveals. The planet-hunting Kepler Space Telescope discovered the three planets around the star Kepler-18, which is only 10 percent larger than the sun and contains 97 percent of the sun's mass, researchers from the University of Texas at Austin said. The alien system could also host more planets than have been found so far, they added. All three planets, which are designated Kepler-18b, c, and d, orbit much closer to their parent star than Mercury does to the sun. The planet Kepler-18b orbits closest to the star, taking 3.5 days to complete its journey. The planet is about 6.9 times the mass of Earth and is twice the size of our home planet, making planet b a so-called super-Earth, the researchers said. Kepler-18c, which takes 7.6 days to orbit the star, is about 5.5 times larger than our planet, and has a mass equivalent to about 17 Earths. Kepler-18d has a 14.9-day orbit and is about seven times the size of Earth, with a mass of about 16 Earths. According to these figures, planets c and d qualify as low-density "Neptune-class" worlds, the researchers said. [The Strangest Alien Planets] The findings were presented Tuesday (Oct. 4) at a joint meeting of the European Planetary Science Congress and the American Astronomical Society's Division of Planetary Science in Nantes, France. The study will be published in a special issue of The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series in November. Scanning the cosmos NASA's Kepler spacecraft hunts for exoplanets using the transit method, which looks for periodic dips in a star's brightness over time that could indicate a planet is passing in front of it from the telescope's perspective. The alien worlds around Kepler-18 were found using this method, but the orbits of the planets themselves were a point of interest to the researchers. Kepler-18c orbits its parent star twice for every one orbit that Kepler-18d makes, explained study leader Bill Cochran of The University of Texas at Austin. But the two planets do not cross the face of their parent star at these same orbital periods. "One is slightly early when the other one is slightly late, [then] both are on time at the same time, and then vice-versa," Cochran said in a statement. This suggests that Kepler-18c and Kepler-18d are engaged in something of an orbital dance. "It means they're interacting with each other," Cochran said. "When they are close to each other … they exchange energy, pull and tug on each other." Once Kepler identifies potential exoplanet candidates using the transit method, scientists around the world use ground-based telescopes to collect more data and try to separate real findings from any false positives. [10 Real Alien Worlds That Could Be In 'Star Wars'] The Kepler-18 system The planets around Kepler-18 helped astronomers out because the orbital activity between Kepler-18c and Kepler-18d indicated that they must belong to the same planetary system. But, proving the identity of Kepler-18b, the super-Earth, turned out to be a bit more complicated, Cochran said. The team of astronomers used a technique called "planet validation," in which they examined the probability that the cosmic body could be something other than a planet. The researchers first analyzed high-resolution images of the space around the Kepler-18 star to see if the transit signal could have been caused by background objects in the vicinity. "We successively went through every possible type of object that could be there," Cochran said. "There are limits on the sort of objects that can be there at different distances from the star. There's a small possibility that [Kepler-18b] is due to a background object, but we're very confident that it's probably a planet." In fact, Cochran and his colleagues calculated that it is 700 times more likely that Kepler-18b is a real planet rather than a background object. Identifying alien planets The researchers said that this method of planet validation could play an important role in the ongoing hunt for habitable alien planets. "We're trying to prepare the astronomical community and the public for the concept of validation," Cochran said. "The goal of Kepler is to find an Earth-size planet in the habitable zone [where life could arise], with a one-year orbit. Proving that such an object really is a planet is very difficult [with current technology]. When we find what looks to be a habitable planet, we'll have to use a validation process, rather than a confirmation process. We're going to have to make statistical arguments." To date, Kepler has found 1,235 planetary "candidates" that are awaiting confirmation through follow-up observations. Researchers have estimated that at least 80 percent of these will be verified as real planets.
Nearly a million people are currently suffering from cholera in Yemen, a worrying reminder that cholera remains a topical issue and a serious and fatal illness. Often thought of as an ancient disease, cholera is an acute intestinal infection caused by the Vibrio cholerae bacterium. Since the early 19th century, there have been seven cholera pandemics around the globe, resulting in millions of deaths. A few weeks ago scientists proved that the seventh cholera pandemic (which is currently raging in Africa, and has been since 1971) originated in Asia, as did the majority of antibiotic-resistant strains of cholera that are isolated on this continent. There's a saying in French that describes an impossible choice as akin to "choosing between plague and cholera". This wry expression describes a no-win situation, a cruel dilemma. For many, the idea of "plague or cholera" harks back to a bygone era – few people are aware that cholera is actually still a dangerous disease that is rife in every continent. "Cholera is an accute digestive infection caused by ingesting water or food that has been contaminated by Vibrio cholerae (cholera vibrios), bacteria from serogroups O1 or O139," explains Marie-Laure Quilici, Head of the French National Reference Center (CNR) for Vibrios and Cholera in the Enteric Bacterial Pathogens Unit led by Dr. François-Xavier Weill (based at the Institut Pasteur). The disease therefore mainly affects developing countries, where hygiene and safe water are severely lacking. What is cholera? Cholera is caused by ingesting water or food that has been contaminated by the Vibrio cholerae bacterium. The incubation period for the disease can range from a few hours to a few days, after which time the infected person begins to suffer from severe diarrhea and vomiting (but no fever). If left untreated, 25 to 50% of patients will die within 1 to 3 days as a result of circulatory collapse (a steep drop in blood pressure). The death rate is higher among children, elderly people and those with weak immune systems. Treatment primarily involves replacing lost water and electrolytes. Depending on the level of dehydration, patients are rehydrated orally or by intravenous administration. Improvements can be observed after just a few hours and patients recover fully, with no lasting effects, within a few days. Antibiotic therapy is recommended by WHO only for severe dehydration. Read the Cholera Fact Sheet Millions of cholera cases remain unreported There have been nearly a million cases of cholera in Yemen reported to the World Health Organization (WHO), since April 2017. The International Committee of the Red Cross has described what is happening in this country as "the world's single largest humanitarian crisis". For a single country, the sheer number of cases that occur in Yemen is staggering; the number reported there in less than a year is equivalent to the total number of cases declared in Haiti since 2010. Yemen’s annual case count also represents more than a quarter of WHO’s yearly estimate, which is between 1, 3 and 4 million cases in the world annually. "Despite the International Health Regulations, revised in 2005 to encourage countries to declare events constituting a public health emergency, cases remain under-reported worldwide," says Marie-Laure Quilici, due to under-reporting for fear of economic consequences, to often-insufficient surveillance systems, and to a lack of standardized terminology for defining a case of cholera. Cholera – present in many parts of the world In mainland France, cholera (a notifiable disease) remains a rare imported disease, and the number of cases is steadily falling. But cases of cholera are reported by countries in every region of the world , and is endemic in some countries in South Asia. It is also prevalent in Africa and more recently in the Americas, with the island of Hispaniola. How does cholera spread? Vibrio cholerae is a highly motile bacterium with modest nutritional requirements whose natural reservoirs are found in humans and in certain cases the environment. The disease is caused by ingesting contaminated water or food. Man plays both the role of culture medium and means of transport for V. cholerae; once in the intestines, the bacteria secrete cholera toxin, which leads to the severe dehydration characteristic of cholera infection – loss of water and electrolytes can reach up to 15 liters per day. Diarrheal stools, massively contaminated by V. cholerae, and released in large quantities, are responsible for the spread of bacilli in the environment and fecal-oral transmission. The incubation period, from a few hours to 5 days, and the healthy carriers, enable the transport of V. cholerae over short or long distances. The main factors that encourage cholera transmission are socio-economic status and living conditions of populations. Densely concentrated populations in areas with poor hygiene facilitate the emergence and development of cholera outbreaks. Factors that increase the risk of a cholera outbreak The presence of the bacteria! Damp, unsanitary conditions - heavy seasonal rains - inadequate sanitation - climate change A volatile political climate - inadequate public health measures - large gatherings/crowded conditions - forced migration - unsanitary conditions - limited access to clean water - use of antibiotics - poor hygiene - unsafe food - a weak immune system - a low level of education - high-risk behavior - cultural beliefs and practices (e.g. burials) Colony of the pathogenic cholera bacterium, Vibrio cholerae, possessing blue areas, indicating the successful artificial fusion of the two chromosomes to result in a single chromosome strain. © Institut Pasteur/Thibault Rouxel and Marie-Eve Val, Plasticity of the bacterial genome The history of cholera outbreaks finally elucidated Scientists from the Institut Pasteur and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, in collaboration with several international institutions, recently published a landmark study in the journal Science. They traced the history of cholera outbreaks in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean over the past 60 years. Their research revealed that the cholera bacterium had been introduced at least 11 times into Africa over a period of 44 years, always from Asia, and that human populations were the main vectors for disease dispersal throughout Africa. François-Xavier Weill, Head of the Institut Pasteur's Enteric Bacterial Pathogens Unit These findings show that cholera was not only introduced into Africa in 1970 before subsequently taking up residence there, but is repeatedly introduced on a regular basis. Starting from two prime zones of introduction in West Africa and East Africa, epidemics spread along preferential routes to persistence zones such as the Lake Chad basin or the Great Lakes region. "This work has implications for the control of cholera pandemics and paves the way for a better control strategy. The areas of Africa most susceptible to the introduction of cholera will have to be targeted more specifically in order to stem the cholera waves before they sweep the rest of the continent," point out the researchers. This research was based on a unique collection of cholera vibrio strains, formed by the Institut Pasteur and kept there for nearly 50 years (the Institut Pasteur has long-standing expertise in cholera research – see below in "The Vibrios and Cholera CNR at the Institut Pasteur"), as well the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute's the genome collection – enabling the scientists to cover not just Africa but also other world regions. In a second study, the team focused on Latin America, where epidemic cholera reemerged in 1991 alongside sporadic cases of low-level disease. This revealed that the risk of large-scale outbreaks varies depending on the V. cholerae strain responsible. The massive epidemics seen in Peru in the 1990s and Haiti in 2010 were caused by the Asian pandemic strain, whereas the sporadic cases in Latin America arose from local strains. "One of the major findings of this study was that we should be careful not to confuse vast cholera pandemics with tens of thousands of victims with local outbreaks that appear not to have epidemic potential," emphasize the researchers. Head of the Vibrios and Cholera National Reference Center at the Institut Pasteur All of these studies demonstrate the added value of whole-genome sequencing of V. cholerae strains for cholera surveillance, prevention and control. Our research illustrates the benefits of combining epidemiological and laboratory data during investigations of epidemics, and lends weight to the message recently issued by the WHO's Global Task Force on Cholera Control [see below] to public health practitioners, which recommends systematically combining these two approaches to improve epidemic management. a 90% reduction in cholera deaths by 2030 An ambitious new strategy to reduce the number of deaths from cholera by 90% by 2030 was recently launched by the Global Task Force on Cholera Control (GTFCC), a network of more than 50 United Nations and international agencies, academic institutions and NGOs that supports countries affected by the disease. Urgent action is needed to protect communities, prevent transmission and control outbreaks. Cholera: understanding the link between the world’s major outbreaks paves the way to a better control strategy Find out more in the press area at pasteur.fr Genomic analysis of more than 1,200 strains of Vibrio cholerae by scientists from the Institut Pasteur and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, in collaboration with several international institutions, revealed for the first time the link between the different outbreaks of cholera since 1961. Their findings were published in the journal Science on November 10, 2017. The world is currently witnessing its seventh cholera pandemic. The first six pandemics killed millions of people after the infection spread from its original reservoir in the Ganges delta in the 19th century. The seventh pandemic began in South Asia in 1961, reaching Africa in 1971 and America in 1991. Recent studies, in which the Institut Pasteur has been actively involved, have proven this historical trajectory and demonstrated the link between all the major cholera outbreaks. In May 2011, the World Health Assembly recognized the "reemergence of cholera" as a global public health problem and adopted a resolution to improve cholera control. At that time the UN stated that "with increasing populations living in peri-urban slums and refugee camps, as well as increasing numbers of people exposed to the impacts of humanitarian crises, the risk from cholera will likely increase worldwide". The events currently unfolding in Yemen have tragically proved it right. While the use of oral cholera vaccines can play an effective role in helping control cholera, improving access to drinking water and basic sanitation services in many countries – together with the efforts of local communities – are vital in the fight against this disease (and many other waterborne infections). The Vibrios and Cholera CNR at the Institut Pasteur The National Reference Center (CNR) for Vibrios and Cholera, based at the Institut Pasteur in the Enteric Bacterial Pathogens Unit, is responsible for monitoring cholera and investigating the biodiversity of the different strains circulating worldwide. When the French government set up the country's infrastructure for infectious disease surveillance in the 1950s, it decided that this center of excellence should be based at the Institut Pasteur because of its long tradition of expertise in this disease. The Cholera and Vibrios Unit was officially designated a National Reference Center (CNR) in the 1970s. Under the national decree of November 29, 2004 laying down the procedures for designating CNRs and setting out their missions, the Vibrios and Cholera CNR is tasked by the French Ministry of Health, especially the General Directorate of Health and the French National Public Health Agency (Santé publique France), to carry out microbiological surveillance of cholera and other Vibrio infections (caused by non-cholera vibrios).
\|Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine. Conceptual illustration of coronavirus particles (spheres) in a petri dish (not to scale) being marked by antigens in the form of a potential vaccine, allowing them to be destroyed. Different strains of coronavirus are responsible for diseases such as the common cold, gastroenteritis and SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome). The new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (previously 2019-CoV) emerged in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and has been declared a worldwide pandemic with many thousands of deaths. The virus causes a mild respiratory illness (Covid-19) that can develop into pneumonia and be fatal in some cases. Vaccines are examples of antigens in an immunogenic form. They prime the immune system to recognise the invading pathogen, with antibodies binding to specific antigens, for instance viral proteins, marking them for destruction by phagocyte immune cells. Research is ongoing into a vaccine for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, but it is not expected to be available before 2021.
In this hands-on STEM activity, children explore Isaac Newton’s first law of motion by building their very own roller coaster! - Duct tape - Foam pipe insulation - Chart paper - Masking tape - Cut the foam pipe insulation lengthwise to form two pieces of track. Cut these same pieces widthwise so that each team has four pieces of track for their marble to travel across. - Divide your participants into equal groups and announce that their challenge is to construct a roller coaster that’s tall, fast and steep, but also safe. - Explain that each group will create one roller coaster that meets the following criteria: - The coaster must have a starting point and an ending point. - The car (marble) must stay on the track. - The coaster must have a lift hill. - The coaster must incorporate at least two of the following: a curve, a loop, and/or a hill. - Give each group two sheets of chart paper (to protect the walls), masking tape, scissors and four pieces of foam pipe insulation. Have duct tape available for those groups that wish to use it. - Have groups determine where to hang the two sheets of large paper. One sheet should be taped to the wall approximately one foot higher than the other sheet of paper. This will give teams ample room to create a track that contains hills and dips. - Have groups begin construction of their coasters using masking tape to secure the track (foam pipe insulation) to the sheets of paper. - Inform groups that testing and re-testing is a crucial part of the design and construction of coasters. Using the marble, they should test and re-test their coasters and make changes when needed. - Once the groups have completed their coasters, initiate a discussion using the following questions: - What elements (lift hill, banked turns, loops) are you using in your design? - What is the relationship between the lift hill and all other coaster track elements? (The lift hill should provide momentum for the rest of the ride.) - What changes did you make to your coaster to keep the marble on the track? What are we learning? According to Newton’s first law of motion, an object in motion will stay in motion in a straight line unless acted on by an outside force. In the design of a roller coaster, the loops and turns of the track act as outside forces, channeling the roller coaster in directions other than a straight line. Looking for an exciting new way to explore STEM? Thousands of children across the country have engaged in confidence-building fun with our Innovation Exploration Kits™. Each kit offers tons of materials for endless exploration and creativity, delivered right to your door. To learn more check out our website!
In an undated image from NASA, the center of the Milky Way, viewed by the Hubble space telescope. Photograph:( Twitter ) The European Space Agency (ESA) said that more than 9,200 tonnes of space objects present in the Earth's orbit, that include defunct satellites Artificial satellites and space waste orbiting the Earth can make the night sky brighter, researchers have found, warning that light pollution from these could affect astronomers work to study the universe. The European Space Agency (ESA) said that more than 9,200 tonnes of space objects present in the Earth's orbit, that include defunct satellites, reports The Guardian. Such objects not just capable of light pollution, but also poses a collision risk. Scientists in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society detail how sunlight that is reflected and scattered from space objects can look like streaks in observations made by telescopes from the ground. "Because the streaks are often comparable to or brighter than objects of astrophysical interest, their presence tends to compromise astronomical data and poses the threat of irretrievable loss of information," the researchers wrote. They also said, "when observed with relatively low-sensitivity detectors like the unaided human eye, or with low-angular-resolution photometers, their combined effect is that of a diffuse night sky brightness component, much like the unresolved integrated starlight background of the Milky Way." According to their calculations, the glow could rise up to 10 per cent of the natural sky brightness, a light pollution level earlier set by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) as being the limit that is acceptable at astronomical observatory regions. Though the scientists stress that natural levels of brightness have their own challenges, they said the current situation could become worse once more satellites, including "mega-constellations", are launched.
Thomas à Becket - Martyr and Archbishop of Canterbury Even the Middle Ages sound the bell for modern society: Take heed of this poignant passage of medieval history or seriously jeopardise modern Catholicism and her moral backbone. England was a Norman domain in Becket’s time. Henry II reigned alongside Becket and Henry was the great grandson of William the Conqueror the victor at Hastings in 1066. The Normans controlled a large portion of the Continent including most of France and Southern Italy as we now call it. They were Kings and battlefield winners in the mould of the Romans and their legions and commanders. They left a legacy of castles, cathedrals (Chartres in e.g. Northern France), and the written word in Norman French (The Domesday Book logging the detail of their English Kingdom’s, Manors and Monasteries). There was no Protestantism then and they were to launch the Crusades later against Islam in the Holy Land. Becket was as Norman as Henry II his liege. 2. What went wrong between Henry II and Becket Archbishop of Canterbury, the principal See in England then and now? Essentially, Henry Plantagenet would not tolerate a power within his kingdom. Becket was running Church Courts to adjudicate over offending priests and refusing to let Henry’s Royal Courts try and punish these clerical malefactors. Thus Becket, supported by the Pope, was, in accordance with past practice, setting the Ecclesiastical Courts against Henry’s Assize Judges of the Kings Bench Division as it had become since the Conqueror’s day. Norman French was the language of those who pleaded in the Royal Courts. “Honi soit qui mal y pense = Shame upon him who thinks evil of another.” To this day in our Court Rooms of Civil and Criminal Justice these words are prominent. I imagine Becket’s Courts were conducted in Latin to add insult to Henry’s injury. 3. Becket’s Flight Matters were brought to a head when Henry issued a law, whereby any person found guilty in a Church Court would be punished by a Royal Court of Criminal Justice. Becket fled abroad fearing his life was in danger from the King, but more importantly he wished to defuse this very tense situation between himself and Henry. Henry was the King not Becket – he had to show he could retreat from confrontation and duly did so. He did not rule England – Henry did. An Archbishop of Catholicism had to show he was modest and graceful to his King, which Becket most definitely did. He remained in France for six years; his actions loudly stated he desired no showdown with the King of England Henry II. Eventually he did return rightly to his Cathedral and his diocesan flock. He was no coward, but did all he could to make it easier for Henry. 4. T.S. Eliot’s drama Eliot writes in verse and his drama brings to the fore Becket’s impending murder, and the brooding ill will generated by Henry II and his Council of Knights and Barons. Becket was well known and admired in Rome and Europe. Henry feared Becket’s spiritual and temporal power and his faithful followers in England. Yes, he was a power in the land and this Archbishop was right to leave England and stay away as he did. Eliot picks up on all these themes by the chorus who voice the fears of the English for the Crown and Becket. The Chorus is the spoken rhythm and beat of a highly charged play centring on Becket’s life and eventual murder in the most brutal manner. Without Becket’s martyrdom there could be no play, and Eliot recognised Becket’s sacrifice would never be repeated, despite the later deaths and executions of SS John Fisher and Thomas More. The darkness and foreboding in Eliot’s words is almost visible and tangible. 5. The Murder in the Cathedral It was occasioned by the; “Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest?” comment undoubtedly uttered by Henry. The overzealous Knights cut Becket to pieces. In those days people spoke the truth and it was laid bare. This story has been known since Becket’s death in his Cathedral. There was no deceit – it was all very clear. There was no cover up. His “sheep” revered the place of his death and attributed favours to him at the point where he suffered and died. He did not neglect his flock in his life or death. 6. What about Henry? He wanted forgiveness, unlike the intransigent, and undoubtedly received that absolution as an honest penitent. We were told years ago that Henry was so sorry he went on his knees to Canterbury, as the Irish climb the mountain, Croagh Patrick, in the West of Ireland. Here again he made no secret of his culpability and how it caused the tragic end of his erstwhile friend and esteemed bishop: Thomas à Becket. In the middle ages in Europe there was only Catholicism. Yes, it is a hard religion, but Henry II and Becket proved they were good Catholics. Henry was no deceiver and Becket was no pretender. I raise my glass to these two leading Catholics who shored up Catholicism and the Papacy in the 12th Century. May we follow their good conduct.
Skip to content 7 ways to make learning to read and spell easy for struggling learners - Break it down. The English language is complicated, so the best way to teach it is in small logical sequential steps. It’s basically a code of symbols with sounds attached, with lots of spelling rules, so we need to teach the steps, one by one, in the correct order and allow time for practice. - Start with lower case letters. So many reading and spelling programs start with capital letters. The thing is CAPITAL LETTERS ALL HAVE THE SAME HEIGHT which can make them harder to visually identify for the struggling learner. - In the beginning put more emphasis on the 46 sounds of the English language than you do on letter identification. If a child can speak the English language they already know the 46 sounds. So, the English language has 26 letters that can make 46 sounds. Now it is all about teaching how those 46 speech sounds are represented by common letter patterns in words. Working from what children already know, makes the whole process seem more achievable and allows children greater success. - Use colour and movement to make the learning as multi-sensory as possible. Children needs hooks to hang learning on in order to retain it. For example, make the vowels one colour and the consonants another. Get them to clap their hands every time they see a full stop in a story book. Children love multi-sensory learning because they are designed for it. It makes the learning, fun, action packed and memorable. - Repeat! Repeat! Build knowledge and then Repeat! Children with school learning difficulties often need repetition to make sure what they learn is retained. Children will often tell me they have had access to quite good remedial programs in their schools, but the programs only last for 6-10 weeks, never to be done again and the newly acquired information was eventually lost. - Use supported reading practice to provide reading success from day one. When children first start reading independently, it is so joyful to watch, because they finally have access to all the amazing stories which fosters their incredible creatively and imagination. We need to ensure that the struggling reader has access to this same experience and this can be done via supported reading practice. This can be as easy as reading a story to your child or providing an audio of a book. - Everyone is different. Make sure the child understands that being slower to learn to read than their brothers, sisters or peers does not make them any less intelligent. Many incredibly successful people took some extra time to learn to read. Not everyone is good at it from day one. If children are taught in the right way they can all learn to read. Everyone’s brain works differently and some people just take longer than others to become competent at certain skills, just like learning to tie shoe-laces. Liz Dunoon is a teacher, an author and the creator of the New Speech to Spelling Method™, an online reading and spelling solution which has helped 1000’s of children around the world to catch up at school. If you have a child who is struggling at school with reading, spelling and self-confidence, you can watch a webinar about this ground-breaking new method here.
One may, perhaps, cruise the African planes and catch sight of three organisms: a semi shrub, a terrestrial climbing plant (epiphyte) and a reptile. How should the three be classified or distinguished? It is the study of taxonomy which discriminates organisms. While the aforementioned example considers plants and animals, the field handles all forms of life: bacteria, fungi and amœbae. Discovered relatively recently on February 9, 2017, the amœbic lifeform, Arcella gandalfi, is esteemed to resemble the wizard’s hat of Gandalf. Consider wearing this amœba for Halloween. In most circumstances, an amœba is a single-celled organism with a flexible cell wall. The organisms are highly diverse and cannot be specified to a single kingdom of life. Daniel J. G. Lahr uncloaked the covert amœba succeeding dispatched reports of their presence in Brazilian bodies of water. The size of the ‘specimens from these regions were so small, it was nearly impossible to examine their anatomy and determine whether they belonged to a new species,’ said he. To ease this diabolical doubt, he sought assistance from a biologist named Jordan de Carvalho e Féres who had collected samples of the apt specimen from the Brazilian state of Amapá. Through careful biodiversity analysis, this zooplankton was classified as its own species. In conclusion, the categorisation of a species may be challenging, yet every classified organism disinters the buried and extensive forests of bios.
In botany, chlorosis is a condition in which leaves produce insufficient chlorophyll. As chlorophyll is responsible for the green color of leaves, chlorotic leaves are pale, yellow, or yellow-white. The affected plant has little or no ability to manufacture carbohydrates through photosynthesis and may die unless the cause of its . Rapporter et annet bilde Rapporter det støtende bildet. Nutrient deficiencies may occur because there is an insufficient amount in the soil or because the nutrients . The chlorosis is frequently accompanied by other symptoms giving further clues as to the cause, e. It from failure of chlorophyll to develop because of infection by a. The primary symptom of iron deficiency is interveinal chlorosis , the . Interveinal chlorosis refers to a more specific type of this condition where the veins of a leaf remain green but the leaf material between the veins becomes pale, yellow, or yellowish-green. In northern Illinois, some of the most common causes among trees and shrubs include nutrient deficiencies related to soil alkalinity (high pH), drought, poor drainage, and compaction of the soil. It may be caused by any number of stresses including: nutrient deficiency, root damage, temperature extremes, herbicide misapplication, too much light, too little water or too much water, insect feeding, or disease pathogens. Yellowing of foliage characteristic of chlorosis. An iron deficiency in plants causes unsightly yellow leaves and eventually death. Iron chlorosis affects many kinds of plants and can be frustrating for a gardener. So it is important to correct iron chlorosis in plants. Author information: (1)p. I just got my favorite gardening magazine and a reader asked the question, “The leaves of my roses are yellowing but the veins are green. The given answer is, “This is called chlorosis and is caused by a deficiency of iron”. The answer might be true, or it might not be true. Chlorosis : the rise and disappearance of a nutritional disease. Raspberries grown in heavy soils or soils with a high pH will often have yellow or white leaves with green veins. The lack of chlorophyll is called chlorosis. When the chlorosis is caused by an iron deficiency, the disorder is called iron chlorosis. With iron chlorosis , the lightest colored leaves are always the . Definition of chlorosis – loss of the normal green coloration of leaves of plants, caused by iron deficiency in lime-rich soils, disease, or lack of light. English dictionary definition of chlorosis. The yellowing or whitening of normally green plant tissue because of a decreased amount of chlorophyll, often as a result of disease or nutrient. Define chlorosis : an iron-deficiency anemia especially of adolescent girls that may impart a greenish tint to the skin —called also greensickness. The symptoms are interveinal chlorosis of the leaves with the leaf veins remaining dark green. When active iron (Fe) is low in leaves . Chlorotic (a yellowing of the leaves) azaleas and rhododendron are a common sight in the Indiana landscape. One major cause of chlorosis is a deficiency of either iron or manganese. Fruit production, leaf chlorosis and starch content were examined in cucumber plants under and h (continuous) photoperiods. Light levels were adjusted to provide daily quantum integrals of 16. Continuous light reduced fruit production, induced development of chlorosis on . Chlorotic blueberry leaf tissue can often have leaf iron concentrations that are equal to or even higher than the tissue levels found in green blueberry leaves. Thus, it is important to determine the precise cause of the chlorosis. Think of the presence of visual chlorosis symptoms as a “stress indicator” for the . CHLOROSIS IN TREES AND SHRUBS. Much of the chlorosis seen in our area on trees is actually iron chlorosis or chlorosis caused by a lack of iron in the . A common problem of field grown red maple (Acer rubrum) is a foliar chlorosis that develops in late summer. Maples begin growth with no sign of chlorosis through mid summer. Then, just as the Farwest Show comes around in late August, chlorosis sets in. One nursery jokingly terms this condition “Farwest Show Blight”. ModL: see chlor(o)- and – . Reprinted with permission from Colorado State University Extension: Colorado Master Gardener Program. The term chlorosis means a general yellowing of the leaves. Many factors contribute to chlorosis. Called chlorosis , the yellowing of leaves most often shows up by mid- summer. There is a variety of causes, including disease, air pollution, sucking insects or too much shade. Review recent research suggesting growers have some new tools to manage iron deficiency chlorosis.
Optimized over millions of years of evolution, our circadian rhythms are responsible for the adaptation of our bodies to cycles of light and dark. One need only experience a bout of jet-lag to appreciate how we re-synchronize various bodily functions to a new time zone. However, while the overall effects of these circadian activities have been studied, relatively little is understood about the structure of the network of brain cells as they communicate to control the synchronization process. In a paper that appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, UC Santa Barbara researchers and collaborators infer the architecture of the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), the control center for the circadian processes in mammals. “We wanted to know how it is wired up," said Linda Petzold, a professor in the departments of mechanical engineering and of computer science at UC Santa Barbara. By understanding which cells are communicating as they perform certain tasks, she explained, it is possible to gain insight into how this small organelle of about 20,000 neurons keeps the entire body on a 24-hour clock, regulating essential functions such as sleep, hunger, body-temperature regulation, hormone release and gene expression. Entrainment and Synchronization “There are two big tasks that we know these cells do that have to do with timekeeping,” Petzold said. One of them is synchronization, which is necessary because individual neurons, which have their own pacemaking capabilities, need to work together to be effective. “Any single circadian cell is kind of a poor clock. Together, if they synchronize, they can do a good job. The other function is entrainment, which is in response to environmental cues, such as day and night." To observe how the SCN synchronizes, the researchers had to first desynchronize the network and watch it resynchronize. To do this, they tagged Per2 proteins (which play a significant role in circadian timekeeping) in in vitro samples with a bioluminescent marker, exposed the samples to a neurotoxin to dampen their signals and then washed the neurotoxin away and waited. “From the fluorescence of a given cell, you can tell what the cell thinks its internal time is,” said Petzold. Within days, the previously off-line neurons not only began to glow, but did so in concert, reverting slowly to their behavior prior to their exposure to the neurotoxin. Suprachiasmatic Nucleus Network Taking a cue from information theory, the researchers then took the concept of the maximal information coefficient, a metric based on mutual information shared between two variables (in this case two neurons), and measured the overlap of information between each pair. From these measurements they could see areas of strong communication and, by extension, the network that runs through the suprachiasmatic nucleus. “The SCN has two lobes and there are distinct regions of cells,” Petzold said. Each lobe consists of a core and a shell. According to the study, the cells in the cores showed a high degree of connectivity to each other and to the shell neurons. There was also a high degree of connectivity between the cores. However, there was a relatively low amount of connectivity within the shells. “It confirms some speculation in the literature that the SCN network is a ‘small-world structure,'" said Petzold, referring to the architecture used by the organelle to convey information. Small-world structures are characterized by nodes that are not necessarily connected directly to their neighbors, but most nodes can be reached from every other node through only a few connections, she explained. Additionally, small-world structures tend to include several “hubs” of high connectivity. Social networks are an example of networks with small-world structures, with clusters of individuals in hubs, mutual friends and few degrees of separation between many people. “It has been suggested in the literature that small-world networks are optimal in some sense,” she said. “Small-world networks provide advantages and robustness due to having hubs of high-node degree, as well as less important nodes able to maintain short paths of communication." In this way, she continued, should parts of the suprachiasmatic nucleus network be removed, there is a redundancy provided by the hubs, and the short paths between neurons would continue to ensure communication and synchronize without a large energy cost. Much remains to be learned about the SCN, Petzold said. Future studies may investigate the direction of the connections found therein. John H. Abel et al. Functional network inference of the suprachiasmatic nucleus Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1521178113 Image: By National Institute of General Medical Sciences - Circadian Rhythms Fact Sheet
Dialysis, also called hemodialysis, is the most common treatment for kidney failure. A dialysis machine is an artificial kidney designed to remove impurities from your blood. During dialysis, blood is drawn from the patient through the dialysis access already created and is connected to the dialysis machine so it can remove impurities and regulate fluid and chemical balances. The purified blood is then returned to the patient again through the dialysis access. Creating the access portal is a minor surgical procedure. There are two types of portals placed completely under the skin: A surgeon creates an arteriovenous fistula by making a connection between an artery (which carries blood away from the heart) and a vein (which carries blood back to the heart). This artificial connection allows the vein to become larger and for the walls of the vein to thicken, a process termed maturation. A mature fistula makes it easier for the vein to be punctured repeatedly for dialysis. Maturation typically takes three to six weeks to occur, but in rare cases, can takelonger. This makes advance planning for an arteriovenous fistula important. When a patient is felt to be approximately a year away from requiring dialysis, the patient should be referred for evaluation for possible creation of an arteriovenous fistula. Arteriovenous fistulas are usually created between radial artery and the vein at the wrist . it can also be done at the fore arm as well as the elbow. An arteriovenous fistula is the preferred type of vascular access due to lower rate of infection and clot formation, resulting in greater longevity than other types of vascular access. However, not everyone is a good candidate for an arteriovenous fistula, particularly older patients and patients with small veins or those who have blocked veins in the upperlimb due to previous intravenous injections. If a patient is not a good candidate for an arteriovenous fistula, an arteriovenous graft is considered. An arteriovenous graft is a piece of artificial tubing, generally made out of teflon or fabric, that is attached on one end to an artery, and on the other end to a vein. The tube is placed entirely under the skin and the tube itself is punctured during dialysis. An arteriovenous graft can in general be used two to three weeks after the operation. However, arteriovenous grafts are more prone to infection and clotting than fistulas. The lifespan of an arteriovenous graft is approximately two to three years.
The silicon from which most electronics are built is a useful, durable material up to about 350 degrees Fahrenheit (but don't go sticking your iPhone in the oven). Three hundred fifty isn't bad, says engineer Alton Horsfall of Newcastle University in the U.K., but not nearly good enough for his mission: monitoring volcanoes. Horsfall and colleague Nick Wright say their research into a different material, silicon carbide (SiC), shows that it could work at temperatures in excess of 1,000 degrees F, and might be just what they need to keep watch on inhospitable places like the blazing-hot mouth of a volcano. The silicon and carbon in silicon carbide bond very strongly, permitting them to survive extreme temperatures. But the material's pricey and hard to work with for the same reason. So while organizations like NASA have done silicon carbide research, the material hasn't spread to a multitude of applications. Now Horsfall and Wright have managed to manipulate silicon carbide into viable electronic components. "The sensors are sensitive to oxygen, hydrogen, hydrogen sulphide and sulphur dioxide, that we've tested so far, and can achieve a sensitivity of the order of 10 parts per million," says Horsfall. Although there are still issues with cross-sensitivity, Horsfall hopes to have sensor arrays that can identify unique gases in a mixture within a year. [New Scientist] The two-person team says these components could soon fit into a small case, no bigger than a smartphone, with a radio transmitter to beam results back to the lab. That's what they're working on now. Scientists could drop such gadgets into the depths of the earth to help measure subtle changes in the levels of key volcanic gases, such as carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide. They could then wirelessly feed back real-time data to the surface, providing vital details regarding volcanic activity and potential eruptions. [MSNBC] The devices could also monitor other locations where humans fear to tread, such as nuclear reactors or jet engines. Meanwhile, another volcano watching method remains mired in controversy. Last year we covered , a group of scientists who want to drill down into that volcano near Naples, Italy, intending to install sensors that will reveal the formation's structure, and perhaps clues preceding an eruption. Campi Flegrei last erupted in 1538, and the ground in the area has been swelling for the past 40 years, leading to fears of another eruption within decades. [Nature] But as the project approaches its beginning next month, Nature reports , protests persist. Among the complaints: the drilling site was poorly chosen, the project could be a major polluter, and drilling down into a volcano is just a bad idea to begin with. Related Content: DISCOVER: Disaster! The Most Destructive Volcanic Eruptions in History (PHOTOS) DISCOVER: World Versus the Volcano: Huge Eruptions Leave the World Hungry and Cold Image: Wikimedia Commons
1. Display or distribute copies of The New Yorker cover titled Twin Towers. Do not reveal the title to students. 2. Ask students to look at the cover. If possible, zoom in to focus on specific sections. 3. Lead a guided inquiry by asking the following questions (note: follow-up questions are designed to get students to support their responses with observations). Record their observations on a smartboard or chart paper by category. - What: Describe what you see on this cover. What else do you notice? - What: What do you notice about the buildings? What else can you see? - Who: Do you recognize any of the buildings? Which ones? - Where: Where does this take place? How can you tell? - When: When was this cover made? 4. Recap the recorded responses from students. Reveal the title of the cover to students — Twin Towers. Why do they think the artist chose that title? Ask if anyone can connect the title to an important event (you can remind students of the date the cover was made). 5. Share the following background information with students: The Twin Towers were famous buildings in New York City that people from all over the world could recognize. On September 11, 2001, four planes were hijacked, or taken over, by 19 terrorists and flown into important American buildings. Two of those planes were flown into the Twin Towers. The damage caused both towers to collapse, or fall down. This forever changed the skyline of New York City. 6. Ask students, How does this cover help us to remember the Twin Towers? Image courtesy of The New Yorker © Condé Nast Additional resources about the Twin Towers and memorialization:
The piezoelectric effect is understood as the linear electromechanical interaction between the mechanical and the electrical state in crystalline . Piezoelectric_sensorCachadLiknandeÖversätt den här sidanA piezoelectric sensor is a device that uses the piezoelectric effect, to measure changes in pressure, acceleration, temperature, strain, or force by converting . Piezoelectric Effect is the ability of certain materials to generate an electric charge in response to applied mechanical stress. Photo: A piezoelectric actuator used by NASA for various kinds of testing. Photo by courtesy of NASA Langley Research Center (NASA-LaRC). Crystals which acquire a charge when compresse twisted or distorted are said to be piezoelectric. This provides a convenient transducer effect between . Later they noticed that electrical fields can deform piezoelectric materials. This effect is called the inverse piezoelectric effect. Piezoelectric materials generate electricity when they are mechanically deformed. The Piezoelectric Effect, How Does it Work in Piezo Mechanisms for.
The signs of Attention Deficit Disorder may or may not be incredibly apparent. Because of the intricacies of this disorder and the variations from child to child, diagnosis may prove to be a difficult process. The first step is understanding that hyperactivity is not synonymous with Attention Deficit Disorder. While a child may exhibit an increased level of activity with this disorder, it is not an inherent factor of ADD. On the other hand, there are certain characteristics that are prevalent in a child with ADD, such as inattentiveness, impulsiveness, and being easily distracted. Inattentiveness and distractibility go hand and hand. A child with ADD may have a difficult time staying on task, completing activities, and paying attention to details. While these may seem common traits among children, an ADD child will exhibit extreme behavior more so than children of the same age. They must also exhibit these behaviors for extended periods of time, more than six months, and the behavior must significantly hinder a child’s ability to function in day to day activities. Impulsiveness also is a common trait among children with ADD. Often paired with hyperactivity, a child may suddenly bolt from their chair to observe what is taking place across the classroom. On the other hand, a child may also exhibit impulsive behavior that does not show signs of hyperactivity, such as blurting out answers in a classroom setting. Children with Attention Deficit Disorder seem to be wired in to everything that is happening around them. In some ways, they are hypersensitive to their surroundings and can not concentrate with typical distractions. While they do not have difficulties learning, they may very likely rank poor academically because of their inability to stay on task and complete assignments. Boys and girls tend to behave differently with ADD. While both genders will typically be hypersensitive to sight, sounds, and physical stimuli, boys tend to be more hyperactive and girls more inattentive. They also both seem to become unmanageable and unruly with overstimulation, sometimes to the point of aggressiveness and abusiveness. This is of particular importance to parents of a child with ADD, as these prove to be more difficult times of control. It is important, however, to understand that all children are different. No two children will behave exactly the same in any given circumstance. Just because your child behaves more aggressively than other children, does not necessarily mean they have ADD. Diagnosis from a physician or specialist is necessary to determine if Attention Deficit Disorder is present.
Plant of the Week Hairy Sunflower (Helianthus hirsutus Lam.) By David Taylor Hairy Sunflower is a member of the Asteraceae, the Sunflower family. In older manuals and guides, this family is called the Compositae because the 'flowers' are a composite of many flowers, often of different types. The many species of plants in this family are grouped based on the arrangement and type of flowers. All members of the family produce one or more heads (capitulum, the term used in technical keys) of flowers. This and other sunflowers have two different types of flowers, ray flowers and disk flowers and in turn, these can have male and female parts, or either one or the other. The ray flowers look like petals, but each is actually an individual flower. The disk flowers are at the center of the head, inside the ring of ray flowers. The disk flowers are usually small. With a hand lens one can see the distinct tips of 5 petals in each flower. The disk flowers closest to the ray flowers open first. This sunflower is 0.5 - 1.5 m (1.6 - 5 ft) tall. The stem is rigid and covered in coarse spreading hairs. Leaves are opposite (rarely alternate near the top), wider at the base than the top, and are 5 - 15 cm (2 - 6 in) long by 1 - 8 cm (0.4 - 3.1 in) wide. The leaves are covered in dense rough hairs, top and bottom resulting in the common name. Heads are generally borne individually or in clusters of 2 or 3, and are found at the top of the plant. Each head generally has 10 -15 ray flowers that are 1.5 - 3.5 cm (0.6 - 1.4 in) long, and numerous disk flowers. Both the ray and disk flowers are yellow. The center of the containing the disk flowers is 2 cm (0.8 in) wide. The entire head is 3.5 - 5.5 cm (1.4 - 2.2 in) wide. Hairy sunflower is an open land and open forest species, generally on drier soils. It is a species of prairies and other grasslands, old fields, roadsides, savannas and woodlands, and upland forest without a dense shrub layer. It also occurs in forest openings. It is found from Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska south to Texas and east to New York and Connecticut south to Florida, with the exception of New Jersey. It is also known from Ontario. It is most common in Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee. It is also known from Coahuila and Nuevo León, Mexico. This species flowers in July to October depending on the part of the country in which it is found. It is a strong competitor in the garden and can soon become weedy. It does attract numerous finches which eat the seeds directly from the heads.
Less than half of the adults in the United States have a healthy BMI. For adults, an ideal range is between 18.5 and 24.9; a person with a BMI over 24.9 is considered overweight, and a person with a BMI under 18.5 is considered underweight. For children, a BMI between the 5th and 85th percentiles is considered healthy. Body mass index (BMI for short) is a tool that can be used to indirectly measure body fatness. Because the calculation requires only height and weight, it is inexpensive and easy for healthcare providers and the general public to use as a method of screening for weight categories that may lead to health problems. (Click BMI Calculator to find your BMI.) Although the BMI formula for adults and children is the same, the way the results are interpreted differ. Therefore, what is considered a healthy BMI also differs. For adults, an ideal BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9. A person with a BMI over 24.9 is considered overweight. A person with a BMI under 18.5 is considered underweight. For children, a healthy BMI is between the 5th and 85th percentiles. This test is valid for both men and women, but it does have some limits. When using BMI to calculate body fatness, keep in mind that it may: - Underestimate body fat in older people and others who have lost muscle mass - Overestimate body fat in athletes and others who have a muscular build. Therefore, it is possible for a person to be completely healthy but have an "unhealthy BMI." To account for these limitations, healthcare providers consider other factors when assessing the health risk for certain medical conditions. (Click BMI and Weight for more information on other factors healthcare providers consider when determining risk for certain medical conditions related to weight.)
During the austral winter months, a veil of gray mist shrouds the coast between the Tambo and Ilo rivers in southern Peru, but the soil is a crumbly, faded brown year-round. The few plants that can survive in such harsh conditions are scraggly and wind-whipped. Though the trees are long gone, stumps jut out of the hillsides like half-exhumed skeletons. It looks like the scene of a post-apocalyptic Hollywood drama, and it is, in many ways, a dead landscape. But it hasn’t always been this way. The remains of stone-faced terraces and ditchlike irrigation canals are evidence of the area’s agricultural past. Today, however, a few lonely farms remain. Nearby, one of the world’s largest industrial copper smelters has sent plumes of sulfur dioxide into the air since the 1960s, before significantly cutting back its emissions just a few years ago. At first glance, it would be easy to blame the region’s rapid desertification on the smelter. But Gregory Zaro, an assistant professor of anthropology and climate change at the University of Maine, sees things a little differently. “If you were to make a quick judgment, you could say, ‘Look at that smelter. That’s the reason.’ But the smelter is coming in very late, at the tail end of a process that took five or six centuries,” says Zaro, who is one of a handful of researchers in the world studying this region of Peru. “Desertification as a process often includes both human and nonhuman drivers. Human agents most often stem from agricultural mismanagement, overgrazing, deforestation and industrial activity. Each of these has been present at some point in this study region over the past 600-800 years, and often overlapping. What I can do is use desertification as a measuring stick to gauge how the landscape has changed and what role we have in that change.” Did centuries-old agricultural practices deplete or enhance the soil? Did deforestation and overgrazing catalyze desertification of southern Peru’s inland hills? Was past or recent desertification a slow or rapid process, either in the ancient past or more recently? While not the only way humans impact the environment, agriculture is of particular interest to Zaro because it involves deliberate manipulation of the landscape, with intentional and unintentional consequences. Looking at climate change from an archaeological perspective allows Zaro and his colleagues to better understand the way human activities have shaped the environment – and, equally important, how they have not. “We’re beginning to understand how humans have had an impact on the environment deep into the past,” Zaro says. “It really questions what benchmarks we set over ‘natural’ environments. What we’re inheriting today are environments people have manipulated for thousands of years.” Zaro became hooked on anthropology, archaeology and Spanish as a teenager, when his father took him to Peru. While working on his master’s degree at the University of Chicago, he spent time on the northern coast of Peru, a hotbed of archeological research. His Ph.D. work at the University of New Mexico led him south. Because the southern Peruvian coast is less extensively studied, thus less crowded, it allowed him to work more closely with his advisers, who had spent time researching in the area earlier in their careers. “As a student down there, I saw a real opportunity to understand a very unknown area,” Zaro says. As a professor, he continues to see that opportunity. The Cola de Zorro site has been marginalized on both a community and, he argues, a scholarly level. He researches from the perspective of historical ecology, which views the evolution of landscapes as the result of the interplay between human and nonhuman processes. And this abandoned farming area was ripe for exploration. “This whole coastline was very different 500 years ago than it is today,” Zaro says. “I would love to be transported back in time just to see what this place looked like in its heyday.” Though not the same as a time machine, anthropology, geology, soil chemistry, paleoethnobotany, and zooarchaeology combine to provide a historical view of land use on the site. Individually, these research areas are pieces of the overall climate change puzzle. Together, they may not entirely solve the puzzle, but they offer a much more detailed record of what happened. By teasing apart different events – light and intensive farming; the building of homes, cemeteries and terraces; industrialization; and the desiccation of the landscape – and when they occurred, Zaro and his colleagues can begin to understand what role humans have played in long-term environmental change. “Geologically speaking, humans are late arrivals on the planet,” Zaro says. “To put humans in the context of continuous change, there were billions of years of change without us. When we talk about sustainability, what we really need to think about is how we can successfully manage change.” Pages: 1 2
Students will learn how to graph motion vs time. Specifically students will learn how to take the slope of a graph and relate that to the instantaneous velocity or acceleration for position or velocity graphs, respectively. Finally students will learn how to take the area of a velocity vs time graph in order to calculate the displacement. For a graph of position vs. time. The slope is the rise over the run, where the rise is the displacement and the run is the time. thus, Note : Slope of the tangent line for a particular point in time = the instantaneous velocity For a graph of velocity vs. time. The slope is the rise over the run, where the rise is the change in velocity and the run is the time. thus, Note : Slope of the tangent line for a particular point in time = the instantaneous acceleration - One must first read a graph correctly. For example on a position vs. time graph (thus the position is graphed on the y-axis and the time on the x-axis) for a given a data point, go straight down from it to get the time and straight across to get the position. - If there is constant acceleration the graph vs. produces a parabola. The slope of the vs. graph equals the instantaneous velocity. The slope of a vs. graph equals the acceleration. - The slope of the graph vs. can be used to find acceleration; the area of the graph vs. can be used to find displacement. Welcome to calculus! What is a Graph Watch this Explanation Time for Practice Use the Moving Man Applet to assist in this Practice. - The position graph below is of the movement of a fast turtle who can turn on a dime. a. Sketch the velocity vs. time graph of the turtle below. b. Explain what the turtle is doing (including both speed and direction ) from: i) 0-2s. ii) 2-3s. iii) 3-4s. c. How much distance has the turtle covered after 4s? d. What is the turtle’s displacement after 4s? - Draw the position vs. time graph that corresponds to the velocity vs. time graph below. You may assume a starting position . Label the axis with appropriate values. - The following velocity-time graph represents 10 seconds of actress Halle Berry’s drive to work (it’s a rough morning). a. Fill in the tables below – remember that displacement and position are not the same thing! \|Instantaneous Time (s)\|\|Position (m)\| \|Interval (s)\|\|Displacement (m)\|\|Acceleration\|\|0 sec\|\|0 m\| b. On the axes below, draw an acceleration-time graph for the car trip. Include numbers on your acceleration axis. c. On the axes below, draw a position-time graph for the car trip. Include numbers on your position axis. Be sure to note that some sections of this graph are linear and some curve – why? - Two cars are drag racing down El Camino. At time , the yellow Maserati starts from rest and accelerates at . As it starts to move it’s passed by a ’63 Chevy Nova (cherry red) traveling at a constant velocity of 30 m/s. a. On the axes below, show a line for each car representing its speed as a function of time. Label each line. b. At what time will the two cars have the same speed (use your graph)? c. On the axes below, draw a line (or curve) for each car representing its position as a function of time. Label each curve. d. At what time would the two cars meet (other than at the start)? 1c. 25 m 1d. -5 m 2. discuss in class 3. discuss in class 4b. 3 sec 4d. 6 sec
As part of the celebrations for 25 years of Project, now in it’s third edition, and in preparation for the Project Competition to design the best class poster, Tom Hutchinson explains what a project is and shows us a few examples. Project work is not a new methodology. Its benefits have been widely recognized for many years in the teaching of subjects like Science, Geography, and History. Some teachers have also been doing project work in their language lessons for a long time, but for others it is a new way of working. In the first of a series of five blog posts, I aim to provide a simple introduction to project work. In the following posts, I shall then go on to explain what benefits project work brings in relation to motivation, relevance, and educational values. I shall also deal with the main worries that teachers have about using project work in their classrooms. So to get started: What is a project? The best way to answer this question is to show some examples of projects (click on the images to see full size versions). Projects allow students to use their imagination and the information they contain does not always have to be factual. In the above example of a project which required students to introduce themselves and their favourite things, the students pretend they are a horse. You can do projects on almost any topic. Factual or fantastic, they help to develop the full range of learners’ capabilities. Projects are often done in poster format, but students can also experiment with the form, like in the project above. You will probably also note that project work can produce errors! Project work encourages a focus on fluency – some errors of accuracy are bound to occur. What are the common characteristics of these projects? Each project is the result of a lot of hard work. The authors of the projects have found information about their topic, collected or drawn pictures, written down their ideas, and then put all the parts together to form a coherent presentation. Project work is not a soft option. The projects are very creative in terms of both content and language. Each project is a unique piece of communication, created by the project writers themselves. This element of creativity makes project work a very personal experience. The students are writing about aspects of their own lives, and so they invest a lot of themselves in their project. Project work is a highly adaptable methodology. It can be used at every level from absolute beginner to advanced, and with all ages. So, let us now return to the original question: What is a project? In fact, the key to understanding project work lies not in the question What?, but rather in the question Who? Who makes the decisions? A project is an extended piece of work on a particular topic where the content and the presentation are determined principally by the learners. The teacher or the textbook provides the topic, but as the examples in this section show, the project writers themselves decide what they write and how they present it. This learner-centred characteristic of project work is vital, as we shall see when we consider the merits of project work in the second blog post.
Particularly in the Social Sciences, but in any class, it is sometimes useful to have students conduct a survey (this works great for a statistics lesson in a Math class as well!). Allow students time during class to brainstorm what types of questions would elicit responses surrounding the topic from class, then create the Form in class. Homework assigned: share your form, being sure to collect at least 15 responses by class next time. Class discussion will be much more interesting once you have real world results to analyze! This can even work with little ones. In the last school in which I worked, the 1st grade teacher would often take students around to ask other students and teachers questions about the lesson they were studying. I remember being asked things like, “what is democracy?”, while their tiny hands wrote furiously to take notes of all commentary gleaned. Once back in class, they were able to share and compare the results. One easy way to implement this using Google Forms is to have students create a Google Form with all the questions they would like to ask, and then share it with their friends and family. Sharing can be via email or social media, using the “Send” button within Google Forms, or students can post a shortened link (obtainable at goo.gl), or turn the form link into a QR code (or whatever other means they find helpful for sharing). Once results are collected, students can take the lead sharing their insights with the class, or in the case of a Google Form created by the whole class, the teacher can lead discussion in looking at the results and what they may mean.
Reading S.O.S. is a comprehensive and excellent program that is designed to help older struggling readers improve their reading and comprehension skills. There is a strong focus on phonological awareness, sound symbol correspondence (connecting sounds to letters) and decoding skills. The program is unique in its adaptability it adjusts automatically to each user's specific skill levels and performance, which greatly reduces frustration and creates a positive atmosphere for learning. The result is learning exercises tailored to each student's individual needs. There are 5 activities for each of the 4 difficulty levels each with a good variety of exercises. Some of the activities include: The above is just a sampling of the many activities and exercises in the program. - Master bdp (level 1): designed to help students distinguish between the sometimes confusing letters b,d, and p. Students will sort these letters into groups, and repeat the exercise trying to "beat" their previous time. They then sort words that begin or end with these letters into their appropriate groups. - Consonant Blast (level 1): students must explode words that they hear spoken, and improve their time. - E-Maze (level 2): contains a variety of activities in which kids progress through a maze by sorting words according to their vowel sound, choosing the correct word from two similar words, and building dictated words. - Add It (level 3): students sort words into boxes according to their suffixes, select an incomplete dictated word from a list and type in the suffix, and choose the correct suffixes to complete sentences. - Winners Old & New (level 4): builds upon the skills learned in all the levels. Students choose missing words to complete paragraphs. If they make 2 or more errors, they will practice the target words. You will be surprised how easily users can work independently, as instructions are very clear for each exercise. This is particularly attractive for home users looking to improve skills. We were impressed by the program's ability to get the testers' attention and keep it for an extended period of time. There are no distractions, crisp and fresh graphics, and clear instructions, making this program superior on an educational level. There are a myriad of options and record-keeping as well for many students. Parents or teachers can create a student list and choose a starting level for each student. They can control access to the various levels, and even control the particular units with the levels. There is even a choice between a male and female voice for instructions. An achievement report can also be viewed and/or printed for each student. An important note: Lexia Learning also produces an excellent program for early readers that is similar in format to Reading SOS, but is designed for younger students see our review of Phonics Based Reading. Both programs are exceptional. The interface for Reading SOS is more mature than that of PBR, but the material covered corresponds to grades 1-4. Minimum requirements are Windows 3.1 or higher, a 486 processor or better, 12 Mb RAM, and 2X CD ROM. Mac users require a Mac OS 7.0 or higher with 12 Mb RAM, and at least 2X CD ROM. basic reading skills, sound-symbol correspondence (connecting sounds to letters and letter groups), phonological awareness (awareness of sounds), decoding skills, reading comprehension This program does an exceptional job of improving reading skills. It is focused and well-organized with automatic adjustment of levels to ensure a positive learning environment in which users can confidently work. The exercises are designed to educate without distractions, and, as such, the program focuses on educational content. The kid testers were nonetheless totally absorbed in the exercises, perhaps even more so than their other flashier software games. Many of the activities include a timing feature that is not intimidating at all in fact, players try to improve upon their own scores. The care and thought that went into this program is evident in all areas, including its design. There are plenty of customization features, as well as exercises that branch out according to a student's performance. Students can work independently, and the interface is very well-designed. This program is content-rich with 4 levels of difficulty and different exercises for each level. The family version is $149 US. Keep in mind that although you could buy a few other learn-to-read titles with that same amount of money, you won't necessarily get as effective a program as Reading SOS. A school version is available.
The Achievements of the US Space Program Soon after its conception, NASA initiated Project Mercury and NASA's manned space program began. It succeeded in sending the first American into space, and the first American to orbit the Earth. On 5th of May 1961, Alan Shepard made a suborbital journey on board of the spacecraft, Freedom 7. Later, on February 20, 1962, John Glenn maneuvered his spacecraft, Friendship 7 into space and orbited three times around the Earth. The success of Project Mercury paved the way for the initiation of another program, Project Gemini in 1965, which was aimed at developing the background for NASA's future manned lunar missions. It conducted ten manned and two unmanned space flights, of which Gemini IV, launched on June 3, 1965, became famous as one of its astronauts, Edward Higgins White II, became the first American to carry out a spacewalk. Project Gemini was followed by Project Apollo, which created history when it landed two astronauts on the Moon. The Apollo program, conceived in 1961, met with setbacks during its initial stage. One of the biggest tragedies in the history of NASA happened during this project. Apollo 1, which was scheduled to be launched on the 21st of February 1967, caught fire during a test on January 27, 1967, on the launch pad, killing the three crew members: Gus Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee. After this tragedy, NASA carried out four successful Apollo missions before the historic Apollo 11 mission. It started its journey on July 16, 1969 with three crew members, Neil Alden Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr, and landed on the lunar surface four days later. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the Moon, followed by Buzz Aldrin. The Apollo project continued to send human into space until its final mission on 7th of December 1972. Among these missions, Apollo 13 is often hailed as a major victory in the NASA’s history, as they succeeded in bringing the severely damaged spacecraft back to Earth with its crew members alive. Another important mission was Apollo 15, launched on July 26, 1971, during which the lunar rover was used for the first time to explore the Moon's surface. Skylab, which was launched on May 14, 1973, was the first US space station. This served as a laboratory to study the effect of zero gravity on the human body, and also to study the Sun using the Apollo Telescope mounted on board.
There's a good reason why ears and eyes come in pairs. Receiving stimuli from two points of input is necessary to pinpoint the location of objects. Most animals, including people, can hear and see in stereo. You can tell where a sound is coming from by comparing the time it arrives at each ear, and stereo vision allows you to see in three dimensions. Nostrils also tend to come in pairs, but there are very few studies on whether the olfactory system can operate stereoscopically. A stereoscopic sense of smell would enable an animal to locate the source of a smell based on the strength or the timing of odors arriving at each nostril. Each nostril would send a slightly different signal to the brain, where the differences in timing or intensity would be translated into the direction of the odor. Researchers found sharks are able to compare the timing of odors arriving at each of their nostrils to follow a scent trail to its source. As for mammals, lab rats can be trained to tell whether an odor comes from the right or left, but such behavior has not been studied in any mammals behaving naturally. Until now. A new study shows the common or eastern mole (Scalopus aquaticus) locates food by distinguishing between subtle differences in the intensity of smells at each nostril. The experiments were conducted by Kenneth Catania, a professor of biological sciences at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., and published Feb. 5 in the journal Nature Communications. The eastern mole is a sturdy little burrower, highly specialized for living underground. It has tiny eyes, useful only for distinguishing between light and dark, hidden below folds of fur and skin. Its large, hairless forefeet are shaped like spades — ideal for digging. The most important feature for this study is the mole's snout: a fleshy, moveable protuberance with two closely-spaced nostrils on the upper part. Catania at first did not think stereoscopic smell was possible in the moles, partly because of the close position of the two nostrils. Stereo sensory systems depend on the animal's brain computing differences (for instance, in timing or intensity) of the input at two points. To test the moles, Catania designed a circular arena with 15 food wells spaced around a 180-degree circle. He placed pieces of chopped earthworm in one of the wells. Then he temporarily sealed the chamber so he could detect each time the mole sniffed by the change in air pressure. This also eliminated airflow that might disturb the flow of odors and simulated the closed environment of the mole's natural underground burrow. Catania monitored the sniffs and filmed the moles' search behaviors with a high-speed camera (see video). First, for the control condition, Catania recorded the moles' behavior in the chamber. When a mole entered the chamber, it would move its nose back and forth while sniffing. The moles found the well containing the earthworm pieces in five seconds or less and went straight for the correct location every time. Next, Catania blocked one of the moles' nostrils with a small plastic tube. When the left nostril was blocked, the moles consistently veered off to the right, and when the right nostril was blocked, they veered to the left. The moles seemed to be "pulled" toward the open nostril, even if it was away from the direction of the food. Eventually the moles found the food, but it took much longer than in the control condition. In the last condition, Catania crossed the inputs of the two nostrils by inserting small plastic tubes in both nostrils. This made the left nostril sniff the air on the mole's right side and the right nostril sniff the air on the left. At first, the moles searched the chamber back and forth repeatedly. Somewhat surprisingly, the confused animals usually managed to locate the food eventually. It could be because the moles aren't relying solely on their stereo sense of smell to find the food, or it could be due to persistent searching and a little luck. Moles benefit from the ability to sniff in stereo. By simultaneously sampling the odors reaching each nostril, and comparing the intensities, moles can quickly determine the direction of a predator. Their stereoscopic sense of smell is also useful for tracking the scent of food to its source, especially in their underground environment. Reference: Catania, K. C. 2013. Stereo and serial sniffing guide navigation to an odour source in a mammal. Nature Communications 4: Article number 1441. doi:10.1038/ncomms2444
- There is a horizontal staff indicating if the accordion must be pushed (thick line) or pulled (thin line) - There is a small rhythmic staff with lyrics that describes the bass buttons to press. The bar lines are made from gridlines - The tabulator staff for diatonic accordions shows the geographic position of the buttons and not (as for every other instrument) the pitch of the notes; the keys on the melody-side of the accordion are placed in three columns and about 12 rows In the tabulator staff notation the outermost column is described with notes between lines, the innermost column is described with notes between lines and a cross as accidental, and the middle column is described with notes on a line, whereby the row in the middle is represented on the middle line in the staff. Some words to transpose piano notes to the diatonic accordion: 1. Every diatonic accordion is built for some keys only (for example, for the keys of C major and F major), so it is important to transpose a piano melody to match one of these keys. Transpose the source code, not only the output because this code is required later on to translate it once more to the tabulator staff. This can be done with the command 2. You have to alternate the push- and pull-direction of the accordion regularly. If the player has a too long part to pull the accordion gets broken. On the other hand, some harmonies are only available in one direction. Considering this, decide which parts of the melody are the push-parts and which the pull-parts. 3. For each pull- or push-part translate the piano notes to the according tabulature representation.
Nouns: Common or Proper? This common and proper nouns worksheet helps kids learn what makes a noun common or proper. Students will begin by reading about the different kinds of nouns, and learning how to identify each common and proper nouns. Then, kids will be able to put their new knowledge to the test by circling the common and proper nouns in written examples, and capitalizing the proper nouns. Help your child improve his writing with this worksheet.
Posted on 21/11/2014 by emily Homing in on Philae’s final landing site Based on inputs provided by the CONSERT principal investigator Wlodek Kofman, CNRS researcher at the Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble, Grenoble, France. In addition to the on-going visual searches using OSIRIS and NAVCAM images, the CONSERT experiment is helping scientists to locate Philae’s final landing site. CONSERT, or the Comet Nucleus Sounding Experiment by Radio wave Transmission, is an experiment that works between the Rosetta orbiter and the Philae lander. It works by transmitting radio signals from the orbiter to the lander, and when the geometry is right, the signals pass through the nucleus of the comet, allowing its interior to be analysed. The signals are received on the lander, where some data is extracted, and then immediately a new signal is transmitted back to the orbiter, where the main experimental data collection occurs. As the radio waves pass through different parts of the cometary nucleus, variations in propagation time and amplitude occur, and these can be used to determine various properties of the internal material and carry out a form of ‘tomography’. But CONSERT is also being used to help identify the location of the lander, in combination with work performed by ESOC Flight Dynamics, the Philae lander team, the ESA Rosetta Science Ground Segment, and the OSIRIS camera team. By making measurements of the distance between Rosetta and Philae during the periods of direct visibility between orbiter and lander, as well as measurements made through the core, the team have been able to narrow down the search to the strip presented in the image shown above. The determination of the landing zone is dependent on the underlying comet shape model used, which is why there are two candidate regions marked. Planned high-resolution imaging by OSIRIS will be used to study the CONSERT predicted area. The CONSERT team also need to know where Philae is before they can fully analyse their scientific data.
Ever wonder where cashews come from? You might think they grow inside a shell like any other nut, but their true origins are far more bizarre. First of all, cashews are not actually nuts, but rather fruits from the cashew tree, a large evergreen tree that thrives in tropical climates. The tree produces red flowers, which in turn produce yellow and red oval structures resembling apples. These so-called cashew apples are very juicy and pulpy, and their juice is often added to tropical fruit drinks. However, ‘cashew apples’ are not actually fruits in a scientific sense; the real fruit of the cashew tree is the kidney-shaped formation growing at the end. These fruits, also called drupes, are harvested and become what we know as a cashew nut. In their raw form, the outer layer of the fruit contains multiple toxins—including anacardic acid, a powerful skin irritant similar to the toxin found in poison ivy—that must be removed prior to eating. Roasting the cashews destroys the toxins, but roasting must be performed carefully outdoors because the smoke can irritate the lungs, sometimes to a life-threatening degree. When they are roasted, cashews change from their natural greenish-gray color to the light brown ‘nut’ sold in stores. Next time you crack open a tin of cashews, take a moment to appreciate the long journey those little c-shaped ‘nuts’ took from the tree to your table!
In computer science, a mark-compact algorithm is a type of garbage collection algorithm used to reclaim unreachable memory. Mark-compact algorithms can be regarded as a combination of the mark-sweep algorithm and Cheney's copying algorithm. First, reachable objects are marked, then a compacting step relocates the reachable (marked) objects towards the beginning of the heap area. Compacting garbage collection is used by Microsoft's Common Language Runtime and by the Glasgow Haskell Compiler. After marking the live objects in the heap in the same fashion as the mark-sweep algorithm, the heap will often be fragmented. The goal of mark-compact algorithms is to shift the live objects in memory together so the fragmentation is eliminated. The challenge is to correctly update all pointers to the moved objects, most of which will have new memory addresses after the compaction. The issue of handling pointer updates is handled in different ways. A table-based algorithm was first described by Haddon and Waite in 1967. It preserves the relative placement of the live objects in the heap, and requires only a constant amount of overhead. Compaction proceeds from the bottom of the heap (low addresses) to the top (high addresses). As live (that is, marked) objects are encountered, they are moved to the first available low address, and a record is appended to a break table of relocation information. For each live object, a record in the break table consists of the object's original address before the compaction and the difference between the original address and the new address after compaction. The break table is stored in the heap that is being compacted, but in an area that are marked as unused. To ensure that compaction will always succeed, the minimum object size in the heap must be larger than or the same size as a break table record. As compaction progresses, relocated objects are copied towards the bottom of the heap. Eventually an object will need to be copied to the space occupied by the break table, which now must be relocated elsewhere. These movements of the break table, (called rolling the table by the authors) cause the relocation records to become disordered, requiring the break table to be sorted after the compaction is complete. The cost of sorting the break table is O(n log n), where n is the number of live objects that were found in the mark stage of the algorithm. Finally, the break table relocation records are used to adjust pointer fields inside the relocated objects. The live objects are examined for pointers, which can be looked up in the sorted break table of size n in O(log n) time if the break table is sorted, for a total running time of O(n log n). Pointers are then adjusted by the amount specified in the relocation table. In order to avoid O(n log n) complexity, the LISP2 algorithm uses 3 different passes over the heap. In addition, heap objects must have a separate forwarding pointer slot that is not used outside of garbage collection. After standard marking, the algorithm proceeds in the following 3 passes: - Compute the forwarding location for live objects. - Keep track of a free and live pointer and initialize both to the start of heap. - If the live pointer points to a live object, update that object's forwarding pointer to the current free pointer and increment the free pointer according to the object's size. - Move the live pointer to the next object - End when the live pointer reaches the end of heap. - Update all pointers - For each live object, update its pointers according to the forwarding pointers of the objects they point to. - Move objects - For each live object, move its data to its forwarding location. This algorithm is O(n) on the size of the heap; it has a better complexity than the table-based approach, but the table-based approach's n is the size of the used space only, not the entire heap space as in the LISP2 algorithm. However, the LISP2 algorithm is simpler to implement. - B. K. Haddon and W. M. Waite (August 1967). "A compaction procedure for variable length storage elements". Computer Journal 10: 162–165.
What Is It? A fallen arch or flatfoot is known medically as pes planus. The foot loses the gently curving arch on the inner side of the sole, just in front of the heel. If this arch is flattened only when standing and returns when the foot is lifted off the ground, the condition is called flexible pes planus or flexible flatfoot. If the arch disappears in both foot positions — standing and elevated — the condition is called rigid pes planus or rigid flatfoot. Flexible flatfeet are considered normal in young children because babies are not born with a normal arch. The arch may not form fully until sometime between ages 7 and 10. Even in adulthood, 15% to 25% of people have flexible flatfeet. Most of these people never develop symptoms. In many adults who have had flexible flatfeet since childhood, the missing arch is an inherited condition related to a general looseness of ligaments. These people usually have extremely flexible, very mobile joints throughout the body, not only in the feet. Flatfeet also can develop during adulthood. Causes include joint disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis, and disorders of nerve function (neuropathy). Unlike a flexible flatfoot, a rigid flatfoot is often the result of a significant problem affecting the structure or alignment of the bones that make up the foot's arch. Some common causes of rigid flatfeet include: Congenital vertical talus — In this condition, there is no arch because the foot bones are not aligned properly. In some cases, there is a reverse curve (rocker-bottom foot, in which the shape is like the bottom rails of a rocking chair) in place of the normal arch. Congenital vertical talus is a rare condition present at birth. It often is associated with a genetic disorder, such as Down syndrome, or other congenital disorders. The cause is unknown in up to half of cases. Tarsal coalition (peroneal spastic flatfoot) — In this inherited condition, two or more of the foot bones are fused together, interfering with the flexibility of the foot and eliminating the normal arch. A rare condition, it often affects several generations of the same family. Lateral subtalar dislocation — Sometimes called an acquired flatfoot, it occurs in someone who originally had a normal foot arch. In a lateral subtalar dislocation, there is a dislocation of the talus bone, located within the arch of the foot. The dislocated talus bone slips out of place, drops downward and sideways and collapses the arch. It usually occurs suddenly because of a high-impact injury related to a fall from a height, a motor vehicle accident or participation in sports, and it may be associated with fractures or other injuries. The majority of children and adults with flexible flatfeet never have symptoms. However, their toes may tend to point outward as they walk, a condition called out-toeing. A person who develops symptoms usually complains of tired, aching feet, especially after prolonged standing or walking. Symptoms of rigid flatfoot vary depending on the cause of the foot problem: Congenital vertical talus — The foot of a newborn with congenital vertical talus typically has a convex rocker-bottom shape. This is sometimes combined with an actual fold in the middle of the foot. The rare person who is diagnosed at an older age often has a "peg-leg" gait, poor balance and heavy calluses on the soles where the arch would normally be. If a child with congenital vertical talus has a genetic disorder, additional symptoms often are seen in other parts of the body. Tarsal coalition — Many people have no symptoms, and the condition is discovered only by chance when an X-ray of the foot is obtained for some other problem. When symptoms occur, there is usually foot pain that begins at the outside rear of the foot. The pain tends to spread upward to the outer ankle and to the outside portion of the lower leg. Symptoms usually start during a child's teenage years and are aggravated by playing sports or walking on uneven ground. In some cases, the condition is discovered when a child is evaluated for unusually frequent ankle sprains. Lateral subtalar dislocation — Because this often is caused by a traumatic, high-impact injury, the foot may be significantly swollen and deformed. There also may be an open wound with bruising and bleeding. If your child has flatfeet, his or her doctor will ask about any family history of flatfeet or inherited foot problems. In a person of any age, the doctor will ask about occupational and recreational activities, previous foot trauma or foot surgery and the type of shoes worn. The doctor will examine your shoes to check for signs of excessive wear. Worn shoes often provide valuable clues to gait problems and poor bone alignment. The doctor will ask you to walk barefoot to evaluate the arches of the feet, to check for out-toeing and to look for other signs of poor foot mechanics. The doctor will examine your feet for foot flexibility and range of motion and feel for any tenderness or bony abnormalities. Depending on the results of this physical examination, foot X-rays may be recommended. X-rays are always performed in a young child with rigid flatfeet and in an adult with acquired flatfeet due to trauma. Although infants are usually born with flexible flatfeet, most develop normal arches sometime between ages 7 and 10. In the 15% to 20% of children whose flatfeet last into adulthood, the condition often is inherited and lifelong. However, it may not cause symptoms. A rigid flatfoot is a long-term condition, unless it is corrected with surgery or other therapy. Because most cases of flatfeet are inherited, the condition is usually impossible to prevent. Even when children with flexible flatfeet are treated with arch supports and corrective shoes, there is little evidence that these devices prevent the condition from lasting into adulthood. When there are no symptoms, treatment is not needed. If a child older than age 3 develops symptoms, the doctor may prescribe a therapeutic shoe insert made from a mold of the child's foot or a corrective shoe. As an alternative, some doctors recommend store-bought arch supports. These appear to work as well as more expensive treatments in many children. With any conservative, nonsurgical treatment, the goal is to relieve pain by supporting the arch and correcting any imbalance in the mechanics of the foot. Surgery is typically offered as a last resort in people with significant pain that is resistant to other therapies. The treatment of a rigid flatfoot depends on its cause: Congenital vertical talus — Your doctor may suggest a trial of serial casting. The foot is placed in a cast and the cast is changed frequently to reposition the foot gradually. However, this generally has a low success rate. Most people ultimately need surgery to correct the problem. Tarsal coalition — Treatment depends on your age, extent of bone fusion and severity of symptoms. For milder cases, your doctor may recommend nonsurgical treatment with shoe inserts, wrapping of the foot with supportive straps or temporarily immobilizing the foot in a cast. For more severe cases, surgery is necessary to relieve pain and improve the flexibility of the foot. Lateral subtalar dislocation — The goal is to move the dislocated bone back into place as soon as possible. If there is no open wound, the doctor may push the bone back into proper alignment without making an incision. Anesthesia is usually given before this treatment. Once this is accomplished, a short leg cast must be worn for about four weeks to help stabilize the joint permanently. About 15% to 20% of people with lateral subtalar dislocation must be treated with surgery to reposition the dislocated bone. When To Call a Professional Call your doctor for persistent or unexplained foot pain, whether or not you have flatfeet. This is particularly important if your foot pain makes it difficult for you to walk. Call your pediatrician or family doctor if your child complains about foot pain or appears to be walking abnormally. Even if there are no foot symptoms, it is wise to check with your doctor periodically about your child's foot development just to be sure that everything is progressing as expected. Up to 20% of children with flexible flatfeet remain flatfooted as adults. However, most do not have any symptoms. If a child with flexible flatfeet begins to have foot pain, conservative treatment with shoe modifications can usually relieve the discomfort, although it may not correct the problem permanently. For rigid flatfeet, the outlook depends on the cause of the problem: Congenital vertical talus — Although surgery usually can correct poor alignment of foot bones, many children with congenital vertical talus have underlying disorders that cause muscle weakness or other problems that interfere with full recovery. Tarsal coalition — When shoe modifications are not effective, casting may help. When surgery is necessary, the prognosis depends on many factors, including which bones are fused, the specific type of surgery and whether there is any arthritis in the foot joints. Lateral subtalar dislocation — With proper treatment, most people recover without severe long-term complications or disability. In some cases, there is continuing stiffness in the area of the foot arch, but this does not necessarily cause pain or difficulty in walking. The risk of long-term problems is lowest in people who have at least three weeks of aggressive physical therapy after their casts are removed. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases National Insitutes of Health 1 AMS Circle Bethesda, MD 20892-3675 American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) 9312 Old Georgetown Road Bethesda, MD 20814 American Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine American College of Foot & Ankle Orthopedics & Medicine 5272 River Road, Suite 630 Bethesda, MD 20816 American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons 8725 West Higgins Road Chicago, IL 60031-2724
The National Archives has put together a great collection of materials highlighting the role that African-American soldiers played in the Civil War. Documents include letters highlighting the treatment of black prisoners of war by the Confederates, partial service records for Frederick Douglass’s sons, and partial service records for Sgt. William Carney, who received a Medal of Honor. No suggested grade levels were present on the website, so it is left up to individual teachers to create the level of difficulty appropriate for students. The activities included not only analyze the primary sources in terms of content with a provided worksheet, but ask students to synthesize and apply the information in one of four possible scenarios. Over all, the lesson activities are a bit weak when compared to the type of documents provided, yet under the heading ‘Further Research’ the lesson plan suggests students read and analyze Robert Lowell’s poem “Colonel Shaw and the Massachusetts’ 54th” (also known as “For the Union Dead,” available here) which is a great way to create an interdisciplinary lesson. On the other hand, if one is looking for other ideas, the Civil War Preservation Trust offers a lesson plan on the United States Colored Troops, for grades six through eight. Using enlistment papers for a colored solider as well as two period illustrations, it guides teachers through several activities that ask students to describe, explain, and analyze information. The lesson plan is well thought out and can easily be supplemented with the documents made available by the National Archives.
This Area of Learning focuses on children learning about themselves, their relationships with other children and adults. They are encouraged to develop their self-esteem, their personal beliefs and moral values. The Foundation Phase supports the cultural identity of all children, to celebrate different cultures and help children recognise and gain a positive awareness of their own and other cultures. Children are supported in becoming confident, competent and independent thinkers and learners. This Area of Learning focuses on children’s physical development. Enthusiasm and energy for movement is continually promoted through helping them to use their bodies effectively, by encouraging spatial awareness, balance, control and coordination and developing motor and manipulative skills. Children are encouraged to enjoy physical activity and their developing sense of identity is linked closely to their own self-image, self esteem and confidence. Children are introduced to the concepts of health, hygiene and safety and the importance of diet, rest, sleep and exercise.
The territory of England has been politically united since the tenth century. This article centers on that territory; but before the tenth century and after the accession of James VI of Scotland to the throne of England in 1603 it becomes increasingly hard to distinguish English from British history. Pre-Roman England Pre-Roman England may be determined by the following periods: (NOTE: These years seem like they might be inaccurate, hard to be sure from Google, someone who knows something about history should check this.) Much evidence remains of pre-Roman England. The Bronze Age Stonehenge around the 1500s BC, near to the much earlier stone circle at Avebury, is an extremely large although untypical example. The south of England contains many iron-age hill forts[?], surviving as systems of concentric earthworks, from the huge Maiden Castle in Dorset down to much smaller ones like Grimsbury Castle[?] in Berkshire. Dartmoor National park in Devon displays much evidence of its early inhabitants, being beset with many hut-circles, stone-rows, kistvaens and other visible reminders of the times. Roman Britain The Romans, led by Julius Caesar, landed in England in 55 and in 54 BC, although not as conquerors. It was only a century later, in AD 43, under the emperor Claudius that the Roman occupation of England came about. In order to protect themselves from the depredations of the Picts, the inhabitants of Scotland at that time, the Romans under the emperor Hadrian had a wall built from east to west, Hadrian's Wall, to defend England. In classic Roman style, the Romans constructed a highly effective internal infrastructure to cement their military occupation, building long, straight roads the length and breadth of the country, most of which centred on London. For a deeper account of the Roman occupation of Britain, see Roman Britain. See also the Celtic tribes in the British Isles. The indigenous, mostly Celtic population were suppressed with customary Roman efficiency, although numerous, and often extremely bloody, uprisings occurred all through their occupation, the most notable that of the Iceni[?] (and other tribes) led by Boudicca, or "Boadicea," in AD 61. The Roman presence strengthened and weakened over the centuries, but by the 4th Century AD their hold may best be described as tenuous. The Saxon Conquest In the wake of the Romans, who had largely abandoned the islands by 410 in order to concentrate on more pressing difficulties closer to home, what is now England was progressively settled by successive, often complementary, waves of Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians, who had been partly displaced on mainland Europe. Increasingly the erstwhile Celtic population was pushed westwards and northwards. The invasion/settlement of England is known as the Saxon Conquest or the Anglo-Saxon (sometimes "English") settlement (though "settlement" here does not imply an absence of violence). Beginning with the raid in 793 on the monastery at Lindisfarne, Vikings made many raids on England. Starting with plundering raids, the Vikings later began to settle in England and trade. There are many traces of Vikings in England today, as for instance many words in the English language; the similarity of Old English and Old Norse led to much borrowing. One Viking settlement was in York (which they called Jorvik[?]). England during the Middle Ages The defeat of King Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 at the hands of William of Normandy, later styled William I of England and the subsequent Norman takeover of Saxon England[?] led to a sea-change in the history of the small, isolated, island state. William ordered the compilation of the Domesday Book, which was a survey for tax purposes of the entire population and their lands and property. The English middle ages were to be characterised by civil war, international war, occasional insurrection, and widespread political intrigue amongst the aristocratic and monarchic elite. Henry I, also known as Henry Beauclerc (on account of his education), worked hard to reform and stabilise the country and smooth the differences between the Anglo-Saxon and Norman societies. The loss of his son, William, in the wreck of the White Ship in November 1120, was to undermine his reforms. This problem regarding succession was to cast a long shadow over English history. The disastrous and incompetent reign of Stephen (1135 - 1154) was to see a major swing in the balance of power towards the feudal barons, as England descended inexorably into civil war and lawlessness. In trying to appease Scottish and Welsh raiders on those borders, he handed over large tracts of land. Moreover, his conflicts with his cousin, the Empress Maud, whom he had earlier promised recognition as heir, were his undoing: She bided her time in France and, in the autumn of 1139, invaded (with her husband, Geoffrey of Anjou and her half-brother, Robert, Earl of Gloucester[?]). Stephen was captured, and his government fell. Matilda was proclaimed queen but was soon at odds with her subjects and was expelled from London. The period of insurrection and civil war that followed continued until 1148, when Matilda returned to France. Stephen effectively reigned unopposed until his death in 1154, a year after reaching an accommodation with Henry of Anjou, (who became Henry II) in which peace between them was guaranteed on the condition that the throne would be his by succession. The reign of Henry II represents a reversion in power back from the barony to the monarchical state; it was also to see a similar redistribution of legislative power from the Church, again to the monarchical state. This period also presaged a properly constituted legislation and a radical shift away from feudalism. The Black Death, an epidemic of bubonic plague that spread over all Europe, arrived in England in 1349 and killed perhaps up to a third of the population. International excursions were invariably against domestic neighbours: the Welsh, Irish, Scots and the French, with the principal notable battles being the Battle of Crécy and the Battle of Agincourt. In addition to this, the final defeat of the uprising led by the Welsh prince, Owen Glendower, in 1412 by Prince Henry (later to become Henry V) represents the last major armed attempt by the Welsh to throw off English rule. Edward III gifted land to powerful noble families, including many people with Royal blood in their veins. Because land was equivelent to power in these days, this meant that these powerful men could now try and good their claim to the Crown. The autocratic and arrogant methods of Richard II only served to alienate the nobility more, and his forceful dispossession in 1399 by Henry IV lay the seeds for what was to come. In the reign of Henry VI, which began in 1422, happenings came to a head because of his personal weaknesses and mental instability. Unable to control the feuding nobles, he allowed outright civil war to break out. The conflicts are known as the Wars of the Roses and although the fighting was very sporadic and small, there was a general breakdown in the authority and power of the Crown. Edward IV went a little way to restoring this power but the spadework was generally done by Henry VII The Wars of the Roses culminated in the eventual victory of the relatively unknown Henry Tudor, Henry VII, at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, where the Yorkist Richard III was slain, and the succession of the Lancastrian House was ultimately assured. Whilst in retrospect it is easy for us to say that the Wars of the Roses were now over, Henry VII could afford no such complacency. Before the end of his reign, two pretenders would try to wrest the throne from him, aided by remnants of the Yorkist faction at home and abroad. The first, Lambert Simnel, was defeated at the Battle of Stoke (the last time an English King fought someone claiming the Crown) and the second, Perkin Warbeck, was hanged in 1499 after plaguing the King for a decade. In 1497, Michael An Gof[?] led Cornish rebels in a march on London. In a battle over the River Ravensbourne[?] at Deptford Bridge[?], An Gof fought for varied issues with their root in taxes. On June 17, 1497 they were defeated, and Henry VII had showed he could display military prowess when he needed to. But, like Charles I in the future, here was a King with no wish to go on his travels again. The rest of his reign was relatively peaceful, despite a slight worry over the succession when his wife Elizabeth of York died in 1503. King Henry VIII split with the Roman Catholic Church over a question of his divorce from Catherine of Aragon. Though his religious position was not at all Protestant, the resultant schism ultimately led to England distancing itself almost entirely from Rome. A notable casualty of the schism was Henry's chancellor, Sir Thomas More. There followed a period of great religious and political upheaval, which led to the Reformation, the royal expropriation of the monasteries and much of the wealth of the church. The Dissolution of the Monasteries[?] had the effect of giving many of the lower classes (the gentry) a vested interest in the Reformation continuing, for to halt it would be to revive Monasticism and restore lands which were gifted to them during the Dissolution. Henry VIII had three children, all of whom would wear the Crown. The first to reign was Edward VI of England. Although he showed the piety and intelligence which was the hallmark of all Tudors, he was only a boy of ten when he took the throne in 1547. His uncle, Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset tampered with Henry VIII's will and obtained letters patent giving him much of the power of a monarch in March of that year. He took the title of Protector. Whilst some see him as a high-minded idealist, his stay in power culminated in a crisis in 1549 when many counties of the realm were up in protest. Kett's Rebellion[?] in Kent and The Prayer Book Rebellion[?] in Cornwall simultaneously created a crisis during a time when invasion from Scotland and France were feared. Somerset, disliked by the Regency Council for his autocratic methods, was removed from power by John Dudley[?], who is known as Lord President Northumberland[?]. Northumberland proceded to adopt the power for himself, but his methods were more concilliatory and the Council accepted him. When Edward VI lay dying of tuberculosis in 1553, Northumberland made plans to place Lady Jane Grey on the throne and marry her to his son, so that he could remain the power behind the throne. His putsch failed and Mary I took the throne amidst popular demonstration in her favour in London, which contemporaries described as the largest show of affection for a Tudor monarch. Mary, a devout Catholic who had been influenced greatly by the Catholic King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, proceded to try and reimpose Catholicism on the realm. This led to 274 burnings of Protestants, which are recorded especially in John Foxe's Book of Martyrs[?]. She was highly unpopular among her people, and the Spanish party of her husband, Philip II caused much resentment around Court. Mary lost Calais, the last English possession on the Continent, and became increasingly more unpopular (except among Catholics) as her reign wore on. She successfully repelled a rebellion by Sir Thomas Wyatt[?]. The reign of Elizabeth restored a sort of order to the realm following the turbulence of the reigns of Edward and Mary when she came to the throne following the death of the latter in 1558. The religious issue which had divided the country since Henry VIII was in a way put to rest by the Elizabethan Religious Settlement[?], which created the Church of England in much the same form we see it today. Much of Elizabeth's success was in balancing the interests of the Puritans (extreme Protestants) and "die-hard" Catholics. She managed to offend neither to a large extent, although she was forced to clamp down on Catholics towards the end of her reign as the war with Catholic Spain loomed. She feared Catholics would act as fifth columns and some attempts on her life had been made by Catholics. Elizabeth maintained relative internal peace apart from the Revolt of the Northern Earls[?] in 1569, which was really a sign of how effective she was being in reducing the power of the old nobility and expanding the power of her government. One of the most famous events in English martial history occurred in 1588 when the Spanish Armada was repelled by Sir Francis Drake, but the war that followed was very costly for England and only ended after Elizabeth's death. Elizabeth's government did much to consolidate the work begun under Thomas Cromwell in the reign of Henry VIII, that is in expanding the role of the government and in effecting common law and administration throughout the realm of England. In all, the Tudor period is seen as a decisive one which set up many important questions which would have to be answered in the next century and during the English Civil War. These were questions of the relative power of Monarch and Parliament and to what extent one should control the other. Some historians think that Thomas Cromwell effected a "Tudor Revolution[?]" in government and it is certain that Parliament became a lot more important during his Chancellorship. Other historians say the "Tudor Revolution[?]" really extended to the end of Elizabeth's reign when the work was all consolidated. Although the Privy Council, which was the mainstay of Tudor government, declined after the death of Elizabeth, whilst she was alive it was very effective. Religious conflict and the Civil War An assassination attempt on the Protestant King James I on 5th November 1605, the Gunpowder Plot, by a group of Catholic conspirators, led by Guy Fawkes, served as further fuel for antipathy in England to the catholic faith. The English Civil War broke out in 1642, largely as a result of an ongoing series of conflicts between the then King Charles I and Parliament. The Parliamentarian army was commanded by Oliver Cromwell, which after much bloodshed and destruction, was ultimately victorious. The capture and subsequent trial of Charles I led to his execution by beheading in January 1649 at Whitehall Gate in London. In 1664/65 England was swept by a visitation of the Great Plague, and then, in 1666, London, the timbered capital city of England, was swept by fire, the Great Fire of London, which raged for 5 days, destroying c. 15,000 buildings. The replacement of the Catholic King James II with the Dutch Protestant William of Orange, William III, by the English government led to a series of uprisings, the Jacobite Rebellions[?] which were to continue until the mid-18th century. The Industrial Revolution The late 18th and early 19th centuries saw considerable social upheaval as a largely agrarian society was transformed by technological advances and increasing mechanisation, which was the Industrial Revolution. Much of the agricultural workforce was uprooted from the countryside and moved into large urban centres of production, as the steam-based production factories could undercut the traditional cottage industries, due to economies of scale and the increased output per worker made possible by the new technologies. The consequent overcrowding into areas with little supporting infrastructure saw dramatic increases in the rise of infant mortality (to the extent that many Sunday schools for pre working age children (5 or 6) had funeral clubs to pay for each others funeral arrangments), crime, and social deprivation. The transition to industrialisation was not wholly seamless for workers, many of whom saw their livelihoods threatened by the process. Of these, some frequently sabotaged or attempted to sabotage factories. These saboteurs were known as "Luddites". This view of the Luddite history should also be set against alternative views, such as that of E. P. Thompson. Political developments The Act of Union of 1800 formally assimilated Ireland within the British political process, and created a new country "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland", uniting England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland. During the early 1800s, the working classes began to find a voice; concentrations of industry led more or less inevitably to the formation of guilds and unions, which, although at first suppressed, eventually became powerful enough to resist. The revolutions which spread like wildfire throughout mainland Europe during the 1840s did not occur in England, and Queen Victoria's reign was largely one of consensus, despite huge disparities in living standards between the few rich and the multitudinous poor. The Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921 established the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland) as a separate nation, leaving Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom; its official name became "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". For a History of Britain see The Isles, A History by Norman Davies, Oxford University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-19-514831-2
show/hide words to know - Hormones: chemical messages released by cells or glands in the body. - Molecule: a chemical structure that has two or more atoms held together by a chemical bond. Water is a molecule of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom (H2O)... more - Receptor: a molecule on the surface of a cell that receives signals from specific molecules. - Secrete: to release any substance, molecule, or chemical from a gland or cell in the body. Where are epithelial cells? Take a quick look at the skin on your hands. Even if you think your skin is one smooth surface, it is actually made of millions of epithelial cells that are tightly packed next to each other. That’s not the only place you find these cells. Epithelial cells also line the inside of your throat, intestines, blood vessels, and all your organs. They are a barrier between the inside and outside of your body and are often the first place that is attacked by viruses as they begin their invasion deeper into the body. What do epithelial cells do? Epithelial cells are the safety shields of the body. Take another look at your hand. It is covered with epithelial cells that protect your body by being a barrier between your internal cells and the dirt and microbes in the environment. They also are able to stretch so you can move your fingers and arms into many positions. You can also thank your epithelial cells for making the sweat that cools you down when you're exercising or when it's hot outside. To learn more about your skin and the important ways it works for you every day, listen to this podcast. Other epithelial cells help you experience your environment by having special sensors, called receptors, that collect signals. When you taste a favorite food or smell a flower, the receptors in these cells send the signal to your brain so you can enjoy every bite and sweet smell. Once you swallow that bite of food, it travels down a path lined with epithelial cells. When it gets to your intestines, another set of epithelial cells absorbs and transports nutrients from the foods you eat and helps process it for energy your body can use. Converting food energy to energy your body can use is the work of molecules called enzymes. Once again, it is epithelial cells that make and secrete the enzymes in your stomach. Epithelial cells also secrete hormones into your blood vessels, mucous in your nose and the breast milk which mothers feed their young. What do epithelial cells look like? If you take a close look at epithelial cells using a microscope, you will see them tightly packed together. This helps make a protective barrier for our bodies. There are also some special door-like connections between each epithelial cell called gap junctions. The gap junctions are where the cells exchange nutrients. Unfortunately, sometimes viruses can use these doors to spread between cells, too! Epithelial cells come in different shapes depending on where in the body they're found. These shapes are called squamous, cuboidal, columnar and ciliated columnar. Squamous epithelial cells are flat and are usually found lining surfaces that require a smooth flow of fluid such as your blood vessels, or lining areas that require a very thin surface for molecules to pass through, such as the air sacs in your lungs. \|Cuboidal epithelial cells, as their name suggest, are shaped like cubes. These are typically found in tissues that secrete or absorb substances, such as in the kidneys and glands.\| \|Columnar epithelial cells are long and thin, like columns. These are usually found in places that secrete mucus such as the stomach. They can also specialize to receive sensory information in places like taste buds on your tongue and inside of your nose.\| \|Cilliated columnar cells have their apical (or outside facing) surface covered with many tiny little hairs called cilia. These are used to push mucus and other particles along, making it flow in a specific direction.\| In addition to these shapes, epithelial cells can be described as being either simple or stratified. These terms refer to how many layers are present. Simple tissue has only one layer of epithelial cells, while stratified tissue has many layers stacked on top of each other. Stratified cells are found in places that need to withstand a lot of wear and tear from their environment. An example of this would be your skin, which is made up of many stratified layers of epithelial cells. As the top layer wears down, cells from the bottom layers constantly grow up to replace them.
The World Wide Web—commonly referred to as WWW, W3, or the Web—is an interconnected system of public webpages accessible through the Internet. The Web is not the same as the Internet: the Web is one of many applications built on top of the Internet. Tim Berners-Lee proposed the architecture of what became known as the World Wide Web. He created the first web server, web browser, and webpage on his computer at the CERN physics research lab in 1990. In 1991, he announced his creation on the alt.hypertext newsgroup, marking the moment the Web was first made public. The system we know today as "the Web" consists of several components: - The HTTP protocol governs data transfer between a server and a client. - To access a Web component, a client supplies a unique universal identifier, called a URL (uniform resource location) or URI (uniform resource identifier) (formally called Universal Document Identifier (UDI)). - HTML (hypertext markup language) is the most common format for publishing web documents. Linking, or connecting resources through hyperlinks, is a defining concept of the Web, aiding its identity as a collection of connected documents. Soon after inventing the Web, Tim Berners-Lee founded the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) to standardize and develop the Web further. This consortium consists of core Web interest groups, such as web browser developers, government entities, researchers, and universities. Its mission includes education and outreach.
Saw this earlier today and thought it was pretty cool, just curious as to what everyone here thinks about it. Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have stumbled on a rare and surprising find: A very distant spiral galaxy, swirling billions of light years away, which formed at a time when such spiral galaxies were thought to be nonexistent. Researchers say it’s an astounding discovery — partly because it raises some questions about prevailing theories of galaxy formation. Understanding galaxy evolution is a central part of determining the early history and future fate of the universe. Astronomers want to understand the physics that trigger vast amounts of stars to clump into galaxies, and that cause those galaxies to organize into clusters. The distant relics of early galaxies has helped solidify some of these theories, but this galaxy, known as BX442, is strange. Most ancient galaxies — meaning very far away galaxies whose light left them billions of years ago, in the early days of the universe — are clumpy, irregular globs, not beautiful symmetric spirals or ellipses. This is because they moved around too quickly, which favors the formation of blob-like structures instead. “The vast majority of old galaxies look like train wrecks,” Alice Shapley, a UCLA associate professor of physics and astronomy, and co-author of the new study, said in a statement. “Our first thought was, why is this one so different, and so beautiful?” Shapley and colleagues spotted it while conducting a Hubble survey of about 300 very distant galaxies. Intrigued, they went to the W.M. Keck Observatory and checked it out with a special spectrograph. The instrument allowed them to look at thousands of locations in and around the galaxy, confirming that it is indeed a self-contained rotating spiral. This was a key observation, because other putative early spirals could be a trick of the lens, and may be actually more than one galaxy merging together or something that just happened to line up from our point of view. “What we found when we took the spectral image of this galaxy is that the spiral arms do belong to this galaxy,” Shapley said. “It wasn't an illusion. We were blown away.” Why so surprised? After all, these “grand design” spiral galaxies are common in our cosmic neighborhood — the Milky Way is one, and so is Andromeda. The answer is that earlier galaxies almost universally have different structures, making this one an anomaly. Of the 306 galaxies in the Hubble survey, each of them around the same distance away, this is the only one with a spiral structure. It is very large and thick, which may have something to do with the spiral formation. Or it could be the result of a collision with another system, which is at the upper left in the image at the top of the page. That might explain how this galaxy formed: You just need the right recipe, and it needs to be spotted at exactly the right moment. “Not only must a galaxy be sufficiently massive to have stabilized the formation of an extended disk, but this disk must then be perturbed by a merging satellite sufficiently massive and properly oriented to excite an observable grand-design spiral pattern,” Shapley and her co-authors write. A paper describing the new find appears this week in Nature. Plus its a really cool looking Galaxy
The farady experiment is actually a pretty long one. So as not being in my course and beyond my historical scope. This post only covers essential edited out parts of the experiment that gave us modern definition of electric flux. Around 1837 as in my knowledge through wikipedia. Michael Farady become very interested in static electric fields and effect of various insulating materials on these fields which led to his experiement. His Experiement then essentially consisted of following steps: - He had a pair of concentric metallic spheres constructed, the outer consisting of 2 hemisphere that can be clamped to each other. He also preapared shells of insulating material which would occupy the whole volume between the concentric spheres. He dismantled it and gave the inner sphere a given positive charge. - The hemisphere were then clamped together around the charged sphere with about 2 cm of dielectric between them. - The outer sphere was discharged by connecting it momentorily to the ground. - The outer sphere was seperated carefully without disturbing the charge in the inner sphere. The negative induced charge in each of the sphere was measured. Faraday found out that: - The total charge on the outer sphere was equal in magnitude with the original charge of inner sphere and this was true regardless of dielectric kept in between them. - So it was concluded that the charge underwent to some displacement which was named as electric flux, or displacement flux. This experiments gave way to the definition of electric flux.
What is Sinusitis? Sinusitis is a swelling in the tissue lining the sinuses. Normally, sinuses are filled with air, but when they are blocked, they can fill with viruses, bacteria, and fungi that can cause infection. Conditions that can block sinuses included: a common cold, allergic rhinitis (allergies), and nasal polyps. Symptoms of sinusitis include mucus drainage, pressure/discomfort in sinus area, sensation of tooth pain, and fever. Headaches are not caused by sinusitis. Acute sinusitis refers to sinusitis symptoms lasting less than four weeks. Some cases begin as the common cold. Symptoms often go away within a week to 10 days. Most of the time, antibiotics are not necessary to treat acute sinusitis. Chronic sinusitis is diagnosed when acute symptoms have gone on for more than eight weeks despite medical treatment. Recurrent sinusitis occurs when two or more serious sinus infections occur in one year. The symptoms of a sinus infection often include: - Nasal discharge and congestion - Facial pain or pressure - Loss of smell - Pain in the teeth - Wheeze, if asthmatic Treatment for sinusitis may include saline irrigations, nasal sprays, decongestants, use of a vaporizer, or antibiotics. To address triggers and chronic and recurrent sinusitis, an allergist will conduct a medical history and possibly conduct skin testing to determine which triggers are causing nasal swelling. Knowing the potential triggers is often the first step in management of sinusitis. Once the allergist knows the triggers that are causing your chronic symptoms, a treatment plan will be recommended. When the underlying cause of chronic sinusitis is treated effectively, symptoms frequently disappear. Immunotherapy (allergy shots, drops or tablets) may be an effective long-term approach towards a cure and it is the only disease modifying treatment for nasal allergies. Consulting an allergist to find a solution may help you regain control and to live free of chronic sinusitis.
Why Does Black Absorb Heat? Black as a color absorbs heat because of specific properties of the color and of the light. When light shines on an object, the object’s color either absorbs or reflects the light. A red object, for example, absorbs every color except for red, which reflects back to the eyes. The color of the object depends on the light radiated back to the eyes. If that same red object, like a red apple, were to be illuminated by a light source that had no red wavelength, it would appear almost black, because there would be no wavelength of light to reflect back to the eyes. ‘White, light actually has all of the wavelengths in it, which causes the multitude of colors in life. When white light hits a black object, the object absorbs all of the wavelengths, and none are reflected back, which is why the object appears black in the first place. Now you can think of light as energy in almost all situations: for example, all of the energy that you get comes from the ability of plants to absorb that light energy and store it in sugars. When you eat meat, the animal that you are eating had to get its energy from plants (at the very bottom of the food chain) as well. So when black absorbs the light, it is also absorbing energy. The object then radiates the energy by emitting it at a longer wavelength that is invisible to the eye, but is still energy. It is emitted at the infrared level, which is heat. The key to understanding the transformation of light into heat is that it conserves all energy ‘š one of the laws of thermodynamics, or the study of energy conversion between heat and mechanical work. No heat is lost; it is just transformed into a new form, a new wavelength.
A hydrothermal vent is a geyser on the chemosynthesis scientists are particularly interested in bacteria from hydrothermal vents because these microscopic organisms possess enzymes that can withstand high temperature. The sulfides and hot water (which can reach temperatures of up to 212 degrees fahrenheit) that come out of the hydrothermal vent combines with carbon dioxide in order for these bacteria to survive in such a harsh environment tags: bacteria, chemosynthesis, science. The microbes that keep hydrothermal vents pumping they harvest chemical energy from the minerals and chemical compounds that spew from the vents a process known as chemosynthesis these compounds green sulfur bacteria are unique among hydrothermal vent bacteria because they require. Deep-sea tubeworms get versatile 'inside' help they learned that bacteria live inside the tubeworms' bodies in a remarkable organ called a trophosome but their environment both inside living tubeworms and around deep-sea hydrothermal vents that spew hot. Define chemosynthetic chemosynthetic synonyms, chemosynthetic pronunciation, chemosynthetic translation, english dictionary definition of chemosynthetic n the synthesis of organic compounds by certain bacteria, especially in deep-sea hydrothermal vents, using energy obtained from the chemical. Define chemosynthesis chemosynthesis synonyms, chemosynthesis pronunciation, chemosynthesis translation, english dictionary definition of chemosynthesis n the synthesis of organic compounds by certain bacteria, especially in deep-sea hydrothermal vents, using energy obtained from the chemical. The capacity of various aquatic sulfur bacteria for chemosynthesis has not yet been demonstrated key words: ultrastructure, symbiotic bacteria, chemosynthesis, hydrothermal vent, oil-seep, whale-fall, juan de fuca ridge, n. Travel to a world of perpetual night--the deep ocean hydrothermal vents near the galapagos rift where life thrives around superheated water spewing from deep inside the earth hydrothermal vent creatures in a process called chemosynthesis. Scearce: hydrothermal vents csa discovery guides a particularly intriguing aspect of chemosynthesis at hydrothermal vents is the symbiosis that exists between bacteria and some vent organisms a range of vent organisms, in. This webpage will familiarize students with a hydrothermal vent growth continues as long as there is a supply of hydrothermal fluid vents have these bacteria are capable of utilizing sulfur compounds to produce organic material through the process of chemosynthesis the bacteria are. How hydrothermal vents work when involving chemosynthesis, the bacteria become chemoautotrophic the chemosynthetic bacteria use chemical energy to change co2 into something edible carbohydrates how is co2 changed into carbohydrates. Looking for online definition of chemosynthesis in the medical dictionary chemosynthesis the synthesis of organic compounds by certain bacteria, especially in deep-sea hydrothermal vents hydrothermal vents, deep-sea, symbiosis, biomineralization, chemosynthesis, microorganisms. Yellowstone lake 27 underwater domains in yellowstone lake hydrothermal vent geochemistry and bacterial chemosynthesis russell l cuhel, carmen aguilar, patrick d anderson. Chemosynthesis read more about methane, chemosynthetic, communities, hydrothermal, hydrogen and bacteria. Chemosynthesis and hydrothermal vent life introduction life is good at hydrothermal vents thanks to chemosynthetic bacteria vent faunas have both large biomass and high diversity over 300 species of animals have been found at vents. Differences and similarities between chemosynthesis and photosynthesis the bacteria involved in chemosynthesis might have been the earliest life-form on planet earth usually in close proximity of hydrothermal vents that contain high amounts of hydrogen sulfide. In chemosynthesis organisms release energy from this organism lives deep down in the ocean near hydrothermal vents bacteria within these organisms rely on bacteria that live inside them for food the bacteria convert the chemicals from the hydrothermal vents into organic molecules, giving. Chemosynthesis l - chemosynthesis is the process by which certain bacteria transfer chemicals into energy l - occurs around hydrothermal vents l. Chemosynthesis vs photosynthesis the diagram below compares examples of these two processes - chemosynthesis in a seafloor hydrothermal vent bacterium photosynthesis occurs in plants and some bacteria, wherever there is sufficient sunlight. Tubeworms (riftia pachyptila) tubeworms resemble giant tubes of lipstick they live neary hydrothermal vents and have a symbiotic relationship with chemosynthetic bacteria. Pictured is a colony of giant tubeworms with vent fish and crabs, all highly specialized for and found only in the extreme environment of the hydrothermal vent ecosystem. Tubeworms in a hydrothermal vent crabs, worms and mussels in a hydrothermal vent hydrothermal vents and chemosynthesis: a habitat in the dark hydrothermal vents are deep other vent creatures, the chemosynthetic bacteria live inside their bodies some organisms, such as.
The Magnetoshell deploys a simple dipole magnetic field containing a magnetized plasma. It is interaction of the atmosphere with this magnetized plasma that supplies a significant impediment to atmospheric flow past the spacecraft, and thereby producing the desired drag for braking. Frictional heating would no longer be of concern as the energy dissipation required to slow the spacecraft would be deposited into the plasma ions helping to maintain the Magnetoshell plasma while at the same time shielding the spacecraft itself from frictional heating. With the aeroshell now being composed of massless magnetic field, the transverse scale of the magnetic barrier can be as large as 100 meters while requiring no more than a gram of plasma. With the ability to rapidly and precisely modify the drag in varying atmospheric conditions, much larger forces can now be achieved at low risk, enabling very aggressive aerocapture maneuvers. By providing power in a pulsed manner, the thermal and power processing requirements can be kept modest and with conventional technologies.
Although they can save prep time, vocabulary worksheets are not the best way to teach vocabulary-- by themselves. However, they can be a useful part of an integrated vocabulary lesson. Reading or hearing a newly-learned word several times and using it in various ways helps a student retain the word. That’s the reason the worksheets on EnglishHints.com almost always include links to reading and/or listening activities and often discussion ideas and games as well as practice using the new words. The next few paragraphs explain the rationale of these worksheets, the type of vocabulary covered, etc. If you would prefer to go directly to the worksheets, here are the links: The Scientific Method (free) The academic English vocabulary worksheets on this page are designed for middle-school through adult intermediate ESL students, though many high beginners (or native speakers) could use them. There are also some advanced vocabulary worksheets on Free Printable Worksheets. The biggest difference between the intermediate worksheets on this page and the advanced ones on the Free Printable Worksheets page is the amount of vocabulary practiced on a page. The advanced worksheets also include some less common upper level Academic Word List vocabulary, while all the vocabulary practiced on these worksheets is very important for students to understand. A major advantage for teachers is that these packets already include reading and often writing activities for integrated skills practice. This may be especially valuable if you don’t have access to a good textbook or many supplementary materials. A variety of activities and games suggested also allows you to differentiate instruction, providing a review for your quicker or more fluent students and more practice to students who need it. Most of these worksheets are in packets in which later worksheets review earlier vocabulary. Most worksheets teach ten to fourteen tier two academic word families (interact, interaction, interactive, etc.) each, along with some occasional related vocabulary students likely already recognize. I chose the basic academic vocabulary emphasized in these worksheets from Coxhead’s Academic Vocabulary List (AWL) and important academic vocabulary lists from Marzano Research, Berkeley Unified School District, and a number of teachers. These are the words students must have in order to understand, discuss, and write about common classroom and working world topics (as well as for standardized tests students will need to take.) The vocabulary ranges from basic words like compare, demonstrate, and examine to harder words like abstract, bias, categorize, strategic, etc. Every worksheet has multiple ways to practice the essential words it teaches, along with ideas for presentation, classroom games, and assessment. This simple explanation of science vocabulary and the scientific method will help your students recognize important academic vocabulary and understand science and psychology news and research. The free packet includes: • Explanations and examples of vocabulary: bias, data, evaluate, factor, valid, and variable (with its variations) • A one-page explanation of the scientific method demonstrating those words and adding more vocabulary in context: conclusion, evidence, hypothesis, implications, interpret, relevant, and reproducible • A five-question multiple choice quiz based on that information and its answer key This packet is designed as a reading activity and discussion starter. Ask students for their experiences doing experiments and solving problems. Did they follow a similar procedure? What did they do differently? What were their results? What steps do they consider the most important? The quiz makes a good short review (or warm-up) for later in the week. To download the Scientific Method Packet, click the button below. It’s important for English Language Learners to fully understand the words used in writing instructions and test prompts so that they know what they are expected to do. (As Vocabulary.com points out, quoting Jim Burke, “You cannot expect to succeed on assignments if you do not understand the directions." Burke’s A list guided the choice of the most important words to teach explicitly.) Understanding basic academic vocabulary will also help reading comprehension and class participation. The lessons in this packet show the ways about 30 important verbs (and related nouns and adjectives, as well as a few lone nouns or adjectives) can be used. The words appear first in short texts about essay writing. They are practiced multiple times in example essays, task cards, and a crossword so students can see them in different contexts, use them themselves, and have a chance to really acquire them. Key vocabulary, mainly in order of use in essays and task cards: analyze (including analysis & analytical), conclude/ conclusion, determine (etc.), evaluate, identify, interpret, predict (all from the Scientific Method essay, as well as bias, evidence, and valid from its glossary– not on cards). The most basic verbs for instructions, in “Sharing Ideas”: demonstrate, explain, illustrate, describe, respond, integrate, develop (and in comparison essay) compare, contrast, similar, distinguish. From "Essay Organization": organize, consequence, significance, persuade, argue, support, oppose, thesis, specific, transition, summarize, (& from Transitions practice: access), then imagine, imply (&related practice with infer), & transform from essay on Consequences/Proofreading practice.) Duration: about a week and a half (or more if you want students to write more than one essay. (There are links to some fantastic lessons for helping English learners learn to write persuasive essays.) These lessons can help ELLs ease into essay writing, with some explanation of what is expected in an essay in English, then several example essays, practice with transition words and proofreading, before they need to write themselves. · Teaching Suggestions pg.3-6 · Scientific Method 7-8 · Scientific Method Quiz 9 · Vocabulary Notebook Template- 10 · Sharing Ideas: Talking vs. Writing- 11 · Comparing Apples & Peaches- 12 · Essay Organization -13 · Types of Transitions-14 · Practice Transitions with a Comparative Essay: Advantages and Disadvantages o Online Learning (You might want to point out this could also be considered a persuasive essay, as it takes a definite point of view.)-15 · 3 page Revision and Proof-reading Checklist -16-18 · Practice with Proofreading sample essay on Unintended Consequences (first the unrevised essay, then revised but still needing proofreading.)—2 pgs each 19-22 · Optional Graphic organizers: · --Sample Essay Planning Template-23 · --Venn Diagram-24 · task cards, pages 25-35 · Vocabulary Check (this could also be used as a pre-assessment, if you hve some students that may not need most of these lessons.) -37 · Scientific Method Quiz Answers-38 · Transitions Practice (Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Learning) Answers-39 · Corrected (proofread) revised essay on the bomb with essay parts and transition words marked and a short example of a summary- 40-41 · Task Card Answers[7 pages]-42-49 · Crossword Answers-50 · Vocabulary Check Answers-51 · Download it now for $9.00. Help your English learners master the vocabulary of writing test prompts and the basics of English essay writing. Basics of Essay Writing includes six lessons demonstrating and practicing essential academic vocabulary and essay writing skills (with brief readings on communication and essay organization, a vocabulary game and crossword puzzle and practice with transition words and proofreading before students try essay writing themselves.). This packet is a less expensive version of my Basic Academic Vocabulary packet. It is 33 pages and contains almost all of the resources and practice activities except the task cards. Common Core Standards addressed CCSS.W8,2 &2c.,8.5, 9-10.2c & 5; L.8,4a ,& L.9-10.4a. Click below to download it for $5.60. According to research, English Language Learners need help learning to recognize and work with cognates. Since both Spanish and a majority of English academic vocabulary are Latin-based, Spanish-speaking students of English have a huge head start on CALP (academic) vocabulary if they can learn some simple rules for these cognates. These task cards, worksheets, and games (including a crossword puzzle and an adaptation of bingo for review) introduce some important English academic words that have clear Spanish cognates. By studying and practicing with them, students will become familiar with common patterns of the differences between the English and Spanish for these words. The patterns they learn will transfer, giving students the skills they need to recognize and understand many more words. It’s important that students not only recognize similarities in word meaning, but also the times when apparent similarities mask differences in connotation or meaning. This packet has a worksheet on false cognates, asking students to verify meanings with a dictionary and helping them understand that they should not rely on apparent similarities for words they want to use or need to understand accurately. There are two task cards for each of 16 important academic word ‘families.’ The first card gives the most common verb, noun, adjective, and adverb (if used) forms of each word and practice choosing the correct form to complete sample sentences. The second card gives one more example of use, but then asks students to determine which of four alternate sentences (not using the target word) accurately reflect its meaning. By practicing with both kinds of cards, students get to work with multiple examples of each word’s use. They should become familiar with the common suffixes like –tion, -able, -ed, -ive, and –ly, the ways they correspond with Spanish suffixes (-ción, -sión, -able—pronounced differently-- -ado, -ido, -ivo, -mente, etc.) and where words with those endings fit into sentences. There is also a page teaching the English stress and pronunciation of each word form- designed for teachers to go over with the class, so all can hear and repeat the correct forms and notice the changes in stress as verbs convert to nouns or adjectives. • Notes for Teachers: cognates, the worksheets, task cards, & pronunciation- pages 3-5 • Bingo for extra practice & links to cognate research & task card uses & games- 6 • Sample vocabulary notebook page template- 7 • Cognates for Spanish (2 pg. worksheet)- pages 8-9 • False Cognates (worksheet)- 10 • Pronouncing Task Card Vocabulary handout- 11 • Academic Vocabulary: Cognates Crossword- 12 • Task Cards (1-32; 2 per academic word/ word family)- pages 13-20 • 5 page Task Card Answer key- 21-25 • Cognate Review (or Quiz)- 26 Teacher Answer Sheets: (moved to the bottom so the pages to print will be together in the middle) • Cognate Review/Quiz Answer key- page 27 • Answer key for Cognates and False Cognates Worksheets (pages 8-10)- 28 • Crossword (page 12) Answer key- 29 • Credits & similar packets- 30 Click the button below to download the Spanish-English Cognates packet for 6.00. Words for Success: Reading, Vocabulary, Discussion, & Writing about Goals and the Meaning of Success. 3-5 days' worth of lessons on goal-setting, goal and achievement vocabulary, and integrated reading (and possibly listening/watching), discussion, and writing about success, failure, and what's most important in life. 16 pages of differentiated goal-setting and vocabulary activities and games, comprehension questions, and writing and discussion prompts (besides the cover and 4 answer keys.) The suggested readings (linked) are commencement addresses discussing the meaning of success and the value of initial failure. The key address is in clear. simple language. This pdf also includes scaffolding, with explanation of potentially difficult expressions and idioms, for the optional secondary addresses (only suggested for for higher level students.) You can check out the online version of much of this content at Reading Comprehension Questions and the linked pages at the bottom of that page. Academic vocabulary that is extensively practiced: accomplish, achieve, attain, attitude, benefit, criteria, emphasize, energy, establish, factors, financial, focus, goal, identify, objective, priority, resolution, security, specific, success, target Contents (in Lesson Order) • Teaching notes including timing, vocabulary, differentiation, lesson suggestions and links, and possible discussion or writing prompts: pg. 3-7 • Vocabulary Notebook template (optional—or use your own system) pg. 8 • Vocabulary for Achievement: >Example Sentences pg. 9 >Practice Activities (Odd One Out, Matching, and Gap-fill) pg. 10 >Answer key pg. 11 • Words for Success pg. 12 • Answer key pg. 13 • Short video talking about some famous people who failed before they succeeded (link pg. 5) • Review Crossword on Success pg. 14 • Success Vocabulary Crossword answer key pg.15 • Marc Lewis Commencement Address (link & discussion pg. 6) • Comprehension Questions pg. 16-17 • Answer key pg. 18 • Optional follow-up for high-Intermediate or advanced ESL classes (or junior or senior English classes): -links pg. 7) • Learning from Failure: quotes from J.K. Rowling and Steve Jobs to discuss- pg. 19 • parts or all of Steve Jobs’ and J.K. Rowling’s commencement addresses (both with video and transcript.) links pg. 7 • Explanation of idioms and expressions in Jobs’s speech pg. 20-21 • class discussion or writing prompts pg. 7 • credits pg. 22 Click the button below to download Words for Success for $3.75. I’d like to hear if you have any problems or ideas for improvements (or useful future worksheets.) I would love to hear if you find these vocabulary worksheets useful (especially if you are willing for me to post your comments with your first name here as a ‘testimonial’-- or with suggestions of the way your class has used them.) See Reading Comprehension Lesson Plans for Word Detectives and the Word Detective bundle, which both teach a lot of academic vocabulary as well as reading skills and some roots and prefixes.
Individual differences \| Methods \| Statistics \| Clinical \| Educational \| Industrial \| Professional items \| World psychology \| In psychometrics, item response theory (IRT) is a body of theory describing the application of mathematical models to data from questionnaires and tests as a basis for measuring abilities, attitudes, or other variables. IRT models apply mathematical functions that specify the probability of a discrete outcome, such as a correct response to an item, in terms of person and item parameters. Person parameters may, for example, represent the ability of a student or the strength of a person's attitude. Item parameters include difficulty (location), discrimination (slope or correlation), and pseudoguessing (lower asymptote). Items may be questions that have incorrect and correct responses, statements on questionnaires that allow respondents to indicate level of agreement, or patient symptoms scored present/absent. Among other things IRT theory provides a basis for evaluating how well assessments work, and how well individual questions on assessments work. In education, Psychometricians apply IRT in order to achieve tasks such as developing and refining exams, maintaining banks of items for exams, and equating for the difficulties of successive versions of exams (for example, to allow comparisons between results over time). IRT is often referred to as latent trait theory, strong true score theory, or modern mental test theory and is distinguished from Classical test theory. IRT models are used as a basis for statistical estimation of parameters that represent the 'locations' of persons and items on a latent continuum or, more correctly, the magnitude of the latent trait attributable to the persons and items. For example, in attainment testing, estimates may be of the magnitude of a person's ability within a specific domain, such as reading comprehension. Once estimates of relevant parameters have been obtained, statistical tests are usually conducted to gauge the extent to which the parameters predict item responses given the model used. Stated somewhat differently, such tests are used to ascertain the degree to which the model and parameter estimates can account for the structure of and statistical patterns within the response data, either as a whole, or by considering specific subsets of the data such as response vectors pertaining to individual items or persons. This approach permits the central hypothesis represented by a particular model to be subjected to empirical testing, as well as providing information about the psychometric properties of a given assessment, and therefore also the quality of estimates. From the perspective of more traditional approaches, such as classical test theory, an advantage of IRT is that it potentially provides information that enables a researcher to improve the reliability of an assessment. This is achieved through the extraction of more sophisticated information regarding psychometric properties of individual assessment items. IRT is sometimes referred to using the word strong as in strong true score theory or modern as in modern mental test theory because IRT is a more recent body of theory and makes more explicit the hypotheses that are implicit within Classical test theory. IRT models are often referred to as latent trait models. The term latent is used to emphasise that discrete item responses are taken to be observable manifestations of hypothesized trait, construct, or attribute, not directly observed, but which must be inferred from the manifest responses. Latent trait models were developed in the field of sociology, but are virtually identitical to IRT models. The other major body of psychometric theory of relevance to IRT is classical test theory. For tasks that can be accomplished using classical test theory, IRT generally brings greater flexibility and provides more sophisticated information. Some applications, such as computerized adaptive testing are enabled by IRT and cannot reasonably be performed using only classical test theory. The Item Response Function (Item Characteristic Curve)Edit Much of the literature on IRT centers on item response models. A given model constitutes a mathematized hypothesis that the probability of a discrete response to an item is a function of a person parameter (or, in the case of multidimensional item response theory, a vector of person parameters) and one or more item parameters. For example, in the three parameter logistic (3PL) model, the probability of a correct response to an item i is: where is the person parameter (ability) and , , and are item parameters. This is called the item response function (IRF) or, graphically, the item characteristic curve (ICC). Conceptually, it gives the probability of a person with a given ability level getting the item right. Persons with lower ability (<0.0) have less of a chance, while persons with extremely high ability are very likely. The item parameters simply determine the shape of the IRF and in some cases may not have a direct interpretation. The figure to the right depicts an example IRF with an overlaid conceptual explanation of the parameters. The parameter represents the item location which, in the case of attainment testing, is referred to as the item difficulty. It is point on where the IRF has its maximum slope. The example item is of medium difficulty, since =0.0, which is near the center of the distribution. Note that this model scales the item's difficulty and the person's trait onto the same continuum. Thus, it is valid to talk about an item being about as hard as Person A's trait level or of a person's trait level being about the same as Item Y's difficulty, in the sense that successful performance of the task involved with an item reflects a specific level of ability. The item parameter represents the discrimination of the item: that is, the degree to which the item discriminates between persons in different regions on the latent continuum. This parameter characterizes the slope of the IRF where the slope is at its maximum. The example item has =1.0, which discriminates fairly well; persons with low ability do indeed have a much smaller chance of correctly responding than persons of higher ability. For items such as multiple choice items, the parameter is used in attempt to account for the effects of guessing on the probability of a correct response. It indicates the probability that very low ability individuals will get this item correct by chance, mathematically represented as a lower asymptote. A four-option multiple choice item might have an IRF like the example item; there is a 1/4 chance of an extremely low ability candidate guessing the correct answer, so the would be approximately 0.25. This assumes that all options are equally plausible, because if one option made no sense, even the lowest ability person would be able to discard it. Logistic and Normal IRT ModelsEdit An alternative formulation constructs IRFs based on the cumulative normal probability distribution function, or normal cdf; these are sometimes called normal ogive models. For example, the formula for a two-parameter normal-ogive IRF is: The normal-ogive model derives from the assumption of normally distributed measurement error and is theoretically appealing on that basis. Here is, again, the difficulty parameter. The discrimination parameter is , the standard deviation of the measurement error for item i, and comparable to 1/. When the constant D has the value 1.701, the logistic function closely approximates the cumulative normal ogive. Typically, the logistic and normal-ogive IRFs differ in probability by no more than 0.01 across the range of the function. The difference is greatest in the distribution tails, however, which tend to have more influence on results. The latent trait/IRT model was originally developed using normal ogives, but, at the time this was considered computationally demanding. The logistic model was proposed as a simpler alternative, and has enjoyed wide use since. More recently, however, Uebersax (1999) demonstrated that, using standard polynomial approximations to the normal cdf (Abramowitz & Stegun, 1972), the normal-ogive model is no more computationally demanding than logistic models. Latent Traits and FactorsEdit The person parameter represents the magnitude of latent trait of the individual. The estimate of the person parameter is derived from the individual's total score on the assessment, which is a weighted score when the model contains item discrimination parameters. The latent trait is the human capacity or attribute measured by the test. It might be a cognitive ability, physical ability, skill, knowledge, attitude, personality characteristic, etc. In a one dimensional model such as the one above, this trait is analogous to a single factor in factor analysis. In fact, one can estimate a normal-ogive latent trait model by factor-analyzing a matrix of tetrachoric correlations between items (Joreskog & Sorbom, 1988). This means it is technically possible to estimate a simple IRT model using general-purpose statistical software. Individual items or individuals might have secondary factors but these are assumed to be mutually independent and collectively orthogonal. Broadly speaking, IRT models can be divided into two families: unidimensional and multidimensional. Unidimensional models require a single trait (ability) dimension . Multidimensional IRT models model response data hypothesized to arise from multiple traits. However, because of the greatly increased complexity, the majority of IRT research and applications utilize a unidimensional model. IRT models can also be categorized based on the number of scored responses. The typical multiple choice item is dichotomous; even though there may be four or five options, it is still scored only as correct/incorrect (right/wrong). Another class of models apply to polytomous outcomes, where each response has a different score value. For example, the polytomous Rasch model is a generalisation of the Rasch model that applies to data in two or more ordered categories. A common example of this Likert-type items, e.g., "Rate on a scale of 1 to 5." Dichotomous IRT models are described by the number of parameters they make use of. The 3PL is named so because it employs three item parameters. The two-parameter model assumes that the data has minimal guessing, but that items can vary in terms of location () and discrimination (). The one-parameter model assumes that there is minimal guessing and that items have equivalent discriminations, so that items are only described by a single parameter (). Additionally, there is theoretically a four-parameter model, with an upper asymptote. However, this is rarely used. Perspectives on Rasch models: the data-model relationshipEdit The Rasch model for dichotomous data is often regarded as a special case of the two parameter logistic (2PL) model, and therefore the 3PL model. Andrich (1989) referred to two prevailing views on the relationship between Lord's 3PL and Rasch's model. In one, the 3PL is a generalisation of the Rasch model because if the relevant parameters are specified as 0 and 1, the 3PL reduces to the Rasch model. In the other view, the 3PL is not a generalisation of the Rasch model because the 3PL cannot follow mathematically from Rasch's (1960,1961) specifications for the invariance of comparisons, which follows from the separability of the parameters. Before identifying the widely known Rasch model for dichotomous data, Rasch (1960) employed the Poisson distribution as model for measurement. This model shares with the dichotomous model the property of separability of person and item parameters. If Rasch models are defined in terms of this distinguishing property, then the 2PL and 3PL are not generalisations of the Rasch model because they fail to preserve this property. Consistent with this, the 2PL and 3PL have no well-defined connection to Rasch's multiplicative Poisson model. Thus, whether the Rasch model is seen as a specifical case of IRT models is a matter of both the definition of what is a Rasch model, and the perceived purpose of using an item response model. IRT models are generally used with the intention of describing a set of data as well as possible. Parameters are modified and accepted or rejected based on how well they fit the data. In contrast, when the Rasch model is employed, the objective is to obtain data which conform with the model in order to meet requirements of measurement (Andrich, 2004). Rasch (1960) showed the congruence of the separability of parameters with measurement in the physical sciences. Accordingly, proponents of Rasch measurement models assert that only data which conform with Rasch models satisfy the requirements of fundamental measurement (e.g. Wright, 1992). This entails the researcher deleting any data that they feel does not conform to the model they wish to use (Smith, 1990). Estimation of parameters is more straight forward in Rasch models due to the presence of sufficient statistics (e.g. Fischer & Molenaar, 1995). From the perspective of modelling data, however, the Rasch model is a special case of the 2PL and hence it is often referred to as the one parameter model. The reason for the name two parameter logistic model is that the discrimination parameter is conceived as a second item parameter. This label implies that discrimination parameters are conceived as pertaining only to items, whereas Rasch (1977) emphasised the importance of the frame of reference for measurement as a whole. In the Rasch framework, therefore, discrimination cannot be regarded as something pertaining only to items. This is an additional distinction between the perspectives inherent in the use of the different models and the terminology employed by different authors. One of the major contributions of item response theory is the extension of the concept of reliability. Traditionally, reliability refers to the precision of measurement (i.e., the degree to which measurement is free of error). And traditionally, it is measured using a single index defined in various ways, such as the ratio of true and observed score variance. This index is helpful in characterizing a test's average reliability, for example in order to compare two tests. But IRT makes it clear that precision is not uniform across the entire range of test scores. Scores at the edges of the test's range, for example, generally have more error associated with them than scores closer to the middle of the range. Item response theory advances the concept of item and test information to replace reliability. Information is also a function of the model parameters. For example, according to Fisher information theory, the item information supplied in the case of the Rasch model for dichotomous response data is simply the probability of a correct response multiplied by the probability of an incorrect response, or, The standard error of estimation (SE) is the reciprocal of the test information of at a given trait level, is the Thus more information implies less error of measurement. For other models, such as the two and three parameters models, the discrimination parameter plays an important role in the function. The item information function for the two parameter model is In general, item information functions tend to look bell-shaped. Highly discriminating items have tall, narrow information functions; they contribute greatly but over a narrow range. Less discriminating items provide less information but over a wider range. Plots of item information can be used to see how much information an item contributes and to what portion of the scale score range. Because of local independence, item information functions are additive. Thus, the test information function is simply the sum of the information functions of the items on the exam. Using this property with a large item bank, test information functions can be shaped to control measurement error very precisely. Characterizing the accuracy of test scores is perhaps the central issue in psychometric theory and is a chief difference between IRT and CTT. IRT findings reveal that the CTT concept of reliability is a simplification. In the place of reliability, IRT offers the test information function which shows the degree of precision at different values of theta. These results allow psychometricians to (potentially) carefully shape the level of reliability for different ranges of ability by including carefully chosen items. For example, in a certification situation in which a test can only be passed or failed, where there is only a single "cutscore," and where the actually passing score is unimportant, a very efficient test can be developed by selecting only items that have high information near the cutscore. These items generally correspond to items whose difficulty is about the same as that of the cutscore. After the model is fit to data, each person has a theta estimate. This estimate is their score on the exam. This "IRT score" is computed and interpreted in a very different manner as compared to traditional scores like number or percent correct. However, for most tests, the (linear) correlation between the theta estimate and a traditional score is very high (often it is .95 or more). A graph of IRT scores against traditional scores shows an ogive shape implying that the IRT estimates separate individuals at the borders of the range more than in the middle. It is worth noting the implications of IRT for test-takers. Tests are imprecise tools and the score achieved by an individual (the observed score) is always the true score occluded by some degree of error. This error may push the observed score higher or lower. Also, nothing about these models refutes human development or improvement. A person may learn skills, knowledge or even so called "test-taking skills" which may translate to a higher true-score. A comparison of classical and Item Response theoryEdit Classical test theory (CTT) and IRT are largely concerned with the same problems but are different bodies of theory and therefore entail different methods. Although the two paradigms are generally consistent and complementary, there are a number of points of difference: - IRT makes stronger assumptions than CTT and in many cases provides correspondingly stronger findings; primarily, characterizations of error. Of course, these results only hold when the assumptions of the IRT models are actually met. - Although CTT results have allowed important practical results, the model-based nature of IRT affords many advantages over analogous CTT findings. - CTT test scoring procedures have the advantage of being simple to compute (and to explain) whereas IRT scoring generally requires relatively complex estimation procedures (note that in the Rasch model the total score for a person is the sufficient statistic of the person parameter). - IRT provides several improvements in scaling items and people. The specifics depend upon the IRT model, but most models scale the difficulty of items and the ability of people on the same metric. Thus the difficulty of an item and the ability of a person can be meaningfully compared. - Another improvement provided by IRT is that the parameters of IRT models are generally not sample- or test-dependent whereas true-score is defined in CTT in the context of a specific test. Thus IRT provides significantly greater flexibility in situations where different samples or test forms are used. These IRT findings are foundational for computerized adaptive testing. It is worth also mentioning some specific similarities between CTT and IRT which help to understand the correspondence between concepts. First, Lord (1980, p. 33) showed that under the assumption that is normally distributed, discrimination in the 2PL model is approximately a monotonic function of the point-biserial correlation. In particular: where is the point biserial correlation of item i. Thus, if the assumption holds, where there is a higher discrimination there will generally be a higher point-biserial correlation. Another similarity is that while IRT provides for a standard error of each estimate and an information function, it is also possible to obtain an index for a test as a whole which is directly analogous to Cronbach's alpha, called the separation index. To do so, it is necessary to begin with a decomposition of an IRT estimate into a true location and error, analogous to decomposition of an observed score into a true score and error in CTT. Let where is the true location, and is the error association with an estimate. Then is an estimate of the standard deviation of for person with a given weighted score and the separation index is obtained as follows where the mean squared standard error of person estimate gives an estimate of the variance of the errors, , across persons. The standard errors are normally produced as a by-product of the estimation process (see, for example, Rasch model estimation). The separation index is typically very close in value to Cronbach's alpha (Andrich, 1982). See also Edit - Classical test theory - Difficulty level (test) - Differential item functioning - Item analysis (statistical) - Rasch model - Person-fit analysis - Scale (social sciences) - Standardized test - Test scores - Abramowitz M., Stegun I.A. (1972). Handbook of Mathematical Functions. Washington DC: U. S. Government Printing Office. - Andrich, D. (1982). An index of person separation in latent trait theory, the traditional KR.20 index, and the Guttman scale response pattern. Education Research and Perspectives, 9, 95-104. - Andrich, D (1989), Distinctions between assumptions and requirements in measurement in the Social sciences", in Keats, J.A, Taft, R., Heath, R.A, Lovibond, S (Eds), Mathematical and Theoretical Systems, Elsevier Science Publishers, North Holland, Amsterdam, pp.7-16. - Andrich, D. (2004). Controversy and the Rasch model: a characteristic of incompatible paradigms? Medical Care, 42, 1-16. - Bock R.D., Aitkin M. (1981). Marginal maximum likelihood estimation of item parameters: application of an EM algorithm. Psychometrika, 46, 443-459. - Fischer, G.H. & Molenaar, I.W. (1995). Rasch Models: Foundations, Recent Developments, and Applications. New York: Springer. - Hambleton, R. K., Swaminathan, H., & Rogers, H. J. (1991). Fundamentals of Item Response Theory. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Press. - Joreskog K.G., Sorbom, D. (1988). PRELIS 1 user's manual, version 1. Chicago: Scientific Software, Inc. - Lazarsfeld P.F, Henry N.W. (1968). Latent Structure Analysis. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. - Lord, F.M. (1980). Applications of item response theory to practical testing problems. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. - Rasch, G. (1960/1980). Probabilistic models for some intelligence and attainment tests. (Copenhagen, Danish Institute for Educational Research), expanded edition (1980) with foreword and afterword by B.D. Wright. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. - Rasch, G. (1977). On Specific Objectivity: An attempt at formalizing the request for generality and validity of scientific statements. The Danish Yearbook of Philosophy, 14, 58-93. - Thissen, D. & Orlando, M. (2001). Item response theory for items scored in two categories. In D. Thissen & Wainer, H. (Eds.), Test Scoring (pp. 73-140). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. - Uebersax, J.S. (1999). Probit latent class analysis with dichotomous or ordered category measures: conditional independence/dependence models. Applied Psychological Measurement, 23, 4, 283-297. - Wright, B.D. (1992). IRT in the 1990s: Which Models Work Best? Rasch measurement transactions, 6:1, 196-200 Many books have been written that address item response theory or contain IRT or IRT-like models. This is a partial list, focusing on texts that provide more depth. - Lord, F.M. (1980). Applications of item response theory to practical testing problems. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. This book summaries much of Lord's IRT work, including chapters on the relationship between IRT and classical methods, fundamentals of IRT, estimation, and several advanced topics. Its estimation chapter is now dated in that it primarily discusses joint maximum likelihood method rather than the marginal maximum likelihood method implemented by Darrell Bock and his colleagues. - Embretson, S. and Reise, S. (2000). Item response theory for psychologists. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. This book is an accessible introduction to IRT, aimed, as the title says, at psychologists. - Baker, Frank (2001). The Basics of Item Response Theory. ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation, University of Maryland, College Park, MD. This introductory book is by one of the pioneers in the field, and is available online at - Baker, F. B., & Kim, S.-H. (2004). Item response theory: Parameter estimation techniques (2nd ed.). New York: Marcel Dekker. - This book describes various item response theory models and furnishes detailed explanations of algorithms that can be used to estimate the item and ability parameters. Portions of the book are available online as limited preview at . - Van der Linden, W.J. & Hambleton, R.K. (Eds.) (1997). Handbook of modern item response theory. New York: Springer. This book provides a comprehensive overview regarding various popular IRT-models. It is well suited for persons who already have gained basic understanding of IRT. - De Boeck, P., & Wilson, M. (Eds.) (2004). Explanatory Item Response Models. A Generalized Linear and Nonlinear Approach. New York: Springer. This volume shows an integrated introduction to item response models, mainly aimed at practitioners (researchers and graduate students). - IRT Tutorial - An introduction to IRT - The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing - IRT Command Language (ICL) computer program - IRT Programs from SSI, Inc. - IRT Programs from Assessment Systems Corporation - IRT Programs from Winsteps - Latent Trait Analysis and IRT Models - Free IRT software \|This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).\|
Let's start with the Tagalog /k/, /p/ and /t/. Ka, pa, ta. These three consonants are pronounced without a puff of air after them. So they're like the /k/, /p/ and /t/ in skill, spill and still. And not the ones in kill, pill and till, which have a puff of breath after them. So again, ka, pa and ta. Then you have the sound /ng/. Nga. This sound can also be found at the beginning of a word in Tagalog. For example, ngayon, which means today or now. You can practice this initial /ng/ sound by saying ringing…, Then there's the Tagalog /r/. Ra. It's similar to the double /t/ in better in most accents of American English, or it can be slightly Now, let's quickly go through the consonant sounds you'll find in native Tagalog ba, da, ga ha, ka, la ma, na, nga pa, ra, sa ta, wa, ya. There's actually another consonant sound in Tagalog, which is called the glottal stop, but we'll cover that in a later video. Lastly, let's pronounce the Tagalog /ll/ and what we call en-ye in Tagalog. These are found in words borrowed from Spanish. lla – it's like an /l/ followed by a /y/ and ña – a bit like the /gn/ in lasagna
Posted on Thursday 7th November 2013 While understanding the rules of the abstract part of physics called‘quantum mechanics’ occupied the 20th century, harnessing its power for applications will be a dominant theme of the 21st century. Making the earth beneath our feet transparent is the latest example of utilising the strange properties of the microscopic quantum world to provide such a ‘Quantum Technology’. The most down-to-earth application concerns the 4 million holes dug in UK roads every year. Only around 30 per cent of the buried infrastructure is known beforehand, making the task much slower (due to the care needed) with consequent delays to traffic. Quantum ‘gravimeters’ will revolutionise this business,especially with the moist soil conditions typical of the UK. In general, a Quantum Technology makes use of the counter intuitive consequences of quantum mechanics – the principal theory explaining our world on a microscopic scale. One of these consequences is that a single object can be in several different places (or in several different ‘states’) at the same time. In the quantum world, a person could pass a tree simultaneously on the right and the left side, or be wearing business clothes and beach attire simultaneously. For example, in our everyday experience the force we feel due to gravity appears to be the same anywhere on Earth. A precision quantum gravity sensor picks up variations, by letting single atoms explore different paths in the gravitational field of the Earth. From those differences one can infer what lies beneath the Earth’s surface. So far there are only two commercially viable quantum technologies: quantum cryptography and quantum sensors. Quantum cryptography systems are well established in the market, eg, for secure communications between banks, while quantum sensors are just becoming commercially available. Gravity sensors will be the first in this new industrial revolution, with remarkably diverse applications. The University of Birmingham led EU iSENSE and EPSRC GG-TOP projects are leading the way in providing the means to enhance oil and mineral exploration, find water resources, drive climate research and to map urban infrastructure and archaeology. These collaborations encompass all the European work in this area, with pioneering involvement of engineers and archeologists (both of these last groups are at the University of Birmingham). There are many moreapplications of the quantum gravity sensors. Helping determine the spatial extent of aquifers that have run dry – by the change in gravity due to the water being pumped out, or the equivalent processes in oil and gas recovery (where unrecovered pockets of oil and gas can represent considerable residual value) are other big applications. More academically, climate change science (snow cover of mountains and magnitude of ocean currents) and archeology (‘seeing’ without digging) will benefit greatly. This panorama of applications has been hailed by Neelie Kroes (Vice-President of the EU, with responsibility for the Digital Agenda) as the ‘coolest thing’ at the 2013 EU Information and Communication Technologies meeting this week in Vilnius.This area, which brings together the oldest part of physics, gravity, with one of the most recent, ultracold quantum atomic gases, shows the capacity of scientific research driven by curiosity to have large and unexpected dividends. Professor Kai Bongs, Professor of Ultracold Atomic Physics, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmimingham
Genetic engineering is the modification of the structure of genetic material in a living organism, which involves the production and use of recombinant DNA. Already a controversial topic, it was recently announced that, “the next generation of genetically engineered life will more than likely possess a novel trait known as ‘gene drive’ that literally spreads gene alterations like a virus within the host population, whether it is a plant or an animal.” While genetic engineers may be enthusiastic about its potential for good, some scientists are concerned about it getting into the wrong hands. The self-replicating technology could eventually turn genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) into covert bio-weapons and these weapons would be able to destroy crops, livestock…and humans. So, the focus on gene drive is the latest in scientists’ attempts to manipulate nature. In this case, the goal is to eliminate undesirable outcomes such as mosquito-borne illnesses, which include various types of encephalitis, West Nile virus, dengue fever, malaria, Rift Valley fever and yellow fever. Gene drive technology has the potential to ‘address global problems in health,’ but it also has the potential to significantly worsen global health issues. It has the capability of contaminating the entire food chain with irreversible genetically-modified traits. According to an article in Shift Frequency: “In a letter in the peer-reviewed journal Science, a cohort of 27 leading geneticists has urged the scientific community to take a step back and consider the ways in which gene drive technology poses serious risks to human health and the environment. In essence, the technology gives genetic butchers the ability to ignite a chain reaction of genetic changes that can’t be stopped, effectively transforming an entire population of life within just a few generations. ‘Just as gene drives can make mosquitos unfit for hosting and spreading the malaria parasite, they could conceivably be designed with gene drives carrying cargo for delivering lethal bacterial toxins to humans,’ warns David Gurwitz, a geneticist from Tel Aviv University in Israel. ‘The additional genetic elements of Crispr (a type of gene drive technology) cause a chain reaction where the mutation is passed between chromosomes in the same organism, causing up to 97 per cent inheritance in resulting offspring-generations,’ explains The Independent about gene-drive inheritance.” CRISPR is a quick and inexpensive gene editing method that involves the delivery of Cas9, an enzyme, into the target DNA of a given organism. Once that is accomplished, the enzyme begins editing the DNA–to either disrupt target genes or insert desired consequences into them. And, for better or worse (probably worse), it only costs around $30. It has been referred to as being “democratized,” meaning it is available to pretty much anyone who wants it. So, you can see how this could lead to some very disastrous results. It is considered to be an extremely dangerous weapon. Some disturbing geophysical weapons are also, reportedly, in development. Geophysics can be described as the physics of the earth and its environment, including meteorology, oceanography and seismology. It has been predicted, that in the near future, wars will be fought with considerably more devastating weapons than airstrikes, tanks and nuclear weapons. This new breed of weapons “will be based on energy, electromagnetic, radiological, geophysical and genetic principles.” This will likely include special information weapons, currently in development, which could alter a person’s perception–which means, users of this technology would have the ability to completely change people’s minds. The targets of these potent weapons will be main control centers, essential facilities, technology, infrastructures and people. Bio-terrorism can be unleashed as a mass attack or customized for a specific individual. Via synthetic biology, terrorists can target a selected individual by using that individual’s own unique DNA. And, don’t forget about the radiation guns (a.k.a. zombie guns) that Russia was working on back in 2012. Utilizing electromagnetic radiation, these guns viciously attack a victim’s central nervous system, which renders the victim into a zombie-like state. This technology is expected to be completed by the end of the decade. The process of essentially hacking an individual’s DNA will be relatively easy to accomplish. Easier than getting a hold of nuclear weapons, for example. So, the prospect of a terrorist group, such as ISIS, gaining access to these weapons is a real possibility.
Dotty Six is a simple dice game that you can adapt in many ways. This activity is best done with a whole class or in a large group. Can you match the cards? What happens when you add pairs of the numbers together? Have you seen this way of doing multiplication ? Dotty Six game for an adult and child. Will you be the first to have three sixes in a straight line? This article looks at how models support mathematical thinking about numbers and the number system Can you find different ways of showing the same number? Try this matching game and see! Can you explain how Galley Division works? Using balancing scales what is the least number of weights needed to weigh all integer masses from 1 to 1000? Placing some of the weights in the same pan as the object how many are needed? Where we follow twizzles to places that no number has been before. Make the twizzle twist on its spot and so work out the hidden link. This article for the young and old talks about the origins of our number system and the important role zero has to play in it. A loopy exploration of z^2+1=0 (z squared plus one) with an eye on winding numbers. Try not to get dizzy! Arrow arithmetic, but with a twist. How can you use twizzles to multiply and divide? Introduces the idea of a twizzle to represent number and asks how one can use this representation to add and subtract geometrically. The first part of an investigation into how to represent numbers using geometric transformations that ultimately leads us to discover numbers not on the number line. This article for teachers describes how modelling number properties involving multiplication using an array of objects not only allows children to represent their thinking with concrete materials,. . . . First or two articles about Fibonacci, written for students. This article for teachers describes how number arrays can be a useful reprentation for many number concepts. Read this riddle and see if you can work out how the trees must be planted.
Waves form when the wind blows over a body of water . In the open ocean waves look like a series of swells. When a wave gets near the shore the wave bottom drags against the sea floor while the top keeps moving. The wave gets narrower and higher and eventually topples over crashing onto the beach face. Some coasts are dominated by shoreline erosion. Waves pound the shore with water, sand and even rocks . This can undercut cliffs causing large sections of rock and sediment to fall into the water. Tides are the daily or twice-daily rise and fall of the oceans. Tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun on the ocean. Waves that hit the beach at an angle carry sand and gravel up the beach face at an angle. When the water washes back the sediment is carried straight back down the beach face. Individual particles are moved along the beach in a zig zag pattern. This is called longshore drift. Beaches and spits that formed along the shore of glacial Lake Agassiz are shown in dark blue on the superficial geology map of the Red River Valley area of Canada and the United States. There are six beaches on the western side of the map. The beaches formed as water levels slowly dropped. Can you find matching beaches on the other side of the large purple area?
Can you make a 3x3 cube with these shapes made from small cubes? Can you see why 2 by 2 could be 5? Can you predict what 2 by 10 will be? Can you find ways of joining cubes together so that 28 faces are visible? A toy has a regular tetrahedron, a cube and a base with triangular and square hollows. If you fit a shape into the correct hollow a bell rings. How many times does the bell ring in a complete game? How many different cuboids can you make when you use four CDs or DVDs? How about using five, then six? Investigate how the four L-shapes fit together to make an enlarged L-shape. You could explore this idea with other shapes too. How can the same pieces of the tangram make this bowl before and after it was chipped? Use the interactivity to try and work out what is going on! A game for 2 players. Given a board of dots in a grid pattern, players take turns drawing a line by connecting 2 adjacent dots. Your goal is to complete more squares than your opponent. An activity centred around observations of dots and how we visualise number arrangement patterns. Which of these dice are right-handed and which are left-handed? Exchange the positions of the two sets of counters in the least possible number of moves Take a rectangle of paper and fold it in half, and half again, to make four smaller rectangles. How many different ways can you fold it up? In each of the pictures the invitation is for you to: Count what you see. Identify how you think the pattern would continue. This task, written for the National Young Mathematicians' Award 2016, involves open-topped boxes made with interlocking cubes. Explore the number of units of paint that are needed to cover the boxes. . . . A dog is looking for a good place to bury his bone. Can you work out where he started and ended in each case? What possible routes could he have taken? 10 space travellers are waiting to board their spaceships. There are two rows of seats in the waiting room. Using the rules, where are they all sitting? Can you find all the possible ways? What is the best way to shunt these carriages so that each train can continue its journey? This challenge involves eight three-cube models made from interlocking cubes. Investigate different ways of putting the models together then compare your constructions. An extension of noughts and crosses in which the grid is enlarged and the length of the winning line can to altered to 3, 4 or 5. Can you shunt the trucks so that the Cattle truck and the Sheep truck change places and the Engine is back on the main line? A game for two players on a large squared space. Investigate the number of paths you can take from one vertex to another in these 3D shapes. Is it possible to take an odd number and an even number of paths to the same vertex? What happens to the area of a square if you double the length of the sides? Try the same thing with rectangles, diamonds and other shapes. How do the four smaller ones fit into the larger one? Can you work out how many cubes were used to make this open box? What size of open box could you make if you had 112 cubes? Here are some arrangements of circles. How many circles would I need to make the next size up for each? Can you create your own arrangement and investigate the number of circles it needs? Design an arrangement of display boards in the school hall which fits the requirements of different people. One face of a regular tetrahedron is painted blue and each of the remaining faces are painted using one of the colours red, green or yellow. How many different possibilities are there? Imagine a pyramid which is built in square layers of small cubes. If we number the cubes from the top, starting with 1, can you picture which cubes are directly below this first cube? How can you paint the faces of these eight cubes so they can be put together to make a 2 x 2 cube that is green all over AND a 2 x 2 cube that is yellow all over? I've made some cubes and some cubes with holes in. This challenge invites you to explore the difference in the number of small cubes I've used. Can you see any patterns? Can you work out what shape is made by folding in this way? Why not create some patterns using this shape but in different sizes? A game has a special dice with a colour spot on each face. These three pictures show different views of the same dice. What colour is opposite blue? Make a flower design using the same shape made out of different sizes of paper. Where can you put the mirror across the square so that you can still "see" the whole square? How many different positions are possible? Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of these rabbits? Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of Little Ming? This 100 square jigsaw is written in code. It starts with 1 and ends with 100. Can you build it up? How many different ways can you find of fitting five hexagons together? How will you know you have found all the ways? Looking at the picture of this Jomista Mat, can you decribe what you see? Why not try and make one yourself? What is the total area of the four outside triangles which are outlined in red in this arrangement of squares inside each other? What shape is made when you fold using this crease pattern? Can you make a ring design? Think of a number, square it and subtract your starting number. Is the number you’re left with odd or even? How do the images help to explain this? Make a cube out of straws and have a go at this practical challenge. This article for teachers describes a project which explores thepower of storytelling to convey concepts and ideas to children. Can you cut up a square in the way shown and make the pieces into a triangle? Try this interactive strategy game for 2 This practical problem challenges you to make quadrilaterals with a loop of string. You'll need some friends to help! What shape has Harry drawn on this clock face? Can you find its area? What is the largest number of square tiles that could cover this area? Paint a stripe on a cardboard roll. Can you predict what will happen when it is rolled across a sheet of paper? Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of the child walking home from school?
Temperate Deciduous Forest An Amazing Ecosystem Deciduous forests can be found in the eastern half of North America, and the middle of Europe. There are many deciduous forests in Asia. Some of the major areas that they are in are southwest Russia, Japan, and eastern China. South America has two big areas of deciduous forests in southern Chile and Middle East coast of Paraguay. There are deciduous forests located in New Zealand, and southeastern Australia also. One thing that is interesting about this biome and its climate is that it has four distinct seasons; spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Most deciduous forests have mild summers averaging about 70 °F. Summer months usually begin in early June and end in late August. Winter months don't begin until December. Winter temperatures are fairly cool with an average temperature of a little below freezing. Almost all of the world's deciduous forest is located by an ocean. The ocean and the wind are two big factors of why the temperature and climate change so much in this biome.
* Anopheles gambiae mosquito after a bloodmeal. Image courtesy of Muhammed Mahdi Karim, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania And the major perpetrator is the Anopheles gambiae mosquito, which transmits the malaria-causing Plasmodium parasite to its victims when it takes bloodmeals. But not all A. gambiae mosquitoes do so with equal success or even under the same conditions. This is because this mosquito species is branching out genetically, or speciating, creating new populations with very different characteristics. To the eye, all A. gambiae mosquitoes look the same. But the details within their genomes – their genetic makeup – tell stories of increasing diversity that scientists want to read, in the attempt to understand why different groups of A. gambiae mosquitoes thrive in different environments. To hone in on these differences, researchers at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in collaboration with Imperial College, London have created a new genomic tool to identify the precise genetic differences between groups of A. gambiae mosquitoes. This tool maps single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) – single letter differences in the mosquito’s genome. The researchers have found that by using these so-called SNP arrays they can precisely identify the genomic differences between various groups of A. gambiae mosquitoes. Their work is published in the October 21 online version of Science. “This is the first high-throughput genotyping tool to study the enormously variable A. gambiae mosquito,” explains co-lead author Daniel Neafsey, a computational biologist in the Broad’s Microbial Genome Analysis and Annotation group who co-developed the technique. By linking particular genetic variations with particular mosquito populations, researchers and public health officials hope to determine exactly what types of mosquitoes they are dealing with in particular geographic areas and ecological settings. Because of their genetic variability, A. gambiae mosquitoes can transmit the malaria parasite in multiple environments. Researchers and public health officials have found that A. gambiae has diverged into multiple populations that thrive during the rainy season or during the drier season that follows. This adaptation of mosquitoes to varying seasonal conditions has led to longer periods of malaria transmission in some parts of Africa. In some locales, resistance to insecticides has arisen and spread within mosquito populations, frustrating control of malaria vector mosquitoes with insecticides. In other places, Anopheles mosquitoes are splitting into new populations that bite during the daytime, when it is harder to protect people from mosquitoes, compared to traditional populations that bite at night and can be stopped by sleeping under insecticide-treated bednets. “All of this diversity and more requires more than a generic eradication or vector control plan,” says Neafsey. “You have to know what bug you are dealing with to more effectively combat such an efficient disease carrier.” Neafsey has made his career at the Broad centered on the understanding the transmission of malaria to humans. Along with co-first author Mara Lawniczak of Imperial College London, Neafsey identified the SNPs using sequences from multiple A. gambiae strains. They placed the SNPs on an array creating a high-throughput genotyping tool. Says Neafsey, “We are catching speciation right in the process and we are seeing effectively a chimeric structure in the genome where some parts are totally isolated and some parts are not.” This explains why some genes are prevented from flowing freely between groups of mosquitoes, in the process diversifying the A. gambiae species. The SNP array used for the analysis included 400,000 SNPs found in two predominant species of A. gambiae mosquitoes. “Prior to this, the most widely used tool we had for finding genetic differences between populations included only about 40 potential markers,” says co-author Marc Muskavitch, an associate researcher at the Broad Institute, DeLuca Professor of Biology at Boston College, and Adjunct Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the Harvard School of Public Health. “With this new tool, we have expanded the assayable marker set 10,000-fold, meaning we now have a much greater power to distinguish population and genetic structure within this mosquito.” Muskavitch and colleagues reported the first genome assembly for another disease-transmitting mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus, in an earlier Science paper published on October 1. In a companion paper in the same issue, these researchers described the responses of Culex, Anopheles, and Aedes mosquitoes—the three types of mosquitoes that transmit human illnesses like West Nile Virus, malaria, and Dengue Fever—to disease-causing pathogens like the Plasmodium parasite, viruses and filarial worms, and to bacteria. (Read more about the implications of this work at the BroadMinded blog.) Going forward, the team hopes this tool will be useful for discovering genes that are critical to preventing the Plasmodium parasite from infecting the mosquito hosts and transmitting disease. Organizations like the Gates Foundation and the Swiss-based Medicines for Malaria Venture are heavily funding new strategies to stop malaria transmission. “But if there are invisible barriers to gene flow in certain places you are not aware of, finding ways to influence disease transmission could be compromised,” says Neafsey. So there is a basic requirement for strategies like this SNP array to understand the barriers and canals through which genes flow within and between different populations. “This tool may also be useful for discovery of genes that confer insecticide resistance to mosquitoes,” adds Muskavitch. A growing body of evidence suggests resistance may be due to multiple genes of partial effect, rather than single genes with major consequences. The use of this SNP array will provide opportunities to identify critical genetic variation between mosquito populations resistant or sensitive to different insecticides. Armed with this information, researchers hope to better understand how mosquitoes resist insecticides, and generate tools to monitor insecticide resistance in malaria mosquito populations.
Unit 1: In school Day Seven: Months of the year Students, as members of the class, will create a master calendar on butcher paper that shows various birthdays of faculty and staff members at their school. Setting the Stage The teacher has a calendar propped up on a table in front of the room, with the calendar open to the current month. Next to the calendar sits a hand puppet. The names of the months in the target language (TL) are posted in front of the room. Input (15 minutes) The teacher puts the hand puppet on and begins a TL conversation with the puppet. The puppet reacts with appropriate responses in the target language. How are you? I'm well, thank you. What's your name? My name is... How old are you? When is your birthday? My birthday is (name a date and a month). Oh, how nice! That's a good month. (Teacher gives the name of a fictitious person who also has a birthday in that month.) The teacher turns to a student in the room and has the puppet speak to that student, asking the same introductory questions: name, age, and then asks the student, "Were you born in (the same month as the puppet)?" If the answer is no, then the teacher chooses another month in the calendar, shows the month to the class and then the puppet asks that student, "Were you born in (the name of the month that is shown in the calendar.) This process continues until the student answers affirmatively to a month being displayed. Then the teacher turns to the class and puppet says in TL,"Those of you who were born in (name of month), please stand up." Hopefully, some students stand. The teacher approaches each standing student and the puppet asks, "Were you born on the (points to calendar and to a specific day and naming the numeral that represents that day)?" Students respond. The puppet conducts a mini-conversation with each standing student. The teacher opens the calendar to another calendar page, turns to a student who did not stand up and the puppet asks "Were you born in (names month)?" Repeat the process...finding the right month, chatting with that student, asking other students born in that month to stand and chatting with each of them, as well. Repeat this process until the puppet has spoken with at least 5 students. If there is a month that has not been mentioned and discussed, teacher can ask the puppet in what month his/her parents were born. If any more months have not been mentioned after this conversation, then teacher can turn to those months and ask students whose parents were born in those months to stand up. Guided Practice (10 minutes) The teacher hands out the student interview form and directs the students to walk around the classroom, interview at least ten students and find out in which months they were born. The students are to fill in the information on the survey. This conversation is very structured or "directed." Independent Practice (20 minutes) Teacher directs the students to take a blank sheet of paper and write their name and the day's date on the paper. Then the student is to write the names of the 12 months on the paper, one month on a line (total of 12 lines) Teacher informs the students that they need to return to the classroom in 15 minutes! Any student arriving later than 15 minutes will be considered tardy. Then, teacher directs the students to go out on campus around the school and interview at least 5 different adults (library, administration building, counseling building, janitors, other teachers in other classroom, etc.) Students are to tell the adult in English that they will teach that adult the months of the year in the TL and then ask them when their birthday is. The student teaches that adult the months of the year in the TL. Then, the student asks, in the TL, when that adult's birthday is. Student writes down the name of the adult on the appropriate line. While students are out on campus, the teacher also walks around the school and monitors the students. Quick Tip: Permissions Remind students before they leave the classroom, they need to ask for permission from each of the 5 adults to speak with them for 2 or 3 minutes. Campus security needs to be informed about this activity before the activity starts. Evaluation (10 minutes) This can be done at the beginning of Day 8. Students create a large "master calendar" on the board or on a large piece of butcher paper. The teacher asks for a volunteer to direct this activity. The students are to report the results of their "Adult Birthday Survey" and the coordinator writes in the information into the appropriate month of the master calendar. « Previous lesson Next lesson » This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. - You may use and modify the material for any non-commercial purpose. - You must credit the UCLA Language Materials Project as the source. - If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under a license identical to this one.
The number of extreme weather events fuelled by El Nino warming is set to double over the coming years, experts have warned. An international team of researchers have said extreme events, such as droughts, wildfires and "catastrophic floods" will become more common as climate change causes El Nino build-ups to become unusually strong. Agus Santoso, from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science (CoECSS), told the Nature Climate Change journal: "We currently experience an unusually strong El Nino event every 20 years. Our research shows this will double to one event every 10 years. "El Nino events are a multi-dimensional problem, and only now are we starting to understand better how they respond to global warming." An unusually strong El Nino caused the 1983 heatwave that led to the Ash Wednesday bushfires in Australia, which killed 75 people. In 1997/98, an extreme El Nino caused $35-45bn (£21-27bn) worth of damage and an estimated 23,000 lives across the globe. El Nino events develop differently from standard El Ninos, which develop in the western Pacific. They occur when sea surface temperatures exceed 28C in the normally cold and dry eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. The change in location of their formation leads to massive changes in global rainfall patterns. Lead author Wenju Cai said: "During an extreme El Nino event countries in the western Pacific, such as Australia and Indonesia, experienced devastating droughts and wild fires, while catastrophic floods occurred in the eastern equatorial region of Ecuador and northern Peru." The team looked at climate models that simulate major rainfall reorganisation during extreme El Nino events and found a substantial increase in events from present day over the next 100 years as a result of global warming. Mike McPhaden, from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said: "The question of how global warming will change the frequency of extreme El Nino events has challenged scientists for more than 20 years. "This research is the first comprehensive examination of the issue to produce robust and convincing results." Matthew England, also from CoECSS, said: "This latest research based on rainfall patterns, suggests that extreme El Nino events are likely to double in frequency as the world warms leading to direct impacts on extreme weather events worldwide. "For Australia, this could mean summer heat waves, like that recently experienced in the south-east of the country, could get an additional boost if they coincide with extreme El Ninos."
When I learned Bloom’s taxonomy as an undergraduate, I always thought that the arts were short changed. Sure, there was the affective domain, but it just didn’t have the depth to it that the cognitive domain had, and the affective domain was often presented as a sort of afterthought. When the taxonomy was revised, this changed. Bloom’s revised taxonomy is a more inclusive and complete model of how intellectual processes work for all subjects, including music. Because of this, Bloom’s revised taxonomy is useful for writing lesson and unit objectives. In this post, I’ll examine music tasks in relation to this taxonomy. The revised Bloom’s taxonomy has 6 levels: remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and applying. The levels increase in complexity from bottom to top. A major shortcoming of traditional teaching practice has been that too much attention was given to remembering and understanding, while students were asked to do relatively little at the upper four levels. The third level, applying, is really the gateway to relevant, meaningful, and lasting learning, because it is at this level that learning transitions from being abstract to practical; students can not only remember and explain, but they can also demonstrate and transfer learning to new situations and immediate needs. Many teachers don’t realize how much of their teacher is at the remembering level. For music teachers, songs, tonal and rhythm patterns, instrument fingerings, and defining musical terms are all remembering level tasks. Questions like, “what is the name of the whole note in the first measure?” or “what does crescendo mean?” are remembering questions. If a music teacher plays or sings a phrase of music and then asks the student to play it back the same way, that is also a remembering question as is practicing a passage over and over. These remembering tasks constitute a good deal of what students in music ensembles are asked to do. It is all remembering of fingerings, and repeating of a task until a level of competency is reached. Math teachers who give students pages of addition problems are also just asking students to remember. It is practicing something that has already been learned in order to get better at it. There is increased competency, but no new meaning is being learned, and no application of what is being practiced to a new situation is being attempted. If an objective for a lesson plan is that students will be able to play or sing a given passage of music with correct notes and rhythms, this is nothing more than a remembering objective. So does this mean we shouldn’t ask our students to practice? Certainly not. It does mean that we need to change what we expect them to do when they practice. I have written elsewhere about the importance of telling students why they are being asked to do a task; of students understanding the end to which a task is the means. Our subject here is different. Here we are interested in going beyond skill to reach meaning. The two phrases used in the understanding level that are of particular interest are “construct meaning” and “interpret.” In a structural sense, we construct meaning out of the patterns and groupings we perceive when we listen to music. We generally have no trouble moving to the pulse of music, of grouping a sequence of musical notes into a rhythm pattern or melodic phrase, or of perceiving the difference between a waltz and a tango. In forming mental images of rhythmic, metric, and grouping structures, we are literally constructing meaning out of sounds. We are ascribing to what we hear an organization that enables us to make musical sense of the sounds by sorting them spatially and temporally. A student who is constructing meaning from music he or she is practicing might answer questions like, “what pulse do I perceive in the music?” “How many notes are contained within each pulse?” “How many beats or measures of music seem to go together before there is a natural break or pause, or before the pattern repeats? “At what tempo within the parameters of any tempo markings do I most enjoy playing this music?” “What can I do to bring out the qualities in this music that I enjoy so that others will notice them and enjoy the music as I do?” Answering these questions naturally leads into interpreting, which is taking meaning and performing in such a way that it is communicated or shared with listeners. When a student has learned to answer questions like these, and to make constructing meaning and interpreting a priority for practice sessions, that student is then ready to operate at the application level. For example, once a student has learned to determine where the phrases and phrase boundaries are in one musical work by answering the question, “How many beats or measures of music seem to go together before there is a natural break or pause, or before the pattern repeats,” they can answer the same question, looking for the same things in another piece of music. They can also use prior learning to solve problems that show up in new works. Perhaps the first work had a repeated or parallel phrase, as in the “Ode to Joy” melody, so finding the phrase boundary was a matter of finding where the repetition began. Now the new work doesn’t have a repeated or parallel phrase, but instead it has a note longer than surrounding notes so that the music rhythmically pauses between phrases. Or perhaps the phrase ends on a cadence, or begins in a new register or at a contrasting dynamic. The student is still finding patterns, but the patterns are defined differently in the new work, so s/he must answer the question, “where is the boundary between phrases” by looking for different evidence. Application has already led us somewhat into analyzing; finding the phrase structure and cadential points is surely analysis. In analysis, the student goes further, finding out how the various parts relate to each other. We find where the antecedent and where the consequent phrases are. We find where the tension builds and where it relaxes, and what rhythmic and tonal relationships make it so. We find parallel passages and learn in what ways they are similar, and we find contrasting themes and in what ways they are different. The results of all of this analysis get folded back into interpretation, as the performer makes phrases, contrasts and similarities clear to the audience, and brings the whole practice experience to a higher, deeper, more meaningful level as the student directs his or her attention and purpose to matters far beyond the learning of notes and rhythms. Evaluation is part of the practice process. As music is practiced, what has just been done must be evaluated so that the next action is apparent. Interpretation as well as accuracy must be practiced, and so each attempt is evaluated for how well the intended interpretation was done, and how accurately the pitches and rhythms were performed. At the top of the pyramid is creating. I think it’s significant that creating is the highest level. We sometimes discount the creative process by throwing students into composing tasks without giving them substantial learning opportunities at applying, analyzing, and evaluating. If students spend most of their music time singing and playing instruments, then we must find ways for them to transfer what they have learned performing to creating. Taking melodies they are learning and asking them to change a rhythm or change the last note of the phrase so that the effect or intent changes are possible activities to this end. Evaluating music others have written, and then writing similar music is also a time-honored technique. Trying out alternative interpretations is still another. It is not realistic to expect students to create music “out of thin air.” They must have the intellectual grounding from which the creative process can operate. The top three levels of Bloom’s revised taxonomy can easily be a challenge for students and teachers alike. The new national core arts standards are helpful, because much of the standards found therein push students to those higher taxonomy levels. Pushing our students there creates a surge of challenge and motivation that students and teachers who have been stuck at the lowest levels of the taxonomy need. If you would like to read more on this subject, please follow this link to another article.
For lots of parents of preschool children, it’s unclear what their child should be able to do before they start school. One area you can start to think about is writing. This doesn’t mean that your child should be writing by the time they start school but just have some of the skills so they are ready to learn to write. In the early years framework, these key writing skills fall into two catergories: - Physical Development: Moving and Handling - Literacy: Writing This is because the skill of writing requires fine motor skills to be developed enough to control a pencil but also the understanding of letters and their purpose in words. The Early Years Framework sets out the attainment targets in all areas of the curriculum from birth to 60+ months. Below focuses on the last year or two before school and it is the EYFS framework that is referenced. Find the entire document HERE. From about the age of 2, many children have the physical skills to: Imitate drawing simple shapes such as circles and lines These basic marks are the basis for all the letters of the alphabet. Their understanding of these marks will also develop at this time so that they can: Distinguish between the marks they make. Once babies and toddler have experimented with mark making, they can begin to make more purposeful marks. Try drawing a sun for your child to copy. Say “I’m going to draw a circle like this. Can you draw one too?” Add on straight lines and ask them to copy. Between the ages of 3 and 4, many children will start to become more secure with their grip. This takes time and practise and is not something all children will will have mastered by the time they start school. Holds pencil between thumb and two fingers, no longer using whole hand grasp. Holds pencil near point between first two fingers and thumb and uses it with good control. During this same time, children become much more aware of the marks around them. They may become more interested in signs, packaging and labels. They may also start to guess what marks means and ask what writing says. Ascribes meaning to marks that they see in different places. Encourage their mark making attempts even if letters are unrecognisable. Try modelling writing in real life situations. Say “I’m going to write a shopping list, can you help me?” Ask for suggestions for the list and write them down as they are said. At this point, some summer born children will already be starting school. If they have had some experience of the skills mentioned and had lots of opportunity to practise mark making, they will be on track to meet all their age appropriate targets. For autumn born children or those deferring, they may have almost an entire extra year of preschool and so they may begin to develop the skills that fall into the final preschool band. Children that will begin school closer to their 5th Birthday, will likely have more time to get to grips with a pencil. This is not the case for all and although initially there may be a gap in skills, this closes quickly for the majority of pupils once they are in full time education. Shows a preference for a dominate hand. Begins to use anticlockwise movements and retrace vertical lines. Begins to form recognisable letters Uses a pencil and holds it effectively to form recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed. The final skill here appears at first to be pretty hard to achieve but take note of the word ‘most’. If children are writing letters that are recognisable and starting in the correct place for these letters, they are meeting this target. Change it up Practise their pencil control in a variety of ways to strengthen hand muscles and keep them interested. Try writing their name and then giving them a highlighter to go over the letters. Alternatively use paint brushes, chalk or even cotton buds. The final preschool writing skills that children may start to attempt involve using their knowledge of sounds to begin to build words and sentences. Remember there is no expectation that children have these skills before they start school. However you might find it informative to know these first few steps children take to become writers. Gives meanings to marks they make as they draw, write and paint. Links sounds to letters, naming and sounding the letters of the alphabet. Uses some clearly identifiable letters to communicate meaning, representing some sounds correctly and in sequence. Writes own name and other things such as labels, captions. Attempts to write short sentences in meaningful contexts. For children to be able to use their blossoming physical writing skills they’ll also need the knowledge of letters and their sounds if they are to begin constructing recognisable words. Break it Down Try breaking up simple words into their smaller sounds (or phonemes) and use these as you model writing the word. There is no need to do this in a formal way just incorporate it into your everyday talk. In the shopping list example say “We need milk, mmmm – i – llllll – k” and write as you say each sound. It’s important to know some sounds are long such as ‘mmmm’ and some are short like ‘i’. Check out this clip to help you pronounce the phonemes correctly. If you’ve enjoyed this you may be interested to read about Choosing Preschool Toys to Support Learning or Encouraging Preschool Maths.
Nuclear fusion: it’s the energy source that has powered our sun for billions of years. Now, it’s the bright star scientists are following to save us all from fossil fuel dependency. Natural gas is the National Grid’s main resource, used to power 41 per cent of the UK’s electricity. Globally, 80 per cent of the world’s energy is derived from fossil fuels. With the Government’s net-zero aims for 2050 and beyond, energy suppliers have been set a target to produce net-zero energy by 2035. Bioenergy, offshore wind and nuclear energy will almost certainly have to do most of the heavy lifting to meet that target. For the long-term vision, though – and it could take decades – scientists are working to crack the code that could give us the “holy grail”: a limitless amount of clean energy. What is nuclear fusion? Very simply, nuclear fusion is the act of combining two light atoms against one another, creating a new, heavier one. This process lets off an abundant amount of energy. Nuclear fusion is not to be confused with nuclear fission, which splits atoms rather than fusing them. Fission gave birth to the atomic bomb and existing nuclear power. It emits harmful radiation and produces radioactive waste. The by-product of a nuclear fusion reaction is helium, and there’s not much to worry about a gas which is used to fill party balloons. The reason nuclear fusion is so hot and desirable right now compared to existing renewable energy sources is because the amount of clean energy it could produce if commercialised is unprecedented. There would be enough energy produced to power homes for thousands of years and it would be completely free of carbon. History of nuclear fusion The theory of nuclear fusion was first speculated in the 1920s when British astrophysicist Arthur Eddington published a paper suggesting stars drew their energy from the fusion of hydrogen into helium. At the time, what stars consisted of and the source of their energy was a complete mystery. One of the brains behind the atomic and hydrogen bomb, Hans Bethe, later went on to prove this theory in the lab – consequently winning a Nobel Prize. In the following decades, active efforts were made to replicate the nuclear fusion process using the Soviet-born tokamak, a doughnut-shaped machine which uses magnetic fields to confine a plasma – a hot gas of ions and free electrons. It was time the UK got in on the act, and Culham, near Oxford was given the honour of being the UK’s laboratory for nuclear fusion research. The sleepy village’s airfield came under the wing of the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) in 1960 and transformed into the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE). It was at here that the Joint European Torus (JET) project was introduced in the 1980s, a pan-European research project and home to the world’s most advanced tokamak. JET’s success ultimately led to the international nuclear fusion research project ITER (the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) in southern France. The brainchild of Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan, ITER will be the largest tokamak in the world once fully completed in 2035. Where are we currently with nuclear fusion? The aim for the international community is to achieve a breakthrough in commercialising nuclear fusion. That’s difficult, and there’s a decades-old joke in the nuclear fusion industry that commercial fusion is always about 30 years away. To achieve it, scientists need to create more energy from nuclear fusion than it takes to power the reaction. At the dawn of 2022, scientists claimed a major nuclear fusion breakthrough when JET produced the most amount of fusion energy than ever before. Although it still took more energy to use than to produce, scientists claimed this could be overcome when plasmas are scaled up – like at ITER, which hopes to achieve breakeven and then a ten-fold return on power. At the end of the year, scientists in California then achieved a net energy gain from a fusion reaction for the first time in history using 192 lasers rather than a tokamak – what is known as inertial fusion. However, the total energy needed for the lasers and the project itself still consumed more energy than was produced. For fusion to be truly commercially viable, the energy output would need to be significantly more and over a much longer period. That achievement has let inertial fusion into the room, though, which to date has only attracted a small slice of nuclear fusion investment. Something which will now likely change. To scale up the UK’s fusion operations, the Government has announced that West Burton in Nottinghamshire will be the site for the UK’s prototype fusion energy plant – an area currently dominated by a large power station – with the aim of being built by 2040. UKAEA will produce a concept design for this by the end of this year. The plant will be the home of the STEP programme (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production) which the UK Government will pump £220m to. Who’s developing nuclear fusion in the UK? Based down the road from Culham, Tokamak Energy is developing tokamaks and high temperature superconducting magnets, pursuing commercial fusion. A spin-off from CCFE, the company employs a team of experts from the UK and around the world. “Tokamak Energy aims to demonstrate clean, grid-ready power by the early 2030s,” its CEO Chris Kelsall tells Growth Business. “We’re looking to create significant amounts of energy to power future electricity grids, provide heat for hard to abate industrial sectors and create clean hydrogen for a range of applications. “Our objective is to have a solution that can be low cost, and genuinely deployable in many countries to address climate change and energy security.” Tokamak Energy signed an agreement with UKAEA in October to closely collaborate and will build a new tokamak at Culham, due to be fully operational in 2027. “Our ST80-HTS advanced prototype will demonstrate the advantages of the spherical tokamak with HTS magnets, informing and helping us to optimise the design of our fusion pilot plant,” Kelsall says. “The ST-E1 fusion power plant is targeting the early 2030s. Its core mission will be Q greater than around 25, and to demonstrate the capability to put electricity into the grid ahead of the first of a kind device in the mid-2030s.” “Q” is the symbol for fusion energy gain. For perspective, ITER is setting its sights on 10, meaning a ten-fold return on power. “From there, we are looking at global deployment.” First Light Fusion Based at Culham, First Light Fusion is a start-up focusing on inertial fusion – the method which saw the breakthrough in California. In January, it signed an agreement with the UKAEA to build a demonstration facility – also at Culham – at a cost of £30m. Over the last 12 years, the business has grown from a research-focused university project to a fully-fledged company that has developed not only a new approach for how to make fusion energy work, but what it believes is a sustainable business model based on its technology. “We take an innovative and unique approach to fusion,” the company says. “Our approach, a form of inertial confinement fusion called projectile fusion, creates the extreme temperatures and pressures required to achieve fusion by compressing a target containing fusion fuel using a projectile travelling at a tremendous speed. “This differs from approaches pursued by other mainstream fusion companies in that it doesn’t involve using complex, energy-intensive, expensive lasers, or magnets. First Light’s approach is simpler, cheaper, more energy-efficient, and has lower physics risk.” First Light co-founder and CEO Nick Hawker drew inspiration for this confinement process from the pistol shrimp, a crustacean which clicks its claw to form cavities or bubbles in the surrounding water, producing a shockwave which stuns its prey. The air inside these cavities is heated as they implode, causing a plasma to form. Apart from supernovas, it’s the only known example of inertial confinement in nature that we know of. “Our equipment is relatively simple, built-in large part from readily available components. We believe this approach accelerates the journey towards commercial fusion power as there is a large amount of existing engineering that can be leveraged and reused to realise its proposed plant design.” Is there enough funding for nuclear fusion? Investment into nuclear fusion is heating up. More was invested in nuclear fusion in a 12-month period than in the past decade last year with £2.5bn and £1.6bn invested respectively. “Support for our technology has really taken off in the past two years,” Kelsall says. “The level of awareness, interest and engagement with the investment community has been palpable. “We’re currently evaluating opportunities with potential financial investors and strategic partners to support our plans to demonstrate clean, grid-ready fusion power by the early 2030s.” Most nuclear fusion funding comes from venture capitalists and high-net worth individuals, prompting physicists to ask the question of whether the Government, too, can do more to fuel the industry. The research centre in Culham has been publicly funded through UKAEA, which in recent years has been a hotbed of public-private partnerships. According to the Department for Business, Energy and Industry Strategy, the UK economy has gained £1.4bn from its £346.7m investment into fusion energy between 2009 and 2019. Despite this, the level of investment in fusion is still dwarfed by mainstream energy sources. What are the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear fusion? - Produces a plentiful supply of clean energy - Doesn’t produce radioactive waste, like nuclear fission - Get it right, and it’s a fantastically cheap source of energy – one estimate claims it would cost £0.02 per kilowatt hour. To put that in context, for the same amount of energy electricity costs 34p and gas 10p - Barring some miraculous breakthrough, nuclear fusion won’t be able to help global targets to reduce emissions - If there aren’t any significant technical and technological advances, nuclear fusion will not be feasible in its current state - We are in unchartered waters and any negative unforeseen consequences of commercial use of it could yet reveal itself What are the chances of using nuclear fusion to power the grid in future? Because of timeframe scientists are working on, around a quarter of scientists working at the JET facility are at the early stage of their careers, so they can hand down the baton of knowledge to the next generation. First Light Fusion is more optimistic, betting on commercial fusion being available within the next 10 years because of the number of projects working on it around the world. The UK’s STEP project is aiming to connect to the National Grid in the 2040s, while California-based TAE Technologies, the world’s largest fusion company, is aiming to have a commercial power plant by 2030. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), though, say widespread commercial use of nuclear fusion is expected to take place in the second half of this century, depending on funding and technical advancements. That makes it about 30 years away.
Can you really teach calculus concepts to young children? Don’t they need to know algebra first, or at least arithmetic? We receive these questions a lot, and we do have our share of worries as we plan and lead “Inspired by Calculus” local math circles for 7-11 year olds. But let’s be brave together! Do try these activities at home by yourself (good), with your child (better), or invite some friends over (the best). If you do, please share your experience with us. As always, we welcome your questions and comments. The first post in the series is here. Our second meeting had to be rescheduled because of the weather. So kids had some extra time to play with the concept of integration (making big things out of many little things) using String Spin. Their new scavenger hunt task was to search for edible bodies and surfaces of revolution. We started by revisiting integration. But we also worked on the concept of differentiation. Which brings up the question: “How can we show something this complex to young children?” We find activities that serve as metaphors for the concepts, for example, differentiation as slicing an object into many parts. First, kids tried to make some circles: “Remember that circles are made of triangles?” Children remembered this folding and cutting method from the last meeting, but it was still hard (most ended up with squares!) – so they were motivated to look for an alternative. So out came salt dough. For the first few minutes the children just sat in a circle on the floor, divvying up the dough, smelling it, rolling and crumbling it, pounding it and mixing colors, and talking about it. This play time helps children to become familiar with properties of a new manipulative, before using them for mathematics. Logistics won’t allow making salt dough with the kids during the math circle. But do try it at home! Making manipulatives together with your child is a powerful way to explore mathematics. For another good example, read this post about math of henna art by Rodi over at the Talking Stick Learning Center. After a few minutes of free play, most kids ended up with some salt dough circles, made by squishing spheres or sculpting by hand. It was time to show them a more precise way of making a circle out of paper triangles (integrating). At this point, children had done a lot of free play, both with physical objects (paper, salt dough, bodies of revolution they found/noticed around them) and software (String Spin). We noticed that their guesses (i.e. what curve would produce what surface in String Spin) were getting more precise – a good indicator that the kids were starting to discover patterns. So the kids made their circles out of triangles until the salt dough got way too soft to handle. Then we returned to the unanswered question from our first meeting. “What if we had a thick book with very many pages and we opened it so that the covers would touch. What shape would it make?” This time, we actually had a cylinder made out of an old paperback book. And the question was more concrete: “What shape should we draw in String Spin so that when it rotates, we get this cylinder?” Interestingly, while all the kids recognized the object as a book, many came up with answers that looked nothing like a rectangle. Here are a few of their suggestions. What was happening? It took us a few days to come up with the hypotheses that kids were trying to integrate 2-dimensional solids (book pages) out of 1-dimensional lines. We will test the idea next time. We modeled all children’s ideas using the software, but the solutions looked more like explosions or slices than book art. We’ll seek more precise software next time to do what we think kids want with integration. This was a very cool experience for the adults as it reinforced the following idea. When choosing a math activity, it is not enough for the activity to be a metaphor for whatever advanced concept you want to teach to a child. It should also provide a way to help children communicate and share their math discoveries. And the best way to do so for young kids is not through words or formal mathematical notations, but by making things. It was time to move to the metaphor for differentiation (in the grown-up eyes) – slicing (in children’s eyes). We asked participants to bring fruits and vegetables that were bodies of revolution. Off we were to find yet another solution to our “how to make a circle” problem. All the kids figured out how to slice their fruits to get circles. So we asked them what would happen if we stacked the circles on top of each other? Would we get a cylinder, as some suggested? What if we stacked circles of different diameters? And what shape would we end up with if we kept stacking smaller and smaller circles? And here came an interesting twist. Most kids insisted, even after modelling in String Spin, that stacking smaller circles would get us a pyramid. We are pretty sure that all the kids in the Circle are familiar with the words “pyramid” and “cone”. But we are also pretty sure that for now they do not distinguish between the two. One reason is that there has been, up to now, very little practical need for them to distinguish the two. The other reason is that a pyramid and a cone share a lot of essential mathematical qualities! Which brings us to the question: Shouldn’t kids know the difference between a pyramid and a cone, before working on calculus concepts? From the calculus point of view, the difference between the two is insignificant. The process of differentiating and integrating and the volume formulas are the same for pyramids and cones. Overall, the sequence of mathematical education, what comes first and what comes after, is largely a matter of the established tradition. And the importance of knowing particular math facts or having certain math skills is relative to the area of the mathematics you want to learn.
The discovery of radiation helped to unlock the deep time of present and future. Radiometric clocks are used to predict the age of rocks and other mineral materials through radiation decay. The deep future is connecting us to the unknown — how long will it take for radiation pollution to decay? From various nuclear tests and sinking of nuclear submarines in the ocean, from technogenic catastrophes (of or pertaining to a process or substance created by human technology; anthropogenic, manmade). Connections exist between the nuclear and the cosmical from radium — a shining element found in uranium and compared to the sun — to cosmos exploration and the particles of radioactive dust spreading into the soil and air around the Earth. As Svitlana Matviyenko said in her 𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔪𝔬𝔫𝔲𝔠𝔩𝔢𝔞𝔯 ℭ𝔶𝔟𝔢𝔯𝔴𝔞𝔯 lecture at 0x.salon shortly following the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia: “The Charnobyl reactor opened its potential right now.” And indeed, the disturbance of the exclusion zone — where despite the radiation, nature has since recovered to levels it was at before human habitation — unlocked some critical time in recent history. The land of Ukraine is being contaminated with chemicals from rockets and mines, like some time ago the land of Paliessie — a region in North of Ukraine, South Belarus and partially in Poland and Russia — was contaminated with radiation. As pollution from Charnobyl was spread around the globe, it is still found in fungi and animals, and some traces are distributed through food supply chains. In the same way, pollution from wars spreads around the Earth and beyond, possibly to the cosmos. Radiation is invisible to the human eye and is made of rays, some of which are able to penetrate through human bodies. During the process of radioactive disintegration, different elements decay and have different half-lives. For example, the half-life of Americium-241 is 432.2 years. Strontium-90 has a half-life of 28 years and is very dangerous, because its chemical constitution is similar to calcium. This is why it can accumulate in bones, leading to tumours and other health problems. After the explosion in the Chernobyl nuclear factory in 1986, one of the elements that was released to the ecosphere was Iodine-131. Even though this element is one of the fastest to decay, it is still very dangerous. Following the catastrophe, Iodine supplements should have been introduced into humans’ diet, so Iodine-131 wouldn’t be absorbed. While Iodine-131 has a short half-life of 8 days, the radiation can still destroy all or part of the thyroid gland. Pure Iodine solution is also very dangerous to humans and if swallowed, can cause poisoning and death. But still, Iodine remains a very important element for the well-being of living systems. The aim of this project is to discover the entanglements of nuclear technology. This view into the zone helps show an advanced laboratory of the consequences and long-term legacies of irradiated waste colonialism. In the contaminated zone there were 3,678 towns and villages, where 2.2 million people lived, who were displaced after the catastrophe. This project consists of 4 major parts: The Iodine time-machine installation, the Vypramieńvannie/Radioactivity video piece, a written collection of personal stories and other histories, and potato plants. The installation consists of a rusted metal podium, with a concrete-covered box on which sits an aquarium filled with a water-starch solution. Suspended above is a second concrete box, similar in size to the lower one. Inside the upper box are 20 solenoid valves with a custom PCB and Arduino to run the electronic components. Also there is a water tank with an Iodine-water solution. When the water drops from the top into the aquarium, an Iodine-starch reaction is triggered and the water in the tank turns from pale white to a blue-violet colour. It is a time-machine, which shows the extended time of radiation decay and pollution degradation as well as the impossibility of dealienation of the Exclusion zone and other zones created by fallout and contamination. The development of the nuclear industry around the world was sped up by the Cold War arms race. Since then, construction and deployment of nuclear facilities was a primary focus of the USSR and later the Russian Federation. Charnobyl NPP was the first nuclear plant built on the territory of Ukraine. It was a site for military infrastructure with a series of ZATO (closed cities) including the city of Pripyat. The exclusion zone and Charnobyl NPP were among the first sites of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022. Rooting – search for a sign (6:52 min) is a video piece telling a story of the search for a Radiation sign in Minsk region, where there are still some patches of radioactive pollution from the Charnobyl catastrophe. Actually, a huge amount of area was contaminated not far from Minsk. It is a poetic video which consists mainly of footage shot during one day in Belarus. You can see different landscapes which are very typical for Belarus: fields of potato and corn, forests, village houses. Some of these areas were cleared out, in some of them radiation sits deep in the soil, spreading around through roots of vegetables. The written part consists of 5 main pieces: “Isotopes of the past”, “Zones”, “Core of the nucleus”, “Rooting”, “Dealienation”. It is a collection of personal stories like “Mushroom picking stories”, memories of my family members, a translation of a story written by my grandmother’s brother, historical information and an overview of the topics of radiation, colonialism, war and contamination. Potato plants symbolise the source of potato starch and are also a connection to roots and earth. They represent one of the stories from Rooting. Among neighbouring countries Belarusians are called “bulbash”, which literally means “potato man”. This term is especially perpetuated by Russian popular culture and its origins can be traced to the Russian Orthodox Church and introduction of the potato to the European continent. Matviyenko, Svitlana, Thermonuclear cyberwar, lecture notes, 0x.salon Discord server, https://twitter.com/engelhardt_x/status/1510907498689175554. Delivered on 4 Apr. 2022
Table of Contents How does the ISS not run out of air? Where does the oxygen come from in the International Space Station, and why don’t they run out of air? The short answer is the astronauts and cosmonauts (that means a Russian astronaut) bring oxygen from Earth, and they make oxygen by running electricity through water. This is called electrolysis. How is the air filtered on the space station? Currently, the International Space Station uses an absorption method to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air. The absorption is accomplished in a chemical reaction using a sorbent called lithium hydroxide (LiOH). What keeps the ISS in the sky? The ISS moves in a circle around Earth at just the right speed. The centrifugal force pushing it away is exactly the same as the force of gravity pulling it in. This balance is called a stable orbit. And unless something happens to change it, it will continue. Does International Space Station use fuel? The ISS requires an average 7,000 kg of propellant each year for altitude maintenance, debris avoidance and attitude control. A Shuttle Orbiter ISS generic reboost had 232 kg of fuel available. An Orbiter Max reboost mission had 1626 kg of reboost fuel available. What happens if you run out of oxygen in space? The vacuum of space will pull the air from your body. Without air in your lungs, blood will stop sending oxygen to your brain. You’ll pass out after about 15 seconds. 90 seconds after exposure, you’ll die from asphyxiation. How do astronauts sleep in space? The astronauts sleep in small sleeping compartments by using sleeping bags. They strap their bodies loosely so that their bodies will not float around. In the zero-gravity world, there are no “ups” or “downs”. The astronauts can sleep anywhere facing any direction. How does the ISS get food? On the ISS, food is delivered refrigerated or dehydrated once every 90 days, which can be cooked in microwaves or convection ovens. Different nations aboard the ISS provide their traditional courses and snacks, helping the crew to share their cultures while having a taste of home. Does the ISS have engines? To move the ISS safely, Progress’ eight engines pulse in a pattern that pushes their thrust evenly through the station’s center of gravity. Last December, for example, the thrusters on a Progress fired for 1,364 seconds to raise the station’s orbit by five miles before space shuttle Discovery arrived. Can the ISS fall to Earth? The ISS doesn’t fall to Earth because it is moving forward at exactly the right speed that when combined with the rate it is falling, due to gravity, produces a curved path that matches the curvature of the Earth. Will the ISS fall to Earth? Has anyone ever floated away in space? The STS-41B was launched on February 3, 1984. Four days later, on February 7, McCandless stepped out of the space shuttle Challenger into nothingness. As he moved away from the spacecraft, he floated freely without any earthly anchor.
Home » Geometry » Graphing Systems of Equations Worksheets In this set of free printables, you need to solve a set of linear equations using the graphs given on the worksheets. First, find out the values of y for certain values of x and then plot the graph to find the solution. © 2023 Mathmonks.com. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
Environmental degradation, illegal wildlife trade, and human-wildlife conflict undermine development and pose significant risks to health, climate change adaptation, peace and security. They weaken natural resource management and result in economic losses for communities that rely on wildlife and ecosystems. There are multiple approaches to mitigate these threats, but they are often gender blind when they should be gender equal. Illegal wildlife trade exists in the same gendered social spheres as everyday life. Are male poachers simply meeting livelihood needs, or are they also enacting masculinized expectations? Women and men typically hold contrasting positions – literal and notional – in relationship to the environment, to decision-making about resources, and land ownership. Wildlife attitude surveys reveal that women and men often express quite different attitudes towards wildlife rights and hold distinct views on how to best manage human-wildlife conflict, which occurs when humans and wildlife interactions lead to adverse consequences on both people and/ or wildlife. For example, a study in Namibia revealed that more women than men worried about the effects of human-wildlife conflict on people, while more men than women worried about the effects on wildlife. Typically, men are the main poachers of wildlife; there is growing evidence that they are sometimes bullied into poaching through masculinity-shaming. But in resource-based communities, women participate in illegal wildlife trade in several ways, often by folding it into their traditional roles as small traders and market sellers. “Wildlife attitude surveys reveal that women and men often express quite different attitudes towards wildlife rights and hold distinct views on how to best manage human-wildlife conflict, which occurs when humans and wildlife interactions lead to adverse consequences on both people and/ or wildlife.” The Global Wildlife Program (GWP), funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and led by the World Bank, supports projects in over 30 countries that combat illegal wildlife trade, reduce human-wildlife conflict, and promote wildlife-based economies. For these projects, gender integration brings win-win returns. By enhancing gender equality, visibility is given to women’s roles in managing environments and actively engages them in conservation efforts. At the same time, it also improves the effectiveness of projects by incorporating gender-informed analysis of the actors and drivers of illegal wildlife trade. Gender considerations gaining momentum Target 23 to ensure gender equality and recognized that doing so would also support Targets 4 and 5 on managing human-wildlife interactions and preventing illegal wildlife trade. Similarly, the 19th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP19) approved a gender resolution.The recent UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) adopted Gender mainstreaming in Global Wildlife Program projects At the CITES meeting, the Global Wildlife Program organized a side event in partnership with the Government of Panama and World Wildlife Fund where GWP projects showcased their progress in mainstreaming gender across conservation activities. For example, the GWP Tanzania project conducted a gender-differentiated baseline survey in the focal area. One of the key findings was that women were most affected by, and most vulnerable to, human-wildlife conflict, especially elephant raiding on women’s household-garden vegetable crops. Knowing this, the Tanzania project is developing gender-sensitive mitigation plans and community projects that ensure that women are involved in developing strategies to deter elephant raiding. The GWP Panama project on conservation of wildcats and human-jaguar conflict management has embraced a mandate to include women as equal participants in all roles, especially those that stretch gender stereotypes, such as training women to participate in field censuses and in collaring of jaguars. This brings employment opportunities to women and gives them training in fields from which they are usually excluded. The GWP Indonesia project to combat illegal wildlife trade is developing cohorts of women to act as field agents and “champions for conservation” in national parks and protected areas. Having women as rangers has in many cases, resulted in de-escalation of conflict. “The GWP Indonesia project to combat illegal wildlife trade is developing cohorts of women to act as field agents and ‘champions for conservation’ in national parks and protected areas.” Three tips to start down the gender pathway The GWP’s global knowledge platform is capturing and sharing good practices and lessons through webinars and trainings on gender approaches and tools for wildlife conservation. We suggest three entry points for project teams: - Be curious about the patterns, actors, and drivers that characterize illegal wildlife trade activities in your project area: Are men the poachers? What are the consequences of having no women rangers in the project area? Do women experience human wildlife conflict differently than men? - Make plans to be genuinely gender and diversity inclusive – in staffing, community engagement with projects, information dissemination, and knowledge-sharing – with the understanding that developing meaningful participation is different from head counting. - Become familiar with one or two easily deployable gender tools and techniques, from mapping of gender-specific resource spaces to gender-disaggregated surveys. The GWP aims to expand this work across projects as expectations for gender integration deepen. The World Bank, as the lead agency for the GEF-8 Wildlife Conservation for Development Integrated Program (WCD IP), will support the development of GEF-8 projects with a gender mindset from the very beginning. WCD IP has a focus beyond combating illegal wildlife trade; it includes human-wildlife coexistence and zoonotic spillover risk reduction, thus offering new opportunities for prioritizing gender-transformative approaches and improving the likelihood of conservation success while reducing social inequalities. - Event: The Win-Win of Gender Integration Knowledge Series - Event: The Vital Role of Rangers in Achieving Biodiversity and Development Outcomes - The GWP Tanzania project is executed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism with support from UNDP. - The GWP Panama project is executed by the Ministry of Environment and Yaguará Panamá Foundation with support from UNEP. - The GWP GEF-6 Indonesia project is executed by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Indonesian National Police, Wildlife Conservation Society and supported by UNDP. Yes. Wildlife conservation and gender equality go together. Thank you 🙏🌍
SNAP Benefits Prevent Hunger During the COVID-19 Pandemic The outbreak of a new virus negatively affects the economy and people’s well-being. There is a great number of families who suffer from a shortage of money and cannot afford to buy necessities and food. In the situation of economic instability, it seems to be crucial to support low-income households and individuals. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is a federal program that provides nutrition benefits to support needy citizens. This paper aims to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the program implementation and consider how it can help people to improve their nutrition. At a time when the whole world is fighting with the new virus and its consequences, it is of paramount importance to protect the most vulnerable population groups – children, older adults, and deprived families. The implementation of social distancing measures has substantially raised the specter of hunger (Dickinson, 2020). In response, the government began to allocate money to prevent hunger and lift its citizens out of poverty. The emergency funding measures include the raise in SNAP benefit levels. This program provides households with money that they can spend only on groceries (Hastings, & Shapiro, 2018). It should be mentioned that the program places certain restrictions on purchases. For instance, one cannot use a benefit for buying alcohol, as the purpose of the program is to supply people with healthy food. Even before the COVID-19 outbreak, a number of families in America did not have access to healthy food due to a poor financial state. SNAP, previously known as FSP, was first implemented during World War II, and for this time, it has proved to be effective in reducing food insecurity and boosting the economy. SNAP Benefits Prevent Hunger During the COVID-19 Pandemic Another benefit of SNAP is that by allocating money to healthy nutrition, the government might spend less money on healthcare. There is a clear connection between a balanced diet and people’s health. If families receive enough food of good quality, it influences their psychological and physical well-being and reduces the number of medical issues. During the pandemic, it becomes even more important to provide low-income households with high-quality food, as a proper diet helps to maintain immunoresistance. Consequently, the SNAP policy implementation may cut the number of patients in hospitals, and make more beds available for the seriously ill. ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE Malnutrition exerts a negative impact on a health condition, and, in the first place, it concerns children. Proper nutrition is vital for children and adolescents, as it helps to prevent the risk of developing various diseases in the future. Food insecurity is the main cause of cognitive and physical illnesses, and even short periods of undernourishment can lead to long-term implications (Fry-Bowers, 2020). As such, children in low-income families should receive enough food, and their meals should be well-balanced and healthy. It appears that participating in SNAP will boost children’s health and reduce food insecurity. On the other hand, SNAP may also negatively influence children’s health. Apart from this program, America has special nutrition assistance strategies that focus on providing free meals in schools. Dunn et al. (2020) state that the problem is that SNAP “places few limits on allowable purchases, so relying more heavily on this program may inadequately address children’s nutritional needs” (42). Indeed, children tend to make unhealthy choices when they are on their own, and some parents cannot monitor their children due to lack of time. That is why, instead of buying fruit, vegetables, and dairy products full of vitamins and proteins, households spend benefits on chips, fast food, and fizzy drinks. As a result, the shift from school meals to nutrition programs as SNAP may lead to an unhealthy diet and cause weight gain among students. However, SNAP is one of the possible ways out in the current situation, and it provides assistance to low-income families and children. Schools deliver meals for students during the school year, but when they close, some children from low-income families are deprived of the opportunity to eat balanced meals. Hence, food costs fall on families, and some of them cannot afford to supply healthy meals to their children. Increased financial burdens may force families to reduce food consumption or waive other necessities, such as utilities, rent, and medication (Dunn et al., 2020). Increasing SNAP expenditures appears to be an effective solution to the problem of food insecurity during the school closures and an economic recession caused by the pandemic. All in all, when the whole world is suffering from the harmful consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program appears to be a useful tool in struggling with food insecurity and economic downturn. It seems that increasing the benefit levels will exercise a good influence on people’s health and will mitigate the negative economic effects of the pandemic. The policy’s implementation will help the government lift people out of poverty and prevent the development of serious health issues caused by the lack of food. Moreover, it may also reduce the government’s expenditures on healthcare, as the health condition is closely connected with proper nutrition. Dickinson, M. (2020). Food frights: COVID-19 and the specter of hunger. Agriculture and Human Values. Dunn, C. G., Kenney, E., Fleischhacker, S. E., & Bleich, S. N. (2020). Feeding low-income children during the Covid-19 pandemic. New England Journal of Medicine, 382(18), 40. Fry-Bowers, E. K. (2020). Children are at risk from COVID-19. Journal of Pediatric Nursing. Hastings, J., & Shapiro, J. M. (2018). How are SNAP benefits spent? Evidence from a retail panel. American Economic Review, 108(12), 3493-3540.SNAP Benefits Prevent Hunger During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Electrocardiogram (ECG) is a test is done to see how the heart is functioning. Some facts about Electrocardiogram (ECG): - The heart rate and heart rhythm is recorded with the help of ECG. - Important information, such as about possible narrowing of the coronary arteries, a heart attack or an irregular heartbeat like atrial fibrillation can be provided by an ECG. - Irregular heartbeats and heart diseases can be detected in ECGs - Irregular heart rhythms (arrhythmias) can be detected by an ECG. Preparation for Electrocardiogram (ECG): - The areas are shaved first if there is too much body hair so that the electrode can be attached properly. - Other than this, no preparation is needed. - These electrodes are connected by cables to an ECG machine, where the signals it receives will be converted into an ECG graph and saves it. Procedure for Electrocardiogram (ECG): - The typical ECG pattern is produced if the heart is beating steadily. - The electrical activity of the heart can be measured on the surface of your skin. - A total of ten electrodes is used in the standard '12-lead ECG'. - Six of these electrodes are attached on your chest, and then one each on your lower arms and calves. - The strength of the signals between two electrodes is compared by the device as signals sent by the heart don't travel evenly over your skin - Experts can find out things like an infarction has occurred in which part of the heart muscle, or whether a heart rhythm problem is coming from the left or right ventricle depending on which lead shows irregularities. Types of ECG Tests: - Resting ECG involves lying still on your back with a bare chest. - It is important for you to lie calmly and comfortably during the test since tensing your muscles, moving, coughing or shaking can affect the results. - The actual measurement takes about one to five minute. - The electrical activity of your heart is measured while you are physically active in Exercise ECG. - Usually, riding an exercise bike is involved in this test. - The amount of exertion is steadily increased to a high level by making it slowly difficult to turn the pedals. - The test is stopped earlier if any irregularities is shown in the ECG. - Data on the power that was generated in Watts is also provided in addition to the ECG graph. - Your blood pressure will also be checked regularly. - Typically, the electrical activity of the heart is recorded over a period of 24 hours with a Holter monitor. - Generally 3 or 4 electrodes are attached to your chest, and a small recording device is worn on a belt or hung around your neck. - Information about your daily schedule like unusual events, physical activity and sleep is needed to collect the ECG data which are then transferred to a computer later on at the doctor's office for analysis. - A Holter monitor may be used if you only have an irregular heartbeat some of the time and it doesn't show up in a normal ECG.
Learning to read involves a long journey, beginning with the ABCs and ending with (we hope) a lifelong love and interest in books. But many children experience a few bumps along the road as they develop into skilled readers, and often a problem arises in 2nd grade reading, when children are faced with more challenging material. Some kids have trouble now because (1) they are still having decoding difficulties, (2) they have weak reading fluency (speed), or (3) the text is just too difficult. Here's what you need to know about each issue: 1. Weak Decoding. In 1st grade, some children do well by memorizing most words by sight rather than sounding them out. This strategy begins to break down in 2nd grade reading when the number of words increases and there is less repetition, making it more difficult to learn words by sight. One of the quickest ways to determine if your child is over-relying on reading words by sight is the Nonsense Word Test below. These words are made up, but can be sounded out with early phonics skills. If he can sound them out, then decoding isn't the issue. If he uses one or two letters of the word to guess another word, decoding issues exist. More phonics work, including learning basic phonics skills and reading lots of simple phonics books, will help. A few great examples for the 2nd grade level are Pete the Cat Phonics Box Set and Disney Learning: Toy Story Phonics Box, which incorproates well-loved characters to make your child's learning journey a fun one! Nonsense Word Test Tell your child that these words are made-up words, and ask him to read them to you. 1. lat (rhymes with "cat") 2. rud (rhymes with "mud") 3. chab (rhymes with "grab") 4. stot (rhymes with "hot") 5. mabe (rhymes with "babe") 6. glay (rhymes with "play") 7. weam (rhymes with "team") 8. jern (rhymes with "fern") 9. froom (rhymes with "broom") 10. prouch (rhymes with "couch") 2. Weak Fluency. In order to understand what we read, we have to read at a speed appropriate for making meaning from the text (comprehension). In 2nd grade reading, your child should be reading 50 to 60 words a minute at the beginning of the school year and 90 words per minute by the end of the year. To test this, give your child a story from her reading list that she has not read, but will pique her interest. If it's below the speed levels noted above, then fluency is a problem. Make sure she has lots of experiences reading simple books. (One Scholastic Parents fan discovered that having her boys read the Elephant & Piggie Series aloud helped her boys improve reading fluency.) Repeated readings of stories she's already read in class will help, by providing the multiple exposures and decoding opportunities she needs. MORE: How the Elephant & Piggie Series Helped My Kids Become Fluent Readers 3. Text Difficulty. Your child needs lots of reading practice in stories that are not too hard. That is, he should be able to recognize over 90 percent of the words in his 2nd-grade reading books without your help. If you need to assist your child more frequently, then the story is too tough for him. Stories at this level — his frustration level — do not advance his reading skills. They make comprehension difficult because he is stopping so frequently to figure out words. These constant stops break the flow of reading and don't allow him to focus on the meaning of the story. Give Scholastic Success With Grade 2: Reading Comprehension a try to better determine his level of reading difficulty and practice common skills he's learning in school.
The Decision to Drop the Bomb: Examining the Factors That Led to the Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Atomic bombing of Japan The Manhattan Project Even before the outbreak of World War II in 1939, a group of American scientists—many of whom were refugees from fascist regimes in Europe—became concerned about Nazi Germany's nuclear weapons research. After the United States' entry into World War II, the Office of Scientific Research and Development and the War Department jointly accepted responsibility for the nation's atomic weapons development program, which began funding in 1940. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was tasked with leading the construction of the massive facilities required for the top-secret program codenamed "The Manhattan Project." The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki August 6, 1945 was a momentous event in world history. The use of atomic bombs by the United States was a controversial and highly debated decision, with many factors contributing to the ultimate decision to drop the bombs. During World War II, on August 6, 1945, an American B-29 bomber dropped the first atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. An estimated 80,000 people were killed instantly by the explosion, and tens of thousands more would perish as a result of radiation exposure. Three days later, a second B-29 dropped a second A-bomb on Nagasaki, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 40,000 people. Emperor Hirohito of Japan announced Japan's unconditional surrender from World War II in a radio address on August 15, citing the destructive power of "a new and cruel bomb" Why The United States Decided to Bomb The Japanese Cities - Military Strategy One of the key factors that led to the decision to drop the atomic bombs was military strategy. The United States was engaged in a long and costly war with Japan, and the use of atomic bombs was seen as a way to quickly end the war and save American lives. Military leaders believed that the bombs would force Japan to surrender, and would also demonstrate the United States' military superiority to the rest of the world. - Political Considerations Political considerations also played a role in the decision to drop the atomic bombs. The United States was concerned about the Soviet Union's growing influence in Asia, and saw the bombing of Japan as a way to show its strength and deter Soviet aggression. US President Harry Truman also faced pressure from his advisors and the American public to take decisive action to end the war, and the use of atomic bombs was seen as a way to accomplish this goal. - Scientific Development The development of atomic bombs was a major scientific achievement, and the United States was eager to demonstrate this new technology to the world. The Manhattan Project, which was the research and development program that produced the bombs, had cost billions of dollars and involved the work of thousands of scientists and engineers. The use of the bombs was seen as a way to justify this investment and demonstrate the power of American science and technology. Health Impact of the Bombing On Japan The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 had a devastating impact on the health of the Japanese population. Those who survived the initial blast were exposed to high levels of radiation, which caused burns, radiation sickness, and other acute symptoms. Many survivors also experienced psychological trauma and shock, which affected their mental health and ability to cope with the aftermath of the bombings. In the long term, the health effects of radiation exposure continued to impact the survivors and their descendants for many years after the bombings, leading to a wide range of physical health problems. In response to the health impacts of the bombings, the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC) was established to study the long-term effects of radiation exposure and provide medical assistance to survivors. The ABCC collected data on the health of survivors and their descendants, which was used to develop new medical treatments and policies to address the health impacts of radiation exposure. About the Creator The goal is to give you daily stories that will have you hooked. This is majorly an extension of the Quora space; Rare Stories. Subscribe, like, comment and remain blessed. There are no comments for this story Be the first to respond and start the conversation.
Sleep 101: Why Sleep Is So Important to Your Health Research Assistant Professor of Nutritional Sciences What is sleep exactly, and how does it help us stay healthy? Sleep is an altered state of consciousness where we have limited interactions with our surroundings and are relatively quiet and still (depending on the stage of sleep). Contrary to our quiet physical state, the brain is very active during sleep, carrying out many important functions. Sleep is essential to every process in the body, affecting our physical and mental functioning the next day, our ability to fight disease and develop immunity, and our metabolism and chronic disease risk. Sleep is truly interdisciplinary because it touches every aspect of health. Sleep is essential to every process in the body, affecting our physical and mental functioning the next day, our ability to fight disease and develop immunity, and our metabolism and chronic disease risk. How does what we eat impact our sleep? It is well-known that certain substances, such as caffeine, can affect the onset of sleep in a negative way. On the other hand, evidence is growing that shows how other foods like tart cherries, kiwi, fatty fish (like salmon and tuna), and malted milk may have beneficial effects on sleep. More recently, studies have shown that healthy dietary patterns overall—not just specific foods—could be associated with longer sleep duration and shorter time to fall asleep. Why is sleep so important for young children, and what are some of the common negative effects of poor sleep? Sleep is important for every part of the body, and it is especially important for young children as their bodies and minds develop. In young children, lack of sleep or poor quality sleep can be associated with difficult behaviors, lower capacity to learn and retain information, and a propensity for poor eating patterns and weight gain. What sleep needs do adolescents have, and what does this mean for the current conversations we're having around school-day start times? Adolescents need around 8-10 hours of sleep per night, but a high proportion do not get that amount. For example, recent estimates suggest that 60 percent of middle schoolers and 70 percent of high schoolers don’t get adequate sleep on school nights. This figure is even higher for Michigan high schoolers, which is at 80 percent. One of the main reasons adolescents are so sleep-deprived is that biological changes in their brain affect when they feel sleepy. So even if they are sleep-deprived, they often can’t go to bed early because their brain is not yet prepared to sleep. In school districts that have enacted later school start times, research is consistently showing that students get more sleep and as a result have fewer motor vehicle accidents, better grades, and improved mental health. The problem with these delayed bedtimes is that school or before-school activities often start very early, so adolescents may end up chronically sleep deprived. In school districts that have enacted later school start times, research is consistently showing that students get more sleep and as a result have fewer motor vehicle accidents, better grades, and improved mental health. Every spring and fall we change our clocks by an hour. What health impacts does this change have on individuals and on the public’s health? There are many calls from the sleep-research community to eliminate daylight savings time. When our clocks are pushed forward, people lose one hour of sleep. This one-hour sleep loss is associated with significantly more motor vehicle accidents as well as cardiac events. When our clocks move backward, we might think that extra hour helps us. But our sleep patterns are disrupted by any change like this, so the fall time change may also lead to negative health impacts. In general, these universal time changes create a significant and negative burden on the public’s health. How important is sleep for our mental health? Sleep and mental health go hand-in-hand. Good sleep is essential for maintaining our baseline mental health, as one night of sleep deprivation can dramatically affect mood the next day. Chronic exposure to poor sleep quality is associated with depression, anxiety, and other conditions. There are also bidirectional associations—meaning that experiencing anxiety and depression very often affects sleep, which then impacts our ability to cope with the anxiety and depression, and so on. How does alcohol impact sleep? Although alcohol may help a person fall asleep quickly, it hinders sleep quality, often causing fragmented (interrupted) sleep. When consuming alcohol, it is recommended to do so several hours before bedtime so that the alcohol is completely out of the system before sleep. Does screen time really affect our sleep? There is evidence to show that screen use right before bed could impact sleep. One reason is that the blue light emitted from these devices can affect the secretion of melatonin, the hormone that helps signal to the body that it is time to fall asleep. Other reasons include the content of what is on the screen. If you watch a scary movie, read an emotionally-driven article, or consume any other anxiety-producing content on your screen, it can affect your ability to fall asleep. Sleep clinicians recommend putting away all screens at least one hour before bed and to instead do some light reading or other relaxing activity. About the Author Dr. Erica Jansen is a nutritional epidemiologist who focuses on diet and sleep in relation to pediatric health. Her research covers how early nutritional environments affect childhood obesity and the timing of puberty, how various aspects of sleep—duration, timing, and quality—affect development of cardiometabolic risk, the bidirectional associations between sleep and diet, and epigenetic markers that underlie relationships between sleep and cardiometabolic health. - Interested in public health? Learn more today. - Read more articles by Nutritional Sciences faculty, students, staff, and alumni. - Support research at Michigan Public Health.
This exemplar video segment shows a teacher providing verbal praise after children complete a math activity. She uses words of encouragement to reinforce their accomplishments and the desired behaviors she noticed. Part of: Examples Topic: Language Facilitation and Support Category: Category 2: Teacher-Child Interactions \| Subcategory: Category 2: Language Facilitation and Support \| Measure: P-LFS-02: Positive Encouragement and Reinforcement
But scientists are still trying to unravel how and why swimming, in particular, produces these brain-enhancing effects. As a neurobiologist trained in brain physiology, a fitness enthusiast, and a mom, I spend hours at the local pool during the summer. It’s not unusual to see children gleefully splashing and swimming while their parents sunbathe at a distance and I’ve been one of those parents observing from the poolside plenty of times. But if more adults recognized the cognitive and mental health benefits of swimming, they might be more inclined to jump in the pool alongside their kids. 3. SWIMMING CREATES NEW AND IMPROVED BRAIN CELLS AND CONNECTIONS Until the 1960s, scientists believed that the number of neurons and synaptic connections in the human brain were finite and that, once damaged, these brain cells could not be replaced. But that idea was debunked as researchers began to see ample evidence for the birth of neurons, or neurogenesis, in adult brains of humans and other animals. Research shows that one of the key ways these changes occur in response to exercise is through increased levels of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor. The neural plasticity or the ability of the brain to change that this protein stimulates has been shown to boost cognitive function, including learning and memory. Studies in people have found a strong relationship between concentrations of brain-derived neurotrophic factor circulating in the brain and an increase in the size of the hippocampus, the brain region responsible for learning and memory. Increased levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor have also been shown to sharpen cognitive performance and to help reduce anxiety and depression. In contrast, researchers have observed mood disorders in patients with lower concentrations of brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Aerobic exercise also promotes the release of specific chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. One of these is serotonin, which when present at increased levels is known to reduce depression and anxiety and improve mood. In studies in fish, scientists have observed changes in genes responsible for increasing brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels as well as enhanced development of the dendritic spines protrusions on the dendrites, or elongated portions of nerve cells after eight weeks of exercise compared with controls. This complements studies in mammals where brain-derived neurotrophic factor is known to increase neuronal spine density. These changes have been shown to contribute to improved memory, mood, and enhanced cognition in mammals. The greater spine density helps neurons build new connections and send more signals to other nerve cells. With the repetition of signals, connections can become stronger. 2. WHY SWIMMING IS SO SPECIAL FOR YOUR BRAIN Researchers don’t yet know what swimming’s secret sauce might be. But they’re getting closer to understanding it. Swimming has long been recognized for its cardiovascular benefits. Because swimming involves all of the major muscle groups, the heart has to work hard, which increases blood flow throughout the body. This leads to the creation of new blood vessels, a process called angiogenesis. The greater blood flow can also lead to a large release of endorphins hormones that act as a natural pain reducer throughout the body. This surge brings about the sense of euphoria that often follows exercise. Most of the research to understand how swimming affects the brain has been done in rats. Rats are a good lab model because of their genetic and anatomic similarity to humans. In one study in rats, swimming was shown to stimulate brain pathways that suppress inflammation in the hippocampus and inhibit apoptosis, or cell death. The study also showed that swimming can help support neuron survival and reduce the cognitive impacts of aging. Although researchers do not yet have a way to visualize apoptosis and neuronal survival in people, they do observe similar cognitive outcomes. One of the more enticing questions is how, specifically, swimming enhances short- and long-term memory. To pinpoint how long the beneficial effects may last, researchers trained rats to swim for 60 minutes daily for five days per week. The team then tested the rats memory by having them swim through a radial arm water maze containing six arms, including one with a hidden platform. Rats got six attempts to swim freely and find the hidden platform. After just seven days of swim training, researchers saw improvements in both short- and long-term memories, based on a reduction in the errors rats made each day. The researchers suggested that this boost in cognitive function could provide a basis for using swimming as a way to repair learning and memory damage caused by neuropsychiatric diseases in humans. Although the leap from studies in rats to humans is substantial, research in people is producing similar results that suggest a clear cognitive benefit from swimming across all ages. For instance, in one study looking at the impact of swimming on mental acuity in the elderly, researchers concluded that swimmers had improved mental speed and attention compared with nonswimmers. However, this study is limited in its research design, since participants were not randomized and thus those who were swimmers prior to the study may have had an unfair edge. Another study compared cognition between land-based athletes and swimmers in the young adult age range. While water immersion itself did not make a difference, the researchers found that 20 minutes of moderate-intensity breaststroke swimming improved cognitive function in both groups. 1. KIDS GET A BRAIN BOOST FROM SWIMMING TOO The brain-enhancing benefits from swimming appear to also boost learning in children. Another research group recently looked at the link between physical activity and how children learn new vocabulary words. Researchers taught children age 6-12 the names of unfamiliar objects. Then they tested their accuracy at recognizing those words after doing three activities: coloring (resting activity), swimming (aerobic activity), and a CrossFit-like exercise (anaerobic activity) for three minutes. They found that children’s accuracy was much higher for words learned following swimming compared with coloring and CrossFit, which resulted in the same level of recall. This shows a clear cognitive benefit from swimming versus anaerobic exercise, though the study does not compare swimming with other aerobic exercises. These findings imply that swimming for even short periods of time is highly beneficial to young, developing brains. The details of the time or laps required, the style of swim, and what cognitive adaptations and pathways are activated by swimming are still being worked out. But neuroscientists are getting much closer to putting all the clues together. For centuries, people have been in search of a fountain of youth. Swimming just might be the closest we can get. Click here for full podcast playlist.
Resilience through Restoration Human influences such as invasive species, altered wildfire regimes, and natural disasters are negatively affecting our native plant communities and the many species that depend upon them. Our ability to repair these damaged lands and stem the loss of cultural and economic benefits to society depends upon appropriate seed, research, decision tools, and public support for ecological restoration. Through collaboration and communication, we can more effectively manage public lands, rebuild resilient native plant communities, and protect our valuable natural resources. The National Seed Strategy fosters interagency collaboration to guide the development, availability, and use of seed needed for timely and effective restoration. The Strategy includes four goals, with associated objectives and initial actions (2015-2020) to improve seed supplies for restoring healthy and productive native plant communities. The National Seed Strategy for Rehabilitation and Restoration helps guide ecological restoration across large landscapes of the United States, especially lands damaged by rangeland fires, invasive species, severe storms and drought. Strategy actions are centered around four major goals: Goal 1: Identifying and Quantifying Seed Needs Identify Seed Needs, and Ensure the Reliable Availability of Genetically Appropriate Seed Objective 1.1: Assess the Seed Needs of Federal Agencies and the Capacity of Private and Federal Producers Objective 1.2: Assess Capacity and Needs of Tribes, States, Private Sector Seed Producers, Nurseries, and Other Partners Objective 1.3: Increase the Supply and Reliable Availability of Genetically Appropriate Seed - Goal 2: Undertaking Research and Improving Technologies for Seed Production and Use Identify Research Needs and Conduct Research to Provide Genetically Appropriate Seed and to Improve Technology for Native Seed Production and Ecosystem Restoration Objective 2.1: Characterize Genetic Variation of Restoration Species to Delineate Seed Zones, and Provide Seed Transfer Guidelines for Current and Projected Future Environmental Conditions Objective 2.2: Conduct Species-Specific Research to Provide Seed Technology, Storage, and Production Protocols for Restoration Species Objective 2.3: Conduct Research on Plant Establishment, Species Interactions, and Ecological Restoration Objective 2.4: Develop or Modify Monitoring Techniques, and Investigate Long-Term Restoration Impacts and Outcomes - Goal 3: Developing Tools for Land Managers Develop Tools that Enable Managers to Make Timely, Informed Seeding Decisions for Ecological Restoration Objective 3.1: Develop Training Programs for Practitioners, Producers, and Stakeholders on the Use of Genetically Appropriate Seed for Restoration Objective 3.2: Develop Native Seed Source Availability Data and Tools for Accessing the Data Objective 3.3: Integrate and Develop Science Delivery Tools to Support Restoration Project Development and Implementation Objective 3.4: Build on Ecological Assessments and Disturbance Data, and Provide Training that will Allow Managers to Anticipate Needs and Establish Spatially-Explicit Contingency Strategies - Goal 4: Ensuring Good Communications Develop Strategies for Internal and External Communication Objective 4.1: External Communications: Conduct Education and Outreach through the Plant Conservation Alliance Network Objective 4.2: Internal Communications: Distribute and Implement the Strategy Across Agencies, and Provide Feedback Mechanisms Objective 4.3: Report Progress, Recognize Achievements, and Revise Strategy Organizations and individuals at the national, state and local level all will contribute to common goals, pooling resources, sharing information and achieving results for advancing plant conservation on a broad scale. Plant Conservation Alliance The Plant Conservation Alliance developed the National Seed Strategy in 2015 to address widespread shortages of native seed. Learn more about this network of over 400 public and private partners dedicated to native plant conservation. Hot Off the Press PCA Fact Sheet on National Seed Strategy Progress Report The Plant Conservation Alliance (PCA) received 460 responses to their call for Federal projects that implemented the National Seed Strategy during its first five years (2015-2020). The PCA has summarized the data from these responses into a one-page fact sheet, with a full progress report expected Summer 2021. Download the PCA's one-pager on the National Seed Strategy Progress Report here. National Academies interim report on native seed needs and supply In October 2020, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released an interim report for the first ever independent assessment of native seed needs and capacities in the U.S. These efforts, sponsored by the Bureau of Land Management, directly support Goal 1 of the National Seed Strategy: “Identify Seed Needs, and Ensure the Reliable Availability of Genetically Appropriate Seed.” Download a free pdf of the interim report or read it online here. Large survey of native plant material users throughout the Eastern US In 2018, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Seed Bank (MARSB) conducted the first survey of native plant material users from across the entire Eastern United States in order to better understand eastern trends of native plant material use and availability. Of the 760 respondents, 74% expressed a preference for local ecotypes, and only 0.3% for cultivars. Read the full report here. Open Access Native Seed Standards for Ecological Restoration The First International Principles and Standards for Native Seeds in Ecological Restoration are now available in a Special Issue of Restoration Ecology. This Special Issue was developed by the International Network for Seed-based Restoration (INSR), a thematic section of the Society for Ecological Restoration, and is completely Open Access (free to read, download and share), thanks in large part to support from the Bureau of Land Management. Download a pdf of the Standards for Native Seeds in Ecological Restoration here.
Lesson Plan - Get It! You counted down the days and it’s finally here! The video game you have been waiting for was released. At Store A, the game costs $126. At Store B, the game costs $134. Which store has the better buy? To begin, let's review how to find the place value of a three-digit number. Look at the number "795." - The last digit on the right is in the ones place. The number 795 has 5 ones. - The next digit to the left is in the tens place. The number 795 has 9 groups of ten. - The next number to the left is in the hundreds place. The number 795 has 7 groups of one hundred. We can use place value to compare two numbers. Let's use our video game example to find the better buy. Follow these simple steps to compare the two prices: Step 1: Count the digits. Step 2: Compare the hundreds place value. Step 3: Compare the tens place value. Step 4: Compare the ones place value. Let’s take another look at our example: Step 1: Count the digits. Both 126 and 134 have 3 digits in the number. They have the same number of digits. Step 2: Compare the hundreds place value. Both numbers have 100 in the hundreds place value. They have the same value in the hundreds place. Step 3: Compare the tens place value. The number 126 has 20 in the tens place. The number 134 has 30 in the tens place. 20 is less than 30. So, 126 is smaller than 134. Therefore, 126 is the smallest number. 134 is the greatest number. Now you know that $126 is less than $134. You better head over to Store A before all the video games are gone! Can you think of another time when you might need to compare two numbers? Tell your parent or teacher why comparing two numbers is important. Then move to the Got It? section for a comparison activity.
If you’re curious about the world and want to know more about this fascinating place, Geography For Dummies is a great place to start. Whether you’re sixteen or sixty, this fun and easy guide will help you make more sense of the world you live in. Geography For Dummies gives you the tools to interpret the Earth’s grid, read and interpret maps, and to appreciate the importance and implications of geographical features such as volcanoes and fault lines. Plus, you’ll see how erosion and weathering have and will change the earth’s surface and how it impacts people. You’ll get a firm hold of everything from the physical features of the world to political divisions, population, culture, and economics. You’ll also discover: - How you can have a rainforest on one side of a mountain range and a desert on the other - How ocean currents help to determine the geography of climates - How to choose a good location for a shopping mall - How you can properly put the plant to good use in everything you do - How climate affects humans and how humans have affected the climate - How human population has spread and the impact it has had on our world Related collections and offers About the Author Date of Birth:July 20, 1895 Date of Death:November 24, 1946 Table of ContentsIntroduction. Part I: Getting Grounded: The Geographic Basics. Chapter 1: Geography: Understanding a World of Difference. Chapter 2: Thinking Like a Geographer. Chapter 3: Grid and Bear It. Chapter 4: Maps That Lie Flat Lie! Chapter 5: Getting the Message of Maps. Part II: Getting Physical: Land, Water, and Air. Chapter 6: Taking Shape: The Land We Live On. Chapter 7: Giving Earth a Facelift. Chapter 8: Water, Water Everywhere. Chapter 9: Warming Up and Chilling Out: Why Climates Happen.Chapter 10: From Rainforests to Ice Caps: The Geography of Climates. Part III: Peopling the Planet. Chapter 11: Nobody Here but Us Six Billion. Chapter 12: Shift Happens: Migration. Chapter 13: Culture: The Spice of Life and Place. Chapter 14: Where Do You Draw the Line? Part IV: Putting the Planet to Use. Chapter 15: Getting Down to Business. Chapter 16: An Appetite for Resources. Chapter 17: CBD to Suburbia: Urban Geography. Chapter 18: Impacts on the Environment. Part V: The Part of Tens. Chapter 19: Ten Organizations for Geographic Information. Chapter 20: Ten Interesting Geographical Occupations. Chapter 21: Ten Things You Can Forget. Chapter 22: Ten Great Geographical Web Sites. Book Registration Information.
Finding Sources from Sources Every source contains rich clues to other useful sources. It’s a treasure map that can lead you to sources you would never find by pure searching. This skill can help you discern a conversation occurring among a set of scholars or writers about your topic. Think of each good source as giving clues along two axes: - Forward and backward in time. If you look at a source and see in its bibliography that there are fifty references, you can do a quick scan of the titles and authors to look for other sources you might investigate. These previously cited sources give you a rough map of how the topic has been researched to that point. Similarly, you can look at the “cited by” feature within a database (or Google Scholar) to look for other sources who are continuing the conversation and cited your source. - Side to side across the scholarly conversation. When looking at a source you like, collect key terms, phrases, and names to find other sources that are similar. These other keywords can lead to other types of evidence and examples that offer more coverage of your topic. Most databases will include related subject headings alongside each search result. Subject headings are a form of descriptive metadata. At their simplest they may be tags chosen by the authors, but most databases use a controlled vocabulary assigned by professional catalogers The advantage of controlled subject terms is that they’re standardized terms which will be assigned to all appropriate content no matter what terminology (or even language) is used by the author. For example, the database Academic Search Complete uses the subject term “motion pictures,” even if the article uses the words “films,” “movies,” or “cinema.” Whenever you find a good article in a database, check out the subject headings. If one or more of them look like matches for your topic, re-run your search using those terms—and be sure to specify you want those terms in the subject field. That will ensure the search results are really about that subject and don’t just happen to mention those words in passing somehow. Follow the Bibliographic Links As long as you find one good scholarly article or book, you can look up the works cited in the footnotes or bibliography to find the sources it’s based on. You can also follow citations forward in time by looking up who cited the work you have. Web of Science has cited reference searches. Things to Consider One last tip for your research is to keep an open mind. If you are not finding good sources, don’t get discouraged. Try a different combination of keywords, synonyms, or ask your librarian or professor for help. Keep in mind that you don’t need a perfect source that aligns with your paper. You can take small bits of information from multiple sources and combine them into your own argument.
What is hypogonadism? Hypogonadism occurs when your sex glands produce little or no sex hormones. The sex glands, also called gonads, are primarily the testes in men and the ovaries in women. Sex hormones help control secondary sex characteristics, such as breast development in women, testicular development in men, and pubic hair growth. Sex hormones also play a role in the menstrual cycle and sperm production. Hypogonadism may also be known as gonad deficiency. It may be called low serum testosterone or andropause when it happens in males. Most cases of this condition respond well to appropriate medical treatment. There are two types of hypogonadism: primary and central. Primary hypogonadism means that you don’t have enough sex hormones in your body due to a problem in your gonads. Your gonads are still receiving the message to produce hormones from your brain, but they aren’t able to produce them. Central (secondary) hypogonadism The causes of primary hypogonadism include: - autoimmune disorders, such as Addison’s disease and hypoparathyroidism - genetic disorders, such as Turner syndrome and Klinefelter syndrome - severe infections, especially mumps involving your testicles - liver and kidney diseases - undescended testes - hemochromatosis, which happens when your body absorbs too much iron - radiation exposure - surgery on your sexual organs Central hypogonadism may be due to: - genetic disorders, such as Kallmann syndrome (abnormal hypothalamic development) - infections, including HIV - pituitary disorders - inflammatory diseases, including sarcoidosis, tuberculosis, and histiocytosis - rapid weight loss - nutritional deficiencies - use of steroids or opioids - brain surgery - radiation exposure - injury to your pituitary gland or hypothalamus - a tumor in or near your pituitary gland Symptoms that may appear in females include: - lack of menstruation - slow or absent breast growth - hot flashes - loss of body hair - low or absent sex drive - milky discharge from breasts Symptoms that may appear in males include: Your doctor will conduct a physical exam to confirm that your sexual development is at the proper level for your age. They may examine your muscle mass, body hair, and your sexual organs. If your doctor thinks you might have hypogonadism, they’ll first check your sex hormone levels. You’ll need a blood test to check your level of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone. Your pituitary gland makes these reproductive hormones. You’ll have your estrogen level tested if you’re female. If you’re male, you’ll have your testosterone level tested. These tests are usually drawn in the morning when your hormone levels are highest. If you’re male, your doctor may also order a semen analysis to check your sperm count. Hypogonadism can reduce your sperm count. Your doctor may order more blood tests to help confirm a diagnosis and rule out any underlying causes. Iron levels can affect your sex hormones. For this reason, your doctor may check for high blood iron levels, typically seen in hemochromatosis. Your doctor may also wish to measure your prolactin levels. Prolactin is a hormone that promotes breast development and breast milk production in women, but it’s present in both genders. Your doctor may also check your thyroid hormone levels. Thyroid problems can cause symptoms similar to hypogonadism. Your doctor may order MRIs or CT scans to check for tumors in your pituitary gland. Treatment for female hypogonadism If you’re female, your treatment will involve increasing your amount of female sex hormones. Your first line of treatment will probably be estrogen therapy if you’ve had a hysterectomy. Either a patch or pill can administer supplemental estrogen. Because increased estrogen levels can increase your risk of endometrial cancer, you’ll be given a combination of estrogen and progesterone if you haven’t had a hysterectomy. Progesterone can lower your risk for endometrial cancer if you’re taking estrogen. Other treatments can target specific symptoms. If you have a decreased sex drive, you may receive low doses of testosterone. If you have menstrual irregularities or trouble conceiving, you may receive injections of the hormone human choriogonadotropin or pills containing FSH to trigger ovulation. Treatment for male hypogonadism Testosterone is a male sex hormone. Testosterone replacement therapy is a widely used treatment for hypogonadism in males. You can get testosterone replacement therapy by: Injections of a gonadotropin-releasing hormone may trigger puberty or increase your sperm production. Treatment for hypogonadism in men and women Treatment for males and females is similar if the hypogonadism is due to a tumor on the pituitary gland. Treatment to shrink or remove the tumor may include: Unless it’s caused by a treatable condition, hypogonadism is a chronic condition that may require lifelong treatment. Your sex hormone level may decrease if you stop treatment. Seeking support through therapy or support groups can help you before, during, and after treatment.
Last updated on October 20th, 2022 at 07:49 am Gastroenteritis is a type of viral stomach flu that causes inflammation of the stomach and small intestine, leading to vomiting and diarrhea. According to the Mayo Clinic, those infected may have abdominal pain, fever, nausea, and vomiting. These symptoms can last for up to a week or more. When a person has diarrhea and vomiting, he or she might say that they have the stomach flu. These signs are usually caused by a condition called gastroenteritis. In gastroenteritis, the intestines get inflamed and irritated. It is commonly caused by a viral or bacterial infection. What is Gastroenteritis? Quick Jump Table People who are middle-aged regularly fall prey to a typical issue that is associated with the stomach. Stomach inconvenience or gastroenteritis is an aggravation or inflammation of the coating of the stomach. There can be various reasons that can lead to this issue, but most of the time it is caused by similar microscopic organisms that reason most stomach ulcers or cramps. Your own or family’s wellbeing history, physical examination, and a specific test might analyze severe gastritis. The major signs and symptoms of Gastroenteritis include vomiting and diarrhea. A person might also have a fever, cramping, stomach pain, headache, and nausea. Because of vomiting and diarrhea, a person can also become dehydrated. Signs of dehydration include dry skin, feeling light-headed, frequent thirst, or having a dry mouth leading to overall weakness and drop-in blood pressure. Gastroenteritis also attacks the intestines. Depending on the cause, these signs and symptoms may become visible in less than one to three days after a person is infected and could range from mild to severe. There are many ways through which gastroenteritis can develop and spread. They include contaminated food or water, physical contact with the person who is infected with a virus or bacteria, not using soap after changing the diaper or using the washroom, coming in direct contact with human excreta, etc. The most common cause of gastroenteritis in children is being infected with Rotavirus. This infection is usually caused when they put the contaminated objects or their fingers into their mouth. Grown-ups infected with Rotavirus might not have symptoms as compared to infants or children but carry the virus with them. Another possibility is the infection with norovirus in both children and grown-ups, which is the common reason for food-borne illness worldwide. The norovirus infection could sweep through families and communities. In most cases, a person picks up the virus from polluted water or food. Person-to-person transmission is possible. Risk Factors Gastroenteritis Gastroenteritis affects people of every age, background and race all over the world. People who might be prone to gastroenteritis include young children because of their weaker immune system, older adults who take care for the sick, people who interact with the sick individuals like nurses or pathologists, or adults having a weak immune system because of some disease. Gastroenteritis is diagnosed based on the symptoms. Physical examination and stool tests are used to determine the type of infection. Upper endoscopy is the technique by which an endoscope, which is a thin tube containing a little camera, is embedded through your mouth into the stomach to investigate the stomach lining. A specialist may likewise counsel a man to experience some blood tests to decide if he/she is iron deficient. Different tests may incorporate the fecal mysterious blood test. Normally, acid neutralizers and different medications, for example, proton pump inhibitors or H2 blockers, are used to lessen corrosion in the stomach. A man experiencing gastritis will constantly be exhorted by a specialist to stop eating hot and zesty food with lots of spice. On the off chance that gastroenteritis is caused by a disease that is created by H.pylori, he will, mostly, be recommended various anti-microbial together with a corrosive blocking drug. B12 vitamin shots are probably going to be given if gastroenteritis is caused by noxious pallor. It will likewise befit for a man experiencing stomach cramps to abstain from aggravating food items like dairy products which have lactose and wheat which has gluten. When caused by bacteria, antibiotics can be used for treatment, but with viral gastroenteritis, there is no cure available. Viral Gastroenteritis just settles back to normal on its own. For recovery, one should follow the diet plan as prescribed by the doctor, which includes very light solid food and fluids only to relieve the stomach from unnecessary burden for some time. Analgesics can also be prescribed. For the prevention of gastroenteritis, maintaining good hygiene and vaccination are the most useful options. Medications, for example, H2 blockers are a class of medicines that work by limiting the amount of corrosion delivered by the stomach. At the point when an H2 receptor blocker consumes the active ingredients contained inside this medication, it goes to specific regions of the stomach cells. These blockers restrain the corrosive discharging cells in the stomach from responding to histamine. H2 blockers keep peptic ulcers from showing up once more. More often than not, the H2 blockers are immediately consumed by the body to give quick alleviation to the feeble states of peptic ulcer. It is recommended by doctors that people who are severely allergic to H2 blocker receptors should avoid taking them in order to prevent any life-threatening reactions. Gastroenteritis Post Treatment Tips Depending on the seriousness of your case, the recovery period of your treatment can range from a week to 4 weeks. If your gastroenteritis is mainly because of indigestion, you can also get better in a day provided you take the required medicine on time. Post-treatment tips for gastroenteritis include taking your medication as prescribed by your doctor regularly and on time. Keep a check if you are taking any anti-inflammatory drugs or pain killers by mistake, as that may aggravate the chances of heartburn. You need to exercise regularly, but avoid exercises that are stressful. Ensure to keep a tab on your diet. Avoid alcohol, greasy or fried foods, spicy foods, carbonated drinks, and other citrus fruits or their juices. Keep yourself hydrated at all times by drinking water and other oral hydration solutions. Gastroenteritis Home Remedies The alternative treatments of gastroenteritis are several home remedies that are readily available in the kitchen. These are potato juice (have potato juice pre-meal thrice a day to cure your problem of stomach gas), charcoal (having a charcoal tablet before and after your meals which will help in reducing the issues of acidity and gas), turmeric (have turmeric mixed with milk every day to get the desired results), ginger (good for treating the gastric problem and indigestion), baking soda (it works as an effective antacid and gives instant relief when you have it mixed with water on an empty stomach), apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, cardamom, and onion. There is no treatment that will permanently cure the problem of gastroenteritis. The only way to keep your gastritis at bay is by avoiding spicy, greasy, dairy, fried foods, and foods that are rich in sugar. Eat meals small in portion and chew them well before swallowing. Do not stay on an empty stomach for a long time. Though there are various treatment options for gastroenteritis, it is always advisable to consult a doctor before going for any treatment. You May Also Interested To Learn About: Indian Diet Chart For Weight Loss Learn about prostate problems ©healthcare nt sickcare and healthcarentsickcare.com, 2017-Till Date. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full credit is given to healthcare nt sickcare and healthcarentsickcare.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Is writing learnable? Absolutely. Andrew Bennett says, “Great writers aren’t great first-drafters. They’re great rewriters.” Writing skills are learned, which is good news because the National Association of Colleges and Employers ranks oral and written communication skills as the fourth most desired competency sought by employers in new hires. Effective writing will help your child succeed in school and in the workplace. Below are strategies for becoming a better writer. The first five will foster an enjoyment for writing, and the latter five are steps for jumpstarting school writing projects. Like any improvement, start with attitude. Believe it's possible to improve. 1) Connect writing to your child’s interests One of my cousins has little passion for math, but he loves science fiction and has ideas for several novels he’d like to write. Whether it be animals, fairy tales, video games, trucks, sports, your child has an interest in something. Encourage them to draw pictures and write about their interests (like elephants or zoo animals) to help you learn more or to share it with their friends. The key is to make writing fun, not a chore. Like with reading, frequent practice with writing will help foster skills and a more confident attitude towards writing. Some writing your child does in school may not interest them (for example, causes of the revolutionary war or pros and cons of wind energy). Just because the topic isn’t interesting, doesn’t mean writing can't be interesting. When it’s possible, encourage children to pick a topic that fascinates them. Motivation goes a long way in completing a project. Students can even propose a different topic idea to teachers. 2) Do it as a family Similar to reading, when children see their parents writing, they connect the importance of writing to their life. Writing cards, grocery lists, and notes are all examples of day-to-day writing you can model. Want to foster writing abilities and daily gratitude? Consider a family gratitude journal. Together as a family, brainstorm up to five things you’re grateful for that day. This can be a fun trip to the zoo, a tasty dinner, a cute pet, or anything that brings joy to your child and family. The benefits of fostering gratitude include higher self-esteem, better psychological and physical health, and increased mental strength. UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center recommends journaling about gratitude for 15-minutes at least once a week and to be as specific as possible about what you’re grateful for. The gratitude journal can be rotated among different family members, or each family member can have their individual gratitude journal. The key is to carve out intentional family writing time 1-3 times a week. 3) Use art and games as writing prompts In second grade, my teacher asked each of us to pick a mammal to research. We drew pictures in a pre-bound, blank book (available at most craft stores) and then added sentences explaining the pictures and the animal habits we'd drawn. It was fun to create our own book, featuring our drawings and writing. To encourage confidence and openness towards writing, writing needs to be fun. Try making it into a craft or a game. Cut out magazine pictures and make a story line out of the pictures. Or put the pictures into an envelop and randomly choose a picture to make a story out of it. You also can look through old family photo albums for inspiration. Another idea is to create storybooks out of your children’s drawings. Ask them to draw pictures, then paste them into a blank spiral book (or purchase the book for them to illustrate beforehand, as we did with our second grade mammal books). Encourage your child to be an author and create their own book! See more ideas on writing development for young children from Colorín Colorado. 4) Write letters Receiving a handwritten letter in the mail is a delightful surprise, and beyond the thoughtful gesture, writing letters to family and friends can help your child’s writing skills later in work. Brian Garner, author of HBR Guide to Better Business Writing, suggests letter writing as a way for adults to brush up their writing skills. He states, “If you can write good letters, you can write just about anything…That’s because they help you focus on others. When you write a letter, you’re connecting with one particular recipient. And letters help you build goodwill with people” (pg. 46). Why not start early and help your child connect writing to real audiences? While in school, it’s easy to forget about the “audience” you’re writing for. Most of the time, the teacher is the one reading the work. However, in college and the workplace, you have to connect with real readers about real messages (think about business emails, letters to clients, notes for coworkers). Written communication is not a one-size-fits-all activity and writing should be tailored to the specific audience. Letter-writing is a fun activity that requires your child to tailor a message to Grandma, a distant cousin, a friend next door, or another audience. Plus, it's a quick way to spread smiles. 5) Encourage reading People of all ages learn new vocabulary through reading. In addition to exercising our minds, reading published works helps us understand what “good” writing is and how to emulate it in our writing. Additionally, students may find inspiration to write their own books based on the characters, settings, and adventures found in beloved books. 5 Tips for Surviving School Writing Projects 6) Set a timer This can be particularly helpful when writing dreaded school essays or reports. Set a timer for 20- or 30-minutes, and cheer on your child to work on the paper. Try setting a specific goal for each timed writing session: Session 1: Brainstorm topic ideas. Session 2: Find three relevant online sources. Session 3: Make an outline of three major points. Session 4: Fill in the outline with supporting details. Session 5: Write one body paragraph. Session 6: Write another body paragraph. Session 7: Write the conclusion. You get the point. It’s easier to find motivation to write when you know the end goal. You see the light at the end of the tunnel. 7) Explain that writing is learnable, and good writing is the process of many, many revisions I worked with a professor who once told me that every academic journal article he published had been through 5-30 drafts. This is someone who is an expert in his field and has a PhD. Even he went through 30 drafts of the same paper! Remind your child that writing takes time and even professional writers spend immense amounts of time writing and rewriting. The good news is that writing is learnable. Remember, “good writing isn’t an inborn gift. It’s a skill you cultivate, like so many others” (Garner, HBR’s Guide to Better Business Writing, pg. xvii). Ask your child what they’ve learned to do in their lifetime. Riding a bike, throwing a baseball, doing a cartwheel. Those are skills cultivated. Writing is one other skill that can be improved with practice. 8) Write it as you’d speak it What’s the most academic way to say "start"? Initiate? Commence? Sometimes students feel pressured to write in an academic tone that feels unnatural to them. Your child might feel as if they have to write it the “right” way for school. However, struggling to find the “right” academic words can stop ideas from flowing, lead to unnecessary stress, and contribute to procrastination. Next time your child is stuck on a paper, tell them to write down exactly how they’d explain it to you verbally. Don’t fuss over the proper grammar or the ‘academic’ tone of it; just get ideas on the page. Later, words or sentences can be fixed to match the assignment requirements, but step one is getting ideas down on the page. 9) Write the easiest part first If your child can’t figure out how to beautifully begin the introduction to an argumentative essay, tell them to skip it. Jump into the part that’s easiest to write. Often, this is a body paragraph or the main section of the paper. Even though it shows up first on a finished paper, it’s perfectly fine to skip over the introduction and write it last. In fact, saving the introduction for last is a good strategy because it ensures that the introduction matches the rest of the paper. Sometimes in the writing process arguments shift, and the introduction ends up serving as a preliminary argument but not the final argument of the paper. Writing the easiest part first will help your child see progress. Progress feels good, and your child can go back and write the more difficult parts later. 10) Just get started Ever heard of the Zeigarnik Effect? This psychology principle explains that people have a desire to finish what they started. According to Dr. Sarkis, “the brain has a powerful need to finish what it starts. When it can't complete something, it gets stuck on it.” In practice, this might look like setting aside 25-minutes to start writing a paper and then moving onto a new task. An internal alarm clock in the brain will sound later to remember to finish the report. As the old adage goes, starting is the hardest part. For more ideas, check out UNC’s handout on overcoming procrastination.
Activity time: 5 minutes Materials for Activity - Story book Preparation for Activity Choose a story from the following suggestions: - Moonbear's Shadow by Frank Asch, 2000. Moonbear tries to outwit his troublesome shadow in this beloved classic. - Whoo's There: A Bedtime Shadow Book by Heather Zschock, 2005. Gentle rhymes about six nighttime creatures, including an owl, fireflies, and a raccoon. You can shine the beam of your own flashlight through the transparent "windows" to cast silhouettes on the wall as you read with your child-a fun and comforting way to end the day and experience a book together - I'm Not Scared by Todd Parr, 2011. With his signature blend of playfulness and sensitivity, Todd Parr explores the subject of all things scary and assures readers that all of us are afraid sometimes. - Not Afraid of Dogs by Susanna Pitzer, illustrated by Larry Day, 2006. Daniel is the bravest boy of all! Daniel isn't afraid of spiders, or snakes, or even thunderstorms. And no matter what his sister says, he's certainly not afraid of dogs-he just doesn't like them. - Review How to Read a Story Book, under Resources in the Introduction. Description of Activity Hold up the book and say, in these words or your own: Here's how I am going to read the story. Does anyone need to move so they can see and hear? This will help the children move if they need to and then get settled before the story is started, so they don't interrupt the reading. It also serves as a reminder that if they stand or sit right in front of the pages, no one else can see. Invite them to find a place to settle so that everyone can see. When all are ready, read the story. When you finish reading, ask if anyone has thoughts about the story that they would like to share. Including All Participants Seat a child with hearing or sight difficulties near the reader.
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. May 18, 1996 The Sun Today Credit: Space Environment Center, NOAA Explanation: Our Sun shows a different face every day. The above picture was taken on May 15, but a similar picture of the Sun actually taken today can be found here. The above picture was taken in red light and so is shown in red. The bright spots to the right of center are active regions known as plages. Currently, the Sun is showing very few active regions or sunspots, and is considered to be in a solar minimum. Solar activity will pick up over the next six years until a "solar maximum" is reached. The Sun goes through this cycle of maxima and minima every 11 years. Sol, our Sun, is hundreds of times more massive than all the planets in the Solar System combined. However, the Sun itself contains only a small amount of the total angular momentum of the Solar System. Authors & editors: NASA Technical Rep.: Sherri Calvo. Specific rights apply. A service of: LHEA at NASA/ GSFC
A pedestrian crossing or crosswalk is a place designated for pedestrians to cross a road. Crosswalks are designed to keep pedestrians together where they can be seen by motorists, and where they can cross most safely across the flow of vehicular traffic. Marked pedestrian crossings are often found at intersections, but may also be at other points on busy roads that would otherwise be too unsafe to cross without assistance due to vehicle numbers, speed or road widths. They are also commonly installed where large numbers of pedestrians are attempting to cross (such as in shopping areas) or where vulnerable road users (such as school children) regularly cross. Rules govern usage of the pedestrian crossings to ensure safety; for example, in some areas, the pedestrian must be more than halfway across the crosswalk before the driver proceeds. Signalised pedestrian crossings clearly separate when each type of traffic (pedestrians or road vehicles) can use the crossing. Unsignalized crossings generally assist pedestrians, and usually prioritise pedestrians, depending on the locality. What appear to be just pedestrian crossings can also be created largely as a traffic calming technique, especially when combined with other features like pedestrian priority, refuge islands, or raised surfaces. This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Pedestrian crossing, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
How we assess We will use variety of formative and summative assessments to gauge the extent of student learning and acquisition of essential skills. All preschool, Nursery 1 and 2 will be assessed but no exams; examinations start from lower primary Students take quizzes in various subject areas to assess learning over shorter periods. This quick form of assessment allows teacher to gauge how to proceed with the curriculum to best meet the needs of all of students. Independent Class work This serves as an ongoing indicator of what students understand on a daily basis and helps teachers determine how to proceed and pace the curriculum. Science Fair Workshop The Science Fair Workshop will be used to involve teachers at formative assessment points while students are in the process of working on their projects. Teachers assess written portions of the project, the formation of Excel graphs for data collection, and scientific inquiry Teachers will create a portfolio of baseline assessments and sample work for each child. At the end of the every term, teachers share this information with parents at parent/teacher conferences as well as a copy of the progress report for parents to know precisely how their child’s teacher will assess students for the remainder of the school year and for future years. The results of a combination of the assessments listed above, together with other tests, quizzes, projects, and observations by teachers are reflected in students’ report cards. Skills listed on school report cards show a progression of growth for students. Teachers work together as a team to develop a set of grade-specific basic skills for each academic area of the curriculum. Instead of just reporting an overall grade, teachers assess several different skills that make up the composite grade. It is important to ensure that skills chosen show consistency and sequential growth across the grade levels. Students receive a progress report each term and a report card at the end of 3rd term. The report card contains detailed comments by teachers of areas of progress and recommendations for future growth. Teachers use chapter tests to assess the understanding of students in Science, Maths, Social studies, Islamic studies, Reading, and Language Arts. The results are then used to drive instruction and to differentiate the learning of students. These are administered at the end of each Reading unit, and allow students to demonstrate their knowledge through multiple-choice, short answer, and essay responses. This project-based learning experience is used as an assessment tool for Science, Islamic Studies, and Social Studies. Students work individually or in teams to complete various forms of projects to demonstrate their understanding of content covered in subject areas. These include but are not limited to presentations, labs or experiments, essays, class debates, poetry reading, skits, recitations, dioramas, etc. End of term exams are taken from Primary 1 to 6 in all main curricular areas including Math, Reading, Writing, Science, Social Studies, Quran, Arabic, and Islamic Studies. In addition to students being given the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge, it also helps prepare students for the rigors of secondary school and higher education.
Review math and spelling facts with this puzzle. Reinforce equivalent fractions, multiplication facts and upper and lowercase alphabets using this puzzle. Students will reinforce facts while solving a puzzle. Supplies Used: Adhesive, Cardstock, Construction paper, Copy paper, Marker or pen, Poster board, Scissors The teacher will die-cut the materials for student use prior to the lesson. - For the star puzzle, die-cut the Puzzle, Star shape using cardstock. - With a marker or pen, write various equivalent fractions, multiplication facts or upper and lowercase letters on the puzzle pieces (Main Photo). - Die-cut the Puzzle, Star shape out of poster board, and use the negative space to create a cavity where the students can assemble their puzzle pieces. - Students will then assemble the correct answer to the corresponding fact. - For the apple or heart puzzle, capture and engage parental attention for back-to-school night with a unique invitation they must piece together (Figure A). - Design the wording of the invitation to fit inside a 4" x 5" area. Print or photocopy the text on colored copy paper. - Adhere a piece of cardstock to the back of the printed invitation. - Die-cut the invitation with the Puzzle, Apple shape. - Die-cut the envelope using construction paper. Place adhesive on the side tabs, and assemble the envelope. - Trim the negative part of the puzzle to fit into the envelope, and place both the negative and apple puzzle pieces inside the envelope (Figure A). - Figure A National Arts-Visual Arts NA-VA.K-4.3 Choosing and Evaluating a Range of Subject Matter, Symbols and Ideas - Students select and use subject matter, symbols and ideas to communicate meaning. A-VA.K-4.6 Making Connections Between Visual Arts and Other Disciplines - Students identify connections between the visual arts and other disciplines in the curriculum. NL-ENG.K-12.4 Applying Knowledge - Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language and genre to create, critique and discuss print and nonprint texts. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education 3.NF Number and Operations—Fractions Develop understanding of fractions as numbers. - Explain equivalence of fractions in special cases, and compare fractions by reasoning about their size. - Recognize and generate simple equivalent fractions, e.g., 1/2 = 2/4, 4/6 = 2/3. Explain why the fractions are equivalent, e.g., by using a visual fraction model.
Cone snails have inspired humans for centuries. Coastal communities have often traded their beautiful shells like money and put them in jewelry. Many artists, including Rembrandt, have featured them in sketches and paintings. Now, scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are finding these deadly predators inspiring, too, as they seek new ways to cure old medical problems using the poisonous snails as models. "This is the same venom used to kill dinosaurs in 'Jurassic Park,'" says NIST biochemist Frank Marí, with a chuckle. "It is scary stuff, but that power could be used for a different kind of good in real life." Like all NIST scientists, Marí measures things. Specifically, he measures RNA and the associated proteins at work inside marine animals. As technology has improved over the years, he and his team have become better able to examine, analyze and catalog the molecules at work in some of the ocean's lesser-known creatures, including cone snails. This year, his lab made several significant discoveries about their venom, discoveries that might ultimately lead to the development of new medicines for hard-to-treat diseases. By imitating the way that these small, quiet creatures deliver poison, scientists may be able to better deliver cures. On any given day, Marí can be found walking up and down the rows of burbling aquarium tanks at the Hollings Marine Laboratory in Charleston, South Carolina, checking on the 60 individual cone snails that have lived in his lab for the past 15 years. Once a week, he and his staff make a kind of delicate negotiation with them, trading a dead fish for a dose of poison to be gathered in a tube and stored away for use in ongoing scientific measurements and investigations. "Cone snails are so unusual," Marí says. "They are not really like any other creature on Earth, and working with them is almost like working with an extraterrestrial. But that's also fun. The cone snail system is like a candy store to someone like me." More than 800 species of cone snails have been found worldwide, mostly in warmer, tropical areas. They are reclusive, faceless creatures and not aggressive, but will sting defensively when picked up by an unwitting shell collector. The smallest cone snails impart a sting that is about as powerful as a bee sting, but the sting of larger species can kill an adult human in a matter of hours. The deadliest cone snail is thought to be the "cigarette snail" of the Indo-Pacific, a snail roughly the length of a man's thumb that can deliver a toxin so strong that you'd only have time to finish one cigarette before dying from its attack. Although his collection includes several species, Marí's special area of focus is the purple cone snail (Conus purpurascens). It's a creature mostly found in the Eastern Pacific coastal waters off the Gulf of California down to Peru and offshore around the Galapagos Islands, slowly moving along the rocky bottom where it grows to be a few inches long. Like all snails from the Conus genus, these nocturnal animals are common, but often go unseen by casual beachgoers. Despite their own slow tendencies, these snails have evolved to skillfully hunt far speedier animals in the dark by firing a single harpoon-like tooth into other snails, fish and worms. Once injected, the prey becomes instantly paralyzed and unable to make a getaway. The snail then slowly pulls the immobilized meal inside its shell to be digested, whole. Each tooth is discarded after use and immediately replaced by another. Some cone snails travel with 20 or so of these teeth embedded in their systems, loaded and ready to be fired off when the next meal happens to swim along. In its native state, cone snail venom would obviously not make a great treatment for human ailments. But by unpacking it bit by bit and measuring each component on the molecular level, Marí and his team aim to understand and catalog how each aspect of this poison does its job. "There's a lot we are just learning about them," Marí says. Why, for instance, is cone snail venom able to penetrate another animal's nervous system so quickly? And how does it paralyze a victim so effectively? Even more puzzling, some individual purple cone snails are not toxic at all, which Marí thinks might be related to stages of development in the snails. The answers to all of these cone snail questions could be used to create new medicines that move through a patient's body in a quicker and more efficient manner, such as new types of insulin for the treatment of diabetes or better treatments for neurological diseases like Alzheimer's. Some think venom research can provide new delivery systems for drugs that would aim to curtail quick-spreading forms of cancer. Others want to use the venom's ingredients for the treatment of addiction. One component of cone snail venom has even been used in anti-wrinkle creams now on the market that put the power of inflammation to work under the skin, puffing out creases and fine lines on human faces. For a paper just published in Scientific Reports, Marí and his team used cone snail toxins as molecular probes to identify an important overlap between the immune and central nervous systems in humans. Their work demonstrated for the first time that a classic toxin--one usually associated with the central nervous system -- can also have an impact in the immune system, whereby some cells are signaled in specific ways once certain kinds of cone snail peptides, known as conotoxins, enter the body. The new information may aid in the development of therapies for eradicating gastric, breast and lung cancers, as well as in the control of tuberculosis, since all of those illnesses trigger overproduction of some cells. Rather than using the toxin as an actual cure, the work would provide a road map for better understanding (and maybe controlling) the growth of undesirable cells. For another study published recently in the Journal of Proteomics; and his team worked on the isolation and characterization of an enzyme in the cone snail venom called Conohyal-P1. They used an ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometer, one of the most powerful tools available to identify and count proteins in a sample. A similar enzyme is found in both lionfish and bee venoms. Surprisingly, it is also found in many kinds of mammalian sperm, where it helps to weaken cell walls of ovaries and facilitate entry of the sperm and successful reproduction. "We knew that this enzyme was able to break down extracellular tissue," says Mari, referring to the outermost membranes of cells. "We now have been able to carefully evaluate the activity of the enzyme for anyone to use in future work. In addition, we have identified a new subtype that had not been known before." In a third paper, published recently in the journal Neuropharmacology (link is external), Marí and his team evaluated toxins in the cone snail venom by testing them on the central nervous systems of fruit flies. Although the fruit fly is very different from humans in many ways, its central nervous system can provide a great model for a wide variety of medical studies because the basic structure of cells in fruit fly brains is similar to the structure of cells in human brains. So, if a fruit fly brain cell reacts one way, scientists know a human cell will, too. Marí's team specifically wanted to know how conotoxins interact with a variety of molecular targets in the nervous system of their prey. Purple cone snail venom contains a large number of these protein building blocks, more than 2,000 of them. "The venom is incredibly complex," Marí says. "We wanted to answer the question: which parts could be used as medicine?" In this case, they found that the flies' response to injections of cone snail venom primarily took place in the receptors that govern muscle movement and addiction. Such details could be useful in the development of new drugs for Parkinson's disease, which often ravages the muscular-skeletal system, impairing a patient's ability to control basic body movements. It might also help with the development of effective nicotine addiction treatments. "The pattern on a cone snail shell is very beautiful," Marí says. "But I think the biology and biochemistry are even more beautiful, and as we explore all the different aspects of the venom, we can open all kinds of new opportunities for medical use. We are finally able to crack the code." As a non-regulatory agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, NIST promotes U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve our quality of life. More information about NIST can be found at http://www.nist.gov.
Scientists came across a 30-meter-long space hidden withing the pyramid’s limestone and granite walls For centuries, archaeologists and scientists have probed inside the pyramid of Giza. Even though mystery is no stranger to it, no one had stumbled upon such a space hidden within the walls, until now. Modern technology was used to visualize the inside of the pyramid, hoping that it will provide further information to help scientists understand how the massive pyramid was built. The Great Pyramid has three already discovered rooms: the King’s chamber, a smaller Queen’s chamber and a passageway named the Grand Gallery. However, this marks the first discovery of a major space since the 19th century, and it was just about time. The team of scientists responsible for the discovery work with ScanPyramids, a mission under the French Heritage, Innovation and Preservation Institute, the Faculty of Engineering of Cairo, and the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities. They applied a physics technique that allowed them to track particles called muons that come from cosmic rays striking atoms in the upper atmosphere. When these particles fall and pass through different materials, they lose their energy, causing them to slow and decay. With the use of detectors, scientists can count the number of muons that are passing through the pyramid. As they are absorbed by stone, any large holes in the pyramid would result in more muons that expected landing on the detectors. The team was sure that they discovered something soon after placing the detectors inside the Queen’s chamber. They noticed a large number of muons passing through, suggesting that there was something that waited to be discovered.
Washing your hands properly has always been important, and the pandemic has aroused collective awareness about the importance of washing your hands correctly and more often than usual. Proper hand hygiene is of utmost importance to reduce contamination and infections. Much is said about the correct way to wash your hands, but a new study also suggests that the method used to dry your hands may be just as important to public health. According to a pilot study published on March 17, 2021 in “Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology”, the use of high-speed hand dryers can also transfer germs to a person’s clothing and lead to an increase in spread of these contaminants to other surfaces. To better understand the impact of hand drying on hand hygiene, the researchers conducted an experiment to learn the role of different hand drying methods in spreading badly washed hand germs beyond the bathroom. During the study, the volunteers dried their hands with a hand dryer or paper towels while wearing an apron to test whether any contaminants had spread to their clothes and then walked several paths around a hospital and touched the surfaces commonly used, such as elevator buttons, for example. The researchers also observed a greater microbial transfer to the apron when the volunteers used the air dryer. The transfer of microbes to the volunteers’ clothes after using the air dryer also contributed to the spread of germs. “Based on the user and surface contamination observed following hand drying using high-speed air dryers, we question the choice of air dryers in healthcare settings,” said Ines Moura, a research fellow at the University of Leeds and an author on the study. On average, the levels of germ spread on the surfaces touched by the volunteers were 10 times higher after the hands were dried with the dryer than with paper towels. The researchers also observed greater microbial transfer to the apron when the volunteers used the dryer, which further contributed to the spread of germs. According to USA TODAY, the results are consistent with previous studies on hand dryers which include recommendations that “only paper towels should be used in situations where hygiene is paramount,” such as hospitals, said Timothy Caulfield, research director at the Health Law Institute at the University of Alberta. After these studies, the question remains as to why these dryers are still commonly found in public bathrooms. “I think the move to hand dryers has been driven by many things, including cost, environmental concerns and, paradoxically, the public health push to get more people to wash their hands,” Caulfied told USA TODAY.
How can we prevent a cold or the flu? We can OPTIMIZE the resilience of the body. Colds and flus are opportunistic pathogens. When a person’s immune system is run down it presents an “opportunity” for the pathogen to infect the body. The immune system becomes run down from: - highly refined diets - refined sugar - chronic stress - lack of sleep [table id=4 /] LIFESTYLE SUGGESTIONS - Wash hands with soap frequently during the day - Ensure adequate rest – 8 hours in ideal. Restful sleep is healing and restorative - Do deep breathing exercises - Walk and do stretching exercises to boost the immune system (Note: Extreme aerobic exercises and weight training are best minimized if you have any of the above symptoms) - Dry skin brushing and contrast showers are useful to support... A fever represents the mobilization of the body’s immune system. It is the first reaction of our immune defense and indicates that the person is defending themselves. In children under 7 years old, a fever indicates a building of the immune system. The fever is a part of the non-specific immune response. - 37 C normal body temperature - 37.5 C encourages microbes (inefficient) - 37.5-.9 C bacteriostatic (limits bacterial growth) - 39 - 40.5 C kills bacteria (efficient) *except in newborns - above 40.5 C destroy own self (cells) THE BENEFITS OF FEVER: • Fever is the primary mode of immune system function in infants and young children who have not yet developed a mature immune system.... You will notice that our single herbal products have numbers & letters assigned to them corresponding to Warnings & Interactions. This paper explains what each of the numbers and/or letters implies. SAFETY CLASSES CLASS 1 Herbs that can be safely consumed when used appropriately. • History of safe traditional use • No case reports of significant adverse events with high probability of causality • No identified concerns for use during pregnancy or lactation • No innately toxic constituents • Toxicity associated with excessive use is not a basis for exclusion from this class • Minor or self-limiting side effects are not bases for exclusion from this class CLASS 2 Herbs for which the following use restrictions apply, unless otherwise directed by an expert qualified in the use of the described substance: 2a: for external use only • Toxicity demonstrated with crude preparation taken orally at traditional dose • Adverse event... Ten Basic Rules For Better Living Article By Manly P. Hall (Excerpt from a book with the same title) - Stop worrying The popular idea that a worrier is a thoughtful and conscientious citizen is false. The Egyptians realized this when they included worry among the cardinal sins. Do not confuse thoughtfulness and worry. The thoughtful person plans solutions, but the worrier merely dissolves in his own doubt. If you think straight, you will have less cause for worrying. The worrier not only suffers the same disaster many times, but undermines his health and annoys all others with whom he comes into contact. There are many things in this world that require thoughtful consideration, but there is really nothing to fear but fear. - Stop trying to dominate and posses your friends and relatives Each of us likes to feel that he is running his own life.... Ketogenic Diet What is the Ketogenic Diet? The Ketogenic diet is a medical treatment that shifts the body’s primary metabolism to a fat based energy source instead of a carbohydrate or glucose energy source. This therapeutic diet involves eating high amounts of healthy fats, low to moderate amounts of high quality protein and the elimination of all sugars & carbohydrates, other than non-starchy vegetable carbohydrates. How Does the Ketogenic Diet work? The body obtains energy from three major food sources: An average North American diet is comprised of roughly 50% to 60% carbohydrate, 20% to 30% fat and 20% to 30% protein. Carbohydrates such as breads, cereal grains, fruits, starches, sugars & vegetables are converted to glucose in the body. Glucose is then burned as fuel by the body for energy. When the supply of glucose is limited, for example during... - Hydrastis Canadensis - Commiphora mol-mol - Symphytum officinalis - Unpasteurized organic honey Salving with honey goes way back in history in every culture that gathers honey from the bees. The herbs are powdered to 60 – 80 mesh fineness and mixed into the honey until it becomes thick but still pliable. The mix is spread on a gauze pad instead of directly into the wound so as not to disturb the healing process. Use on open cuts, wounds, pustules sores, decubitus ulcers and fistulas. Even deep wounds will heal by first intention and not by granulation and generally leave no scar. Perineal tearing can be treated with baths filled astringent, antiseptic and vulnerary herbs and with the honey salve. One case of a seriously large haemangioma that was not resorbing was treated successfully with the honey salve. - Warm salve in a water bath to make... There are two popular variations of using the wet sheet treatment. - During the 1970’s I worked in a Chicago hospital emergency room. Often in the late night hours a mother would come in clutching her feverish baby. The child would be examined and a temperature taken. If the child was too hot (39 – 40 C) it would be laid down on the exam table and stripped naked. A round or three of treatments would ensue. A flannel bath blanket would be soaked in tepid (neither hot nor cold) water. The sheet is wrung out so it is damp and not dripping. Place the bath sheet one layer thick over infants & toddlers and double layer over larger children leaving the face uncovered. A cool face cloth can be applied to cheeks and forehead. In the event of febrile seizure be sure first that it is not epilepsy or... Whenever there is trauma causing damage to soft or hard tissues e.g. haematomas or broken bones (especially in the limbs) a comfrey poultice is indicated. It is easy to make when there is fresh comfrey to be found. Roots or leaves can be used interchangeably though it is much easier to regenerate leaves, so, when using fresh plant material we will rely principally on leaves and stems. The Comfrey Poultice - Cut fresh leaves close to the ground to include the whole leaf and stem. Five to ten large leaves should suffice. - 1 bed sheet cut into 10cm wide strips cut across the width of the cloth. Roll into individual bandages. - Large cook pot filled with boiling water - 1 Vegetable knife or food processor - 1 Medium-size mixing bowl - Plastic Wrap - Bring the water to a boil in the large pot. - Immerse the leaves until they... - Phytolacca decandra. Infused Castor Oil - Viola odorata. Infused Olive Oil - Boswelia thurifera. Tincture - Styrax benzoin. Tincture - Monarda didyma. Essential Oil - Lavandula officinalis. Essential Oil The castor oil pack can be amplified in its efficacy especially when there are hardened tissues. Uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts, fibrocystic breasts, lipomas, endometriosis, and other tumours & cysts can be softened and resorbed into adjacent tissues or the blood stream. The addition of Phytolacca to the castor oil stimulates the immune system and increases the movement of lymph through the tissues perfused by the compound oil. It was in the 13th century that Hildegard of Bingen documented the use of Viola infused olive oil for the use of softening all hardened tissues, which were all called tumours regardless of their origin or contents. She ran a busy infirmary that treated people for many miles around including providing for labour and delivery. Boswelia is strongly anti-inflammatory,... LOGIN to order products if you are a practitioner. You may need to reset your password, if you did not receive the welcoming email. If you do not have an account create a new one by SIGNING UP in the top right corner.
It is important for kids to be fluent with their Math facts, but sometimes the same old pencil paper routines can get boring! And, let’s face it, some kids just need to move around while they are learning! Here are a few ideas to get your kids moving while practicing Math Facts: 1. Dance: There are so many great CD’s and You Tube Videos to practice Math facts. Play some songs and have your kids dance while they practice. I really like Multiplication Motivation CD by Melody House. It’s catchy and each song has it’s own style. You can also find some fun math songs on youtube, like the one below: 2. Hopscotch: Get out the sidewalk chalk and make a hopscotch game on the driveway or playground. While you hop along, read the problem and call out the answer. 3.Trash-ketball: Use a trashcan and pick a spot on the floor to be the freethrow line. Use a wadded up pieces of paper as the “ball”. Line students up and each time they get a fact correct, they throw a paper and attempt to score a basket! 4. Hide and Seek Math: Hide flash cards around the house or classroom. Give kids clipboards, pencil, and paper. They seek out the problems and when they find one, they write the problem and answer on the paper. 5. Beach Ball Toss: Write math problems on a beach ball with sharpie. Toss the ball. The student who catches the ball has to solve the problem closest to his/her right thumb. What about Paper & Pencil? There is a value in paper and pencil practice for math facts as long as you don’t over do it and make it too long and boring! Setting aside 10 -15 minutes a day 3- 4 days a week to practice facts will gain great ground! Give students a chance to wiggle, stretch, or move before and after! Play one of the activities above before sitting down for a quiet pencil paper time. If 10 minutes seems too long, start with 3 minutes, after a few weeks work up to 5, then 10 … Coloring pages and mazes can also help math facts practice be a little more fun!
Machine learning has been a growing area of technology for the last few decades. Now computer scientists are able to write code that allows computers to learn to play games, identify objects in images, and much more besides. WHAT IS AN ALGORITHM? An algorithm is a sequence of instructions. For example, I might say: turn right, walk straight to the end of the road, turn left. This would be a simple real-life algorithm to get from place A to place B. Normally we talk about algorithms in the context of computers. Here the instructions might be more like ‘calculate this’. Computer scientists are now able to design very complex algorithms that can ‘learn’. WHAT IS A NEURAL NETWORK? There are lots of different kinds of algorithms that can perform machine learning, but the most basic one is known as a neural network. These are inspired by the way the human brain works. This algorithm takes some data and analyses it, looking for patterns. This is called training data because the neural network ‘trains’ itself by looking at it. HOW DO NEURAL NETWORKS LEARN? Consider an example. We want our neural network to be able to identify pictures of handwritten numbers. The ‘training data’ is a set of these images, alongside information telling the computer which number each image actually shows. The computer feeds these images into the neural network. Say it inputs a picture of a handwritten seven. The network would then output the number it thinks the picture shows, and compare this to the actual answer to see if they match. The network will then alter itself based on whether it got the answer right or wrong, and try again. The aim is to improve its accuracy each time. After the neural network has done this with all of the data it is given, we say it has been trained. HOW CAN WE USE THEM? Once trained, a neural network can be used to look at input data where we don’t know what the output data, the ‘answer’, is. In the example above, we can now give the trained neural network an image of a handwritten number, without telling it what it should expect to see. It should be able to identify the number and tell us what it is. Creating machines that are able to learn can have a big impact. One huge area is medicine. If a computer could be designed to read your symptoms and identify the problem, it could be invaluable in rural and isolated areas where it can be difficult to find a doctor. This is one of many possible applications of this rapidly expanding field.
No related resources No mentions of this document In 1780, a French diplomat in Philadelphia sent a set of questions to various people in the United States. Having signed a treaty of amity and commerce with the new nation in 1778, the French sought information about their new American ally. A copy of the questions reached Jefferson and he set about answering them. He revised and rearranged the queries, gathered data, and wrote and revised his response, until it grew into a book length manuscript. Jefferson eventually published the book, Notes on the State of Virginia, the only one he ever published. It contains some of the most famous words Jefferson wrote, outside the Declaration of Independence (1776), and some of the most infamous. The latter, included in the selection below, are Jefferson’s description of the African-American slaves he knew in Virginia. As he did often in Notes, Jefferson took the opportunity afforded by some factual report to comment more broadly on a topic. In this case, the report was an account of how post-independence Virginia revised its laws (Jefferson does not mention that he was the principal author of the revision). The revision aimed to make the laws republican in spirit. Therefore, they included provision for the end of slavery. Jefferson’s comment was that once the slaves were free, they would need to leave Virginia. To justify this, Jefferson offered objections he termed “political . . . physical and moral” to allowing the former slaves to remain and become fellow citizens. Although Jefferson did raise the issue of the possible inferiority (in certain respects) of blacks as he knew them to whites, the issue was not whether the slaves or African-Americans were men; on the contrary, as in the Declaration, Jefferson refers to them several times as men. The issue was whether African-Americans were or could be fellow-citizens with those who had held them in bondage. The second selection from Notes describes the damage done to both slaves and slaveowners by slavery. It also reinforces the view that African-Americans were men by acknowledging, as the argument of the Declaration required, and as the first selection from Notes on Virginia also admits, that the slaves had a right to revolt against their masters. God, Jefferson concluded, was on their side. Almost 30 years after he wrote Notes on Virginia, Jefferson commented on his description of the slaves he had seen about him. In response to the receipt from a correspondent of a volume of “Literature of Negroes,” Jefferson wrote that he wished to see the complete refutation of the doubts he had expressed about the capacities of African-Americans. “But,” he added, making explicit the argument in these selections from Notes, “whatever be their degree of talent it is no measure of their rights. Because Sir Isaac Newton was superior to others in understanding, he was not therefore lord of the person or property of others.” Human equality was greater, politically and morally, than any differences among humans. Source: Thomas Jefferson, The Works of Thomas Jefferson, Federal Edition (New York and London, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1904-5). Vol. 4, 47–59, 82–83. https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/756. We have added paragraphing. Query 14. The administration of justice and the description of the laws? Many of the laws which were in force during the monarchy being relative merely to that form of government, or inculcating principles inconsistent with republicanism, the first assembly which met after the establishment of the commonwealth, appointed a committee to revise the whole code, to reduce it into proper form and volume, and report it to the assembly. This work has been executed by three gentlemen, and reported; but probably will not be taken up till a restoration of peace shall leave to the legislature leisure to go through such a work. The plan of the revisal was this. The common law of England, by which is meant that part of the English law which was anterior to the date of the oldest statutes extant, is made the basis of the work. It was thought dangerous to attempt to reduce it to a text: it was therefore left to be collected from the usual monuments of it. Necessary alterations in that, and so much of the whole body of the British statutes, and of acts of assembly, as were thought proper to be retained, were digested into 126 new acts, in which simplicity of style was aimed at, as far as was safe. The following are the most remarkable alterations proposed: To change the rules of descent, so as that the lands of any person dying intestate shall be divisible equally among all his children, or other representatives, in equal degree. To make slaves distributable among the next of kin, as other movables. . . . To define with precision the rules whereby aliens should become citizens, and citizens make themselves aliens. To establish religious freedom on the broadest bottom. To emancipate all slaves born after passing the act. The bill reported by the revisers does not itself contain this proposition; but an amendment containing it was prepared, to be offered to the legislature whenever the bill should be taken up, and further directing, that they should continue with their parents to a certain age, then be brought up, at the public expense, to tillage, arts, or sciences, according to their geniuses, till the females should be eighteen, and the males twenty-one years of age, when they should be colonized to such place as the circumstances of the time should render most proper, sending them out with arms, implements of household and of the handicraft arts, seeds, pairs of the useful domestic animals, etc. to declare them a free and independent people, and extend to them our alliance and protection, till they shall have acquired strength; and to send vessels at the same time to other parts of the world for an equal number of white inhabitants; to induce whom to migrate hither, proper encouragements were to be proposed. It will probably be asked, Why not retain and incorporate the blacks into the state, and thus save the expense of supplying by importation of white settlers, the vacancies they will leave? Deep rooted prejudices entertained by the whites; ten thousand recollections, by the blacks, of the injuries they have sustained; new provocations; the real distinctions which nature has made; and many other circumstances will divide us into parties, and produce convulsions, which will probably never end but in the extermination of the one or the other race. To these objections, which are political, may be added others, which are physical and moral. The first difference which strikes us is that of color. Whether the black of the negro resides in the reticular membrane between the skin and scarfskin, or in the scarfskin itself; whether it proceeds from the color of the blood, the color of the bile, or from that of some other secretion, the difference is fixed in nature, and is as real as if its seat and cause were better known to us. And is this difference of no importance? Is it not the foundation of a greater or less share of beauty in the two races? Are not the fine mixtures of red and white, the expressions of every passion by greater or less suffusions of color in the one, preferable to that eternal monotony, which reigns in the countenances, that immovable veil of black which covers all the emotions of the other race? Add to these, flowing hair, a more elegant symmetry of form, their own judgment in favor of the whites, declared by their preference of them as uniformly as is the preference of the Orangutan for the black woman over those of his own species. The circumstance of superior beauty, is thought worthy attention in the propagation of our horses, dogs, and other domestic animals; why not in that of man? Besides those of color, figure, and hair, there are other physical distinctions proving a difference of race. They have less hair on the face and body. They secrete less by the kidneys, and more by the glands of the skin, which gives them a very strong and disagreeable odor. This greater degree of transpiration, renders them more tolerant of heat, and less so of cold than the whites. Perhaps too a difference of structure in the pulmonary apparatus, which a late ingenious experimentalist has discovered to be the principal regulator of animal heat, may have disabled them from extricating, in the act of inspiration, so much of that fluid from the outer air, or obliged them in expiration, to part with more of it. They seem to require less sleep. A black after hard labor through the day, will be induced by the slightest amusements to sit up till midnight or later, though knowing he must be out with the first dawn of the morning. They are at least as brave, and more adventuresome. But this may perhaps proceed from a want of forethought, which prevents their seeing a danger till it be present. When present, they do not go through it with more coolness or steadiness than the whites. They are more ardent after their female; but love seems with them to be more an eager desire, than a tender delicate mixture of sentiment and sensation. Their griefs are transient. Those numberless afflictions, which render it doubtful whether heaven has given life to us in mercy or in wrath, are less felt, and sooner forgotten with them. In general, their existence appears to participate more of sensation than reflection. To this must be ascribed their disposition to sleep when abstracted from their diversions, and unemployed in labor. An animal whose body is at rest, and who does not reflect, must be disposed to sleep of course. Comparing them by their faculties of memory, reason, and imagination, it appears to me that in memory they are equal to the whites; in reason much inferior, as I think one could scarcely be found capable of tracing and comprehending the investigations of Euclid: and that in imagination they are dull, tasteless, and anomalous. It would be unfair to follow them to Africa for this investigation. We will consider them here, on the same stage with the whites, and where the facts are not apocryphal on which a judgment is to be formed. It will be right to make great allowances for the difference of condition, of education, of conversation, of the sphere in which they move. Many millions of them have been brought to, and born in America. Most of them, indeed, have been confined to tillage, to their own homes, and their own society: yet many have been so situated, that they might have availed themselves of the conversation of their masters; many have been brought up to the handicraft arts, and from that circumstance have always been associated with the whites. Some have been liberally educated, and all have lived in countries where the arts and sciences are cultivated to a considerable degree, and have had before their eyes samples of the best works from abroad. The Indians, with no advantages of this kind, will often carve figures on their pipes not destitute of design and merit. They will crayon out an animal, a plant, or a country, so as to prove the existence of a germ in their minds which only wants cultivation. They astonish you with strokes of the most sublime oratory; such as prove their reason and sentiment strong, their imagination glowing and elevated. But never yet could I find that a black had uttered a thought above the level of plain narration; never seen even an elementary trait of painting or sculpture. In music they are more generally gifted than the whites, with accurate ears for tune and time, and they have been found capable of imagining a small catch. Whether they will be equal to the composition of a more extensive run of melody, or of complicated harmony, is yet to be proved. Misery is often the parent of the most affecting touches in poetry.—Among the blacks is misery enough, God knows, but no poetry. Love is the peculiar œstrum of the poet. Their love is ardent, but it kindles the senses only, not the imagination. Religion, indeed, has produced a Phyllis Whately; but it could not produce a poet. The compositions published under her name are below the dignity of criticism. The heroes of the Dunciad are to her, as Hercules to the author of that poem. Ignatius Sancho has approached nearer to merit in composition; yet his letters do more honor to the heart than the head. They breathe the purest effusions of friendship and general philanthropy, and show how great a degree of the latter may be compounded with strong religious zeal. He is often happy in the turn of his compliments, and his style is easy and familiar, except when he affects a Shandean fabrication of words. But his imagination is wild and extravagant, escapes incessantly from every restraint of reason and taste, and, in the course of its vagaries, leaves a tract of thought as incoherent and eccentric, as is the course of a meteor through the sky. His subjects should often have led him to a process of sober reasoning; yet we find him always substituting sentiment for demonstration. Upon the whole, though we admit him to the first place among those of his own color who have presented themselves to the public judgment, yet when we compare him with the writers of the race among whom he lived and particularly with the epistolary class in which he has taken his own stand, we are compelled to enroll him at the bottom of the column. This criticism supposes the letters published under his name to be genuine, and to have received amendment from no other hand; points which would not be of easy investigation. The improvement of the blacks in body and mind, in the first instance of their mixture with the whites, has been observed by everyone, and proves that their inferiority is not the effect merely of their condition of life. We know that among the Romans, about the Augustan age especially, the condition of their slaves was much more deplorable than that of the blacks on the continent of America. The two sexes were confined in separate apartments, because to raise a child cost the master more than to buy one. Cato, for a very restricted indulgence to his slaves in this particular, took from them a certain price. But in this country the slaves multiply as fast as the free inhabitants. Their situation and manners place the commerce between the two sexes almost without restraint.—The same Cato, on a principle of economy, always sold his sick and superannuated slaves. He gives it as a standing precept to a master visiting his farm, to sell his old oxen, old wagons, old tools, old and diseased servants, and everything else become useless. . . . The American slaves cannot enumerate this among the injuries and insults they receive. It was the common practice to expose in the island Æsculapius, in the Tyber, diseased slaves whose cure was like to become tedious. The Emperor Claudius, by an edict, gave freedom to such of them as should recover, and first declared that if any person chose to kill rather than to expose them, it should be deemed homicide. The exposing them is a crime of which no instance has existed with us; and were it to be followed by death, it would be punished capitally. We are told of a certain Vedius Pollio, who, in the presence of Augustus, would have given a slave as food to his fish, for having broken a glass. With the Romans, the regular method of taking the evidence of their slaves was under torture. Here it has been thought better never to resort to their evidence. When a master was murdered, all his slaves, in the same house, or within hearing, were condemned to death. Here punishment falls on the guilty only, and as precise proof is required against him as against a freeman. Yet notwithstanding these and other discouraging circumstances among the Romans, their slaves were often their rarest artists. They excelled too in science, insomuch as to be usually employed as tutors to their master’s children. Epictetus, Terence, and Phædrus, were slaves. But they were of the race of whites. It is not their condition then, but nature, which has produced the distinction. Whether further observation will or will not verify the conjecture, that nature has been less bountiful to them in the endowments of the head, I believe that in those of the heart she will be found to have done them justice. That disposition to theft with which they have been branded, must be ascribed to their situation, and not to any depravity of the moral sense. The man in whose favor no laws of property exist, probably feels himself less bound to respect those made in favor of others. When arguing for ourselves, we lay it down as a fundamental, that laws, to be just, must give a reciprocation of right: that, without this, they are mere arbitrary rules of conduct, founded in force, and not in conscience; and it is a problem which I give to the master to solve, whether the religious precepts against the violation of property were not framed for him as well as his slave? And whether the slave may not as justifiably take a little from one who has taken all from him, as he may slay one who would slay him? That a change in the relations in which a man is placed should change his ideas of moral right and wrong, is neither new, nor peculiar to the color of the blacks. Homer tells us it was so 2600 years ago. . . . Jove fix’d it certain, that whatever day Makes man a slave, takes half his worth away. But the slaves of which Homer speaks were whites. Notwithstanding these considerations which must weaken their respect for the laws of property, we find among them numerous instances of the most rigid integrity, and as many as among their better instructed masters, of benevolence, gratitude, and unshaken fidelity. The opinion that they are inferior in the faculties of reason and imagination, must be hazarded with great diffidence. To justify a general conclusion, requires many observations, even where the subject may be submitted to the Anatomical knife, to Optical glasses, to analysis by fire or by solvents. How much more then where it is a faculty, not a substance, we are examining; where it eludes the research of all the senses; where the conditions of its existence are various and variously combined; where the effects of those which are present or absent bid defiance to calculation; let me add too, as a circumstance of great tenderness, where our conclusion would degrade a whole race of men from the rank in the scale of beings which their Creator may perhaps have given them. To our reproach it must be said, that though for a century and a half we have had under our eyes the races of black and of red men, they have never yet been viewed by us as subjects of natural history. I advance it, therefore, as a suspicion only, that the blacks, whether originally a distinct race, or made distinct by time and circumstances, are inferior to the whites in the endowments both of body and mind. It is not against experience to suppose that different species of the same genus, or varieties of the same species, may possess different qualifications. Will not a lover of natural history then, one who views the gradations in all the races of animals with the eye of philosophy, excuse an effort to keep those in the department of man as distinct as nature has formed them? This unfortunate difference of color, and perhaps of faculty, is a powerful obstacle to the emancipation of these people. Many of their advocates, while they wish to vindicate the liberty of human nature, are anxious also to preserve its dignity and beauty. Some of these, embarrassed by the question, “What further is to be done with them?” join themselves in opposition with those who are actuated by sordid avarice only. Among the Romans emancipation required but one effort. The slave, when made free, might mix with, without staining the blood of his master. But with us a second is necessary, unknown to history. When freed, he is to be removed beyond the reach of mixture. . . . Query 18. The particular customs and manners that may happen to be received in that State? It is difficult to determine on the standard by which the manners of a nation may be tried, whether catholic or particular. It is more difficult for a native to bring to that standard the manners of his own nation, familiarized to him by habit. There must doubtless be an unhappy influence on the manners of our people produced by the existence of slavery among us. The whole commerce between master and slave is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions, the most unremitting despotism on the one part, and degrading submissions on the other. Our children see this, and learn to imitate it; for man is an imitative animal. This quality is the germ of all education in him. From his cradle to his grave he is learning to do what he sees others do. If a parent could find no motive either in his philanthropy or his self-love, for restraining the intemperance of passion towards his slave, it should always be a sufficient one that his child is present. But generally it is not sufficient. The parent storms, the child looks on, catches the lineaments of wrath, puts on the same airs in the circle of smaller slaves, gives a loose to the worst of passions, and thus nursed, educated, and daily exercised in tyranny, cannot but be stamped by it with odious peculiarities. The man must be a prodigy who can retain his manners and morals undepraved by such circumstances. And with what execrations should the statesman be loaded, who permitting one half the citizens thus to trample on the rights of the other, transforms those into despots, and these into enemies, destroys the morals of the one part, and the amor patriæ of the other. For if a slave can have a country in this world, it must be any other in preference to that in which he is born to live and labor for another: in which he must lock up the faculties of his nature, contribute as far as depends on his individual endeavors to the evanishment of the human race, or entail his own miserable condition on the endless generations proceeding from him. With the morals of the people, their industry also is destroyed. For in a warm climate, no man will labor for himself who can make another labor for him. This is so true, that of the proprietors of slaves a very small proportion indeed are ever seen to labor. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep forever: that considering numbers, nature and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel of fortune, an exchange of situation, is among possible events: that it may become probable by supernatural interference! The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in such a contest.—But it is impossible to be temperate and to pursue this subject through the various considerations of policy, of morals, of history natural and civil. We must be contented to hope they will force their way into every one’s mind. I think a change already perceptible, since the origin of the present revolution. The spirit of the master is abating, that of the slave rising from the dust, his condition mollifying, the way I hope preparing, under the auspices of heaven, for a total emancipation, and that this is disposed, in the order of events, to be with the consent of the masters, rather than by their extirpation. - 1. Adair Crawford (1748–1795), a British physician who wrote a treatise on the source of bodily heat - 2. Jefferson’s note: The instrument proper to them is the banjo, which they brought hither from Africa, and which is the original of the guitar, its chords being precisely the four lower chords of the guitar. - 3. A period of sexual receptivity in female animals. Jefferson seems to use the word metaphorically to refer to a poet’s receptivity to inspiration. - 4. Phyllis Wheatley "On Being Bright from Africa to America." - 5. A satirical poem by Alexander Pope (1688–1744). - 6. Charles Ignatius Sancho (1729–1780), born a slave, whose letters advocating abolition of the slave trade in 1782. - 7. A reference to The Life and Opinions of Tristam Shandy, Gentleman, a novel by Laurence Sterne, famous for its word play. - 8. Marcus Porcius Cato (234–149 BCE) was a Roman Senator and historian. - 9. Epictetus (50–135 CE) was a philosopher; Terence (c. 195–c. 159 BCE) was a playwright; Phaedrus a first century compiler of fables and author. - 10. Jefferson quotes from Alexander Pope’s translation of the Odyssey. - 11. Love of country
\|We can think of a cyclic word as a word written in a circle. To represent a cyclic word, we choose an arbitrary starting position and read the characters in clockwise order. So, "picture" and "turepic" are representations for the same cyclic word.\| You are given a String words, each element of which is a representation of a cyclic word. Return the number of different cyclic words that are represented. \|-\|\|words will contain between 1 and 50 elements, inclusive.\| \|-\|\|Each element of words will contain between 1 and 50 lowercase letters ('a'-'z'), inclusive.\|
Wikijunior Europe: DDR The Democratic Republic of Germany (German: Deutsche Demokratische Republik), also known as the DDR or East Germany was a country which existed until 1990 in the eastern parts of present-day Germany. The country controlled the eastern parts of Germany except for West Berlin which was administered by the FDR (West Germany). East Germany shared borders with Poland, Czechoslovakia and West Germany. The capital was East Berlin and the country's currency was the DDR Mark. History of East Germany After the end of World War II Germany was divided into many parts. Some eastern areas were completely detached from Germany and given to the USSR (Kaliningrad) and Poland (much of present-day western Poland). What became East Germany was administered by the Soviets while the western parts were controlled by the Americans, British and French. The city of Berlin was similarly divided into four parts too. In the early years after the war thousands of people fled from East Germany to the west for better jobs and more freedom. In 1961 the Soviets built the Inner German Wall and the Berlin Wall to stop people escaping from East Germany. In 1989 the communist governments in central and eastern Europe started to collapse starting in Poland and Hungary. Protests against the government became bigger and bigger and eventually in November 1989 the government agreed to allow people to travel to the west. By 1990 East Germany ceased to exist and the two countries were reunited. Division of Germany after World War II - Dark grey became (West) Germany, red became the DDR with the dark grey in the middle being West Berlin, the crescent-shaped light grey area and the lower of the other two light grey areas were given to Poland and the upper light-grey area became Russia's Kaliningrad Geography of East Germany People of East Germany As in Germany today, the national language was German. As a communist government under control of the Soviet Union religion was actively discouraged although the church remained influential. After World War II the country's population was 19 million but this had shrunk to less than 16 million when the country was unified. Sights of East Germany \|Wikijunior Europe • Intro • EU • Geo • People • Language • Facts • Quiz\|\|edit\|
For the first time, North America’s three bear species—black, grizzly and polar—have been documented sharing the same spot. And that spot happens to be one that is very dear to Natural Habitat Adventures and its travelers: Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, our polar bear tour headquarters. Recently, in November 2018, a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Arctic Science, titled Novel range overlap of three ursids in the Canadian subarctic, described how cameras set up by University of Saskatchewan researchers in Wapusk National Park on the shore of Hudson Bay near Churchill captured the proof that had scientifically never been substantiated anywhere before. And remarkably, this doesn’t look like a case of science just catching up to what’s been going on all along but not yet noticed by us. Researchers have been conducting studies on that particular piece of ground since the 1960s. So why is this happening now? The study’s lead author, Douglas A. Clark, says that the presence of all three North American bear species in the same area is “consistent with expected ecological responses to the amplified impacts of climate change on high-latitude ecosystems.” In other words, climate change is likely a factor. Wapusk National Park’s new “regulars” Wapusk National Park is best known for its polar bears. They come ashore in the summer and fall when the sea ice in Hudson Bay melts. They congregate here, waiting for winter and access to the sea-ice platforms from which they can hunt seals. Some stay in the park for the winter to den in the permafrost where they give birth. Professor Clark and his colleagues began studying the interactions between polar bears and people in Wapusk in 2010, after more polar bears than expected began visiting field camps in the park. They deployed 18 camera traps at three, remote stations to find out why and when the polar bears were dropping by. What the research team members got wasn’t exactly what they were looking for: between 2011 and 2017, they found that there were 401 visits from all three of Canada’s bear species: 366 from polar bears, 25 from black bears and 10 from grizzlies. Since Wapusk National Park lies along the northern edge of the boreal forest, prime black bear habitat, their visits were not all that surprising. But what was astonishing were the grizzlies. It wasn’t just one or two transient bears, but several, which made the researchers suspect that at least one of them may be denning there. Barren-ground grizzly bears have been expanding their range across the Arctic in recent decades. Scientists previously guessed that the three species may have used the same habitat in Beaufort Delta in the top corner of the Northwest Territories, but it’s never been confirmed, despite the presence of polar-grizzly hybrids. But we now know that something has definitely changed near Churchill, where there’s positive proof that grizzlies are becoming “regulars.” Climate change’s new wildlife mix Three dynamic ecosystems—boreal forest, ocean and tundra—converge in Wapusk National Park, and all are changing quickly as the Arctic warms. What we’re now seeing in Wapusk is consistent with how researchers expect northern carnivore populations to respond to climate change. Bears are governed by their need to accumulate fat stores for the next hibernation, so this overlap is most likely a response to alterations occurring in the availability of bear foods. Warmer temperatures have increased berry abundance here over the last few decades, and that’s encouraging young grizzlies looking for their own turf to check out the territory. Professor Clark believes that of the three species of bears coming together here, it is the grizzlies that are likely to benefit the most because they have been known to dominate polar bears and black bears elsewhere, sometimes displacing them. He cautions, however, that other bears generally change their behaviors to avoid grizzlies. So, this range overlap shouldn’t be viewed as a threat to any of these bears but understood as an ecological response to environmental change that needs to be better understood. Conservation’s new direction This scientific observation of range overlap of three ursids in the Canadian sub-Arctic, however, is so much more than just a novel situation in the area. It’s a matter that reaches far beyond northern Manitoba. Change has become increasingly central in ecological theory, and the question of how to navigate it more effectively—while recognizing the stakes local people have in conservation decisions—is one of the biggest challenges environmental managers face today. Professor Clark says that people often assume that the conditions present when a park is established is the “baseline” that must be protected, even though it may just be a snapshot in ecological time. So as climate change continues to move species around and create new combinations of them, it will force us to take a hard look at our assumptions about conservation. Humans will have to consider how—and to whose benefit—they’ll manage wild populations that shift with their fluid habitats. The polar bear population in western Hudson Bay is considered temporarily stable, but provincially polar bears are listed as a threatened species. Grizzlies are a species of special concern in Canada and are on the list of extirpated (locally extinct) animals in Manitoba. Black bears are not categorized as a threatened species. So, the conservation priorities get complex. The researchers say that there’s no evidence yet of the three bear species coming in contact with each other. But the cameras did record a black bear and a polar bear crossing paths within three hours of each other. There’s no question, they say, that the bears know the others are in the area and that they likely have an idea of who the others are. Now that we know, too, what will we do? Here’s to finding your true places and natural habitats,

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